Atlanta Braves, Dodgers prospects highlight High-A recap
In this week’s High-A Recap, the California League wins the cross-league All-Star game with the Carolina League and the standing reset in all three High-A leagues now that it is the second half of the season.
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In the California League, the Visalia Rawhide are off to a 3-1 start after winning the North Division in the first half of the season. The Modesto Nuts and Stockton Ports also are 3-1 to start the second half, while Bakersfield and San Jose sit at 1-3. In the South Division, first-half winner Rancho Cucamonga is off to a 3-1 start for a tie for first with the Lancaster JetJawks.
In the Carolina League North, first-half winner Wilmington has jumped out to an early lead in the division by starting the second half 2-1 for a tie with the Frederick Keys. The Winston Salem Dash have come out hot in the second half, going undefeated in three games for a half-game lead over second-place Carolina while first half winner Myrtle Beach has started 0-4.
In the Florida State League, North Division first half co-champion Clearwater leads the division by a half game over the Lakeland Flying Tigers. In the South Division, the Bradenton Marauders, Fort Myers Miracle and Palm Beach Cardinals all are tied for the division lead while first first half champion Charlotte has limped to a 1-3 start.
For notable performances, let’s start in the California League…
Next: California League
California League
North
Modesto Nuts (Rockies)—3-1
Stockton Ports (Athletics)—3-1
Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks)—3-1
San Jose Giants (Giants)—1-3
Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners)—1-3
South
Lancaster JetHawks (Astros)—3-1
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers)—3-1
High Desert Mavericks (Rangers)—1-3
Inland Empire 66ers (Angels)—1-3
Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres)—1-3
Notable performances:
Brandon Trinkwon, the Dodgers’ seventh-round pick in 2013 out of UC Santa Barbara, continues to be a steady hitter for Rancho Cucamonga after going 1-for-3 last night. He’s now hitting .303 on the season with a .389 on base percentage and .402 slugging percentage . Trinkwon was the catalyst for the winning California League team in the All-Star game Tuesday, going 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs.
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Trinkwon’s teammate Cody Bellinger, only 19 years old, went 0-for-5 yesterday but is putting together an impressive display of power in his second full professional season. One of the youngest players in the league, Bellinger has 13 home runs and is slugging .504. Bellinger doubled in the California League All-Star game win Tuesday and is tied for eighth in the league in homers and is fourth in RBIs (55).
Angels pitching prospect Sean Newcomb pitched five innings yesterday and allowed one run on five hits and six strikeouts. He struck out six batters and walked two. Newcomb has 25 Ks over his last 15 innings, which is what the Angels expected when they drafted him in the first round in 2014. Since being promoted to High-A Inland Empire, Newcomb has struck out 56 hitters and walked 21, an slight step back from the 45/19 ratio he had in A-ball.
Next: Carolina League
Carolina League
Northern
Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals)—2-1
Frederick Keys (Orioles)—2-2
Lynchburg Hillcats (Indians)—1-2
Potomac Nationals (Nationals)—1-2
Southern
Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox)—3-0
Carolina Mudcats (Braves)—3-1
Salem Red Sox (Red Sox)—2-2
Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)—0-4
Notable performances:
Myrtle Beach outfielder Mark Zagunis may be lost in the Cubs outfield prospect hoopla behind Billy McKinney, Albert Almora and Gleyber Torres, but he is no slouch offensively. He’s slasing .311/.441/.463 on the season with five home runs, has hit .361 his last 10 games and went 2-for-5 in the Carolina League-California League All-Star game, which the Carolina All-Stars lost 9-2. Most impressively, Zagunis is showing incredible plate discipline, drawing 50 walks while only striking out 40 times—yes, he has more walks than strikeouts.
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Eric Skoglund also pitched in the All-Star game and pitched one inning and allowed one hit. He got shelled Sunday, allowing five earned runs in five innings to the Frederick Keys. Prior to Sunday, Skoglund had a solid rebound start June 15 when he went seven innings and allowed one unearned run and had an All-Star game tuneup, pitching a scoreless inning on June 20. The start on the 15th ended a rough stretch from May 29 to June 10 when he allowed a combined 12 earned runs over three starts.
Steve Janas just refuses to give up runs. Not even a bus wreck can rattle him. Saturday, he returned from the Disabled List to throw five scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 0.49, his WHIP to 0.59 and his opponent’s average to .146. Janas doesn’t strike out a lot of hitters—he only has 24 in 37 innings pitched—but has only walked four batters and induces a lot of ground balls, getting 1.37 groundouts for every airout. Janas is an underappreciated pitcher in Braves farm system loaded with pitchers.
Next: Florida State League
Florida State League
North
Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)—3-1
Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers)—2-1
Brevard County Manatees (Brewers)—1-2
Daytona Tortugas (Reds)—1-2
Tampa Yankees (Yankees)—1-2
Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)—1-3
South
Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)—3-1
Fort Myers Miracle (Twins)—3-1
Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinals)—3-1
St. Lucie Mets (Mets)—2-2
Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays)—1-3
Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)—1-3
Notable Performances:
Casey Gillaspie made his High-A debut for the Charlotte Stone Crabs Sunday, hitting a grand slam in a 7-4 win over the Clearwater Threshers. Gillaspie, the Tampa Bay Rays’ first round selection in the 2014 draft, was promoted after hitting .278 with a .358 OBP, .530 SLGand 16 home runs at Bowling Green (A), which led the Midwest League and was four more than second place. He’s been an effective overall hitter, striking out in only 16 percent of his plate appearances in A-ball and supplementing his power with lots of walks, as evidenced by his high OBP. Gillaspie hit .389 with 15 home runs and a .520 OBP as a junior at Wichita State, so he isn’t riding beginners luck—he’s proving his tools are legit.
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The Pirates’ farm system continues to thrive, and Reese McGuire is following suit, although he is showing his youth. Offensively, the 20-year-old has been steady, hitting .260 but with only a .309 OBP and .296 slugging percentage. Defensively, his caught-stealing percentage is down to 29 percent from 39 percent last season.
Amir Garrett’s athleticism is starting to turn into baseball talent. The former two-sport athlete—he played basketball at St. John’s in college—threw five scoreless innings last night and struck out eight batters in the process and has a 12-strikeout game this season. He now has 80 strikeouts in 72 innings, good for a 10.0 K/9 innings pitched. With his long arms that generate low—to-mid 90s heat, he’s held hitters to a .244 average and now has a 3.00 ERA, which is solid but not among the league leaders in the Florida State League. The area in which Garrett obviously needs the most improvement is his control, as he’s walked 31 batters (3.9/ 9 IP). Last season, Garrett walked 3.4/9 IP, so that number has gone the wrong direction, but his K/9 has also gone up from 8.6 last season, so it hasn’t hurt him too much.
All stats from Milb.com, Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com