Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome back to the High-A recap.
In the Florida State League, the Clearwater Threshers have moved into a tie for first place of the North Division with the Daytona Tortugas. The second half crown will come down to these two teams, as the next closest team (Tampa Yankees) is eight games back. In the South Division, the Palm Beach Cardinals lead the South Division by four games over the Bradenton Marauders.
After a hot stretch a few weeks ago that launched them to the top of the Carolina League Northern Division, the Lynchburg Hillcats have kept their momentum and maintain a four game lead over the Frederick Keys. The Winston-Salem Dash have done the same in the Southern Division as they hold a 1.5 game lead over Myrtle Beach.
Three teams– the Modesto Nuts, San Jose Giants and Visalia Rawhide–were all tied atop the California League North with identical 26-17 records two weeks ago, but the Rawhide have since taken over and lead the division by two games. The High Desert Mavericks have taken over the South Division as they lead by four games over the Lancaster JetHawks and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
For notable performances, we begin in the Florida State League.
Next: Florida State League
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Florida State League
North
Daytona Tortugas (Reds)—34-21
Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)—35-22
Tampa Yankees (Yankees)—27-30
Brevard County Manatees (Brewers)—24-31
Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)—23-32
Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers)—15-38
South
Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinals)—38-18
Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)—34-22
Fort Myers Miracle (Twins)—32-26
St. Lucie Mets (Mets)—29-27
Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)—26-32
Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays)—18-36
Notable Performances:
The Cincinnati Reds promoted Phil Ervin this week to Double-A despite the fact that his power had all but dried up. The Florida State League is notorious for stifling offenses, but Ervin hadn’t homered since July 19. Since then, he hit .211 with a .348 on base percentage and—are you sitting down?—a .244 slugging percentage. His strikeout rate rose by nearly five percentage points over that span, but that’s not enough to explain his power outage. He finished his stint in the Florida State League with a .242/.338/.379 line with 13 home runs and has already hit his first home run in Double-A.
Fort Myers Miracle pitcher Stephen Gonsalves made two starts this week. In the first one, which came on Tuesday, he shut down the Charlotte Stone Crabs in game one of a doubleheader, throwing seven innings and giving up one run on four hits and seven strikeouts. That gem was the culmination of a 10 start stretch where he had 1.81 ERA. Yesterday, he made his second start of the week and gave up four runs, three earned, in four innings and only struck out one batter. Considering his hot streak he was due for a rough outing, but he’s still pitching to a 2.49 ERA in 13 starts for Fort Myers.
The morning of June 24, Pirates outfield prospect Austin Meadows was hitting .268/.344/.358. In the following 53 games, Meadows was sublime, hitting .345/.368/.466 with five home runs and only 35 strikeouts in 235 plate appearances. Meadows had hit two home runs in the 59 games prior to that stretch. Sunday, Meadows kept the hot bat alive, knocking two hits in a 5-2 loss to the Palm Beach Cardinals. He now has a nine-game hit streak.
Next: California League
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
California League
North
Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks)—35-21
San Jose Giants (Giants)—33-23
Modesto Nuts (Rockies)—29-27
Stockton Ports (Athletics)—27-29
Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners)—26-30
South
High Desert Mavericks (Rangers)—33-23
Lancaster JetHawks (Astros)—29-27
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers)—29-27
Inland Empire 66ers (Angels)—24-32
Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres)—15-41
Notable Performances:
Last time we checked in on Rockies third base prospect Ryan McMahon, we noted the hot bat he was carrying. His season has been rife with streaks both hot and cold, and he’s kept his current hot streak going. He homered twice last Monday and had two hits Friday. From July 6 to August 21, he hit .340/.392/.627 with nine home runs and a unsustainable .413 batting average on balls in play. Sunday, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Tyler O’Neill, a Seattle Mariners outfield prospect, has staked his claim as the most powerful hitter in the California League. Not long ago, Rancho Cucamonga’s Cody Bellinger led the league in home runs, but O’Neill homered in four straight games this week. It was the second time this season he accomplished the feat, the other coming July 31-Aug 3. He’s hit 14 home runs since July 23 and leads the league with 30 to Bellinger’s 27 (Bellinger homered yesterday).
Last week, I highlighted players who were on the “fast track”. You can add Andrew Suarez to that list. The Giants second round pick out of Miami made his first start for the San Jose Giants Thursday, throwing four scoreless innings. He only allowed one hit in that start. The promotion came after making five starts for Class-A Short Season Salem-Keizer, where he posted a 1.40 ERA and 0.85 WHIP.
Next: Carolina League
Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Carolina League
Northern
Lynchburg Hillcats (Indians)—32-24
Frederick Keys (Orioles)—28-28
Potomac Nationals (Nationals)—25-30
Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals)—19-36
Southern
Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox)—35-20
Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)—34-22
Carolina Mudcats (Braves)—30-26
Salem Red Sox (Red Sox)—19-36
Notable Performances:
Wilmington pitcher Alec Mills is struggling. He hasn’t made it out of the fifth inning in his last four starts and has given up at least three earned runs in each of them. He’s only walked three batters, so control hasn’t been the issue. Over those four starts, he gave up 24 hits in 11 2/3 innings and only struck out 10. His most recent start was on Friday and he gave up three runs on seven hits in four innings of work. In spite of the rough stretch, Mills is still having a productive season, posting a 3.19 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in 19 starts.
He was put on the disabled list after pitching four innings in his start Wednesday, but prior to that, Jonathan Martinez was pitching very well. Even though he only pitched four innings Wednesday, he didn’t allow a run and has only allowed one earned run since July 22. Not a strikeout pitcher—he’s only struck out 62 batters in 109 innings—Martinez has walked only 1.9 batters per nine innings pitched and is holding opponent’s to a minuscule .211 BABIP.
Most of the season, Lynchburg’s Mike Papi’s best offensive skill was his ability to draw walks: He’s received 72 free passes, most in the league, this season and is fourth in the league in OBP as a result. He struggled to do that this week, as the walk he drew yesterday was his first since Aug. 14. He’s hitting .236/.361/.345 on the season, but he’s only hitting .194 with a .257 OBP over his past ten games.