Down on the Farm - 6/6/13

AAA - Omaha 2 Oklahoma City 1

Asher Wojciechowski pitched 7 shutout innings, but Jake Elmore's throwing error on a would-be game ending double-play ball in the bottom of the 9th tied the game, and closer Jose Valdez balked in the winning run with 2 outs as the Storm Chasers stole one from the RedHawks 2-1. Robbie Grossman drew a pair of walks and stole a base while scoring Oklahoma City's only run. Jason Stoffel pitched another scoreless inning, but did walk a pair of hitters. Stoffel has given up just 7 hits in 18 2/3 innings in AAA and is holding opposing hitters to an average of .115.

AA - Midland 14 Corpus Christi 4

The RockHounds scored 10 runs in the final 3 innings as they turned a 4-4 nailbiter into a 14-4 blowout. The Hooks (36-23) managed just 5 hits including George Springer's 16th double of the year. Jonathan Singleton went 0 for 3 with an rbi but struck out twice. Andrew Robinson didn't allow a run in 1 1/3 innings of relief.

Advanced A - San Jose 8 Lancaster 3

Chris Epps hit a 2-run homer in the 9th, but it was too little, too late as the Giants buried the JetHawks (35-25) by a score of 8-3. Nolan Fontana tripled and walked in 4 trips and Delino DeShields stole his 15th base, but Tyson Perez (2-4, 7.39) surrendered 7 runs in the first 4 innings and the Hooks never recovered. Jonas Dufek tossed 2 scoreless innings and Travis Ballew struck out 2 in his one shutout inning of work. Ballew now has 39 strikeouts in 22 innings of work this season.

Low A - Quad Cities 9 Cedar Rapids 5

Carlos Correa got the better of Byron Buxton in this one as the River Bandits (33-25) upended the Kernels 9-5. Correa went 3 for 4 with a double, a homer and 5 rbis while Buxton went 0 for 4 with a pair of strikeouts. The River Bandits took advantage of 8 walks and 4 errors to score 9 runs on just 6 hits. Jamaine Cotton earned his first win of the year with 3 1/3 solid innings of work out of the pen in which he allowed just one earned run and fanned three.

DSL - DSL Royals 3 DSL Astros 1

Brauly Mejia hit the Astros (2-3) first home run of the year, but the Royals rallied from an early deficit and defeated them 3-1. Geronimo Franzua pitched 5 solid innings allowing just 2 hits and 2 runs, but walked 5 and was saddled with the loss. The 19 year old lefty did pick 3 runners off first base in the game though. Yonquelys Martinez added 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief. The Astros drew 9 walks, but were again victimized by 4 double plays and couldn't get a big hit when it counted. Luis Payano drew 3 walks and Kristian Trompiz drew 2 in a losing effort.

Down on the Farm - 6/2/13

AAA - Albuquerque 4 Oklahoma City 2

Brandon Laird hit a 2-run homer in the first inning, but that was all the offense the RedHawks (31-24) could muster in a 4-2 defeat. Jonathan Villar had a pair of singles and a steal, and Brett Wallace and Fernando Martinez each had doubles, but Oklahoma City was just 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position in the game. Ross Seaton started and took the loss allowing all 4 Isotopes runs in 5 2/3 innings. Jason Stoffel continued his ridiculous run with 1 1/3 perfect innings in relief. His AAA ERA is now 1.53 and opposing hitters are batting just .119 against him in 13 appearances since his promotion.

AA - Corpus Christi 5 Arkansas 3 (8 innings, Game 1)

Jose Martinez returned from the DL and went 3 for 4 and Domingo Santana tripled, homered and scored three times as the Hooks (34-21) won game one of their doubleheader 5-3. Martinez hit a one out double in the 8th, Santana scored him with a triple and then crossed the plate himself on a sacrifice fly off the bat of George Springer. Mike Foltynewicz started the game on the mound and allowed just 1 run in 4 1/3 innings while fanning 5. Pat Urckfitz earned the win in relief with 2 scoreless innings to improve to 3-2 on the year.

Corpus Christi 13 Arkansas 9 (Game 2)

David Martinez was spotted a 10-0 lead after half an inning, but failed to improve to 9-0 on the year as he failed to get through 3 innings. Jose Martinez went 4 for 5, George Springer homered and drove in 5 runs and Domingo Santana hit his second home run of the day as the Hooks swept the doubleheader and improved to 35-21 on the year.  Martinez, Springer and Ben Orloff all scored 3 times for the Hooks   and Matt Heidenreich (3-3, 6.75) earned the win with 4 innings of solid relief.

Advanced A - Lancaster 16 Visalia 1

Chris Epps and MP Cokinos combined to go 6 for 9 with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 11 runs batted in as the JetHawks (35-21) crushed the Rawhide 16-1. Joe Sclafani went 2 for 2 with 3 walks, Brandon Meredith homered and Preston Tucker extended his hitting streak to 17 games while all 3 players scored 3 runs in the game. David Rollins improved to 5-3 on the year with 5 shutout innings and Tyson Perez earned the save by allowing just 1 run in his 4 innings of relief. Delino DeShields stole two bases to give him 14 on the year.

Low A - Quad Cities 3 Beloit 2

Lance McCullers Jr threw 5 shutout innings and earned his second win of the season while lowering his ERA on the year to 1.70 as the River Bandits hung on for a 3-2 win over the Snappers. Teoscar Hernandez and Jordan Scott each had 2 hits to lead the offense while Jonathan Singleton again showed his human side going 0 for 3 with a walk and a strikeout. Cameron Lamb got the final 2 outs for his 3rd save of the season.

5 Under the Radar Prospects, Volume 2

Joe Sclafani - Lancaster JetHawks - 2B/SS

Sclafani hasn't slowed down at all for the JetHawks and has had multi-hit games in each of his last 5 starts. Last year's 14th round pick out of Dartmouth has 40 walks and just 18 strikeouts on the year, and since his promotion he's hitting .393 with a Barry Bonds-esque .523 on base percentage. He's added a pair of home runs and 11 steals on the year and he's scored 39 runs in 41 games. Originally called up to Lancaster to fill in at second for the injured Delino DeShields Jr., he's now starting at short in place of the injured Nolan Fontana. With the way he's been hitting it will be interesting to see what happens when Fontana returns. If you want to nitpick, Sclafani has made 9 errors this season, but other than that, there's not a lot of bad things you can say about the way he's been playing.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
QC	MID	.241	19	58	13	14	3	0	0	9	17	17	7	3	2	.430	.293	.723
LAN	CAL	.393	22	84	26	33	6	0	2	17	45	23	11	8	0	.523	.536	1.059
Minors		.331	41	142	39	47	9	0	2	26	62	40	18	11	2	.484	.437	.921

Preston Tucker - Lancaster JetHawks - RF/LF

Who's leading all Astros minor leaguers in rbis? Not George Springer. Not Marc Krauss. Not Domingo Santana. It's the JetHawks left-handed slugger Preston Tucker, a 7th round pick out of Florida in 2012. Tucker's not going to be under the radar much longer as he's in the midst of a 17 game hitting streak raising his average up to .318. He's driven in 57 runs on the year and leads the JetHawks with 11 homers, 50 runs, 69 hits and he's only struck out 36 times in 217 ABs. A first baseman in college, Tucker's recorded 4 outfield assists this year splitting time between right and left field with just one error.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
LAN	CAL	.318	55	217	50	69	14	1	11	57	118	25	36	2	0	.387	.544	.931
Minors		.318	55	217	50	69	14	1	11	57	118	25	36	2	0	.387	.544	.931

Chris Epps - Lancaster JetHawks - OF

A 45th Round Pick in 2011, Epps hit just .203 (13/63) in his first 19 games this season, but has been absolutely on fire lately hitting .433 (26/60) in the 15 games since then. While his skillset doesn't appear to be conducive to the Major Leagues - he doesn't hit for enough power to be a corner outfielder and scouts say he doesn't have the range to play centerfield in the Majors - he's been doing just about everything right with the bat lately. In just 123 at bats, Epps has 14 doubles, 3 triples, and 5 homers and is averaging almost an rbi a game. He does strike out a little too much (41 times in 123 at bats), but it's hard to argue with his production. In an outfield with Andrew Aplin and Tucker, and being a 45th round pick, Epps tends to get overlooked, but we'll give him some props here.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
LAN	CAL	.317	34	123	25	39	14	3	5	33	74	18	41	5	3	.399	.602	1.000
Minors		.317	34	123	25	39	14	3	5	33	74	18	41	5	3	.399	.602	1.00

Jordan Scott - Quad Cities River Bandits - OF

Scott has quietly been having a very good season for the River Bandits. Drafted in the 14th round back in 2010, but still just 21 years old, Scott is hitting .285 with 13 steals and has more walks (33) than strikeouts (32). Scott has been playing particularly well lately going 12 for 24 in his last 10 games with 9 walks, good for an on base percentage of .636. After hitting .217 in April, he batted .319 in May. He's second on the team in runs, triples and steals behind leadoff hitter Teoscar Hernandez and he leads the team in walks and on base percentage.

Team	League	AVG	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	TB	BB	SO	SB	CS	OBP	SLG	OPS
QC	MID	.285	51	137	30	39	5	2	0	13	48	33	32	13	4	.421	.350	.771
Minors		.285	51	137	30	39	5	2	0	13	48	33	32	13	4	.421	.350	.771

Michael Dimock - Lancaster JetHawks - RHP

A 37th Round Pick out of Wake Forest in 2012, Dimock started the year by going 5-0 in 10 relief appearances for Quad Cities. Since his promotion to Lancaster, all he's done is throw 5 1/3 innings without allowing a hit. On the year, the former collegiate closer is holding batters to a .121 average and his WHIP is a ridiculous 0.59 in 14 games.

Team	League	W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	GO/AO	AVG
QC	MID	5	0	3.09	10	0	0	0	0	11.2	7	4	4	1	2	15	0.40	.163
LAN	CAL	0	0	1.69	4	0	0	0	0	5.1	0	1	1	0	1	2	0.27	.000
Minors		5	0	2.65	14	0	0	0	0	17.0	7	5	5	1	3	17	0.35	.121