Marc Krauss – Photography: Ken Weisenberger

 

By Dan Strittmatter

 

 

Triple-A Reno:

 

INF Ryan Roberts – July 4 & July 5 – 4-8, 2 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, 1:1 K:BB.

 

Roberts put on a heck of a holiday fireworks display weekend at Reno, gathering an astounding 12 total bases in eight at-bats for the Aces. As shake-ups could occur on the Major League roster, Roberts is a strong candidate to receive some significant time in the big leagues later in the 2010 season.

 

 

Double-A Mobile:

 

LHP Wade Miley – July 4 – 7.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R (1 ER), 3 K, 3 BB, 0 HR, W (1-0).

 

Continuing his complete dominance of the Southern League, Miley finally received his first decision by picking up the win against Jacksonville. While the strikeouts-to-walks ratio doesn’t grab your attention, the key for Miley on Sunday — as it has been in his entire time at Mobile — was his ability to induce ground ball outs. Miley recorded 12 ground ball outs, including his fourth GIDP in three starts, against the Suns. His ERA now sits at 0.84 in 21.1 innings for the BayBears, with a 4.22 groundout-to-flyout ratio.

 

 

Hi-A Visalia:

 

CF Alfredo Marte – July 4 – 5-9, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 1:1 K:BB (5-5, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R on the fourth).

LF Marc Krauss – July 4 & July 5 – 5-9, 3 2B, 6 RBI, 2 R, 1:0 K:BB.

1B Paul Goldschmidt – July 4 & July 5 – 4-8, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2:0 K:BB.

3B Ryan Wheeler – July 4 & July 5 – 4-9, 1 3B, 3 R, 1:1 K:BB.

 

The heart of the order was unstoppable for the Rawhide over the past two nights against the Padres’ Lake Elsinore Storm. Combining all of these lines, we have: 18-35, 5 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 13 R, 5:2 K:BB. That is a .514/.541/.971 BA/OBP/SLG line and a 1.512 OPS… from four consecutive hitters in the lineup. And the starting pitching on the mound for Lake Elsinore wasn’t too shabby, either. The Rawhide handed Juan Oramas (6-1) his first loss of the season, bringing his ERA up .62 points from 1.80 to 2.42, and battered Nick Schmidt (4.43 ERA) for five runs in two innings.

 

 

Low-A South Bend:

 

1B/DH Ramon Castillo – July 4 & July 5 (double-header) – 5-11, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R, has recorded a hit in each of his first 13 games for South Bend.

 

Castillo continued to shine in his first exposure to the Midwest League. On the season, he is now 17-49 with six doubles, two homers, 13 RBI, 5 runs, a 4:3 K:BB ratio, and even added a stolen base. His BA/OBP/SLG line stands at .347/.385/.592 for an OPS of .976.

 

 

Short-Season-A Yakima:

 

C Raywilly Gomez – July 4 – 1-2, 1 2B, 1 BB.

 

What is present in Gomez’s line from Sunday, while nice, isn’t particularly noteworthy. But what is noteworthy is what is not in Gomez’s line: a strikeout. As a matter of fact, strikeouts have been missing from all of Gomez’s stat lines in his first 14 games for the Bears in 2010. In 36 plate-appearances, Gomez has drawn five walks, struck out zero times, and recorded ten hits including three doubles, for a BA/OBP/SLG line of .323/.417/.419 and OPS of .836.

 

RHP Miguel Pena – July 4 – 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R (1 ER), 4:0 K:BB.

 

RHP Enrique Burgos – July 5 – 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R (0 ER), 3:2 K:BB.

 

The Bears received a couple of solid starting performances the last two days from Pena and Burgos. Pena continued his strong season, lowering his ERA to 3.94. He worked around two errors behind him to limit the Tri-City Dust Devils to three runs, and induced eight ground ball outs, including a GIDP.

 

Burgos had been struggling with his command for Yakima over his first three appearances, walking 14 in 12.1 innings of work. So even though he didn’t record a ton of punch-outs on Monday, giving up just two free passes is a very encouraging step forward.

 

 

Rookie-level Missoula:

 

RHP Robby Rowland – July 5 – 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R (1 ER), 1:0 K:BB, 0 HR.

 

This year’s third-round pick, Robby Rowland, has gotten his professional career underway for the D-backs at their Rookie-league affiliate, and had an impressive second outing for the Osprey. He didn’t pitch very deep into the game, as the team is monitoring his innings count after he just finished a full high school season, but he certainly was effective.

 

 

Rookie-level Dominican Summer League:

 

CF Wagner Mateo – July 3 and July 5 – 4-9, 1 3B, 5 RBI, 3 R, 1:0 K:BB, 1 SB (0 CS).

 

Mateo, despite being just 17 years old, has been a man among boys in the Dominican Summer League. Despite generally being a very low-scoring league, Mateo has posted a solid .255/.359/.445 BA/OBP/SLG line and .805 OPS for the DSL D-backs. He is 28-for-110 at the plate with nine doubles, three triples, two homers, 23 RBI, 22 runs, and a 35:18 K:BB ratio. Mateo has also flashed his speed on the base paths, stealing ten bases in 13 attempts.

 

Others of note:

·         Mobile left-handed pitcher Leyson Septimo walked one batter in his inning of relief on Sunday, but didn’t allow a hit and struck out the side. Septimo now has an impressive 35 strikeouts in 26.2 innings of work at Mobile in 2010.

·         Outfielder Collin Cowgill has collected three hits for the BayBears in his last two games, including a three-run home run against Jacksonville on Monday.

·         Visalia right-hander Justin Mace was impressive in relief for starter Dan Taylor on the Fourth of July, throwing 2 2/3 no-hit innings, striking out two and walking just one.

·         South Bend center fielder Keon Broxton has recorded four hits in the first three games of their series against Great Lakes, including a double and a pair of triples.

·         Third baseman Raoul Torrez has gotten off to a strong start for Yakima, with three hits in his last two games–a double, a triple, two RBI, a run scored, and a strikeout.

·         Richie Rowland, Robby Rowland’s brother, is also playing for Missoula, and the 21-year-old catcher/DH has 22 hits in his first 46 at-bats, with three homers, four doubles and a 1.281 OPS.

·         2010 44th-round pick Eric Groff has also been impressive for the Osprey. He is 7-for-14 in his last three games, with two doubles, a homer, three RBI, four runs, and just one strikeout.

·         Yiomar Camacho has been arguably the best starter for the DSL D-backs, with a 3.08 ERA in six starts spanning 38 innings, including four straight starts in which he has thrown seven or more innings. He is second on the DSL D-backs with 28 strikeouts.