Category: Dailies
D-backs acquire Hudson and Holmberg
Dan Hudson — Christian Petersen/Getty Images
By Greg Salvatore
The D-backs have traded right-handed starting pitcher Edwin Jackson to the Chicago White Sox for right-handed starter Dan Hudson and left-handed starter David Holmberg.
Hudson was ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the White Sox’ organization by Baseball Prospectus coming into the 2010 season, and the No. 4 prospect by Baseball America. ESPN’s Keith Law ranked him No. 3 in the Chicago system.
Hudson started three games in the big leagues for the White Sox this season (6.32 ERA) and 17 at Triple-A, where he went 11-4 with a 3.47 era and 108 strikeouts in 93 1/3 innings. His strikeout and walk numbers in the minors this year were consistent with the excellent rates he’s put up throughout his minor league career, whiffing 10.6 batters (10.4 in 2010) per nine innings and walking 2.5 (3.0 in 2010).
Hudson, a fifth-round pick in 2008 out of Old Dominion, has allowed 24 home runs in 310 1/3 minor league innings in his career (a very solid 0.7 per nine), which is a good number to look at to find future success at homer-friendly Chase Field.
Hudson, like Joe Saunders, who was acquired in the Dan Haren deal, will take a rotation spot immediately.
Holmberg was a second round pick in 2009 and has played this season at Great Falls in the Rookie-level Pioneer League. Baseball America and Law both ranked Holmberg No. 8 in their White Sox prospects list, while Baseball Prospectus had him at No. 10.
The D-backs now have nine of the top 80 picks from the 2009 draft — Bobby Borchering (16), AJ Pollock (17), Matt Davidson (35), Chris Owings (41), Mike Belfiore (45), Eric Smith (60), Marc Krauss (64), Holmberg (71), and Patrick Corbin (80) — and could wind up with a 10th, depending on the identity of the player to be named later in the Haren deal.
Holmberg, who just turned 19 last week, is the youngest and furthest from the Majors among the players the D-backs acquired in the two trades this week. He put up a 4.46 ERA in the Pioneer League this year, striking out 29 and walking just nine in 40 1.3 innings. His strikeout rate is alright, walk rate excellent and home run rate (0.4 per nine) also excellent. The runs seem to come from the hits he’s allowed (52 in 40 1/3 innings), so he’ll have to work on missing bats a bit more.
He faced Missoula, the D-backs affiliate club in the Pioneer League, twice this year, with similar results both times. On July 2, he went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk, with three strikeouts. On July 12, he went six innings allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Minor League Report
Brandon Allen — Photography: Jon Willey
By Dan Strittmatter
Triple-A Reno:
1B Brandon Allen – Last seven games – 11-25, 7 HR, 13 RBI, 11 R, 6:7 K:BB, 1 SB (0 CS).
Yes, Brandon Allen has seven home runs in his last seven games. He started the season horrendously by his standards (.757 OPS in April) then wound up on the DL in early May. But since returning, Allen has played so well, with a line of .435/.607/1.042 (OBP/SLG/OPS), that his overall season OPS is now up at an impressive .962, with 18 home runs, 15 doubles and a pair of triples amongst his 68 hits. To add on to this, his season K:BB ratio is 66:59. Extremely impressive.
Double-A Mobile:
OF Collin Cowgill – Last five games – 9-22, 3 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 3:2 K:BB, 2 SB (0 CS).
Cowgill has been filling the box score for the BayBears lately, and his season numbers have started to look extremely impressive. His line this season stands at .367/.480/.847, and, regardless of what many say about his short size, 19 total bases in five games is some nice power production. Add a few walks for on-base skills, a couple of stolen bases, and trademark good defense in the corner outfield, and you have evidence that Cowgill is starting to adapt to the upper levels of the minor leagues, with the Hi-A to Double-A jump often considered the most difficult to make (outside of going to the Major Leagues).
Hi-A Visalia:
RHP Chase Anderson – July 24 – 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 7:1 K:BB, 2/0 GO/FO.
Anderson’s innings may be under strict watch in his first full season of professional baseball, but he’s certainly finding plenty of opportunities to leave a strong impression on his organization. The last time Anderson had pitched, 10 days before his outing on Saturday, Anderson had his worst outing of the season, giving up five runs on a walk and two homers, though he struck out three batters in three innings of work. On Saturday, though, Anderson flat-out refused to let batters put the ball in the air or get it out of the infield, not to mention hit one out of the park. The only two batters to make contact grounded out. After walking Stephen Parker to start the eighth inning, Anderson struck out the next three batters in order to make sure Parker didn’t go anywhere. Now that is the definition of “dominant.”
Low-A South Bend:
OF Ender Inciarte – July 28 – 3-4, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 SB (0 CS).
Inciarte’s year has been disappointing overall, with just a .534 OPS at South Bend in two stints there, and a .614 OPS in a stint at Yakima after being sent down. But Inciarte was unstoppable at the plate Wednesday. He had three hits: a ninth-inning, go-ahead homer that would be the difference in the game, a triple, and a single (after which he stole second base). For a guy that’s still only 19 years old and is playing in full-season ball, don’t let a bad half of a season sour you on the possible bright future this kid has.
Short-Season-A Yakima:
RHP Enrique Burgos – July 26 – 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2:1 K:BB, 7/7 GO/FO.
Walks and command have been a huge problem for Burgos this year, with 26 free-passes allowed in 36 1/3 innings helping lead to a disappointing 5.94 ERA for the big Panamanian prospect. So seeing Burgos allow just a single walk in his solid six-inning appearance on Monday was a nice step forward. And even though two Ks is underwhelming, the strikeouts will come with the stuff that Burgos has once his control is refined.
Rookie-level Missoula:
RHP J.R. Bradley – July 24 – 5 IP, 5 H, 2 R (2 ER), 6:0 K:BB, 1 HR, 5/3 GO/FO.
The D-backs’ 18-year-old, 2010 second-round pick had his best outing of the season on Sunday as the team builds up his innings totals going into 2011. He pitched five innings for the first time, and also had his highest strikeout total of the season. While his ERA still is underwhelming, his 14:6 K:BB ratio in 19 innings and 1.28 GO/FO ratio are certainly not.
Rookie-level Dominican Summer League:
OF Wagner Mateo – Last five games – 9-19, 3 2B, 8 RBI, 5 R, 4:4 K:BB, 1 HBP.
Mateo has continued to put up good numbers for the DSL D-backs, and has been particularly impressive lately. Hitting cleanup for manager Juan Ballara, Mateo has been a constant source of offense in a league that heavily favors pitching. Mateo has struck out in somewhere near a third of his at-bats this year, 51 K’s in 167 AB’s, so to see him strike out four times in 19 at-bats, while not a great rate, is certainly improvement, and is particularly nice to see.
Others of note:
· Acquired in the Dan Haren trade, right-handed pitcher Rafael Rodriguez made his debut for the Triple-A Reno Aces on Monday, striking out a batter and giving up a walk, two hits, and a run in two innings of work. Rodriguez induced four groundball outs and just one out in the air.
· Right-handed pitcher Bryan Woodall hasn’t allowed an earned run in any of his three appearances, spanning 5 1/3 innings, for the Mobile BayBears since being called up from Hi-A Visalia. He has given up four hits, struck out six batters and not conceded a walk or a homer. To top it off, his GO/FO ratio is a staggering 2.33 (though this number is down from the unreal 3.83 ratio he posted at Visalia).
· We’ll stop mentioning him when he stops hitting… Paul Goldschmidt‘s last three games have been superb – five hits in 12 at-bats, all of them for extra-bases: three doubles and a pair of homers to drive in seven runs. Goldschmidt now has 28 home runs on the year. This is getting a bit ridiculous.
· Also acquired in the Dan Haren trade, lefthanded pitcher Patrick Corbin has been assigned to Hi-A Visalia.
· South Bend left-hander Michael Belfiore lasted just 4 2/3 innings in his second outing back from the DL, but struck out six while walking three and allowing three hits. He gave up three runs, but just one of them was earned.
· Matt Davidson continues to thrive for the Silver Hawks. In his last three games, he has four hits, three of them doubles, has not struck out and has recorded a walk.
· In his last five games for the Yakima Bears, Raywilly Gomez hasn’t struck out a single time, recording six hits and a pair of walks, including a home run. The switch-hitting catcher has just four Ks in 76 at-bats in 2010 while drawing eleven walks. His OBP is an incredible .398 and his OPS is .832.
· Kevin Eichhorn had yet another good outing for the Rookie-level Missoula Osprey. Though he threw just 5 1/3 innings, he struck out eight batters and gave up only a single earned run.
· DSL D-backs pitcher Juan Valdez picked up a save on Monday by throwing three frames in which he conceded just a single unearned run. He struck out four, allowed just one hit and lowered his season ERA to 1.62.
A Look at the Arms Coming to Arizona
Jeff Gross/Getty Images
By Dan Strittmatter
A quick look at the pieces acquired by the Arizona Diamondbacks from the Los Angeles Angels for right-handed pitcher Dan Haren:
– LHP Joe Saunders
Saunders was an All-Star in 2008 when he posted a 3.41 ERA and 17-7 record in 31 starts for the Angels, though he has seen his numbers dip since. Not a big strikeout guy (career 5.10 K/9IP), he is at his best when limiting free passes, something he has struggled with on the whole this year (3.36 K/9IP, 2.98 for his career). However, he has pitched very effectively as of late, with a 3.48 ERA in his last five starts, spanning 33 2/3 innings, and has a 3.80 ERA in his 14 starts since May 8, spanning 90 innings.
– LHP Patrick Corbin
Corbin is in the midst of his second season of professional 
baseball, and has lit up the Midwest and California Leagues. He works with three big-league quality pitches, and while he may not sport top-of-the-rotation stuff, he has racked up plenty of strikeouts in the low minors, 152 strikeouts in 165 innings in his career, with 106 of them coming in his 118 2/3 innings in 2010. Add to those numbers a total of just 39 career walks, 28 of them in 2010, with high ground-ball-to-fly-ball ratios, and Corbin is a pitcher who simply doesn’t have any major flaws in how he pitches.
Perhaps where Corbin has been most impressive is the Hi-A California League, due to its notoriety as a hitter-friendly league with warm, thin air and some tight ballparks. In his eleven starts for Rancho Cucamonga, the Angels’ Cal League affiliate, Corbin struck out over a batter per inning, racking up 64 strikeouts while walking just 18 in 60 1/3 innings of work. His GO/AO ratio was also a fantastic 1.51:1 for Rancho Cucamonga.
Corbin has been assigned to Hi-A Visalia, the D-backs’ affiliate in the Cal League.
– RHP Rafael Rodriguez
Rodriguez comes to the D-backs as another solution for the team’s bullpen woes, and boasts an impressive Triple-A track record to back it up. He posted a 1.85 ERA in 22 games, spanning 34 innings, at Triple-A Salt Lake in the Pacific Coast League in 2009 before spending 18 games pitching out the Angels’ big-league pen. He posted a 3.04 ERA for Salt Lake in 37 appearances in 2010 prior to the trade.
Rodriguez has been assigned to Triple-A Reno, the D-backs affiliate in the Pacific Coast League. He debuted yesterday for the Aces.
– An important, final piece of the deal (there was one player to be named later) should be announced later this year, and we’ll have a look at him when the official announcement is made.
Josh Collmenter — Beating the Odds
Photography: Reno Aces
By Dan Strittmatter
Josh Collmenter isn’t supposed to be a top prospect.
He was a 15th round draft pick by the D-backs in 2007 out of Central Michigan University, 463rd overall. To put that in some perspective, there are just 11 other prospects from that round of that year’s draft who have played in the minors in 2010. Just two of them, Reds pitcher Chuckie Fick and Cardinals pitcher Matt Klinker, have reached the Triple-A level, and both of them have ERA’s above 5.30 there.
Even strictly from a scouting perspective, it would be easy to simply pass over Collmenter. His fastball tops out on the radar gun in the low-90’s, sitting in the upper-80’s. But the 24-year-old right hander has made himself into a serious prospect by simply continuing to get guys out in bunches.
It shouldn’t be a total surprise — it’s not as if succeeding in an uphill battle is a new story for Collmenter. Just getting to Central Michigan was a struggle in itself.
“Coming out of high school from a really small high school,” Collmenter said, “I didn’t get a chance to play Division I baseball until the very end (of his high school baseball career) – I signed with Central Michigan in July of the summer going into (college).”
It’s now safe to assume that CMU was extremely happy that he did sign there. Collmenter spent three seasons at Central Michigan, dominating the Mid-American Conference and establishing himself as one of the university’s best ever players. In each of his three seasons there, he posted ERAs below 3.50 — 2.70 as a freshman, 3.41 as a sophomore, and an absurd 1.93 as a junior when he carried a 117-to-26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 116 1/3 innings.
His trophy case is chock full of awards from that Junior season: MAC Pitcher of the Year, All-MAC first team, All-Mideast Region first team, All-America third team by Baseball America, Great Lakes Region Pitcher of the Year by InsidePitching.com, Academic All-District IV second team, Academic All-MAC, and CMU’s Most Valuable Player. Collmenter also holds Central Michigan’s all-time career records for wins (24) and strikeouts (288). As icing on the cake, he also had a solid stint in the highly-competitive fall Cape Cod League between his sophomore and junior years, throwing 26 innings for the Hyannis Mets, striking out 26, walking eight and carrying a 2.42 ERA.
But there were a couple of concerns that made him slip so far in the draft to the D-backs. First, Collmenter was facing weaker college competition than some of his big-conference peers, though his Cape Cod stint helped assuage this concern. Second, his radar gun readings, as mentioned above, weren’t off the charts. And third, Collmenter has very unorthodox throwing mechanics.
D-backs fans may recall that when Brandon Webb was receiving instruction from Dr. James Andrews about lowering his arm slot, he was told that most starting pitchers work from an arm slot between 88 and 102 degrees (where zero degrees is straight down, moving up the side of your pitching arm). Collmenter’s delivery is almost directly above his head — he bends his body backwards to allow his arm to follow through.
One might think that this delivery was unnatural and could place added stress on his arm. Yet, Collmenter never felt anything out of the ordinary. He didn’t even realize his mechanics were unusual until he saw video of himself pitching.
“I really didn’t see exactly how I threw until my senior year (of high school) when my mom got some footage that she put together for a graduation DVD,” Collmenter said. “And that was the first time I’d ever seen how unique my wind-up is. It’s just natural. From when I first picked up a baseball, that’s how I’ve thrown all of my life.”
While unusual, this creates incredible deception in Collmenter’s delivery. The ball is hard for batters to pick up as he releases it since it appears to come out from behind his head. Thus, his high-80’s fastball jumps on hitters much faster than that reading would suggest. Add the deception provided by his best pitch, a good change-up, and you’re left with a very uneasy hitter in the batter’s box. And Collmenter credits his college coaching for the development of that change-up.
“Going into college, my pitching coach loved (the delivery), and loved the deception. That’s really where I developed the change-up I have now, and it’s continuing to get better,” Collmenter said. “(His coach said) ‘With that arm angle and the ability to hide the ball, that change-up is going to be your best pitch.’ I hadn’t thrown a change-up up until then, and he’s turned out to be absolutely right.”
Just like at Central Michigan, and despite the odds piled against him, the results have been stellar at every level of the minors where Collmenter has been in the D-backs’ system. He posted a 2.71 ERA at Short-season A Yakima after being drafted in ’07. The next year, he followed with a 3.41 ERA in 145 1/3 innings at Low-A South Bend. And, last year, Collmenter led the entire D-backs’ farm system with his 152 strikeouts at Hi-A Visalia.
To start 2010, Collmenter was back at Visalia, but only because of a lack of open rotation spots in the upper levels of the minors, and he certainly was not there for very long. Collmenter made just three starts for the Rawhide before being promoted. But not to Double-A Mobile — Collmenter made the jump up to Triple-A Reno because the Aces had an empty rotation spot. He threw seven shutout innings in his debut for Reno, but after a three more starts, was sent to Mobile while Wes Roemer had earned a promotion to Reno by tearing apart the Southern League to the tune of a 2.39 ERA.
Collmenter pitched incredibly well in his nine starts in the Southern League, with a 56-to-18 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 62 1/3 innings of work for the BayBears and an incredible 1.59 ERA. He also threw two complete games, including a complete-game shutout.
While at Mobile, Collmenter also had the experience of seeing one of his teammates, Barry Enright, called up to the Major Leagues. Enright had been picked 13 rounds ahead of Collmenter in the 2007 draft, and the two had played for the Yakima Bears in ’07, though they spent 2008 and 2009 at different affiliates. Collmenter reflected on watching Enright pitch, and have success, in the big leagues.
“I’ve definitely followed him. He threw really well last night (July 20 @ Chase Field – 8 IP, 1 R, 8 K, 1 BB) against a pretty good Mets team. Seeing that he’s had success not only builds confidence that ‘hey, I can make this jump, too,’ but also in the Diamondbacks’ management, that we have some guys in the system that, if called upon, can get the job done. It maybe paves the way for us.”
His stellar numbers in Double-A also earned him a spot on the Southern League All-Star Team with eight of his teammates, despite having spent just over half of his season at the level. But even his All-Star invitation had a funky delivery. The BayBears are in the Southern Division of the Southern League, and eight of their All-Star representatives played for the Southern Division team. But as the game approached, the Northern Division needed an extra pitcher.
So, Collmenter was chosen to start the game for the Northern Division squad… against his own teammates. The official Southern League Transactions Report page even has a note from July 12 saying that Collmenter had been “assigned to SOU North Division All-Stars from SOU South Division All-Stars.”
He threw two scoreless innings, allowing two hits, a walk and struck out two to earn the win. He retired Mobile teammates OF Evan Frey on a groundout and OF Collin Cowgill on a pop-up, while C Konrad Schmidt, who has caught many of Collmenter’s starts, drew a walk. After his two innings, he went into the Northern Division dugout, collected high-fives, then went back into the locker room to change uniforms and joined the Southern Division dugout.
“The All- Star Game was fun, and I got to face three of my own hitters,” he said, “almost like a Spring Training game.”
To add to hilarity of the situation, that start — picking up a win against an All-Star team that included eight of his Mobile teammates — was Collmenter’s last start as a BayBear, as he was transferred back to Triple-A Reno following the All-Star Game, with Visalia RHP Bryan Woodall taking his place.
“The first time (being promoted to Reno) was a little more relaxed because no one really knows what to expect making the jump from A-ball to Triple-A,” Collmenter said. “Now, coming back up here after having some success in Double-A is exciting because you’re getting yourself that much closer to realizing your goal and everyone’s dream of being a Major League player.”
But Collmenter is trying to keep himself levelheaded while on the mound amidst the chaos of back-and-forth promotions.
“I guess I’m just trying to have fun and enjoy it, and let the stuff on the mound take care of itself,” he said. “And not worry about what I have to do, but just worry about what I can do.”
Without a doubt, Collmenter has had a marvelous 2010 campaign. With the organization demonstrating its willingness to promote pitchers quickly, such as Enright’s jump from Double-A to the Majors, Collmenter could may find himself at the Major League level sooner rather than later. And Collmenter, despite facing slim odds since the very beginning of his pro career, is motivated to make it in the Majors.
“I always continue to work hard, and it’s fun to be able to prove people wrong – to be able to go in and say ‘I know what I’m doing,’ have success and to continue to build on it,” he said. “You have to continue to prove yourself year-in and year-out in this game. One bad year and that could be the end of it.”
Minor League Report
Mike Belfiore — Photo courtesy South Bend Silver Hawks
By Dan Strittmatter
Triple-A Reno:
The Aces have had the last three days off for their All-Star break, and begin play again tonight against the Tacoma Rainiers — Aces pitcher Wes Roemer will face off against Rainiers starter Ian Snell, the 28-year-old right-hander who has spent parts of seven seasons, including this season, in the Majors.
Double-A Mobile:
3B Kory Casto – July 14 – 2-for-4, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, 1:1 K:BB
The BayBears have played one game, a 10-9 victory over Jacksonville on Wednesday, since the last report after finishing up their All-Star break, with nine BayBears featured in the Southern League All-Star Game, though two of those players have since been promoted to Triple-A Reno (detailed below). Kasto was the star of the game, scoring all three times he reached base, recording an RBI groundout in the first and clubbing a solo homer in the bottom of the third.
High-A Visalia:
RHP Charles Brewer – July 12 – W (3-1 @ Visalia), 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R (0 ER), 7:1 K:BB, 0 HR, 11/2 GO/FO.
Since his first rough start at Visalia, Brewer has returned to his former, dominant self in his three starts since, recording three consecutive wins for the Rawhide. In those three starts, Brewer has thrown 22 1/3 innings, allowing a mere 12 hits and three runs (all earned) while striking out 20 Cal League batters. He has also conceded a mere three walks and a single homer in that span. Despite starting his High-A career with a 16.20 ERA, the 2009 12th round pick has since brought that number down to 3.16.
Low-A South Bend:
1B Ramon Castillo – July 12 & July 14 – 5-for-8, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 5 R.
Castillo just continues to rake, and has displayed a ton of power for his size (listed at 5’11”, 190 lbs.). He now has hit safely in all but one of his 21 games with the Silver Hawks, having collected as many doubles as strikeouts (nine) to go with four home runs in 82 at-bats. His BA/OBP/SLG line is .329/.382/.585 for a .967 OPS, the highest mark on the team by nearly a hundred points (Matt Davidson next at .869), and in a strong pitcher’s league where, according to Baseball-Reference.com, the average OPS is a mere .704.
CF Keon Broxton – July 11, 12 & 14 – 6-for-15, 3 3B, 1 R, 4:0 K:BB, 1 SB (1 CS).
While Broxton hasn’t been involved in a lot of run-scoring over the last few days, it certainly hasn’t been his fault. Broxton has come alive at the plate in July, much like most of the South Bend lineup. After posting monthly OPS totals of .745 in April, .584 in May, and .597 in June, Broxton has an OPS of .855 from a BA/OBP/SLG line of .288/.364/.492 through 14 contests in July, recording five triples and two doubles amongst his 17 hits.
Short-Season-A Yakima:
2B/3B Raoul Torrez – July 14 – 3-for-5, 1 RBI, 2 R, 2 SB (0 CS).
Torrez’s line on Wednesday is a pretty fitting microcosm for the set of skills that he has brought to Yakima in his nine games there. The 2010 21st round pick out of Arizona State has hit .294 with a .385 on-base percentage for the Bears. Further, he has been successful in six of his seven stolen-base attempts and 4-for-5 in his last two games. The only aspect of Torrez’s game not on display Wednesday was his surprising power (for his 5-foot-10 frame), as he has also recorded a double, triple, and home run among his ten hits.
Rookie-level Missoula:
1B Bobby Stone – July 11, 12 & 14 – 7-for-11, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 5 R, 0:3 K:BB.
After a disappointing stint at South Bend, the 20-year-old Stone was sent back to Missoula to regain some confidence and continue to work on shortening his swing, and has been, as you would hope, putting up the best numbers of his career. He has an OPS of .801 with an absurd .408 on-base percentage, and is in the midst of a fantastic three-game stretch.
Rookie-level Dominican Summer League:
RHP Juan Valdez – July 14 – 2 IP, 1 H, 4/2 GO/FO, the rest zeros.
The 18-year-old Valdez has been very impressive in the DSL this year, striking out six in 11 1/3 innings without issuing a walk and surrendering just one home run. Of course, a sample that small in the pitcher-friendly DSL is nothing to get hyped up about, but Valdez is a guy to certainly keep an eye on, as a 2.38 ERA is nothing to ignore.
Others of note:
· Some recent movement within the minor leagues:
o Assigned to Triple-A Reno:
§ RHP Joshua Collmenter from Double-A Mobile.
§ LHP Leyson Septimo from Double-A Mobile.
o Assigned to Double-A Mobile:
§ RHP Bryan Augenstein from Triple-A Reno.
§ RHP Bryan Woodall from High-A Visalia.
o Assigned to Hi-A Visalia:
§ RHP Eric Smith from Low-A South Bend.
§ 2010 27th round pick SS Niko Gallego.
§ RHP William Harvil from Rookie-level Missoula.
· OF Ollie Linton and C Konrad Schmidt also reached base three times for Mobile in Wednesday’s game. Linton collected three hits, including a double and scored three times, though he struck out twice. Schmidt collected a pair of hits, including a double, 2 RBI, a run scored and a walk.
· Mobile left-hander Pat McAnaney had one of his best starts of the season Wednesday, striking out six and scattering seven hits and a walk over five innings, allowing two runs (one earned). He did not factor in the decision.
· RHP Daniel Stange has been getting himself back on track at Double-A, and retired all four batters he faced on Wednesday, three of them by strikeout.
· RHP Bryan Woodall ended his time with the Rawhide with his ninth save of the season, striking out four batters in 1 2/3 perfect innings of work in Monday’s win.
· C Rossmel Perez and OF Alfredo Marte were perhaps the lone bright spots in Visalia’s ugly loss on Wednesday, combining to drive in all five of the Rawhide’s runs. Perez went 2-for-3 with a home run, 3 RBI, a run scored, and a sacrifice fly. Marte went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI, a run and two strikeouts.
· South Bend left-hander Michael Belfiore is scheduled to make his first start since June 19 tonight. He was put on the DL with a forearm strain.
· 2009 Sandwich-round pick 3B/DH Matt Davidson has been white-hot through 11 games in July, with a BA/OBP/SLG line of .357/.449/.548 – a .997 OPS – in, as mentioned above, a heavy pitcher’s league.
· Fellow ’09 draftee, first-rounder 3B/DH Bobby Borchering has also been having his best month of the season in July, hitting .328/.381/.466 through 14 games this month for an OPS of .846.
· South Bend reliever Brian Budrow threw two fantastic innings on Wednesday, recording five of his six outs through the strikeout without walking a batter. Unfortunately, he also conceded a run due to a bad-luck stream of singles.
· CF Westley Moss also went 3-for-5, including a triple, for the Bears on Wednesday, driving in two runs and scoring three with a pair of stolen bases of his own.
· The Yakima bullpen has thrown 14 1/3 innings in the team’s last three games without allowing a single earned run.
· Missoula C Jae Yun Kim is also in the midst of a pretty impressive three-game stretch, collecting six hits in his last nine at-bats with two doubles, an RBI, two runs scored, and a 1:2 K:BB ratio.
Catch CY in the Home Run Derby Tonight!
Photography: Jon Willey
By Greg Salvatore
Don’t forget to tune to ESPN at 5 p.m. Arizona time tonight to root for Chris Young in the State Farm Home Run Derby!
Young is just the second D-backs player to compete in the Derby, though the team does have a good record so far–the only prior competitor, Luis Gonzalez, won the event in 2001.
“If I can get something up in the zone, something I can elevate and get out of the yard is pretty much what I’m doing,” Young said. “I’ve talked to Jermaine Dye and I’ve talked to some of these guys up here, and you know, endurance is the big thing. I try to not get too excited out there and not swing at every pitch.”
When the competitors were asked how they think they’ll be received if they’re winners of the Derby, Young joked that he expects nothing short of a king’s treatment.
“The long shot that I win it, I want all of these guys to carry me off the field,” he said, laughing.
Minor League Report
By Dan Strittmatter
Triple-A Reno:
LF Doug Deeds – July 6 & July 7 – 5-for-8, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 4 R, 2:3 K:BB.
Deeds responded well to being named Reno’s replacement for promoted pitcher Jordan Norberto on the Pacific Coast League All-Star Team, going on an offensive binge as the Aces lost a pair of high-scoring games to the Sacramento RiverCats due to some shaky pitching performances. Yesterday’s 4-for-5 explosion drove Deeds’ batting average up to .310 on the year, hitting primarily in the leadoff spot for the Aces.
Double-A Mobile:
The Entire Lineup – July 6
Yes, everybody. The BayBears collected 18 hits on Tuesday, easily routing the Jacksonville Suns 9-1. Here are the numbers for batters 1-8, each of whom recorded at least one hit (and Jacob Elmore drew a pinch-hit walk in the nine-hole, so every position in the lineup reached base at least once):
· 1 – CF Evan Frey: 3-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 2 R, 1 HBP, 1 SB.
· 2 – RF Collin Cowgill: 4-5, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R.
· 3 – 3B Kory Casto: 2-4, 1 RBI, 1 R.
· 4 – C Konrad Schmidt: 1-5, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 K.
· 5 – 1B Cyle Hankerd: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 R, 1 K.
· 6 – 2B Taylor Harbin: 2-5, 1 RBI, 1 R, 2 K.
· 7 – SS Jake Wald: 1-4, 1 2B, 1 BB, 1 K.
· 8 – LF Ollie Linton: 3-4, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 R, 1 K.
· Overall: 18-37, 3 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 9 R, 6 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP, 1 SB. BA/OBP/SLG line of .486/.513/.649, OPS of 1.162.
For comparison’s sake: during Todd Helton’s best offensive year in 2000, Helton hit 216-for-580 with 103 walks, 59 2B, 2 3B, and 42 HR. His BA/OBP/SLG line was .372/.463/.698, for an OPS of… 1.162, good for the 38th best single-season number in baseball history. On Tuesday night, every hitter in the BayBears’ lineup was the Southern League equivalent of Todd Helton circa-2000. Now that is impressive.
RHP Josh Collmenter – July 6 – 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R (1 ER), 5:2 K:BB, 0 HR, 8-8 GO-AO.
But in the midst of such impressive offense, let’s not forget about the once-again dominating work of Josh Collmenter, who lowered his Mobile ERA to a Josh Johnson-ian 1.59. In three starts at Hi-A Visalia, four starts at Triple-A Reno, and now nine starts at Double-A Mobile, Collmenter’s overall ERA is 2.42 in 100.1 innings of work, striking out 95 batters while allowing 30 walks and six home runs. Collmenter threw 102 pitches, 63 of which were for strikes.
Hi-A Visalia:
1B Paul Goldschmidt – July 6 & July 7 – 4-for-6, 2 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 3 R, 2:2 K:BB.
Goldschmidt has continued right where the middle of the lineup left off in the last update, and is now 8-for-14 with two doubles, four homers and a 4:3 K:BB ratio, for an OPS of — you might want to sit down — 2.218. Goldschmidt now has a remarkable 26 home runs on the year in the cleanup spot for Visalia. The only downside? All four of his home runs in that four-game span were solo shots.
RHP Charles Brewer – July 7 – 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R (1 ER), 5:1 K:BB, 0 HR, 7-9 GO-AO.
Since his first disastrous start at the Hi-A level, Charles Brewer has rebounded fantastically well in his two appearances since, hurling 15.1 innings and allowing just three runs. What makes Wednesday’s start all the more impressive is the fact that it came at the home of Seattle’s Hi-A affiliate, High Desert, notorious for being one of the most hitter-friendly parks in professional baseball. The fact that Brewer shut down the Mavericks over seven brilliant innings is very impressive.
Low-A South Bend:
2B David Nick – July 6 – 3-for-3, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 HBP.
It hasn’t been a fantastic year for Nick, who is hitting just .243 with a .644 OPS, but Wednesday night he showed a glimpse of his potential at the dish by reaching base five times, highlighted by his second triple of the season.
Short-Season-A Yakima:
RHP Andrea Pizziconi – July 6 – 3 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4:2 K:BB, 0 HR, 3-2 GO-AO.
The Bears were off on Wednesday, but received another promising performance from the 6-foot-2, 18-year-old Italian prospect, making his first start of the season as he starts stretching out his arm and building his innings counts. Pizziconi on the season has now thrown 12.2 innings, struck out 11, walked four, and given up three earned runs with two home runs for a fabulous 2.13 ERA. This is all the more impressive when you take into consideration the fact that Pizziconi is going up against a lot of newly-drafted college players, as evidenced by the fact that the average age of batters in the NWL, according to Baseball-reference.com, is 21.4 years.
Rookie-level Missoula:
RHP Derek Eitel – July 7 – 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R (3 ER), 5:2 K:BB, 11-4 GO-AO.
The D-backs’ 17th-round choice in the 2010 draft, and the first player ever taken in a pro sports draft out of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, has had quite an impressive start at Missoula, though this is expected from a 22-year-old in the Pioneer League. Nonetheless, Eitel has thrown 20.1 innings, striking out 12 with seven walks, and doing a great job keeping the ball on the ground with a 2.83/1 GO/AO. This has led Eitel to allow just nine runs in his four starts, for a 3.98 ERA.
Rookie-level Dominican Summer League:
RHP Jency Solis – July 6 – 3 IP, 1 K, 4-3 GO-AO, the rest zeros.
The 17-year-old Solis has been strong in his last three outings for the DSL D-backs, throwing nine innings without allowing an earned run (and just one unearned run). In that span, he has struck out six, walked three, and allowed a mere three hits.
Others of note:
· After being held hitless on Tuesday, first baseman Brandon Allen responded on Wednesday, going 2-4 with a double, a homer, two RBI, two runs, a walk and a strikeout.
· Despite having one of the less-glimmering performances with the bat on Tuesday, Double-A Mobile catcher Konrad Schmidt made up for it with a 1-2, 1 2B, 1 R, 2 BB performance on Wednesday.
· Hi-A Visalia LF Marc Krauss’ hitting streak ended at 16 games on Wednesday, in the hitter-friendly confines of High Desert, of all places.
· Speaking of streaks, Low-A South Bend 1B/DH Ramon Castillo‘s hitting streak is still alive, as he has now recorded a hit in each of his first 15 games in 2010.
· More streaks: just as we noted Raywilly Gomez‘s streak of 14 games without a strikeout at Short-Season Yakima to begin 2010 on Tuesday, he K’d for the first time this season later that night. However, Gomez also ended another streak by hitting the first home run of his professional baseball career. Something tells us that Raywilly will be perfectly okay with the ending of his streaks.
· The D-backs signed 16-year-old Venezuelan center fielder Yorman Garcia.
Minor League Report
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.
Enright Gets the Call
Photography: Jordan Megenhardt
By Dan Strittmatter
One of the many subplots of the 149-pitch Edwin Jackson no-hitter was how the team would give Jackson some extra rest to compensate for the fact that Jackson threw so many pitches in one outing. So when the news broke on Sunday that manager A.J. Hinch had decided to push back Jackson’s next start two day, it came as a surprise to nobody.
However, this opened up a hole in the rotation for Wednesday’s game in St. Louis, when Jackson was originally slated to start. The team did not have a day off between Jackson’s no-no and the Wednesday game, so any of the other members of the Arizona rotation would have had to pitch on short rest if they were to fill Jackson’s spot. Add in the fact that the D-backs rotation has already been heavily taxed in 2010, and it was clear that an alternative solution was needed.
So the team instead looked to the minor leagues, announcing that it will purchase the contract of Double-A Mobile right-hander Barry Enright, who will bring his fantastic command of his four-pitch mix to St. Louis for his Major League debut in Jackson’s place.
Enright was selected by the D-backs in the second round of the 2007 draft following his junior year at Pepperdine University, where he was a third team All-American. He threw 15 innings that year, split between Short-Season Yakima, Single-A South Bend, and Single-A Advanced Visalia. Enright then started 2008 back at Visalia, where he went 12-8 in 29 starts with a 4.44 ERA (3.34 FIP), a 143:35 K:BB ratio, and 17 home runs allowed in 29 starts spanning 164 1/3 innings.
Enright then moved up to Double-A Mobile in 2009, where he had a solid basic production – a 3.98 ERA in 27 starts spanning 156 innings. But he saw his impressive strikeout rate from Visalia dip, recording just 103 punch-outs, a rate of just 5.94 per nine innings. He remained effective by continuing to be stingy in allowing free-passes, keeping his FIP at a solid 3.82.
In 2010, the team invited Enright to Major League camp for Spring Training, and the club got an extended look at their polished right-hander, who put on an impressive display, with his overall numbers spiked by an unfortunate string of singles in his final appearance. There is video available of Enright’s fourth Spring appearance, when he walked just one and struck out four Cubs, including Ryan Theriot, Derrek Lee, and Alfonso Soriano, video here.
Due to upper-level depth of starting pitching in the system — with Kevin Mulvey, Bryan Augenstein, Cesar Valdez, Kris Benson and Billy Buckner then manning Triple-A Reno’s Opening Day rotation slots, subsequently followed by Matt Torra and Wes Roemer — Enright was assigned to Mobile again to begin 2010 and try to resurrect his strikeout rate.
The results have been everything the team could have hoped for, as Enright has struck out 83 in 93 2/3 innings over 14 starts, while still allowing just 15 free passes, giving him a D-backs’ system-best 5.53 strikeouts per walk. His ERA is a shiny 2.88, his FIP an equally-impressive 3.06, and his WHIP is a spectacular 1.02.
Mobile catcher Konrad Schmidt offered his scouting report of Enright when the news broke that Enright would be called up to the majors:
“He’s really a competitor on the mound,” Schmidt told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. “He’s got good stuff and he’s really fun to catch. He’s got great command, throwing four pitches for a strike right now. There’s been some pretty potent lineups he’s gone against in this league and he’s done well. He’s like a bulldog.”
Eyes on Omaha
Photography: TCU Athletics
By Greg Salvatore
The last week has been a whirlwind for Sam Demel at the professional level – being traded from Oakland for Conor Jackson, joining his new club, making his big league debut at Fenway Park – so you could excuse him if he were a little cut off from the outside world.
He isn’t though… at least as far as his alma mater is concerned.
Demel, who played college ball at TCU, is one of only two D-backs whose teams are currently competing in the College World Series. Stephen Drew’s Florida State Seminoles are also alive after beating rival Florida in an elimination game Monday afternoon.
Demel’s Horned Frogs won their first game against those Seminoles and it appears that they’ll be a tough out in this tournament.
“Those guys are looking good,” Demel said. “We’ll see how they do tonight (against UCLA).”
The Horned Frogs made it into the CWS by beating Texas in the Super Regional, winning on Friday and Sunday in Austin. Texas was the No. 2 team in the country behind only Arizona State at the time, so the win was not only a big one for TCU’s program, but one that sent shockwaves throughout college baseball, and certainly sets up TCU as a team that can take on anyone.
“(TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle) said, ‘Once you beat Texas, it’s kind of like everybody else is — well, not easy — but you know you can do it,'” Demel said. “That’s the main thing for the confidence.”
TCU is where they are in large part because they have the pitcher who looks like the best in the tournament, left-hander Matt Purke. Purke was the No. 14 pick in the 2009 draft by the Texas Rangers, but chose to attend TCU and re-enter the draft later.
After Purke put on a show in the Austin Super Regional, he turned around and dominated Florida State on Saturday allowing one run (unearned) on four hits over seven innings.
“He’s got some power stuff, man,” Demel said. “He’s got really good stuff and he’s really blossomed, from his first outing to his last outing. I saw him a couple times early in the season and the stuff he had in his last outing, and the way he controlled it on both sides of the plate was impressive. He’s really maturing.”
Demel won’t be able to see much if any of the TCU/UCLA game live tonight (first pitch is at 6 p.m. Arizona time, an hour before the D-backs take on the Yankees at Chase Field), but you can bet he’ll be watching it later.
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