Minor League Recap: DJays & Cats hot, Nuts not

Las Vegas (susp @ 7-5)

The game got suspended in the top of the 9th, during which the 51s rallied from two runs down to two runs up. The Omaha Storm Chasers' manager was ejected during that 9th inning.

Lawrie got a line drive single and a walk in a 1-4 effort. That's 9 walks and 5 Ks now in his last 10. Overall K/BB ratio now 32/14, and it seems likely that Lawrie has really changed his approach at the plate. I hope he's just as coachable in the field, because he made two throwing errors. However, one was made trying to double up the runner on first after catching a line drive. If Lawrie doesn't make that catch he also can't make the error. Besides, I don't trust David Cooper's skill at catching throws.

Snider keeps struggling, he hit a soft ground ball for a single, and another groundball for an out, plus two strikeouts.

Another one who keeps struggling is Scott Richmond, who was tagged for 5 runs, 4 earned, in 6.2 innings with 5 walks and just 2 strikeouts.

New Hampshire (won 7-2)

As I noted in the title the Cats are hot.

Gose walked twice yesterday and went 1-for-2 with two stolen bases. He's at .400/.514/.600 over his last 10 games. Whether you believe he has adapted to the league or has simply been lucky is up to you, but it certainly looks promising. His OBP for the season stands at .370, giving him plenty of opportunities to steal. Given his age and level, Gose is making a case to be the #2 prospect behind Brett Lawrie.

Michael McDade was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks. He's now at .281/.410/.688 over his last 10 games, and has lately been improving his K/BB ratio. His season line of .320/.383/.524 is impressive, but I still think the average will come down further.

Moises Sierra is, in my opinion, also in the running as best position prospect behind Lawrie. He went 1-for-3 with a home run, walk and strikeout yesterday. He has 3 home runs over his last 4 games and now leads the Cats with 7. I think he has a legitimate chance to be a .300 hitter at the major league level given his raw power, his ability to avoid the strikeout, and his ability to hit a lot of line drives. His defense at RF is also supposed to be above average, with an amazing throwing arm.

Travis d'Arnaud didn't play yesterday, but his 3-for-3 effort with 2 doubles on Wednesday has to be mentioned. It brought his seasonal stats up to .284/.361/.459, which is of course very good for a catcher.

Dunedin (won 5-4)

Dunedin is having some good games of late. Their good rotation has been backed by some surprosingly good offensive displays.

A.J. Jimenez is Dunedin's best position player prospect, but he left the game early yesterday. He was replaced by Sean Ochinko in the third inning, and there's no recap of the game on the D-Jays' site yet, so I don't know if it's an injury. Jimenez is hitting .364/.398/.512, limiting the strikeouts but not walking a lot, and hitting with a bit of power.

Kevin Ahrens went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 strikeouts yesterday. He is now hititng .351/.457/.649 over his last 10 games, and .261/.342/.433 on the season.

Justin Jackson, the other "flopped prospect", has 8 walks and 5 strikeouts over his last 10 games. He is hitting .296/.402/.408 on the season, trying to re-establish his prospect status.

Asher Wojciechowski went 6 innings giving up 4 earned runs on 7 hits, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts. He got 45% of the balls in play on the ground.

Lansing (lost 2-5)

Lansing had a great start to the season but they have been a bit cold lately.

Drew Hutchison was pitching on 2 extra days of rest, and that might have had a negative effect. In any case, he wasn't his usual sharp self as he walked 4 batters in 3.2 innings, striking out two. Approximately 44% of the balls in play were hit on the ground. Casey Lawrence also didn't have his usual sharpness on Tuesday, and we saw something similar with Jesse Litsch at the big club.

Sean Nolin, who pitched on Wednesday, did not seem to be affected by the extra rest. He went 6 strong innings, striking out 7, walking just one, with 42% groundballs. Nolin now has more strikeouts than innings pitched, and will become harder for prospect lists to ignore if he keeps this up.

K.C. Hobson was 3-for-3 with a double. He has been hitting more line drives, but his overall offensive performance still leaves much to be desired for a first baseman.

Michael Crouse and Jake Marisnick both went 1-for-4 with a strikeout. Michael Crouse has a 9-game hit streak but has been striking out a lot without hitting for power lately. Marisnick hasn't struck out as much, but he also hasn't been getting hits or hitting for power.

Carlos Perez was 1-for-4 with three strikeouts. Seems to have totally lost his great control over the strikezone lately. He has 17 strikeouts in his last 42 at bats.

Marcus Knecht was 0-for-3 with a walk. He too hasn't hit for much power, but he seems to have a great relationship with the BABIP gods. Maybe he could teach Hill a thing or two?