I'm not gonna ask about this afternoon. Several of my previous wrap-ups, including the one I posted this morning and Saturday morning, are gone, and will hopefully be restored. Thankfully, I save text files of basically all of these, so, worst case scenario, I just repost them at an odd hour and they're there again.
Meanwhile, there was a lot of offense today, so a lot of guys got some good hacks and production.
On to the wrap-up!
A: Great Lakes 4, Wisconsin 2
WIS: 10-16... GL: 15-13
Juan Ramirez: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, walk, 9 K
Jacob Wild: two outs, walk, 2 wild pitch
Bryan Harris: 1 IP, K
Edilio Colina: 1-4, RBI, walk, K (318/357/424)
Gavin Dickey: 1-4, double
Joe Dunigan: 4-4, 2 doubles, R, RBI (213/318/413)
Maximo Mendez: 1-3, double, walk
The Loons eked out a 2-1 lead through 6, but an Edilio Colina single knocked in the tying run in the top 7th. It wouldn't last long, as Travis Vetters (222/250/259) and Preston Mattingly (204/219/301) chased Juan Ramirez with singles to re-take the lead. Other than that, Ramirez was mostly dominant.
Groundballs: 10 (plus 2 bunts)
Flyballs: 2
Line Drives: 1
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 9
A+: Lake Elsinore 13, High Desert 11
Mavs: 15-16... Lake: 17-14
Kyle Parker: 5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, walk, 3 K
David Asher: two outs, 3 H, 3 ER, hit batter
Juan Zapata: 1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 walks
Joe Kantakevich: no outs recorded, 5 H, 5 ER (HR)
Jose Escalona: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, K
Kuo Hui Lo: 2-6, solo HR, 2 RBI, K (219/272/333)
Carlos Triunfel: 4-5, 3 doubles, 2 R, RBI (234/280/333)
Chris Minaker: 1-4, R, RBI, walk, K (301/323/504)
Carlos Peguero: 2-5, 2 R, RBI (281/304/471)
Johan Limonta: 2-3, double, 2 run HR, 2 R, 2 walks (319/414/496)
Greg Halman: 2-5, RBI, K, SB #12 (264/316/446)
Jose Yepez: 1-5, R, RBI, 2 K
FINALLY the offense shows up in Lake Elsinore. The Mavs built an 8-2 lead (4 of those runs came in the 1st) on Lake as Kyle Parker rebounded from a bleh outing to
give the Mavs a... less bleh outing, over 5 innings.
Groundballs: 9
Flyballs: 7
Line Drives: 2
Pop Ups: 2
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 3
And then the fireworks began. With two outs, David Asher plunked Robert Perry.
Then Jesus Lopez (247/290/306) singled and Cedric Hunter (317/400/375) doubled to cash in a run, 8-3, and put runners at scoring position. Rayner Contreras (298/450/319) singled to center to cash both runners in and it was 8-5.
Leury "Latin Campaneris" Bonilla watch: started today at 1B while the usual 1B, Johan Limonta, DH'd. With a runner on in the top 7th and tow out, Leury smoked a grounder up the middle to kick off a string of four consecutive singles (Jose Yepez, Kuo Hui Lo and Triunfel had the others), which produced three mothersmurfing runs to stretch the lead back out to 11-5.
But Juan Zapata walked the first two batters he faced in the bottom 7th, and Robert Perry eventually doubled them in with two out to make it 11-7 before getting thrown out trying for 3rd.
Joe Kantakevich came on, faced 5 batters and retired none of them. Jesus Lopez doubled, Cedric Hunter singled, Rayner Contreras beat out a comebacker, Eric Sogard singled to make it 11-8 and keep them loaded... and Sam Carter hit a grand slam to give Lake the 12-11 leda before JK got the hook. Jose Escalona had a lot of trouble with Lake himself, but only allowed one more run to score before escaping.
There would be no rally.
AA: The DIAMOND JAXX had the day off. There are home to face the Mississippi AA Braves in a 5 game series. Mississippi is 9-21 and dead last in the Southern League in batting average (.220) and only ahead of Birmingham in OPS, but 2nd in triples with 11. Their best hitters are 1B Greg Creek (295/376/477) and OF Matt Young (295/385/400)... and last year's nemesis, 2B Diory Hernandez (286/341/429) is still ahnging around. Their 5.15 team ERA is only better than Montgomery, but their 303 hits allowed and 1.57 team WHIP are the worst in the league. The one SP to look out for is Todd Redmond, who has a 3.75 ERA after 6 starts on 3 walks and 26 K over 36 IP... but the others blow. Given this is a 5 game set, the DIAMOND JAXX will see him.
Basically, the AA Braves aren't too good this year and there's no reason West Tenn shouldn't have a great series against these guys.
AAA: Tacoma 10, Oklahoma 4
TAC: 15-14... OKL: 20-11
Sean White: 5 IP, 10 H, (4 R) 3 ER, 3 K
Philip Barzilla: 2 IP, walk, K
Potatoes: 2 IP, 3 K
Tug Hulett: 2-5, double, 3 run HR, K (157/259/275)
Matt Tuiasosopo: 2-4, double, R, RBI, walk (256/330/373)
Jeremy Reed: 0-4, walk (369/431/573)
Bryan LaHair: 3-5, triple, solo HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, K (305/392/610)
Yung Chi Chen: 1-5, R, RBI, 2 K (256/347/291)
Charlton Jimerson: 3-4, double, 2 R, K (277/277/508)
Shawn Garrett: 2-4, double, R, 2 RBI, K (3rd game with Rainiers)
Rob Johnson: 1-3, R, RBI, walk (244/310/267)
Oswaldo Navarro: 2-4, R (281/405/359)
The Redhawks had a 3-0 lead early, but the Rainiers blew up and took a 7-4 lead before Sean White's exit. White was throwing strikes but getting squared up quite a bit, and this could have been a lot worse.
Groundballs: 9
Flyballs: 3
Line Drives: 9
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 3
Bryan LaHair's leadoff triple in the 7th sparked a 2 run rally cashed in by singles from Yung Chi Chen and Rob Johnson. Tui's double in the bottom 8th led to a run off a Bryan LaHair two out single.
Tuglett's HR tonight was his 1st of the season.
And THAT's more like it, Potatoes. With the way he's been scuffling, Eric O'Flaherty needed an outing like tonight in the worst way.
0 recs | 16 comments
lol Jimerson's line kills me.
I know he doesn’t walk, but god damn boy it’s been 16 games, TAKE A PITCH.
The Typical Idiot Fan - May 5, 2008
Even with the 0 for 4
Jeremy Reed’s numbers are impressive, most impressive. I imagine when Bavasi returns from his leave of absence there’s going to be some more roster happenings. But perhaps that’s just wishful thinking.
Frosty Raptor - May 5, 2008
Will Bryan LaHair ever be a starter in the big leagues?
thewyrm - May 5, 2008
No
Graham MacAree - May 5, 2008
Is he better than Sexson?
Including defense?
Jed MC - May 5, 2008
Against righties, yeah, maybe
against lefties, no.
The defense thing’s important. But yeah, Graham’s right – you can’t have platoon splits like he’s got and be a regular.
marc w - May 5, 2008
Juan Ramirez
28 IP, 0 HR, 27% K/PA, 7.8% BB/PA, 31/9 K/BB, 57% GB%, 2.09 FIP
The Midwest League suppresses offense, but that is a nice line, especially for a teenager.
G_ - May 5, 2008
Special player
He really needed to cut his walk rate this year to make a big step forward, and that’s exactly what he’s done. He’s now getting more K’s, which is great, but less important (to me at least). GBs, Ks, decent command? Yes please.
He’s a terrible road BABIP away from getting a hell of a lot of national attention, I’d think – not that he’s been overlooked exactly.
marc w - May 5, 2008
It is nice to have one in the system
So what do you do if he continues to pitch like this for the next couple of months? Do you throw him to the wolves in the Cal League (like Tillman last year)? Or do you wait until the M’s switch High A affiliates in the offseason?
G_ - May 5, 2008
I'm certainly open to a promotion
but there’s no rush. I’d see what shakes out at the higher levels.
If Fister or even Jakubauskas get moved up (for Feierabend, say, or due to an injury), and someone’s up from High Desert, then yeah, I’d give him the Tillman treatment.
They’re probably going to move JCR faster than Aumont; at least JCR could give whatever team he’s playing for more than 60 pitches or whatever. The question becomes whether they think someone who’s a bit older – maybe Hume – should get the chance, just to allow JCR to consolidate his gains. I can see the argument that Pineda/Ramirez should stay in the good pitching environment and work on secondary pitches or something, but I can also see the argument to push JCR a bit, and hope that his GB tendencies minimize the Adelanto problem.
If it’s me, and he’s still pitching like this in mid June/July, he goes up. It’d be sort of funny if he and Pineda and Aumont stay this far ahead of the hitters, but I’d guess that this decision gets a lot easier in two months – either he’s regressed a bit, or there’s one guy who’s clearly leaps and bounds ahead, and he’ll move up.
marc w - May 5, 2008
Good thoughts
Unless there is no regression, I would lean toward keeping Ramriez in Wisconsin until a late season callup —if he struggles, it would not be for very long and he can return to High A in a better park/league next year; but if he holds his own, you can consider pushing him in AA next year.
Aumont just needs innings this year—where he pitches those innings is relatively unimportant as long as he is not getting shelled.
G_ - May 5, 2008
Yeah
both Aumont and Pineda, in their first US pro ball, would probably be helped by sticking around. I also think they’ll have some bad outings, with some things becoming clear ‘things to work on.’ sort of amazing it hasn’t really happened yet (Aumont had a bad day, but that’s basically it).
If there’s no regression, I think the team can push Ramirez. They’ve done it in the past, and it’s not the sort of ‘crazy’ promotions that they’ve been dinged for (Tui, AsCab). There’s no issue with pushing a guy who’s dominating; you don’t want him to pick up bad habits (I’m beginning to wonder if Adam Jones didn’t do that last year).
I’m w/you on the larger plan; if he doesn’t regress, I think it’d be great to see him in AA next year. I think it’d benefit him, going into that challenge, to get his feet wet in the Cal League. If he struggles in Wisconsin, no, but if he keeps this up, I think he’ll have earned the right.
marc w - May 5, 2008
Questions to ask in this situation
- Is anyone in the rotation at the next level ready to be promoted? Or is anyone on that staff so hopeless that they can be powerflushed? There has to be a place for a pitcher in order to promote him. Above him, Kyle Parker is looking good but not necessarily spectacular enough to warrant a callup to AA, and it doesn’t appear West Tenn has an open rotation spot for him yet. And while High Desert has a lot of pitchers struggling, obviously that may be a product of the Cal League.
- Likewise, is there anyone at the pitcher’s current level who can step in and take his place? Is there someone at a lower level or waiting in the wings, either in Extended ST or the Everett roster in this case, who can step in? If feasible, you only want to create an open spot if doing so gives a worthy prospect a chance he otherwise doesn’t have. In this case, the obvious candidate to step up would be Aumont… but is Aumont ready to throw 5-6 effective innings every 5 days? I’m not sure he is yet.
Gomez - May 5, 2008
Top prospects like Ramirez are never blocked in the minors
His development takes precedence over lesser or marginal prospects, so if the organization wants Ramirez pitching in the High Desert rotation, Nick Hill or whoever is the fifth starter is going to the bullpen until the next spot opens up regardless of how he is pitching.
It works the same for the vacancies created—the organization is not going to keep Ramirez in Wisconsin just because there is no obvious promotion candidate from the rookie or complex leagues. They can always demote someone to fill a need, or even sign one of the dozens of guys who get released throughout the year.
G_ - May 5, 2008
So that goes back to the question
Do they think Ramirez’s current abilities warrants a promotion?
Gomez - May 5, 2008
If he keeps this up
he forces their hand. His abilities ABSOLUTELY warrant a promotion. If his command stays where it is, I think they move him. If he has some setbacks, eh, no big rush.
High Desert is littered with candidates to move back, or to go to extended spring training, or what have you. Varvaro’s command is still lying on an operating table somewhere, Keith Renaud is struggling, Anderson Garcia can go away, etc.
marc w - May 5, 2008
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