So how did the first half battle between the Astros’ and Indians’ organizations for best winning percentage among their minor league teams end up? The junior Astros came out ahead with a record of 159-119, good for a .572 winning percentage. The little Indians went 156-124, a .557 winning percentage.
Team Results
42-28, 1st–PCL American South, 4.5 games ahead of Albuquerque.
The Express went 7-1 during the week and are currently on a six game winning streak as they leap past the Isotopes into first place. Not only do they lead their own division by a solid margin, RR now has the second best record in all the PCL. At the midway point of the schedule, Express hurlers have put together a very solid 3.71 ERA which is good for 4th-best in the 16 team league. The hitters aren’t doing that bad either with the 6th-best BA in the PCL at .273 and 4th-best OPS at .791. Moreover, Round Rock actually leads the league in home runs with 81 and is third in runs scored.
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Jason Hirsh. Notched two wins during the week to drive his record on the year to 8-2. His latest effort was a 7-inning shutout on Sunday after giving up four runs over seven frames in a start earlier in the week in always-tough-to-pitch Albuquerque. Jason’s results over his last 10 games are a sparkling 1.48 ERA with just 47 hits allowed in 66.2 IP. For the entire first half, he came in with a 2.79 ERA and 1.23 WHIP.
OF Luke Scott. Elbow tendinitis and all, continues to blast away with a .384 BA (33-86) over his last 21 games with 10 knocks and 28 RBIs (again a bit of an asterisk here as six of the longballs and 15 of the ribbies came in games at Isotope Stadium). Scott is currently on a six-game hitting hitting streak in which he’s hitting .542 (13-24). Luke is .304/.407/.580 for the entire first half with 19 yacks and 54 RBIs.
LHP Steve Kent. Has a 1.53 ERA over his last 18 appearances with nine hits and eight walks surrendered in 17.2 IP.
OF Mike Rodriguez. Batted .338 (22-65) in a 16-game hitting streak that came to an end Saturday night. For the season, he’s at .306/.376/.414.
1B Royce Huffman. Has a .393 BA (11-28) over his last eight games with a .528 OBP. Driven in eight runs during that stretch with two homers and four doubles. Hitting .295/.385/.475 for the season.
Stuck in Neutral
No one we’d care to discuss.
Broke Down/Under Repair
SS Jesse Garcia. On DL with a broken hand that will keep him out until August.
LHP Mark McLemore. On DL with soreness in his surgically-repaired shoulder.
Among the PCL Leaders
- Scott ranks 1st in longballs, 3rd in RBIs, 2nd in runs scored with 55, 4th in walks with 43, 10th in OBP, 5th in slugging and 5th in OPS at .987.
- INF Brooks Conrad is at the top of the leaderboard in extra-base hits (38), tied for 7th in RBIs (48), tied for 3rd in doubles (20), and tied for 2nd in extra-base hits (33).
- OF Charlton Jimerson is second in extra-base hits (37), 6th in doubles (18), tied for 4th in triples (5), tied for 4th in home runs (14), 8th in slugging (.544), and tied for 3rd in SBs (19).
- With a league-leading 104 strikeouts, Jimerson is on track for 214 whiffs (144-game season).
- Huffman is 5th in doubles (19).
- RHP Chris Baker is eighth in the league with a 2.51 ERA.
- Hirsh is 6th in strikeouts (72) but also has the 4th-most walks (38) and the 4th-most plunks (7).
- Hirsh is tied for the league lead in wins.
Miscellany
- Jimerson whiffed four times in the completion of that suspended game on Sunday, giving him eight golden sombreros on the season.
Quoting
Astros director of player development Ricky Bennett talking to the Chron about Hirsh:
“At the beginning of the year, mechanically he was out of whack,” (he) said. “Physically, I don’t believe he was 100 percent. His lower back was an issue at spring training and he had a hip problem.
“He’s gotten over those things and is mechanically sound. His velocity is close to being where it was a year ago. The biggest thing was his command. The last five, six, seven outings his command was better, and he’s beginning to locate his fastball.”
Team Results
41-28, 1st Half Champion–Texas League South.
The Hooks have a 4-3 week to take the first-half title in the South division and also end up with the best record in the Texas League. The pitching was excellent as the Corpus staff ranked second in the TL with a 3.69 ERA. And they didn’t do it with junk as the hurlers also led the league in strikeouts. As far as the offense, CC ranked number one with a .282 team batting average. However, that translated into 338 runs scored which ranked just 5th in the 8 team league. Blame the lack of walks as CC hitters ranked near the bottom in that category.
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Matt Albers. Goes 3-0 over his last three starts with a 0.96 ERA and 0.91 WHIP to finish the first half with a flourish. His excellent numbers for the season to date? An 8-2 record, 2.08 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.
RHP Chance Douglass. Has an ERA over his last 13 games (including 11 starts) of 2.88. For the season, he finishes the first half with a 3.65 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.
RHP Juan Gutierrez. Has a 5-1 recored and 1.24 ERA over his last seven starts with 35 hits allowed in 43.2 IP and a 49:14 strikeout to walk ratio. On the season, he has a 3.20 ERA with a 1.32 WHIP.
RHP Jailen Peguero. His streak of 14 straight games without giving up an earned run came to an end, but his numbers remain pretty slick. Just an 0.76 ERA and 0.90 WHIP for the year.
C/1B J.R. House. Another week, another hitting streak for Mr. House. Had a 5-gamer in which he was batting .400 (8-20) with three yacks and a triple bu saw it end on Sunday with the 0fer. Finishes the first half with .346/.395/.521 stats.
Has thrown out just 2 of 11 would-be base-stealers this month after throwing out just 3 of 31 in May.
2B Jonny Ash. Although he had a 15-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday night, Ash is hitting .407 (22-54) over his last 17 games. The Tohono O’odham Nation member (he’s one-quarter Native American) finishes the first half at .361/.420/.463.
OF Jorge Cortes. Entered Sunday’s game looking to extend both his hitting streak and his on-base streak. He failed to do either in his first three plate appearances in the game, but with one out in the top of the 9th he belted a solo shot (#4). That puts the on-base streak at 40 games while the hitting streak is now at 17 games. Cortes is batting .406 (26-64) during the hit string. Over his last 51 games, he’s hitting .367 (69-188). For the entire first half, he’s at .323/.409/.486.
OF Hunter Pence. Has a 6-game hitting streak in which he’s batting .360 (9-25). Belts out .294/.347/.574 numbers for the first half with 17 longballs and 53 RBIs.
RHP Paul Estrada. That’s Pow-ool, buddy. However you pronounce it, Paul has allowed just 1 run in his last 9 innings (7 games) of work out of the bullpen. He’s whiffed 17 during that stretch, but that’s only slightly ahead of the pace he’s set over the entire first half: he has an incredible 79 punchouts in 49.1 IP. For the year, the 23-year old Venezuelan has a 3.28 ERA and 1.09 WHIP.
Stuck in Neutral
3B Mark Saccomanno. Just 2-28 over the last seven games.
LHP Josh Muecke. Entering Sunday’s game, the southpaw had a 13.89 ERA in eight outings almost all of which were out of the bullpen. Between the hand injury that knocked him out for the season’s first six weeks and possibly some problems adjusting to working in relief (he’s been a starter for the majority of his career), the Loyola Marymount-ex has struggled big time this season in his initial exposure to AA. Besides that sky-high ERA, Muecke had surrendered 26 hits and 6 walks in just 11.2 innings of work in those eight games. So to try and get things going for him over the season’s second half, he was given a start on Sunday. The resulting six hits and three walks in 3.1 IP ain’t exactly cause for optimism.
Broke Down/Under Repair
LHP Blake Allen. On DL with a strained left shoulder.
Among the Texas League Leaders
- House, SS Ben Zobrist (.324), Cortes and OF Josh Anderson (.308) remain in the top ten in batting average.
- Pence is 2nd in homers while INF Josh Bonifay is tied for 8th with 11.
- Pence and House are 3rd and 6th, respectively, in slugging.
- Pence (.920), House (.915) and Cortes (.895) are 6th, 7th and 10th, respectively, in OPS.
- Pence is 3rd in RBIs while House is tied for 5th with 47 and Bonifay is tied for 8th with 44.
- Zobrist is tied for 2nd with 23 doubles while House is tied for 9th with 18.
- Pence (50), Zobrist (46) and Anderson (46) are all in the top ten in runs scored.
- Zobrist is tied for 2nd in walks (39) and is 4th in OBP (.421).
- Cortes is 5th in OBP while House is 9th.
- Anderson is 2nd in steals with 18.
- The Hooks have four of their starting pitching pitchers in the top ten in ERA. Albers leads the TL while Gutierrez is 5th and Douglass is 10th. RHP Josh Miller is 9th at 3.59.
- Albers is numero uno in WHIP while Douglass follows closely in second.
- Guti leads the league in strikeouts with 86 while Estrada is 4th, Albers is 8th with 65 and RHP Mitch Talbot is tied for 9th with 64.
- Albers, Miller (7), and Gutierrez (7) remain in the top five in wins.
- Peguero continues in 3rd place in saves with 14.
Miscellany
- After making a start on Wednesday and with the three-day Texas League All-Star break looming, Miller made a one inning relief appearance on Friday.
- Sunday was Douglass’ normal day to start but with Muecke getting the go he ended up pitching 2.2 innings of relief.
- All-Star Game Manager Dave Clark named Gutierrez as his starter for the South squad on Tuesday.
Team Results
32-38, 4th Place (1st Half)–Carolina League Southern.
So much for ending on a positive note as the Avalanche complete the first half schedule with a 2-4 week, finishing in the cellar in the Southern division standings 15 games behind first place Kinston. A lack of hitting doomed the Avs as they placed last in the 8-team Carolina League in both BA (.243) and runs scored. The one bright spot in the Salem offense was the power numbers–the hitters ranked second in the league with 193 extra-base hits. How’d the pitchers do? So-so, as the staff finished in the middle of the pack in both ERA (3.62) and WHIP (1.33). Walks were a problem for the mound crew as they issued the second most free passes in the league.
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Ronnie Martinez. The 22-year old Dominican has a 2.35 ERA in eight starts split between Lexington and Salem and has a 34:12 strikeout to walk ratio in 37.2 IP. Has a 1.69 ERA in his last six starts (all with the Avalanche).
RHP Rodrigo Escobar. Has picked up 11 saves in his last 17 games (and 10 saves in his last 12 appearances) while yielding just two earned runs on seven hits and striking out 22 in 23 IP during that stretch. Hasn’t allowed a hit or a run over his last six games (7.1 IP). His ERA and WHIP have shrunk to 2.21 and 1.06, respectively, for the season.
LHP Enyelbert Soto. His appearances aren’t always pretty, but the 23-year old from Maracaibo has managed to put up a 1.54 ERA over his last 18 games (23.1 IP). On the year, he’s got a 2.48 ERA and 1.55 WHIP (as we said, they ain’t necessarily pretty).
RHP Chad Reineke. The Miami of Ohio-ex had perhaps his best effort of the season Saturday night (8 IP 3 H 0 R 0 ER 1 W 8 K). That was especially nice after having to leave his previous start in the 2nd inning after taking a line drive off the leg. Chad has a 1.69 ERA over his last four starts (21.1 IP). Finishes the first half with a 2.61 ERA and 1.08 WHIP.
SS Edwin Maysonet. The slick-fielding shortstop out of Puerto Rico is batting .474 (9-19) over his last six games as his batting average for the year skyrockets all the way up to .232. Hey, at least it beats the .195 BA he had last year in 66 games for Salem.
Stuck in Neutral
C Lou Santangelo. Just 1-22 over his last six games, the Clemson-ex falls to .238/.296/.442 at the end of the first half.
Broke Down/Under Repair
3B Billy Hart. On DL with a wrist problem.
Among the Carolina League Leaders
- OF Beau Torbert remains 3rd in batting average (.325).
- The Avalanche have four of the top six guys in doubles as OF Francisco Caraballo, 1B/3B/DH Neil Sellers, Maysonet and Torbert all have 18 apiece.
- 2B Drew Sutton and his eight longballs are tied for 7th in the league while his 39 walks rank him 6th.
- Santangelo (4th at 69), Caraballo (6th at 65) and OF Ervin Alcantara (T7th at 63) continue to stir up a breeze in the strikeout department.
- Reineke is 8th in ERA and 5th in WHIP.
- LHP Troy Patton, Reineke and RHP Jimmy Barthmaier are 4th, 5th and 8th, respectively, in strikeouts.
- Escobar tops the circuit with 14 saves.
- Barthmaier (40) continues lead in handing out free passes while Patton (30) is tied for 10th.
- RHP Felipe Paulino and his eight gopher balls are 4th-most in the league.
Miscellany
- Paulino pitched on Sunday after missing two starts with a “slight wrist strain” (or “forearm soreness”, take your pick). He gave up three runs over three innings as he was on a very tight pitch count due to coming back from the injury.
Quoting
Reineke on his latest effort:
“For the first time probably this season, everything was working,” (he) said. “I was hitting inside and out, I was able to keep my fastball down. I actually had a change-up that I could throw for strikes and my slider was down and they were swinging at it.”
And more on that changeup:
“The past six starts, I haven’t been able to use it because I couldn’t throw it for strikes and hitters were ignoring it,” (the pitcher) said. “Tonight, even when it wasn’t a strike, it was close enough that they had to respect it. I’d showed them something different.”
Team Results
44-25, 1st Half Champion–SAL Northern.
The Legends roar to the first half crown in the Northern division with a 5-2 week. They also end up with the best record in the entire South Atlantic League. Lexington was definitely not offensively-challenged as their .272 team BA ranked second in the sixteen team SAL. They also ranked second in extra-base hits. The only real negative we could see on the offensive side was the 191 walks, second fewest in the league (but at least the hitters were making contact with all that swinging as they struck out the fewest times). The pitchers were middle of the pack in ERA (3.92) and WHIP (1.32).
Maximum Overdrive
RHP Tip Fairchild. Last year’s 12th-round pick has forced his way onto the prospect lists with one heckuva performance over the season’s first half. A possible starting pitcher for the Northern Division squad in the SAL All-Star game on Tuesday, Fairchild’s latest performance this past week (7 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 2 W 7 K) was just about in line with each one of his starts over the season’s first 10 weeks. Overall, Tip had a 1.85 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 15 games with a pretty darned impressive 79:18 strikeout to walk ratio. He was even better over his last 11 games with a 1.57 ERA and 0.95 WHIP.
RHP Raymar Diaz. Though his latest start wasn’t exactly a masterpiece (three runs on 11 hits over six IP), the Puerto Rico native ends the first half with a 2.66 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 17 games (including eight starts). He whiffed 71 in 64.1 IP.
RHP Garrett Murdy. Has put up an 0.90 ERA and 0.97 WHIP over his last seven appearances. The last three of those games has been as a member of the starting rotation and Lex is 3-0 in those starts. He ends the first half with an overall ERA of 2.42 and a WHIP of 1.17.
RHP German Melendez. Has a 1.45 ERA and 0.75 WHIP in 13 games out of the bullpen.
1B Mark Ori. Has a .400 BA (12-30) over his last seven games, driving in 11 runs in the process. Finishes the first half with .313/.389/.522 numbers.
SS Tommy Manzella. Hitting at a .440 pace (11-25) over his last six games. Ends the first half at .276/.324/.419.
OF Eli Iorg. Batting .303 (23-76) over his last 22 games with six longballs and four doubles. The Volunteer-ex leads the Legends with 45 RBIs and is tied with J.R. Towles for the HR lead with eight. Overall for the first half, he’s at .247/.294/.401. He’s also stolen 15 out of 18 bases.
Stuck in Neutral
OF Mitch Einertson. Continues to plummet with a .151 BA (14-93) over his last 26 games. Just four extra base hits and eight RBIs over that span. Finishes at .237/.273/.386 for the entire first half.
LHP Chris Blazek. An absolute train wreck over his last five appearances, last year’s 23rd-rounder has been whomped for 14 runs on 18 hits and 8 walks in just 6 IP (that’s a 21.00 ERA and 4.33 WHIP for those scoring at home). Similar results got fellow southpaw (and fellow 2005 draftee) Scott Sarver his walking papers recently, so Blazek needs to get things cranked up. The U of Vermont-ex has a 7.53 ERA and 1.99 WHIP for the entire first half.
Broke Down/Under Repair
LHP Brian Bogusevic. On the DL with an inflamed left elbow, it’s now been six and a half weeks since the 1st-rounder’s last appearance in a game. When we next see him again, it may be back in SS ball as he’s currently listed on the Tri-City roster.
Among the SAL Leaders
- Batting average: 1B Ole Sheldon (.343), C J.R. Towles (.331) and Ori are #1, #3 and #9, respectively.
- OBP: Sheldon is 3rd in the league at .455 while Towles at .401 is 9th.
- Slugging: Towles (.560), Ori, and Sheldon (.507) rank 4th, 7th and 8th, respectively.
- OPS: Sheldon (5th at .963), Towles (6th at .961) and Ori (8th at .911) all rank in the top ten.
- Doubles: Sheldon is tied for 2nd with 24 while 2B Eric King is tied for 7th with 18.
- RBIs: Iorg is 8th.
- ERA: Fairchild continues to rank 2nd while Diaz is tied for 9th.
- WHIP: Fairchild is 3rd at 1.03.
- Strikeouts: Fairchild is tied for 7th with 79.
- Wins: Fairchild is tied for the league-lead with 8 victories.
- Saves: RHP Brandon Stricklen is tied for 5th with nine.
Miscellany
- The Legends are leading Greensboro by a 7-4 count on Friday night heading into the bottom of the 9th. Manager Jack Lind signals Sammy Gervacio in from the bully. Automatic win, no? I mean, c’mon, Gervacio had pitched in 22 previous games over the season’s first half and he’d allowed earned runs in just one of those appearances. Just one! His ERA was a friggin’ 0.84. He’d allowed just one stinkin’ home run. So what happens? Gervacio gives up three solo shots and the Grasshoppers go on to win in extra innings.
- RHP Brad James on Sunday made his first start of the season since being called up out of extended spring training. He went five innings and gave up just one run.
Quoting
Fairchild on the sinkerball which he is crediting for a lot of his success this season:
“I developed the sinker in spring training, without even knowing if I was going to Lexington, because our ballpark is small and I wanted to get hitters to bang the ball on the ground,” (he) said. “In our park, a four-seam fastball that gets popped up might get out for a home run. I wanted to give the batter something different, and the sinker has been a great attribute for me and a definite reason for my success. I want to be a groundball pitcher. I would rather throw 60 pitches, get my seven innings and get out than be a guy who strikes out 20 batters.”