After spending a few days in a world with no internet access, I am back to catch us up on that progress or lack there of down on the farm.
Round Rock
The Express went 1-4 over the weekend and the first part of this week. Call ups were in the news as Dave Clark will fill in in Houston for the injured Ed Romero as a 3rd base coach. David Newhan was called up to take Kaz Matsui’s place on the roster after Kaz was placed on the DL. The final call up is one we have been asking for in the Talk Zone, Runelvys Hernandez is being called up and will start for the Astros on Friday.
Corpus Christi
The Hooks lost their final game of the series to San Antonio on Friday and then lost a 4 game sweep to Frisco to go 0-5. They take a break for the Texas League All Star game tonight. Tommy Manzella and Drew Sutton will start for the South. Chris Johnson, Chris Blazek, Ryan McKeller, and Richie Paz might see action. Brad James & Billy Hart were selected to the team but will no play due to injuries.
Salem
The Avs went 1-2 going into the Carolina League All Star break. Jimmy Van Ostrand returned to the Carolina League for the game against the California All Stars. He played the whole game in left but was hitless. Koby Clemens did single in his one at bat in the game. Clemens is progressing in his transition to catcher but has a long way to go.
“I said at the beginning it would be a challenge, and it’s been every bit of the challenge that he expected and that we expected,” Avalanche manager Jim Pankovits said. “He’s made some tremendous progress. He’s receiving pitches better. His blocking has improved. His game-calling has improved. He’s thrown pretty solid all year.
“But he still has a long way to go.”
Throwing Out Runners – Good / Pass Balls – Bad
Clemens has thrown out 27 of 72 would-be base stealers (37.5 percent), which ranks third in the league. He leads the league with 17 passed balls — pitches that get away for reasons deemed to be the fault of the catcher. Lynchburg’s Steve Lerud has 16 passed balls, but Lerud has caught 57 games to Clemens’ 39.
Lexington
The Legends also went 1-4. One of the few highlights for the Legends is the recent resurgence of Brandon Barnes. Barnes is currently riding a 13 game hitting streak. How bad was he battling prior to be sent down to Extended Spring Training? Despite hitting .326 in the month of June, his season average is now just up to .199. Sunday, Barnes hit a 443 foot homer in the lone Legends victory.
So what has made the difference?
”I just worked on a lot of things when I was down there, mainly just hit — I DH’d every day pretty much. And just kind of got my confidence back up, hitting guys at a lower level and just letting everything else go that’s been happening to me lately,“ he said. ”I’ve come back with a little fire now. I’ve got something to prove.“
Tri Cities
The ValleyCats were the only team to muster 2 wins during th 5 day span. One of those wins was a monumental one. On Friday night, Wolf, Miller & Mowdy combined for the first no hitter in ValleyCats history. The no hitter was still the talk of the team the next night despite getting shelled.
“I pitched a no-hitter in high school,” said Wolf who worked the first three innings on Saturday. “But this was different because high school is only seven innings. It’s more special because it’s on the professional level.”
Wolf, who played at Ithaca College, was making his professional debut.
“I had some family there (in Oneonta),” he said. “It was awesome.”
Greeneville
The G-stros went 1-4 over the 5 day span. Despite some tough losses, manager Rodney Linares is still pleased with the effort his team is giving.
“I’m gonna tell the guys we played nine hard innings, and that’s all you can do,” the Astros manager said. “When you’re down 10 runs, its hard to bunt and run and do all that other stuff.”