Midwest League

Prospect Of The Day

Centerfielder Engel Beltre (Rangers) put on a speed clinic on Wednesday. He went 3-for-4 with his ninth triple and stole his 14th base for Clinton. Beltre also has multiple hits in each of his past five games.

Prospect Nuggets

Dayton catcher Devin Mesoraco (Reds) is seeing the ball better of late, going 3-for-5 on Wednesday. . . Deibinson Romero (Twins) is showing signs of coming out of his own slump. The Beloit third baseman went 2-for-4 and hit his third home run. . . Righthander Josh Lindblom (Dodgers) debuted for Great Lakes and threw two shutout innings. He allowed one hit, walked one and struck out one. Lindblom was the Dodgers’ second round pick out of Purdue. [...] Continue Reading »

Austin Romine decimated West Virginia, Jordan Walden still can’t catch a break and Neftali Soto is still swinging a hot bat.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Charleston (Yankees) catcher Austin Romine is a landslide winner of today’s POTD honors after keying the RiverDogs’ 9-8, 11-inning win over West Virginia (Brewers). Romine reached base five times in going 4-for-5 with a walk, a home run, two doubles and a stolen base. And he made those hits count too, hitting a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh off West Virginia lefthander Mike Ramlow. He later led off the bottom of the 11th with a double and came in to score the winning run when Carmen Angelini drew a bases loaded walk-off walk. For the year, Romine raised his line to .286/.322/.411 in 231 at-bats. [...] Continue Reading »

Scott Moviel had another strong performance, Connor Graham outdueled Kelvin De La Cruz, and Kevin Ahrens went deep for the second time.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Savannah (Mets) righthander Scott Moviel has been outstanding lately, not allowing more than two earned runs in any of his last seven starts, and he continued that streak last night, pitching six shutout innings against Lexington (Astros). He allowed just three hits, walked none and struck out three while improving his mark to 9-7, 4.27. Moviel has come a long way since starting the year 1-4, 9.68 through his first five starts. Although he doesn’t maintain a high strikeout rate (6.03 K/9), he’s  doing a better job of keeping the ball on the ground, raising his groundout-fly out ratio from 1.40 on June 8 to 1.81 today, and has won his last six decisions.  [...] Continue Reading »

Mike McCardell dominated, Angel Villalona had a couple hits, and Brett Wallace went deep for the second time in his very young pro career.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

There were several good performances by Sally League prospects last night, but no real great ones. So with that said, and because we haven’t recognized him in awhile, we’ll give today’s POTD honors to Augusta (Giants) first baseman Angel Villalona. The Giants’ top prospect went 2-for-3 with a run scored in the GreenJackets’ 3-2 loss at Lakewood (Phillies). Villalona is on a modest five-game hitting streak and has upped his line for the year to .241/.297/.405.

Prospect Nuggets

By his standards, Augusta lefthander Madison Bumgarner was roughed up last night when he gave up all of three runs on nine hits over seven innings. Bumgarner suffered his first loss since April 18 after having won seven consecutive decisions and gone 12 starts without a defeat … Hagerstown (Nationals) right fielder Michael Burgess went 1-for-3 with his 18th home run of the year, a three-run shot, in a 9-8 loss to Asheville (Rockies) … Asheville right fielder Brian Rike went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in that game … Savannah (Mets) second baseman Greg Veloz went 2-for-3 with two runs scored in a 5-4 loss to West Virginia (Brewers). [...] Continue Reading »

Jordan Walden dominated but didn’t get any help, Matt Dominguez led a Greensboro comeback and Jemile Weeks made his professional debut.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Greensboro (Marlins) third baseman Matt Dominguez went 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored in the Grasshoppers’ come-from-behind 4-3 win over Rome (Braves). Dominguez launched a two-run shot, his fifth of the season, in the fourth inning off Braves lefthander Cole Rohrbough. Later, with Greensboro down 3-2 in the top of the ninth, Dominguez led off the inning with a single and later came around to score the game-tying run.

Dominguez has cooled off since starting the season red hot in May and early June, and he’s hitting only .250/.296/.375 in seven games so far in July. But his line for the year still stands at .309/.379/.450 in 149 at-bats. [...] Continue Reading »

Freddie Freeman had a monster night, Michael Burgess went deep again and Scott Moviel had another strong outing in Tuesday’s low Class A action.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Rome (Braves) first baseman Freddie Freeman went 4-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs in a 5-3 win over Greensboro (Marlins). The big 6-foot-5, 220-pounder extended his hitting streak to eight games, including four straight multi-hit games to raise his line to .308/.364/.517 in 331 at-bats.

Prospect Nuggets

Savannah (Mets) righthander Scott Moviel pitched seven strong innings against West Virginia (Brewers), limiting the Power to one run on three hits, with one walk and two strikeouts. However, he didn’t get much offensive support and took a no decision. After going 1-4, 9.68 in five starts in April, Moviel has gone 7-3, 3.31 and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any start since … Asheville (Rockies) righthander Connor Graham pitched a seven-inning complete game shutout against Hagerstown (Nationals) in the second game of a doubleheader. Graham gave up only two hits, fanned eight and walked three to improve to 7-4, 2.06 on the year … In the first game of that doubleheader, Hagerstown right fielder Michael Burgess hit his 16th home run of the year. Burgess went 2-for-4 between the two games … Lakewood (Phillies) center fielder Dominic Brown went 2-for-4 with his seventh home run of the year and two RBIs in a 6-4 win over Augusta (Giants). [...] Continue Reading »

Midwest League

Prospect Of The Day

2008 first-round pick Brett Wallace (Cardinals) went 3-for-3 with two doubles for Quad Cities. After going 0-for-2 in his professional debut, Wallace has hit in five straight.

Prospect Nuggets

Dayton third baseman Neftali Soto (Reds) is making the most of his recent promotion. Soto went 2-for-4 with a double in his second game with the Dragons. . . Second baseman John Tolisano (Blue Jays) played a big role in Lansing’s win over Great Lakes. Tolisano went 2-for-4 and knocked in five of the Lugnuts’ six runs with a home run and a double. [...] Continue Reading »

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

There were only three games in the SAL yesterday, none of which featured particularly standout performances by top prospects, so we’ll go a little off the board and give today’s POTD honors to West Virginia (Brewers) left fielder Eric Fryer, who went 5-for-5 with three doubles and six RBIs in a 16-1 win over Hagerstown (Nationals).

Fryer was the Brewers’ 10th-round pick in 2007 out of Ohio State, but he hit only .209/.288/.324 in the Rookie-level Pioneer League in his pro debut. However, Fryer has been heating up with West Virginia since arriving there in early May. He hit .363/.438/.539 in June and he’s 13-for-19 (.684) so far in July, putting his line for the year at .363/.419/.581 in 179 at-bats.

Prospect Nuggets

Fryer’s teammate, West Virginia center fielder Lee Haydel went 2-for-5 with three RBIs and three runs scored in the Power’s rout of Hagerstown … Asheville (Rockies) right fielder Brian Rike hit his 14th home run of the year in a 4-1 win over Rome (Braves). Rike finished the night 1-for-3 … Rome DH Freddie Freeman went 2-for-4 in the loss, putting his line at .298/.356/.500 in 322 at-bats … Delmarva (Orioles) lefthander Zach Britton had his worst outing since late May, giving up seven runs (five earned) on five hits over 5 1/3 innings against Greensboro (Marlins). He only walked one but also struck out just one. [...] Continue Reading »

Angel Villalona had a couple of hits, Engel Beltre did him one better, rain was the only thing stopping Neftali Feliz, and the Cedar Rapids pitching staff flirted with a no-no.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Augusta (Giants) first baseman Angel Villalona went 2-for-4 with his 16th double of the year and an RBI in the GreenJackets’ 5-0 win over Charleston (Yankees). Serving as Augusta’s DH last night, Villalona led off the bottom of the second with an opposite-field double and later came in to score the game’s first run. He went on to add an RBI single in the sixth. The top prospect in the Giants’ system now has a line of .239/.293/.413 in 264 at-bats.

Prospect Nuggets

Charleston DH Jesus Montero went 2-for-4 in the losing effort … Greenville (Red Sox) center fielder Che-Hsuan Lin went 2-for-5 with a run scored and stole his 25th base of the year in the Drive’s 4-3 win over Savannah. Lin is now 25-for-31 in steals this year … Lake County (Indians) lefthander Kelvin De La Cruz had a rare rough outing, giving up nine hits and three runs over 4 1/3 innings against Kannapolis (White Sox). He struck out four and walked none. His teammates took him off the hook by coming from behind and eventually winning the game in 10 innings. [...] Continue Reading »

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

A Rome Brave takes POTD honors for the second day in a row after lefthander Jeff Locke tossed seven strong innings against Columbus (Rays). Locke held the Catfish to two runs on four hits while walking two and striking out five, improving his mark to 3-7, 4.12.

Prospect Nuggets

Locke was given offensive support by right fielder Jason Heyward, who went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and left fielder Cody Johnson, who went 2-for-3 and hit his 13th home run of the year … Lakewood (Phillies) center fielder Dominic Brown went a combined 4-for-7 with two doubles and an RBI as the BlueClaws swept a doubleheader from Hagerstown (Nationals). Brown raised his numbers to .301/.375/.411 in 316 at-bats for the year … Savannah (Mets) second baseman Greg Veloz went 2-for-4 with his fourth home run of the year, two RBIs and two runs scored as the Sand Gnats beat Charleston (Yankees) 7-0. [...] Continue Reading »

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Rome (Braves) right fielder Jason Heyward takes today’s honors after going 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs to lead Rome over Columbus (Rays) 11-6. The home run was his eighth of the season, a grand slam in the bottom of the fifth off Columbus lefthander Glenn Gibson which put the game away after Rome had come from behind to take a 7-6 lead. This was Heyward’s first home run since May 27 and just his fourth extra-base hit of the month. His power numbers dipped noticeably in June, although that’s most likely due to the minor shoulder and knee issues that plagued him early in the month, and he continued to hit for a high average and improve his OBP in spite of them. Heyward hit .315/.414/.425 in 73 June at-bats, putting his line for the year at .332/.394/.495 in 283 at-bats on the year.

Prospect Nuggets

Charleston (Yankees) righthander Jairo Heredia shut down Savannah (Mets) over seven innings, holding the Sand Gnats to one run–unearned–on two hits, with two walks and six strikeouts. This was Heredia’s longest outing of the year, and he bounced back from a couple of rough games in his last two starts in which he gave up a combined nine runs in 10 1/3 innings. He improved 3-2, 2.96 for the year … Greenville (Red Sox) right fielder Ryan Kalish went 3-for-4 with a double in a 9-3 loss to Asheville (Rockies), putting his line for the year at .279/.359/.363 in 226 at-bats … Augusta (Giants) second baseman Nick Noonan went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles in the GreenJackets’ 7-2 win over Hickory (Pirates) …  Delmarva (Orioles) lefthander Zach Britton pitched six strong innings against Lake County (Indians), holding the Captains to one run on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Britton dropped his ERA to 2.85 but didn’t figure in the decision. [...] Continue Reading »

Che-Hsuan Lin played the hero for Greenville, Mike Moustakas hit his 12th dinger and Cody Johnson continued heading in the right direction.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Picking a POTD is harder some days than others. Today was one of the easy days. Greenville (Red Sox) center fielder Che-Hsuan Lin went 4-for-5 with two doubles, his fifth home run and six RBIs in a wild 13-12 win over Asheville (Rockies). In the bottom of the first, Lin walked to lead off the game but was then thrown out trying to steal second. That was about the only thing he did wrong all night. Lin got a second chance to hit in the bottom of the first after the Drive batted around and came through with a two-run double that put Greenville up 6-1. Lin struck again in the sixth with an RBI infield-single to make it 7-2. Greenville added three more runs in the inning to open up a 10-2 bulge, but Asheville made a furious comeback in the late innings, scoring twice in the seventh, five times in the eighth, and three times in the ninth to take a 12-10 lead.

The Drive put two on with one out in the bottom of the ninth, when Asheville summoned righthander Craig Baker to face Lin. Home runs aren’t Lin’s calling card, but he has some pop and picked a good time to show it, drilling Baker’s first pitch over the left field wall to send everyone home happy.

"It was a fastball, middle in and a little high," Lin told the Greenville News through an interpreter. "I didn’t think too much about it, but I just enjoyed the moment."

Lin raised his numbers to .265/.363/.403 in 283 at-bats on the year. His six RBIs tied the Drive’s franchise record.

[...] Continue Reading »

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

There weren’t a whole lot of standout performances by Sally League prospects yesterday, but the best of the group belonged to Greensboro (Marlins) third baseman Matt Dominguez. After hitting a game-winning grand slam on Wednesday to beat West Virginia, Dominguez kept the good mojo working yesterday against Kannapolis (White Sox) by going 3-for-5 with an RBI in a 10-5 loss. Dominguez raised his line to .339/.405/.500 in 112 at-bats.

Prospect Nuggets

After a couple of back-to-back 0-for-4 efforts, Greensboro’s Mike Stanton also went 3-for-5 as the Grasshoppers’ DH, moving up his line to .291/.348/.578 in 282 at-bats … Delmarva (Orioles) center fielder Matt Angle went 3-for-5 with his second home run of the season and three runs scored in an 11-5 win over Hagerstown (Nationals) … Hickory (Pirates) righthander Brad Lincoln was roughed up by Asheville (Rockies), giving up seven runs (five earned) on eight hits in five innings. On the brighter side, Lincoln fanned five and didn’t walk any.

[...] Continue Reading »

Midwest League

Prospect of the Day

Deibinson Romero (Twins) has the bat speed to become a major league third baseman. But he hasn’t yet shown the production that goes with that bat speed. He did on Thursday, as he went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs. He also hit his sixth double of the season, and raised his averages to .241/.267/.373.

Prospect Nuggets

Luis Bautista (Cubs) hit a homer and a double as part of a 2-for-4 day…Wynn Pelzer (Padres) threw six shutout innings, decreasing his ERA to 3.57. He gave up three hits, but struck out five in the process…Brian Broderick (Cardinals) also had a strong outing. He lasted seven innings and scattered nine hits. He struck out just two batters, but only one run came across…Jonathan Jaspe (Blue Jays) saw his average jump to .404 after he went 3-for-3 with a home run last night. [...] Continue Reading »

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Lakewood (Phillies) center fielder Dominic Brown takes the prize after going 3-for-6 with a double and a stolen base in a 9-8, 12-inning loss to Hagerstown (Nationals). Brown was a central figure in what turned out to be a very dramatic game. Hagerstown jumped out to a 7-0 lead after five innings, but Lakewood scored once in the sixth and four times in the eighth, a rally which Brown helped set off with an RBI double to plate the first run of the inning. Lakewood took an 8-7 lead on a two-out three-run home run by first baseman Karl Bolt, but Hagerstown tied the game in the bottom of the ninth on a Sean Rooney double and had the winning run on second with two outs. The Suns’ Tim Pahuta lined a single up the middle and Rooney tried to score, but Brown threw him out at the plate to send the game to extras.

Brown raised his line to .294/.366/.399 in 293 at-bats for the season. The speedy 20-year-old hasn’t hit for a lot of power, with only five home runs on the year–although Lakewood is one of the SAL’s least hitter-friendly parks–but he’s shown a good eye at the plate and has been more successful in stealing bases this year than last with 13 in 17 attempts. [...] Continue Reading »

Mike Stanton continued his monster June, Danny Duffy had his best outing yet, and it was a long night in Cedar Rapids.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Is there anyone hotter than Mike Stanton? The Greensboro (Marlins) right fielder slugged his ninth home run of June last night against Lexington (Astros) in a 7-3 Grasshoppers win. Stanton added a double as well, finishing the night 2-for-4 with three RBIs. In 82 June at-bats, Stanton is hitting .341/.402/.780 and he’s raised his line for the season to .294/.354/.595.

Prospect Nuggets

Savannah (Mets) righthander Nick Carr struggled mightily in the Florida State League, but two of his three starts for Savannah since being demoted have been outstanding. Last night against Columbus (Rays), Carr carried a no-hitter into the eighth before giving up a one-out single to the Catfish’s Henry Wrigley. Carr ended up allowing two runs on one hit in 7 1/3 innings, with one walk and four strikeouts. Unfortunately for Carr, the Savannah bullpen allowed Columbus to tie the game in the eighth and win it in the tenth, leaving him with nothing to show for his efforts … Matched up with Carr was Columbus righthander Alex Cobb, who kept the Catfish in the game by allowing only one run on three hits over six innings. Cobb walked two and struck out seven … Lexington third baseman Matt Cusick went 3-for-5 with an RBI … Augusta (Giants) second baseman Nick Noonan went 3-for-5 with two doubles in an 8-3 over Asheville (Rockies), raising his line to .300/.331/.456. [...] Continue Reading »

Neftali Feliz continued to mow down Midwest League hitters, Connor Graham finally broke his victory drought and Freddie Freeman hit his 10th home run.

South Atlantic League

Prospect Of The Day

Asheville (Rockies) righthander Connor Graham tossed eight shutout innings against Augusta (Giants) to earn his first win since May 2—a span of sevens starts—and take home today’s POTD honors. The hard-throwing Graham limited the GreenJackets to just four hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 1.98, tying him with teammate Jhoulys Chacin for fourth in the league.

Prospect Nuggets

Rome (Braves) teammates Freddie Freeman and Cody Johnson each had good nights as the Braves knocked off Savannah (Mets) 7-3. Freeman went 2-for-4 with a home run, his 10th, and two RBIs. Johnson had four RBIs and also went 2-for-4 with a home run, his 10th as well, and added his 15th double … Greenville (Red Sox) center fielder Che-Hsuan Lin went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two stolen bases in a 10-5 win over Hickory (Pirates). Lin is 23-for-28 in the stolen bases department for the year … West Virginia (Brewers) right fielder Caleb Gindl went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs in a rain-shortened 8-7 win over Kannapolis (White Sox). Gindl raised his line to .271/.355/.414.

[...] Continue Reading »

There was drama aplenty in Tuesday night’s Midwest League All-Star Game at Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich., home of the Great Lakes Loons, as the Western Division pulled out a thrilling 5-4, 10-inning win over the East.

The West struck first, scoring two runs in the top of the first on East starter Steven Johnson, a Great Lakes righthander. Johnson retired the first two hitters to start the game before giving up a walk, a single, and another walk to load the bases for Kane County’s Corey Brown (Athletics). Brown lined a two-run single to right to put the West on top before Johnson retired Wisconsin’s Edilio Colina (Mariners) to end the inning.

West starter Craig Italiano, who leads the minor leagues with a 1.09 ERA, had a 1-2-3 bottom of the first, retiring Evan Frey (Diamondbacks), Pete Kozma (Cardinals), and Andrew Lambo (Dodgers) all on fly balls. [...] Continue Reading »

GREENSBORO, N.C.—There were plenty of big name prospects populating the rosters for the South Atlantic League’s All-Star Game last night at Greensboro’s NewBridge Bank Park, and they didn’t disappoint when it was their turn to strut their stuff as the best the league has to offer.

The night began with the first two rounds of the Home Run Derby, which started before the game and culminated with the final round after the second inning. Among the competitors were Hagerstown’s Michael Burgess (Nationals), Rome’s Freddie Freeman (Braves), Charleston’s Jesus Montero (Yankees) and Greensboro’s Mike Stanton (Marlins), who was entered in the derby as a "wild card" despite not being chosen for the North Division’s All-Star Team. Stanton leads the Sally League with 15 home runs at the break.

"It should be fun, but I ain’t gonna try to do a lot," Burgess said before the derby.

Whether he really wanted to or not, Burgess did indeed put on the best show of the contest. He hit five home runs in the first round, including one that cleared the big scoreboard in right-center field, but the best was yet to come. The powerful, lefty-swinging 19-year-old cranked nine long balls in the second round, including several tape-measure shots that looked like they threatened the buildings across the street beyond the right field fence. [...] Continue Reading »

A trio of highly-touted South Atlantic League prospects had big Sundays.

MIDWEST LEAGUE

PROSPECT OF THE DAY

Lansing (Blue Jays) has quite the trio of teenage-prospects. John Tolisano will take today’s honor, but could easily be joined by his teammates Kevin Ahrens and Justin Jackson. Tolisano was 2-for-5 with a home run and five RBIs in an 18-6 thrashing of Great Lakes (Dodgers).

PROSPECT NUGGETS

Ahrens was 3-for-6 with a double and two runs scored while Jackson was 2-for-5 with a double, two runs and an RBI. All together the three young stars went a combined 7-for-16 with six RBIs and six runs scored…Brandon Hamilton was roughed up again, pitching 4 1/3 innings of relief and allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out five… Jordan Walden (Angels) threw a six-inning shutout against Kane County in which he allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out four… Jamie Richmond (Athletics) took the loss in the same contest, throwing seven innings, allowing three unearned runs on four hits and two walks while striking out three. [...] Continue Reading »