Link Report for Fri. 6/8 -- Rattlers win to maintain two-game lead

[TheCrew07]

Schafer has a pretty respectable OPS for a CF, shave maybe 40 points off that when he bumps up to MLB and he's still about league average for his position. He does make Morgan completely redundant, having 3CFs on the MLB roster and 1 with nothing left to prove in AAA seems like a waste of resources. Schafer is 25 and will be 26 in Sept, it's not like he needs more MiLB seasoning...

[Tedaldtada]

Sounds Shut Out I-Cubs In Twinbill Finale, 6-0

06/08/2012 11:43 PM ET

Nashville Sounds

 

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Nashville Sounds handed the division-rival Iowa Cubs a 6-0 shutout to earn a doubleheader split on Friday night at Principal Park.

 

Nashville (23-38) moved to 2-4 on the season in doubleheader action with the split and collected their sixth shutout of the season in the doubleheader finale.

 

Nashville took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth of the nightcap as outfielder Logan Schafer and first baseman Sean Halton drew one-out walks off Iowa starter Ryan Rowland-Smith. After an Andy Gonzalez single, shortstop Hainley Statia hit an RBI groundout to the shortstop to bring home Shafer.

 

Nashville dropped three more runs in the fifth for a 4-0 lead after loaded the bases with one out. Catcher Dayton Buller trotted home on a wild pitch before outfielder Logan Schafer brought home outfielder Caleb Gindl on a sacrifice fly. On the following play, first baseman Sean Halton crushed an RBI double off the left field wall.

 

The Sounds added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh frames, beginning with a Caleb Gindl RBI single. Cubs catcher Juan Apodaca walked three consecutive batters in the seventh which included a based-loaded free pass to Patterson for the club's sixth run. (Catcher?)

 

In his second spot start, Donovan Hand worked around three hits over four scoreless innings while fanning four. The four innings matched a season-high for the fourth time this season.

 

Reliever Vinnie Chulk (1-0) tossed two scoreless innings for the victory before Robert Wooten closed the door with a scoreless seventh.

 

Rowland-Smith (2-1) lasted four innings, allowing one run on two hits while fanning four in the loss.

[TooLiveBrew]

* Star Wars night tomorrow TLB! Unfortunately I'll miss it for the 2nd year in a row because of a lame graduation party.

I haven't been to one yet, either. And I believe I'll have to miss it tomorrow as well.

 

But I have no doubt it's great.

[Mass Haas]

The Sounds added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh frames, beginning with a Caleb Gindl RBI single. Cubs catcher Juan Apodaca walked three consecutive batters in the seventh which included a based-loaded free pass to Patterson for the club's sixth run. (Catcher?)

 

Twitter answer

[Mass Haas]

Just watched former Brewer farmhands Lucas Luetge and closer Tom Wilhelmsen help combine on a Seattle Mariner no-hitter, very cool!

[TheCrew07]

Just watched former Brewer farmhands Lucas Luetge and closer Tom Wilhelmsen help combine on a Seattle Mariner no-hitter, very cool!

 

While I'm extremely happy for them I feel the sting of regret that both players got away for nothing. I'm not sure Luetge has all that much of a future but I guess that's a reflection of how far we've come, our cast off players are having MLB success elsewhere.

 

Paying K-Rod $8mil to fill a role that Wilhelmsen could be filling for 480K really sticks in my craw, why exactly did we let him go the 2nd time without an appearance?

 

I was thinking about the MLB bullpen the other day so I checked in on Rob Bryson too just see how he was doing, his ERA and K rates are still nice and shiny but his BB rate has spiked over 7 for whatever reason, he's never made it out of AA for Cleveland but still seems to have health problems.

 

Obviously with Odorizzi he's been really easy to keep tabs on considering BA and MiLB seem to have an article or blog post about him every 5th day and he's been on the Hot Sheet just about every week.

 

A couple of weeks ago I happened to catch Brantley robbing someone of a HR, I didn't even realize it was him until the reverse camera angle showed the back of his jersey. I forget who Cleveland was playing but they're a favorite of mine for personal reasons so when I come across them playing a game and the Brewers aren't on I'll watch. In this case I was out with the other coaches and our trainer at my brother's restaurant for wings so there was no sound, but when he came up to bat I saw he was having a nice season, I'm happy he's having success as well.

 

I also checked in on LaPorta last week even though I never got attached to him, he's still tearing up AAA, his OPS is over 1 so far this season and his career MiLB OPS is .964. Actually, I think he was listed in one of the AAA round posts on MiLB.com and that's where I saw it... whatever the case for Cleveland's sake I hope he figures out how to be more selective in MLB because there's really no reason he shouldn't be able to hit MLB pitching.

 

If people would like me to post updates on our alumni in the minors I certainly can as I do keep tabs and check on them occasionally, I don't quit rooting for guys just because they got traded. I just haven't been posting anything (or very little in Odorizzi's case) about them because of my well known stance in opposition of Melvin's trading policies, I didn't want to appear to be forcing an agenda down everyone's throat.

[TheCrew07]

Cingrani notches first Double-A win

Reds prospect strikes out nine over six shutout innings

By Robert Emrich / Special to MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/06/09/DwzQ2Xi4.jpg

Tony Cingrani is tied for sixth in the Minor Leagues with 86 strikeouts. (Chris Nelson)

Eight words changed things for Tony Cingrani on Friday. Those eight words could be the key to getting him to Triple-A and beyond.

 

The Reds' No. 11 prospect recorded nine strikeouts and gave up five hits over six innings for his first Double-A win as the Pensacola Blue Wahoos blanked the Birmingham Barons, 3-0.

 

Cingrani was on his game early, recording six of his first nine outs via strikeouts. He walked two while throwing 59 of 99 pitches for strikes in his second Southern League start.

 

"I was throwing the fastball in and out [of the zone] and I found my slider tonight," Cingrani said.

 

A third-round pick in last year's Draft, he credited Blue Wahoos pitching Tom Brown for helping him with his slider during a bullpen session earlier this week, saying the advice helped him "tremendously."

 

"Brown said one phrase to me and it made my slider start working how it's supposed to work," Cingrani said. "'Come across my face when I throw it.' It was crazy. I've never had command of my slider and today, I didn't throw it in the zone for a strike, but it had the action. It was a good two-strike pitch."

 

Cingrani heaped praise on his teammates for helping him notch his first win since being promoted from Class A Advanced Bakersfield.

 

"I'm pretty happy, everybody played well," the 22-year-old left-hander said. "[Ryan] LaMarre made a nice catch in the outfield and [shortstop] Didi [Gregorious] in the sixth made a nice play to save a run, it was pretty nice."

 

Overall, Cingrani is 6-1 with a 1.17 ERA in 12 starts across two levels. He's struck out 85 batters over 69 1/3 innings while limiting opponents to a .194 average. So it comes as no surprise when the Illinois native said he's feeling "pretty confident" right now.

 

"I always have confidence when I go out there," Cingrani said. "I think I'm better than the hitter every time I go out there. I just throw strikes and go after them."

 

Asked what he needs to work on to continue climbing the ladder in the Reds organization, he said, "Just my command of the slider and that's pretty much it. Just keep throwing my fastball the way I've been throwing it and I should be good."

 

Justin Freeman fanned four and allowed a hit over two innings before Drew Hayes tossed a hitless ninth for his first save.

 

Brodie Greene went 3-for-4 with a homer and two runs scored for the Blue Wahoos.

[TheCrew07]

This has bearing on Huntsville so I thought I'd share considering the streak he's on, Evan Anundsen gets a mention in the middle. Also "The Incredible Hultz" isn't as T-Shirt worthy as "Downhill Thunder" but it's a decent enough nickname.

 

Hultzen continues dominant stretch

Mariners prospect strikes out eight, extends scoreless streak

By Jonathan Raymond

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/06/08/gnuhEEYO.jpg

Danny Hultzen leads the Southern League with a 1.28 ERA and 75 strikeouts. (John Shadrick)

 

At the University of Virginia, Danny Hultzen and his teammates had a saying: "Comfort is your enemy." At Double-A Jackson, he's beginning to stretch its limits.

 

The Mariners' top prospect allowed two hits and struck out eight over eight innings Friday as the Generals edged the Jacksonville Suns, 1-0.

 

It was Hultzen's third straight scoreless start and extended his shutout streak to 21 2/3 innings. Still, he wants to stress he hasn't grown complacent.

 

"We had that saying in college, 'Comfort was your enemy.' Just stay hungry, never get comfortable," the 22-year-old left-hander said. "When you get comfortable, you get lackadaisical, get away from what's been working."

 

Southern League opponents haven't offered anything to divert Hultzen (7-3) from what's been working. After Friday's outing, the second overall selection in last year's Draft leads the league with a 1.28 ERA and 75 strikeouts against 31 walks over 70 1/3 innings. His ERA is 40 points lower than Trevor Bauer's before the D-backs prospect was promoted to Triple-A and a full run better than Huntsville's Evan Anundsen, who ranks third.

 

The only challenge that may be left for Hultzen at Double-A is whether he can get his ERA below 1.00.

 

"Watching some of these hitters throughout the league, some of them are really, really good, so you have to be on your game," he said. "It's not that hard to stay hungry because of how good some of them are."

 

It's not hard to envision a scenario in which Hultzen follows Bauer to the Pacific Coast League or makes it all the way up to Seattle. For now, however, that kind of thinking is more of a distraction for MLB.com's No. 13 overall prospect.

 

"I haven't really thought about [a promotion] like that," he said. "I just go out and pitch, and the rest will take care of itself. I've been trying to avoid that kind of thinking.

 

"I feel good about how I've done, but I've been walking too many people, and that's one of the big things I need to work on."

 

Following Friday's game, the Generals' official Twitter referred to Hultzen as "The Incredible Hultz."

 

"Seen that before, had that in college," he said. "It's pretty cool to have that."

 

Mariners' No. 8 prospect Carter Capps, picked up his seventh save by striking out two ina perfect ninth.

 

Denny Almonte doubled home No. 3 prospect Nick Franklin with the game's lone run in the first inning.

[Mass Haas]

Rattler Radio Blog: Nine After 9 includes video highlights

 

***

 

Post-Crescent game story includes Matt Miller video interview, Jason Rogers quotes

[Mass Haas]

Two audio highlights from each Sounds game now available --

 

Game One Loss

 

Game Two Victory