Link Report for Fri. 7/27 - Rogers and Jungmann venture moundward (actually Rogers bumped for big league start Sunday)

[TooLiveBrew]

@Pensacola 7, Huntsville 5

 

Huntsville Box

Two multi-hit, 2-R innings were enough to send starter Evan Anundsen packing after just 4.2 IP tonight. He allowed five of his seven hits in the 2nd & 5th innings, with three of the five hits being XBH. Overall, five of the seven hits Anundsen allowed on the outing were of the XBH variety, which probably doesn't usually translate to success.

 

From the 6th inning on, the Stars scored four runs after trailing 4-1 -- unfortunately, each of the three RPs used by Huntsville tonight allowed a run to score in his full inning of work. Kyle Heckathorn relieved Anundsen in the 5th, and retired the first batter he faced to end the inning; however, he allowed two singles, a BB, & 1 ER in the 6th. Brian Garman was up next, and two BBs followed by a single resulted in 1 ER for the Blue Wahoos in the 7th. Dan Merklinger gave up a single followed by a double for his ER in the 8th. It was a good ballgame tonight, but the Stars needed their bullpen to step up & hold Pensacola scoreless for at least one frame, and unfortunately they weren't up to the task.

 

Khris Davis extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a HR to lead off the 4th; he finished 2-3 with a 2B, HR, RBI, & two BBs. I have to guess that "Kh" will be on his way to Nashville before too much longer. He missed almost both full months of May & June, but all he's done sandwiched around that is hit the cover off the ball. Although he's a little older for a prospect (interestingly, less than a year older than Hunter Morris), the only speedbump in his production through the MiLB chain so far was after getting promoted from BC to Huntsville last season. His 2012 OPS is currently at 1.111 (Huntsville OPS of 1.082). Dude can flat-out hit, and the power looks to be very legit. If he had enough PAs to qualify, he'd be leading the SL in OPS by 150 points! It's also worth noting that "Kh" has supplanted Morris as the cleanup hitter for some time now.

 

Kentrail Davis needed a little longer tonight to extend his streak -- he singled in the 8th inning, in his fourth PA, to push his streak to 8 games. He was 1-4 with a BB.

 

Hunter Morris -- who's still probably in the driver's seat for SL MVP -- was 1-4. He's providing plenty of reason to be bullish about his prospect status, with a second-half OPS of 1.137 (first-half: .817). Morris currently leads the SL in H, 2B, TB, RBI (tied w/1 player), and trails the league-leader in HRs by one. Believe, people!

 

Josh Prince had another strong game out of the leadoff spot, going 1-3 with two BBs and a clutch 2-RBI 2B in the 8th that pulled to Stars to a 6-5 defecit. He was caught stealing for the 15th time on the season too, but held onto his organizational & SL-lead in the SB category.

 

Scooter Gennett went 2-5 with a 2B. Adam Weisenburger was 1-3 with two BBs. Hainley Statia was 1-4. Tommy Manzella was 1-5.

 

 

Huntsville PbP

This is just about how you draw it up for the 1st inning if you're Stars manager Darnell Coles -- two runners on for your MVP candidate, but Morris wasn't able to cash in with a hit:

 

Huntsville Top of the 1st

-Josh Prince lines out to center fielder Ryan LaMarre.

-Tommy Manzella flies out to right fielder Josh Fellhauer.

-Scooter Gennett doubles (26) on a line drive to right fielder Josh Fellhauer.

-Khris Davis walks.

-Hunter Morris grounds out, second baseman Brodie Greene to first baseman Beau Mills.

 

Billy Hamilton was held without a SB for the third game out of four so far this series, but that didn't mean his speed was completely neutralized:

 

Pensacola Bottom of the 5th

-Billy Hamilton triples (2) on a fly ball to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Billy Hamilton scores. Missed catch error by shortstop Tommy Manzella.

-Ryan LaMarre strikes out swinging.

-Donald Lutz walks.

-Beau Mills doubles (8) on a sharp line drive to right fielder Kentrail Davis. Donald Lutz scores.

-Josh Fellhauer grounds out sharply to first baseman Hunter Morris. Beau Mills to 3rd.

-Pitching Change: Kyle Heckathorn replaces Evan Anundsen, batting 9th.

-Brodie Greene flies out to right fielder Kentrail Davis.

 

The 6th & 7th innings each yielded one run for Huntsville, but both also ended with big missed opportunities. Weisenburger grounded into a DP in the 6th to end the inning & strand the bases loaded, and Morris struck out to end the 7th with runners on 2B & 3B. Those missed chances just made Prince's 8th inning double that much clutch-i-er:

 

Huntsville Top of the 8th

-Hainley Statia grounds out, first baseman Beau Mills to pitcher Josh Ravin.

-Kentrail Davis singles on a ground ball to center fielder Ryan LaMarre.

-Adam Weisenburger walks. Kentrail Davis to 2nd.

-Pitching Change: Justin Freeman replaces Josh Ravin, batting 6th.

-Defensive Substitution: Miguel Rojas replaces pitcher Josh Ravin, batting 9th, playing second base.

-Offensive Substitution: Pinch-hitter T. J. Mittelstaedt replaces Brian Garman.

-T. J. Mittelstaedt walks. Kentrail Davis to 3rd. Adam Weisenburger to 2nd.

-Josh Prince doubles (19) on a line drive to left fielder Donald Lutz. Kentrail Davis scores. Adam Weisenburger scores. T. Mittelstaedt to 3rd.

-Tommy Manzella strikes out on a foul tip.

-Scooter Gennett strikes out swinging, catcher Tucker Barnhart to first baseman Beau Mills.

 

That made the score 6-5, but unfortunately the Stars weren't able to grind out the W tonight. Still a helluva game, though.

 

 

Huntsville Gameday

[Mass Haas]

Stars southpaw Daniel Meadows welcomes the new guys

[TooLiveBrew]

As Mass Haas linked, Doug Melvin commented today..

"I had another general manager tell me today that we have the best hitting ball club in the Southern League with our Huntsville club with Scooter Gennett and Hunter Morris and you add (Jean) Segura there and three fourths of our infield are real good prospects. Morris is having a phenomenal year in AA."

And, as gregmag pointed out, "All this, and he doesn't even say the word 'Davis.'"

 

I know I wouldn't exactly look forward to facing the Stars at this point if I were a SL pitcher. Second half slash lines of the regular lineup:

 

• Prince ---------- .283/.372/.402/.773
  Manzella ------- .196/.228/.206/.434 <-- you can pencil in Segura here the rest of the way
  Gennett -------- .261/.288/.319/.607
  Kh. Davis ------ .383/.463/.745/1.208
  Morris --------- .362/.413/.724/1.137
  Statia ---------- .296/.373/.357/.730
  Ke. Davis ------ .311/.368/.541/.909
  Weisenburger --- .170/.291/.298/.589

 

 

(sorry for the painfully awkward d-i-y formatting there... I thought I knew how to space out lists like this with the List tag feature... guess not )

 

Basically everyone on that list that's regarded as a prospect is hitting well or well enough, with the painful exception of Gennett. I honestly had no idea how badly he's been scuffling this second half, but hopefully he can turn it around. Plug in Segura at SS, and hope for Scooter to get his groove back, and that's an offense I don't want to face.

[TheCrew07]

Irwin hurls third straight complete game

Pirates prospect hurls two-hitter, strikes out season-high nine

By Danny Wild / MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/27/73LGqYPS.jpg

Phil Irwin went 2-2 with a 1.03 ERA in five starts this month. (Kevin Pataky/MiLB.com)

 

By his own admission, Phil Irwin's season got off to a pretty terrible start. Coming off an injury, the right-hander made a rehab start in Florida and returned to Altoona in early May to begin his first full season at Double-A.

 

By late June, his ERA had climbed to 5.05 and he began looking for answers.

 

"The transition was pretty bad," the Pirates prospect said. "I started off struggling a lot, my first five or six starts, and it kinda made me step back and look at what I was doing, why I wasn't having success like I did last year."

 

Irwin, though, has been reborn. A refined changeup and a cleaner delivery helped him record his third straight complete game Friday night as he held New Hampshire to two hits over seven innings in a 1-0 win in the first game of a doubleheader.

 

The 25-year-old right-hander struck out a season-high nine batters, allowing a single in the first and a double in the fifth before finishing with back-to-back punchouts.

 

"It's been really good [lately]," said Irwin (3-7). "I had really good fastball command and my curve has been my money pitch. I've been able to throw it for strikes and bounce it when I need to. My change is thrown into the mix and it's not a great pitch, but it's getting outs when I need to."

 

The gem marked the fifth time in six starts in which Irwin has allowed one run or fewer. He's gone at least six innings in all six of those outings and has allowed only three earned runs over 22 innings in his three complete games.

 

The University of Mississippi surrendered at least three runs in five of his first eight starts after going 8-4 with a 3.81 ERA in 15 starts for Altoona last season. He reviewed his delivery and looked into his changeup. Since June 29, he has not allowed more than one earned run in any outing.

 

"That's where my changeup came into play," Irwin said. "A couple mechanical tweaks and things start coming together. My arm was late, I had to make sure I was releasing my breaking ball at the top and getting on top of the ball, making sure the ball is down."

 

Despite rising to Double-A by his third season, Irwin doesn't appear in any of the Pirates' top prospect rankings. The 6-foot-3 righty was a 21st-round pick in 2009 and has worked his way up from short-season State College.

 

New Hampshire's only success came on Ryan Goins' two-out single in the first and Brian Van Kirk's ground-rule double in the fifth. Irwin also worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth, stranding Jake Marisnick at third by striking out Brad Glenn.

 

"I think my confidence is through the roof right now," he said. "With each outing, I'm going out there and taking it one batter at a time. Especially with back-to-back complete games, I've gotta attack in the first inning and then just keep going. If I throw seven again, so be it; I just want to give my team the best chance to win and, tonight, one run was all we needed."

 

Irwin struck out Glenn and Kenen Bailli to end the seventh and wrap up the Curve's sixth shutout.

 

"That felt great," he said. "I was making sure I wasn't giving them anything to hit, trying to make them hit whatever I wanted them to. One was a fastball away looking, the other was a curve in the dirt to end the game."

 

Altoona put Irwin in position to win it when Stefan Welch singled home Oscar Tejeda with one out in the second.

 

Irwin said there was no talk about not finishing the game.

 

"My pitch count was low, I was in the 70s or so before I went out there in the seventh, so I just assumed I had it," he said. "I was able to beat them with my curve, so it was nice."

 

Eastern League All-Star Yohan Pino (5-6) also went the distance for New Hampshire, striking out nine while yielding a run on five hits.

[TooLiveBrew]

**************

 

On a serious note, I have to get married tomorrow evening. So, just reminding any relevant folks that I hope to have the next 2 nights off from Link Reporting. One night for fun and one night for putting my life back together after putting on a party for 175. My house is a monstrous pile of garbage and in-the-box home appliances and that needs to be remedied.

Congrats, Teda-whatever & soon-to-be-Mrs. Teda-whatever!

[TheCrew07]

clocked at 101, just what the Reds need, another pitcher who consistently can sit in the upper 90s. Actually that reminded me of the good Gamel days (when he was first called up) when the Cards announcers said something to the effect of "great another guy that hits home runs".

Stephenson shines in Class A debut

Reds prospect strikes out six, pitches five one-hit innings

By Jonathan Raymond / Special to MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/28/VA3IZ26p.jpg

Robert Stephenson was clocked as high as 101 mph on the stadium radar gun. (Great Lakes Loons)

It was probably the best bad news Robert Stephenson ever had to deliver.

 

His girlfriend was set to arrive the next day in Billings and his parents already had arranged their own trip to Montana. But Stephenson had to tell them to change their plans because his time in the Pioneer League was over -- he'd been promoted.

 

The Reds' No. 3 prospect gave up an unearned run on one hit and struck out six over five innings in his Midwest League debut Friday night as Dayton beat Great Lakes, 7-5.

 

"The last game was in Grand Junction and they called me into the office, told me they were sending me up. I didn't really know it was coming," Stephenson said. "It also kind of [stunk] a little bit because my girlfriend was coming the next day and my parents had their flight out booked. But, yeah, it was mostly awesome."

 

Selected 27th overall in last year's Draft, Stephenson (1-0) began his pro career when he debuted for the Mustangs on June 19. He did not allow more than two earned runs in any of his seven Pioneer League starts, posting a 2.05 ERA and 37 strikeouts against eight walks over 30 2/3 innings.

 

The 19-year-old out of Alhambra High School in Martinez, Calif., has found early success thanks to a fastball that hits triple digits. He managed another first Friday night, touching 101 mph on the radar gun at the Dow Diamond.

 

"I was told I touched 101. I've touched 100 but not 101 before," he said. "I didn't really know the hitters [at this level], so I just went after them with that fastball and tried to get ahead."

 

Against the Loons, Stephenson said it was his curveball, however, that worked most effectively as an out pitch. He struck out the side in the opening inning, finishing off two of the three batters with the curve.

 

"I thought the curveball was pretty much the out pitch for me [tonight]," he said. "Fastball was probably my best pitch [overall] and the changeup was all right."

 

The right-hander was working on a 70-pitch limit as the Reds try to manage his workload during his first pro season. But he was efficient enough to get through five innings and put himself in line for the win.

 

Stephenson said he was satisfied with the start but found details to critique. He issues a pair of walks after allowing one or fewer in five of his season starts for Billings.

 

"I was a little bit nervous, mostly excited though," he said. "It definitely felt good. Just a little bit upset with the two walks, but other than that, I was pretty happy with [the outing]."

 

Offensively, Reds' No. 12 prospect Sean Buckley went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs. Leadoff man Juan Perez also had three hits, including a triple, and drove in a run.

[TooLiveBrew]

Wow, Walt freaking Jocketty, people. Couldn't he have moved on to the AL, or at least not to another divisional opponent?

[HiAndTight]

Woohoo Doug! What, are you trying to restore my faith in you as a GM in one stinkin' day?!

 

Let's not get carried away...

 

 

Lets admit when we're wrong. Several posters, you and Logan chief among them where already bemoaning how Melvin wasn't trading Greinke to get back some young talent, and hwo if he DID trade him, it'd simply be for some below average major leaguers.

 

Yeah, Yeah, I know. The Jerry Hairston trades for the likes of Erik Komastu have ruined this organization and you have deemed him a terrible GM because of his deadline trades, onely one o whch was of consequence and that awas the Sabathia trade.

 

But it's easier to keep complaining than just say, eh, I was wrong.

[TheCrew07]

Davis with kind words for Segura at the bottom, seems to be a classy young man. We're fortunate in that we have so many good guys to root for, the organization has definitely gotten that part right

Davis homers in fifth straight game

Brewers prospect is one short of Southern League record

By Sam Dykstra / Special to MLB.com

 

http://www.milb.com/images/2012/07/28/eUD7nEDK.jpg

Khris Davis is 10-for-15 with five homers and six RBIs in his last five games. (Jill Cacic/Huntsville Stars)

 

Khris Davis won't tell you he's making up for lost time, but his play suggests otherwise.

 

The Brewers' No. 15 prospect homered in his fifth straight game on Friday night but could not keep Double-A Huntsville from falling at Pensacola, 7-5.

 

Davis, who's also riding an 11-game hitting streak, doubled and walked twice to go with his solo blast in the fourth inning. He's one game away from tying the Southern League record for most consecutive games with a home run set by Derrek Lee, who homered in six straight for the Memphis Chicks from June 2-8, 1996.

 

Davis missed time from May 6-June 3 with a pulled calf muscle, only to aggravate the injury in his second game back. He returned for a six-game rehab stint in the Rookie-level Arizona League, but by the time he rejoined the Stars on July 9, he'd missed 56 games.

 

The 24-year-old outfielder said the calf "feels great."

 

"I try not to think about my numbers," he added. "I'm just working on getting better and, on a personal level, I'm looking at improving my skills. If I feel like I'm doing that, then I'm happy. Otherwise, I don't have to put up numbers for that to happen necessarily."

 

Still, Davis' statistics are stellar for someone who missed a good chunk of the season. Through 42 games with Huntsville, he's hitting .355 with a 1.082 OPS. He'd lead the league in both categories if he had the plate appearances to qualify.

 

Even in that admittedly small sample, the Arizona native's power is more of a recent phenomenon. Before starting the streak in the second game of a doubleheader on July 21, Davis had homered three times in his previous 37 contests. That's not lost on the Cal State-Fullerton product.

 

"I would describe myself as a good hitter with power, but I wouldn't necessarily say I'm a power hitter," he explained. "I'll put together a run like this every now and again. It just happens, but it's not something I do often."

 

As for the streak, Davis has a favorite homer. In Tuesday's series opener against Pensacola, he launched a two-run shot to right field off Reds' No. 10 prospect Tony Cingrani.

 

Davis could take pride in the fact the blast came off one of the Minor Leagues' ERA leaders. Instead, he was happier about the direction the ball traveled.

 

"I love to hit home runs the opposite way," he said. "It's always a good indicator that my swing is working well and that I'm doing the right things when I'm at the plate."

 

With a share of the Southern League record on the line Saturday, Davis admitted it'll be on his mind. But he won't be too worried about the outcome.

 

"Yeah, I think about it," he said. "But every time I step up for an at-bat, I just try to do the little things: Get a good pitch, put a decent swing on it. If it happens to go over the wall, that's great."

 

Davis also could be joined by three new teammates on Saturday. Infielder Jean Segura and pitchers Johnny Hellweg and Ariel Pena will join the Stars after the Brewers acquired them as part of the trade that sent Zack Greinke to the Angels..

 

Davis knows Segura from 2010, when the two were teammates at the Midwest All-Star Game.

 

"He's an amazing player," Davis said. "He's always been a tough out at the plate and he can definitely pick it on the ground, too. ... He'll bring leadership [to the infield]. Anytime the ball is hit his way, he'll make it look routine, no matter how hard it's hit. Adding someone like that is always exciting."

[Mass Haas]

Just for our wedding friend this AM, Jerry has this for you (these three videos will be up until Saturday midnight only):

 

http://jerryseinfeld.com/

[Mass Haas]

AUDIO: Jim Henderson joined Joe Block on the Brewers' pre-game Friday night

[Mass Haas]

STARS WIN STREAK SNAPPED AT FIVE

 

PENSACOLA, FL. – A five-game winning streak came to an end for the Huntsville Stars as they fell to the Pensacola BlueWahoos by a score of 7-5 on Friday night.

 

The Stars trailed the entire game, beginning in the second inning. Pensacola left fielder Josh Fellhauer started off the rally with double off of Stars starting pitcher Evan Anundsen. After advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt, Fellhauer then scored on an RBI ground-rule double by third baseman David Vidal to give the BlueWahoos a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Vidal scored on an RBI single by pitcher J.C Sulbaran to make the score 2-0.

 

In the top half of the fourth inning, the Stars were able to cut the BlueWahoos lead in half on one swing of the bat by Khris Davis. The left fielder belted his eighth home run of the season over the left field wall to put the score at 2-1.

 

With the Stars deficit remaining at one in the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Pensacola offense came back with a surge of their own. Leading off the frame, shortstop Billy Hamilton tripled to deep right field and scored on an error from shortstop Tommy Manzella while handling the relay throw to put the BlueWahoos up by two. Later in the inning, an RBI double by first baseman Beau Mills gave Pensacola a 4-1 lead.

 

After both teams scored a run apiece in the both the sixth and seventh innings, the Stars made one last push to keep their winning streak alive in the top of the eighth inning.

 

With one out, right fielder Kentrail Davis and catcher Adam Weisenburger began the surge with a single and a walk respectively off of BlueWahoos reliever Josh Ravin. After a pitching change and another walk to pinch-hitter T.J Mittlestaedt, that loaded the bases for Josh Prince. The centerfielder came through with a two-run double off of Pensacola closer Justin Freeman to cut the Stars deficit back to a run.

 

Unfortunately, that’s the closest the Stars got. Following an insurance run by Pensacola in the eighth inning, Freeman stranded the bases loaded in the ninth inning to notch his 11th save on the season. Sulbaran earned the win, improving to 7-7 on the year.

 

For the Stars, Anundsen fell to 5-7 on the year with the loss, giving up four runs on seven hits through 4.2 innings. The loss snapped the Stars five-game winning streak overall.

 

On offense, the fourth inning blast by Davis was his fifth homer in as many games. The Southern League record for most consecutive games with a home run is six, set by longtime big leaguer Derrek Lee in 1996.

 

The final game of a five-game series and nine-game road trip for the Stars will take place on Friday. First pitch is at 6:35 PM.

[Mass Haas]

Here's the game story from the Billings Gazette, which includes the following --

 

Guillon allowed the leadoff man to reach base in four of his six innings, but Helena couldn’t capitalize as they had three runners cut down on the basepaths.

 

Following a single to open the game, Michael Reed stole second base and then failed to tag up on a deep fly ball to right-center field leaving him on second base with two down. As the ensuing pitch squirted away from Mustangs catcher Wagner Gomez, Reed attempted to advance to third but was gunned down by Gomez to end the inning.

 

Chris McFarland was picked off first base in the fourth inning, just moments after singling to lead off the inning and Alfredo Rodriguez was thrown out trying to steal second base.

[Mass Haas]

The Kane County Chronicle game story includes complimentary quotes about the Rattlers from Cougars players and staff.

[Tedaldtada]

Just for our wedding friend this AM, Jerry has this for you (these three videos will be up until Saturday midnight only):

 

http://jerryseinfeld.com/

 

LOL, thanks guys!

 

Engaged in Titletown at the NO/GB game last September.

 

 

Alright, I'm out! Enjoy the weekend links!