Friday, April 17, 2009

Mariners Minor League recap for 4/17/09

A: Clinton 8, Wisconsin 4
CLI: 6-2… WIS: 3-5

Brett Lorin: 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER (HR), walk, 10 K
Cheyne Hann: 1.1 IP, 4 H, (2 R) 1 ER, K
Blake Nation: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER (HR), K
Denny Almonte: 1-4, double, 2 R, walk, K
Luis Nuñez: 2-4, double, 2 R
Scott Savastano: 2-5, R, RBI, 2 SB
Nate Tenbrink: 1-4, triple, R, 2 RBI, 2 K
Travis Howell: 2-3, double, R, walk

Key: Yes, Clinton got runs in the middle innings to put this away, but the T-Rats never had a chance against Brett Lorin, who tore through this lineup over 6 strong innings.

Groundballs: 5
Flyballs: 5 (1 HR)
Line Drives: 1
Pop Ups: 1
Walks: 1
Strikeouts: 10

He just piped it in there, and the T-Rats had no answer… well, save for the one home run, but no rallies. Let’s look at the lineup he had to face, to get an idea of his competition. If he was facing a lineup full of crappy no hit kids, like, say, the 2007-2008 T-Rats, that may take a bit of the shine off such a performance. But let’s look at this T-Rats lineup, with 2008 stats.

Cutter Dykstra: 271/367/438 in Helena (Rk+)
Erik Miller: 257/321/307 in Helena
Brett Lawrie: 1st pro season, Brewers’ 2008 1st round pick
Brock Kjeldgaard: 278/350/503 in Helena
John Delaney: 262/376/424 in Helena
Juan Sanchez: 314/382/467 with Gulf Coast Twins (Rk)
Michael Vass: 242/321/435 in Helena
Edgar Trejo: Missed most of 2008
Shawn Zarraga: 300/432/436 with AZL Brewers (Rk)

No slouches, really. Most of these kids are taking the next step up after spending last season in the Advanced Rookie level Pioneer League, and many of these hitters came off solid years. The exceptions are Sanchez, a curious pickup from the Twins org, Edgar Trejo coming off a lost 2008 to injury, and Shawn Zarraga, taking a bigger jump than the others from the Arizona League after a decent 2008 there.

As for the rest… Helena was 3rd in the Pioneer League in batting strikeouts, so there’s that, but not abnormally so: the league average was 645 in a season and Helena had 692. The team’s .758 OPS was just a touch below the .777 average, so this group wasn’t exactly overmatched. This isn’t a weak lineup by any means: Lorin took down a decent group of young hitters, which included one of the Brewers’ top prospects in Brett Lawrie.

Meanwhile, Travis Howell is mashing early on: 5 for his first 17 with a double and 2 HR, plus a walk.

A+: High Desert 9, Lancaster 1
Mavs: 7-2… Jethawks: 3-6

Nathan Adcock: Complete game, 6 H, 1 ER, 6 K
Tyson Gillies: 2-5, 2 RBI
Jamie McOwen: 3-5, double, R, RBI
Ian Bladergroen: 2-5
Alex Liddi: 2-4, 2 run HR, 2 R, walk, 2 K
Travis Scott: 2-4, double, solo HR, 2 RBI, walk
Kuo Hui Lo: 1-5, double, 2 R, K, SB
Juan Diaz: 3-5, double, 3 R, RBI, K

Key: Same theme as the last game: A flurry of offense gets overshadowed by an impressive pitching performance. No, Nathan Adcock didn’t strike out 10 batters, but he went the distance with a stiff left-to-right wind blowing all the way. He didn’t finish the 6th inning in either of his previous two starts. He did give up a fair share of line drives and flyballs in this game, but Lancaster just never got going and Adcock kept going as long as they would let him… which, it turned out, was the entire game.

Groundballs: 10
Flyballs: 8
Line Drives: 5
Pop Ups: 2
Walks: 0
Strikeouts: 6

Let’s go ahead and also take a look at the lineup Adcock beat, with 2008 stats. Lancaster, BTW, is currently part of the Astros org.

Jack Shuck: 300/385/430 in the short season NY Penn League (A-)
Chris Jackson: 250/316/356 between the NYPL and Lexington (A)
Jonathan Gaston: 193/292/285 in the NYPL
Koby Clemens: 268/369/423 in the Carolina League (A+). Yes, this is the son of Roger Clemens.
Brian Pellegrini: 226/331/503 with Lexington
David Flores: 266/319/495 in the NYPL
Nick Moresi: 220/278/325 between the Carolina League and NYPL
Craig Corrado: 275/315/349 in Lexington
Marcos Cabral: 241/340/344 between Syracuse (AAA) and Dunedin of the Florida State League (A+)

Obviously, this isn’t as good as the lineup Brett Lorin beat, which can explain in part how Adcock got away with so many flyballs and line drives. The hitters hitting them just weren’t as consistent. Still, a complete game’s a complete game, so nice job by Adcock on stringing nine innings together in the Cal League.

AA: Jacksonville 8, West Tenn 3
WTN: 4-5… JAX: 7-2

Luis Muñoz: 4 IP, 6 H, 4 ER (HR), 4 walks, 4 K (76 pitches, 44 strikes)
Nick Hill: 1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, K, 2 hit batters (34-18)
Marwin Vega: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 4 walks, K, wild pitch (39-18)
Josh Fields: 1 IP, walk, 3 K, wild pitch (21-12)
Brent Johnson: 1-4, R, RBI, K
Rest of DIAMOND JAXX lineup: 6-25, 2 R, 4 walks, 9 K

Unlike the previous two SPs, Luis Muñoz could not pitch well, though he did throw a lot of 4’s on the board. Unfortunately, one of them belonged to Jaxtown: a 4 run 5th blew the game open for the Suns and put it out of reach.

Groundballs: 5 (plus 1 bunt)
Flyballs: 3 (1 HR)
Line Drives: 3
Pop Ups: 1
Walks: 4
Strikeouts: 4

The DIAMOND JAXX had various hits throughout the game, but no extra base hits, and no one managed more than a hit. On the plus side, Josh Fields has shaken off a slow start and now looks a little sharper.

AAA: Tacoma 6, Sacramento 2
TAC: 7-2… SAC: 4-5

Chris Seddon: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER (HR), 2 walks, 5 K (85 pitches, 53 strikes)
Denny Stark: 3.2 IP, 1 H, walk, 3 K (57-34)
Prentice Redman: 2-3, double, 2 R, RBI, walk
Jeff Clement: 3-4, double, 2 run HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
Mike Carp: 2-4, solo HR, 2 RBI

Key: Jeff Clement hit his 1st home run of the season in the 1st, then doubled home a run in a 2 run 3rd while Chris Seddon got into the 6th inning allowing only two runs, helping Tacoma build a safe 6-2 lead that was never threatened. This was one of Seddon’s better performances of the young season.

Groundballs: 7
Flyballs: 3
Line Drives: 2 (1 HR)
Pop Ups: 2
Walks: 2
Strikeouts: 5

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