WEEK 18 Con’t
GAME 110
Rogers (8-5) struggled and Marcos Diaz (5-3) was nails, going 9-6-0-0-2-3. Christian Schall was 2-5 with 4 RBI’s on his 22nd homer. Paul Riggs went down in the 2nd with a leg injury we think, no word but he’s out a day or two while we await news.
COL 8 CHI 0 (76-34 +8)
GAME 111
Zamora (9-3) threw a great game (7-7-2-1-1-6) and the offense pounced early, scoring 6 in the first 3. Pedro Salinas was 3-6 with 2 RBI’s (94), Eric Coates went 4-5 with a double (20), Hugh Collins hit his 9th homer, driving in 2 (33). Eric Hudson showed some life, going 2-4 with 2 RBI’s (40). He’s at .246 so far this year. Christian Schall was 3-4 with his 23 homer and 2 doubles (28).
Randy Pennington (Save 1) worked out of a bases loaded jam to get the last 4 outs.
CHI 9 COL 5 (77-34 +9)
OFF DAY NEWS
Riggs is out a week. Can’t afford to be shorthanded given we go with 12 pitchers so we’ll DL him. Give youngster Lester Jones some games and AB’s.
Look around the minors:
TULSA 79-34 +17-A dominant team filled with prospects and trade bait, and lots of IBL insurance. Alberto Rivera (3B) is an IBL top prospect and finally reaching his potential. Hitting .311-10-61 in 95 games, he’s a September callup at a minimum, and pushing for an everyday job next year at 1B/3B, for someone. Was discovered in Puerto Rico in 2012. Projects to be a .310+ Avg guy with .400+ OBP. Troy Becker is riding the IBL/AAA train and hitting .402 in Tulsa, Alex Cueller has 13 homers, and our top Catching prospect Martin Ramirez is defensively ready, and close to the same offensively. Hitting .261-10-38 in 77 games. Pitching wise, Mike Alexander is 12-4 2.99, Tony Childs is 13-3 3.27, Roberto Martinez is 8-0 2.00 and Mike Hamilton is 13-5 3.09. Bunch of prospect arms in the pen as well. They are top 3 in every category except Home Runs.
BAKERSFIELD 60-53 14 GB-OF Jose Gonzalez has jumped into top prospect talk after his promotion from Belleview. Hitting .314-6-23 in 41 games. His bat has jumped projection wise but at 21 his defense in left and right make him a DH right now, and we have a young one already. Gabriel Fies is hitting as well, .299-7-43. The pitching is strong too, Jim House 8-1 3.22, Bryant Thomas 9-4 3.03 with 162 K’s in 121.2 IP. If he could somehow gain more control he’s a legit top of the rotation guy, but no one can see it improving enough. Ed Harris is 12-4 2.38. Top relief prospect Jorge Pacheco is 3-3 with 23 saves, 2.49 ERA, and just 20 years old.
DENISON 56-57 18 GB-Minor league FA Jake Preston is hitting .302-10-44. Ramon Lopez is 14-8 2.84. Dallas Texan Class A franchise, the Sulliven Mudhens? They’re 15-98 now, 59 games back.
BELLEVIEW 61-52 +1-Minor League FA Max Briddon is pacing the offense with a .294-14-74, backed by Ruberto Gabere’s .261-20-71. Jorge Trujillo (2016 #1) is 6-4 3.19 in 15 starts. Jeff Boggs is 10-6 2.88.
HEAVENER 20-19 TIED-2016 5th rounder Ron Leenan is hitting .317-0-18 in 35 games and has likely become our 2nd best catching prospect. Glen Ratcliff (2017 15th rounder out of Mississippi State) is 4-2 2.36 in 7 starts.
OMAHA 17-22 6 GB-Japanse signing Iemitsu Matsumara is hitting .311 with 23 RBI’s playing around the OF in 36 games, Kevin Olson (2016 6th rounder) is hitting .302-4-15. 2nd rounder Tom Jackson is playing both ways full time still, 2-4 5.12 but throwing well, and hitting .269-1-8.
GAME 112
Walt Thompson (16-3) had another dominant start (8-7-3-3-0-12) and the offense walked all over the Bison staff for 16 runs on 16 hits. Led by Wes Morgan’s 4-5 4 RBI day and Bill Alexander going 2-3 with 5 RBI’s (74) on his 18th homer. Hugh Collins was 2-6 with 3 RBI’s on his 10th homer.
CHI 16 BUF 5 (78-34 +9)
STREAKS
Andruw Jones was 1-4 in a 10-4 loss to El Paso, extending his hitting streak to 20 games.
STUFF
Walt Thompson now leads the FL in Wins, by 2, K’s by 7 over Zito, and is .04 in ERA behind Green Bay’s Grant Thomas.
GAME 113
Lee (12-6) was solid in a 7-7-4-4-1-9 outing and 5 Chicago homers put this one away early. Chartier was 2-4 with 3 runs, 3 RBI’s (68) and hit 2 homers (17), Luis Chavez hit just his 3rd homer (32) in the past 23 games. Hugh Collins hit his 11th, and George Knox his 19th (5th since coming over in 17 games).
CHI 9 BUF 4 (79-34 +9)
GAME 114
An 8 run 6th capped by Jean Chartiers grand slam made a winner of Dave Winston (recalled from his rehab the other day, Chase Holt was sent back to Tulsa). George Knox stayed hot since joining the club going 3-4 with his 20th homer and 4 RBI’s (63).
CHI 12 BUF 2 (80-34 +9)
WEEK 18 RECAP
FL POTW-Andruw Jones (GB) 8-21 5 HR’s 11 RBI’s (.326-35-99) 4th time in the past 5 weeks he’s won.
CL POTW-Curt Whimster (TUL) 10-24 4 HR’s 6 RBI’s (.315-41-106)
GOOD GAMES
Antonio Rodriguez (TUL) tossed 2 hitter over Baltimore to move to 14-8 3.19.
STUFF
Knox appears to have been a great pickup. He’s hot since the move, in 18 games he’s hitting .359/.388/.688 with 6 homers and 21 RBI’s and catching the staff to an ERA of 3.41. He has just 2 years 20 days of service, could likely be a super 2, so it’s not out of the realm to think extension. If he were to qualify, it’s looking like a 2+ million dollar number. We’ve floated a 4 year deal, with the last year being a team option, for 7.2 million, with a base of 1.2/1.5/2.0 and the option coming in at 2.5. Every year a steal if he’s healthy.
IBL CAREER LEADER: INNINGS PITCHED:
Chris O’Slattery (BAL) 1436.2
Vincente Romero (HOU) 1349.1
Walt Thompson (CHI) 1334.2
Mike Holmes (COL) 1280.0
Esteban Valdez (SAC) 1261.1
IBL POWER RANKINGS
1) Chicago (1)
2) Tulsa (2)
3) Columbus (5)
4) Sacramento (4)
5) Los Angeles (3)