Minor League Notebooks - June 16th-22nd

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Birmingham Barons (Chicago White Sox)

 

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Barons, who won the South Division first-half title, started the second half by going 3-2 against Jacksonville.

 

WHO'S HOT, WHO'S NOT: RHP Jon Link leads the SL with 19 saves and is 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA. ... RHP Justin Cassel (5-3) lowered his ERA to 3.44 with seven scoreless innings in a no-decision. ... C Cole Armstrong was activated from the DL. ... 1B Micah Schnurstein is 4-for-33 in his last 10 games.

 

PLAYER TO WATCH: 3B Javier Colina opened the second half by going 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs against Jacksonville. He was hitting .302 when promoted from Winston-Salem of the Class A Advanced Carolina League, but started 1-for-11 with the Barons. Colina, 29, hit .309 with 26 homers and 101 RBIs last season for Newark of the independent Atlantic League.

 

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK: RHP Carlos Torres pitched eight scoreless innings in a victory over Jacksonville, improving to 8-3 and lowering his ERA 3.23. He is tied for the league lead in victories and tops the circuit with 81 strikeouts in 86 2/3 innings. Torres gave up six hits, walked three and struck out five against the Suns. He is 2-1 with a 1.67 ERA in four June starts.

 

Edited June 25, 2008 by scenario

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Charlotte Knights (Chicago White Sox)

 

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Knights went 3-4 last week to move to 32-44 overall. They are third in the South Division, 8 1/2 games behind first-place Durham.

 

WHO'S HOT AND WHO'S NOT: OF Jason Bourgeois has hit .375 with a homer, two RBIs and nine runs scored in his last 10 games. He begins the week on a 10-for-22 tear. ... 1B Brad Eldred has collected five homers and 14 RBIs while scoring nine times in his last 10 contests. ... IFs Javier Castillo (.182) and Fernando Cortez (.160) have combined to bat .170 in the last 10 games.

 

COOK IS COOKING: OF David Cook has been red-hot since joining the Knights on June 12, hitting .351 with a homer, six RBIs and five runs scored in 11 games. Cook, who batted .313 in 63 games with Double-A Birmingham, went 3-for-4 against Norfolk in his second game with Charlotte on June 13 and was 4-for-4 at Richmond four nights later.

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "I'm just trying to stay simple with things: see the ball, hit it." --1B Brad Eldred to the Charlotte Observer. Things have been simple for Eldred this season as his 26 homers and 72 RBIs lead the International League. His 26 roundtrippers are tops in the Minor Leagues, while his 72 RBIs are one behind Oklahoma's Chris Davis.

 

 

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Winston-Salem Warthogs (Chicago White Sox)

 

WEEK IN REVIEW: Winston-Salem ended the first half with a 5-3 win (completing Saturday's game) and an 8-3 loss at Wilmington, giving the club a 29-40 record and sole possession of last place by just half a game. It looked like more of the same for the Warthogs when they dropped their first two games of the second half to Potomac, but they turned things around with three straight wins to end the first week of the fresh half at 3-2.

 

WHO'S HOT: RHP Jacob Rasner was a starter for most of the first two months of the season before moving to the bullpen in May. He has made a solid adjustment to his new role, which does still include the occasional spot start. In his first five appearances in June, including one start, Rasner has a 1.38 ERA after giving up only two earned runs in 13 innings.

 

WHO'S NOT: 2B Joe Peresichina has had a rough go at the plate since joining the Warthogs in mid-June. In his first five games, Peresichina has one hit in 16 at-bats.

 

ANOTHER ALL-STAR: Reliever Kanekoa Texeira was added to the Carolina League roster for Tuesday's All-Star game against the California League. Texeira, who joins teammate Brandon Allen on the squad, anchored the Winston-Salem bullpen during the first half by going 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA and 12 saves in 23 games. The Warthogs are 5-7 since starting pitcher Aaron Poreda was promoted to Double-A Birmingham, and Texeira has saved four of the victories.

 

SNAKE BIT? "It is seven in a row, isn't it?" manager Tim Blackwell asked the Winston-Salem Journal after another loss to Potomac on June 17. "Well, they have some good players, and they play us well. And the bottom line is we have to play better if we are going to beat them or anyone else. I think it still comes down [to] that we get to the point where we beat ourselves." The streak extended to eight before the Warthogs defeated the P-Nats on June 19.

 

GOPHER BALL HURTS ELY: RHP John Ely was dominant for most of the evening June 18 against Potomac, striking out eight P-Nats and walking none, but he also surrendered four home runs and wound up on the wrong end of a 6-1 decision. "It seemed like things were going well, and then it seemed every ball they put the bat on left the park," Ely told the Winston-Salem Journal. "It was outrageous. I don't know."

 

 

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Kannapolis Intimidators (Chicago White Sox)

 

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Intimidators (2-1, second half, 33-40 overall) opened second-half play tied for second in the SAL Southern, a half-game behind Columbus, after Saturday.

 

WHO'S HOT: Several Intimidators broke out last week, as IF Sergio Miranda hit .600 (6-for-10) to boost his average to .279 (24-for-86) ... OF Jim Gallagher batted .526 (10-for-19) to improve to .261 (67-for-257). ... 1B Mark Fleisher's .500 (7-for-14) effort has him at .322 (19-for-59) in 19 games with the club. ... RHP Charles Shirek (2-3, 5.05) threw six scoreless innings to win his lone start.

 

WHO'S NOT: C John Curtis is stuck at .192 (23-for-120). ... RHP Juan Moreno (1-4, 7.23) has allowed 19 earned runs in 23 2/3 innings. (Note: Moreno who has been injured most of the year, has been placed on the DL again I believe.)

 

NEWS & NOTES: The White Sox moved to bolster the Kannapolis offense by returning OFs Anderson Gomes and Lee Cruz to the Intimidators. Gomes, one of the few Brazilians playing in organized baseball, hit .300 (85-for-203) in Kannapolis in 2007, but just .196 (27-for-138) in 42 games with Class A Advanced Winston-Salem of the Carolina League. Cruz, who hit .277 (115-for-415) with the 2007 Intimidators, was a .196 (38-for-194) batter with the Warthogs. The veteran pair should give the Kannapolis offense a shot in the arm. (Note: Cruz was sent up to Birmingham this week.)

 

DID YOU KNOW? RHP Henry Mabee continues to perform in superlative fashion out of the bullpen. The native of Surrey, B.C., who played at Morehead State, recorded two more saves last week to push his total to 17, tied for fourth in the SAL with Greensboro's Garrett Parcell.

Edited June 25, 2008 by scenario