Let’s take a stroll Down on the Farm…
Louisville 1, Indianapolis 0 (AAA)
— Bobby Livingston and Jared Burton combined on a five-hit shutout. Livingston, who is only 24 years old, threw 7 innings, giving up only four hits. On the season, Livingston is now 3-4 with a 3.55 ERA. After looking at Livingston’s minor league numbers, I’m starting to wonder if this guy might not be a decent fourth starter in the majors someday.
The 26 year old Burton, meanwhile, tossed two scoreless innings, giving up only a single hit while picking up the win. He has now pitched in nine games for Louisville on his rehab assignment, and has posted a sterling 0.75 ERA. Expect to see Jared Burton in a Reds uniform again soon.
— The only run of the game scored on a homer by 1B Jesse Gutierrez. Gutierrez is 29 years old and his AAA OPS is only 656, so his chances of contributing to the big club are not good.
— The only other offensive contributions of note were from AAA All-Star Jeff “Why give Juan Castro a multi-year contract when you have me in AAA?” Keppinger — 3 for 4 at the plate — and recently-promoted catcher Ryan Hanigan (26 y/o), who went 2-4 with a double.
Carolina 10, Chattanooga 5 (AA)
— Not much here to be excited about. Twenty year old uber-prospect Jay Bruce did hit his fourth homer in AA. Bruce is amused by the simplicity of this game. He has a combined minor league OPS near 1000 this year.
— 24 year old Adam Rosales scored a couple of runs, and legged out a triple. Have we ever determined why they moved Rosales to 1B?
— SS Eric Eymann, a 23 year old out of Kansas State University, went 3-4 with a double, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored. He’s hitting .260/.286/.413 on the season.
–23 year old CF Gerardo Cabrera went 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Cabrera is hitting .214/.421/.286 in five games since his promotion from Dayton.
— Aaron Harang’s little brother continued his fine work for Dunedin, though he seems a little old for this level.
— SS Chris Valaika hit his tenth homer. Promote this kid already!
— 3B Juan Francisco, who just turned 20 last week, was 3-4 with a double and an RBI. This kid looks more and more like a blue-chipper every day. Francisco now has 13 homers and 52 RBI on the season.
— Last year’s number one pick, 22 year old Drew Stubbs, had a good game, going 3-5 with an RBI and a BB. On the season, Stubbs isn’t performing like a number one pick: .245/.340/.350. That’s right, folks, his OPS is under 700.
Stubbs is still young enough to turn things around, but this is looking like a wasted pick so far.
— LF Chris Heisey, 22 years old, went 2-5 with his 5th homer, a three-run shot to put the game out of reach. Heisey is at .293/.341/.433 on the season.
Missoula 13, Billings 10 (Rookie)
— Slugfest in the Pioneer League tonight. As you may expect, no pitchers made the DOTF cut today. 22 year old LF Kyle Maunus, out of Western Michigan, was the hitting star for the ‘Stangs, going 2-4 with 2 HR.
— SS Angel Cabrera, a 21 y/o out of Connors State College, added a homer and 3 RBI.
GCL Orioles 5, GCL Reds 4 (Rookie)
— SS Neftali Soto went 3-5 with a 3B, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. The 18 year old is now hitting .456/.489/.667. Not a bad start to his professional career.