As the weather warms up so are the older veterans, as the players in the upper minors keep hitting well. I could have added Ty Kelly, Phillip Evans, Nevin Ashley and Johnny Monell to the hot list. In the lower minors it will be interesting to see how the players make the adjustments as the pitchers do.

Who’s Hot

T.J. Rivera (UT) – Las Vegas 51s

He keeps turning up the pressure for promotion. Over his last ten games T.J. is batting .372 with 13 RBI, bringing his Pacific Coast League leading total to 36. Rivera should be headed to NY to get his opportunity.

Brandon Nimmo (OF) – Las Vegas 51s

With a 1.087 OPS over his last seven games, and a .317 average over the last ten games. With ten extra base hits on the season, we can remain hopeful that Nimmo has finally figured things out.

Champ Stuart (OF) – St. Lucie Mets

Over the last seven games Champ has been hitting at a .375 clip, added a home run, and stole three bases without getting caught. He is now up to 12 out of 13 on stolen bases with a respectable .348 OBP for the season. 

Ricky Knapp (RHP) – St. Lucie Mets

Over his last 18.2 innings Knapp has allowed only three earned runs with a .208/.280/.250 slash line against him, including a complete game shutout performance against Clearwater. He has lowered his ERA on the season to 1.96 which currently places him tied for the seventh best in the Florida State League

P.J. Conlon (LHP) – Columbia Fireflies

He continues his mastery of the South Atlantic League lowering his league best ERA to 1.04. Another name that should be at a higher level, we need to see how the soft tossing lefty handles better competition.

Kevin McGowan (RHP) – St. Lucie Mets

With three innings of one-hit ball out of the St. Lucie bullpen, McGowan has lowered his ERA on the season to 1.29. His 0.81 WHIP and 27 strikeouts in 21 innings suggest another name that should be in line for a promotion. 

 

Who’s Not

Vinny Siena (2B) – Columbia Fireflies

After setting the league ablaze in April, he has struggled against the adjustments the league has made. Over the last ten games, Siena is hitting just .114 with 12 strikeouts. 

Victor Cruzado (OF) – Binghamton Mets

With just five hits in his last 30 at bats, Cruzado is hitting just .213 on the season with a slugging percentage at .315. He hasn’t shown the step forward that he and the B-Mets desperately need.

L.J. Mazzilli (INF) – Binghamton Mets

Over his last seven games, L.J. has left 17 men on base without an run batted in. Over his last ten, he is hitting a paltry .161 lowering his season average to .207. He also had two defensive miscues during that time. One has to wonder how much longer of an opportunity he has.

Rainy Lara (RHP) – Binghamton Mets

In his last outing Lara gave up seven runs on eight hits in 1.1 innings of work.  In what has been an up and down season thus far, Lara has a 5.28 ERA with only 14 strikeouts in 30.2 innings of work.

Stolmy Pimentel (RHP) – Las Vegas 51s

The 26-year old minor league veteran was rocked for six runs in 2.1 innings in his last start, raising his ERA to 9.86 on the year. Opponents have successful at the dish at a ridiculous .372 clip against him for the season. 

Mike Hepple (RHP) – Binghamton Mets

Since the calendar turned to May, Mike has allowed eight runs in 6.2 innings of work, doing so by handing out 8 free passes while giving up 11 base hits during the month. His ERA has gone from 0.87 and ballooned to 4.76 in that time.