Greensboro Grasshoppers (46-40) 4, Columbia Fireflies (47-40) 1 Box Score
- Andres Gimenez SS: 2 for 5, SB
- Luis Carpio 2B: 2 for 2, RBI, 2 BB
- Jacob Zanon LF: 1 for 3, K
Not much scoring for the Fireflies in this one. Jacob Zanon continues to wreak havoc on the bases. He has 11 steals in just 21 games. It helps that he has a .370 OBP which allows him to get on base a lot.
- RHP Harol Gonzalez (5-7, 4.43 ERA): 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
- LHP Taylor Henry (2-0, 3.41 ERA): 1 IP, H
- RHP Adam Atkins (1-0, 1.59 ERA): 1 IP, ER, BB, K
Gonzalez was solid after having a mediocre season thus far. His strikeouts have dropped drastically from last year when he struck out a little more than 1 per inning. This year he has 63 strikeouts in 91.1 innings.
Mahoning Valley Scrappers (12-10) 5, Brooklyn Cyclones (6-16) 4 Box Score
- Leon Byrd 2B: 0 for 3, 2 BB
- Quinn Brodey LF: 1 for 5, Run, 2B, K
- Jose Miguel Medina RF: 2 for 4, 2 K
Brooklyn initially had a 4-0 lead in this game. They blew it late thanks to the bullpen. Their offense was able to manufacture four runs. Leon Byrd, the young switch hitter who was released by Texas, has a .418 OBP thus far. Medina also stole his 14th base which leads the New York-Penn League.
- LHP Jake Simon (0-2, 6.98 ERA): 5 IP, 3 H, R (0 ER), BB, 3 K
- RHP Cannon Chadwick (0-0, 0.00 ERA): 2 IP, 2 H, 4 K
- RHP Tony Dibrell (0-0, 13.50 ERA): 1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K
- RHP Gregorix Estevez (1-1, 6.75 ERA): 1.1 IP, 2 H, ER, 2 BB, K
Simon had his best start of the year in this game. Chadwick has pitched very well in his professional career. Dibrell, on the other hand, has not found his footing yet. He has given up a run in every single one of his outings this season. I have faith that he will be able to find his way.
DSL Mets2 (23-10) 6, DSL Cubs2 (18-16) 3 Box Score
- Jhoander Saez CF: 1 for 4, Run, BB, K
- Shervyen Newton SS: 0 for 3, 2 BB, K
- Yoel Romero 3B: 0 for 2, 2 Runs, 2 BB
The DSL Mets only had four hits but had ten walks. Shervyen Newton has a .445 OBP this season and a 26:25 BB-to-K ratio. His eye and plate discipline are remarkable for an 18 year old. Saez is slashing .361/.440/.434 on the season. He and Newton have been remarkable.
- RHP Boris Sanchez (1-0, 3.71 ERA): 6 IP, 2 H, 4 K
- RHP Williams Valencia (1-0, 0.84 ERA): 1 IP, 3 BB, K
- RHP Marcos Correa (2-1, 3.95 ERA): 0.1 IP, 3 ER, 4 BB
- LHP Luis Pena (0-0, 1.17 ERA): 1 IP, 2 H, BB
- RHP Miguel Pinedo (1-0, 1.13 ERA): 0.2 IP, BB, K
Correa was the one who really struggled. Valencia and Correa combined for seven walks in their 1.1 innings of work. Pinedo has ten strikeouts in eighth innings of work. He also picked up his fourth save.
DSL Mets1 (23-11) 4, DSL Phillies Red (12-21) 2 Box Score
- Julio Rene CF: 0 for 2, Run, 2 BB, 2 K
- Sebastian Espino SS: 2 for 4, Run, 2B, K
- Wilmer Reyes 2B: 2 for 3, Run, 3B, 2 RBI, BB, K
The DSL Mets scored four in the bottom of the first and that was all they needed to score. Sebastian Espino is hitting .308/.381/.500 this season.
- RHP Malky Mena (1-1, 2.28 ERA): 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K
- RHP Jasson Pena (2-1, 2.30 ERA): 4 IP, H, ER, 3 K
Mena started and was effective for five innings. Pena came in and piggybacked with him. He picked up the save. Both are slightly old for the league but have been solid nonetheless.
Pulaski Yankees (15-5) 5, Kingsport Mets (7-11) 4 Box Score
- Jeremy Vasquez 1B: 2 for 4, Run, 2B, HR, 2 RBI
- Anthony Dirocie CF: 1 for 4, Run, HR, RBI, K
- Gavin Garay DH: 1 for 3, Run, 2B, BB, K
Jeremy Vasquez has shown an excellent eye at the plate this year. He is slashing .346/.478/.596 on the season and he has a 15:8 BB-to-K ratio this year. His bat might be a little advanced for the league but it is very impressive regardless.
- RHP Ezequiel Zabaleta (0-1, 6.86 ERA): 5 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
- RHP Pedro Perez (2-0, 5.79 ERA): 2 IP, H, 2 BB, 2 K
- RHP Mac Lozer (0-0, 1.93 ERA): 1 IP, 2 K
Zabaleta has been erratic on the mound this year. He has 14 walks in 19 innings. Lozer has been solid to begin his professional career.
Is Giminez stealing any bases this season? I hope so, because it seems like he is just a singles hitter to this point.
I have been disappointed in his ability to get extra base hits. A fair comparison is the age 17 and 18 year old seasons for Wilmer Flores at Low A (Savannah at the time) . Wilmer as a 17 year old hit .264 with 25 extra base hits and 36 RBI. As a 18 year he had a monster of a half season. Both years he was a full time shortstop. Lets not give Gimenez a pass that he is young for the league. If he is a legit prospect and he should be producing at a higher level. He is a better comp for Rosario, who went from Brooklyn to St. Lucie, but he still needs to be producing at a higher level.
If this is truly how you feel, it would be wise to educate yourself a little bit in regards to prospecting. At the most basic of levels, Flores is much bigger than Gimenez, broader shoulders and is at least 3 inches taller. Secondly, they play very different brands of baseball, a) Minaya’s vs. Alderson’s development technique and b) the game itself is a very different one, e.g. Flores’ swinging strike rate was over 10% higher than Gimenez’ at the same age at the same level.
Most importantly, Flores was never projected to be a MLB SS, with many scouts thinking he’d be nothing more that a 1B, we see now that they were right (he’s a below average 3B, little bit better at 2B). Gimenez projects to have plenty of glove for a SS, maybe enough to carry him to the bigs on his fielding acumen alone.
Bottom line being that if Gimenez had produced as many XBHs as Flores at the same age he’d be a shoe-in top 25 prospect and probably even higher…Which Flores never came close to.
7 steals and we’re talking about an 18-year-old kid playing full season ball, important to remember that.
Cool so he would fit in good in the 1 or 2 spot in 2 years time