It was a rough day on the farm with just one win in five games.
Fresno 3 Las Vegas 0 (Game 1)
Las Vegas managed just seven hits in the two double-header games, perhaps hurting from the loss of sparkplug Brett Lawrie, who was placed on the 7-day disabled list. In the first game, hits were had by Travis Snider, Adam Loewen, and Craig Stansberry. Brad Mills was the hard-luck loser as he went the distance (just six innings as double-header games as seven innings and Las Vegas was the home team). He did not walk a batter and struck out seven batters.
Fresno 5 Las Vegas 4 (Game 2)
Willie Collazo received the spot start but gave up five runs in 4.0 innings; he was touched up for three homers. Sean Henn and Danny Farquhar worked scoreless frames out of the bullpen. At the plate, Chris Woodward went deep and drove in two runs. Hits were also had by Stansberry, Loewen, and Manny Mayorson. Ryan Budde walked twice, as did Snider. Eric Thames went 0-for-4 with two Ks in his return to triple-A.
Trenton 5 New Hampshire 2
Henderson Alvarez had a rough day and gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks over 4.1 innings of work. The bullpen was strong with scoreless work from Yohan Pino, Mike Hinckley, and Bobby Korecky. Anthony Gose went 0-for-3 but stole two bases. He's on a cold streak and seems to have lost his stroke about the same time he went deep a few times, so perhaps he's gotten away from his strengths trying to hit the long ball. Ricardo Nanita had two hits. Michael McDade and Travis d'Arnaud each had a hit. Moises Sierra hit his ninth home run. Adeiny Hechavarria continues his feast-or-famine ways with an 0-for-4 night.
Dunedin 3 Clearwater 1
The Jays system's only win of the day came thanks to the continued strong pitching from Nestor Molina. The right-hander was a little wild (for him, anyway) and walked two batters but and gave up five hits but he helped minimize the damage by striking out eight batters. Matt Wright continued the Ks with three over 1.1 innings. Wes Etheridge gave up a run in the ninth inning but pitched well enough to earn the save. At the plate, Sean Ochinko had three hits, including a home run and drove in two runs. Ochinko has rebounded nicely after a rough start to the season after having inconsistent playing time and moving around the diamond. He's hitting .297 in his last 10 games and has homered in each of his last three. A.J. Jimenez DH'd and went 1-for-3 with a double. Ivan Contreras had two hits but was also caught stealing twice.
Burlington 4 Lansing 2
Daniel Webb, aka Mr. Inconsistent, had a strong game with nine Ks in 5.0 innings. He gave up just two hits and one run. Brandon Berl, making his 2011 debut, allowed one unearned run in 2.1 innings of work. Steven Turnbull, who is usually quite reliable, blew the save. Catcher Carlos Perez had a rough night with an 0-for-4 at the plate and two passed balls and an error on defense. Michael Crouse busted out of a mini-slump with a two-hit night. He slammed a double and drove in one run. Jake Marisnick had two hits and stole his second base; he's returned well from a sore wrist in terms of average but hasn't hit for much power. Making his 2011 debut after opening the year in extended spring, Matt Nuzzo made a good first impression with a 2-for-4 night. The hot-hitting Marcus Knecht took an O-fer.
DSL Off Day
Bonus:
We've all talked quite a bit about the massively-improved Jays minor league system - which is absolutely great news. One thing that needs to be kept in mind, though, is that come November the organization must protect its 40 best players on the off-season roster. This may not be the easiest task when you consider how many top prospects have to be protected this fall/winter. The rule is (generally speaking) that a minor league player must be protected after four minor league seasons if he's a college player, or after five seasons for a prep of Latin signee - although age does come in to play at times. As a former prep draft pick, infielder Brett Lawrie technically doesn't have to be protected for one more year, but he should take a spot early.
Players surely to be protected:
IF/OF Justin Jackson (AA)
1B Michael McDade (AA)
C Travis d'Arnaud (AA)
RHP Zach Stewart (AA)
RHP Henderson Alvarez (AA)
RHP Nestor Molina (A+)
Players that need to (but probably won't be) protected:
RHP Danny Farquhar (AAA)
LHP John Anderson (A-)
RHP Marcus Walden (A-)
LHP Evan Crawford (AA)
LHP Matt Wright (A+)
1B/3B Balbino Fuenmayor (A-)
Remember that the first and supplemental first round of the 2011 amateur draft will occur tomorrow (Monday) night beginning at 7 p.m. and you can catch coverage live on MLB.com and some TV network too but that particular channel was taken away from my TV package and placed in a more expensive one so it's dead to me now, but I'm sure you can find it (not that I'm bitter).
I should be dropping by this site off and on throughout the first day of the draft but most of my time will be spent doing a draft/prospect chat at FanGraphs.com prior to the draft and then a live commentary during the draft itself. You should also be able to read a mock draft that I'm putting up earlier in the day, as well as scouting reports for the draft picks as they happen.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20110605092217693