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The right-hander prospect lowered his ERA to 0.63 in 16 appearances and showed improved control in his start against Arizona's A-ball squad.

Reno 8 Las Vegas 6

Joel Carreno was roughed up when he allowed six runs in just 4.0 innings of work. The right-hander has been bounced around a lot by the organization this year and it looks as though it's hindered his development significantly. Hopefully he'll settle down with some stability. Veteran right-hander Tim Redding worked 2.2 innings and allowed two runs on six hits and a walk. Clint Events finished the game with 1.1 scoreless innings. At the plate, Eric Thames had three hits. David Cooper had two doubles and a walk. Moises Sierra had two hits, including a home run. Travis Snider was 1-for-5 with two strikeouts.

New Hampshire 7 Reading 5

John Stilson wasn't sharp and walked four batters in 5.0 innings but he still managed to allow just one earned run (and two unearned runs). Scott Gracey worked two scoreless innings, and Sam Dyson kept the opponents off the score sheet in his 1.1 innings of work. Both Brad Glenn and Mark Sobolewski had two hits and a home run. Glenn drove in four runs - thanks to a first inning grand slam - and Sobolewski drove in two. With catcher Sean Ochinko out with a concussion, Jack Murphy was promoted to double-A and he struck out three times in four at-bats. (Ochinko was already promoted to double-A to fill-in for injured starting catcher A.J. Jimenez. Other top catching prospects Travis d'Arnaud and Santiago Nessy are also on the DL).

Tampa 2 Dunedin 1

Casey Lawrence put forth a nice effort with just one run allowed in six innings of work. He allowed eight hits and struck out just two batters. Boomer Potts worked three scoreless innings of relief and did not allow a hit. Evan Englebrook took the loss when he was unable to get an out in the tenth inning of a tie ball game. Kevin Nolan and Koby Clemens each had three hits at the plate. Ryan Schimpf and Jon Talley had two base hits a piece. Canadians Marcus Knecht and Michael Crouse combined to go 0-for-9 with three Ks.

Lansing 6 South Bend 1

Aaron Sanchez lowered his ERA to 0.63 with another 5.0 innings of shutout ball. He gave up five hits but, most importantly, walked just one batter. He struck out six hitters. Tyler Ybarra worked a scoreless inning with a walk and a strikeout. Chris Hawkins had two hits and two walks. Andy Burns was 1-for-4 with two runs scored, a triple, a walk, two strikeouts, and a stolen base. In other words, he did a little bit of everything. Kevin Pillar had two hits, drove in two runs and stole his 30th base on the year. K.C. Hobson and Shane Optiz also had two hits a piece.

Salem-Keizer 5 Vancouver 1

Eric Brown allowed five runs in 4.0 innings of work but just two were earned. Fellow Canadian Zack Breault worked 2.2 scoreless innings and Jon Lucas finished off the game with another 2.1 innings of scoreless relief. Derrick Chung, signed as a fifth-year college senior, continued his hot hitting and had another two base knocks. Ian Parmley, Kellen Sweeney, Matt Newman, and Jorge Flores also had hits. Balbino Fuenmayor went 0-for-4 with three Ks; now in his sixth season, the former big-bonus Latin signee appears to be a sunk cost (2/21 BB/K).

Pulaski 4 Bluefield 3

The Jays' former Appalachian League affiliate defeated its current club. Kevin Comer did his best on the mound to put his team in a position to win. He allowed just one run in four innings of work. He gave up three hits and did not walk a batter. Comer struck out three hitters. Joe Spano gave up one run in two innings of work and Colby Broussard took his second loss of the year with a blown save in the ninth inning. Dwight Smith Jr. and Christian Lopes went a combined 0-for-9 at the top of the order. Matt Dean was 0-for-4 with four Ks. Art Charles went 1-for-2 with his fourth home run and also walked twice. Seth Conner went 2-for-3.

DSL Braves 10 DSL Jays 6

Wilmin Lara, Luis De La Rosa and Eyerys Guerrero all struggled on the mound. Miguel Castro was the only pitcher to keep the Braves off the score sheet with a scoreless inning of work. Deiferson Barreto, Angel Rojas, and Andres Sotillo all had two hits at the plate. Sotillo, a catcher, managed a rare DSL home run while also stealing a base in the game.

Three Stars:

3. Brad Glenn, grand slam

2. Kevin Comer, one run in 4.0 innings

1. Aaron Sanchez, five shutout innings

Aaron Sanchez Keeps Rolling for Lansing | 10 comments | Create New Account
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Lugnut Fan - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 10:10 AM EDT (#259638) #

I was in South Bend last night to watch the Archie Bradley V. Aaron Sanchez and I have to say that last night was probably the best that I had seen Sanchez throw.  Bradley struggled with his command heavily and walked five guys in three innings.  At one point he called the grounds crew out to rework on the mound.  Lansing took advantage of his wildness and Andy Burns stole home as well on the back end of a double steal.

Sanchez was pretty much 94 to 96 with his fastball all night according to the scoreboard in South Bend.  I'm not sure how accurate it is, but based on the other Sanchez outings that I have seen, I would say that it was fairly accurate.

Anders - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 10:42 AM EDT (#259641) #
Jays sign Franklin Barreto, apparently the top prospect in this international class, for ~$2 million: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/07/blue-jays-sign-franklin-barreto.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

TamRa - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 02:54 PM EDT (#259650) #
Also #9 prospect SS Luis Castro

Trying to get a tweet back from Balder on how Barreto compares to the guys we signed last year (I'm assuming 2nd best to Osuna)

also ask him how he compares to the two recently signed Cubans.
sam - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 06:41 PM EDT (#259658) #
Tamra, thanks for trying to get in touch with Badler.

For you prospect heads, John Sickels has a revised mid-season prospect ranking.

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/7/2/3130761/top-120-prospect-list-for-2012-midseason-revision-update

http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/7/2/3131813/all-questions-answered-thread-top-120

Couple Blue Jays prospects have moved up his rankings significantly. We have four prospects in his top 50. Syndergaard is now a top 50 prospect in baseball according to Sickels coming in at 40. Nicolino as well at 45. Surprisingly Aaron Sanchez follows both at 49. I say surprisingly because most who have seen the three pitch at Lansing suggest Sanchez is the better long-term prospect. Sanchez also has the better stat line of the three right now. Well I guess he's got the best ERA. d'Arnaud is up a few spots to 18. Gose remains at 51. Marisnick is down to 69 (no pun intended). Norris down a spot to 71, OK realizing people can just see this themselves and don't need to read my narration. Apologize to people who have gotten this far.

In total:
4 prospects in the top 50: d'Arnaud (18), Syndergaard (40), Nicolino (45), and Sanchez (49). And seven in total in the top 120: Gose (51), Marisnick (69), and Norris (71).

For those counting at home that's four who have climbed his list, two who have fallen, and one who stayed the same.

Toronto tied in first with Boston, KC, and STL with seven prospects in the top 120.

Sickels also has Deck MacGuire, Joe Musgrove, and John Stilson as those considered, but ultimately missing out.

Toronto tied for second with ten including those considered.

So what do people think? Remember, this list is devoid of players in this year's draft, so expect some of these guys to fall down the list.

My two cents, Sickels is very high on Syndergaard and Nicolino. Curious as to his "ranking" of Syndergaard-Nicolino-Sanchez. Sickels is perhaps less high on Gose. I don't disagree with his general ranking of any of the prospects. Marisnick as high as he is is perhaps a bit generous, but that's nitpicking. Curious that Hech didn't get any consideration (Sickels posted in the comments that he considered him, but thinks the LV stats are a mirage).

Sickels also commented that he had up to 25 A- grades, so expect a B+ grade on the Lansing trio and an A- for d'Arnaud. Says Sanchez could rise, needs to get walks down and had heard encouraging reports on Roberto Osuna and Adonys Cardona. Remarked that those two had top 100 potential, if not higher. d'Arnaud top catcher according to Sickels, yet not top 10 material because of Vegas and low BB rate. Only considered MacGuire because he was on the original list.
Kelekin - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 07:24 PM EDT (#259659) #
His rankings might be over-rating a few of our prospects compared to how others view him.  I believe BA and BP to currently view Syndergaard last of the three in the Lansing trio, because none of them have seen a great breaking ball yet.  They speak higher of Nicolino and Sanchez.  With Sanchez, he's having a great year, but it is true that his 5.0 bb9 is a huge detriment.  Not many starters make it to the majors with a 5.0 bb9 and suddenly start succeeding.  What this year has shown though is, worst case scenario, he could be a high leverage bullpen arm.  If Sanchez can finish up the year with a 4.5 bb9 he'll be on the right track, but he needs to start getting down to the 3.5-4.0 range next year and beyond.

Nicolino's had a quiet but effective year, and I'd rank him ahead of Syndergaard on consistency alone, even though he might have a Hutchison-esque ceiling. 

As far as the rest go, you can't be that surprised about Gose's rank.  Gose has never put up amazing numbers anywhere outside of stolen bases.  All his hype is in his tools, and he still strikes out at an alarming pace for the type of hitter he is meant to be.  I had issues with his quick promotion to AAA and I would not be surprised if he needed an entire extra season there.  I'm cautiously optimistic, and he's only turning 22 next month, so there's time.  But right now it's hard to see him cracking a .250 in the majors.

Kelekin - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 07:50 PM EDT (#259660) #
Some other thoughts -

I'd like to see Avendano moved back to Lansing to be the #5 starter.  Rollins has done well enough that he should get moved up to Dunedin, and Avendano hasn't given up a run since being stretched out in Vancouver.  On top of that, he was showing dominating K/9 numbers as a reliever before the switch.  Let him be the #5.

Wojo and Nolin should be in AA.  With Wojo, we simply need to see what we have.  He's been great in his last 7 or 8 starts, but he's streaky.  I'm not sure what to think of him at this point, but a mid-season promotion should be in order here.  Nolin, on the other hand, has posted even better numbers than he did in Lansing last year.

Other players vying for promotion: Pillar -> Dunedin, Berti -> Dunedin, Nolan -> New Hampshire, Talley -> New Hampshire, McDade -> Vegas.

Kasi - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 08:11 PM EDT (#259662) #
Here is a question. Would Aaron Sanchez be a better major league pitcher than Ricky Romero now?
sam - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 08:30 PM EDT (#259665) #
It just seems now that Romero is so focused on his delivery he's forgetting to finish his pitches and really throw the ball.

I don't get Adam Lind. He never seems like he wants to hit or attack the baseball. In part, that has to be one of the reasons he went down. You almost want him to be behind in the count as he swings with much more urgency 0-2 than 3-1 or 2-0. He's putting good swings on the ball right now, but he is the anti-thesis of big-time hitter.
hypobole - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 09:06 PM EDT (#259666) #
Wojo and Nolin should be in AA.

Nolin is on the DL and hasn't pitched in 3 weeks. Don't expect a promotion anytime soon.
Kelekin - Monday, July 02 2012 @ 09:50 PM EDT (#259669) #
Somehow I didn't even notice Nolin had been on the DL.  And it's not such a big deal if he were to finish out the season in Dunedin since he was a Juco player and thus a bit younger than some of his other teammates.
Aaron Sanchez Keeps Rolling for Lansing | 10 comments | Create New Account
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