Fish Farm Report: June 19th

Transactions

Miami activated LHP Justin Nicolino from the 10-day DL, sent SS Adeiny Hechavarria and 3B Martin Prado to rehab with the Jupiter Hammerheads, and optioned Drew Steckenrider to New Orleans.

The Baby Cakes assigned Steve Lombardozzi to Jupiter and called Chris O’Grady up from the Jumbo Shrimp.

Greensboro sent LHP Nestor Bautista on a rehab assignment with Batavia.

Also joining Batavia were Manuel Rodriguez, Brent Wheatley, Bryan De La Rosa, David Gauntt, Marcos Rivera, Horacio Acosta, Terry Bennett, Mathew Brooks, Thomas Jones, Lazaro Alonso, Rony Cabrera, J.C. Millan, Zachary Daly, Alejandro Mateo, Ryan McKay, Jeremy Ovalle, Alberto Guerrero, Eliezer Cuello, Kenny Koplove, and Edward Cabrera.

Triple-A

Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 1/6, Nashville Sounds 0/0 (continued from April 30th)

On April 30th, the Cakes and the Sounds, Oakland’s PCL affiliate, played three innings of shutout ball. Scott Copeland struck out one and allowed one hit for the Cakes, and counterpart Zach Neal allowed a walk and a hit with a strikeout before the game was postponed until a later date.

Tom Koehler (1-0, 0.00) didn’t “start,” exactly, but he did go through those exact same motions to excellent effect. He whiffed seven over six frames, allowing three walks and just one hit. Chris Smith (1-2, 2.03) on the opposite bench allowed just one run over six frames, on eight hits and a walk. He struck out five.

New Orleans scored the only run of the game in the sixth inning, when Brandon Barnes crossed the plate on a Chad Hinshaw double. Barnes was one of two Cakes to finish the nearly two-month-old game with more than one hit, adding a single to his RBI-double. Moises Sierra drew a walk and slapped two singles.

In the night-cap, the teams played a seven-inning contest. The Cakes got 14 hits, collecting a .438 average for the game. five players had more than one hit, including Mike Aviles with two singles, a triple, and two RBI, Tomas Telis and Moises Sierra hit two singles each, Cal Towey hit a double and two singles, and Brandon Barnes had a single and a homer. K.C. Serna only had one hit, but it was a three-run jack.

William Cuevas made his Cakes’ debut, going 3 ²⁄₃ innings and allowing one hit and four walks. He struck out five. Victor Payano (2-2, 4.63) earned the win, going 2 ¹⁄₃ innings and striking out two.

Elsewhere in the PCL

Double-A

Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (30-40)

Jacksonville finished the first half of the season in last place in the Southern League Southern Division. They were just a half game behind the Mobile BayBears, and 10 games back of the first-half clinching Pensacola Blue Wahoos. At least they were spared the indignity of the worst record in the 10-team Southern League. That honor was earned by the Birmingham Barons, who racked up a 26-43 record.

Elsewhere in the SL

Everyone else in the SL also took a well-deserved day of rest.

High-A

Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 4, Fort Myers Miracle 3 (10)

The Hammerheads (32-34) won the second-half opener in style, on a walkoff RBI-double from Dustin Geiger with 297 in the house at Roger Dean Stadium. They defeated the Fort Myers Miracle (32-34)

Jeff Brigham was impressive in his five inning start, if a little wild. He dropped his ERA to 1.59 by giving up one earned run on one hit, walking four and striking out two. He left as the possible winning pitcher of record, with a 3-1 lead. Four relievers combined to strike out eight batters over the next five innings, with Eric Alonzo blowing the save in the ninth and Jorgan Cavanerio (2-2, 3.71) notching the win in the 10th.

Jupiter opened the scoring in the fourth inning, on solo home runs from John Silviano (7) and Dexter Kjerstad (3). Fort Myers came back in the next half inning to score a run on a Tanner English RBI-single, then Jupiter reclaimed their two-run lead in the bottom of the fifth when Adeiny Hechavarria crossed the plate on a Dustin Geiger double.

Fort Myers scored a run in the eighth on a Nelson Molina bases-loaded walk, then tied it in the ninth on a Max Murphy RBI-single before Geiger’s second double of the day sealed the fate of the Miracles, the Minnesota Twins’ FSL affiliate.

Martin Prado hit a single and a double, and Kjerstad added two singles to his solo home run for the day. This Hammerheads team at one point this season were at 17-31. They have won 15 of their last 19 to get back into the thick of it.

Elsewhere in the FSL

Palm Beach Cardinals 3/0, Charlotte Stone Crabs 0/5
St. Lucie Mets 2/4, Daytona Tortugas 4/3
Lakeland Flying Tigers 3, Dunedin Blue Jays 2
Clearwater Threshers 3, Bradenton Marauders 1
Tampa Yankees 4, Florida Fire Frogs 2

Single-A

South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers (37-31)

The Grasshoppers were in contention for the mid-season playoff clinching spot right up until two days before wrap, but in the end couldn’t close. They finished two games behind the playoff clinching Kannapolis Intimidators, in fourth place also behind the Lakewood BlueClaws and the Hagerstown Suns.

Elsewhere in the SAL

Like the Southern League, everyone else also took the day off to prepare for the SALLY mid-summer classic.

Short-A

New York-Penn League

Batavia Muckdogs 8, Auburn Doubledays 2

After starting the 2016 season by losing nine games in a row, the 2017 Muckdogs opened the season with a 9-2 shellacking of the Auburn Doubledays, the Washington Nationals NYPL affiliate, with 1,527 in attendance at Dwyer Stadium.

Alejandro Mateo started and struck out four in as many frames for Batavia, allowing one earned run on two hits and no walks. Shane Sawczak struck out three and walked three in two innings, and R.J. Peace struck out three and allowed two hits in a pair of frames. Remey Reed (1-0, 9.00) earned the win despite giving up a home run in the fifth inning, his only inning of work.

Auburn scored first in the top of the third inning, on a Jeyner Baez RBI-double. Fortunately, the Muckdogs used the bottom of the inning to score four runs on five hits and an error. Lazaro Alonso hit a two-RBI double, Rony Cabrera had an RBI-double, and Terry Bennett hit an RBI-single. Alonso hit an RBI-single in the fourth inning as well.

In the top of the fifth, Auburn got one back on an Oliver Ortiz (1) long ball off Reed, but that was as close as it would get. Batavia scored on a Samuel Castro sacrifice fly in the sixth, an Andres Martinez throwing error in the seventh, and Thomas Jones RBI-double in the eighth to set the final score.

Five Muckdogs finished with multiple hits for the game, led by Sony Cabrera’s two singles and a double. Tomas Jones had two doubles, Alonso had a single and a double with three RBI, Samuel Castro had two singles, and Terry Bennett hit two singles.

Elsewhere in the NYPL

West Virginia Black Bears 3, Mahoning Valley Scrappers 0
Williamsport CrossCutters 9, State College Spikes 2
Brooklyn Cyclones vs. Staten Island Yankees (ppd)
Hudson Valley Renegades vs. Aberdeen Ironbirds (ppd)
Tri-City Valleycats vs. Connecticut Tigers (ppd)
Vermont LakeMonsters 0 Lowell Spinners 0 (2, suspended)

Rookie

Gulf Coast League

Marlins

Six more days.

Rookie

Dominican Summer League

DSL Marlins 13, DSL Braves 8

Leudy Martinez started for the Marlins, and gave up four earned runs over two innings, on three hits and three walks before getting relieved. Luis Palacios gave up three runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks over three frames, striking out two in relief. Then Jonaiker Villalobos (1-0, 0.93) allowed a solo home run over four innings, striking out three, walking zero, and giving up zero additional hits.

The Braves led, 8-3 going into the bottom of the sixth, then the Marlins scored three on a Daniel Paulino bases loaded walk and a Wiklerman Rasquin two-RBI single to make it 8-6. Joseph Gilma hit an RBI-single in the seventh to get the Marlins within a run. The bottom of the eighth would see them bat around and tack on six more runs for the victory.

Gilma had two singles and two walks, and Omar Lebron drew a walk, hit two singles, scored three times, knocked two in, and stole two bases.

Elsewhere in the DSL

Angels 5, Cardinals 1
Astros Blues 4, Athletics 3 (11)
Padres 7, Blue Jays 3
Brewers 4, Tigers 3
D-backs2 9, Cubs2 2
D-backs1 5, Giants 3 (10)
Royals 4, Dodgers1 2
Indians/Brewers 7, Indians 6
Mariners 6, White Sox 0
Rangers2 6, Mets2 4
Nationals 5, Phillies Red 2
Rojos 6, Phillies White 1
Dodgers2 9, Pirates 0
Rangers1 14, Astros Orange 10 (10)
Rays2 9, Cubs1 4
Red Sox 6, Rays1 5
Reds 3, Orioles 2
Mets1 3, Rockies 0
Twins 8, Yankees 2

Marlins’ Minor Leaguers of the Day

Pitching: Tom Koehler threw six one-hit innings, striking out seven in New Orleans’ 1-0 win over Nashville.

Hitting: Omar Lebron went 2-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases, two RBI and three runs to raise his average to .239 for the season with DSL.

Prospect Watch

#1 Braxton Garrett @BraxGarrett

#2 Tyler Kolek @Tyler_Kolek

#3 Brian Anderson: @AndersonBrian01

#4 Dillon Peters: @dillypickz

#5 Isael Soto

#6 Thomas Jones: @thomasjones08 went 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run, and an RBI in Batavia’s season opener.

#7 Stone Garrett: @stonegarrett22 went 0-for-4 with two whiffs and is at .185 for the Hammerheads.

#8 Drew Steckenrider: @asteckenrider20

#9 James Nelson

#10 Edward Cabrera:

#11 Austin Dean: @AustinDean_3

#12 Cody Poteet: @PoTweet_34

#13 Albert Guaimaro @AlbertGuaimaro3

#14 Jordan Holloway: @jordholl14

#15 Jeff Brigham: @jbrigs34 started and went five innings, allowing one run on one hit and four walks. He struck out two and is at 1.59 for the Hammerheads.

#16 Sam Perez: @SCPerez_

#17 Tayron Guerrero: @TyronGuerrero7

#18 Roy Morales: @roy_morales25 went 1-for-4 and is at .228 for Jupiter.

#19 Sean Reynolds: @sean___reynolds

#20 Remey Reed: @Remey_Reed allowed a solo home run and struck out one batter in one inning of work. He earned the season-opening victory against Auburn.

#21 Brett Lilek: @Brett Lilek

#22 Andy Beltre

#23 Humberto Mejia

#24 Justin Twine

#25 John Norwood: @Norwood_10

#26 Joe Gunkel: @joe_gunkel

#27 Yefri Perez:

#28 Destin Hood: @22_dhood went 0-for-1 and is at .265 for the Cakes.

#29 Samuel Castro went 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI and a strikeout in the season opener for Batavia.

#30 Brian Schales: @BrianSchales went 0-for-1 and is at .253 for the Hammerheads.

Later

The DSL Marlins (6-6) will host the DSL Rays1 (3-11) at 10:30AM.

At 6:30PM, the Hammerheads will play game two of their three-game series with the Fort Myers Miracle. Scott Squier (2-6, 4.52) will get the start for Jupiter.

At 6:35PM, the Cakes and the Sounds will play a double-header, closing out their five-game series. Both of New Orleans’ starters are yet to-be-determined.

Batavia will square off in their series finale with the Doubledays at 7:05PM.