Fish Farm Report: Independence Day

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The Marlins signed SS Cleuluis Rondon to a minor league deal, sent LHP Jeff Locke for assignment, and called up top prospect Drew Steckenrider.

RHP Scott Copeland was assigned to the Shrimp from the Cakes, and Keyvius Sampson was activated from the inactive list for New Orleans. RHP Tyron Guerrero was placed by the Shrimp on the temporarily inactive list.

After his signing, Rondon was sent to the Hammerheads, who also released 3B J.J. Gould. Gould was chosen in the 24th round of last year’s draft by the Marlins, and has slashed .196/.285/.322 in 125 contests between Batavia, Greensboro, and Jupiter.

LHP Nestor Bautista was activated from the DL by the Grasshoppers.

Henry McAree and Vincenzo Aiello were moved from the GCL Marlins to the Muckdogs, and Batavia also released CF Zachary Daly. Daly was chosen in the 37th round of last season’s draft by Miami, and had hit .187/.243/.328 in 35 games between the instructional league and the NYPL.

Triple-A

Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 3, Omaha Storm Chasers 2

The Cakes (31-53) defeated the Storm Chasers (38-45), 3-2 with 10,102 on hand at Shrine on Airline for the 4th of July contest.

Justin Nicolino (2-3, 3.95) was sharp, throwing five shutout three-hit innings and striking out three for his second triple-A win of the season. Keyvius Sampson, fresh off the DL, allowed one run in three innings, and Brian Ellington earned his third save of the season, striking out two and allowing an earned run in an inning of work.

The Cakes got things started in the second on a Peter Mooney RBI-triple, then held the 1-0 lead until the bottom of the seventh, adding a run on a Steve Lombardozzi RBI-single. Omaha scored a run in the eighth on a Terrance Gore RBI-double, but New Orleans reestablished their two-run cushion in the bottom of the frame on a Brian Flynn wild pitch. Bubba Starling (6) hit a long shot to left in the ninth for Omaha, but the game ended after Ellington struck the next two batters out.

Moises Sierra and Peter Mooney each finished with a pair of hits. Lombardozzi, Tomas Telis, Brandon Barnes, Cal Towey, and Christian Colon reached base safely on base hits once each.

Elsewhere in the PCL

Oklahoma City Dodgers 5, Iowa Cubs 2
Memphis Redbirds 10, Round Rock Express 1
Albuquerque Isotopes 2, Sacramento RiverCats 0

Double-A

Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 10, Montgomery Biscuits 1

The Shrimp (38-44) scored five runs in the first in front of 7,082 rabid Biscuit (42-40) fans at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium, then held the fort for an easy 10-1 victory.

Trevor Richards (2-0, 2.76) continues his mastery of minor league hitters, striking out six in as many innings and allowing just one run on four hits and two walks. Andy Beltre threw two perfect innings of relief, striking out two, and Daniel Schlereth shut it down in a non-save situation in the ninth, allowing a hit and a walk while getting one strikeout.

Braxton Lee led off by taking first on a HBP, then after a Kyle Barrett base-on-balls, Brian Anderson (14) provided all the muscle the Shrimp would need for the victory. Cam Maron added a two-RBI double later in the inning.

The Shrimp tallied four more markers in the fifth inning, on a David Vidal (4) three-run jack and a Lee RBI-single. The Biscuits scored their only run of the day in the bottom of the inning, on a Nathan Lukes RBI-single. The Shrimp added another run in the ninth on a Taylor Ard RBI-double.

John Norwood finished with three hits and two runs scored for Jacksonville. Vidal, Maron, and Ard finished with two hits each.

Elsewhere in the SL

Chattanooga Lookouts 6, Tennessee Smokies 5 (14)
Jackson Generals 8, Birmingham Barons 2 (7)
Mobile BayBears 6, Mississippi Braves 4
Pensacola Blue Wahoos 4, Biloxi Shuckers 0

High-A

Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 2, Florida Fire Frogs 3

The Fire Frogs (31-47) continued their unlikely mastery of the Hammerheads (38-42) with a 3-2 win with 2,079 in the house at Osceola County Stadium.

Ben Meyer whiffed nine batters in six innings, earning a quality start by allowing three earned runs in six innings, on seven hits and a walk. He also lost, with a 60 GameScore. Jordan Cavanerio pitched two scoreless innings, striking out three in relief. Dexter Kjerstad collected a pair of singles. Zach Sullivan hit a double, and Mason Davis, Angel Reyes, Dustin Geiger, and Boo Vazquez each hit one single in the contest.

Elsewhere in the FSL

Dunedin Blue Jays 3, Lakeland Flying Tigers 1
Bradenton Marauders 3, Palm Beach Cardinals 1
Charlotte Stone Crabs 7, St. Lucie Mets 6 (11)
Clearwater Threshers 5, Daytona Tortugas 0
Tampa Yankees 2, Fort Myers Miracle 1 (14)

Single-A

South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers 1, Hagerstown Suns 5

The Hoppers (43-38) gave up a 5-1 decision to the Hagerstown Suns (48-34) with 1,101 in attendance at Municipal Stadium.

Dyaln Lee (3-9, 5.14) pitched serviceably, with three runs allowed in six innings on five hits and two walks. He struck out six and finished with a 59 GameScore. Chad Smith allowed two unearned runs in two relief innings.

Hagerstown scored a run in the bottom of the first on a Jakson Reetz RBI-double, which Greensboro matched in the third on a Eric Gutierrez RBI-single. Unfortunately, the Hoppers ran out of answers after that. The Suns struck for a pair in the fourth, on consecutive RBI-doubles from Anderson Franco and Telmito Agustin. Hagerstown added another pair in the eighth on a Luis Pintor throwing error and a Nick Banks RBI-double.

The Hoppers were paced offensively by competitive draft pick Brian Miller, who hit a single and a double. Jarett Rindfleisch hit two singles, and Gutierrez, Colby Lusignan, Dalton Wheat, Justin Twine, and Aaron Knapp each hit one.

Elsewhere in the SAL

Lakewood Blue Claws 3, Delmarva Shorebirds 1
Augusta GreenJackets 5, Columbia Fireflies 3 (suspended in the seventh)
Greenville Drive 2, Rome Braves 0
Hickory Crawdads 5, Kannapolis Intimidators 4
Asheville Tourists 2, Charleston RiverDogs 1
Lexington Legends 9, West Virginia Power 5

Short-A

New York-Penn League

Batavia Muckdogs 3, Auburn Doubledays 2

Batavia (7-8) continued their streaky start to the season with a 3-2 victory over the Auburn Doubledays (3-12) with 2,101 in the house at Dwyer Stadium.

Alejandro Mateo struck out five in 4 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing just an unearned run on four hits and two walks. Kenny Koplove (1-1, 5.79) earned the winning decision after 1 ¹⁄₃ innings of scoreless work. Alberto Guerrero struck out the side in the seventh, and Travis Neubeck earned a two innings save despite giving up a run.

Auburn got on the board first, on an Oliver Ortiz sacrifice fly in the first inning. The Dogs scored a pair in the fourth on a Marcos Rivera RBI-groundout/throwing error by opposing SS Paul Panaccione. Batavia added a run on a Samuel Castro RBI-single in the seventh.

Auburn woke up long enough to score a run in the ninth on a Kameron Esthay RBI-single, but it ended two outs later with a Batavia victory. Jhonny Santos hit a pair of singles, Marcos Rivera hit a double, and Castro, Mathew Brooks, and David Gauntt each hit one single.

Then there was this:

Elsewhere in the NYPL

Williamsport Crosscutters 4, State College Spikes 2
Aberdeen Ironbirds 4, Lowell Spinners 2
Tri-City ValleyCats 9, Brooklyn Cyclones 5
Staten Island Yankees 6, Hudson Valley Renegades 5
Vermont Lake Monsters 5, Connecticut Tigers 4
West Virginia Black Bears 5, Mahoning Valley Scrappers 4 (12)

Rookie

Gulf Coast League

GCL Marlins

The GCL Marlins had the day off, but prospect Karl Craigie answered a few questions for me.

Elsewhere in the GCL

Blue Jays 10, Pirates 0
Phillies 5, Braves 4
Twins 6, Rays 4
Red Sox 8, Orioles 6
Tigers West 14, Tigers East 3
Yankees West 10, Yankees East 0
Mets 5, Astros 2
Cardinals 3, Nationals 2

Rookie

Dominican Summer League

DSL Marlins 12, DSL Braves 5

Eliezer Rodriguez allowed five runs in two innings of work, on six hits and two walks. Edison Suriel (2-1, 3.38) came on to save the day with three shutout innings of work, striking out six Braves (10-16). Jonaiker Villalobos earned a four inning save, allowing just one hit and one walk while whiffing two.

Offensively, the Marlins (14-13) were led by Joseph Gilma, who collected three RBI on two singles and a double. Jorge Caballero hit a single and a double, and Daniel Paulino got two RBI on two singles. Omar Lebron stole two bases, going 1-for-4 and drawing two walks.

Elsewhere in the DSL

Athletics 4, Astros Blue 0
Angels 6, Cardinals 5
Cubs1 8, Rays2 1
Cubs2 5, D-backs2 0
Pirates 9, Dodgers2 8
Giants 9, D-backs1 4
Indians 8, Indians/Brewers 4
Mets2 7, Rangers2 6
Reds 4, Orioles 1
Blue Jays 7, Padres 5
Nationals 3, Phillies Red 2
Rangers1 6, Astros Orange 1
Red Sox 15, Rays1 0
Mets1 4, Rockies 1
Phillies White 4, Rojos 1
Dodgers1 8, Royals 1
Tigers 5, Brewers 3
Mariners 4, White Sox 3
Twins 10, Yankees 8

Marlins’ Minor Leaguers of the Day

Pitching:

Jonaiker Villalobos allowed just one hit in four innings of work, earning the save in the DSL Marlins 12-5 win against the DSL Braves.

Hitting:

John Norwood hit two singles and a double, scoring two runs in Jacksonville’s 10-1 walk over the Biscuits.

Fish Stripes Top 30 Prospect Watch (dynamic tracker)

#1 James Nelson @WoahitsNelly

#2 Dillon Peters @dillypickz

#3 Drew Steckenrider @asteckenrider20

#4 Braxton Lee @Brax_Lee went 1-for-3 with a walk, a run, and an RBI. He’s hitting .458 since joining the Shrimp.

#5 Brian Anderson @AndersonBrian01 went 1-for-5 with a three run homer and is at .260 for Jacksonville.

#6 Mike Kickham @MikeKickham4

#7 Trevor Richards @trvrchrds earned the win in Jacksonville, going six innings and allowing one run on five hits and two walks. He struck out six, and is at 2.76 since joining the team.

#8 Brian Miller @B_Millz05 went 2-for-4 with a double, a run and a strikeout. He’s hitting .286 with the Grasshoppers.

#9 Austin Dean @AustinDean_3 went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run, and is hitting .286 for the Jumbo Shrimp.

#10 Kyle Barrett @kbarrett_4 went 0-for-4 with a walk, a run, and a strikeout. He’s at .240 for the Shrimp.

#11 Boo Vazquez went 1-for-3 with a walk and is hitting .360 with Jupiter.

#12 Michael King

#13 Sam Perez @SCPerez_

#14 Jeff Brigham @Jbrigs34

#15 Cody Poteet @PoTweet_34

#16 Dustin Beggs @dbizzzzle

#17 Riley Mahan @RizzMahan

#18 Matt Tomshaw @MatthewJTomshaw

#19 John Norwood @Norwood_10 went 3-for-5 with two runs and a double, and is at .268 for the Shrimp.

#20 Sean Reynolds @Sean___Reynolds

#21 Brian Schales @BrianSchales

#22 Shao-pin Ho

#23 Demetrius Sims @_D1Sims

#24 Eliezer Rodriguez allowed five runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks in two innings. He struck one out, and is still at 3.38 for the DSL Marlins.

#25 Tayron Guerrero @TyronGuerrero7

#26 Albert Guaimaro @AlbertGuaimaro3

#27 Mason Davis @_Maeday20 went 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts, but is still hitting .304 with the Hammerheads.

#28 Joseph Dunand @Joedunand

#29 Colby Lusignan @ColbyLusignan went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, and is hitting .245 with Greensboro.

#30 Ethan Clark @ethanclark22

Later

At 10:30AM, the DSL Marlins will host the DSL Braves.

At noon, the GCL Cardinals will host the GCL Marlins.

Starting at 7:05, Marlins’ affiliates will begin a trio of games:

The Fire Frogs will host the Hammerheads. Jeff Brigham (2-1, 2.38) will get the start for Jupiter.

The Hagerstown Suns will host the Grasshoppers. Greensboro’s pitcher is TBD.

The Doubledays will host the Muckdogs. Batavia will send Edward Cabrera (0-0, 5.23) to the hill.

At 8PM, the Baby Cakes will host the Storm Chasers, and will send William Cuevas (1-1, 3.45) to pitch.

Starting at 8:05PM, the Biscuits will host the Shrimp. Mike Kickham (5-4, 2.34) will try to continue his impressive run. He’s given up more than one earned run in only one of his last nine starts.

Birthdays

Andy Beltre of the Jumbo Shrimp will turn 24 on Thursday.

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