Sharks, Dogs, Grasshoppers and Shrimp Win

Transactions

Miami traded long-time Marlin Tom Koehler to the Toronto Blue Jays for minor league prospect Osman Gutierrez. The 6’4” right-hander was 4-11 with a 7.85 ERA for the low-A Lansing Lugnuts in the Midwest League. He will likely join the Grasshoppers.

The Hammerheads placed LF Boo Vazquez on the seven-day DL.

Triple-A

Pacific Coast League

New Orleans Baby Cakes 0, Memphis Redbirds 4

The Redbirds (83-44) only outhit the Cakes (50-74) by a 9-to-8 count, but put them on the board when it counted, scoring four times in the second and third inning. The Redbirds defeated Omar Bencomo (0-2, 7.71) and the rest of the Baby Cakes with 10,532 home fans in attendance at AutoZone Park.

Bencomo faced 18 batters, and allowed half of them to reach base in three innings of work for a 25 GameScore. He struck one out, and allowed six hits, two walks, and a hit batsman for four earned runs. Brandon Cunniff pitched two scoreless innings, despite allowing two hits and two walks, Victor Payano struck out one in two perfect innings, and Severino Gonzalez tossed a scoreless eighth.

Steve Lombardozzi and Eury Perez each hit two singles to lead the Baby Cakes offensively. No New Orleans player earned an extra base hit.

Double-A

Southern League

Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 5, Mobile BayBears 2

The Jumbo Shrimp (28-25, 58-65) continue to set the pace in the Southern League South Division, defeating the BayBears, 5-2 with 1,572 in attendance at Hank Aaron Stadium.

Dillon Peters (5-2, 2.31) earned a 73 GameScore in a top-notch quality start. He struck out five while allowing two hits and two walks in six innings.

John Norwood opened the scoring in the third inning with a two-out RBI-single to bring home Braxton Lee. The 1-0 score would remain until the seventh, when Norwood (17) sent a two-run shot deep for a 3-0 advantage. K.C. Serna added a solo shot in the eighth, and Austin Dean drew a bases loaded walk later in the same inning.

Perhaps desperate to avoid a shutout, the BayBears scored twice in the bottom of the eighth on a Matt Thaiss RBI-double and a Taylor Ward RBI-single.

Lee had a single and a double with his 20th stolen base of the campaign. Serna added a single to his deep shot to join Lee and Norwood as the only Shrimp with multiple hit games.

High-A

Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 6, Florida Fire Frogs 4

The Hammerheads (63-61) defeated the Fire Frogs (42-74) despite getting outhit, 12-9 with 1,231 at Osceola County Stadium.

Ben Meyer started and earned no decision in three innings, striking out two and allowing as many earned runs on five hits and a walk. Felipe Gonzalez struck out four in two innings, giving up two walks and a solo homer, Ben Holmes (1-6, 4.50) finally earned a win, tossing three shutout innings and whiffing four, then Marcus Crescentini earned his third save for Greensboro despite surrendering three base hits in his inning of work.

The Sharks got on the board first on a Cleuluis Rondon RBI-ground-rule double in the second inning, but the Frogs scored twice in the third and another time in the fifth for a 3-1 Florida lead.

That score held until the seventh, when Angel Reyes knocked in Justin Twine with a double, then Corey Bird knocked Reyes in with a single. Rondon brought one home with a groundout in the eighth, then Colby Lusignan slapped a two-run double to center in the ninth for a 6-3 Jupiter lead.

Bird and Twine each finished with three singles, Reyes, Rondon, and Lusignan’s doubles were the only extra base hits for the game. Twine (4), Bird (4) and Lusignan (2) also each stole a base.

Single-A Level

South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers 5, Hickory Crawdads 3

The Grasshoppers (67-54) defeated the Crawdads (59-66) by a 5-3 final score in front of 7,062 at First National Bank Field on Saturday night.

Max Duval earned no decision in allowing two earned runs in 6 ²⁄₃ innings, on eight hits and a pair of walks. He struck out five for a 59 GameScore. Kyle Keller (2-0, 2.67) earned the victory in relief, striking out two and allowing one earned run in 2 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Hickory struck first, scoring in the second inning on a Ricardo Valencia sacrifice fly, then doubled their lead in the fifth on an Andretty Cordero RBI-double. The Grasshoppers were up to the task of getting even in the bottom of the same inning, scoring two runs on a Brian Miller single.

The score would remain tied until the bottom of the seventh, when Rony Cabrera (2) hit a solo shot to left-center. Greensboro added two more in the eighth on a Cabrera RBI-single and a Miller RBI-single.

Each club collected 10 hits in the game. Miller led the way with three singles for three RBI. Cabrera was joined by J.C. Millan with two hits, a single and a double. Eric Gutierrez (5), Aaron Knapp (28) and Miller (14) each stole a base.

Short Season A Level

New York Penn-League

Batavia Muckdogs 11, Williamsport Crosscutters 1 (5)

The Muckdogs (21-33) and the Crosscutters (26-27) only managed to complete five innings of the first game of a scheduled seven-inning doubleheader, but it was enough for Batavia. The Muckdogs earned a victory on the strength of a 10-run third inning, sending 15 men to the plate.

Remey Reed (2-3, 5.11) earned the win in a five inning “complete game,” striking out three and giving up an unearned run on three hits and two walks.

Batavia took an early lead on a Mathew Brooks RBI-single in the second inning, then scored a ton of runs in the third. David Gauntt popped out, then Samuel Castro singled and Ricardo Cespedes fouled out. So, with two outs, the Muckdogs got to work. First, Thomas Jones drew first by getting plunked by starter Kyle Young, then, after a Terry Bennett walk loaded the bases, Tyler Curtis cleared them with a double to center.

The 4-0 lead was quickly increased to 6-0 on a Sean Reynolds (1) two-run shot. Marcos Rivera hit a double, then Brooks and Gauntt walked, followed by a Kyle Dohy wild pitch, a Castro walk, and a Cespedes two-run-single. Dohy threw another wild pitch, then Jones doubled in Cespedes. Bennett hit another single for the Dogs before Curtis flew out to end the massacre.

The game was called with nearly five innings in the books due to wet grounds, and the second game of the set, already a makeup from the rainout on August 4th, was again postponed until a later date.

Rookie Level

Gulf Coast League

GCL Marlins 10, GCL Cardinals 8

Elkin Alcala (1-0, 2.89) earned a win for the GCL Marlins (23-22) despite posting the worst linescore from amongst the four pitchers who saw action on Saturday against the Cardinals (23-21). He allowed three runs on five hits and a walk in just 1 ²⁄₃ frames. Bryce Howe threw 1 ¹⁄₃ perfect innings, striking out two for his third save.

The Marlins scored on a Pablo Garcia triple in the second and a Michael Donadio RBI-single in the fourth, but still entered the bottom of the sixth trailing by a 6-2 score.

The Baby Fish batted around in that inning to take a 9-6 lead. Rosandel Reyna drew a bases loaded walk, then Albert Guaimaro hit a two-run double. Justin Cohen added a two-run single, and Cohen and Ben Fisher each scored on consecutive wild pitches from Wilberto Rivera.

Guaimaro hit a single, a double, and a triple, Fisher hit a single and a double, and Donadio finished with a pair of singles.

Dominican Summer League

DSL Marlins 2, DSL Dodgers1 9

Fish Stripes Top 30 Prospect Watch

#1 Trevor Rogers

#2 Braxton Garrett

#3 Brian Anderson

#4 Dillon Peters started for the Jumbo Shrimp and allowed two hits and two walks, striking out five in six innings. He dropped his ERA to 2.31.

#5 Tyler Kolek

#6 Merandy Gonzalez

#7 Brian Miller led off for the Hoppers and went 3-for-5 with three RBI to improve to .326.

#8 Brayan Hernandez

#9 James Nelson

#10 Jeff Brigham

#11 Cody Poteet

#12 Colton Hock

#13 Thomas Jones went 2-for-3 with a run, two doubles, an RBI, and a strikeout to improve to .200.

#14 Joe Dunand

#15 Riley Mahan

#16 Ryan Lillie

#17 Sam Perez

#18 Trevor Richards

#19 Brandon Miller

#20 Edward Cabrera

#21 Sean Reynolds went 1-for-3 with his first homer since joining the short-season-A Muckdogs, batting sixth and collecting a pair of RBI. He’s only played two games at the level, so is hitting just .143.

#22 Pablo Lopez

#23 Ricardo Cespedes batted second for Batavia and went 1-for-4 with a run, two RBI, and a strikeout to improve to .221.

#24 Isael Soto

#25 John Norwood batted third for the Shrimp and went 2-for-4 with a homer, three RBI, and a walk to improve to .275.

#26 Austin Dean batted second for Jacksonville and went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. He’s at .295.

#27 Ynmanol Marinez

#28 Albert Guaimaro batted second for GCL, and improved to .239 by going 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, two RBI, a walk and a run.

#29 Stone Garrett

#30 Roy Morales

Fish Stripes 20

The top 20 players (by user vote) not already represented in the “official” Top 30 prospects:

#1 Braxton Lee went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run, and a strikeout to improve to .325 leading off for the Shrimp.

#2 Ben Meyer

#3 Bryce Howe

#4 Michael King

#5 Ethan Clark

#6 Mike Kickham

#7 Kyle Keller earned a win for Greensboro, striking out two and allowing one earned run on two hits in 2 ¹⁄₃ innings.

#8 Colby Lusignan batted third for the Hammerheads and went 1-for-4 with a double, a run, two RBI, a walk, and a strikeout. He dropped to .311.

#9 Kolton Mahoney

#10 Yeral Encarnación

#11 Matt Givin

#12 Max Duval started for the Hoppers and went 6 ²⁄₃ innings, whiffing five and surrendering two earned runs on eight hits and two walks.

#13 Brian Schales batted second for Jupiter and went 0-for-3 with a walk, a run, and a strikeout to drop to .249.

#14 Gerardo Nunez

#15 James Buckelew

#16 Chris Mazza

#17 Dakota Bennett

#18 Michael Mertz

#19 Christopher Rodriguez batted sixth for DSL at DH and went 0-for-4 with a strikeout, dropping to .283.

#20 Omar Lebron led off for DSL and went 1-for-4 with a run and a whiff to drop to .238.

Later

10:00AM - The GCL Mets (15-29) host the GCL Marlins.

1:05PM - Colton Hock (0-1, 8.64) will start the first game of a scheduled seven-inning doubleheader against the Williamsport Crosscutters.

3:05PM - The Redbirds will host the Baby Cakes in the second game of a four-game series. New Orleans’ starting pitcher hasn’t been announced.

4:00PM - Kolton Mahoney (5-5, 3.25) will start against the Crawdads.

5:05PM - Ben Meyer (3-3, 2.19) will start against the Fire Frogs.

6:05PM - The Jumbo Shrimp will play the Frogs in the third game of their five-game set. Joe Gunkel (4-8, 5.05) gets the start.

Birthdays

Brian Miller turns 22 today. Since getting drafted in the competitive balance round by the Marlins two months ago, he has slashed .326/.379/.438 with 34 runs scored and 14 stolen bases in 43 games.

Minor League History

Courtesy of MILB.COM:

In 1938:

Virgil Trucks of the Andalusia Bulldogs fanned 15 Troy Trojans in an Alabama-Florida League game for his 25th double-figure strikeout game of the season. He would finish the season with 418 strikeouts, a league record for pitchers from the 60-foot, 6-inch distance.

Vote in the poll below if you think a player is too low or too high. It currently runs 237 Marlins deep, including Osman Gutierrez, and is updated at least daily as players enter or leave the system. Players who are no longer considered “prospects,” such as Jarlin Garcia, J.T. Riddle, Tomas Telis, and Drew Steckenrider (this season) are not included. Vote early and often. The more you vote, the more precisely I can plan the offseason series of articles on the “Future of the Marlins.”