Last night on the farm all three teams in action won. Both Buffalo and St. Lucie won in come-from-behind fashion while a stranger emerged in Savannah to help the Gnats win. Let’s take a look:
Buffalo 4, Gwinnett 3
Chris Schwinden made his triumphant return to AAA pitching 5 innings and giving up 2 runs while striking out 8. Josh Edgin continued to struggle at AAA, giving up a run on 2 hits and 2 walks while only getting 2 outs. Luckily the rest of the Bisons bullpen was good, as it’s been all year, keeping them within range until a 3-run 8th inning gave the Herd the lead. Rob Johnson was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI’s. Omar Quintanilla had 2 hits. Josh Satin and Matt Tuiasosopo both doubled. Zach Lutz pinch hit in the 7th, making his first appearance since Wednesday.
Binghamton was rained out at home.
St. Lucie 5, Dunedin 4
Yohan Almonte battled through 5.2 innings, giving up 4 runs but striking out 7. After that the bullpen took over. Taylor Whitenton went 2.1 scoreless innings and then Adrian Rosario got Adam Kolarek out of trouble in the 9th to finish off the game. Wilmer Flores was 3 for 4 with a homerun, his 5th of the season. Flores is currently 4th in the FSL in slugging. Cory Vaughn went hitless for the third straight game.
Savannah 5, Lakewood 0
Jacob DeGrom made his season debut and pitched a gem. For those of you who don’t know (and I’ll admit even I had to look him up as a refresher) DeGrom was a 9th round pick in 2010 and missed all of 2011 with an injury. So after a full season away DeGrom showed no ill effects pitching 6.2 innings allowing just 1 hit and no walks while striking out 7. Carlos Vazquez pitched the final 2.1 innings and got the win after it took the Gnats a while to get the bats going. The Gnats had only 5 hits, but it was enough to score 5 runs. Luis Nieves had 3 of those and drove in 2 runs. Albert Cordero and Brian Harrison both doubled for the other hits. Harrison drove in 1 run and Cordero drove in 2.
11 comments
Stickguy
5/8/2012-8:16am at 8:16 am (UTC -4)
really nice to see Flores finally showing some production to go along with the promise. Hopefully it lasts, and he gets up to AA soon.
And sounds like Johnson is not going to be in these write-ups much longer, after he gets promoted to replace Thole. Will be interesting to see how the duties are split up between him and Nicky.
Hopefully too Vaughn is still hitting the ball hard, and starts cranking out hits again shortly. Still really needs to get his promotion to Bingo (taking Flores with him I assume).
and finally, Degrom? nope, never heard of him. But I love when a complete unknown suddenly bursts on the scene. One reason it is so hard to really rank systems. Every year, some guy either reappears from injury, or suddenly finds “it”. And some other highly touted guys just fade away.
srt
5/8/2012-8:39am at 8:39 am (UTC -4)
Where is Flores currently playing on the field? Third base?
Stick
5/8/2012-9:11am at 9:11 am (UTC -4)
yeah, 3B. Pretty sure that is all or at least the majority of his starts. I seem to recall reading that he is doing OK there, so hopefully it turns out to be a real home for him. Unless of course the resign DW then have no place for him if he actually does earn a promotion to the majors!
trs86
5/8/2012-9:49am at 9:49 am (UTC -4)
As he gets closer they can look at the needs of the team and make adjustments for him. I would imagine he could play 1B or LF as well. Maybe even 2B or RF.
Stick
5/8/2012-10:01am at 10:01 am (UTC -4)
Oh, 2B…
Stick
5/8/2012-10:09am at 10:09 am (UTC -4)
I was actually wondering why they did not try 2B for him. Seems he played a good enough SS, just didn’t quite have the range needed for it. Aren’t those the guys that usually slide over to 2B? Unless they thought he may out grow the position.
he is still at least a couple years away. Even if he moves fast, figure AA mid year, ST next year and then AA/AAA in 2013. So best, best case a September call up in 2013, compete for a job 2014?
Lots can change on the field in that timeframe. #5 being the most important!
trs86
5/8/2012-10:26am at 10:26 am (UTC -4)
I think it’s protection for if David leaves.
Bryan
5/8/2012-10:29am at 10:29 am (UTC -4)
I think 3B is where he’s going to stay. Maybe he can slide over to 1B, but I think that’s the only other possibility. At 6’3” he’s too big to stay at shortstop and probably too big for 2B as well. He also doesn’t have the foot speed to cover ground in the outfield so that probably isn’t a possibility either. He does have good hands and a strong arm, so 3B is probably the best place for him, and whether David is resigned or not will have no effect on what position he plays for quite some time.
As for him getting promoted, it’s possible that could happen mid-season, as that would give him 2 full years in St. Lucie; however, Jefry Marte is playing 3B everyday in Binghamton and both guys are very young and need reps on both offense and defense, although at times Marte has played 1B.
Stickguy
5/8/2012-12:05pm at 12:05 pm (UTC -4)
who wins that battle might give you a nice window into who the team thinks is the LT replacement for DW. And LT could mean 2 years of course.
Interesting though, Wright could sign a 5 year extension tomorrow, and after it was over, he could retire at what, 34/35, and Marte could replace him and still only be about 26! Not that they could keep him in the minors that long, just pointing out how young he is.
3B though does seem to be stacked up with bats now, with Lutz/Marte/Flores at the top 3 levels. Something has to give, and at least 1 of those guys gets traded (hell, maybe Lutz at the deadline for pitching help?)
Bryan
5/8/2012-11:23am at 11:23 am (UTC -4)
in other news, Jenrry Mejia will pitch Wednesday for St. Lucie and Chris Young will pitch Thursday for St. Lucie. Both making their first rehab starts after both underwent surgery for different injuries nearly a year ago.
trs86
5/8/2012-11:25am at 11:25 am (UTC -4)
If you have time Bryan, that would be a great update post.