Brooklyn had the night off, but it was still a busy night in the minors. Kingsport had a double dip (two seven inning games, as are all minor league double headers, St. Lucie has a wild finish, and Jeurys Familia flashes why he is still a top 10 prospect. Let delve in!
Buffalo 6, Lehigh Valley 0
Just when I’ve given up on him Jeurys Familia pulls me back in. The mercurial righty turned in a stellar performance last night, shutting out the Iron Pigs over seven innings, allowing just a run and four hits while striking out eight. The game was tight until the Bisons broke it open with five in the seventh, keyed by Matt den Dekker’s grand slam.
New Hampshire 5, Binghamton 2
Allan Dykstra supplied the offense for the B-Mets with a two run homer, but that was it for the highlights on this one. Gonzalez German got the start and was very hittable (5.1IP, 5R, 3ER, 8H, 1HR, 1BB, 1HBP, 3K). Reese Havens is out with a stiff back. I’ll give you a moment to recover from the shock.
St. Lucie 9, Palm Beach 8
Yeesh. The Lucies took a comfortable 8-2 lead into the ninth inning, when the wheels absolutely came flying off. Kyle Allen came in to close the game out and hit the first batter. It went downhill from there. A grand slam later, Adrian Rosario came in to stop the bleeding but before he could, the Cardinals had completed their six run outburst to tie the score. In the bottom of the ninth, Blake Forsythe’s two out single plated TJ Rivera from third to give the Lucies the victory. Hey – a win is a win is a win. The Lucies brought out the thumping stick in this one, hitting four home runs. Danny Muno (4 for 4, two run homer, two runs scored), Corey Vaughn (1 for 5, two run homer), Robbie Shields (2 for 4, solo homer), and Cesar Puello (1 for 3, solo homer, two runs scored). Puello now has a slash line on the season of .243/.307/.387.
Lexington 10, Savannah 1
I’ve already used the “the Panty-Man can’t” joke haven’t I? Anyway, Alex Panteliodis bombed last night for the Sand Gnats (5.2IP, 7R, 6ER, 10H, 0BB, 5K). He didn’t get much help from his offense however, even though the gnats banged out nine hits and didn’t even score their lone run until the bottom of the ninth. Matt Reynolds was thrown out at home trying for a second run to end the game.
Kingsport 4, Johnson City 2 (Game 1)
Victory! For a brief while at least. Matt Budgell went three scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win, and 3B Kevin Weigertse (can we get Chris Russo to try to pronounce this?) went 2 for 3 with a run scored.
Johnson City 4, Kingsport 2 (Game 2)
Well, that didn’t last for long, as the Cardinals turned the tables in the nightcap. Persio Reyes started and didn’t pitch poorly (6IP, 3R, 2ER, 7H, 2HR, 0BB, 4K). Jeyckol De Leon drove in two with a double in the bottom of the seventh, but the rally stalled there. Gavin Cechini was 1 for 3, scoring on De Leon’s double.
15 comments
Stickguy
8/15/2012-9:44am at 9:44 am (UTC -4)
Man, I don’t know what to think of Familia at this point. He obviously has talent (stuff?), but is it possible for him to nail down the mechanics enough to actually be successful at a higher level?
Pen really does sound like his calling most of the time, but maybe not…
Bryan
8/15/2012-10:02am at 10:02 am (UTC -4)
I do think ultimately he’ll end up in the pen, but he’s shown enough flashes of brilliance to still think he can become a good ML pitcher. He’s 22 and already has 200 innings in the upper levels, and his walk rate is way down in the second half. Of his last 10 starts, 6 have been really good and 4 have been bad, so that’s some good progress.
srt
8/15/2012-10:16am at 10:16 am (UTC -4)
I think the most encouraging sign is that reduced walk rate. For awhile there, I thought he was gonna be the second coming of Ollie.
Stickguy
8/15/2012-10:24am at 10:24 am (UTC -4)
you mean that great looking 30 YO (hard to believe that he is only 30) lefty in Seattle with the 2.00 ERA, 193ERA+, 3.6 K/BB and 1.33 whip?
makes you wonder what would have happened if he had willingly gone to the minors a few years ago to try and rebuild his mechanics (I heard that they now does things like land toward the plate).
I guess it required a team that has an actual pitching coach on staff to help pitchers improve. Mets stuck with the cardboard cutout of an old man. Warthen needs to go.
darknova306
8/15/2012-11:09am at 11:09 am (UTC -4)
Yup, 18 innings are enough to say with 100% confidence that Ollie is BACK! Hahahaha! Yeah, let’s see just how long these new mechanics of his last.
Stickguy
8/15/2012-11:25am at 11:25 am (UTC -4)
It was a joke son, a joke.
not that part about Warthen though. That was dead-on serious.
darknova306
8/15/2012-11:50am at 11:50 am (UTC -4)
Hah, oops. On Warthen, though, I wouldn’t say no pitcher has improved under him, especially looking at Gee and Niese this year. Really, is there any actually good way of evaluating the impact of coaches like pitching and hitting coaches?
NJstuckinTX
8/15/2012-10:03am at 10:03 am (UTC -4)
Broken Record Stuck saying build up that value and ship him off!
He’s best value will be promise, as I don’t see him harnessing it.
Stickguy
8/15/2012-10:11am at 10:11 am (UTC -4)
packaged up with Spin and Murphy of course, right?
NJstuckinTX
8/15/2012-10:28am at 10:28 am (UTC -4)
for Justin Upton!
srt
8/15/2012-10:17am at 10:17 am (UTC -4)
Peter – these are my favorite ‘last night on the farm’ reports.
All in one post, all highlights with some detail on both offense and pitching. Don’t have to read multiple posts or go digging for box scores or additional information.
Hope you continue to bring these here.
Peter Duffy
8/15/2012-10:35am at 10:35 am (UTC -4)
Thanks SRT. Check’s in the mail….
srt
8/15/2012-10:44am at 10:44 am (UTC -4)
LOL…..
Mr North Jersey
8/15/2012-11:16am at 11:16 am (UTC -4)
Nice to see Familia rebound and put together 2 solid back 2 back starts which coincidentally came vs the same team Lehigh Valley. Last night was probably the best or 2nd best start of the season the other being his July 18 start vs Toledo.
Over his last 2 starts he’s put together an impressive line of 13.0/IP, 4/R, 1/ER, 9/H, 3/BB, 15/SO, 0.69/ERA, 182/Pitches, 114/Strikes, 63/STK%.
Much more representative of Familia’s abilities. Keep it up kid.
Stickguy
8/15/2012-11:26am at 11:26 am (UTC -4)
so if I got this right, what you are saying is that Lehigh Valley really sucks?