Minor league thread 2022

Jed Zeppelin

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On cue, Walter with another great outing: 6ip 7k/0bb, just 4h and 1er. Also noteworthy—11go/1fo.
 

Apisith

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It feels like our pitching prospects are doing really well, I'm wondering whether they're using the new dead ball in the minors as well.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Duran 4-5 with a 3b and HR tonight. Decent outing for Bello but a little wild, 8k/4bb over 5 and a third.
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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WooSox win 10-6 today.
Casas 2-4 with a homer (5) and double (5). He's at .262/.388/.500/.888 for the season with 19 BB and 23 K in 103 PA.
Downs was 2-4 with a homer (5). He's at .241/.344/.482/.826 for the season with 13 BB and 34 K in 96 PA. Also 3 doubles, 1 triple and 3-5 in SB attempts. That .826 OPS is day and night from last year's .605. Despite that, SoxProspects dropped Jet from 13 to 16 in its rankings.
Duran was 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout. For the season he's at .360/.458/.560/1.018 with 9 BB and 13 K in 59 PA; 3 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer and 7-8 in SB attempts. He missed about 10 days with Covid from 4/6 to 4/17.
Darwinzon Hernandez started and went 1.1 somewhat wild innings. He threw 50 pitches, 25 strikes and 25 balls. Struck out 4, walked 3, gave up 2 hits and 3 runs. (He might not be ready yet to go back to Boston.)
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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Sea Dogs lost 5-0, getting one-hit by Somerset (NYY) pitcher Jhony Brito. Brito isn't among FanGraphs' top 40 Yankee prospects nor is he among the MLB Pipeline top 30 Yankee prospects, but he's having a great year. Today he went 7.0 innings giving up one hit and one walk with six Ks. He's carrying a 0.89 era over 20 innings in four starts. Two relievers finished the shutout.
Catcher Cole Kottam (#52 Sox Prospects, up from 59) got the lone Portland hit, going 1-3. For the season he's at .302/.383./.434/.817 with 4 doubles, 1 HR, 6 BB and 20 K in 60 PA.
Starting pitcher Chris Murphy (#11 SP, up from 15) took the loss, going 4 innings and giving up 2 runs and 2 hits with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts. For the season he's 0-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 5 starts. Over 24.0 IP he's given up 7 runs on 14 hits (1 HR) and 11 BB (1.04 WHIP; .169 BAA) with 28 Ks.
 

nvalvo

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WooSox win 10-6 today.
Casas 2-4 with a homer (5) and double (5). He's at .262/.388/.500/.888 for the season with 19 BB and 23 K in 103 PA.
Downs was 2-4 with a homer (5). He's at .241/.344/.482/.826 for the season with 13 BB and 34 K in 96 PA. Also 3 doubles, 1 triple and 3-5 in SB attempts. That .826 OPS is day and night from last year's .605. Despite that, SoxProspects dropped Jet from 13 to 16 in its rankings.
Duran was 0-4 with a walk and a strikeout. For the season he's at .360/.458/.560/1.018 with 9 BB and 13 K in 59 PA; 3 doubles, 2 triples, 1 homer and 7-8 in SB attempts. He missed about 10 days with Covid from 4/6 to 4/17.
Darwinzon Hernandez started and went 1.1 somewhat wild innings. He threw 50 pitches, 25 strikes and 25 balls. Struck out 4, walked 3, gave up 2 hits and 3 runs. (He might not be ready yet to go back to Boston.)
I was looking at Jetes' numbers. He's been in 21 games.

Through 10, he was at a .717 OPS with 21 K against 4 BB in 47 PA. That's a 45% K rate.

Since then, in 11 games, he has a .938 OPS with 13 K against 9 BB in 49 PA. That's a 27% K rate. How long does he need to keep this up before he regains prospect status?
 

Cesar Crespo

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I was looking at Jetes' numbers. He's been in 21 games.

Through 10, he was at a .717 OPS with 21 K against 4 BB in 47 PA. That's a 45% K rate.

Since then, in 11 games, he has a .938 OPS with 13 K against 9 BB in 49 PA. That's a 27% K rate. How long does he need to keep this up before he regains prospect status?
Good question. Usually players get dinged quite a bit for repeating levels... but he also skipped over AA. He's not exactly young for a prospect in AAA, but he's not old either.

Since the start of the AFL: 37 games, 168 PA/140 AB, .236/.363/.486, 27bb/52k. 16.1% BB%, 31.0% K%. 3 doubles, 1 triple, 10 HR. 1xbh/10 Ab. The one thing that works heavily in his benefit is he can probably be slotted to play 6 different positions adaquately, though the Sox have stuck with him at 2B/SS for the most part. I just made a post on the main board saying I've probably written Jeter Downs off unfairly. He does strike out way too much, but he skipped over AA and has been hitting for some power of late.

I'm not sure he'll ever regain his "top 100 prospect" status, but he's probably already regained his prospect status, if he ever lost it. Sox Prospects has him at 15th.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Going back a little further, he has 13 HR in his last 178 AB.

edit: Also had no clue Jerry Downs is his brother.
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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In Salem, the SaleSox won 8-4. Big nights from lead-off hitter Eddinson Paulino (#26 Sox Prospects) -- 4-5 with his 6th double of the season -- and number two hitter Brainer Bonaci (#27 SP) -- 2-5 with his 2nd triple.
Tyler Uberstein (#45 SP) went 5 innings giving up 1 run on 3 hits and no walks while striking out 3.
Niko Kavadas (#48 SP) had an interesting game, kind of reflective of his interesting season. Niko was 0-2 with 3 walks. For the season he's hitting .263/.475/.474/.949. In 80 PA he's got 15 hits (6 doubles, 2 HRs), 22 BB (and 1 HBP) and 25 K. At 23, he's a bit old for Single-A; he was a senior draftee last year after four years at Notre Dame. (After signing last year he got into eight games in the Florida complex league and seven more in Salem, with similar results.) Through Tuesday's game, he's seeing 4.54 pitches per PA this season. Is he the new Greek God of Walks?
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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Greenville won 4-2 over the Rome Braves.
As usual, the top six hitters in the line-up are all ranked prospects:
Yorke (#3 SP) was 1-4 with a HR (1) and a K.
McDonough (#20 SP, down from 17) was 0-4 with a BB and 2 K.
Rafaela (#15 SP, up from 19) was 0-4 with a K and 2 SB.
Binelas (#18 SP, up from 21) was 2-2 with 2 BB. For the season he's at .290/.425/.638/1.053. In 69 AB/87 PA he's got 20 hits (3 doubles, 7 HRs), 16 BBs and 25 Ks. He's seeing 4.20 pitches per PA. Defensively, he's been getting equal time at 1B and 3B, eight games at each position with no errors at either.
Lugo (#24 SP, up from 29) was 1-4 with 2 K.
Jimenez (#19 SP, down from 18) was 2-4 with 2 K and 3 SB.
Shane Drohan (#49 SP, up from 52) got the win, recording 9 Ks in 6 IP, giving up 3 hits, 1 walk, and 1 run (a solo HR).
 

Heating up in the bullpen

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Portland beat the Reading Fighting Phils 5-4 in 11 innings, completing a sweep for the affiliates (WooSox were rained out).
David Hamilton (#25 SP, up from 26) went 2-5 with a double (2) and 2 Ks.
Christian Koss (#22 SP) was 1-5 with a K and a sac fly.
Cam Cannon (#53 SP, down from 49) was 2-5 with a double (4).
Starting pitcher Victor Santos (#38 SP, up from 42) went 6 innings giving up 3 runs on 4 hits (2 HRs) with no walks and 5 Ks.
Jacob Wallace (#34 SP) pitched a clean inning with 2 Ks.
Chase Shugart (#51 SP) threw 2 scoreless innings with 4 Ks and 1 hit allowed.
Andrew "AJ" Politi (#54 SP) gave up an unearned run in the 10th (zombie runner) on 1 hit with 1 K. Through 8.2 innings this year in 8 games, AJ has yet to give up an earned run (and just the one unearned run from tonight). He's given up 2 hits, 2 BBs and 2 HBP, while striking out 13. After starting 15 games last year (out of 21 total) he's pitched exclusively out of the bullpen so far this year.
 

BringBackMo

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Finding it hard not to get excited about both Alex Binelas and David Hamilton, aka the Renfroe haul.

Binelas is 21 and in Greenville
.290/.425/.638 7hr in 69 AB

Hamilton is 24 and in Portland
.301/.395/.479 3hr in 73 AB, 13 SB leads the EL

Binelas is the prototypical corner IF or LF masher type who has some swing and miss but can hit the ball a ton. He hit very well last year in the Milwaukee system and is off to an excellent start at Greenville this year. He’ll soon turn 22 and I’m hoping he can make an appearance in Portland at some point this year.

Hamilton at first seems on the older side for the level, but because of Covid he didn’t make his pro debut until last year. SoxProspects describes him as having a high floor who profiles as a bench type but could be more if his hit tool develops. Too soon to say for sure after so few at bats, but he’s certainly flashing at least the potential for that in AA, which is an encouraging sign.

All in all, quite an interesting return for Renfroe and JBJ’s salary.
 

BringBackMo

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Not adding much with this but just wanted to say that I’m rooting hard for Jeter Downs. I love players who get knocked around a bit and find a way to come through it. This hot streak is just a blip for now, but here’s hoping it’s the beginning of a reboot. As was noted earlier, he’s still plenty young enough to reestablish himself as a good prospect.
 

LogansDad

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I think my non-expert answer to that question would be "not yet".

It's only two weeks in the grand scheme of things, and it isn't like they expect him to get promoted twice this year. For now, I expect caution is the right answer for him and the organization, and he should only be playing when fully healthy, especially with something like a wrist, that can't really be "protected".
 

moondog80

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I think my non-expert answer to that question would be "not yet".

It's only two weeks in the grand scheme of things, and it isn't like they expect him to get promoted twice this year. For now, I expect caution is the right answer for him and the organization, and he should only be playing when fully healthy, especially with something like a wrist, that can't really be "protected".
Definitely a fan of caution here -- I just hope the prolonged absence isn't because he needs more than simple rest.
 

jon abbey

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I don't pay for BA, but they added Brayan Bello to their top 100 prospect list today, 5 Red Sox there now (Mayer, Casas, Yorke, Duran).
 

Ganthem

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Any idea what is going with Yorke. He crushed Greenville last year, but only has a 705 ops this year. Is this cause for concern, or is this expected?
 

BringBackMo

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Any idea what is going with Yorke. He crushed Greenville last year, but only has a 705 ops this year. Is this cause for concern, or is this expected?
I’m sure there’s some disappointment in the organization about the slow start, but I doubt there’s any concern yet. It’s a small sample size, prospects sometimes take time to adjust to new levels, and he started slow last year, too. He did also just homer for the first time this year so perhaps that’s the beginning of something? Bottom line is that, for now, I think it’s safe to assume it’s just a slow start.

View: https://twitter.com/JamesDunneSP/status/1521699297624043520?s=20&t=UT9YT2i9ZrY5sGS3IxOviw
 

Jason Bae

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Any idea what is going with Yorke. He crushed Greenville last year, but only has a 705 ops this year. Is this cause for concern, or is this expected?
He had a line of .177/.250/.190 through his first 20 games last year. He hit .365/.452/.602 the rest of the year.

And to be fair, while he did hit very well in his Greenville debut it was only 96 PA.
 

RoDaddy

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I would add Blaze Jordan to the early season disappointments. One of our top power prospects but barely breaking .a 500 OPS. In addition to SSS, there's the young age so it might just be that.
 

amfox1

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Brayan Bello with a 7-inning no-no tonight against a not-so-good Reading Fightin Phils team (AA).

7IP, 0H, 1R (unearned), 5/3 K/BB

Brandon Walter pitched in the first game of the DH - 6IP, 3H, 0R, 10/1 K/BB.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Duran making it tough to keep him down while the offense sputters; 3-4 with a 3 run HR and is nearly batting .400 so far.

Winckowski with 8k/0bb and 2H over 5, he still might be a guy.

Would add that Bello gave up 11go/3fo. Great performance and they let him get up near 100 pitches.
 

jon abbey

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I would add Blaze Jordan to the early season disappointments. One of our top power prospects but barely breaking .a 500 OPS. In addition to SSS, there's the young age so it might just be that.
A lot of NY's best prospects aren't hitting much yet either, let's not forget how hard the whole lockout bullshit must have been for minor leaguers too.
 

MyDaughterLovesTomGordon

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Listened to the last three outs on the radio coming home. Was kind of fun to hear a young broadcaster in Emma Tiedemann getting psyched up to call the no-hitter. On the last out, she was so fired up she called strike 1 “strike three!” But she got it together and made a nice call on the final out and got me pretty fired up.
 

moondog80

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It'll be two weeks tomorrow since Marcelo Mayer last played. I'm now officially worried that there is more than wrist soreness going on. Someone please tell me why I'm wrong.
 

Cesar Crespo

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I wonder how long they keep Bello and Walter in AA. Bello is approaching 100 innings ath the level and Walter is making a mockery of AA.

I'd guess they're both pitching in AAA by July 1st. I think Walter has a very small chance at Boston this year, too. That largely depends what they see his long term role as.

Walter has now started 5 games at AA. 0.93 era, 29.0 ip, 17 hits, 3r/3r, 1bb/39 strikeouts. Hitters are slashing .164/.194/.192 with a .262 BAbip. He has faced 108 batters and has only given up 3 extra base hits, all doubles. 70% strikes, 20% strikes looking, 17% strikes swinging, 54% GB, 15% LD. 36.1% K%, 0.9% BB%.

.185/.209/.231 vs R in 67 PA
.128/.171/128 vs L in 41 PA.

Since Bello has also faced exactly 108 batters this year with the same 5 starts: 1.95 era, 27.2 ip, 13 hits, 7r/6er, 11bb/37k. Hitters are slashing .135/.224/.260 with a .179 BAbip. He has also given up only 3 extra base hits, all doubles. 62% strikes, 13% strikes looking, 20% strikes swinging, 61% GB, 17% LD. 34.3% K%, 10.2% BB%.

Ceddanne also hit his 7th HR of the year, going 1/4 with 2 k. In his first 100 AB this year, he has 14 extra base hits (7 doubles, 7 HR). He started to hit for some power at the end of last year so this is encouraging if it's real. Not convinced it is, at least not yet.

Matthew Lugo continued his good start, hitting his 3rd HR of the year. He went 1/2 with a BB and the previously mentioned HR. Hitting .337/.379/.573 for the year with 8 doubles, 2 triples and 3 HR in 95 PA. 4sb/0 Cs. Only 15 k. Only 4 bb, too. His last 274 PA last year (July 1st on): .303/.383/.429 with a .379 BAbip. 28bb/56k, 17 doubles, 2 triples 3 HR. Obviously some BAbip luck but he started to hit the ball considerably better after the first 2 months. He has all the tools to be a fast riser in the system. I think he'd be in most system's top 10 at the end of the year but the Sox are particularly loaded with talent and only 2 possible promotions.

Nicholas Northcut hit his 10th HR of the year in only 79 AB. He turns 23 in June, so is kind of old for Greenville. Hitting .253/.306/.658 for the year with 4bb/29k. Probalby nothing, but a .405 ISO is no joke and he's not super old. Obviously SSS is hugely in play. He's also at 1b, so he'd be behind so many people on the depth chart. Last year, he hit .261/.352/.513 with 17 HR, 46bb/91k in 402 PA.

Jordan had a pretty rough game last night, going 1/5 and leaving 8 men on base. .195/.247/.264 for the year in 93 PA. 4bb/21k.

Eduardo Lopez was 3/3 with a HR, 2 bb and a SB yesterday. He turns 20 in 2 days and was the Sox #1 internatonal signing in 2018 (by $$$). In 44 PA this year, he's slashing .308/.386/.487 with 2 HRs, 5bb/15k.

Also wonder when they plan to promote Niko Kavadas, given his age. Thru 89 PA, he's slashing .277/.472/.492 with 22bb/28k.
 

Cesar Crespo

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It'll be two weeks tomorrow since Marcelo Mayer last played. I'm now officially worried that there is more than wrist soreness going on. Someone please tell me why I'm wrong.
You might not be wrong but there's literally no reason for them to rush things. Given it's a wrist, playing it very slowly would be wise.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Ceddanne's last 209 PA in 2021: .285/.325/.523 on a .311 BAbip. 12 doubles, 5 triples, 8 HR. 9bb/37k.
in his last 293 At bats: 19 doubles, 5 triples, 15 HR. Hmm.
 

moondog80

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You might not be wrong but there's literally no reason for them to rush things. Given it's a wrist, playing it very slowly would be wise.
Of course. But Speier wrote that he was expected back for the series that Salem just played, and he wasn't. I at least need a "Mayer has felt improvement but they are just being cautious and do not view this as a long term deal" to keep the irrational panic at a minimum.
 

Cesar Crespo

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If it was the regular season, Nomar would be playing, right?
It's impossible to actually know, but I'd say if it were the playoffs, Nomar would be playing. It's a wrist injury. Even if they aren't serious, you don't rush them.

The lack of news on a minor league injury isn't exactly rare though, it's the norm. If the injury isn't a serious one, it's almost impossible to get information. With the top prospects, it a little bit easier but not by much. If you try to find a Brainer Bonaci update, good luck. Brainer is back, fwiw.

I guess one could take some solace in knowing that "no news" is usually "good news" when it comes to minor league injuries. Even more so with hitters.
 

Petagine in a Bottle

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Oh, I agree, just some sarcasm. I’m sure any Sox fan of a certain age is scarred from the memories of Nomar’s wrist injury.
 

Cesar Crespo

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39/1 k/bb ratio.

I love WALTUH!
I've mentioned it a lot, but his 2021 is masked by 2 really bad starts. In those 2 starts, he combined for 7.2 ip, 17 hits, 17 runs/15er, 2bb/12k, 4 HRA.
The rest of the season: 1.54 era, 81.2 ip, 50 hits, 25r/14er, 18bb/120k, 2 HRA. 0.88 WHIP.

His career minor league numbers now sit at 2.49 era, 151.2 ip, 110 hits, 56r/42er, 8 HRA, 29bb/210k. 0.916 WHIP. 34.4% K rate, 4.8% BB rate, 1.3% HR rate.

The obvious 1 red flag is he's 26 in September but nothing about him is traditional anyway.
 

BringBackMo

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I've mentioned it a lot, but his 2021 is masked by 2 really bad starts. In those 2 starts, he combined for 7.2 ip, 17 hits, 17 runs/15er, 2bb/12k, 4 HRA.
The rest of the season: 1.54 era, 81.2 ip, 50 hits, 25r/14er, 18bb/120k, 2 HRA. 0.88 WHIP.

His career minor league numbers now sit at 2.49 era, 151.2 ip, 110 hits, 56r/42er, 8 HRA, 29bb/210k. 0.916 WHIP. 34.4% K rate, 4.8% BB rate, 1.3% HR rate.

The obvious 1 red flag is he's 26 in September but nothing about him is traditional anyway.
Exactly. TJ cost him a year and a half, and I believe he pitched for four seasons in college because he wasn’t as highly regarded then. So he’s a little old for AA, but everything I’ve read suggests he has the potential to stick as a starter, and if not he’s on track to be a high-leverage reliever. He and Bello are quite a pair of prospects.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Rafaela is 3/5 with 2 doubles tonight. edit: 1 double. Apparently it was switched.
Northcut hit his 11th HR of the year. He's at 83 AB.
Lugo is 2/4.
Groome struggled, 3.2 ip, 7 hits, 4r/4er. 4bb/2k.
Casas is 1/4 with 2k.
Downs is 1/3 with a BB.
Fitzgerald is 1/2 with HR #7 and 2bb.
 

LogansDad

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This thread is why I haven't gotten to bent out of shape about the way this season is going. There is so much to be excited about.
 

gattman

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Seconded. This thread is like breathing exercises when stressed :). And thank you Crespo for doing yeoman work here. I don’t get as much time as I used to focusing on the farm (I have very fond memories of looking at the Sunday Globe in the late 70s/early 80s w my dad going thru the minor league stats— “Hey, look at this Boggs kid tearing it up in Bristol”). Hopefully we see some graduations soon (I’m looking at you Fitzy)
 

Cesar Crespo

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This thread is why I haven't gotten to bent out of shape about the way this season is going. There is so much to be excited about.
Yeah. In the early going, there's maybe 3 disappointments. Jordan has been bad. Yorke hasn't hit for much power yet but has 10bb/18k in 84 PA. And Groome has been Jekyll and Hyde.

On the plus side: Casas, Duran, Bello, Walter, Mayer (assuming he is fine), Hamilton, Binelas, Wilkelman, Rafaela, Lugo, German, Politi. Kavadas, Lopez. Others I'm probably missing, Downs is worth watching again.

Of the non top 10 guys, Rafaela is getting hard to ignore given he profiles as a plus defender at 2b/3b/SS/CF/RF/LF, has a plus arm and plus speed. Up to .305/.348/.581 with 15 xbh, 9sb/2cs in 112 PA for the year. 21 for the entire year too. I'm probably the most excited about him in the early going, even if I have some doubts. This is especially true given how he finished last season. His profile is just too exciting not to root for, especially if he can hit a little bit.
 

Cesar Crespo

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That other SP in Portland (Chris Murphy) went 6.0 ip, 2 hits, 3r/0er, 3bb/10k, 1 HRA allowed earlier today
Worcester is currently teaming up to throw a no hitter.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Yorke with HR #2. Currently 1/2. Rafaela is 1/2 in the same game with a double.

Duran is currently 0/4. Casas is currently 0/2 with a bb.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Casas is 1/3 with a HR and a BB. Just hit number 6.

edit: Just an amusing note, that Ryan Lavarnway plays for Toledo. They also have players named Josh Lester and John Valente.