Northwest League Recap; Spokane Rolling
By Jason Mast
Jun 6, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of baseballs before a game between the Kansas City Royals and the New York Yankees at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
The Indians are on a roll.
No, not the Cleveland Indians, who have lost four straight and now find themselves three games under .500, but the Spokane Indians of the Short-Season Northwest League.
With a 7-3 victory over Boise last night, Spokane moved to a near perfect 10-1 record and an early four game lead in the North division standings. The Indians owe much of their early season success to that of outfielder Luke Tendler at the plate and starter Richelson Pena on the mound.
Tendler, 22, is off to a scorching start, hitting .471 with two home runs, ten RBIs and a .794 slugging percentage through his first nine games. The North Carolina A&T standout was taken by the Rangers in the 29th round of this year’s amatuer draft. Few major leaguers ever make it from that late in the draft. Texas, though, did tell Tendler before the draft that they planned on taking him in the eight, so he should have more than just 29th round upside. In last night’s game against Boise he went 2-4 with a triple and an RBI. It was his fifth straight multi-hit game.
Richelson Pena is a slender 20 year old righty that the Ranger signed out of the Dominican Republic back in 2011. He had middling results in his first two and a half turns through rookie ball, waddling between the rotation and the bullpen. But Pena found himself down the stretch last, going 7-1 with a 2.71 ERA in 11 starts for the DOSL Rangers. This year, he’s been even better, with 2.30 ERA and 1.00 WHIP through three Northwest starts.
Also of note on the Indians is a third baseman, Juremi Profar, brother of former number one overall prospect and current injured Rangers second baseman Jurickson Profar. Only 18, the younger Profar has taken a most unique path through the minors this season. He’s played 19 games, 10 for Spokane, 7 for Full-A Hickory, and 2 for Triple-A Round Rock, where he briefly served as the youngest player in the league. For all his family Pedigree, Profar has struggled thus far, hitting .229 with a .511 OPS on the season.
Although Eugene, the Padres’ affiliate, has not had nearly as much success this season as Spokane has, they had a good showing last night. Led by third baseman Chase Jensen and left fielder Yale Rosen, the Emeralds’ offense showed up and scored eight runs in a narrow victory over Tri-City. Jensen didn’t even start the game; he replaced everyday infielder Jalen Goren in the third and then did nothing but single and homer in his next two at bats. A 22nd round pick in 2013, Jensen was abysmal for Eugene last season, hitting .162 with just one home run in 38 games. He played briefly with Full-A Fort Wayne this season, but struggled, and will look to get things started in his second Northwest tour.
Rosen, meanwhile, collected his own pair of hits – both doubles – and drove home four in the victory. A star at Washington State University, Rosen was taken by San Diego in the 11th round this year and has already shown a propencity to get on base. The 21 year old has six walks and a .458 On base percentage through 7 games this year.
While Eugene and Tri-City were locked in a slugfest, Justin Shafer and Francisco Gracesqui were tossing zeros as Vancouver shut out Hillsboro 3-0. Shafer started the game and was brilliant, surrendering only a pair of singles and striking out five over 3.2 shutout innings. When he left, Gracesqui came on and earned the win with an inning and a third of shutout ball.
Shafer, 21, was taken by Toronot in the eight round of this year’s draft. Last night was his second professional appearance and went over much better than his first, a relief outing in which he gave up four earned in 1.2 innings.
Gracesqui, 22, is a slight lefthander in his first season in the Northwest league. He was signed by Toronto as an undrafted free agent out of Sullivan County Community College two years ago. The New York native spent his first couple of seasons as a left handed reliever in rookie ball, and while he was wild at times, he was also dominant in others, with a 12.1 SO/9 in 2012.