Mets, Rockies prospects Highlight High-A recap
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome back to the High-A recap.
In the Florida State League, the Clearwater Threshers, the first-half division winners, have taken sole posession of first place of the North Division while the Daytona Tortugas have clinched a playoff berth as they lead third place Tampa by five games. In the South Division, the Palm Beach Cardinals maintain a four game lead in the South Division over the Bradenton Marauders. The Cardinals’ magic number to clinch the division is three.
The Lynchburg Hillcats are one win or a Frederick Keys loss away from clinching the Carolina League Northern Division as they lead by seven games. The Winston-Salem Dash have a three game lead over the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and a magic number of five to win the Southern Division.
The San Jose Giants and the Visalia Rawhide are tied atop the California League North. San Jose’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is two–Modesto is six games back and Visalia was the first half division champ. The High Desert Mavericks maintain a two game lead in the South Division over the Lancaster JetHawks and have a magic number of six.
For notable performances, we begin in the California League.
Next: California League
Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
California League
North
Visalia Rawhide (Diamondbacks)—39-24
San Jose Giants (Giants)—39-24
Modesto Nuts (Rockies)—33-30
Stockton Ports (Athletics)—31-32
Bakersfield Blaze (Mariners)—29-34
South
High Desert Mavericks (Rangers)—37-26
Lancaster JetHawks (Astros)—35-28
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers)—31-32
Inland Empire 66ers (Angels)—25-38
Lake Elsinore Storm (Padres)—16-47
Notable Performances:
Modesto Nuts outfielder Raimel Tapia has been exceptionally consistent this season. Consider this: His batting average has dipped below .300 only three days this season. This shouldn’t be a surprise, because he had a career .318 average coming into the year. This week, Tapia had a three-hit game, a four-hit game and two-hit game and homered on Tuesday. He’s hitting .311/.340/.470 on the season.
Coming in to Sunday’s start against the Visalia Rawhide, Antonio Senzatela was a roll, posting a 2.51 ERA with a 5.50 strikeout –to-walk ratio over his previous 10 starts. In those ten starts, he had pitched at least seven innings four times, allowed less than two earned runs six and walked only 10 batters. Sunday, he took the loss despite pitching seven innings and only allowing one run on four hits and eight strikeouts. His control this season has been his biggest asset, as he’s only walked 31 batters in 149 innings. He’s also kept the ball in the park, an arduous task in the California League, only allowing 10 home runs on the season.
An all Modesto Nuts recap? Why not!?! Kyle Freeland pitched 7 1/3 innings of his own on Saturday and allowed two earned runs on eight hits. It was a good rebound after he was lit up for seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings on Aug. 23 and six runs on 10 hits Aug 18. The Rockies have eased him in this season as he didn’t pitch five full innings until his fourth start even though he’d only given up one run over his previous 11 innings.
Next: Carolina League
Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Carolina League
Northern
Lynchburg Hillcats (Indians)—37-26
Frederick Keys (Orioles)—30-33
Potomac Nationals (Nationals)—29-33
Wilmington Blue Rocks (Royals)—22-39
Southern
Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox)—39-22
Myrtle Beach Pelicans (Cubs)—36-25
Carolina Mudcats (Braves)—33-30
Salem Red Sox (Red Sox)—20-40
Notable Performances:
In a league largely bereft of high-caliber prospects, especially towards the end of the season, Clint Frazier is hands down the best prospect in the league. He started out the year slow—he didn’t hit his first home run until May 6 and only had six through play on June 14—but since then, Frazier’s power potential has become a reality as he’s slugged .496 and hit nine home runs through play Saturday. After a 2-for-3 day Sunday, Frazier’s season line of .282/.374/.455 puts him among the top five in the league in every significant offensive category. Nearly as important as his harnessed power, Frazier has cut his strikeout rate from 29.7 percent of plate appearances in 2014 to under 22 percent in 2015.
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Frazier’s teammate Jayson Aquino has had a very odd season. He’s pitched for three organizations this season—the Blue Jays, the Pirates and the Indians—but pitched the entire season in High-A. He began the season with five starts for the Dunedin Blue Jays, posting a 2.81 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Next came 13 starts for the Bradenton Marauders, where he experience a little less success with a 3.78 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. Now, pitching for the Lynchburg Hillcats, Aquino has made five starts and posted a 2.67 ERA and 1.11 WHIP. In Saturday’s start, Aquino was five outs short of a no-hitter but threw 8 2/3 scoreless innings. Groundballs have been the source of his success this season, as he’s at least 1.64 groundouts-to-airouts at all three stops.
On June 19, Cubs outfield prospect Mark Zagunis went 4-for-4 and hit two home runs. That game was the zenith of his season, as he was hitting .324/.444/.489 with five home runs. It has gone downhill steadily ever since, as he slashed .206/.352/.329 with three home runs from June 20 until Saturday’s 0-for-4, 3 strikeout performance. Zagunis’ batting average on balls in play has the most influential culprit in his struggles: Through that June 19 slugfest, his BABIP was .370, but since then it is .256. Sunday, he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
Next: Florida State League
Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Florida State League
Clearwater Threshers (Phillies)—38-23
Daytona Tortugas (Reds)—35-24
Tampa Yankees (Yankees)—31-30
Brevard County Manatees (Brewers)—25-34
Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)—25-35
Lakeland Flying Tigers (Tigers)—17-41
South
Palm Beach Cardinals (Cardinals)—41-21
Bradenton Marauders (Pirates)—37-25
Fort Myers Miracle (Twins)—34-29
St. Lucie Mets (Mets)—31-30
Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)—29-34
Charlotte Stone Crabs (Rays)—21-38
Notable Performances:
In a league that stifles offense, Dominic Smith’s .305/.354/.417 line stands out as one of the best in the league, considering he was fifth in AVG, ninth in OBP and third in SLG entering play Sunday. Only 20 years old, the Mets has plenty of time to grow into the average major league power he is projected to have. He has been especially hot of late, rapping two hits in each of his last three games, including his sixth home run on Thursday. Smith BABIP is a soaring .351, but considering his career BABIP is .340, the improvement from last season’s .271/.344/.338 line appear to be legitimate.
Clint Coulter’s lack of home run power is startling considering he hit 22 last season. He has 13 home runs on the season and only two since July 3. Up until that point, he was having a very productive season, hitting .262/.363/.459 with 11 home runs. Coulter has only struck out 87 times in 130 games, which is way down considering he whiffed 103 times in 126 games last season, so strikeouts aren’t the source of his problem. The Florida State League is notorious for swallowing home runs, so that could be a large factor. Coulter has heated up a bit lately, hitting .286 over his last 10 games.
Kohl Stewart will most definitely have his next start pushed back with the Fort Myers Miracle having to dodge tropical depression Erika. This season has been a mixed bag of results for the Twins pitching prospect, as he’s given four earned runs or more in six of his 21 starts but also thrown eight starts where he’s pitched at least six innings and given up fewer than two earned runs. In his most recent start last Monday, Stewart gave up seven runs but three of them were unearned as the Miracle defense let him down. Considered one of the best pitching prospects in the Twins organization, Stewart has only struck out 68 hitters in 123 1/3 innings this season but walked 41.