Triple-A International League: Durham Bulls 4, Pawtucket Red Sox 1

Wil Myers went 0 for 4 with a walk, and hitters 6 through 9 in the Durham lineup went 0 for 14 with 2 walks. Can’t be perfect, but those were the only things wrong with a great Bulls win. J.D. Martin got the start and didn’t miss any bats but pitched great, going 6 innings allowing 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 2 while walking 1. Martin is nothing special, but in another organization he might get a look for a starting job. He had a rock-solid 4.32 ERA in 24 starts with the Nationals in 2009 and 2010. Josh Lueke struck out 2 and got 3 groundouts walking around a hit to nail down a 2-inning save for the Bulls. On offense, Leslie Anderson had a first inning 2-run double and Jason Bourgeois, Chris Gimenez, and Rich Thompson also had multiple hits. Best effort of the game, though, has to go to backup catcher Craig Albernaz. Albernaz did a great job handling the pitching staff in this one, but after walking with 1 out in the 9th, Albernaz caught the Red Sox off-guard by stealing second base, keeping the Bulls out of the double play when the next batter grounded out and later netting Durham an insurance run. Albernaz has never really been a prospect, but having a guy like him around the Bulls’ pitching staff and entire team is valuable for everyone.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 8, Pensacola Blue Wahoos (CIN) 3

Enny Romero pulled a Matt Moore (in a bad way), but survived, and Tood Glaesmann and Riccio Torrez both slammed home runs as the Biscuits pulled away from the Blue Wahoos on their way to an 8-3 win. Romero went 5 innings allowing 1 run on 5 hits, striking out just 3 while walking 5. That K-BB ratio won’t cut it–but like Moore against the Rangers a few times out ago, Romero’s fastball was moving so well that Pensacola hitters could do nothing with it when it looked anything like a strike. Romero’s groundout to flyout ratio in the game was a solid 7-2 because of that. But the most encouraging pitching performance of the game goes to Zach Quate, who delivered his best outing since 2010 as he struck out 2 in a scoreless 9th. Quate was once a very promising relief prospect for the Rays before injuries took their toll, but maybe this outing could be Quate finally being healthy and getting back on track. In terms of the run support, Glaesmann’s homer was just part of his great game as he went 3 for 4, but no other Biscuit had multiple hits. Cameron Seitzer did continue his hot start, going 1 for 3 with a walk, an RBI, and 2 runs scored. Crazy game, but the performances of Quate and Glaesmann made it all happy by the end.

High-A Florida State League: Jupiter Hammerheads (MIA) 8, Charlotte Stone Crabs 6

Lefty Jacob Partridge has been the Stone Crabs’ Jake McGee, only worse. He now has an 11.08 ERA in 8 appearances including runs allowed in just a third of an inning in this game as the Stone Crabs blew leads of 4-0 and 5-1 on their way to a 8-6 lost. Jesse Hahn continues to be limited to 3 innings for the Stone Crabs and also continues to be unchallenged, going 3 innings allowing just a hit and a walk, striking out 3. Jake Floethe was not nearly as good, allowing 3 runs on 9 hits in just 4 innings, although his groundout to flyout ratio was a good 8-2 and maybe bad defense made his outing look at lot worse than it was. On the offensive side, though, there was much more to be happy about. Jeff Malm entered this game with just a .125/.220/.188 line in 91 plate appearances, striking out 27 times against just 8 walks and managing just 2 doubles and 1 home run. But in this game, everything finally came together as Malm went 3 for 4 with 2 homers, a double, and 3 RBI, finally having the breakthrough game Charlotte has been waiting for him to deliver all season. Also homering were two other slumping players, Hector Guevara and Drew Vettleson, and Kes Carter and Brett Nommensen both went 2 for 4. It’s a shame that a bullpen collapse ruined a strong offensive effort by the Stone Crabs.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 3, Clinton LumberKings (SEA) 2

Marty Gantt tied the game with an RBI double and Granden Goetzman came through with a go-ahead 2-run home run as the Hot Rods rode a 3-run 7th inning to a 3-2 win over Clinton. Eduar Quinonez got the start for Bowling Green and pitched well, going 5.1 innings allowing just 1 run on 2 hits, striking out 4 while walking 3. Brandon Henderson was sharp over the next 3.1 innings before collapsing with 2 outs in the 9th, allowing 2 walks and a hit, but Nick Sawyer was able to escape a bases-loaded jam to end this one. The 7th inning was basically the only spark of life for Bowling Green in this one–they got 2-hit in the game other than that inning, but they seized the opportunity was opposing pitchers left pitches over the plate and came away with a win. Goetzman’s home run was his first of the season and second of his brief professional career.

Catcher

Matt Rice, 23, was the Rays’ 9th round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft and enjoyed a nice season with the Hot Rods, posting a .301/.390/.402 line with 9 doubles, 4 homers, 33 RBI, and 39 strikeouts against 31 walks in 74 games and 290 plate appearances. Those stats have to be taken with a grain of salt because Rice was 2 years older than the Hot Rods’ team average for their position players and 1 year older than league average, but are still pretty impressive. He doesn’t have much power, but he makes a lot of contact and shows great plate discipline. Defensively, though, Rice was pedestrian, posting a .993 fielding percentage but allowing 8 passed balls while throwing out just 19% of attempted basestealers. Rice is a bigger catcher at 6’3″, 195 and is a solid receiver but has to work on getting down for pitches in the dirt. His arm, though, will always be below-average. Rice does get high marks for calling games behind the plate and did a good job working with the Hot Rods’ young pitchers in 2012. Rice has a chance to be a backup catcher in the Jose Lobaton mold who features a good walk rate but is unimpressive in every other regard.

Can you name the Hot Rods’ leader in slugging percentage and OPS in 2012? The surprise winner was 22 year old catcher Alejandro Segovia, who the Rays signed out of Venezuela back in 2007. Segovia had a huge offensive season, posting a .269/.362/.527 line with 14 doubles, 15 homers, 45 RBI, and 36 strikeouts versus 29 walks in 70 games and 284 plate appearances. Segovia’s combination of power and plate discipline make him very intriguing, although his bat speed is just average and he hits a lot of balls weakly in the air. He has good pitch recognition skills but will have to do a better job discerning which pitches to drive if he wants to keep hitting and hitting for power moving forward. Segovia’s biggest concern right now is his defense. He posted just a .979 fielding percentage, allowing 6 passed balls while posting a 25% CS%. Segovia features a strong but erratic arm and his receiving needs plenty of work. Segovia might have the bat to profile at first base and played 38 games there between 2008 and 2009, but that would subtract significantly but his value and put all the pressure on his bat. Segovia put together one great season and will have to make significant improvements defensively and also adjustments at the plate to reach his upside of a power-hitting catcher. Segovia has plenty of question marks around him, especially defensively, but in a Rays system that can’t find an impact catching prospect, Segovia could be the best of the bunch right now.

First Base

Jeff Malm, who turned 22 at the end of October, was Rays’ 5th round pick in 2009, signing for an above-slot $600,000 and he continues to show potential but not the consistency the Rays have hoped for. Malm had a solid season for the Renegades in 2012, posting a .263/.356/.438 line with 36 doubles, 13 homers, 61 RBI, 6 of 9 stolen bases, and 127 strikeouts versus 61 walks in 128 games and 540 plate appearances. Malm played in 71 games at first base, managing a nice .996 fielding percentage, and appeared in 22 games in the corner outfield spots, notching 6 outfield assists. Malm is a big 6’3″, 225 power bat with tantalizing ability. He shows great bat speed with flashes of big-time power, and he also has nice patience at the plate. The combination of power and bat speed gives Malm the chance to hit for nice power without too many strikeouts. That certainly did not happen in 2012. Malm does a good job at finding fastballs to drive, but he struggles recognizing breaking pitches, accounting for quite a few of his strikeouts. And Malm’s hitting is especially important because although he has a great arm, hitting 90 MPH off the mound in high school, he doesn’t have the athleticism to profile in the outfield. Malm has a chance to hit for 30-homer power to go along with a good average and on-base percentage and the Rays keep waiting for something to click and jolt him forward towards that upside.

Cameron Seitzer, who will turn 22 in January, was the Rays’ 11th round pick in 2011 and had a nice season in 2012 for the Hot Rods although his limitations were clearly present. Seitzer posted a .307/.386/.429 line with 36 doubles, 4 homers, 54 RBI, and 83 strikeouts versus 55 walks in 118 games and 488 plate appearances. Defensively, Seitzer managed just a .988 fielding percentage, playing a lot of DH with Malm at first base. Sietzer is interesting because he features good bat speed and nice plate discipline. The problem for Seitzer is that despite being a big guy at 6’5″, 220, his power has been close to non-existent the past couple of years. It’s nice that Seitzer is a pretty good pure hitter, but if he doesn’t develop solid 15-20 home run power, there’s no way he can profile as a regular in the big leagues. Seitzer also needs work to be passable defensively at first base. Seitzer has some ability but he essentially has to add an entire extra dimension to his game to be any real prospect.

We’ll stop here for today after seeing a couple of players to watch moving forward in Segovia and Malm and two more possible big leaguers in Rice and Seitzer. We’re just getting this series revved up with plenty of talented players still to come.

For our earlier discussions of the GCL Rays, Princeton Rays, and the Hudson Valley Renegades, check our Minor League Affiliates Analysis page.

Triple-A International League: Gwinnett Bulls 10, Durham Bulls 5

An inning of nightmares sent Josh Lueke and the Bulls to a loss they would rather that not talk about. The loss was especially meaningful for the Bulls not just for what happened in the game, but the implications of the loss.

With the Bulls loss tonight and Charlotte’s win, Durham has been eliminated from the IL South race for the first time since 2006.

— Durham Bulls (@DurhamBulls) August 19, 2012

The Bulls’ incredible run of five straight division titles has come to an end. In this game, Jim Paduch and Josh Lueke utterly imploded to allow an 8-run 5th inning to erase a 4-1 lead. Lueke had one of the worst outings of his life, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits in just two-thirds of an inning. Lueke has been pitching extremely well up until this bump in the road and hopefully this is just a one-time deal and we’ll see him pitching well in the big leagues in September. Lefty Adam Liberatore did strike out 5 while walking none in 2.1 innings of relief, but by then it was too late. Nevin Ashley did have an outstanding game for Durham, going 2 for 2 with a double, a homer, 2 walks, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Brooks Conrad also homered, and Henry Wrigley went 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored.

Double-A Southern League: Huntsville Stars (MIL) 6, Montgomery Biscuits 5 (10 innings)

If you want to experience just a little bit of what it’s like to be an Angels fan right now, you can think about this Biscuits game. The Biscuits had a 5-0 lead after 3 innings before letting it slip away. The Biscuits scored 5 runs in the second and third innings, with 3 of the runs being driven in by ninth-place hitter Mark Thomas, and starter Jake Thompson gave the Biscuits a strong performance, going 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 2 while walking 1 and posting a 10-4 groundout to flyout ratio. But the Stars pulled within 5-3 on a Kentrail Davis home run off of C.J. Riefenhauser and tied the game in the bottom of the 8th as Kirby Yates walked the bases loaded before allowing a Brock Kjeldgaard 2-run single. And in the 10th, Davis came through again with a walk-off single against Neil Schenk as the Biscuits had completely fallen apart to lose 6-5. The Biscuits scored 5 runs on just 6 hits, but they talled 11 walks and failed to capitalize, leaving 11 runners on base in the game. Thomas went 3 for 5 with a double, 3 RBI, and a run scored in the loss.

Great to see Torrez come back the way he did. (Credit: Flickr user BeGreen90)

High-A Florida State League: Charlotte Stone Crabs 9, St. Lucie Mets 8

No disappointment here as the Stone Crabs came up with an incredible comeback of their own. Eliazer Suero tossed 3 shutout innings but came apart in the 5th, allowing 5 runs, just 2 earned after a Riccio Torrez error. On the day he was not that bad, going 3.2 innings allowing just the 2 earned runs on 5 hits, striking out 5 while walking 2 and posting a 4-2 groundout to flyout ratio, but the Stone Crabs were down 5-1. However, they pulled within 5-4 in the 5th on a Luke Bailey RBI double an RBI single by Robby Price, and an RBI groundout by Kevin Kiermaier. In the 6th, Alonzo Harris dampened the Stone Crabs’ spirits with a 2-run home run off of Theron Geith to extend the St. Lucie lead to 7-4. The game would remain that way until the 8th. And in the 8th, Bailey came up huge, drilling a 3-run home run to tie the game at 7. But adversity still remained for Charlotte as Daniel Muno singled home a run off of Lenny Linsky to give St. Lucie an 8-7 lead going to the bottom of the 9th. However, the Stone Crabs were not going to be denied. With 2 outs and no one on, Philip Wunderlich was hit by a pitch. Then Steven Tinoco singled. Riccio Torrez, who committed the pivotal error earlier in the game, got redemption with a game-tying RBI double. And an error gave the Stone Crabs a walk-off win by a score of 9-8. Bailey had an unbelievable game, going 3 for 4 with 2 doubles, 1 homer, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Bailey has notched 6 hits in his last 3 games, all for extra bases. This is the player that the Rays have been waiting for since the moment they drafted him in 2009 and maybe this could be Bailey’s coming-out party. Price went 3 for 4, Tinoco went 3 for 5, and Cody Rogers and Riccio Torrez both went 2 for 5, with Torrez lacing 2 doubles including the game-tying hit in the 9th.

Low-A Midwest League: South Bend Silver Hawks (ARI) 11, Bowling Green Hot Rods 10

This game may very well have been the craziest in the history of the Hot Rods. Unfortunately, they could not come away with a win. This game got off to an incredible start for Bowling Green as they scored twice on bases-loaded walks in the 1st before Drew Vettleson slammed a 2-run homer in the 2nd to give them a 4-0 lead. Roberto Gomez was great in his shortened 3 inning start as the Rays have been holding back his innings, allowing no runs on 3 hits, striking out 4 while walking none. Felipe Rivero struck out 2 in a perfect 4th and then used a double play to face the minimum in the 5th. But looking in the boxscore, there’s a line that nobody wants to see. “Rivero, Fe pitched to 7 batters in the 6th.” It was an inning that you never hope to see your entire career. Better it happen at Low-A than higher up. Rivero allowed 7 runs, 6 earned, on 6 hits as he failed to record an out in the 6th inning and Charlie Cononie allowed 3 more before he could escape the inning as the Hot Rods allowed 10 runs in the inning to fall behind 10-4. That type of inning is enough to demoralize any team. We saw a 7-run 5th inning take the life out of the Angels in the Rays’ game on Saturday night. But the Hot Rods somehow refused to be fazed and came right back. In the 6th, the Hot Rods tallied 2 runs on a Tyler Goeddel RBI double to go along with a Drew Vettleson RBI single. And in the 7th, the Hot Rods put together a rally to tie the game, with Juniel Querecuto drilling a 2-run double, Ryan Brett doubling home a run, and Vettleson singled up the middle to tie it at 10 as the Hot Rods had put together an incredible comeback. Cononie and Frank Santana both tossed scoreless half-innings in the 8th. But in the 9th, the Hot Rods picked the wrong time to fall apart defensively as throwing errors by the third baseman Goeddel and the first baseman Jeff Malm scored the go-ahead run as South Bend won 11-10. Vettleson had a big game, going 4 for 5 with a homer, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Goeddel went 3 for 5 with a double, an RBI, and a run scored, Jake Hager went 3 for 5, Taylor Motter went 2 for 4 with a walk, his 20th stolen base, an RBI, and a run scored, Malm went 2 for 3 with a double, 2 walks, and a run scored, and Ryan Brett doubled home a run and also stole a base, his 48th of the season.

Short Season-A New York-Penn League: Hudson Valley Renegades 6, Lowell Spinners (BOS) 5

No comeback here, but it got awfully scary for the Renegades. Taylor Guerrieri started and pitched well, allowing 1 run on 4 hits in 3 innings, striking out 1 while walking none and posting a 6-0 groundout to flyout ratio. The ‘Gades took a 3-0 lead in the 2nd inning on a Joel Caminero RBI double followed by a Jake DePew RBI single, and after the Spinners tallied a run in the bottom of the inning, Ryan Dunn doubled home a run in the 3rd to make it 4-1 Hudson Valley. Jeff Ames then came in for the Renegades and tossed 3 sharp innings, allowing no runs on just 1 hit, striking out 4 while walking none. The Renegades extended their lead to 6-1 with Ames in the game on a Joey Rickard sac fly to score DePew in the 4th before DePew slammed a solo home run in the 6th. Marcus Jensen and Ryan Garton then tossed a scoreless inning each and the Renegades were on their way to a crisp win. But then Dylan Floro had an inning he would like to forget. With 1 out, Floro allowed triple, single, double, with the single and double each plating a run, and then a Luke Maile error made it a 6-4 game with just 1 out. Floro forced a groundout, but then a Roberto Reyes infield single that Richie Shaffer couldn’t handle made it 6-5. But Floro forced Matthew Gedman to ground out to end it as the Renegades won 6-5. DePew had a career day, going 4 for 4 with a double, a homer, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Ryan Dunn went 2 for 2 with a double, a walk, an RBI, and a run scored, and Tommy Coyle stole his 15th base of the season for the Renegades.

Advanced Rookie Appalachian League: Johnson City Cardinals 9, Princeton Rays 8

Oh, Rookie ball. It spawns the types of games that you never see anywhere else, like this one. Blake Snell had a rare bad start, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings, striking out 2 while walking 1, and Daniel Bream allowed a Ricardo Lizcano 2-run shot in the 4th inning to give Johnson City a 5-0 lead. But then the tide completely turned. Reid Redman doubled home a run in the 5th to make it 5-1. Oscar Hernandez slammed a 2-run homer in the 6th to pull Princeton within 5-3. And then in the 7th, the P-Rays the completely reversed their fortunes. Brandon Martin led off the inning with a homer and it was 5-4. An Omar Narvaez RBI single tied the game. A 2-run double by John Alexander make it 7-5. And Ariel Soriano singled home a run to make it 8-5 as suddenly the P-Rays had scored 8 unanswered runs to turn what looked like a sure loss into a relatively comfortable lead. But anything can and does happen in Rookie ball. Nick Sawyer, who has been next to automatic for Princeton this season, came in for his second inning of work as he tried to nail down the save. Sawyer struck out the first two batters of the inning. Saywer then walked Ricardo Lizcano, but he forced C.J. McElroy to hit a groundball to short. But Martin misplayed the ball, scoring a run and keeping the Cardinals alive. And Sawyer then fell apart, allowing a Ildemaro Vargas RBI double, a Jeremy Shaeffer RBI triple, and walk-off single by Trevor Martin as Johnson City won 9-8 with 4 unearned runs in the 9th. Hernandez and Martin both homered and Omar Narvaez, John Alexander, Reid Redman, Willie Argo, and Ariel Soriano all had multi-hit games, but the result was unfortunately a debilitating loss.