The GCL Rays couldn’t hit at all, but their pitching was excellent. Their 2.97 ERA was second in the GCL and what was really interesting was how they posted a 7.6 team K/9, a 2.6 BB/9, and a 0.2 HR/9 compared to the league averages of 8.1, 3.2, and 0.3. They walked the fewest batters in the league and allowed the second-fewest home runs. We’ll have to see whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing that they traded a little pure stuff for control- although considering GCL hitters swing at everything, you never really know.

Lefty Geisel De La Cruz, 19, was signed by the Rays out of the Dominican Republic back in 2009. De La Cruz was the only pitcher on the GCL Rays to make double-digit starts, and he really impressed in 10 starts after coming over from the Dominican Summer League. De La Cruz went 2-5 with a 4.20 ERA, a 7.0 K/9, a 2.2 BB/9, and a 0.0 HR/9 in 10 starts and 45 IP. De La Cruz is just 6’0″, 139, but looking at the stats, he was able to keep the ball down really well, posting a 56.2% groundball rate per Minor League Central, and miss a good amount of bats as well. (Note that every mention of groundball rate, flyball rate, line drive rate, swinging strikeout rate, etc. is courtesy of Minor League Central.) De La Cruz missed a fair amount of bats, but the interesting thing was that he struck out an above-average amount of batters swinging and a well below average amount looking. De La Cruz’s 2.2 BB/9 seems to have a lot more to do with his command than his control as he kept the ball down and was able to utilize some breaking pitch (my guess is a slider) to get a fair amount of strikeouts. (If you asked me to guess De La Cruz’s arsenal, I would guess a low-90′s sinker, a solid slider that has its moments, and a changeup that he’s just starting to throw, although the Rays usually prefer fastball-curveball to sinker-slider.) De La Cruz’s his ability to keep the ball down and force groundballs makes him a player to watch as we learn more about him.

Jorge Rodriguez, 20, was signed out of the Dominican by the Rays in 2010 and pitched well in his US debut with the GCL Rays in 2012. Rodriguez went 2-3 with a 3.54 ERA, a 4.8 K/9, a 1.3 BB/9, and a 0.0 HR/9 in 8 starts, 3 relief appearances, and 48.1 IP. Rodriguez was also promoted to the Rays’ more advanced Rookie squad, the Princeton Rays, to start their season finale, and he tossed 4.1 innings allowing 2 runs, striking out 3 while walking 1 and surrendering his first homer of the season. Rodriguez is another small pitcher at just 5’11″, 187, but other than that he’s almost a polar opposite pitcher to Cruz. He’s a right-hander, and the big difference is that he’s an extreme flyball guy, posting just a 37.3% groundball rate. He actually got hit pretty hard, allowing a 21.2% line drive rate. Rodriguez didn’t strike out anybody swinging, striking out batters swinging at a rate barely half the league average. Rodriguez sounds like a pitcher with great control but otherwise unimpressive stuff (my guess would be a high-80′s fastball, a decent changeup, and a fringy curveball). It’s interesting that he has good control at a pretty young age, but Rodriguez doesn’t look like much of a prospect based on what we know.

Luis Cabrera, who turned 22 on August 14th, is old for the level but is an interesting story. Cabrera signed with the Rangers out of Venezuela way back in 2007 as an outfielder, but after struggling for two seasons, the Rangers tried him as a pitcher in 2010 and released him after one disastrous outing. Cabrera caught on with the Rays as a pitcher and has improved every season. Cabrera, who actually features pretty good size at 6’2″, 185, had a nice season for the GCL Rays in 2012, going 3-3 with a 3.30 ERA, a 5.8 K/9, a 2.1 BB/9, and a 0.0 HR/9 in 7 starts, 4 relief appearances, and 46.1 IP. His groundball rate was decent 41.6%, although he didn’t strike out very many batters swinging. Cabrera doesn’t look like anything too special right now, but his good control right out of the gate is a good sign, and we’ll have to see whether his stuff will continue to improve as he pitches more often.

Finally a pitcher with a scouting report! Jordan Harrison, 21, was the Rays’ 25th round pick in 2012 and had himself a great pro debut with the GCL Rays in 2012, going 1-2 with a 1.52 ERA, an 8.8 K/9, a 1.8 BB/9, and a 0.0 HR/9 in 5 starts, 5 relief appearances, and 29.2 IP. He has since been promoted to the Short Season-A Hudson Valley Renegades, where he has a 5.14 ERA in 3 appearances spanning 7 innings, striking out 5 while walking 3. Harrison, 6’1″ and 180 pounds, shows decent stuff, throwing a fastball around 90 MPH, a solid curveball that occasionally flashes plus, and a developing changeup. College pitchers are supposed to dominate the GCL. The Rays challenged Harrison to do just that and he passed the test, with his curveball being especially effective. Harrison looks like a lefty reliever moving forward, although improvement to his changeup would be a huge help to him.

Matthew Ramsey, who turns 23 in September, might be the most interesting pitcher on this team. Ramsey, the Rays’ 19th round pick in 2011, didn’t make his pro debut until 2012 following Tommy John Surgery, but he started off on a good note, going 2-1 with a 1.98 ERA, a 5.9 K/9, a 1.3 BB/9, and a 0.0 HR/9 in 5 starts, 6 relief appearances, and 13.2 IP. Ramsey is still working his way back but is a very interesting relief prospect. Pre-surgery, Ramsey  threw in the mid-90′s with his fastball with dynamic late life and also threw a curveball that flashes plus to go along with a fringy slider. If Ramsey could get that type of stuff back, he could move quickly through the minors as a middle reliever, maybe even a setup man. Ramsey got his rehab off to a good start in the GCL this season, and hopefully he can head to full-season ball in 2013 and get back on the fast-track to the big leagues.

Lefty Oscar Armenta, just 18, joins De La Cruz as the two GCL Rays pitchers we wish we knew more about. Armenta, another little lefty at 5’11″, 170 who was signed by the Rays out of Mexico back in 2010, was dominant in 4 starts and a relief appearance for the GCL Rays, going 0-1 with a perfect 0.00 ERA, an 8.9 K/9, a 0.8 BB/9, and a 0.0 HR/9 in 21.1 IP. Looking at the stats, Armenta’s groundball rate was only 36.4%, but he forced swings-and-misses at a great rate while showing outstanding control as well. Not much is known about his stuff (he’s definitely fastball-curveball, but that’s all I know), but we’ll have to hear more about Armenta and see how he does at higher levels.

Carlos Cedeno, who turned 22 in mid-July, finally made it to the US after 3 seasons in the Dominican Summer League and made count. Cedeno, signed by the Rays out of the Dominican Republic back in 2008, went 0-2 with a 3.82 ERA, a 7.6 K/9, a 2.5 BB/9, and a 0.5 HR/9 (finally a homer allowed!) in 4 starts, 8 relief appearances, and 33 IP. Cedeno also posted a nice 50.0% groundball rate. Cedeno, who is 6’2″, 180, posted a swinging strikeout rate above average while managing very few strikeouts looking. (It sounds like he throws a relatively unimpressive sinker around 90 MPH but a good slider.) We’ll have to see whether this is just a case of an older pitcher beating up on younger competition or whether Cedeno has really made a breakthrough.

Gannon has excellent upside, and he showed flashes of his potential in his pro debut for the GCL Rays. (Credit: North County Times)

The pitcher with the highest upside on this team could be right-hander Nolan Gannon, 18, who was the Rays’ 4th round pick in 2012. Gannon, an extremely projectable 6’5″, 195, had a nice pro debut with the GCL Rays, going 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA, a 9.7 K/9, a 4.3 BB/9 and a 0.7 HR/9 in 4 starts, 7 relief appearances, and 27 IP. His groundball rate was just 35.7%. Gannon is a long way from being the excellent pitcher the Rays know he has a chance to be, but it was great to see him strike out over a batter per inning in his pro debut, with a good distribution of strikeouts swinging versus looking. Gannon currently throws in the low-90′s with a fastball that features natural late sink. That late action makes Gannon’s fastball an effective swing-and-miss pitch even though its velocity could be several MPH away from where it could be when Gannon fills out his frame, although it also makes it harder for Gannon to control and command it. Gannon’s two secondary pitches are a curveball and a changeup, with a curveball being an interesting pitch while his changeup is in its infancy stages. Gannon’s overhand curveball is enigmatic in that at its best it’s a dynamic 12-to-6 curve but at other times it gets extremely slurvy. Gannon’s curveball got mostly got reviews over the course of his pro debut, showing the good break although he struggled to control it. Gannon’s talent was evident in his pro debut, and the Rays hope that as he continues to develop he blossoms into one of their best pitching prospects.

And we’ll close out this installment with lefty Stepan Havlicek, 19. Havlicek, who is 6’1″, 160, was the Rays’ first ever signing out of Europe, signing as a 16 year old out of the Czech Republic in January of 2010. In his third go-around with the GCL Rays (although he pitched just 19 innings from 2010-2011), Havlicek finally put it together, going 3-2 with a 2.25 ERA, a 7.0 K/9, a 2.0 BB/9, and a 0.2 HR/9 in 3 starts, 8 relief appearances, and 36 IP. The bad news was that his groundball rate was a staggeringly low 27.4%. Still, 2012 was a big step forward for Havlicek. He more than doubled his swinging strikeout rate from 2011 to 2012. Havlicek throws a fastball around 90 MPH with good run but little sink and his best pitch could his big-breaking 1-to-7 curveball. Havlicek still has a ton of work to do moving forward, but he has the ability to be more than just a token signing.

We’ll stop here for today. We’re about halfway through the GCL Rays pitchers that we’re going to cover, but it’s pretty clear what’s going on here: there’s a ton of upside among these pitchers but the risk with almost everybody is about sky-high. The funny thing is to compare the GCL Rays’ hitters (see Part 1 and Part 2) and realize that while everybody is very raw, the hitters did terribly while the pitchers pitched very well. The GCL Rays did have an awful offense, but the Gulf Coast League is a very pitcher-friendly league so looking at the stats is certainly not the ideal (but we have to do it when we don’t know anything else).

Triple-A International League: Durham Bulls 2, Norfolk Tides (BAL) 0

It is pretty unbelievable to win despite getting 1-hit. The Bulls did just that on Wednesday- although the winning rally was not exactly breathtaking. Chris Gimenez singled off Jake Arrieta in the 1st and that was it for the Durham hits. But the Bulls were kept in the game by a tremendous outing by Chris Archer, who went 6.1 shutout innings allowing just 3 hits, striking out 8 while walking 2 and posting a 7-1 groundout to flyout ratio. In the 6th, the Bulls finally got him the run support he needed against Arrieta, who was supposed to play a big role for the Orioles this season before collapsing. The rally: with 1 out, walk, walk, walk, walk, wild pitch. That’s 2 runs right there, and that was all the scoring in the game. Arrieta had a funny outing, going 6 innings allowing 2 runs on 1 hit, striking out 8 while walking 5 and posting an 8-0 groundout to flyout ratio. He was actually replaced by another failed Orioles starter, Brian Matusz, who struck out the side in the 7th. On the Bulls side, lefty Adam Liberatore tossed 1.2 shutout innings with 2 strikeouts to get the ball to Dane De La Rosa, who worked around a walk and a single in the 9th with 2 strikeouts for his 17th save as the Bulls won 2-0. Gimenez was the only hitter on the Bulls side who had a game he could be proud of, going 1 for 1 with 2 walks and the game’s only RBI, on a bases-loaded walk.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 9, Pensacola Blue Wahoos (CIN) 8

Incredible win for the Biscuits as they came back from a 7-2 deficit after 6 innings. Nick Barnese had himself a tough night, going 5 innings allowing 6 runs on 6 hits, striking out 2 while walking 2 as well, although his groundout to flyout ratio was 7-2. David Vidal‘s 3-run homer off Barnese in the 5th made it a 6-2 game before an unearned run for Pensacola in the 7th against Shane Dyer made it 7-2. But the Biscuits came back with 4 runs in the 7th inning, scoring on RBI singles by Ty Morrison and Derek Dietrich and then a 2-run single by Mikie Mahtook to pull within 7-6. And in the 9th, the Biscuits tied the game and took the lead in dramatic fashion begin the inning with back-to-back home runs by Dietrich and Ryan Garko and scoring another run when Mahtook tripled and scored on Michael Sheridan‘s RBI single. That run loomed large as Chris Rearick allowed a run in the 9th trying to nail down the save, but he held the Blue Wahoos right there as the Biscuits won 9-8. Ty Morrison had a huge game, going 3 for 5 with a homer, his 20th stolen base of the season at Montgomery and 31st overall, 2 RBI, and 2 runs scored, while Derek Dietrich and Mikie Mahtook each went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, although Dietrich hit a solo home run while Mahtook tripled.

High-A Florida State League Game 1: Palm Beach Cardinals 7, Charlotte Stone Crabs 2 (7 innings)

The Stone Crabs wish they could forget Wednesday. In Game 1, Braulio Lara got the start and allowing 5 runs on 5 hits in 4 innings, striking out 3 while walking 3. Alex Koronis allowed 2 runs over the final 2 innings. The Stone Crabs’ runs came from a Kevin Kiermaier RBI triple and a Robby Price sac fly. Plenty of Palm Beach highlights, but let’s just move on.

Game 2: Palm Beach Cardinals 4, Charlotte Stone Crabs 2 (7 innings)

Not much better for Charlotte in the second game. George Jensen got the start and lasted just 3 innings allowing 4 runs on 4 hits, striking out just 1 while walking 2. He allowed a 3-run homer to Cody Stanley in the 3rd inning, Stanley had 2 homers and 8 RBI between the two games for Palm Beach. Jim Patterson did go the final 3 innings scoreless for Charlotte, retiring all 9 batters he faced, 2 on strikeouts and 4 on groundouts. At least he had a performance he could certainly be proud of. On offense, Robby Price went 3 for 3 with a walk and a run scored, Todd Glaesmann went 3 for 4, and Phil Wunderlich and Robi Estrada had the Stone Crabs’ only RBI. They actually banged out 9 hits in the 7 innings, but they went just 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners on base.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 12, Dayton Dragons (CIN) 5

Back to the exhilarating games. Justin Woodall had a tough outing for Bowling Green, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits in 4 innings, striking out 4 while walking 4. But the bullpen and the Hot Rods offense were more than happy to pick him up. Charlie Cononie tossed the rest of the game and was dominant, allowing just a hit and a walk in 5 innings, striking out 5 and posting a 7-2 groundout to flyout ratio. And the offense was prolific. The Hot Rods scored in every inning but the bottom of the 2nd and the bottom of the 9th (because it wasn’t necessary), never scoring more than 3 runs in any single inning. Drew Vettleson went 4 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, breaking the Hot Rods’ hit record in the process with his 136th base-knock on the season. Matt Rice went 3 for 5 with a double, 2 RBI, and a run scored. He is now 9 for his last 14 (that’s a .643 batting average if anyone’s counting) to improve to  a .305 average on the season. Jake Hager also went 2 for 5 with his 9th homer of the season, a 2-run shot, his 13th steal, and 2 runs scored, Cameron Seitzer also slammed a 2-run homer, Ryan Brett went 2 for 3 with a double, 2 walks, and 3 runs scored, and Juniel Querecuto went 2 for 4 with his 12 stolen base and a run scored.

Short Season-A New York-Penn League: Hudson Valley Renegades 11, Connecticut Tigers 0

Anyone remember a Renegades team this good? The Renegades are an insane 42-20 on the season, a .677 winning percentage (think a 110-win MLB season). This one, as you can see, wasn’t even close. Matthew Spann started and was great, allowing just 2 hits and 2 walks and 6 shutout innings, striking out 5, and Kris Carlson and Rob Finneran allowed just 1 hit in tossing shutout ball to end the game. Finneran has tossed shutout ball in his last 6 appearances spanning 9.2 IP, striking out 8 while walking 2. Now, to the offense. Tommy Coyle drilled a 3-run homer, Richie Shaffer went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored, Luke Maile went 2 for 5 with a triple and 2 RBI, Marty Gantt went 2 for 4 with an RBI and 3 runs scored, Joey Rickard went 2 for 4 with a walk, an RBI, and 2 runs scored, and Leonardo Reginatto went 2 for 4 with an RBI as well.

Advanced Rookie Appalachian League: Princeton Rays 7, Danville Braves 5

The P-Rays used a late comeback to nail down their third straight win. Bruedlin Suero started for Princeton and wasn’t so bad but was penalized by Rookie ball defense, going 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 7 hits, striking out 6 while walking 1 and posting a 7-1 groundout to flyout ratio. Even with this start, Suero has a 2.14 ERA in his last 8 starts. He has really impressed after a terrible start to the season. The game was tied 3-3 when Suero departed but Jon Weaver allowed 2 runs, 1 earned, over the next 1.1 innings to make it a 5-3 game in favor of Danville. But Zach Butler was outstanding over the last 2.2 innings for Princeton, allowing just a walk while striking out 3 and posting a 5-0 groundout to flyout ratio. All 8 of his outs were on either a strikeout or a groundout- not too shabby, Mr. Butler. And Butler got a well-deserved win, although in absolutely insane fashion. In the 8th, Andrew Toles and Willie Argo strung together 1-out singles, with Toles moving to 3rd on Argo’s base hit. Omar Narvaez followed with a perfectly-executed squeeze bunt, and the throw misguidedly came home and Toles beat it as everyone was safe and now the P-Rays were within 5-4. Now listen how MiLB.com describes the next play:

With Oscar Hernandez batting, William Argo steals (16) 3rd base, William Argo scores. Omar Narvaez scores. Omar Narvaez steals (4) 2nd base. Throwing error by catcher Troy Snitker. Throwing error by left fielder Kurt Fleming.

What? Apparently, the P-Rays did a ridiculously gutsy move, attempting a double-steal with the tying run on 2nd  in a 1-run game, and the Danville catcher’s throw went into left field, allowing Argo to score, and then the left fielder threw to 3rd trying to get Narvaez, but his throw was off-line, allowing Narvaez to score. Wow. Butler got 3 groundouts and a strikeout (dropped third strike) to retire the side in the 9th as the P-Rays won 7-5. Andrew Toles went 2 for 4 with a homer, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Willie Argo went 1 for 3 with a walk, his 16th stolen base, and the go-ahead run scored, and John Alexander went 2 for 4. Alexander is 9 for his last 19 (.473).

Rookie Gulf Coast League: GCL Rays 3, GCL Red Sox 2

The GCL Rays also play in Port Charlotte, Florida. Luckily, they didn’t share the Stone Crabs’ bad luck. Jorge Rodriguez started and went 4 innings for the Rookie Rays allowing 2 runs on 4 hits, striking out 4 while walking none. In vintage GCL fashion, he left trailing 2-1. He was relieved by Stepan Havlicek who was as about as good as you can possibly get. Havlicek went 4 perfect innings, striking out 3 and posting an 8-1 groundout to flyout ratio. Havlicek has an incredible 1.31 ERA in his last 7 appearances spanning 20.2 IP, striking out 14 while walking just 2. Havlicek was the Rays’ first ever signee out of Europe, and he has been a whole lot more than a gimmick this year. A Leoplodo Correa 2-run single gave Havlicek his third win of the season as the GCL Rays won 3-2. Isaias Velasquez had a huge rehab game for the Rookie Rays, going 3 for 3 with a double, a walk, 2 stolen bases, and 2 runs scored. He looks just about ready to return to Montgomery. Yoel Araujo also went 2 for 4. The Rays’ high-profile Dominican signee back in 2010, Araujo is 7 for his last 15 with 3 doubles and 1 triple.

Triple-A All-Star Game: Pacific Coast League All-Stars 3, International League All-Stars 0

Another shutout loss in the All-Star Game, although this one wasn’t as bad. The Durham Bulls’ representatives in this game were right fielder Leslie Anderson and right-hander Dane De La Rosa, and both played well. Anderson batted second for the International League and went 2 for 3, while De La Rosa tossed a shutout 7th inning, allowing a hit and a walk while striking out 2. Former Bulls included Chris Bootcheck, who tossed 0.2 scoreless for the IL, and the one, the only Dan Johnson, who went 0 for 2. Everyone knows he’s only good in the clutch.

Double-A Southern League: Montgomery Biscuits 6, Jacksonville Suns (MIA) 2

 A series of breakthrough performances made Wednesday a great night for the Biscuits. Nick Barnese finally put something together, going 5.1 innings allowing 2 runs, neither earned, on 5 hits, striking out 2 while walking none and posting a decent 5-3 groundout to flyout ratio. Hopefully he has made real progress now. Joseph Cruz and Adam Liberatore pitched the last 3.2 innings, allowing just 1 hit between the two of them and striking out 3 while walking none. On offense, Michael Sheridan had a huge game, going 2 for 4 with a homer, a double, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored, Brad Coon had a 2-run single, and Tyler Bortnick and Ty Morrison each went 2 for 4 with a run scored, with Morrison also stealing a base. And then there’s Hak-Ju Lee, who hit a 9th inning RBI double to extend his hitting streak to 21 games, a Biscuits record.

What a game by Lara and the Stone Crabs! (Flickr user BeGreen90)

High-A Florida State League: Charlotte Stone Crabs 3, Lakeland Flying Tigers 2

Craziest game of the season, maybe craziest game I have ever seen. Wild chain of events for Hector Guevara in this one. He doubled to lead off the game- but then he was picked off second base. In the third inning, Guevara hit a go-ahead RBI single. And then he ruined it for his teammate, right-hander Braulio Lara. Lara had a perfect game through 4 innings, but things came apart a little bit in the 5th. The perfect game ended on a Wade Gaynor walk, then Daniel Fields beat out an infield single to deep short to break up the perfect game. Then Hernan Perez bunted the ball in front of home plate. Lucas Bailey fielded and threw to the second baseman Guevara covering first base, but Guevara missed the catch and let the ball get by him, scoring the tying run and giving the Flying Tigers runners on 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. Lara then forced James Robbins to ground out back to the mound, holding the runners, and then Dixon Machado grounded out for what should have been the third out of the inning, but instead scored a second run before Lara got Adolfo Reina to ground out to end the inning. Lara went 7 innings allowing 2 runs, neither earned, on just 1 hit, striking out 2 and walking 2 as well but posting a nice 12-5 groundout to flyout ratio. That from a player with just a 1.03 groundout to flyout ratio on the season. It was an outstanding start, yet Lara could not win the game, only lose. Jared Wesson allowed 5 hits but just 1 run in 7 innings for Lakeland and left in line for the win.

Jim Patterson tossed a perfect 8th for the Stone Crabs to keep the 1-hitter going and the Stone Crabs within a run. In the bottom of the inning, the hitters due up were Bailey, Cody Rogers, and Guevara against Guido Knudson. Bailey struck out to begin the inning before Rogers worked a walk to bring Guevara to the game. With a big hit, Guevara could be the hero. If he failed, he was the goat who ruined Lara’s gem. Guevara chose the former. Guevara drilled a flyball to deep left field and over the wall for a 2-run home run, and Chris Rearick tossed a perfect 9th for the save as the Stone Crabs emerged victorious 3-2. Wow.

Low-A Midwest League: Bowling Green Hot Rods 3, Burlington Bees (OAK) 1

A’s hard-throwing RHP prospect A.J. Cole has been nearly unhittable this year in the Midwest League, posting a 2.44 ERA entering his start Wednesday with an insane 5.78 strikeout to walk ratio, a 10.6 K/9 versus just a 1.8 BB/9. Beating him was going to be a major challenge. Yet they pulled it off. Trevor Shull tossed 4 great innings, tossing shutout ball in 2 hits, striking out 4 while walking none and posting a 5-1 groundout to flyout ratio. Jacob Partridge followed with an incredible relief effort, going the rest of the game, 5 innings, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits, striking out 5 while walking 1. Cole pitched great as well. But his defense made a couple errors behind him and the Hot Rods did not let the opportunity pass them by, scoring 3 times in 6th on a Juniel Querecuto RBI single and then a Drew Vettleson 2-run double. Cole went 5.1 innings allowing 3 runs, 1 earned, on 5 hits, striking out 5 while walking none and posting a 7-2 groundout to flyout ratio. But the Hot Rods pitching was incredible and the bats came through when they had a chance. Vettleson went 2 for 4 with the huge 2-run double, while Tyler Goeddel went 2 for 4 with his 21st stolen base of the season and a run scored.

Short Season-A New York-Penn League: Batavia Muckdogs (STL) 4, Hudson Valley Renegades 2

Joey Rickard was great again in his second pro game, but the Renegades couldn’t muster much else as they fell to Batavia. Jesse Hahn got the start for Hudson Valley and struggled despite some positive signs, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits in 3 innings, striking out 4 while walking 1 and posting a 3-1 groundout to flyout ratio. Eduar Quinonez followed him up with 4 shutout innings, allowing 4 hits and a walk while striking out 3, before Kris Carlson allowed a David Washington homer in the 9th. The offense for Hudson Valley was… Joey Rickard. He did it all. Batting leadoff a playing centerfield, he went 3 for 4 with 3 stolen bases, an RBI, and a run scored. The Renegades mustered just 6 hits, 3 by Rickard, with Justin O’Conner having the other RBI. But if Rickard can keep playing like this, no doubt he’ll be a spark to this team to get it going.

Rookie Gulf Coast League: Game 1: GCL Red Sox 2, GCL Rays 0 (7 innings)

You have to feel for Geisel De La Cruz. You have to listen to these numbers. He went 4.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 8 hits, striking out 4 while walking none. Here’s the kicker: his groundout to flyout ratio was 9-1! His groundball to flyball ratio was 14-1! Yes, 5 of the 8 hits he allowed were on groundballs! Even when you add in line drives and pop-ups, he still had a 14-4 ratio of groundballs to balls hit in the air. De La Cruz has been incredible and is getting messed up (to put it nicely) by his defense. Sheesh. Bralin Jackson also went 1 for 2 with a triple and a walk for the GCL Rays.

Game 2: GCL Rays 7, GCL Red Sox 3 (7 innings)

The GCL Rays actually scored some runs and won this one. Stepan Havlicek pitched pretty nicely, going 4 shutout innings allowing 2 hits and a walk while striking out 3 and posting a 2-2 groundout to flyout ratio. Damion Carroll relieved him but struggled in this one, going 1+ innings allowing 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks, striking out just 1. Ouch. He could have legitimately allowed 3 or 4 runs, but Jason Wilson bailed him out in the 6th before allowing a couple of runs of the 7th. Wilson did strike out 3 in 2 innings. The offense gets more of the focus here. Jiminson Natera had a great game, going 3 for 4 with a 2-run homer, Johnny Eierman went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk 2 RBI, and a run scored, and Douglas Duran went 2 for 2 with a walk, an RBI, and a run scored.