Minor League Ball: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
New Blog: The Boxing Bulletin for Boxing Fans!

Minor League Playoffs

Alot of playoff finals starting today.  Discuss.  Matchups, schedules, and links below.

Update [2007-9-12 14:31:14 by acerimusdux]: Winners of each game have been bolded  

Star-divide

AAA Paific Coast League Finals
Sacramento River Cats vs New Orleans Zephyrs
Game 1 - 9/11 Sacramento at New Orleans; Shane Komine vs Adam Bostick
Game 2 - 9/12 Sacramento at New Orleans; Michael Madsen vs Dave Williams
Game 3 - 9/14 New Orleans at Sacramento; Jason Vargas vs Brad Knox
Game 4 - 9/15 New Orleans at Sacramento
Game 5 - 9/16 New Orleans at Sacramento

AAA International League Finals
Richmond Braves vs Durham Bulls
Game 1 - 9/11 Richmond at Durham; Jeff Bennett vs J.P. Howell
Game 2 - 9/12 Richmond at Durham; Blaine Boyer vs Jeff Niemann
Game 3 - 9/13 Durham at Richmond; Jae Seo vs Francisley Bueno
Game 4 - 9/14 Durham at Richmond
Game 5 - 9/15 Durham at Richmond

AA Eastern League Finals
Akron Aeros vs Trenton Thunder
Game 1 - 9/11 Akron at Trenton; Adam Miller vs Tyler Cippard
Game 2 - 9/12 Akron at Trenton; Chuck Lofgren vs Chase Wright
Game 3 - 9/13 Trenton at Akron; Alan Horne vs Jeremy Sowers
Game 4 - 9/14 Trenton at Akron
Game 5 - 9/15 Trenton at Akron

AA Southern League Finals
Huntsville Stars vs Montgomery Biscuits
Game 1 - 9/12 Huntsville at Montgomery; Sam Narron vs Wade Davis
Game 2 - 9/13 Huntsville at Montgomery; Corey Thurman vs Jacob McGee
Game 3 - 9/14 Montgomery at Huntsville; Chris Mason vs Derek Miller
Game 4 - 9/15 Montgomery at Huntsville
Game 5 - 9/16 Montgomery at Huntsville

AA Texas League Finals
Springfield Cardinals vs San Antonio Missions
Game 1 - 9/11 Springfield at San Antonio; Josh Greer vs Mitchell Boggs
Game 2 - 9/12 Springfield at San Antonio; Cesar Ramos vs Cory Rauschenberger
Game 3 - 9/14 San Antonio at Springfield; Wade LeBlanc vs P.J. Walters
Game 4 - 9/15 San Antonio at Springfield
Game 5 - 9/16 San Antonio at Springfield

A+ California League Semi-Finals
Game 4 - 9/11 San Jose Giants at Visalia Oaks (San Jose wins series 3-1)
Game 4 - 9/11 Lancaster Jet Hawks at Lake Elsinore Storm (Lake Elsinore wins series 3-1)

A+ Carolina League Finals
Frederick Keys vs Salem Avalanche (Frederick wins series 3-1)
Game 4 - 9/11 Frederick at Salem; Chorye Spoone (10-9, 3.26) vs. Polin Trinidad (2-1, 2.89)
Game 5 - 9/12 Frederick at Salem; TBD

A+ Florida State League Finals
Clearwater Threshers vs. Brevard County Manatees
Game 4 - 9/11 Brevard at Clearwater (Thrashers win series 3-1)
Game 5 - 9/12 Brevard at Clearwater

A Midwest League Finals
Beloit Snappers vs West Michigan Whitecaps

A South Atlantic League Finals
West Virginia Power vs Columbus Catfish

Poll
Who will win the Bricktown Showdown (between AAA champions) on 9/18?
Durham Bulls
8 votes
Sacramento River Cats
4 votes
New Orleans Zephyrs
3 votes
Richmond Braves
1 votes

16 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  Comment 15 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

Kinda...
Rude of the A's to take away Daric Barton from Sacramento before the final eh? Oh well, gotta give the kid a look eh? He looked real good last night let me tell you...got on base 4 times. he's going to be a HELL of a hitter in the big leagues.

I'll be watching that Tyler Clippard vs Adam Miller matchup in game 1 of the Eastern League finals. Both these guys can make up for a lot of things this year with a big game there.

by casejud on Sep 11, 2007 12:46 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Oakland
Yeah, I was puzzled by the Barton move as well.  I could see it if they would be in the midst of making the playoffs or some player goes down.  I think it would have been better for Daric to stay in AAA and get some more playoff experience.  Just call him up once Sacremento is done.
I'm no commie, but the Reds shall be the best again!

by RedHopeful on Sep 11, 2007 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

How about Longoria?
I also found it interesting that Evan Longoria, the Southern League player of the year, got promoted near the end of the year to play for another playoff team in Durham.  Montgomery, however, still has Wade Davis and Jake McGee taking the mound in games 1 & 2.  So they don't have too much to complain about.

by acerimusdux on Sep 11, 2007 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Well
When Longoria was called to AAA, Durham was 4 games out of the playoffs, and they've been on a tear since then, so I guess you can say they made the right moves...
Vice-Chairman of the Sonnanstine Underground Railroad

by Brickhaus on Sep 11, 2007 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Longoria
He was also 6 for 13 with 2 HR in the 3 game semi-finals.  But they seem to have alot of guys hitting.

by acerimusdux on Sep 11, 2007 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Richmond Braves
very impressed by the team this year, they rode some great contributions from b level prospects (brayan pena, martin prado, gregor blanco) and journeyman (doug clark, etc) along with a few partial seasons from real prospects (escobar the first half, lillibridge and brandon jones the second) to the playoffs.  God knows they don't have much of any mlb caliber starting pitching, because atlanta would have taken it.

They also have had a ton of comeback wins (anyone know where to look that up?) I've seen two or three in the handful of games I've gone to, and they came back from 2 down in the 8th of Game 3 and 2 down in the 9th of Game 4 against Scranton.

by abravesfan on Sep 11, 2007 1:19 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Braves...
Looks like their pitching isn't bad, but the bullpen is better than the rotation.

by acerimusdux on Sep 11, 2007 4:43 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Mulvey...
The Z's are saving him for Game 5 (if needed), in favor of Bostick, Lawrence, Vargas, and Williams? That would be eight days rest for him, so I'm assuming his innings are the big factor (163 so far)? I can't argue with that logic as a Met fan, but if I were a Z's fan I would...

Anyway, Oberkfell getting that team into the finals is amazing in itself. Norfolk was in the post-season in 2005 with a crappy team as well, then had a terrible 2006 when Obie was away most of the time because of an illness. He should be getting more attention from big league clubs soon...

by MetfanBren on Sep 11, 2007 5:33 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm a little surprised that Akron gets 3 games
at home when they were the Wild Card and Trenton was a Division winner.

Hello acerimusdux, thanks for providing all this great info. - greatly appreciated!  :-)

Like I said, I thought I heard it wrong when SportsTime Ohio mentioned the playoff schedule; does anyone know why Akron gets home-field advantage for 3 games and Trenton only 2?  Just curious.

Speaking of the game itself, Akron has just tied up Trenton 2-2 in the 5th (Akron scored in the 1st & 5th; Trenton scored 2 in the 3rd, one of those unearned, as Adam Miller made a throwing error on a groundball that he made a play on, with runners going to 1B and 2B - I presume he went to 1B and made a bad throw, which allowed runners to move to 2B and 3B.)

Quick stats so far (stats are overall playoff stats):

CF Trevor Crowe - 0-0, 2 R, 3 BB, 2 SB (both 2B) (.294)
1B Jordan Brown - 1-3 (.409)
DH Michael Aubrey - 1-3, 1 RBI, 1 K (.350)
LF Ryan Goleski - 1-2, 1 RBI (.211)
RF Stephen Head - 0-2 (.400)
C Matthew McBride - 1-2 (.500 - first playoff series; didn't play in the Erie series.)

RHP Adam Miller
4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 HB, 1 E (1-throw); 2 G/5 F (7.50)

Trenton:

CF Austin Jackson - 1-2, 2 RBI, 1 K (.286)

RHP Tyler Clippard - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K; 1 G/8 F (3.60)

More later - stay tuned!  :-)

Take care and have a great day!

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Sep 11, 2007 8:07 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Now 5-2 Trenton
RBI single by Austin Jackson. 2 run double by Colin Curtis.

by acerimusdux on Sep 11, 2007 8:56 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Updates
AAA
Richmond 0 Durham 0 after 5
Bennett 5IP 2H 2BB 5SO
Howell 5IP 6H 0BB 5SO

Sacramento 2 New Orleans 0 mid 2nd
Nick Blasi scored on a fielder's choice in the 1st, drove in Kevin Melillo with a single in the 2nd.

AA
Akron 2 Trenton 2 top of 7th

San Antonio 3 Springfield 0 top of 3rd
Solo HR by Chase Headly and a 2 run shot by Peter Ciofrone in the 1st.

A+
Frederick 4 Salem 0
Spoone 6IP 7H 0R 0BB 5SO
Fleisher solo HR, Krause 2-3 2RBI

Clearwater 5 Brevard 1
Carpenter 6IP 4H 1R 1BB 5SO
Harman 2-3, HR, 2RBI
Jake Blaylock 2-3 1RBI

by acerimusdux on Sep 11, 2007 8:49 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Frederick Keys win Carolina League Title
It looks like the Keys have won the series 3 games to 1.

Chorye Spoone was originally listed as the probable starter for game 5 on the series preview above.  But instead they went to him in game 4.  He went a complete 9 innings for the win, allowing 11 hits, but only 1 run, and 1 walk with 8 strikeouts.

Chorye, an 8th round pick in 2005, has really emerged as a promising prospect this season with a strong performance in Frederick.  Chorye has one of the better fastballs in the Baltimore organization, a mid 90's power sinker, and has been working to refine his secondary offerings.  In his last outing, the division series clincher, he came only one out away from a no hitter.  It's safe to say he should be ready for AA next season.

by acerimusdux on Sep 11, 2007 10:05 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Indians' Overview!
Hello everyone,

Indians (MLB) - defeated the White Sox 8-3; RHP Paul Byrd wins his 15th game with a pretty solid outing, outside of giving up 2 HRs to Juan Uribe on two hanging breaking pitches in the middle of the plate, netting all 3 White Sox runs:

W (15-6) - 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HR (solo & 2-run to Uribe); 8 G/9 F; 63 S/33 B (4.34)

Ryan Garko hit his 18th HR, a solo shot, off a hanging pitch from LHP John Danks, who didn't have good command (43 S/33 B - 2.2 IP/3 H/3 ER/4 BB/3 K, 1 HR; 3 G/1 F; 5.50 ERA.)  Neither did the White Sox bullpen, outside of LHP Heath Phillips; altogether, 10 walks were issued by White Sox pitchers:

4 BBs by LHP John Danks in 2.2 IP
2 BBs by RHP Lance Broadway in 2.2 IP
2 BBs by LHP Matt Thornton in 0.0 IP
2 BBs by RHP Mike MacDougal in 1.1 IP
0 BBs by LHP Heath Phillips in 2.1 IP

RHP Jensen Lewis and LHP Rafael Perez combined to get out of a couple of tough jams to thwart some late comeback attempts by the White Sox, as Lewis struck out 2 with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out in the 7th and the Indians up 8-3.  After Aaron Fultz walked the first two hitters in the 8th, Perez came on, got Jim Thome to GIDP for 2 outs, then got Paul Konerko to line out to CF, stranding the runner at 3B.  He then had an uneventful 9th.

2B Asdrubal Cabrera came up with another clutch hit, a ground-rule 2B to CF in the 6th inning that gave the Indians a 4-3 lead.  That hit extended his hitting streak to 10 games.  The Indians also improved to 18-7 when Cabrera is in the starting lineup.

Sizemore, Hafner, Garko, and Gutierrez each had 2 hits.

The Indians increase their lead to 6.5 games in the AL Central and reduce their magic number to 11 as the Tigers split a DH with the Rangers, losing Game 1 13-7 (giving up 7 HRs,) while winning Game 2 4-1.

RHP Jake Westbrook vs. RHP Javier Vazquez at 2:05 P.M. EDT.

Onto the Minors:

AA Akron - lost Game 1 of their best-of-5 series with Trenton (NYY) 5-3 (stats are overall playoff stats):

CF Trevor Crowe - 0-2, 2 R, 3 BB, 1 K, 2 SB (4-2B) (.263)
1B Jordan Brown - 2-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.435 - HR #2, RBI #5.)
DH Michael Aubrey - 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K (.333)
LF Ryan Goleski - 1-4, 1 RBI (.190)
RF Stephen Head - 0-4 (.364)
C Matthew McBride - 1-4, 1 K (.250)
2B Argenis Reyes - 2-4 (.412)

RHP Adam Miller - 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 1 E (1-throw to 1B on a groundball back to him, which moved runners up to 2B and 3B, where they eventually scored on an Austin Jackson base hit,) 1 HB; 2 G/5 F (7.50 - presumably, he was on a pitch count.  Outside of the throwing error, really didn't pitch badly; the 0 BB/5 K was good to see.)
RHP Jeff Stevens - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 1 HB; 2 G (0.00 - another solid outing for the PTBNL in the Brandon Phillips deal.)
LHP Ryan Edell - L (0-1) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K; 1 G/1 F (10.80 - AA debut; his line is a little deceiving as it was really a nice debut, as both RHP Randy Newsom and LHP Rich Rundles allowed the IR to come in and score.  The really nice thing to see from Edell, who had a very solid year at High-A Kinston, especially out of the bullpen, was the 0 BB/3 K in 1.2 IP; he gave up some hits, but that should be expected from someone making his AA debut, so overall, really not that bad an outing by the 24-YO, 6'1" 215 lb. 8th-Rd. 2005 pick out of the College of Charleston.)
RHP Michael Finocchi - 1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 K; 1 G/1 F (3.00 - "1s" are wild; rare to see a flyout from him, as his GO/FO ratio this year was 2.00 GO/AO at AA and 4.00 GO/AO at High-A, after being 3.80 GO/AO at High-A and 3.63 GO/AO at Low-A in 2006.)

Trenton:
CF Austin Jackson - 2-4, 1 R, 3 RBI, 1 K (.304)

RHP Tyler Clippard - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K; 1 G/8 F (3.60 - control was a bit of an issue for him, as evidenced by the 4 BB in 5 IP, though he kept the H/IP in check and had a strong K/IP.)
RHP Justin Pope - S (2) - 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 K; 2 F (0.00)

Trenton leads the best-of-5 1-0; Game 2 of the best-of-5 is Wednesday night at 7:05 P.M. - as mentioned above:  LHP Chuck Lofgren vs. LHP Chase Wright.

Take care and have a great day!

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on Sep 12, 2007 1:19 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

A's AAA SAC team 174 transactions
this season, amazing that they kept it together and lead 1-0 in best of 5 series in PCL Finals. this is due to the mlb team having to use 53 players and the DL most in mlb. promoting players from lower levels to fill their own AAA players injuries, etc.

Blez:  Besides guys like Braden, Meyer and Daric Barton, who are some prospects in the system that you think are really close to contributing to the big club?  In other words, names we should keep a close eye on.  I don't suppose the system could give another Buck soon?

Beane:  That's the other thing too.  I'll answer that question in a minute, but one of the things about the injuries is that it's put so much stress on our system.  A reporter recently said, "Your farm system seems thin."  You've got to understand that a guy like Braden would've probably been in Double-A this year.  A guy like Travis Buck probably would've spent the year in Triple-A.  Daric (Barton) is one we've kept down there all year because he's very young.  Danny Putnam was up here even though he was supposed to spend the entire year in Double-A.  As a result he ends up spending a lot of time here and a lot of time in Triple-A.  It stresses the whole organization.  But, getting to your question, and I always answer this a similar way because you hate to single guys out because you're going to leave some guys out or you're going to create the perception that you like some guys better than others.  I think what I'll do is jump a little bit.  Barton and Meyer are close.  (Gregorio) Petit, a shortstop we pushed to Triple-A, has made great strides.  Dropping down, I always resist saying this, but we've had guys from this year's draft that we're very excited about.  (James) Simmons has done very well in Double-A.  Corey Brown and guys like that.  Two pitchers in Kane County who are very young and very talented.  Probably as any good two young pitchers we've had in a long time.  19-year-old kids (Henry Alberto) Rodriguez and (Trevor) Cahill.  Rodriguez had a little bit of a finger problem and missed a start or two.  But Cahill, for a 19 year old, just keeps getting better and better to the point where he's one of the best pitching prospects in the midwest league.  With guys knocking on the door, you're probably going to forget somebody.  You look at our team and Swisher is just in his third year in the major leagues.  Travis Buck is just a rookie.  You've got Daric Barton who we expect to see here very soon.  Gaudin has been here for a couple of years already but he's only 24 years old.  You open up a Baseball America and go through some of the best prospects, some of them might be 24 years old and in Double-A.  Huston Street is in his third year.  It's a very, very young team still.  We've got the benefit of some time with those guys too.  To answer your question, we do need to get some guys to the upper level, but I think they're going to be there soon enough.

by rayver723 on Sep 12, 2007 11:16 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Sacramento
I actually thought either Sacramento or Fresno would end up being the team to beat in the PCL, just based on the combination of pitching and offense.  Sacramento was third in the league in ERA, but still 8th in OPS.  Fresno was one spot better in each, but finished 7 games worse in the standings.  

Interesting though that Lisa Winston picked New Orleans in this series mainly because the loss of guys like Braden and Meyer to the big club.  The Mets also called up a good pair of starting pitchers in Pelfrey and Humber, but they seem to have more guys with big league experience hanging around right now as AAAA types, in Dave Williams, Jason Vargas, and Brian Lawrence.

by acerimusdux on Sep 12, 2007 1:48 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Minor League Ball: Where the Future of Baseball is Discussed
Start posting on Minor League Ball »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Small
Arizona Fall League 2009 Video Posted
Small
Top-10 Prospects of the Last 20 years: Hitters

Recent FanPosts

Small
Last year's rookies, top community prospects for future performance #11
Adam_jones_small
Dustin Ackley to 2nd base
Super_grover_small
Throwing stuff against the wall: What would it cost the A's to trade for Florida's Josh Johnson?
Small
AFL Championship Game Thread
Small
Last year's rookies, top community prospects for future performance #10
Small
Any surprises with your team's 40 man protection today?
Small
Mock MLB offseason: Should A's trade for Reid Brignac?
Small
This Stephen Strasburg guy
Deadhorse_small
BP's Indians Top 15

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >


Managers

Carew_small John Sickels


Site Meter