Minor League Ball Gameday, September 17

Good afternoon prospect watchers. Let's get down to business.

***Game Two of the Pioneer League championship last night resulted in 7-5 victory for the Helena Brewers over the Idaho Falls Chukars. Brewers prospect Michael Ratterree was the big hero, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI. Game Three is tonight.

Ratterree is an interesting prospect. He hit .314/.381/.585 with 12 homers during the regular season and was named Pioneer League MVP. A 10th round pick out of Rice University this past June, he is a good athlete with a decent set of tools including some speed and power, but his college career was erratic. He was a beast in the Pioneer League, although he struck out 72 times in 258 at-bats. It will be very interesting to see him in full season ball next year.

***Good pitching match-up in the Triple-A National Championship game tonight: Tampa Bay Rays prospect Jake Odorizzi goes to the mound for the International League champion Durham Bulls, taking on Kansas City Royals southpaw prospect Chris Dwyer and the Omaha Stormchasers, champions of the Pacific Coast League.

Durham went 87-57 during the regular season, but Omaha somehow finagled their way into the playoffs with a 70-74 record, then won the PCL crown.

Wouldn't it be weird if the Triple-A National Champion had a below .500 regular season record? Only Jake Odorizzi can prevent it

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