Minor League Ball Gameday: Monday, May 19

Sifting through yesterday's performances, two players stick out as having some excellent day. One would be another of the Dodger's Cuban imports, second baseman Alex Guerrero. After signing his four year, $28 million deal, Guerrero has been in AAA working on his defense at second base after playing short stop in Cuba. Last night he went off on Giants southpaw Edwin Escobar, knocking two home runs off the lefty (numbers eight and nine), and he also kicked in a double (his sixth), single, scored three runs and drove in two. Another stat line that jumps off the page is another Dodger, Corey Seager. The A+ short stop for LA was 4-5 as well with his 14th and 15th doubles, his fourth home run, a single and strike out. He knocked in three while scoring twice.

There were plenty of other solid games that weren't quite on par with Seager and Guerrero, but still worth mentioning. Reds center fielder Phil Ervin has been off to a slow start, but he was on fire last night hitting his ninth double and third triple of the year, adding a single and two RBI's into the mix also. Diamondbacks starting short stop Chris Owings picked up three knocks in four at bats with a pair of steals, his fifth and sixth so far, a run scored and one driven in with a punch out. Cubs second sacker Arismendy Alcantara picked up bomb number three with four RBI. Jorge Polanco smacked three hits for A+ Fort Myers, hitting his ninth double, scoring twice and he made his 14th error at short, making a bad throw. Jace Peterson got the start for AAA El Paso at short and he responded with a homer, double, three RBI and two runs scored. It was his second double and first home run at the AAA level. You can't forget the Sleeper Alerts! either, with a pair of Indians prospects having themselves a day. Right fielder Carlos Moncrief for the AAA squad mashed his seventh double and second home runs on the year. He also hit a single came around to score all three times he came up to bat. Low A first baseman Nellie Rodriguez was solid as well, hitting a double (his eighth) and home run (his seventh) as well. He drove in three and went down swinging once.

On the mound, we had a handful of top starters taking the ball with Jimmy Nelson, Ben Lively, Zach Lee, Mike Foltynewicz, and Sleeper Alert! Austin Voth each turning in performances worthy of mention. Nelson and Foltynewicz squared off against each other in one of the Duels of the Day, and Nelson wound up coming out on top. The Brewers top prospect went seven innings while allowing just one run, one walk, and four hits with five punch outs. He wore out his infielders, inducing 12 ground outs to just two fly outs, and he also hit a man and threw a wild pitch. Nelson earned win number five and he lowered his ERA to 1.71 with a 0.93 WHIP. Foltynewicz was solid as well, but out-pitched by Nelson. Folty went six strong with two runs, three hits and two walks allowed, seven punch outs, and two ground outs and fly outs a piece. He also hit a batter but was tagged with the loss, bringing his record to 3-3 on the year. The big Texan righty now has a 3.86 ERA after early season struggles and he still has a respectable 1.29 WHIP.

Zach Lee was another participant in a Duel of the Day, and he certainly came out on top with Alex Guerrero on his side. Lee allowed a pair of runs in six innings, with six hits, two walks and eight strike outs on the night. He only worked one ground out to four fly outs, and he went home with his record now at 4-4. His ERA is sitting at 4.37 now with a 1.29 WHIP. Reds break out star Ben Lively went to the bump for A+ Bakersfield and continued to pick apart hitters. It was another seven inning start with only one run allowed, which seems pretty routine for Lively this year. He did walk an ungodly amount of hitters though, with two men getting free passes. He struck out four, induced six ground outs to nine fly outs, hit a batter, and is now 7-1 on the year. His ERA still starts with a 0, sitting at 0.81 with a 0.70 WHIP.

Finally we come to the best Sleeper Alert! performance, which came from the team with the best record in the minor leagues, Low A Hagerstown of the Nationals system. Austin Voth was on the mound, and he was on point, allowing just one run in six frames on four hits and two walks. He struck out four, got nine grounders to just two fly outs, uncorked a wild pitch, hit a batter and balked. Unfortunately for him, he was going against Jake Junis of Lexington, and Junis tossed eight no-hit innings last night.

Be sure to check out the rest of the Top 150 and more below by clicking on the link. We also have the probables for today as well as the Duels of the Day and our running injuries list. Enjoy folks!

The Top 150 and Sleeper Alerts!

In an effort to streamline the look of the Gameday, I'm trying something new. Instead of bogging down the article with tables, I will link to a Google Drive spreadsheet for all the stats from the previous day. On the bottom there are tabs for the Top 150 Hitters (Top 150 H), Pitchers (Top 150 P), the Duels of the Day (DotD) and Sleeper Alerts! Check it out by clicking the link above and let me know what you think.

Probable Starters

AAA - IL

• Joel De La Cruz - NYY vs Allen Webster - BOS
• Blaine Hardy - DET vs Trevor May - MIN
• Jake Brigham - PIT vs Cody Martin - ATL GAME 1
• Casey Sadler - PIT vs Mitch Atkins - ATL GAME 2
• Greg Smith - PHI vs Chad Jenkins - TOR
• Scott Barnes - CLE vs Ross Ohlendorf - WAS
• Chien-Ming Wang - CIN vs Merrill Kelly - TB

AAA - PCL

AA - EL

• Hansel Robles - NYM vs Henry Owens - BOS GAME 1
• Aaron Sanchez - TOR vs Ryan Demmin - PHI GAME 2
• Clayton Blackburn - SF vs Tyler Duffey - MIN
• TBD - DET vs Tim Berry - BAL
• Gabriel Arias - CLE vs Joely Rodriguez - PIT
• Omar Poveda - WAS vs Jairo Heredia - NYY
• TBD - TOR vs Perci Garner - PHI GAME 1
• Greg Peavey - NYM vs Mike McCarthy - BOS GAME 2

AA - SL

• Justin Nicolino - MIA vs Mikey O'Brien - CIN
• TBD - LAD vs Jason Hursh - ATL
• TBD - CWS vs Jacob Barnes - MIL
• Mike Colla - TB vs Cam Hobson - SEA
• Garrett Gould - LAD vs Michael Lee - AZ

• Alec Asher - TEX vs Casey Kelly - SD *****Co DotD*****
• JC Sulbaran - KC vs Eddie Butler - COL
• Mark Sappington - LAA vs Kyle Hald - STL
• Chris Jensen - OAK vs Luis Cruz - HOU

A+ - CAL

• Martin Agosta - SF vs Aaron Blair - AZ *****Co DotD*****
• Wandy Peralta - CIN vs Chris Lamb - OAK
• Tyler DeLoach - LAA vs TBD - SEA
• TBD - HOU vs Fabio Martinez - LAD
• Matt Flemer - COL vs Colin Rea - SD

A+ - CAR

• League-wide off day

A+ - FSL

• Steven Matz - NYM vs Edgar De La Rosa - DET
• Damien Magnifico - MIL vs Scott Lyman - MIA
• Yao-Lin Wang - CHC vs Jose Berrios - MIN
• Nick Petree - STL vs Dan Camarena - NYY
• Jon Prosinski - PHI vs Reinaldo Lopez - TB
• Pat Ludwig - PIT vs Ben White - TOR

A - MWL

• Jose Flores - SEA vs Alex Reyes - STL
• Juan Paniagua - CHC vs Barrett Astin - MIL
• TBD - AZ vs Austin Kubitza - DET
• Chris Kirsch - TB vs Jeremy Gabryszwski - TOR
• Luis De Paula - LAD vs Ismael Guillon - CIN
• Ronald Herrera - OAK vs Josue Martinez - MIN
• Kyle Lloyd - SD vs Adam Plutko - CLE
• Elliot Morris - LAA vs Edison Frias - HOU

A - SAL

• Trey Ball - BOS vs Johendi Jiminian - COL *****Co DotD*****
• Ian Clarkin - NYY vs Kevin McGowin - NYM
• Steven Brault - BAL vs Shane Carle - PIT
• Akeem Bostick - TEX vs Jake Sanchez - CWS
• Domingo German - MIA vs Luis Ysla - SF
• Jake Johansen - WAS vs Andrew Edwards - KC
• Daniel Cordero - ATL vs Tyler Viza - PHI

Duels of the Day

via wiki.teamfortress.com

May 18

Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	Notes
4 (58)	Mike Foltynewicz	RHP	HOU	AAA	6	3	2	2	2	7	2	2	3.86	1.29	HBP, 61 S, 36 B, L (3-3)
1 (89)	Jimmy Nelson	RHP	MIL	AAA	7	4	1	1	1	5	12	2	1.71	0.93	WP, HBP, 69 S, 39 B, W (5-1)
Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	Notes
4 (96)	Zach Lee	RHP	LAD	AAA	6	6	2	2	2	8	1	4	4.37	1.29	53 S, 32 B, W (4-4)
2 (79)	Edwin Escobar	LHP	SF	AAA	5	7	5	5	3	6	6	2	5.60	1.67	2 HR (Alex Guerrero x2), Balk, 51 S, 30 B, L (1-5)
Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	Notes
-	Jacob Faria	RHP	TB	A	6	6	3	2	0	3	11	5	3.24	0.96	W (3-2)
-	Zachary Bird	RHP	LAD	A	5	9	5	4	1	4	7	3	4.86	1.47	WP, L (2-6)

May 19

RHP Alec Asher (TEX - AA) vs RHP Casey Kelly (SD - AA)

RHP Martin Agosta (SF - A+) vs RHP Aaron Blair (AZ - A+)

LHP Trey Ball (BOS - A) vs RHP Johendi Jiminian (COL - A)

Injuries

• White Sox 1B Jose Abreu (15 day DL; left ankle tendinitis) - 5/17
• Cubs RF Jorge Soler (day-to-day; hamstring tightness) - 5/15
• Astros RHP Vince Velasquez (7 day DL; groin injury) - 5/11
• Twins CF Byron Buxton (day-to-day; left wrist sprain) - 5/9
• Diamondbacks RHP Archie Bradley (7 day DL; minor right elbow flexor strain) - 4/29
• Cubs RHP CJ Edwards (7 day DL; right shoulder tightness) - 4/24
• Orioles LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (7 day DL; left knee sprain) - 4/21
• Pirates RHP Luis Heredia (7 day DL; right shoulder discomfort) - 4/12
• Tigers 2B Devon Travis (7 day DL; right oblique strain) - 4/10
• Mariners LHP James Paxton (15 day DL; left lat strain) - 4/8
• Athletics SS Addison Russell (7 day DL; torn right hamstring) - 4/6
• Pirates CF Austin Meadows (7 day DL; right hamstring strain) - 4/3
• Orioles RHP Dylan Bundy (60 day DL; TJS recovery) - 4/3
• Rays RHP Taylor Guerrieri (7 day DL; TJS recovery) - 4/3
• Padres LHP Max Fried (7 day DL; left forearm soreness) - 4/3
• Mariners RHP Taijuan Walker (15 day DL; right shoulder impingement) - 3/21
• Rays 2B Tim Beckham (season; torn right ACL) - 3/30
• Pirates RHP Jameson Taillon (season; right elbow - TJS) - 3/23
• Tigers RHP Bruce Rondon (season; right elbow - TJS) - 3/21
• Dodgers RHP Ross Stripling (season; right elbow - TJS) - 3/14
• Twins 3B Miguel Sano (season; right elbow - TJS) - 3/12