Minor League Ball Gameday: Friday, June 6

Rounds one and two are in the books in the 2014 Rule IV draft. As predicted by just about everyone, left handed pitcher Brady Aiken went first overall to the Astros. Rounds 3-10 are going on as we speak. Be sure to take a look at our pick by pick threads and follow along today as well. You can also check out John's analysis of the first round and an overview of the second round.

As far as the prospects go, Pirates outfielder Josh Bell takes the cake with a perfect 5-5 day at the plate. He knocked his 13th double and stole his fifth bag, scoring twice with two RBI as well. Bell is now hitting 315/364/470 on the year with 17 walks to 35 strike outs, five home runs, three triples, five steals, 36 RBI, and 24 runs scored.

Diamondbacks short stop Chris Owings is on a tear right now, notching another multi-hit game, this time going 3-5. He knocked his 12th double and fifth home run of the year, driving in four with two runs scored. He's bumped his season slash line to 280/318/457 with 21 runs scored, 16 RBI, three triples, six steals, 11 walks and 41 punch outs at the highest level.

Kyle Parker, Marcus Semien, Nick Castellanos, and Joey Gallo each had three hit games as well, all with a double and two singles. Sleeper Alert! Seth Mejias-Brean was also 3-4 with his 10th homer on the year, seventh double, and drove in three with two runs scored. Helium Tank resident Jose Peraza also had three hits, including his 11th double, 28th steal, a hit by pitch and run scored.

Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka keeps doing his thing, throwing that splitter that nobody can hit. He went six strong for New York, allowing one run on five hits and a walk. Tanaka struck out four, worked four ground outs and 10 fly outs for his ninth win of the year, and he lowered his ERA to 2.02 with a 0.96 WHIP. His one run allowed was a solo shot to A's catcher John Jaso.

Yordano Ventura made his way back to the mound after being shut down for a bit as a precaution. He came back with six innings of two run ball, allowing seven hits and a walk with just one punch out, eight ground outs, zero fly outs, and earned his third win of the year. His ERaA is sitting at 3.41 with a 1.28 WHIP and that beautiful 100 mph fastball.

Sleeper Alert! starter Jason Hursh also turned in a quality start, throwing seven innings with only one run scoring on six hits and a walk. He struck out just one, pitching to contact with 11 ground outs and five fly outs. He's now 5-4 on the year with a 3.43 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 1.9 GO:FO ratio. Another sleeper pick from the Helium Tank, Christian Binford, also threw seven frames last night with just one run (unearned) allowed. He did not walk anyone with seven strike outs and five hits allowed. He did not factor in the decision, but Binford did drop his ERA to 2.39 with a 1.05 WHIP.

Check out the rest of the stats from yesterday below in the link and enjoy!

The Top 150 Prospects and Sleepers

On the bottom of the spreadsheet there are tabs for the Top 150 Hitters (Top 150 H), Pitchers (Top 150 P), Sleeper Alerts! and the Helium Tank. Check it out by clicking the link/header above and a new window will pop up.

Probable Starters

AAA - IL

• Robbie Ray - DET vs Sean Nolin - TOR *****DotD*****
• Anthony Ranaudo - BOS vs Enny Romero - TB *****DotD*****
• Yohan Pino - MIN vs Erik Johnson - CWS
• Josh Smith - CIN vs Sean O'Sullivan - PHI
• Mike Wright - BAL vs Bruce Billings - NYY
• Jeff Locke - PIT vs Ryan Tatusko - WAS
• Kyle Davies - CLE vs Gus Schlosser - ATL

AAA - PCL

AA - EL

• Austin Fleet - SF vs Jesse Biddle - PHI
• Tim Berry - BAL vs Keith Couch - BOS
• Stolmy Pimentel - PIT vs Graham Stoneburner - NYY
• Toru Murata - CLE vs Brad Meyers - WAS
• TBD - DET vs Austin Bibens-Dirkx - TOR
• Virgil Vasquez - MIN vs Matthew Bowman - NYM

AA - SL

• Bob Steve - CIN vs Victor Mateo - TB
• Michael Lee - AZ vs Tyler Cravy - MIL GAME 1
• Matt Anderson - SEA vs Chris Beck - CWS
• Bradin Hagens - AZ vs Drew Gagnon - MIL GAME 2
• Tyson Brummett - LAD vs Ryan Weber - ATL
• TBD - CHC vs Chipper Smith - MIA

• Matt Branham - SD vs Alec Asher - TEX
• Jonathan Cornelius - STL vs Kramer Sneed - LAA
• Carlos Hernandez - COL vs JC Sulbaran - KC
• Jordan Jankowski - HOU vs Chris Jensen - OAK

A+ - CAL

• Zach Morton - HOU vs Braden Shipley - AZ
• Dan Tobik - LAA vs Joe Ross - SD
• Ryan Bradley - SF vs Ben Alsup - COL
• Mike Dennhardt - CIN vs Jharel Cotton - LAD
• Jochi Ogando - SEA vs Sean Murphy - OAK

A+ - CAR

• Ryan Merritt - CLE vs Francellis Montas - CWS
• Luis Diaz - BOS vs Wes Parsons - ATL
• TBD - BAL vs Victor Payano - TEX
• Luis Santos - KC vs Gio Gonzalez - WAS

A+ - FSL

• Josh Turley - DET vs Jose Berrios - MIN
• Gabriel Ynoa - NYM vs Matt Boyd - TOR
• Austin Pruitt - TB vs Rafael De Paula - NYY
• Jake Esch - MIA vs Tayler Scott - CHC
• Jason Creasy - PIT vs Chad Pierce - MIL
• Ethan Stewart - PHI vs Mike Mayers - STL

A - MWL

• Nick Travieso - CIN vs Jacob Faria - TB *****DotD*****
• Victor Arano - LAD vs Buck Farmer - DET
• Edwin Diaz - SEA vs Daury Torrez - CHC
• Ryan Eades - MIN vs Zach Quintana - MIL
• TBD - AZ vs Alberto Tirado - TOR
• Jimmy Reed - STL vs Kyle Finnegan - OAK
• Ronald Herrera - SD vs Jordan Milbrath - CLE
• TBD - HOU vs Ryan Etsell - LAA

A - SAL

• Jefry Rodriguez - WAS vs Jarlin Garcia - MIA *****DotD*****
• Rob Gsellman - NYM vs Caleb Smith - NYY
• Teddy Stankiewicz - BOS vs Tyler Brosius - ATL
• Buddy Borden - PIT vs Tyler Smith - TEX
• Mark Leiter - PHI vs Luis Gonzalez - BAL
• Luis Rico - KC vs Matthew Lujan - SF
• Tyler Barnette - CWS vs Antonio Senzatela - COL

Duels of the Day

via wiki.teamfortress.com

June 5

Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	HR Allowed	Notes
-	Dakota Bacus	RHP	WAS	A+	6	6	2	2	3	4	8	5	3.12	1.27	0	IBB, 53 S, 37 B, ND (2-1)
15 (-)	Christian Binford	RHP	KC	A+	7	5	1	0	0	7	4	7	2.39	1.05	0	62 S, 32 B, ND (3-3)
Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	HR Allowed	Notes
-	Orlando Castro	LHP	PIT	A+	4.2	12	6	6	0	4	5	2	3.39	1.04	0	ND (3-3)
20 (-)	Damien Magnifico	RHP	MIL	A+	4.2	7	7	6	3	3	7	5	3.05	1.17	0	WP, ND (3-4)
Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	HR Allowed	Notes
8 (130)	Luis Heredia	RHP	PIT	A	4	5	6	5	3	4	4	1	9.00	1.78	2 - Kellin Deglan, Nomar Mazara	3 WP, ND (0-1)
18 (-)	Kelvin Vasquez	RHP	TEX	A	2	2	2	2	2	1	4	0	4.35	1.20	0	WP, ND (3-1)

June 6

LHP Robbie Ray (DET - AAA) vs LHP Sean Nolin (TOR - AAA)

RHP Anthony Ranaudo (BOS - AAA) vs LHP Enny Romero (TB - AAA)

RHP Nick Travieso (CIN - A) vs RHP Jacob Faria (TB - A)

RHP Jefry Rodriguez (WAS - A) vs LHP Jarlin Garcia (MIA - A)

Injuries

• Royals RHP Kyle Zimmer (7 day DL; right latissimus dorsi strain) - 5/26
• Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard (7 day DL; right elbow flexor pronator strain) - 5/25
• Rockies SS Trevor Story (7 day DL; left pinky laceration) - 5/24
• Dodgers 2B Alex Guerrero (7 day DL; Mike Tyson'd) - 5/20
• White Sox 1B Jose Abreu (15 day DL; left ankle tendinitis) - 5/17
• Cubs RF Jorge Soler (7 day DL; hamstring tightness) - 5/15
• Astros RHP Vince Velasquez (7 day DL; groin injury) - 5/11
• Twins CF Byron Buxton (7 day DL; left wrist sprain) - 5/9
• Tigers RHP Jeff Thompson (7 day DL; right shoulder tendinitis) - 5/2
• 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
• 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
• Nationals LHP Matt Purke (season; left elbow - TJS) - 5/28
• 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