Minor League Ball Gameday: Monday, June 9

Hello everyone! There was plenty of action to get to yesterday so lets get at it.

Jon Singleton is glad to be out of AAA now, and he had his first big game with the Astros last night. He popped his second big league homer, his 16th overall this year, and he also hit his first double as a Major Leaguer while driving in four. That homer also happened to be his first grand slam. On the downside those were his only hits and he struck out three times, but lets not look at that right now. While he was in AAA, Singleton ran up a 267/397/544 line with a .401 wOBA and 140 wRC+ through 54 games and 195 at bats. He knocked 14 bombs, 10 doubles, and worked 42 walks to 52 strike outs. In Houston, he's gone 5-25 with four runs scored, six RBI, one walk and 10 strike outs - good for a 200/231/480 line with a .307 wOBA and 93 wRC+ so far.

AA Tennessee third baseman Kris Bryant continues to toil in the Southern League as he tears it to pieces. He knocked his 21st home run in just 62 games with 18 doubles, eight steals, 55 runs scored, 54 RBI, 39 walks and 70 strike outs with a 356/461/716 line which is good for a 1.177 OPS, .513 wOBA and 226 wRC+. Bryant has actually overtaken Joey Gallo as the minor league leader in both wOBA and wRC+ with a minimum of 120 plate appearances. His last 10 games have been absolutely bonkers as well, as he's hitting 400/512/943 with five homers, four doubles, 10 runs scored, nine RBI, eight walks, nine punch outs, and two stolen bases to boot. It's also worth noting the extent Bryant has punished lefties. He is 19-42 with 11 of his 19 hits going for extra bases (7 HR, 4 2B), 10 walks to 11 strike outs and a 452/558/1048 slash line. Yes, a slugging percentage of 1.048.

Another Astros farmhand prospect that had themselves a day was short stop Carlos Correa for their A+ Lancaster squad. He smashed his 14th double and two singles with a walk, his 20th stolen base, and an RBI. In his previous 10 contests, Correa has hit 394/583/636 with an astounding 14 walks to just four strike outs in that span. He's also knocked a pair of triples, four doubles, 12 runs scored, six RBI and seven stolen bases. On the year he's batting 330/419/507 with a .926 OPS, .411 wOBA, and 148 wRC+. Five balls have left the yard with five triples, 42 runs scored, 52 RBI, 31 walks and 38 strike outs.

Royals third base prospect and first round draft pick last year Hunter Dozier was 2-5 for A+ Wilmington, hitting his third homer, and 16th double with two runs scored and two RBI. Micah Johnson, second baseman for AAA Charlotte in the White Sox system, was also 2-5 with his fourth double at AAA and first triple, and he also scored twice. George Springer launched homer number 12 as a big leaguer, his 15th of the year when you add in his AAA numbers.  Corey Seager got his 12th bomb, Billy Hamilton muscled his second, and Jorge Polanco picked up his fourth long ball of the 2014 season.

Sleeper Alert! Rafael Bautista was on base all three times he came to bat, hitting two singles with a walk, two runs scored, and his 29th stolen base of the year. He leads the Low A South Atlantic league in steals by a wide margin over the three players tied in second with 19. Indians outfielder Carlos Moncrief was 2-4 with his 11th double, a single, walks, two runs scored and two RBI. Pirates catcher Jin-De Jhang also roped his second homer of the year, a solo shot, to go with a single in four at bats.

The good Aaron Sanchez showed up for AA New Hampshire, as the 29th ranked prospect was excellent through 6.2 frames. He struck out seven while allowing just one run on four hits and a walk. Sanchez induced 10 ground outs to two fly outs, picked up his third win of the year, and dropped his ERA to 3.82 with a 1.39 WHIP and a 4.20 FIP. His control has been shaky all year, walking 40 in 66 innings which translates to 5.5 BB/9 with a 7.8 K/9 and 1.4 K/BB ratio. The opposition is only hitting .219 off him with a sustainable .279 BABIP and 67.6% strand rate.

Marco Gonzales of the Cardinals AA Springfield affiliate was a tough luck loser, getting tagged with his second loss despite allowing just two runs (one earned) in 5.1 innings. The former first round southpaw surrendered seven hits and walked three with six strike outs, five ground outs and two fly outs. He allowed a home run to Taylor Featherston and saw his ERA rise to 2.63 with a 1.21 WHIP and 2.50 FIP. Gonzales has actually seen his strike out rate increase since his promotion to AA, striking out 10.5 batters per nine innings, up from 7.7 in A+ Palm Beach. He's walked a few more men (2.6/BB9 in AA, 1.9/BB9 in A+) but sustained a 4.0 K/BB ratio, and a similar opponents batting average (.234 in AA, .239 in A+) since the jump.

Helium Tank member and personal favorite Hobbs Johnson took care of business for A+ Brevard County yesterday, handling 7.2 innings of work with just two runs allowed on six hits and two walks. The Brewers lefty struck out three, induced eight ground outs to six fly outs, threw a wild pitch, and evened his record at 6-6. Johnson's ERA now sits at 2.62 with a 1.05 WHIP and 2.63 FIP. He's also sporting a 4.1 K/BB ratio, 7.5 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9 while opponents are hitting just .227 off him with a sustainable .284 BABIP. Hobbs could theoretically improve once his bullpen stops allowing runners inherited from him to score, as his strand rate is 63.2%.

As always, you can 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

• Mat Latos - CIN vs Allen Webster - BOS *****DotD*****
• Kris Johnson - MIN vs Cody Martin - ATL
• Mike Montgomery - TB vs Edgmer Escalona - BAL
• Kyle Lobstein - DET vs Shawn Kelley - NYY
• Radhames Liz - TOR vs Josh Roenicke - WAS
• Jay Jackson - PIT vs Greg Smith - PHI
• Tyler Cloyd - CLE vs Deunte Heath - CWS

AAA - PCL

AA - EL

• Adalberto Mejia - SF vs Perci Garner - PHI
• Hansel Robles - NYM vs Duke von Schamann - CLE

AA - SL

• Michael Lorenzen - CIN vs Mike Colla - TB GAME 2
• Willy Paredes - AZ vs Brent Suter - MIL GAME 2
• Raydel Sanchez - LAD vs Aaron Northcraft - ATL
• Joe Gardner - CHC vs Angel Sanchez - MIA
• Mikey O'Brien - CIN vs Roberto Gomez - TB GAME 1
• Trevor Miller - SEA vs Mike Recchia - CWS
• Charles Brewer - AZ vs Eric Marzec - MIL GAME 1

• Shawn Haviland - OAK vs Luke Jackson - TEX
• Jason Adam - KC vs Michael Roth - LAA GAME 1
• Richard Castillo - COL vs Tyler Lyons - STL
• Cody Fassold - KC vs Buddy Boshers - LAA GAME 2
• TBD - SD vs Brady Rogers - HOU

A+ - CAL

• Chris Stratton - SF vs Ryan Carpenter - COL
• TBD - CIN vs Chris Anderson - LAD
• Josh Hader - HOU vs Jesse Darrah - AZ
• Mark Sappington - LAA vs Bryce Morrow - SD
• Scott DeCecco - SEA vs Hunter Adkins - OAK

A+ - CAR

• Miguel Almonte - KC vs JB Wendelken - CWS
• Greg Ross - ATL vs Alex Claudio - TEX
• TBD - BOS vs Parker Bridwell - BAL
• Brett Brach - WAS vs TBD - CLE

A+ - FSL

• Jake Thompson - DET vs Taylor Cole - TOR *****DotD*****
• Rob Zastryzny - CHC vs Ryan Demmin - PHI
• Joe Cuda - STL vs Domingo Tapia - NYM
• DJ Baxendale - MIN vs Brad Hand - MIA
• John Kuchno - PIT vs Leonel Santiago - TB
• Dan Camarena - NYY vs Tyler Wagner - MIL

• Kohl Stewart - MIN vs Jen-Ho Tseng - CHC *****DotD*****
• Arturo Reyes - STL vs Chris Lee - HOU
• Sal Romano - CIN vs Luis Lugo - CLE
• Taylor Williams - MIL vs Jose Flores - SEA
• Walker Weickel - SD vs Jaime Schultz - TB
• Matt Stalcup - OAK vs Alfonso Alcantara - LAA
• Brandon Martinez - LAD vs Frank Viola III - TOR
• TBD - AZ vs TBD - DET

A - SAL

• Luis Severino - NYY vs Trey Ball - BOS *****DotD*****
• Lucas Giolito - WAS vs Ranfi Casimiro - PHI
• Ryan Newell - MIA vs Dovydas Neverauskas - PIT
• Johendi Jiminian - COL vs Jake Junis - KC
• Kevin McGowin - SF vs Thad Lowry - CWS
• Akeem Bostick - TEX vs Luc Rennie - BAL
• TBD - NYM vs Daniel Watts - ATL

Duels of the Day

via wiki.teamfortress.com

June 8

Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	HR Allowed	Notes
5 (48)	Lance McCullers	RHP	HOU	A+	4	10	5	4	1	4	6	0	4.58	1.49	1 - Fidel Pena	WP, HBP, ND (3-3)
4 (95)	Aaron Blair	RHP	AZ	A+	5.2	9	4	4	2	4	6	4	4.58	1.39	0	WP, ND (0-2)
Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	HR Allowed	Notes
-	Adam Plutko	RHP	CLE	A+	3	4	4	4	1	5	1	2	6.60	1.47	2 - Jason Coats, Tim Anderson	ND (1-1)
8 (-)	Tyler Danish	RHP	CWS	A+	3.2	8	4	1	0	4	6	1	5.48	1.55	0	ND (1-1)
Rank (Ovr)	Name	Pos	Team	Level	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	GO	FO	ERA	WHIP	HR Allowed	Notes
-	Kendall Graveman	RHP	TOR	A+	5	8	4	4	2	6	6	2	3.71	1.33	0	L (5-2)
-	Edgar De La Rosa	RHP	DET	A+	6.1	6	4	4	2	0	8	9	3.30	1.24	1 - Nick Baligod	2 HBP, 2 Balks, W (3-4)

June 9

RHP Mat Latos (CIN - AAA) vs RHP Allen Webster (BOS - AAA)

RHP Jake Thompson (DET - A+) vs RHP Taylor Cole (TOR - A+)

RHP Kohl Stewart (MIN - A) vs RHP Jen-Ho Tseng (CHC - A)

RHP Luis Severino (NYY - A) vs LHP Trey Ball (BOS - 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
• 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 (60 day DL; left shoulder inflammation) - 4/8
• 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