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The Major League season has now begun with plenty of twists and turns within the first three days worth of games. Today marks another sort of Opening Day - Minor League Opening Day! The first game of the day will be a 2:05 EST affair between the Rochester Red Wings, Minnesota's AAA affiliate, and the Buffalo Bisons, Toronto's AAA affiliate. The game will feature the 47th best prospect in the game, 25 year old right handed pitcher Alex Meyer, taking the bump for Rochester opposite 29 year old veteran left hander Andrew Albers. You can find the game on MiLB.tv (I can't recommend getting this enough, it is AMAZING and well worth the extra bones!), but unfortunately it will not be televised nationally.
Last year I undertook a pretty massive overhaul of the Gameday thread from previous years. Not only did we begin tracking individual players, I also consolidated the day's pitching probables, added a new feature in the Duel of the Day, and kept a running list of injuries to top prospects and rookies. All of this will be making a return for the 2015 season with a sleeker look.
For those of you who were not around last year or just want a quick refresher, here's a quick breakdown of the Top 175 Prospects, Sleepers, and IFA's spreadsheet. On the bottom of the spreadsheet there are seven tabs. The first tab is the current days schedule, probable starters, and the injury list. Match ups highlighted in yellow are the Duels of the Day, and there is an affiliation key next to each league to help you keep track of which Minor League teams are linked to which Major League teams. The second tab is the next day's schedule with probable starters and the affiliation keys.
The third and fourth tabs are the Top 175 prospects, broken up by pitchers and hitters. This is where you can follow along and see how each player fared the previous day. Any players that are currently injured will be in red with the date and type of injury in the Notes section. The fifth tab is all the players John mentioned as being "in the picture" of the Top 175. Again, this is split up between pitchers and hitters, and also includes each players ranking for their respective teams.
The sixth tab will house the players John tabbed as sleepers or with a high ceiling alert. Each grouping is separated to distinguish between the sleepers and high ceiling alert players. As with the "In The Picture" tab, both groups are split between pitchers and hitters and includes team ranks.
The last tab will be the IFA's, or international free agents. Only players who received a signing bonus of at least $500,000 beginning with the 2012-13 signing period will be tracked. This section is also split up depending on signing bonus amounts - the seven figure, $1M+ bonuses and players who received between $500,000 and $999.999. This section includes the bonus amount, what year they signed, and their ranking within their organization.
Once the season gets underway, we will add in more sections that include more players. 50 more players will be added in May to the "Helium Tank" section, and the 2015 amateur draft in June will have its own section with another 42 players. Another 25 players will be added to the craziness once the short season leagues kick off in June under the "Tempurpedic" section.
With the help of one of our own, Kicker31, the Minor League Ball Gameday has come a long way. He has been instrumental in helping create the Gameday spreadsheet with a knowledge of Excel that absolutely blows my mind. We are still making some final tweaks getting all the players added so it may look a little funky right now with a bunch of cells saying #N/A, but everything will be at filled in and at full speed in a matter of days.
Now that we have all that out of the way, I present to the amazing readers of Minor League Ball, the inagural Minor League Ball Gameday thread for the 2015 season! Click the link below for the Gameday spreadsheet which will open in a separate tab in your browser.
The Top 175 Prospects, Sleepers, and IFA's
Today's Schedule
AAA International League (IL)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| Norfolk | Charlotte | 7:05 PM | Wilson, Tyler (0-0, -.--) | Penny, Brad (0-0, -.--) |
| Syracuse | Scranton/WB | 7:05 PM | Cole, A.J. (0-0, -.--) | Mitchell, Bryan (0-0, -.--) |
| Columbus | Indianapolis | 7:05 PM | Chen, Bruce (0-0, -.--) | Kingham, Nick (0-0, -.--) |
| Durham | Gwinnett | 7:05 PM | Floro, Dylan (0-0, -.--) | Foltynewicz, Mike (0-0, -.--) |
| Rochester | Buffalo | 2:05 PM | Meyer, Alex (0-0, -.--) | Albers, Andrew (0-0, -.--) |
| Pawtucket | Lehigh Valley | 7:05 PM | Johnson, Brian (0-0, -.--) | Rodriguez, Joely (0-0, -.--) |
| Toledo | Louisville | 6:35 PM | Farmer, Buck (0-0, -.--) | Holmberg, David (0-0, -.--) |
AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| Salt Lake | Sacramento | 10:05 PM | Wilk, Adam (0-0, -.--) | Coello, Robert (0-0, -.--) |
| Nashville | Colorado Springs | 8:35 PM | Bassitt, Chris (0-0, -.--) | Jungmann, Taylor (0-0, -.--) |
| Reno | Albuquerque | 8:35 PM | Nuno, Vidal (0-0, -.--) | Gray, Jon (0-0, -.--) |
| Tacoma | El Paso | 9:05 PM | Pries, Jordan (0-0, -.--) | Lane, Jason (0-0, -.--) |
| Omaha | New Orleans | 8:00 PM | Brooks, Aaron (0-0, -.--) | Nicolino, Justin (0-0, -.--) |
| Iowa | Memphis | 8:05 PM | Roach, Donn (0-0, -.--) | Gonzales, Marco (0-0, -.--) |
| Las Vegas | Fresno | 10:05 PM | Matz, Steven (0-0, -.--) | Peacock, Brad (0-0, -.--) |
| Round Rock | Oklahoma City | 8:05 PM | To Be Determined | Baker, Scott (0-0, -.--) |
AA Eastern League (EAS)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| New Britain | New Hampshire | 6:35 PM | To Be Determined | To Be Determined |
| Bowie | Richmond | 6:35 PM | Berry, Tim (0-0, -.--) | Stratton, Chris (0-0, -.--) |
| Trenton | Erie | 6:35 PM | Sulbaran, Miguel (0-0, -.--) | Hankins, Derek (0-0, -.--) |
| Binghamton | Akron | 6:35 PM | Koch, Matt (0-0, -.--) | Roberts, Will (0-0, -.--) |
| Altoona | Harrisburg | 6:30 PM | Sanchez, Angel (0-0, -.--) | Voth, Austin (0-0, -.--) |
| Reading | Portland | 6:00 PM | To Be Determined | Diaz, Luis (0-0, -.--) |
AA Southern League (SOU)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| Chattanooga | Montgomery | 8:05 PM | To Be Determined | Schultz, Jaime (0-0, -.--) |
| Biloxi | Pensacola | 7:30 PM | Hall, Brooks (0-0, -.--) | Stephenson, Robert (0-0, -.--) |
| Mobile | Birmingham | 8:05 PM | Blair, Aaron (0-0, -.--) | Jaye, Myles (0-0, -.--) |
| Jackson | Jacksonville | 7:05 PM | Landazuri, Stephen (0-0, -.--) | Williams, Trevor (0-0, -.--) |
| Tennessee | Mississippi | 8:00 PM | Black, Corey (0-0, -.--) | Hursh, Jason (0-0, -.--) |
AA Texas League (TEX)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| NW Arkansas | Midland | 8:00 PM | To Be Determined | Neal, Zach (0-0, -.--) |
| Arkansas | Frisco | 8:05 PM | Smith, Nate (0-0, -.--) | Asher, Alec (0-0, -.--) |
| San Antonio | Tulsa | 8:05 PM | Hancock, Justin (0-0, -.--) | Anderson, Chris (0-0, -.--) |
| Corpus Christi | Springfield | 8:10 PM | Emanuel, Kent (0-0, -.--) | Petree, Nick (0-0, -.--) |
A+ California League (CAL)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| Modesto | Lake Elsinore | 10:00 PM | Senzatela, Antonio (0-0, -.--) | Butler, Ryan (0-0, -.--) |
| High Desert | Visalia | 10:00 PM | To Be Determined | Banda, Anthony (0-0, -.--) |
| San Jose | Lancaster | 9:30 PM | Beede, Tyler (0-0, -.--) | Holmes, Brian (0-0, -.--) |
| Stockton | Inland Empire | 10:05 PM | Covey, Dylan (0-0, -.--) | Ellis, Christopher (0-0, -.--) |
| Rancho Cucamonga | Bakersfield | 10:15 PM | De Leon, Jose (0-0, -.--) | Diaz, Edwin (0-0, -.--) |
A+ Carolina League (CAR)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| Winston-Salem | Frederick | 7:00 PM | Dykstra, James (0-0, -.--) | Horacek, Mitch (0-0, -.--) |
| Salem | Carolina | 7:00 PM | Dahlstrand, Jacob (0-0, -.--) | Gil, Yean Carlos (0-0, -.--) |
| Lynchburg | Potomac | 7:05 PM | Baker, Dylan (0-0, -.--) | Pivetta, Nick (0-0, -.--) |
| Wilmington | Myrtle Beach | 7:05 PM | Junis, Jake (0-0, -.--) | Underwood, Duane (0-0, -.--) |
A+ Florida State League (FSL)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| Fort Myers | Charlotte | 6:30 PM | Stewart, Kohl (0-0, -.--) | Smyly, Drew (0-0, -.--) |
| Dunedin | Clearwater | 7:00 PM | Labourt, Jairo (0-0, -.--) | Imhof, Matt (0-0, -.--) |
| Palm Beach | Jupiter | 6:35 PM | To Be Determined | To Be Determined |
| Brevard County | Daytona | 7:05 PM | Burgos, Hiram (0-0, -.--) | Travieso, Nick (0-0, -.--) |
| Bradenton | St. Lucie | 6:30 PM | Dickson, Cody (0-0, -.--) | Gsellman, Robert (0-0, -.--) |
| Tampa | Lakeland | 6:30 PM | Lail, Brady (0-0, -.--) | Ziomek, Kevin (0-0, -.--) |
A Midwest League (MWL)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| Quad Cities | Peoria | 8:00 PM | Lee, Chris (0-0, -.--) | Flaherty, Jack (0-0, -.--) |
| Dayton | West Michigan | 6:35 PM | To Be Determined | Lewicki, Artie (0-0, -.--) |
| Bowling Green | South Bend | 7:05 PM | Honeywell, Brent (0-0, -.--) | Stinnett, Jake (0-0, -.--) |
| Fort Wayne | Great Lakes | 6:05 PM | Dorminy, Thomas (0-0, -.--) | Stewart, Brock (0-0, -.--) |
| Beloit | Clinton | 7:30 PM | Graves, Brett (0-0, -.--) | Missaki, Daniel (0-0, -.--) |
| Cedar Rapids | Kane County | 7:30 PM | Batts, Mat (0-0, -.--) | Jones, Brent (0-0, -.--) |
| Wisconsin | Burlington | 7:30 PM | Diaz, Victor (0-0, -.--) | Newcomb, Sean (0-0, -.--) |
A South Atlantic League (SAL)
| Away | Home | Time (ET) | Away Probable Starter | Home Probable Starter |
| Kannapolis | Lakewood | 6:35 PM | Guerrero, Jordan (0-0, -.--) | Pinto, Ricardo (0-0, -.--) |
| Asheville | Rome | 7:00 PM | Jemiola, Zach (0-0, -.--) | Povse, Max (0-0, -.--) |
| Hagerstown | Hickory | 7:00 PM | Williams, Austen (0-0, -.--) | Jurado, Ariel (0-0, -.--) |
| Augusta | Greenville | 7:05 PM | To Be Determined | To Be Determined |
| Savannah | West Virginia | 7:05 PM | Oswalt, Corey (0-0, -.--) | Burnette, Jake (0-0, -.--) |
| Greensboro | Delmarva | 7:05 PM | Mader, Michael (0-0, -.--) | Means, John (0-0, -.--) |
| Lexington | Charleston | 7:05 PM | Fernandez, Pedro (0-0, -.--) | Foley, Jordan (0-0, -.--) |
Duels of the Day
April 9th
RHP AJ Cole (WAS - AAA) vs RHP Bryan Mitchell (NYY - AAA)
RHP Jose De Leon (LAD - A+) vs RHP Edwin Diaz (SEA - A+)
RHP Brent Honeywell (TB - A) vs RHP Jake Stinnett (CHC - A)
Injuries
- Colorado Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland ("a few weeks"; left shoulder fatigue) - 4/6/15
- Texas Rangers 3B Joey Gallo (3 weeks; left ankle surgery) - 4/3/15
- New York Yankees RHP Ty Hensley (season; right elbow - TJS) - 3/31/15
- New York Yankees RHP Domingo German (season; right elbow - TJS) - 3/30/15
- Minnesota Twins LHP Lewis Thorpe (season; left elbow - TJS) - 3/28/15
- Philadelphia Phillis SS JP Crawford (4-6 weeks; left oblique strain) - 3/26/15
- Baltimore Orioles RHP Hunter Harvey (4-6 weeks; fractured right leg) - 3/22/15
- Oakland Athletics 1B Rangel Ravelo (6-8 weeks; wrist surgery) - 3/13/15
- Chicago Cubs RHP Pierce Johnson ("a couple of weeks"; lat strain) - March 2015
- New York Yankees C Luis Torrens (season; torn right labrum) - 3/4/15
- Oakland Athletics 3B Matt Chapman (TBD; sprained left knee) - Unknown
- Kansas City Royals RHP Kyle Zimmer (6 months; right shoulder surgery) - 10/28/14
- Atlanta Braves LHP Max Fried (12 months; left elbow - TJS) - 8/15/14
Stat Updates -
Coming Soon!
Previous Gameday Threads -
None
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