Minor League Ball Gameday, Saturday, April 8th

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Minor League Ball Gameday discussion thread for Saturday, April 8th, 2017. Let’s get down to business.

****Today’s Minor League Scoreboard

****Today’s MLB scoreboard

****Beyond the Boxscore’s excellent daily MLB summary

NOTABLE MINOR LEAGUE PERFORMANCES FROM 4/7/2017

****Oakland Athletics prospect Franklin Barreto went 3-for-5 for Triple-A Nashville, making him 5-for-10 in his first two games.

****Texas Rangers prospect Ti’Quan Forbes hit a home run for Low-A Hickory last year while going 2-for-4. He homered on Opening Day as well. Although he is repeating the South Atlantic League he is still only 20 years old. He slogged through a mediocre season in 2016 but the former second-rounder has plenty of tools and will be watched closely to see if he’s learning how to use them.

****Minnesota Twins prospect Nick Gordon hit three singles last night for Double-A Chattanooga, driving in two teammates. Another Twins prospect, promising first baseman Lewin Diaz, is 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles in his first two games for Low-A Cedar Rapids.

****Fast start with Triple-A Fresno for Houston Astros outfield prospect Derek Fisher, 3-for-6 so far with two homers and a walk.

****For other highlights, check yesterday’s Gameday discussion thread.

RECOMMENDED READING

****Baseball America has a list of the youngest players at each level opening 2017.

****Chicago White Sox prospect Yoan Moncada has seven hits in his first two games for Triple-A Charlotte. Milb.com has a good article about him with a brief interview.

****University of Houston left-hander Seth Romero has been suspended indefinitely from the team. Romero is considered a potential first round pick and we profiled him earlier this spring, but the situation may be serious enough to throw his draft status into doubt, at least for the first round. Romero leads NCAA in strikeouts but whatever happened was bad enough for the Cougars to suspend their ace for “multiple violations of university and athletic department policy.”

"At this time, it is important for Seth to focus primarily on his academic and personal life," UH vice president for intercollegiate athletics Hunter Yurachek said in a statement