Minor League Ball Gameday: Friday, June 30th, 2017

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to the Minor League Ball Gameday discussion thread for Friday, June 30th, 2017. Let’s get started.

****Today’s Minor League Scoreboard

****Today’s MLB scoreboard

****Yesterday’s Highlights can be found in the Thursday discussion thread.

COOL STUFF THAT HAPPENED YESTERDAY

****Chicago White Sox prospect Reynaldo Lopez had an excellent start yesterday for Triple-A Charlotte, fanning 11 in 6.2 innings against Columbus, allowing six hits, one walk, and one run. He’s been erratic this year and has a 4.22 ERA in 81 innings, 79/35 K/BB. Although he pitched 44 innings for the Washington Nationals in 2016 Lopez actually had just five starts of Triple-A experience under his belt before this year, so spending more time in the minors isn’t really a negative for his development in the big picture. He’s still just 23.

****Baltimore Orioles outfield prospect Austin Hays went 4-for-4 for Double-A Bowie with a home run and four RBI. He’s now hitting .394/.412/.636 in eight games since moving up from High-A, and is at .336/.369/.597 with 18 homers combined at the two levels. Hays was drafted in the third round in 2016 from the University of Jacksonville and deserves much more attention than he’s received. His tools are solid across-the-board and he can obviously hit.

****Speaking of “needs more attention,” Toronto Blue Jays prospect Bo Bichette slipped below .400 last night and is hitting a stunning .399/.462/.643 in 258 at-bats for Low-A Lansing. Scouting reports from the Midwest League are glowing and he is now hitting .406 in 340 at-bats for his entire career. He was a second rounder last year and at this point that looks like an incredible bargain for the Jays.

UNCOOL THINGS

Dustin Fowler. Ugh.