Minor League Ball Morning Report: Saturday, August 11th, 2018

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Minor League Ball Morning Report for Saturday, August 11th, 2018. I hope your weekend goes well. Here are a few tidbits.

*****A fine MLB debut last night for San Diego Padres right-hander Jacob Nix: six shutout innings against the Philadelphia Phillies, with four hits and two walks allowed while fanning four. The San Diego Union Tribune has some good quotes, noting that Nix escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning, with Padres manager Andy Green commenting that Nix steadily improved as the game progressed.

*****On a personal level, I’m happy to see Nix succeed, as he is a member of my Shadow Twins organization, as a comp round pick from 2015. It has been a fine season for my vanity project, with Nix, Eric Lauer, Austin Gomber, and Ben Meyer all arriving in the majors, the emergence of budding superstar Juan Soto, and the continued rapid development of Fernando Tatis, Jr.. It takes some of the sting out of losing Hunter Greene and Sam Carlson to Tommy John.

*****Blue Jays megaprospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. continues to destroy minor league pitching, homering in his third consecutive game for Triple-A Buffalo. He’s now hitting .404/.459/.682 on the season between Double-A, Triple-A, and rookie ball injury rehab. And he’s done all that while lowering his error rate at third base. I don’t know what Toronto intends to do here, but he’s ready for the majors now in my view.