Princes of Kauffman – 5/27/2011

Kane County Cougars – 20-27 (7th place)

Wilmington Blue Rocks – 28-17 (1st place)

Northwest Arkansas Naturals – 22-19 (1st place)

Omaha Storm Chasers – 26-21 (1st Place)

Low A (Kane County):

5/20/2011 – Kane County Cougars 4, Beloit Snappers 3

Leonel Santiago – 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 7 SO

Guelin Beltre – 3/6, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Santiago has really kicked it into gear at this point in the season and has had a few good outings recently.  That combined with Beltre being a 2B short of the cycle and we have a solid win for Kane County which is not becoming the rarity it was early on in the season now.

5/21/2011 – Kane County Cougars 6, Beloit Snappers 5

Yordano Ventura – 3 IP, 5 R, 5 H, 2 BB, 3 SO

Cheslor Cuthbert – 2/5, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

Ventura as a 19 year old pitcher is still trying to find the ropes and I would imagine that they are probably keeping him on a pretty low pitch count in his first couple of starts, trying to stretch him out for later in the season.  In only his 3^rd game Cheslor Cuthbert had a very good showing and is hopefully showing flashes of what is to come in the future for this talented 19-year-old.

5/22/2011 – Kane County Cougars 4, Beloit Snappers 0

Jason Adam – 8 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 SO

Travis Jones – 1/3, 2 R, 1 HR

In only his second start Jason Adam looked extremely sharp.  Adam has lots of scouts and people in the Royals organization pretty excited and this is a great example of why that is, showing good command of his pitches Adam nearly pitched his first complete game in the majors.  It was an easy victory for the Cougars and helped them complete the sweep of the Snappers over the weekend.

5/23/2011 – Kane County Cougars 8, Beloit Snappers 5

Ray Marimon – 4 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 1 SO

Cheslor Cuthbert – 3/5, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Kane County continues to pick things up.  They are starting to not only win more games but just be more competitive all around.  This is no doubt helped by the infusion of more talent of which includes Cuthbert who is performing well in his limited time he has spent in Kane County.

5/24/2011 – Kane County Cougars 1, Quad City Swing 5

Leondy Perez – 6 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 H, 2 BB, 7 SO

Ryan Stovall – 1/3

Perez continues to pitch very well for the Cougars.  Unfortunately as has been the case too often this year, the KC offense was not able to help out their pitcher enough and KC came away with the loss.

5/25/2011 – Cancelled due to Rain.

5/26/2011 – Kane County Cougars 3, Quad City Swing 2

Leonel Santiago – 6 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 5 SO

Guelin Beltre – 3/4, 2 2B, 2 RBI

The KC pitchers continue to improve each time they go out to the mound.  Beltre was the lynchpin of the offense today that provided just enough to get the Cougars the victory.

High A (Wilmington):

5/20/2011 – Wilmington Blue Rocks 6, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 4

Tyler Sample – 8 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 2 SO

Whit Merrifield – 2/4, 2 R, 2 RBI

Another good outing from Sample as this talented pitching rotation continues to propel the Blue Rocks to victories.  Sample’s solid play (minus a couple of starts), with Odorizzi and Arguelles looking great and the NWA pitchers struggling means we could be seeing some promotions quite soon.  John Lamb is already on the DL and if things go bad his elbow issues could keep him out for longer on the season.  Dwyer had injury issues last year and it is possible they are still hampering him.  Moving both of them to the DL at some point would not be a surprise and that means there is room for the likes of these talented Wilmington pitchers.

5/21/2011 – Wilmington Blue Rocks9, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3

Jake Odorizzi – 6.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 4 SO

Carlo Testa – 3/4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 2 RBI

Odorizzi has come back down to Earth a bit after those 5 dominant starts where he threw 40+ strikeouts.  Even better news than those dominating starts is that him “coming down to Earth” means he pitches like this which is still excellent.  Odorizzi will be the first to get the call to AA and my guess is it’s coming soon.  Once there his numbers which look much more normal and the strikeout stats won’t be as big of a number.  He was helped in this game by Testa nearly hitting for the cycle, just a homerun short.

5/22/2011 – Wilmington Blue Rocks – 3, Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1

Noel Arguelles – 5.2 IP. 1 R, 1 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 SO

Carlo Testa – 2/4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI

Arguelless, just like Odorizzi the day before, continues to pitch above his pay grade.  Arguelles’ development will probably be taken a step slower than Odorizzi’s due to missing all of 2010 with an injury, but I still expect him in NWA by the end of the year.  The continued strength of their pitching is especially encouraging considering the struggles of John Lamb and Chris Dwyer in AA.

5/23/2011 – Wilmington Blue Rocks 1, Frederick Keys 4

Elisaul Pimentel – 6 IP, 2 R, 1 ER, 7 H, 0 BB, 5 SO

Rey Navarro – 2/4

The Blue Rocks, after an extremely hot start, have normalized and come back down to Earth.  Their pitching continues to range from solid to great but their offense is sporadic and can let them down from time to time.  Lots of players are hitting for a solid average but can’t find themselves knocking in the amount of runs they should be.  Hopefully that changes and they can reward their solid pitching with some more victories.

5/24/2011 – Wilmington Blue Rocks 3, Frederick Keys 1

Tim Melville – 5.2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 5 SO

Rey Navarro – 2/4, 2 RBI

Melville give yet another strong outing as Navarro leads the charge offensively giving the Blue Rocks the victory.  If Melville and Sample continue to pitch as they have they might be good candidates to move in some trades as there won’t be enough room in NWA to move them up along with Odorizzi and Arguelles who have shown they are ready for a new challenge.

5/25/2011 – Wilmington Blue Rocks 6, Frederick Keys 5

Tyler Sample – 4 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 3 SO

Yem Prades – 2/4, 2 R, 2 2B

Sample got hit around a little bit but the Blue Rock offense was able to pick him up and make still get the Blue Rocks to come away with a victory. 

Double A (Northwest Arkansas):

5/20/2011 –Cancelled due to rain.

5/21/2011 – Northwest Arkansas Naturals 3, Arkansas Travelers 6

Will Smith – 6 IP, 6 R, 5 ER, 10 H, 2 BB, 2 SO

Tim Smith – 2/4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI

Well, Will Smith had a few good outings strung together there and then he hit around quite a bit in this one.  The Naturals weren’t able to corral the Travelers offense and were put in their place.  The NWA pitching staff continues to struggle and they will have some major issues on the horizon with John Lamb on the DL after finally starting to pitch well.

5/21/2011 – Northwest Arkansas Naturals 0, Arkansas Travelers 2

Zach Miner – 2 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 2 SO

Ryan Eigsti – 1/2, 1 2B

A very uneventful game for the Naturals here.  The Travelers pitched a 2 hit shutout and there just wasn’t much going on in this offering.

5/22/2011 – Northwest Arkansas Naturals 9, Arkansas Travelers 5

Edgar Osuna – 5 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 SO

Christian Colon – 3/4, 2 R, 1 RBI

Osuna pitched a decent game with his best strikeout performance of the year.  With that in their cap the Naturals offense finally woke up with the help of Colon and they were able to take the victory from the Travelers, who were not able to escape Springdale with the sweep.

5/23/2011 – Cancelled Rain.

5/25/2011 – Northwest Arkansas Naturals 6, Frisco Roughriders 2

Buddy Baumann – 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 7 SO

Nick Van Stratten – 3/4, 1 R, 3 RBI

Baumann gave his best pitching performance of the year and the Naturals took advantage scoring a solid victory against Frisco.  A huge game by Van Stratten led the way on offense and was a primary reason the Naturals were able to come away victorious.

5/26/2011 – Northwest Arkansas Naturals 0, Frisco Roughriders 3

Will Smith – 6.1 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 SO

Nick Francis – 2/3

A pretty anemic game offensively didn’t help out Smith’s decent pitching performance.  The Naturals offense has struggled often this year and it’s not clear at this point where that difference will be made up.  They are gonna need some offense with the recent injury to John Lamb and with Will Myers still out, so hopefully somebody will step up soon.

Triple A (Omaha):

5/20/2011 – Omaha Storm Chasers 5, Las Vegas 51’s 12

Mike Montgomery – 7 IP, 3 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 BB, 7 SO

Clint Robinson – 2/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Without his awful outing in Colorado Springs Mike Montgomery has really begun to show why he was so highly regarded.  Only giving up 2 ER, in 7 innings of work with 7 SO and 2 BB shows that his control is starting to come around.  Maybe similar to the Moustakas-Hosmer situation, sending Duffy up to the majors first has lit a fire under Monty and he will start putting it together.  If he does then he will put it together just in time for the June call up along with Moustakas.  Clint Robinson continues to mash.

5/21/2011 – Omaha Storm Chasers 6, Las Vegas 51’s 8

Jeff Suppan – 5 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 3 BB, 4 SO

Paulo Orlando – 1/4, 1 2B, 3 RBI

It was a rough weekend for the Storm Chasers.  Not able to come out of Vegas with a victory they have now dropped 5 straight.  Suppan didn’t pitch a horrible game but the Storm Chasers were not able to capitalize against the 51’s.

5/22/2011 – Omaha Storm Chasers 7, Las Vegas 51’s 11

Vin Mazzaro – 6 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 3 BB, 4 SO

Lorenzo Cain – 3/5, 3 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

Vin Mazzaro’s glorious return to the mound didn’t do much good for either party as he pitched decently enough but the Storm Chasers bullpen struggled again and couldn’t keep the 51’s in check.

5/23/2011 – Omaha Storm Chasers 2, Tucsan Padres 1

Kevin Pucetas – 7 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 7 H, 3 BB, 3 SO

Clint Robinson – 2/4, 1 R

Pucetas continues to pitch well despite the one awful outing he had recently.  Robinson continues to light it up offensively, now batting .355, but still no word on when/if ever he will get the call up.

5/24/2011 – Omaha Storm Chasers 6, Tucsan Padres 5

Mike Montgomery – 3.2 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 H, 4 BB, 3 SO

Mike Moustakas – 2/5, 1 R, 2 RBI

Montgomery continues to struggle.  It may be because he is upset that he isn’t in the majors yet, either way, he needs to grow up and right the ship if ever wants to make it up in 2011.  Moustakas continues to mash and he should be in line for a June Call up.

5//25/ 2011 – Postponed Rain.

5/26/2011 – Omaha Storm Chasers 1, Tuscan Padres 3

5/26/2011 – Omaha Storm Chasers 8, Tuscan Padres 3

Jeff Suppan – 7 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 5 SO

David Lough – 2/3, 1 R, 3 RBI

Lough continues to impress sparking the offense to a solid victory.  Not sure of there will ever be room for Lough in the big leagues but he will eventually get a chance somewhere and will most likely make the most of it.