Casper: Aneury Rodriguez continues to put together a fine season for Casper, although his cumulative stats still don't show it as well. One stat that does help is that for the third time this season he pitched five innings of shutout ball in a start in the Pioneer League. Last night he finished by allowing only two hits, two walks and striking out five. Again, the most important stat, however, is that he's not yet military draft eligible at seventeen years old. Casper lost, though as the team seems to lack a lot of power outside of the slowing down Cole Garner.
Update [2005-8-5 14:27:39 by Rox Girl]:
The comments below include a portion of this recap article from the Casper Star Tribune where Rodriguez talks about trying to find consistency in his pitching rhythm. Thanks to Rockiesbiggestfan for pointing it out.
Tri-City: Although Zach Simons had some troubles getting through the Eugene lineup (5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 HR), reliever Ryan Fox was trying to put on his own Dedunoesque diplay by K'ing nine in four innings. Fox isn't so much a prospect anymore as much as a last grasp at kick starting a career, but the nine K's are a positive step in that. Someone who does count as a prospect, however, is Travis Becktel who is switching over to wood from aluminum like he was born a beaver. Last night Becktel "only" had a pair of hits, but one was a solo homerun, his third of the year. Michael Paulk also had two hits in the loss.
Asheville: Samuel Deduno pitched five solid innings, allowing just one run on three hits and four walks, but the twelve strikeouts were the stat to look at. Jose Valdez, who I pointed out earlier in the week as a prospect who's been quietly raising his season stats of late, hit his thirteenth homerun of the season to give the Tourists a short-lived lead before they lost it in the sixth.
Modesto: Seth Smith had a big three hit game, including his seventh homerun, and the Nuts won in eleven innings. Jonathan Herrera had a double and scored, and then walked in the tenth inning, advanced to third on a Smith single and scored the eventual winning run on an Ian Stewart sac fly. Michael Davies also homered for the Nuts.
Update [2005-8-5 13:17:55 by Rox Girl]:
Jason "The Ghost of Larry Walker" Burch, who was credited with a blown save last night, gets the chance to step up into the vacated closer's role at Modesto with the promotion of Jim Miller, according to the Modesto Bee. The article includes some more information on his stuff, which hinges around his filthy slider. In the top thirty discussion, I referenced another article which includes some quotes from Rockies farm director Bill Geivett.
Tulsa: Jon Asahina and the Drillers got shellacked to the tune of eleven to nothing. Tony Miller doubled and walked.
Colorado Springs: The Sky Sox were rained out and will play a double header today, with Zach Day taking the mound in one of those two games. Notes: Notable absences include Dexter Fowler at Casper, Chris Ianetta and Matt Macri (still) at Tulsa, and Troy Tulowitzki at Modesto. Macri and Tulo have both been battling injuries of late, but no word yet on Fowler or Ianetta.