Casper: Cole Garner hadn't hit a homerun for a while before knocking his tenth out in Casper's homecoming last night. Xavier Cedeno will probably be rising next year on our prospect lists, so watch out.
Tri-City: James Freeman pitched well again, he seems to be straightenoing out his control issues nicely, walking only two in five innings, while K'ing seven. Travis Becktel's hit streak ends with a zero for five, but don't worry, he'll start a new one tonight.
Asheville: On July 30th against Lexington in the first game of a double header, Joe Koshansky got a golden sombrero, going zero for four with four K's. He carried that slump into the next game of the double dip, going zero for three with one more K. So let's get that straight: on July 30th Joe Koshansky went zero for seven with five strikeouts.
Something must have been adjusted: starting with July 31, the next four times Joe hit safely, it was by hitting it over the fence. Clobberin Joe has gone for extra bases at least once in each of the five games since that bad day. He has five homeruns, two doubles and just one single going eight for twenty-one in that span with three walks and three K's, someone check my math, but that should be a line of .381/.458/1.042! or an OPS of an even 1.500. That's a streak, with Brandon Wood slumping, Koshansky has a legit shot of catching him for the minor league homerun lead. Matt Miller also homered (as David pointed out last night this is on the road). Also, Justin Nelson had a perfect night at the plate, collecting two more doubles and two more walks in going three for three. Frankie Morales pitched five strong and the Tourists won six-five after Scott Beerer and Adam Bright let it get close.
Modesto: One player I thought would get more consideration for the PuRPS list is Christian Colonel, and I'm partly to blame for this since I voted already, but Colonel hasn't received a single point yet.
So let's make a comparison:
Player A: born December 26, 1982, Low A OPS: .967
Player B: born December 25, 1981, High A OPS: .946
Matt Miller's OPS is aided a bit more by his park than Colonel's (both are hitter's parks, but McCormick is more extreme) so what I'm saying is essentially Miller and Colonel are the same player, versatile right-handed outfielders who are intriguing, but mostly conjecture at this point. They are a year apart in age, but also a year apart in the system. Miller hits for a higher average, Colonel takes more walks, but there's not a lot of difference otherwise. Yet Miller will wind up ranking somewhere around number twenty in the inaugural PuRPS poll and Colonel? Well, he probably won't even be in the picture at this rate, but we'll debate this further after the season. I'm not knocking Miller as much as I'm saying my readers seem to be indicating Colonel needs more props.
Okay, here they are: he hit his twenty-seventh double of the season going two for four last night. Colonel now has enough AB's to qualify (he only has 250) and now ranks fifth in the California league in batting just in front of teammate Joe Gaetti and Eddy-Martinez Esteve of the Giants. Colonel's .426 OBP ranks number six right ahead of Howie Kendrick and Billy Butler. Because he is a gap hitter right now and hasn't quite found his homerun stroke, his .520 SLG is a bit lower, tied with Nate Schierholtz for fifteenth in the league. I'm throwing these names out here because these are some of the best prospects in the minors, and Colonel is right up near them statwise (Gaetti even moreso, but I'll get to him later). Just thought I'd let you know.
Ian Stewart committed his 18th error at third. Kyle Wilson also went two for four and seems to be adjusting well to his promotion.
Tulsa: Ubaldo Jiminez pitched great, seven innings, only three hits and two walks allowed with four K's. Tony Miller homered and tripled to lead the offense in the win and Chris Ianetta also had a pair of hits, including one double and knocked in three.
Colorado Springs: The Sky Sox lost a pair to the Sounds. Zach Day pitched a decent five innings in game one, but the offense just wasn't there for him.