Three out of four affiliates had a prospect pitcher to watch doing some impressive work.
Colorado Springs: As you probably read from the linked Post article in the Rockpile this morning, Brian Lawrence had a tough go of it in what could be his final rehab start. This is going to be a long post, so I'll just link the boxscore and ask that you pay attention to the bench/pen work of Alexis Gomez and Matt Herges as highlights.
Tulsa: Greg Reynolds has pitched seven official and three unofficial innings this season. According to the Tulsa Drillers' official site, he's faced 31 batters in that span, or one over the minimum. It's been an incredible start to the year for Greg, and people should be perking up and noticing some of these stats he's been putting up:
10 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K, 15/6 GB/FB ratio.
That is dominance. The Drillers won the game yesterday, seven to nothing. Herrera, Czarniecki, Colonel and Gaetti, -four players who probably could be in AAA if we weren't so backlogged in prospects- each had at least a pair of hits and contributed heavily to the victory.
Modesto: Pedro Strop has now pitched 5 2/3 innings this season in three appearances. He's given up 2 hits, no walks, and struck out six. I'm very glad we didn't lose him in the Rule 5 draft this past winter. The Nuts themselves lost another late and close game, this time 6-5 to the Giants with the score in doubt until the final out as Cole Garner's collision at the plate on a potential game tying single by Kyle Blumenthal ended the contest. More on the game can be found at the Modesto Bee.
Asheville: The Tourists typically have some of the best not-totally-baseball-related stories during the year, and if this first one's a glimpse of what's to come, it could be a fun season. Check out the report of squirrels run amok in a Savannah broadcast booth at the Asheville Citizen Times Tourists blog. Of course, this story broke on Friday, and then it caused a stir, frantic fans were quaking wondering who the squirrel would target next. And now the citizenry of Savannah has to be calmed. Don't worry folks. The squirrel's not out to get you.
Meanwhile, back on the field in Charleston, SC, the team fared much better:
That quote's from the Charleston Post Courier. Tyson might be interested to know that Sullivan forced the previously undefeated RiverDogs into 10 groundouts out of 14 balls in play, with another six K's in seven innings. The other out was registered on a failed attempt to steal home. Josh allowed one hit and one walk in those seven innings. Incredible. The offense was led by some timely hitting by Daniel Mayora, Michael McKenry and Hector Gomez.