Thursday Pebble Report: Will Swanner May Be Out for the Year

Low-A Asheville - L 5-6, (25-21, L1 3rd, 4.5 GB)

Perhaps you had noticed #13 PuRP Will Swanner (2010, 15th round) had not played since August 2. Swanner had been in the midst of arguably the biggest breakout season for any Rockies prospect , as the 20yo C/DH is 2nd in the SAL in batting average, 4th in OBP, 3rd in SLG and 3rd in OPS. It turns out the catcher was playing catch last week, leapt for an errant throw and came down inside a bag of baseballs, badly injuring his ankle. Nothing is official yet, but Swanner might just miss the rest of the season with the injury, though I am told he is not using a boot or crutches currently. Tyler Massey (2008, 14th round), whose batting average is second on the team only to Swanner, may miss two weeks with an oblique injury.

Until last night though, Asheville was undefeated in Swanner's absence. William Rankin (2011, 17th round) faced three batters in the ninth, allowing a leadoff single two batters before a walk-off two-run home run by Kellin Deglin. Rankin had allowed just one run in eleven innings with Asheville following six scoreless outings for Tri City. #21 PuRP Harold Riggins (2011, 7th round) hit his 18th and 19th home runs on the year, and Jordan Ribera tagged on his seventh of the season, which had given the Tourists the 5-4 lead they held until the walkoff home run.

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AAA Colorado Springs - W 4-2, (63-56, W1, 2nd, 7.0 GB)

HM PuRP Tommy Field (2008, 24th round) and Chad Tracy (2012, trade) each hit solo home runs, and Tract added a ninth inning RBI single to drive home Andrew Brown (2012, waivers), who had doubled, for the winning run. The emergency free agent pitchers delivered thewin for the Sky Sox. Freshly signed Eric Junge (2012, MiLB FA) allowed one run in four innings in his Colorado Springs debut, and Ricky Brooks (2012, MiLB FA) was blesmishless except for a solo home run in two innings of relief. HM PuRP Coty Woods (2009, 33rd round) worked around two singles for his sixth AAA save.

AA Tulsa - L 3-4, (19-26, L1, 3rd, 11.5 GB)

#29 PuRP Parker Frazier (2008, 7th round) pitched fairly well, but his struggles after a blown call in the third inning were enough to sink him. Frisco unloaded two two-out two-run home runs off Frazier in the frame, accounting for the entirety of the RoughRiders' offense on the evening. Frazier induced 15 ground outs in eight strong innings. Tulsa pulled to within one on a Michael Mitchell home run in the fifth, but they would get no closer. #1 PuRP Nolan Arenado (2009, 2nd round) contributed a double in the first inning and scored the first Drillers run. Angelys Nina (2007, DR) had three hits for Tula

High-A Modesto - W 3-2, (24-21, W1, 2nd, 1.0 GB)

Christian Bergman (2010, 24th round) came into the night tied with Phillies prospect Tyler Cloyd for the most wins in the entire minor leagues with four. He finished the night with six shutout innings to drop his ERA to 3.00, helping Modesto take a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning. But Bergman would not take sole possession of the minor league win race, as Nick Schnaitmann (2008, 22nd round) pirated that W by blowing the save in the ninth, walking two and allowing two hits to tie the game at two.

A Jared Clark (2009, 12th round) double, #20 PuRP Cristhian Adames (2007, DR) triple and Joey Wong (2009, 24th round) single in the second accounted for the only runs prior to the ninth in the game. Fortunately, Modesto would finish the game off early to prevent Jared Clark from risking his 0.00 ERA on the mound. Juan Crousset (2007, DR) singled and Adames walked with two outs in the ninth to set up the winning run, which scored on a Joey Wong single to left.

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Short Season-A Tri City - W 9-3, (7-8, W2, t-2nd, 3.0 GB)

The first half of the game wasn't pretty, as the Dust Devils offense was nonexistent while #17 PuRP Peter Tago (2010, sandwich pick) was rickety on the mound. The right-hander walked in a run in the first inning following two singles and a hit batter. He hit a batter in the third as well, when Vancouver plated two runs, both unearned thanks to an error by first baseman Miguel de Leon (2008, DR) on a pickoff move. Ryan Arrowood (2012, 28th round) relieved and earned the win by any description, striking out seven in three shutout innings. Arrowood has put together a very impressive pro debut, with a 1.06 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 34 innings.

The Dust Devil offense was awoken by a two-run home run from Francisco Sosa (2007, DR) in the sixth, which preceded a 7-run eruption in the seventh. Six different Dust Devils singled in the inning in addition to a Kyle von Tungeln (2012, 13th round) triple and Derek Jones (2012, 8th round) walk. Patrick Hutcheson (2012, 29th round) had three singles on the night, two in that seventh inning.

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Rookie Grand Junction - L 4-7, (3-8, L2, 4th, 5.0 GB)

David Dahl (2012, 1st round) doubled home a run and scored in a three-run inning and two hit night, but the offense wasn't enough. Eddie Butler (2012, sandwich pick) struggled with command in allowing four runs off four walks and six hits over four innings. Max White (2012, 2nd round) seems to be breaking through his early struggles, as the outfielder recorded a hit for the fourth consecutive game.

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DSL Rockies - PPD, (33-23, 1st)

Rain kept Miguel Dilone and company off the diamond yesterday. They'll retry their game with Cubs1 this morning.