Jesus Tinoco hasn’t exactly had the ideal year. The noted “other prospect” in the Troy Tulowitzki trade three years ago delivered promising results in his first taste of the Rockies system, providing a 1.80 ERA over seven starts and 40 innings for Asheville in 2015. Since then his career ERA has steadily grown to 4.81 over 565 1⁄3 innings. Heading into his start in Hartford Friday night he sported a 5.54 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP in 52 innings in 2018.
Friday night wasn’t like most nights. Through six innings he was able to scatter five hits without allowing Altoona to do any damage, including jams in the first, second, and fifth innings where the Curve had runners in scoring position with less than two outs and came up empty, thanks in large part to Tinoco’s strikeouts, of which he had eight on the evening. He went out for the seventh inning, the first time he’s seen that inning this season, but promptly walked the first batter he saw before giving up a game tying home run to Logan Hill. He managed to secure one more out to make it his longest outing of the year, but the damage was already done; the Yard Goats would go on to lose 4-3.
Tinoco’s strikeouts are way up this year to 8.5 K/9 from 6.8 K/9 a year ago. Unfortunately, he’s had his issues with the walk (2.9 BB/9) and the home run (1.5 HR/9). While neither are the highest he’s had since arriving in the Rockies’ system, they lead to a 4.63 FIP which is indicative that his 5.54 ERA might not be coming down anytime soon.
But still, pitching into the seventh with eight strikeouts and just eight base runners is well worth applauding.
★ ★ ★
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 3, Fresno Grizzlies 10
Raimel Tapia: 1-for-4, R
Jeff Hoffman: 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R/ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Jordan Patterson (no. 14 PuRP): 0-for-4
Mike Tauchman (no. 22 PuRP): 2-for-4
★ ★ ★
Double-A: Hartford Yard Goats 3, Altoona Curve 4
Brendan Rodgers (no. 1 PuRP): 1-for-3, R, BB
Brian Mundell (no. 13 PuRP): 0-for-2, R, BB
Forrest Wall (no. 16 PuRP): 1-for-3, R, 2B
Wes Rogers (HM PuRP): 0-for-4
Jesus Tinoco (HM PuRP): 6 1⁄3 IP, 6 H, 3 R/ER, 2 BB, 8 K
★ ★ ★
High-A: Lancaster JetHawks 0, Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 2
Colton Welker (no. 5 PuRP): 0-for-4
Willie Abreu (no. 26 PuRP): 0-for-3
Rico Garcia: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
★ ★ ★
Low-A: Asheville Tourists 4, Greenville Drive 7
Ryan Vilade (no. 7 PuRP): 1-for-3, R, BB
Will Gaddis (no. 23 PuRP): 6 1⁄3 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Chad Spanberger (no. 29 PuRP): 1-for-4
Casey Golden: 2-for-4
★ ★ ★
Saturday Probables
Triple-A Albuquerque: Sam Howard (no. 10 PuRP) vs. Fresno (HOU), 6:35 pm MT
Double-A Hartford: Peter Lambert (no. 4 PuRP) vs. Altoona (PIT), 4:05 pm MT
High-A Lancaster: Ty Culbreth @ Rancho Cucamonga (LAD), 8:05 pm MT
Low-A Asheville: Antonio Santos @ Greenville (BOS), 5:05 pm MT