October 17, 2012

Minor League Update

Games of October 16

by Bradley Ankrom

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All four active leagues played games on Tuesday:

• Yordy Cabrera, 3B, Athletics (22) (Phoenix): 1-for-5, HR (1), 2 RBI, K. Homers in his AFL debut; replaced organization-mate Miles Head on the Phoenix roster after Head sustained a left shoulder strain on a check swing over the weekend.
• Nick Castellanos, RF/LF, Tigers (20) (Mesa): 2-for-4, 2B (3), 2 R, K. Has two hits each in five of six games and is hitting .400/.464/.640 while splitting time between left and right field.
• Johermyn Chavez, LF, Mariners (23) (Magallanes): 3-for-5, HR (1), 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 K. Batting .600/.714/1.200 through his first two games in Venezuela.
• Nick Franklin, 2B/SS, Mariners (21) (Peoria): 3-for-4, 2 2B (2), R, 2 RBI. 7-for-12 in his last three games with three extra-base hits; .500/.500/.813 overall.
• Kyle Gibson, RHP, Twins (24) (Peoria): 5.0 IP, 6 H, R, 8 K. Back-to-back dominant performances for the 2009 first-rounder; Gibson leads the AFL with 16 strikeouts in 10 innings and is 2-0, 0.90 ERA, 16-0 K-BB overall.
• Aaron Hicks, CF, Twins (23) (Margarita): 2-for-3, 2B (2), R, RBI. Owns a four-game hit streak and has five hits in his last eight at-bats; batting .412/.444/.529 overall.
• Chris McGuiness, 1B, Rangers (24) (Surprise): 2-for-4, HR (3), 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB. Early front-runner for the annual “fringe prospect who tears up the Arizona Fall League” award; McGuiness has collected 0-4-0-3-0-2 hits in his six AFL games and is hitting .360/.429/.800 overall.
• Sean Ochinko, C, Blue Jays (24) (Salt River): 2-for-5, RBI. Makes contact and owns legitimate pop; hit .278/.327/.438 between High-A Dunedin and Double-A New Hampshire during the regular season; may not get a chance in Toronto, where he’s clearly behind Travis d’Arnaud and A.J. Jimenez on the upper-minors-backstops depth chart.
• Darin Ruf, LF, Phillies (26) (La Guaira): 1-for-3, HR (1), BB. Both of Ruf’s hits have been for extra bases; batting .133/.188/.400 overall, but has yet to earn a hit off of a right-handed pitcher (0-for-12 with four strikeouts).
• Kolten Wong, 2B, Cardinals (22) (Surprise): 4-for-4, 2B (1), 2 R, 2 RBI. Is 6-for-8 over his last two games and maintains a four-game multi-hit streak after going 0-for-4 in his debut on October 9.

Other Notes
The Salt River (Arizona) battery combination of Aaron Barrett-Sean Ochinko allowed Kyle Jensen (one SB in his last 262 games) to steal a base in the eighth inning, but nailed Hak-Ju Lee (37-for-46 in stolen base attempts this year) in the seventh. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing (but it’s funny, right?).