4/15 Minor League Update

Richmond 3, Rochester 4 (8 Inn.)

• J. Anderson - 1-4 HR (1),
  
• B. Lillibridge - 1-4 2 SB (4), K
• B. Jones - 1-3 BB, K
• B. Canizares - 1-4 2B
• P. Stockman - 3.1 IP 0H 0R 0BB 4K

Richmond loses its second straight game. Nothing really special to report other than Phil Stockman is pitching well. This doesn't really surprise me. When we picked him up from Arizona a couple years back we converted him to the bullpen and he was fairly dominant from then on barring injury. With the wave of injuries in Atlanta expect him to get the call at some point this season.

Mississippi 1, Birmingham 2

• C. Loadenthal 1-5 SB (3)
• G. Creek - 0-1 3 BB, K
• J. Parr - 5.2IP 4H 2R 3BB 5K

Van Pope was put on the disabled list today with a strained left hamstring (sound familiar?). He was replaced on the roster by Paul Bennett from The Beach. He was actually hitting a bit better this season too going down in the midst of a five game hitting streak. I would like to say that I am a bit of a fan of James Parr. He was compared to Kyle Davies when he was drafted (I know a little scary, but Davies was good in the minors!) and he has slowly worked his way up the minor league ladder each year and is still only 22 this season. He has averaged a solid 7 K/9 over his career and just over 2 BB/9. Just don't be surprised when he is filling out the back end of the rotation in a season or so.

Winston-Salem 1, Myrtle Beach 6

• G. Hernandez - 2-5 2B, RBI, CS
• T. Jones - 1-3 2BB
• T. Flowers - 1-4 RBI, BB, 2 K
• D. Heath - 7.2IP 7H 1R 1BB 7K

Deunte Heath throws another solid game and pushes his way through most of the 8th inning. This is an excellent sign considering he has not made it out of the sixth in his first two starts of the year. Between him and Tommy Hanson they have 34IP with 2ER and 38K. That might be the best tandem in the Carolina league. I'd have to do real research to confirm that. As far as the offense goes, Gorkys is proving he is a real prospect and everyone else on the team got a hit too.

Rome 3, Columbus 6

• J. Heyward - 1-4 K
• C. Johnson - 1-2 2 BB, K
• C. Rodriguez - 1-3 2 RBI, SF, K

The Rome team didn't get much from the tandem start of Scott Diamond and Edgar Osuna. That is moot though. The real story here is Cody Johnson walked....TWICE!!!!! I mean that deserves cake or something (though I hear the cake is a lie). His K/BB is still 19/3 on the season so it really isn't anything spectacular. Really the thing we want him to do first is to cut down on the strikeouts. You just can't K nearly 50% of the time at Low A (or any level) and expect to succeed.

Richmond's rotation has been battered by Atlanta's injuries so we don't know who is throwing there tomorrow. Mississippi is throwing Todd Redmond, The Beach will send out Kyle Cofield, and I'm not sure what two guys are scheduled tomorrow in Rome. Start looking for the starters to begin stretching themselves out a little.