MiLB Recap August 10th 2016

[King]

---

http://i.imgur.com/91LyTx4.png

http://i.imgur.com/jC7VaGX.png

http://i.imgur.com/rjfusDg.png

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/9/8/194856098/cuts/Diamond_Scott_640_eqhvzjru_6mq1vpcr.jpg

 

The Bisons' shutout the Indianapolis Indians 1-0 in the second game of a three-game series on Wednesday, A hot and humid Coca-Cola Field proved to be the sight of a pitcher's duel, with both starters going at least 7.0 innings, and both clubs totaling just four hits apiece. Buffalo also moves back to the .500 mark in the win, at 59-59.

 

A solo-home run by Ryan Goins in the bottom of the first put the Herd up 1-0. Goins has hit well in his latest stint as a Bison, batting .297 in 18 games in Buffalo.

 

"Just a straight fastball," Goins said of the pitch that he deposited into the right field Bully Hill Party Deck. "I put a good swing on it and got it out of the park."

 

Scott Diamond worked masterfully on the mound for Buffalo. The righty retired the first seven hitters to face him, allowing just four hits and no earned runs in an 8.0 inning victory, his eighth of the year. He lowers his ERA at home to 2.21 this season.

 

"The best he's looked all year right there," Bisons' manager Gary Allenson said of Diamond. "He's had some other well pitched games, but that was really good. He had a good curveball tonight, best curveball of the year. He obviously spotted his fastball. If you asked him, he'd probably hand a lot of credit to Erik Kratz behind the plate."

 

"I got to probably give a major shout out to Kratz behind the plate," Diamond said of his outing, caught by veteran catcher Erik Kratz. "He stole so many strikes tonight for me. He just made it so much easier to give me a big target and just throw strikes, as many as possible."

 

Kratz has started seven game behind the plate for the Herd this year, with pitcher's owning a 3.51 ERA with him as the backstop.

 

"I think with the way he was framing outside, and just the game that he was calling, I think maybe a shook him off twice, and those were the ones that probably led to the base hits," Diamond said of Kratz.

 

Indianapolis starter Trevor Williams was nearly as good as Diamond, pitching 7.0 innings, allowing just three other hits after the Goins' home run. He benefitted from 10 groundouts through the first four innings. The Herd had two hitters reach on errors in the bottom of the third, but Williams escaped the jam to keep the score at 1-0. Goins came up with a runner on second in the fifth, but Williams punched him out for his third strikeout of the inning, and fourth of the game.

 

In the bottom of the seventh, Casey Kotchman reached second on a check-swing chopper in front of home plate, which catcher Elias Diaz overthrew on an attempted play at first base. Kotchman was stranded at second, when Erik Kratz popped up and Jio Mier struck out.

 

Dustin Antolin saved his first game since June 27 with a perfect ninth inning, preventing Diamond from becoming the first Bison with a complete game this year.

 

Last night, and tonight, was very warm, sticky, humid, and [Diamond]'s pitch count wasn't that high, he's gone 110 before, but I just figured with what the weather was, it was probably enough," Allenson said of the decision to remove Diamond.

 

The Herd did not take advantage of four errors for Indianapolis, the most a Bisons' opponent has made this season.

 

The final game of the Bisons' three-game set with Indianapolis will take place on Thursday, with first pitch set for 1:05 p.m. Chris Leroux is scheduled to throw for Buffalo, while Kelvin Marte will pitch for the Indians.

 

BISONS NOTES:

With Jose Bautista going on the disabled list for Toronto on Wednesday, Junior Lake has been recalled to the Blue Jays… Also before Wednesdays game, Bisons' closer Ryan Tepera was recalled to the Blue Jays. Tepera was 17 for his last 17 in save chances with Buffalo. In his place, Danny Barnes rejoins the Herd after a three-game stint with Toronto… Scott Diamond passed the 140 innings pitched plateau in the game, the first Bisons' starter to reach that total since Justin Germano in 2013… Diamond threw 8.0 innings for the second time this season. Only Diamond and former-Bison Wade LeBlanc have gone that deep into a ballgame for the Herd this season… The Indians have yet to beat Buffalo this year, as the Herd improves to 5-0 this year against them… Matt Dominguez ended his hitting streak at six games, going 0-4.

---

http://i.imgur.com/fx7RW59.png

http://i.imgur.com/CZeaG19.png

http://i.imgur.com/ULuYTmo.png

http://i.imgur.com/yXDDRhh.png

 

Bowie, MD - Richard Urena went 3-for-5 with three triples, establishing a new franchise record, and the Fisher Cats received a strong start from Wilmer Font, in a 7-4 win over the Baysox at Prince George's Stadium Wednesday night.

 

Font (2-0) allowed one run on two hits in his six innings. He walked two and struck out eight, retiring the final fourteen batters he faced for his second win in three starts with New Hampshire (54-61).

 

Urena, the 20-year old, playing as New Hampshire's designated hitter, tripled in the first and scored on a wild pitch. He tripled in the fifth, driving in Roemon Fields, who had singled, scoring on a Dwight Smith Jr. grounder. Urena tripled in the seventh inning, scoring on a double by Smith Jr. It's the first time the Fisher Cats as a team have had three triples in one game, and the mark was accomplished by a single player.

 

Shane Opitz ripped a two-run homer in the top of the second inning to stake the Fisher Cats to a 3-0 lead. Ian Parmley had led off the frame with a single.

 

Bowie (49-67) grabbed a run back in the bottom of the second when Joey Terdoslavich homered off Font.

 

New Hampshire made it 5-1 in the top of the fifth inning. Roemon Fields singled and advanced to third on a stolen base and error. Urena tripled him home and then scored on a fielders choice grounder by Dwight Smith Jr. The lead grew to 7-1 in the top of the seventh. Urena tripled, Smith doubled, and Ryan Lavarnway added an RBI single.

 

Baysox 2B Sharlon Schoop singled in a run in the seventh inning and they added two more runs in the bottom of the ninth before Chris Smith was summoned to close the game out, earning his tenth save with two strikeouts. David Hess (4-11) took the loss for Bowie.

 

New Hampshire, winners of seven of eight games, looks for a sweep at Bowie when the series concludes on Thursday morning at 11:05. RHP Taylor Cole will start the finale. The team then heads to Trenton a weekend series.

 

The Fisher Cats return to Northeast Delta Dental on Monday, August 15 to start a homestand with the Binghamton Mets. Join us as we begin our Back To School Celebration with a Pencil Bag Giveaway to the first 1,000 kids. For tickets, visit www.nhfishercats.com.

 

---

http://i.imgur.com/w34PgUe.png

http://i.imgur.com/UZJFre7.png

http://i.imgur.com/1osTdIV.png

http://i.imgur.com/3dBvU8I.png

---

http://i.imgur.com/3C2yaV2.png

http://i.imgur.com/wgPOcul.png

http://i.imgur.com/4gAmES7.png

http://i.imgur.com/cfU2hGF.png

---

http://i.imgur.com/IR1eouS.png

http://i.imgur.com/2QUr8Q4.png

http://i.imgur.com/PupnRjy.png

 

---

http://i.imgur.com/aKvhT5e.png

http://i.imgur.com/kl2xKK6.png

http://i.imgur.com/9fTl879.png

---

http://i.imgur.com/BjEXMtK.png

http://i.imgur.com/UzKpX1L.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/K7rGv8C.png

---

http://i.imgur.com/6Z9jHX8.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/DCpDeLg.png

http://i.imgur.com/TsshKRk.png

---

Kings 3 Stars of the Night

 

1) Richard Urena: Urena went 3/5 with 3 triples.

 

2) Scott Diamond: Diamond pitched 8 shutout innings with 6 strikeouts and no walks.

 

3) Kyle Weatherly: Kyle Weatherly pitched 6 innings with no earned runs allowed and 7 strikeouts.

 

 

Kings Platinum Arencibia

 

1) Sean Reid Foley: SRF did not last long in his first outing back from an undisclosed injury (or other reason for absence), going only 2 innings giving up 7 hits and 5 earned runs.

---

Francisco Mejia Update: Did Not Play

Hit streak still 48 games!

---

http://jaysprospects.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Cook_0568_wrqtjwbp_5mfob9mp-300x169.jpg

 

http://jaysprospects.com/2016/07/25/ryan-cook-lansing/

 

Determined is the best way to describe Blue Jays right-handed pitching prospect Ryan Cook. Whether it’s on the diamond, or in his future career in the medical field, Cook is focused on achieving all of his goals no matter how long it takes.

 

While he’s targeting all of the dreams he has set out for himself. The prospect still almost missed out on his chance of playing professional baseball. Remaining on the board after the MLB completed their amateur draft in 2015; Cook didn’t know what his future held in baseball until the Blue Jays called and offered him an undrafted free agent deal.

 

“Draft day was pretty stressful for me as I was one of those guys on the fringe and I didn’t know if I was going to get drafted or not,” stated Cook. “When the Blue Jays called and asked me to play I was ecstatic. It was probably the happiest moment of my life up to this point. It’s just an awesome feeling and I’m so grateful to have this opportunity.”

 

Presented with the convenience of seeing three different levels of the Blue Jays minor league system in his first season really helped Cook understand how to compete in pro ball. Appearing in games with the GCL Blue Jays, Dunedin Blue Jays, and the Vancouver Canadians respectively in 2015 really pushed the prospect in the right direction.

 

“The GCL is a tough league. You have to wake up every day really early and it’s hot so it’s not the best place to play. With that said, it was great just getting down there to get my feet wet,” explained Cook. “Playing in the GCL really helped me get my confidence going in pro ball. Dunedin was a really big eye opener for me just being there with all of the big prospects. It was great seeing if I throw strikes I can get these guys out. They’re good hitters there, but they’re still going to get themselves out 7 times out of 10. Vancouver was a blast. I faced a lot of the same guys I’m facing in the Midwest League. It was a nice first year seeing the lowest team, high-A, and that middle ground which I feel is very similar to playing in Lansing.”

 

Dealing with a little bit of adversity in the first half of the Midwest League season; Cook has come back stronger since the all-star break. Lowering his opponent batting average from .287 in the first half to .227 in the last month shows some promising advances in Cook’s season.

 

While Cook will be looking to lower his numbers a little more in the final six weeks of the season. Fans should be aware that the prospect has been making continual progress throughout the year that his statistics doesn’t necessary show.

 

One of the areas Cook has made the most strides is in his pitch repertoire. These improvements can be seen in the prospects secondary pitches. Competing with a better slider and rediscovering the changeup are noticeable changes for Cook who admits that he tries to build off his sinker and fastball before mixing in his off-speed pitches to keep hitters off-balance.

 

“I’m a pretty fastball dominant pitcher,” explained Cook. “I like to sink the pitch with arm side run. I get ground balls and get ahead with that pitch. After that I’ll try to get a punch out with my breaking ball. My changeup is a bit of a work in progress. I didn’t throw it much last year, so now I’m working it back in. But for me it’s all about working off the fastball. I’m a fastball guy even though I don’t throw too hard. I work sinkers in spots and rely on weak contact.”

Seeing some definite advantages in sinking his pitches in professional baseball, Cook discusses what he has liked about his ability to keep baseballs low in the zone this season.

 

“The sinker plays big time in professional baseball. I think more so than velocity,” Cook added. “In college it doesn’t help as much with metal bats as guys can still flick something into the outfield for a hit at times. With the wooden bats they break more often and you get weaker contact. I think it’s huge to have that ability. It’s something I want to get more consistent with so I can play with it and see where it takes me.”

 

Encouraged by the way Cook has developed his pitches throughout the season. Lansing Lugnuts pitching coach Jeff Ware feels the young pitcher is moving in the right direction with his career.

 

“I like the amount of strikes that Ryan Cook throws,” stated Ware. “Ryan pounds the zone and has deception with his fastball which gets a lot of chases. His slider is getting a lot better. His changeup is still a work in progress and he’s going to continue and work on that for the remainder of the season. When he gets that down it’ll really help him along in his career.”

 

But Cook is more than just a reliable arm for the Lugnuts’. He’s also an intelligent young man with big goals for the future. Completing a Pre-Med degree at the University of Richmond prior to becoming a professional baseball player shows the kind of work ethic that Cook brings to the table every day.

Hoping to be able to take the next step in his medical education when his playing days are over. The prospect made sure to stay focused on his studies, while conditioning during the winter.

 

“I did a lot of working out during the off-season,” stated Cook. “I did a lot of weight lifting with a guy at the gym. I threw a lot with my little brother. I worked a little bit at a sporting goods store and I did a lot of studying. Hopefully after baseball is done I’ll be able to go to medical school so I studied a lot for that during the off-season. The studying wasn’t always fun, but it’s something I’m focused on doing in the future as I studied Pre-Med at Richmond and medical school will be the next step in the process.”

 

While nobody can predict how far their career will go, it’s obvious that Cook has done an excellent job at preparing himself for success in the near future.

Whether Ryan Cook finds that success in professional baseball, or in the medical field, fans of the Toronto Blue Jays will continue to support the righty for years to come.

---

Edited August 11, 2016 by King

[Sparky12]

Urena on a tear, is he becoming our top prospect?

[admin]

Something must be up with SRF, first start in like ten days.

[burlingtonbandit]

3 Triples in a game is pretty f***ing hard to do. You would think that has to be a record?

[King]

3 Triples in a game is pretty f***ing hard to do. You would think that has to be a record?

 

It happens, but it's rare. Nice to see Urena having a good transition to AA either way.

[King]

Here is an article on the night Urena had -

 

http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20160810&content_id=194838858&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_l113

 

http://www.milb.com/assets/images/0/7/6/194840076/cuts/rurena_a7awm704_ngqmbg3u.jpg

 

Richard Urena has provided a little jolt to Double-A New Hampshire since his arrival last week. On Wednesday night, he made a little history.

 

"When he hits the ball, we just sit there and watch him run," Fisher Cats hitting coach Stubby Clapp said. "He is playing hard right now and has really added some life to our ballclub."

 

The top-ranked Blue Jays prospect recorded a team-record three triples as the Fisher Cats beat Bowie, 7-4, at Prince George's Stadium. He drove in a run and scored three times in his seventh game since a promotion from Class A Advanced Dunedin.

 

"[urena] has got a hitter's confidence," New Hampshire manager Bobby Meacham said. "When he goes to the plate, he's not like, "Oh, I'm in Double-A now, so I've got to do something different.' He's just using the same confident approach and swings at the pitches he thinks he can handle and [is] having a lot of success that way."

 

MLB.com's No. 86 overall prospect moved up a level on Aug. 3 after slashing .305/.351/.447 with 33 extra-base hits in 97 Florida State League games. Facing Baysox starter David Hess in the first inning, he ripped a one-out triple to center field and raced home on a wild pitch. Urena grounded out to short in the third but plated Blue Jays No. 29 prospect Roemon Fields and gave the Fisher Cats a 4-1 lead in the fifth with his second three-base hit.

 

"He's been doing the same things since the day he got here," Clapp said. "He's on the fastball. He's on time and ready to hit. He's not sitting there trying to play around and see a whole lot of pitches."

 

In the seventh, the 20-year-old shortstop -- who served as New Hampshire's designated hitter on Wednesday -- jumped on Hess' first pitch and sprinted his way into the Fisher Cats record book.

 

"When he hit the third one, it was a no-doubter," Clapp said. "The first two were over the fielders' heads, but the third one was in the gap. And at that point, it was just a matter of stopping at third or rounding the bag."

 

The switch-hitter from the Dominican Republic struck out in the ninth but finished his first week in the Eastern League with a .433 average (13-for-30), five triples, two doubles and seven runs scored.

 

"It's a big jump if you're not sure how good you are," Meacham said. "The best thing about him is it looks like he's sure he's a good player. He's sure of his offense at the plate, he knows what he needs to work on. On the defensive end, he's been working on that as well. He has played hard in every game and ran the bases, so it's not a big jump for a player who is confident in his abilities. And that's what we are seeing from him so far."

 

Shane Opitz belted a two-run homer in the third for the Fisher Cats, while Blue Jays No. 27 prospect Dwight Smith also had a pair of RBIs.

 

Wilmer Font (2-0) struck out eight while allowing one run on two hits and two walks over six innings to pick up the win. Chris Smith fanned two in the ninth for his 10th save.

[Melvin]

Urena is on fire, awesome to see