As we enter another weekend, there is a little more than a week left in the first half of the season. A full slate of Friday-through-Monday 4-game sets are underway now, and there is another series ahead for all the clubs before things come to a brief halt after the games next Saturday, the 14th. The Carolina League/California League All-Star Game is on Tuesday, June 17th in Wilmington, DE. The Cal League roster can be seen on the official league page HERE.
GREAT PITCHING TONIGHT
It’s an offense-first league and the weather is starting to heat up out here, but there were several stellar pitching performances tonight. Lake Elsinore RHP Joe Ross, the Padres’ #9 prospect, went six strong innings, allowing just one unearned run on two hits, striking out seven against just one walk.
Up in Visalia, the Diamondbacks’ #2 prospect, RHP Braden Shipley, also went six innings, with an impressive line of 2H, 3R (0ER), 4BB and 8K.
In Rancho Cucamonga, facing the Bakersfield Blaze, RHP Jharel Cotton may have been even better than Ross and Shipley: 7IP, 4H, 1R (0ER), 0BB and 6K.
And in Modesto, the San Jose Giants and the Nuts had a tense battle, largely due to the starters having solid outings:
Ryan Bradley (SJ) – 6IP, 8H, 2R (1ER), 0BB, 6K
Ben Alsup (Mod) – 6 1/3IP, 7H, 2ER, 1BB, 6K
It can be done. Not very often out here. But it can be done.
MODESTO WALK-OFF
The Giants and Nuts went to extras tonight, tied at two, thanks largely to those great starts from Bradley and Alsup. San Jose struck for a run in the top of the 10th and Modesto had the daunting task of coming back against Steven Okert ahead of them. But they managed to pull it off. A Rosell Herrera single set the stage for a for a walk-off 4-3 Modesto win. Great late-night drama.
Here’s the call from Nuts announcer Keaton Gillogly:
APPEL RETURNS TO JETHAWKS
2013 top overall draft pick Mark Appel has had a difficult time adjusting to pro ball and his story is getting a lot of run a year after he was taken by the Astros at #1. With the First-Year Player Draft happening Thursday-Saturday, the struggles of last year’s top pick were sure to make the news.
Appel’s situation is a little unusual in that he had an appendectomy in the offseason that undoubtedly upset his preparation for spring training. The right-hander out of Stanford started the year with Lancaster and was underwhelming before getting sent to extended spring training. The adjustment to the Lancaster rotation was cited as a problem with Appel used to pitching on the college schedule.
The Astros’ #2 prospect returned to the Jethawks last Saturday night and it didn’t go well at all. After that 1 1/3 inning disaster, Appel is now on the Inactive list, apparently with tendinitis in his right thumb.
It’s early, but this has clearly been one of the more torturous starts to a career for a top overall pick.
FRIDAY-TO-MONDAY 4-GAMERS
With the first half careening into the Carolina League/California League All Star Game mid week on the 17th, the scheduling has spawned a round of four-game tilts that span the weekend and beyond. From tonight through Monday, here are the matchups:
LANCASTER @ VISALIA
BAKERSFIELD @ RANCHO CUCAMONGA
HIGH DESERT @ STOCKTON
INLAND EMPIRE @ LAKE ELSINORE
SAN JOSE @ MODESTO
BASEBALL AMERICA ALL-STAR GAME ARTICLE
Baseball America has an article up on the upcoming All-Star Game that has the full rosters for both the Carolina League and the California League HERE.
