A full Wrap tonight as the Cal League heads into the home stretch of the season. The 2nd half has just few weeks left, with the playoff races heating up. There’s been a ton of transaction action in the league recently, some involving big names, but the teams on the field keep grinding. Here are a few items and observations on this Friday night:
FRIDAY NIGHT FINALS
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – 1
INLAND EMPIRE – 5
Jharel Cotton (RC) – L (5-9), 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Trevor Foss (IE) – 5 IP, 5 H 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Michael Smith (IE) – W (1-0), 2 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Dennis Raben (IE) – 1-for-3, 2B, 3 R
MODESTO – 6
STOCKTON – 1
Jayson Aquino (MOD) – W (4-9), 8 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
David Dahl (MOD) – 3-for-5, 2 2B, RBI
Francisco Sosa (MOD) 2-for-2, HR (6), 3 BB
LANCASTER – 1
SAN JOSE – 2
Zach Morton (LAN) – 5 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Matt Lujan (SJ) – 7 IP, 4 H 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Stephen Johnson (SJ) – W (7-4), 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Daniel Carbonell (SJ) – 3-for-4, R
HIGH DESERT – 6
LAKE ELSINORE – 2
Jake Zokan (HD) – W (2-1), 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Gaby Guerrero (HD) – 1-for-4, HR (13), 2 RBI
Benji Gonzalez (LE) – 3-f0r-4, RBI
BAKERSFIELD – 5
VISALIA – 6
Beau Amaral (BAK) – 2-for-5, HR (3)
Sebastian Elizalde (BAK) – 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Ryan Gebhardt (VIS) – 2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI
Andrew Barbosa (VIS) – W (4-2), 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
TRANSACTIONS
There were several notable transactions this week, going up and down the organizational ladders. Padres ace Andrew Cashner landed in Lake Elsinore for a rehab start while Lancaster saw two more members of the club’s first-half powerhouse promoted:
|
PLAYER |
DATE |
FROM |
TO |
|
RHP Andrew Cashner |
8/8 |
SDP |
Lake Elsinore |
|
8/8 |
AZL |
San Jose |
|
|
LHP Spencer Hermann |
8/7 |
R-Pulaski |
High Desert |
|
RHP Kyle McMyne |
8/7 |
Bakersfield |
AA Pensacaola |
|
8/6 |
R-Billings |
Bakersfield |
|
|
8/4 |
Lancaster |
AA Corpus Christi |
|
|
LHP Josh Hader |
8/4 |
Lancaster |
AA Corpus Christi |
|
RHP Braden Shipley |
8/3 |
Visalia |
AA Mobile |
These aren’t all of the moves made over the week, of course, but you can see them all on the California League website’s transactions page.
NUTS’ AQUINO WITH ANOTHER BIG STRIKEOUT NIGHT
LHP Jayson Aquino came into this season as the Colorado Rockies’ #28 prospect by Baseball America’s rankings. He hasn’t had a great year to this point, with marks of 4-9, 5.15 ERA after tonight’s action.
But for the second time in his last 10 outings, Aquino has posted 11 K’s in a strong starting performance. Tonight, the 21-year old lefty out of the Dominican Republic went 8 1/3 innings against Stockton to earn the win, while fanning 11 batters. On June 20th, Aquino punched out 11 High Desert Mavericks over just 6 IP, despite taking a loss.
In between the two stellar outings, Aquino has been knocked around a bit, allowing a lot baserunners and earned runs to make his stats look less-than-sparkling.
Despite the high ERA, he has only allowed 4 HR over 80 1/3 IP.
Interesting case here. In 2012, Aquino went 10-1 across two different levels. In 2013 he went 0-10 combined over two different levels. 2011? 8-2. This year? 4-9.
Baseball America noted that Aquino needs to control his emotions on the mound. Without having seen him pitch, I can’t say how much of a factor that would be in his all-or-nothing run so far as a professional pitcher.
But I think this might be a guy you would want to buy a ticket to see on his day to pitch. This could be a dominant double-digit strikeout night or a parade of baserunners for the opposing team, sparking a Cal League shootout.
ROAD TRIPPIN’ TO STOCKTON
I’m off to Stockton for Saturday night’s Nuts-Ports matchup at Banner Island Ballpark. Looking forward to seeing the sun go down with the river rolling by beyond the RF fence.
