Down on the Farm

[unnameddbacksfan]

Some of the news has been trumped by the call up and the trace mentioned in earlier posts...

What's going on with the D-Backs minor league teams.

Triple-A Tucson: OF Trot Nixon hit two home runs Tuesday night, giving him 10, with a slugging of .571. His average is .316 and his on-base is .445. RHP Billy Buckner threw eight scoreless innings Tuesday, lowering his June ERA to 1.38 after he had a 3.00 ERA in May.

Double-A Mobile: OF Gerardo Parra is off to a good start following his promotion from Visalia. He is hitting .313 with two triples, one home run and four walks, giving him a .389 on-base and a .531 slugging percentage. RHP Hector Ambriz has allowed 13 home runs, tied for the most in the Southern League. He had a good start this week, though, throwing six scoreless innings Sunday.


Class A Visalia: RHP Cesar Valdez keeps following one good start with another. After beating San Jose with a shutout last week, he allowed two runs in six innings in a win over Lancaster. He has a 2.59 ERA in 13 starts.

Class A South Bend: The Silver Hawks continue to get solid pitching from the front of their rotation. RHPs Bryan Augenstein (2.21), Jarrod Parker (2.82) and Christian Beltre (3.30) rank among the top 20 in the Midwest League in ERA.

[unnameddbacksfan]

Minor league happenings

Lots going on in the Diamondbacks minor leagues since the last time we checked in with a farm report, including lots of players returning from injury.

So here’s a rundown of some of what’s been happening:

*Welcome back, SS Mark Hallberg. The Diamondbacks’ front office was disappointed when he went down with a thumb injury after just two games for Visalia, but he returned on Saturday and went 5 for 9 in two games. People in the organization liken him to Mark Loretta.

*RHP Matt Torra was promoted to Triple-A Tucson. He was told he was going to get at least two starts up there, but that it wasn’t necessarily a tryout. RHP Max Scherzer is getting stretched out again and figures to go back into the rotation once builds up his pitch count. But, who knows, if Torra continues to pitch well – he allowed three runs in six innings in his first Triple-A start – will they keep giving the ball to the struggling RHP Esmerling Vasquez or RHP Juan Gutierrez or the up-and-down LHP Evan MacLane? Or will they let Torra remain?

*Speaking of promotions, RHP Bryan Augenstein is getting one, from South Bend to Visalia. He’s scheduled to pitch tonight in the Midwest League All-Star Game and will head straight to San Jose where he will make his Cal League debut on Saturday. The long break is intentional. He is someone whose pitch count has been so consistently economical that he has racked up innings and they wanted to give him a bit of a break. Augenstein earned his promotion. A seventh-round pick last year out of Florida, he put up a 2.16 ERA in 87 1/3 innings.

*Can RHP Cesar Valdez be far behind? If any of the Visalia starters deserve a crack at Double-A, it’s him. Valdez has been fantastic since the start of the season, throwing strikes, pitching to contact, going deep into games and not allowing runs. He has a 2.52 ERA in 93 innings for Visalia.

*1B/OF Javier Brito has also returned, but with Mobile instead of Tucson. He had been shut down since April with a shoulder injury. The club had him on a plane to Mobile prior to sending OF Trot Nixon to the Mets, but the front office also wants him to rediscover his swing in Mobile after he hit just .170 in Tucson.

*2B Emilio Bonifacio remains on a tear this month. He’s hitting .383 in his past 10 games and is hitting .380 for June. His numbers overall numbers have improved in a hurry. He’s up to .310 on the year with a .355 on-base and a .394 slugging.

*RHP Dallas Buck returned from Tommy John surgery on Sunday, pitching five innings and allowing four runs for Class A South Bend. Apparently there hasn’t been a huge bump in velocity yet, mostly high 80s, but he was a consistent low-90s guy pre-injury at Oregon State, and he’s only 11 months out. Probably won’t be until the beginning of next season that he is all the way back.

*Another Tommy Johner, RHP Daniel Stange, is set to make his return on Thursday in South Bend. Stange was a 95-96 mph guy pre-surgery, but, same as Buck, got to give him time.

*RHP Matt Green, who had bone chips removed from his elbow in April, is expected back this week with Mobile. He had started the season with Tucson before the injury.

*Short-season Yakima and rookie-level Missoula get underway tonight. OF Alfredo Marte is a guy to watch with Yakima. He’s coming back from a shoulder injury so they’re trying to go a little easier on the arm by having him play left field, even though, when healthy, he has the arm for right. Also: OF Collin Cowgill (fifth round, 2008) and SS Justin Parker (sixth round, 2008).

In Missoula, a handful of interesting players to watch, including SS Reynaldo Navarro (third round, 2007), OF Tyrell Worthington (fifth round, 2007) OF/1B Ryne White (fourth round, 2008) and RHP Bryan Shaw (second round, 2008). Shaw officially signed today and is supposed to meet with reporters sometime tonight.

[unnameddbacksfan]

As of June 26:

How things are looking at the D-Backs' minor-league stops.

Triple-A Tucson: RHP Matt Torra, who was recently promoted from Double-A Mobile, has made two starts for the Sidewinders, pitching well both times. In his most recent start, on Saturday against Las Vegas, he allowed one run in seven innings to get the win.

Double-A Mobile: RHP Reid Mahon has had a strong season at the back of the bullpen. He had a 4.38 ERA in April, but has posted ERAs of 2.92 and 0.68 in May and June, respectively. He has 17 saves.

Class A Visalia: Another reliever having a strong year: RHP Josh Ellis. The side-armer has drawn comparisons to former big leaguer Greg McMichael. In 36 2/3 innings, he has 37 strikeouts, nine walks and a 2.21 ERA. Right-handed hitters are batting just .134 against him.

Class A South Bend: RHP Dallas Buck earned his first win since having Tommy John elbow surgery last year. Buck allowed one run in five innings on Sunday to beat West Michigan.

Short-season Yakima: Fifth-round pick Collin Cowgill has started his pro career with a bang. He has four home runs in 35 at-bats. He also has two doubles and four walks. The 22-year-old played at Kentucky.

Rookie-level Missoula: RHP Bryan Shaw, the club's second-round pick from earlier this month, had a couple of shaky outings to start his career. He has allowed four hits, two walks and four runs in three innings.