TheCrew07

Villanueva, Lopez key I-Cubs' outburst Chicago's No. 11 prospect, catcher combine for 12 RBIs vs. Fresno

Sounds Walk-Off Against Aces, 2-1 Nashville's Jeff Bianchi Provides Game-Winning Single in 9th Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/9/8/6/79041986/cuts/MPS_7658_Large_3cmqnf0e_zd3etq8w.jpg (MIKE STRASINGER ) NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The first-place Nashville Sounds (35-30) held the hot-hitting Reno Aces to four hits in a 2-1 victory Monday night at Greer Stadium, plating the winning run on Jeff Bianchi's walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning. Leading 1-0, the Sounds sent reliever Jeremy Jeffress (3-1) to the hill in hopes of having him record his first save. The opportunity was blown when Reno, after drawing a lead-off walk and singling to center, cashed in on an errant throw from Bianchi. The Sounds shortstop redeemed his game-tying blunder by connecting on the RBI-single in the home half of the ninth. The run scored Kevin Mattison, who reached base on a fielder's choice and stole second during Bianchi's at bat. The walk-off marks the Sounds fifth last at-bat victory of the season. After three innings of scoreless baseball, Nashville broke out to the initial 1-0 lead courtesy of Pete Orr's base-knock into left field. The single scored first baseman Hunter Morris, who led off the frame with a single to right. Morris and Bianchi each turned in two-hit outings, while Eugenio Velez, Jeremy Hermida and Robinzon Diaz helped Nashville to their eight-hit total. Lefty Brad Mills logged six scoreless innings for Nashville, limiting the Aces to two hits in his sixth quality start of the season. He fanned four, walked four and left in line for the win. Rehabbing Brewers pitcher Tom Gorzelanny worked 1 2/3 innings behind Mills, allowing one hit and picking up one strikeout in the 23-pitch outing. Reliever Michael Blazek completed the eighth inning by inducing a groundout, before Jeffress came in for the save opportunity. Jeffress benefitted from the walk-off and picked up his third win of the season. Reno's Jess Todd (2-1) was charged the loss, surrendering the game's only run. The Sounds will play game two of the four-game series with the Reno Aces on Tuesday night at 7:05. RHP Ariel Pena (4-5, 4.53) will start for Nashville opposite RHP Zeke Spruill (3-2, 5.68). Broadcaster Jeff Hem has the call on 102.5 The Game. Nashville Boxscore Quite the entertaining finish here, I was getting settled in for extra innings. Brad Mills didn't give up a run but he wasn't all that sharp walking 4 and striking out 4 during the outing, it feels weird to type but he hadn't given up more than 3 walks in any start to date. Tom Gorzelanny winds down his rehab stint with a scoreless appearance, the organization is going to have to make a determination about his velocity and whether or not to activate him or opt for additional rehab. Jeremy Jeffress' scoreless streak comes to an end but he got the win. Hunter Morris (2-4,2B) was the only prospect with a multi-hit game though Jeff Bianchi (2-5) has done nothing but hit since coming down from Milwaukee. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

Offensive Players of the Week For the week ending June 8

Rattlers win seventh in a row with 4-3 decision at Clinton Williams allows one hit in six innings for fourth win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are putting quite a finishing kick together. Wisconsin won their seventh consecutive game with a 4-3 victory of the Clinton LumberKings Monday night at Ashford University Field. Taylor Williams pitched a gem and the Rattlers did just enough to preserve the victory with six games remaining in the first half of the Midwest League season. Austin Wilson tripled to lead off the Clinton second inning. He scored on a wild pitch by Williams and the LumberKings were up 1-0. That was all Clinton (29-33) would get off Williams. He retired the final fifteen batters he faced. Jose Pena doubled with one out in the Wisconsin fourth. Rafael Neda drew a walk to put two runners on for Paul Eshleman against the LumberKings. Starting pitcher Carlos Misell got Eshleman to send a grounder to short for what appeared to be an inning ending double play. The ball took a bad hop of the chest of Jack Reinheimer, but the ball deflected right to second baseman Zach Shank standing on bag. Shank got the force on Neda, but threw wildly to first. The ball went out of play to allow Pena to score the tying run and Eshleman to move into scoring position. Angel Ortega got Eshleman home when his sinking line drive to center dropped in just in front of Aaron Barbosa, who got a glove on the ball with a diving attempt. Eshleman trotted home with the run that put the Rattlers (32-31) up 2-1. Wisconsin added to their lead in the top of the sixth. Neda and Eshleman walked to start the inning against reliever Tommy Burns. Ortega bunted the runners over to second and third. The runners were still at their stations with two outs. Then, Burns threw a pitch to the backstop and Neda scored for a 3-1 lead. Taylor Brennan crushed the first pitch of the top of the seventh for his fifth home run of the season and Wisconsin was up 4-1 heading to the stretch. Williams, who has been named to the West Division team for next week's Midwest League All-Star Game, left after six innings of work on Monday night. He allowed one run on one hit, walked one, and struck out seven. Tyler Alexander tossed a scoreless seventh and retired the first two batters of the bottom of the eighth. But, a single and back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Reinheimer. The LumberKings shortstop lined the first pitch in this at bat to left-center for a two-run single. Wilson was next with the tying run at third and the lead run at first. He sent a screaming line drive right to the glove of second baseman Francisco Castillo for the final out of the eighth. Alexander had a no drama bottom of the ninth. He set down the LumberKings in order, including the last two by strikeout, to finish the game with a flourish. The current seven-game winning streak is the longest by the Timber Rattlers since they won eight in a row during the 2012 season. Wisconsin is above the .500 mark for the first time since they were 10-9 on April 24 earlier this season. As far as Monday's games involving the other three teams in the First Half Western Division Wild Card race were concerned: The Burlington Bees, the current Wild Card leader, swept a doubleheader from the Beloit Snappers at home by scores of 6-5 and 3-1. The Peoria Chiefs defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits 8-4 in Davenport, Iowa. Burlington is now 34-29. The Chiefs and River Bandits are one game behind the Bees at 33-20. The Rattlers are two games behind the Bees at 32-31. The top four teams in the Wild Card standings will start new three game series on Tuesday. The Bees head to Clinton. Peoria is at Kane County, a team the is already in the playoffs as the First Half Western Division Champions. Quad Cities have a series starting at Cedar Rapids. The Timber Rattlers return to Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium to begin a brief three game homestand against Beloit. Barrett Astin (5-3, 4.31) is scheduled start for the Timber Rattlers. Lou Trivino (4-4, 5.43) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Snappers. Game time is 7:05pm. The Rattlers continue to celebrate their 20th anniversary season presented by Bergstrom Automotive with bobblehead number five in the anniversary team bobblehead series that is being given away this season. The first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a bobblehead of Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones courtesy of Hardee's. Jones was the shortstop for the Timber Rattlers in 2004 and has gone on to win three Gold Gloves and been named to three American League All-Star teams. Now, he has his own Timber Rattlers bobblehead. Ticket prices will be thrown back to 1995 prices of $5 for a box seat, $4 for a reserved seat, and $3 for grass seating as part of this Throwback Game presented by Appvion. Timber Rattlers players will wear jerseys based on those worn by the team in its inaugural season, too. Show your business card when you purchase a ticket and for $13.50 you will receive a box seat ticket, a beverage and your choice of brat or hot dog. The offer is also available to senior citizens (55 & older) courtesy of Baker Tilly, WVBO, and AM1280 WNAM. If you can't make it to the ballpark, there are several ways to catch the action. Time Warner Cable SportsChannel will televise the game starting at 7:00pm. The radio broadcast may be heard on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm. Tuesday's game is also available to subscribers of MiLB.TV. HOME RUN: WIS: Taylor Brennan (6th, 0 on in 7th inning off Tommy Burns, 0 out) WP: Taylor Williams (4-1) LP: Carlos Misell (6-5) SAVE: Tyler Alexander (2) TIME: 2:40 ATTN: 1,253 Wisconsin Boxscore This was Taylor Williams best outing in some time which lowered his ERA to 3.23, he's not dominating the league, but doing well. He's currently 12th in ERA, 20th in SO (49), 3rd in WHIP (1.01), and 20th in IP (61.1). Flipping over to baseball-ref MWL stat page for rate stats he's 30th in BB/9 (2.3), 48th in SO/9 (8.0), and 28th in SO/BB (3.50). The baseball-ref page includes relievers as there isn't a qualifying minimum of innings since I left the default sort to Wins. If you sort by any of the rate stats from the drop down menu the qualifying minimums come into effect. The point here is that much like Taylor's ERA, just about everything in season line is good, just not outstanding. Hopefully he starts to ascend some in the second half. Angel Ortega (2-3) continues to rake which pushed his season AVE to .253 as he's picked up just a smidge over 40 points since the streak began. Francisco Castillo (2-5) batted clean-up again, I don't know why that makes me laugh... Taylor Brennan (2-5,HR) and Johnny Davis (2-5) contributed the other multi-hit efforts. Clint Coulter didn't make an appearance for the 2nd straight game. Wisconsin Recap

Even though he's been raking all season in the minors, with Taillon down for TJ, and now Cole out with a shoulder issue, I don't see the Pirates making any kind of serious move. It was different coming into the season when it looked like they would be able to add Taillon and Polanco around this time and make a nice a push. Polanco might start slow and Marte has been brutal over the last week, but long-term the Pirates have far and away the most athletic OF in the division. I'm not saying they'll be the most productive OF, but those are some damn fine athletes in that OF.

That's laughable, he has twice the ceiling of Davis. How about we let a player get settled in before declaring what he is or isn't?

Baseball America Draft Chat Baseball America editor-in-chief John Manuel and draft writer Clint Longenecker will be here at 2:30 p.m. EST to chat about the 2014 draft.

There haven't been many trades for bonus pool space yet so it's tough to say. From this BA article I linked earlier in last year's international signing thread:

Wisconsin rallies from 5-0 deficit to earn twinbill sweep at Clinton Rattlers beat LumberKings for sixth straight win By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers did not take the easy route to their sixth straight victory as they trailed the Clinton LumberKings 5-0 after four innings at Ashford University Field in game two of Sunday's doubleheader. The Rattlers scored six times in the top of the fifth and pulled away for an 8-5 win. Clinton (29-32) grabbed the early lead in game two with four runs in the bottom of the first inning off Wisconsin starter Victor Diaz. Zach Shank walked and went to third on a single by Marcus Littlewood. Jack Reinheimer was next and he sent a grounder to third. The Rattlers got the out at second, but Reinheimer just beat the throw to first base for a run scoring fielder's choice and a 1-0 lead. Austin Wilson walked to put two runners on base and the Rattlers could only get an out at first on a sharp grounder to first by Jeff Zimmerman. Kyle Seager lined the next pitch off the wall in right for a two-run double. Corey Simpson followed with a bloop single to right to score Seager and give the LumberKings a 4-0 lead. Wisconsin (31-31) struggled to get anything off Clinton starting pitcher Seon-Gi Kim. Omar Garcia extended his hitting streak to eight games with a one out single in the top of the first inning, but was caught stealing 1-3-6 to end the first. Kim didn't allow another base runner over his four innings of work. The LumberKings added another two-out run in the bottom of the fourth. Diaz retired the first two batters of the inning, but gave up a single to Shank and walks to the next two batters. Tyler Spurlin took over for Diaz and uncorked a wild pitch on the his first pitch of the game. That wild pitch let Shank score and the LumberKings were up 5-0. Kim, who had four relief appearances this season for the Lumberkings and was making a spot start on Sunday, left after the fourth inning. The Clinton bullpen squandered the five run lead and then some. Francisco Castillo started the fifth inning with a single against Thyago Vieira. Taylor Brennan and Rafael Neda drew walks to load the bases. Steve Halcomb grounded out to third and the LumberKings defense went for the force play at the plate. Vieira threw a wild pitch with Paul Eshleman at the plate to allow Brennan to score. Eshleman would draw a walk to reload the bases. Angel Ortega lined the next pitch to left-center for a double that scored two runs and cut Clinton's lead to two runs. The double by Ortega extended his hitting streak to seven games and drove Vieira out of the game. Clinton left-handed reliever Nick Valenza got into the game and was quickly ahead of Johnny Davis 0-2. Davis fouled the first 0-2 pitch off to keep his at bat alive. He lined the next pitch down the line in right to drive in both Eshleman and Ortega with a game-tying triple. Garcia came to the plate with the infield drawn in to cut down Davis at the plate. But, Garcia foiled that strategy by lining a single through the left side of the infield to knock in Garcia with the run to put the Rattlers up 6-5. Wisconsin added to their lead in the top of the sixth inning on an unearned run. Castillo reached second on an error to start the inning. The bases were loaded up as Brennan walked and Neda reached on a bunt single. Halcomb got Castillo home with a sacrifice fly for a 7-5 lead. Spurlin would work a 1-2-3 fifth and a perfect sixth inning to keep the Rattlers in front once they had the lead. The Timber Rattlers tacked on another unearned run in the top of the seventh. Davis reached second on an error to start the inning and was bunted to third. Castillo knocked in Davis with a two-out single for an 8-5 lead. Rodolfo Fernandez came on in the seventh inning and got the first out. But, the tying run would come to the plate after a double and a walk. Fernandez closed out the game - and the doubleheader sweep - with a strikeout and a grounder to short. There was a lot of movement in the Midwest League's Western Division Wild Card race on Sunday. The Burlington Bees swept a pair of games from the Beloit Snappers and the Quad Cities River Bandits swept two games from the Peoria Chiefs. Peoria fell from the lead into third place Wild Card race. Quad Cities jumped to a one game lead over the Chiefs and Burlington is just a half game behind the River Bandits. Quad Cities will host the Chiefs on Monday night. Burlington has a doubleheader at home against Beloit. Wisconsin has reached the .500 mark for the first time since they were 10-10 on April 25. They are now 31-31 and trail the River Bandits by two games with seven games left in the first half. The Timber Rattlers conclude their brief series in Clinton on Monday night. Taylor Williams (3-1, 3.42) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Carlos Misell (6-4, 3.67) is set to start for the LumberKings. Game time is 6:30pm. Tune in for the broadcast on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:10pm. WP: Tyler Spurlin (2-0) LP: Nick Valenza (0-1) SAVE: Rodolfo Fernandez (2) TIME: 2:30 ATTN: 5,150 Wisconsin Game 2 Boxscore What an awesome come back win to get back to .500 on the season. UDFA Tyler Spurlin ran a FB at 94 in today's game, I didn't know he had that much gas. Victor Diaz' line was pretty ugly, easily his worst start out of his last 10. Omar Garcia (2-3) and Francisco Castillo (2-4) both had a multi-hit game and Castillo batted out of the clean-up spot... never thought I would write that. Wisconsin Game 2 Recap

Sounds Lose Series Finale In Memphis, 9-4 Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/1/0/6/77280106/cuts/DSC_0039_Large_e9wxx2h2_37n7c13g.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Nashville Sounds closed out their brief cross-state road trip on the short end of a 9-4 defeat to the Memphis Redbirds on Sunday afternoon at AutoZone Park. Nashville (34-30),which split the four-game set against their division rivals, continued its struggles in day games this season, falling to 7-17 in afternoon affairs. The Sounds were out-hit, 15-5, in the contest. Right-hander Angel Castro (6-3) twirled seven scoreless frames, scattering three hits, to earn the win for the Redbirds. Memphis struck first, grabbing a 2-0 lead with a pair of two-out runs against Taylor Jungmann in the bottom of the third inning. Greg Garcia drew a two-out walk, stole second, and scored the game's first run on Pete Kozma's RBI double. Stephen Piscotty followed with a run-scoring single. After missing out on a bases-loaded opportunity in the fourth, the Redbirds extended their lead to 6-0 in the fifth against Jungmann, knocking the youngster out of the game in the process. Garcia drew an inning-opening walk, moved to third on a Kozma single, and raced home on Xavier Scruggs' RBI ground-rule double into the right field corner. Following a strikeout, Ed Easley cleared the bags and sent Jungmann to the showers with his two-run double to left. Left-hander Brent Leach took over on the hill for Nashville and was greeted by an RBI single up the middle off the bat of Mike O'Neill, upping the Memphis advantage to 6-0. Jungmann (2-2) was saddled with the loss after giving up six runs on nine hits in his 4 2/3 innings of work. The six earned runs allowed were the right-hander's most given up in his last 33 starts, dating back to May 2013. Memphis increased its lead to 9-0 in the seventh against recently-added Sounds reliever Arcenio Leon, who has given up four runs in three innings in his two appearances since joining the club. The Redbirds immediately loaded the bases against the right-hander on a pair of singles and a hit batsmen. Piscotty followed by bouncing into a double play, allowing Castro to score on the play to make it a 7-0 contest. Scruggs followed with a grounder to shortstop and Hector Gomez misfired to first to allow another run to come plateward. Tommy Pham added an RBI double to plate the Redbirds' third run of the frame (two of which were unearned). Following Castro's departure, the Sounds finally got onto the scoreboard, plating four runs in the top of the eighth. Nashville greeted Redbirds reliever Pedro Feliciano by loading the bases with no outs. Elian Herrera (2-for-3) drew a bases-loaded walk to force home Nashville's first run of the day. Gomez followed with a two-run single up the middle. Later in the frame, Eugenio Velez scored on a Hunter Morris groundout that cut the Memphis lead to 9-4. Alfredo Figaro made his return to action for Nashville after missing three weeks with a hamstring strain and worked a scoreless eighth inning, striking out a pair while working around a pair of baserunners. The Sounds return to Music City to begin an eight-game homestand on Monday evening with a 7:05 p.m. contest against the Reno Aces (AAA-Diamondbacks). Left-hander Brad Mills (4-1, 1.71) will make the start for Nashville and face Reno right-hander Bo Schult (4-4, 5.61). Nashville Boxscore Taylor Jungmann got beat around here a bit, there are going to be ups and downs for him at AAA just like were in AA. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

Wisconsin streaks to fifth straight win Timber Rattlers take game one 4-1 over Clinton By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers winning streak moved to a season-high five games with a 4-1 victory over the Clinton LumberKings in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday at Ashford University Field. Anthony Banda struck out six over five strong innings and the Rattlers offense broke a tie with three runs in the fourth inning. Angel Ortega wasted no time in extending his current hitting streak to six games. The Wisconsin leadoff batter reached on an infield single to start the game. Clint Coulter drove Ortega home with a two-out double off the fence in right field. Clinton (29-31) tied the game in the bottom of the second inning. Austin Wilson lifted a home run to right field to start the frame for the LumberKings to even the score 1-1. Wisconsin (30-31) went back in front in the top of the fourth. Michael Ratterree started the inning with a double. Coulter and Taylor Brennan each drew walks to load the bases. Jose Pena got the first run of the frame home with a single to center. Rafael Neda drew a bases loaded walk to get the second run of the frame home. Steve Halcomb got Brennan across the plate with a sacrifice fly and the Rattlers were up 4-1. Banda took that lead and ran with it. He allowed a walk that was erased on a double play in the fourth and a harmless one out single in the fifth inning once he was given the lead. Banda struck out six and walked one in five innings. Trevor Seidenberger retired all six batters he faced in the game to record his first professional save. HOME RUN: CLN: Austin Wilson (9th, 0 on in 2nd inning off Anthony Banda, 0 out) WP: Anthony Banda (2-5) LP: Eddie Campbell (4-4) SAVE: Trevor Seidenberger (1) TIME: 1:53 Wisconsin Game 1 Boxscore Anthony Banda hadn't put a start like this since April 17th, and the Rattlers sorely needed it, well done! Trevor Seidenberger has been rather studly for the T-Rats all year. Wisconsin Game 1 Recap

Six clubs that made the best Draft impressions

Senior Discount Goes To Extremes In 2014 Draft Brewers Sign Gatewood, Harrison To Above-Slot Deals Subscriber. Hard Work Pays Off For Gatewood 2014 MLB Draft: Highlights From Rounds 7-10

The Rattlers just came up with 5 runs to tie up game 2 and Mehring is so excited he might be having a heart attack. What a fun listen.

Here is BA's article on it from last year.

I like Hamilton and I think Block is better when he actually has someone to work with doing the game. I've caught 4 games now Hamilton in the booth and he hasn't turned me off.

Wisconsin rained out in Clinton on Saturday Doubleheader set for Sunday at noon By Chris Mehring / Wisconsin Timber Rattlers CLINTON, IA - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers will have to wait to try to extend their winning streak. They had their game with the Clinton LumberKings rained out Saturday night at Ashford University Field. The teams will play two on Sunday afternoon with game one scheduled to start at noon. Wisconsin has announced Anthony Banda (1-5, 5.01) as the starter in game one. Clinton will send Eddie Campbell (4-3, 5.13) to the hill as their starter. The Timber Rattlers will have Victor Diaz (1-2, 3.48) as their game two starter. Clinton has now named Rafael Pineda (3-2, 2.45) out as their starter in the nightcap. The Timber Rattlers had won four straight games heading into Saturday's contest. They will try to keep that streak - and their shot at the first half Western Division Wild Card spot - alive on Sunday. Catch both games of the twinbill on AM1280, WNAM or IHeartRadio starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 11:40am.

Hermida Powers Sounds To 4-3 Win In Memphis Nashville Survives Late Scare To Defeat Cross-State Rivals For Second Night In A Row Nashville Sounds http://www.milb.com/assets/images/8/2/4/75734824/cuts/Jeremy_Hermida_430_5_Large_s8h8vwn9_0m0nmlcd.jpg (Mike Strasinger / Nashville Sounds) MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Right fielder Jeremy Hermida homered and drove in three runs to lead the Nashville Sounds to a 4-3 victory over the cross-state rival Memphis Redbirds on Saturday evening at AutoZone Park. The Sounds (34-29) held a 4-1 lead heading to the bottom of the ninth and survived a scare from the Redbirds, who plated a pair and had the bases loaded with two outs before Dustin Molleken fanned Greg Garcia to slam the door and secure the one-run victory. Catcher Matt Pagnozzi (2-for-4) also homered for Nashville as the Sounds won their second straight game against the division-rival Redbirds. Kyle Heckathorn turned in a solid spot start for the Sounds after scheduled pitcher Mike Fiers was held out of duty and later called up by the Brewers. Heckathorn worked four scoreless frames, allowing only one hit. Pagnozzi (2-for-4) put the visitors on the board when he belted a one-out solo homer to left off Memphis starter John Gast. The roundtripper was the backstop's fourth of the year. Memphis knotted the contest at 1-1 in the sixth against Sounds reliever Jeremy Jeffress. Mike O'Neill singled with one out, moved to second on a groundout, and scored the tying run on Greg Garcia's two-out RBI single to center. Nashville pulled right back ahead in the next half-inning when Hermida connected for a two-run big fly to straightaway center off Redbirds reliever Nick Greenwood. Pagnozzi, who preceded the outfielder with a single, scored his second run of the night on the tater, which gave the Sounds a 3-1 lead. Hermida added an insurance run for the Sounds in the ninth when he plated Caleb Gindl, who had doubled, with an RBI single to stretch the advantage to 4-1. Closer Donovan Hand, who inherited and stranded a pair of baserunners in the bottom of the eighth inning, couldn't close out the game for Nashville in the ninth as Memphis mounted a rally. After the right-hander retired the first two batters of the frame, the next five Redbirds hitters reached base against Hand, resulting in a pair of runs to reduce the Nashville lead to 4-3. Luis Mateo singled and Pete Kozma drew a walk before O'Neill laced an RBI single to right. Audry Perez followed with a grounder to short, where Jeff Bianchi's flip to second was wide of the bag to allow Kozma on the play, which was curiously ruled an infield single. After Jermaine Curtis drew a walk to load the bases, Sounds skipper Rick Sweet summoned Molleken from the bullpen and the hard-throwing right-hander fanned Garcia to leave the bags full of Redbirds as he recorded his second save of the year. Jeffress (2-1) was awarded the victory for Nashville despite suffering a blown save in the contest. He allowed one run in his two innings of work. The teams wrap up their four-game series with a 1:35 p.m. finale on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Taylor Jungmann (2-1, 2.93) will man the bump for the Sounds to face Memphis right-hander Angel Castro (5-3, 3.16). Nashville Boxscore The Sounds had to use 6 pitchers in a 9 inning game, that's not something you see very often. Kyle Heckathorn singled in his only AB and put up his best effort of the season. Nashville Recap Nashville Gameday

I had graduation parties all day but get to come home to the wonderful news that both Harrison and Gatewood have signed already. The draft system isn't perfect, but I REALLY love the fact we don't have to sit around wondering about picks signing until August. On a side note maybe TH will actually learn Gatewood's name now....

Awesome movie reference!

Congratulations, what a wonderful time for his entire immediate and extended family. Please pass along my best wishes for his success.

Personally I have a passing interest in R ball stats, I don't get too excited or too bent out of shape anymore regardless of production. Full season ball is what matters to me, probably because that is when I can get a real good look at the players and start to make some personal observations rather than educated guesses based on a variety scouting sources, statistical analysis, and Steve Wendt who was the Helena broadcaster for all those years. I would be shocked if Gatewood starts in Helena, he seems like an AZ target to me as his swing is going to need work. There are so many variables on both sides of the Gatewood vs Arcia prospect debate that it's very difficult to answer "when" I'd jump Gatewood past with the first question being is Gatewood truly a MLB SS? That's not something we can really answer until he gets to WI so with that in mind if he's in WI as a 19 year old putting up an .800 OPS while Arcia is in AA as a 20 year old putting up .700 OPS I think it's pretty much a dead heat. Some will favor Arcia holding his own at such a young age in an advanced full season league, others will favor the offensive upside of the player in A ball. I'm not sure there's a correct answer, more just a gut feeling until I get to see Gatewood play a significant amount of games. For me Gatewood would have to blow the doors off with a +.150 OPS in full season ball over Arcia before I'm jumping him but it would really depend on how well I think his hitting approach is going to translate up towards AA or if there are going to be some growing pains along the way. Orlando is a toothpick compared to his brother Oswaldo, you'd hope Orlando will fit out a little bit and be able to smack double digit HRs at some point. I do think the sources people look at for prospect lists (MLBpipeline, BA, BP, fangraphs) will jump Gatewood right away based on upside, but I think Arcia is a bit underrated as a prospect.

I've never really understood the fascination around baseball with picking up rental players. Regardless I don't see why the Rays would make this trade. Roache and Jungmann aren't the type of high ceiling prospects they typically go after. Roache has wonderful raw power but he doesn't have a good enough hit tool and Jungmann doesn't have "stuff", neither of the players are even top 100 prospects. The Rays might trade Price but they are going to be looking for multiple impact prospects coming back because Price is that good and he's a LHP. They'd want a couple of players in the top 50, not a couple of top 10 prospects from the second worst farm system in baseball.

With the Sox landing Rodon instead of Kolek they might be willing to play wait and see as they may not need another starter for 2015 and that would be part of Estrada's appeal. Rodon could bomb, but since they got the college pitcher instead of the high school the White Sox may not be willing to be aggressive and just ride out the year with the starting pitching they have or perhaps be in the market for an extremely short term solution instead. Too Talented To Pass Up, Rodon Lands With White Sox

I think you're taking the whole MLB.com player rating thing a bit too far. High ceiling players are great, I love them in fact, but they still have to produce which is why I talked about where they would be ranked in our community top 20. I've long championed raw multi-sport athletes but Harrison just isn't polished enough to leapfrog anybody currently in our top 10. When he signs I'd expect that he'd get better very quickly and by the time he's in A or A+ sure he could be up there, but not out of the gate. I feel similarly about Gatewood, I have no problem bumping him up over someone like Bradley who's now in AA, but he's going to have to prove he can hit before he starts leapfrogging our young players who are already in A or A+ like Coulter, Arcia, and Taylor.