Corey Ray was on an absolute tear this week mashing home runs at an astonishing rate. At one point this week he had homered 4 times in 3 games for the Biloxi Shuckers. It has happened, Cole Sturgeon was promoted this past week to AAA and is now playing with the Pawtucket Red Sox.
Dean Kiekhefer was promoted to the Nashville Sound on the 19th and has continued to pitch well for the Oakland A’s since they signed him back on May 3rd. I know this has been heard for years now but Brendan McKay is putting up absolutely absurd numbers this season in the Rays farm system, he is certainly on the fast track to the Big Leagues at this pace.
Weekly statistics are from the week of 5/14-5/21/2018
Major Leagues
Adam Duvall collected 5 hits this week. 3 of those 5 hits were long balls to boost his yearly total of 9 home runs, 5 of which have come in the first half of May. As I’ve said before, Duvall is grinding it out and continuing to make improvements each day and is now slashing .188/.291/.423 with 9 home runs, 8 doubles and 24 RBI’s.
Adam Engel added 3 hits in 7 games this week with one stolen base against the Texas Rangers. He does continue to play stellar defense as the White Sox are now in the thick of their rebuild. So far this year Engel is hitting .189/.263/.236 with 3 doubles and 1 triple.
Chad Green pitched twice this week for New York totaling 3 innings, 3 strikeouts and only 1 earned run on a home run against the Texas Rangers. Mr. Consistent through 20 games, Green has put together 25 innings of relief with 34 strikeouts, an ERA of 2.52 and a WHIP of 0.96.
Matt Koch’s hot streak was bound to end sometime, that’s just baseball. This week he worked into the 5th inning in his only start giving up 4 home runs and a total of 8 earned runs on 9 hits against the Milwaukee Brewers. His season ERA has inflated a bit to 4.06 but he has 20 strikeouts in 37.2 innings to go along with a WHIP of 1.14.
Nick Burdi: The Pirates have placed Nick on the 60 day Disabled List to start the season
AAA
Kyle McGrath’s struggles continue as he gave up 2 home runs in 2.2 innings of relief this week. He did bounce back and collect a strikeout to finish the week. With the Chihuahuas this year, McGrath has 17 strikeouts in 17 innings pitched accompanied by an ERA of 5.29 and a WHIP of 1.41.
Josh Rogers did not factor into the decision this week after another 7 strong innings striking out 4 while surrendering 4 runs. Rogers has been everything the Yankees could want out of their farm hand in 8 starts this year posting a 3-3 record with 45 strikeouts in 48 innings, an ERA of 2.98 and a WHIP of 1.16.
Cole Sturgeon was promoted to the Pawtucket Red Sox on May 14th. Since the promotion he has recorded 3 hits in 4 games including a 2 double game on the 21st. Between the two levels this season, Sturgeon is batting .340/.396/.542 with 11 doubles, 6 home runs, 20 RBI’s and 5 stolen bases. Hopefully he can continue his hot ways all the way to Boston.
Dean Kiekhefer was promoted to the Nashville Sound on the 19th and has pitched once, the 21st, where he went 1.2 innings and struck out 3 without allowing a hit. Even amidst all of the bouncing around this season, Kiekhefer has put up strong numbers that include 18 strikeouts in 15.1 innings, and an ERA of 1.76 and a WHIP of 1.11. It’ll be interesting to see what Oaklands plans are for him as the summer unfolds.
Chris Dominguez was placed on the 7 day Disabled list on April 23rd.
Zack Burdi is starting this season on the Disabled List as he recovers from Tommy John Surgery.
AA
Jeff Arnold got 1 hit this week in three games but he made that one hit count with a 3 run home run. In 22 games spread across 3 different levels this season, Arnold is hitting .171/.256/.257 with 3 doubles, 1 home run and 8 RBI’s.
Derek Self pitched twice this week, one outing going 2 innings and the other just 1 out, a strike out. That strikeout in his second appearance was his only strikeout of the week. For the Senators, Self has pitched in 13 games collecting 4 saves in as many tries, 16 strikeouts in 16 innings and has an ERA of 3.94 and a WHIP of 1.06.
Kyle Funkhouser had his two best starts this past week going 5 innings in the first start where he allowed just 1 earned run on 3 hits and struck out 7. In the second start he went 7 innings gave up 2 earned runs and struck out 2. Hopefully this can be the upward trend Funk has been looking for to start the season. After these two solid starts he is 0-3 in 8 starts with 36 strikeouts in 40 innings, and has an ERA of 4.50 with a WHIP of 1.63.
Nick Solak had 8 hits in 7 games this week including 3 multi hit games, that included a double and a home run on the 20th. Through 42 games with Montgomery this year, Solak is slashing .316/.420/.510 with 8 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, 27 RBI’s and 6 stolen bases.
Corey Ray had an absolute monster of a week this week that included 9 hits in 8 games, 2 doubles, and 4 home runs; 2 home runs on the 15th. Through 44 games at the AA level this year, Ray looks exactly like a 1st round pick as he is batting .263/.347/.497 with 13 doubles, 4 triples, 7 home runs, 20 RBI’s and 9 stolen bases.
Jared Ruxer pitched once this week going .2 of an inning and giving up 5 earned runs on 5 hits. Between two levels this year, Ruxer has compiled 14 strikeouts in 20 innings to go along with an ERA of 6.30 and a WHIP of 1.45.
Grant Kay was placed on the 7 day DL at the start of the season.
Dace Kime, with the Akron Rubberducks of the Eastern League, is currently on the 7 day Disabled List.
Will Smith was placed on the 7 day DL on May 8th.
Joe Filomeno was released on 4/23 by the Texas Rangers.
A Advanced
Drew Ellis added 8 more hits in 6 games and hit safely in 5 of the those 6 games. Amongst those 8 hits were 3 doubles and 2 home runs and 11 RBI’s. Ellis continues to keep the strike outs low and is now hitting .265/.357/.493 with 13 doubles, 6 home runs and an astonishing 31 RBI’s in 38 games. He has been caught stealing all 3 times so maybe this week he can get on the board for stolen bases.
Brendan McKay has pitched once since his promotion where he was lights out again through 5 innings surrendering 1 hit, striking out 5 and not walking a batter. His season pitching stats are absolutely mindboogeling with 45 strikeouts and 2 walks in 29.2 innings, a total of 3 earned runs for an ERA of 0.91, only 9 hits allowed, and a WHIP of 0.37. It is simply amazing that he has only allowed 11 men to reach base against him in almost 30 innings of work. Hitting wise this week, McKay had 2 hits in 3 games, both singles. At the plate this season he is averaging .240/.447/.307 with 2 doubles, 1 home run and 16 RBI’s, and a stellar 28 walks in 24 games.
Jeff Thompson was sent down to the Lakeland Flying Squirrels on May 15th and has not pitched since the move down.
A
Blake Tiberi had 5 hits this week including 1 double and 3 RBI’s on the 15th. He continues to produce at 2nd base for the Fireflies with an average of .275/.404/.355 with 8 doubles, 1 home run, and 13 RBI’s.
Drew Harrington started again this week for the Rome Braves and again brought his ERA down as he went 5 innings, struck out 2 and gave up 2 earned runs on 3 hits. The starter role has suited Harrington nicely since he was moved back. He now has a record of 2-1 with an ERA 4.44 and a WHIP of 1.32 to go along with 15 strikeouts in 26 innings.
Lincoln Henzman started twice this week striking out 11 in 10.2 innings across both starts. In his first start he struckout 8 and gave up just 1 earned run compared to the second start where he gave up 4 earned runs and struck out 3. To this point in the season, Henzman is 3-3 with a 2.96 ERA and a WHIP of 1.13 to go along with 39 strikeouts in 48.2 innings.
Colby Fitch played in one game this week and did not record a hit. On the season he is hitting .226/.333/.435 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs and 9 RBI’s.
Devin Hairston added 6 hits in 8 games this week that included a triple. 21 games into the season, Hairston has 1 double, 1 triple, 10 RBI’s and 1 stolen base while slashing .270/.365/.311.
Kade McClure was placed on the 7 day DL on May 14th.
Rookie Level
Logan Taylor has been assigned to start the season at Rookie Level but he has not played in any games to this point.
