Chad Green was perfect for the Yankees this week in a couple of appearances as he continues to be brilliant out of the bullpen. Adam Engel is looking strong at the plate for the South Siders hitting .386 with 3 doubles this week; the White Sox and Engel matchup against Adam Duvall and the Reds over the holiday.
Kyle Funkhouser was an Eastern League All-Star for the Erie SeaWolves in the Detroit Tigers organization and completed a dominant month of June. Nick Burdi has begun rehab throwing in Florida where the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training home is located. Drew Ellis hit .381 with 5 doubles, and 7 RBI’s for the Diamondback’s A Advanced club this week.
Weekly statistics are from the week of 6/26-7/2/2018
Major Leagues
Adam Duvall tallied 5 hits and 7 RBI’s for a Red’s team that has caught a bit of fire of late. Duvall finished up a strong Month of June by slashing .263/.325/.395 with 4 doubles, 2 home runs and 17 RBI’s. On the season the Butler High product is hitting .206 with 12 home runs, 50 RBI’s and 29 runs scored.
Adam Engel had an amazing week, one of the best of his Major League Career in fact, as he scored 6 runs, had 7 hits, and slashed .368/.400/.526 for the White Sox. As the weather in Chicago has heated up so has Engel who now has 10 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 27 runs scored, 17 RBI’s, 10 stolen bases and is now hitting .224/.284/.314 this season. Strikeouts were a sore spot last year for Adam but this year he has shown much better plate discipline and his strikeout numbers are down.
Chad Green made two appearances for a total of 3 innings for the Yankees. He pitched 1 inning against Boston and 2 innings against Atlanta. In both outings, he struck out 1 hitter and did not allow a baserunner for a perfect week. I know I can be a little repetitive but, Jolly is simply put, a model of consistency on the mound this season. He is now 4-1 with a 2.01 ERA and 0.97 WHIP and has 53 strikeouts in 40.1 innings.
Nick Burdi was placed on the 60-day Disabled List by the Pittsburgh Pirates at the beginning of the season but has begun throwing at the Spring Training Home of the Pirates.
AAA
Matt Koch pitched well but took the loss in his start for Reno after going 6.1 innings, striking out 4 and surrendering 3 earned runs. In 3 starts at AAA, Koch is 0-1 with a 2.37 ERA and 8 Strikeouts.
Kyle McGrath picked up a win in 3 appearances out of the bullpen for El Paso. He totaled 5.2 innings, 3 strikeouts, and 1 earned run in those 3 outings. After a rocky start to the year, McGrath has really settled in and finished the month of June with 1 earned run and 10 strikeouts in 10.2 innings.
Josh Rogers struggled a bit this week and did not factor in the decision for the RailRiders after throwing 5 innings, striking out 2 and giving up 4 earned runs. Rogers has started 16 games this season and is 6-5 with a 3.53 ERA to go along with 73 strikeouts in 91.2 innings.
Cole Sturgeon had 4 hits in 5 games for Pawtucket as he continues to adjust to the pitching in AAA. Across both levels, AA and AAA, Sturgeon is averaging .286/.347/.429 with 12 doubles, 1 triple, 8 home runs, 29 RBI’s, 9 stolen bases and 29 runs scored.
Dean Kiekhefer came on in relief to pitch 1.2 innings but had a strong week for Nashville, picking up a win in the first trip out and not allowing a run in either outing. Since signing with Oakland, Kiekhefer is 5-0 with a 4.34 ERA and 1.34 WHIP, has 1 save and 19 strikeouts in 18.2 innings.
Chris Dominguez has closed this week in a very powerful fashion with 2 doubles, 2 home runs, and 8 RBI’s for Syracuse. The Nationals Prospect is hitting .230/.272/.410 with 8 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs and 18 RBI’s in 36 games.
Zack Burdi is starting this season on the Disabled List as he recovers from Tommy John Surgery.
AA
Jeff Arnold played in 2 games and only had 1 hit this week for Richmond. In 38 games this year, Arnold is hitting .179 with 6 doubles.
Derek Self threw twice for Harrisburg with different outcomes. His first appearance went for 1 inning giving up 1 hit, his second time around he went 3 innings and gave up 5 hits and 3 earned runs. After 25 games, Self is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 1.09 WHIP to go along with 26 strikeouts in 32 innings.
Kyle Funkhouser was an All-Star in the Eastern League this week and before that he picked up another W on the mound going 6 innings, striking out 3 and not allowing an earned run. Funk finished the month of June with a 5-1 record in 6 starts and posted a 3.35 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 28.2 innings.
Nick Solak swung the bat well collecting 7 hits in 6 games, including a grand slam and 3 hit performance on July 1st against Jacksonville. Solak continues a torrid pace after the All-Star break where he has 10 hits in 10 games and has reached base in 9 of those 10 games. 75 games in, Solak has 11 doubles, 2 triples, 11 home runs, 50 RBI’s, 54 runs scored and 16 stolen bases while slashing .294/.399/.462 for Montgomery.
Corey Ray is on a 5 game hitting streak that includes 3 home runs in his last 4 games. Ray hit .353 with 3 home runs, 1 double and 8 RBI’s this week for Biloxi. Also having an All-Star season, one of Chicago’s finest is slashing .251/.345/.469 with 21 doubles, 5 triples, 12 home runs, 39 RBI’s, 47 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. The Brewers #6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, is starting to live up to 5th overall pick standards but he does need to cut down on strikeouts as he has 97 in 77 games.
Will Smith hit .250 with 2 hits in 4 games after the Texas League All-Star break for the Tulsa Drillers, he did, however, reach base in all 4 games after 6 walks in the first 3 games. The Dodgers 1st round pick in 2016 has spent some time on the DL this year and has only played in 48 games but is hitting .265/.363/.518 with 9 doubles, 11 home runs, 28 RBI’s and 30 runs scored in those 48 games.
Grant Kay was placed on the 7 day DL at the start of the season.
Jared Ruxer was released on 5/23 by the Kansas City Royals
Joe Filomeno was released on 4/23 by the Texas Rangers.
A Advanced
Drew Ellis did not get a hit in every game this week but still hit .381 with 5 doubles, and had 7 RBI’s for Visalia. Ellis continues to live gap to gap as a hitter and now has 26 doubles this season accompanied by 9 home runs, 50 RBI’s, 35 runs scored while averaging .273/.352/.473.
Lincoln Henzman is no longer starting but is coming out of the bullpen since his promotion to Winston-Salem. He came on late in the game twice this week with different results. His first appearance went 1 inning with no runs, but the second was 1 inning with 3 runs, 2 hits, and 2 walks. I’ll be interested to see if Lincoln gets moved back to a starters role where he was flourishing earlier in the season.
Devin Hairston collected 3 hits in 6 games this week for the Mudcats. In 9 games since his promotion to Carolina, Hairston is hitting .161/.212/.194 with 1 double.
Jeff Thompson gave up 4 earned runs, 2 in both outing this week while striking out 1 hitter in each appearance for Lakeland. Thompson’s struggles continue and in 8 games at Lakeland this season he is 1-0 with a 10.61 ERA and 3.00 WHIP with 5 strikeouts.
Brendan McKay was placed on the 7 Day Disabled List on June 15th.
A
Blake Tiberi had 5 hits and batted .263 for the Columbia Fireflies. 70 games in for the Mets prospect and he has 10 doubles, 3 home runs, 22 RBI’s, 45 runs scored and is slashing .247/.375/.324.
Colby Fitch is starting to see more playing time recently and this week he hit .333 with 2 doubles. In 41 games for Lakewood, Fitch is averaging .266/.361/.427 with 10 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 16 RBI’s, and 24 runs scored.
Drew Harrington had a stellar week where he put his versatility on display for the Kannapolis Intimidators. In his first outing, he came on for a 2 inning save where he struck out 1 and surrendered no runs on 2 hits. His second outing was a start in which he picked up the win after 5 shutout innings of 2 hit baseball. Since being picked up by the White Sox on June 18th, Harrington has a 0.00 ERA and WHIP of 0.86 with 6 strikeouts in 9.2 innings.
Devin Mann had 2 hits and hit .133 for the Loons this week. As a pro, Mann is slashing .243/.326/.270 with 2 stolen bases, 1 double and 3 RBI’s in 11 games.
Kade McClure was placed on the 7 day DL on May 14th.
Dace Kime retired from professional baseball on June 16th.
A Short Season
Josh Stowers hit .200 for the AquaSox this week. In 11 games as a pro, Stowers is hitting .250/.378/.444 4 doubles, 1 home run and 8 RBI’s, 7 runs scored and 4 stolen bases.
Adam Wolf was promoted to short-season on June 30th and took the loss in his only start at that level after he went 3 innings gave up 2 earned runs on 2 hits and struck out 3.
Rookie Level
Liam Jenkins struck out 6 hitters this week in 3.1 innings of work over 2 appearances. Jenkins currently has a 4.15 ERA and 1.62 WHIP with 7 strikeouts in 4.1 innings.
Austin Conway had 6 strikeouts in 5 innings of work while giving up 1 earned run on just 2 hits for the AZL White Sox. After 4 games he has a 1.13 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, and 9 strikeouts in 8 innings.
Logan Taylor was released on June 2nd by the Chicago White Sox.
2018 Draft Picks
*Josh Stowers was selected in the 2nd round, 54th overall, to the Seattle Mariners.
*Adam Wolf was drafted by the Detroit Tigers at 135 overall, in the 5th round.
*Devin Mann was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers, 164th overall, in the 5th round.
*Riley Thompson was taken in the 11th round by the Chicago Cubs with pick number 338.
*Sam Bordner was drafted by the Miami Marlins, 477 overall in the 16th round.
*Liam Jenkins was drafted in the 17th round, 523 overall, by the Cleveland Indians.
*Austin Conway was taken 918 overall in the 31st round by the Chicago White Sox.
Bryan Hoeing was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 36th round, 1066 overall.
* players who have signed professional contracts
