Nick Burdi made his Major League debut on September 11, for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nick Solak was rewarded for a great regular season at the AA level and was promoted to the AAA Durham Bulls for their playoff run. The accolades continue to pour in for Corey Ray. The Southern League MVP was named to the MLB Pipeline Team of the Year this week.
Weekly statistics are from the week of 9/5/-9/13/2018
Major Leagues
Adam Duvall went 0-4 off the bench for the Braves this week.
Adam Engel hit .211 with 1 triple, 1 home run, 1 RBI and 1 stolen base for the White Sox.
Chad Green had one appearance that went a perfect 2 innings with 3 strikeouts.
Josh Rogers latest start against Tampa Bay did not go well. He did not get out of the 2nd inning after he surrendered 6 earned runs on 6 hits and 2 walks.
Dean Kiekhefer did not pitch this week for Oakland.
Matt Koch took the loss in his start this week against the Colorado Rockies. In the start he went 3 innings, gave up 8 hits, 4 earned runs and struck out 2.
Nick Burdi has pitched .1 of an inning for the Pirates where he, unfortunately, gave up a hit, a walk and then a home run when pitching against the Cardinals.
AAA
Nick Solak was called up to the Durham Bulls for their playoff run but has yet to play for them as their next series will begin soon.
Kyle McGrath’s season has come to a close in the Padres organization. He did pitch a bit in the big leagues at the beginning of the spring but finished the season with the Chihuahuas with a 7-3 record, 2.75 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, .219 BAA, and 42 strikeouts in 52 innings of work.
-Will Smith capped off a great year in the Dodgers organization that saw him ascent all the way to AAA. Between AA and AAA, Smith hit .233/.322/.455 with 82 hits, 18 doubles, 20 home runs, 59 RBI’s, and 5 stolen bases.
-Chris Dominguez’s season wrapped up with the Syracuse SkyChiefs this week without a call-up to the big club despite the sell-off that the Nationals had over the last few weeks. Dominguez finished the season with 67 total hits, 16 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 45 RBI’s, 7 stolen bases, 31 runs scored, an OPS of .699 and a slash line of .243/.293/.406.
-Cole Sturgeon completed his first major stint in AAA this season. Between AA and AAA, Sturgeon slashed .266/.328/.387 with an OPS of .715, 97 total hits, 15 doubles, 1 triple, 9 home runs, 38 RBI’s, and 13 stolen bases.
-Zack Burdi has finished his rehab assignment this season with the AZL Sox with an 0-1 record, 7 strikeouts in 6.1 innings, an ERA of 2.84, WHIP of 1.42, and a BAA of .217.
-Kyle Funkhouser went down with a fractured foot after stumbling over a broken piece of sidewalk and unfortunately, his strong season has come to an end prematurely. Between AA and AAA this year, Funk was 4-7 with a 3.96 ERA, 1.48 WHIP and had 96 strikeouts in 97.2 innings.
AA
Corey Ray is playing in the Southern League playoffs with Biloxi and so far is hitting .130.
-Derek Self finished his season with the Harrisburg Senators by going 6-2 with a 2.88 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, .251 BAA, and 43 strikeouts in 53.1 innings out of the bullpen.
-Jeff Arnold’s 9th season in professional baseball has concluded and across 3 different levels, the pride of Male High School hit .173/.266/.257 with an OPS of .524, 35 total hits, 8 doubles, 3 home runs, 21 RBI’s, and 19 runs scored.
-Grant Kay was placed on the 7 day DL at the start of the season and did not play in any games this season for the Montgomery Biscuits.
-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 hit .160 with a home run and an RBI for Visalia as they continue their playoff push.
-Lincoln Henzman enjoyed a great season across two levels of the White Sox organization. He finished the year in Winston Salem and looks poised to start the 2019 season strong. Officially, Henzman was 6-4 with a 2.35 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, .246 BAA, and 80 strikeouts in 107.1 innings.
-Devin Hairston’s season with the Carolina Mudcats is completed and the middle infielder totaled 69 hits, 10 doubles, 3 triples, 1 home run, 2 stolen bases, 39 runs scored, an OPS of .551, and a slash line of .204/.291/.260.
-Brendan McKay was placed on the 7-day disabled list on August 30th which will end his season this year. At the plate, across a couple of levels, McKay averaged .214/.368/.359 with an OPS of .727, 41 total hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 39 RBI’s, and 32 runs scored. On the mound, McKay finished 5-2 with a 2.41 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, .196 BAA, and 103 strikeouts in 78.1 innings.
-Blake Tiberi has finished the season with the St. Lucie Mets and across multiple levels, Tiberi slashed .242 /.342/.336 with an OPS of .678, 95 total hits, 18 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 38 RBI’s, 65 runs scored, and 6 stolen bases.
-Jeff Thompson was released by the Detroit Tigers on July 21st.
A
Colby Fitch appeared on the mound in a relief appearance this week for the Blue Claws but did not hit at all.
-Drew Harrington’s very up and down season that saw him pitch for 4 teams across 4 levels for 2 different organizations. On the whole this summer, Harrington was 9-8 with a 5.03 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, .304 BAA, and 73 strikeouts in 107.1 innings.
-Devin Mann played 65 games in his first season as a professional between Rookie Level and Short Season. In those 65 games, Mann totaled 55 hits, 13 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 30 RBI’s and 7 stolen bases while slashing .240/.348/.332.
-Kade McClure was placed on the 7 day DL on May 14th which prematurely ended his season. Overall, McClure finished 3-1 with a 3.02 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, .265 BAA, and 42 strikeouts in 41.2 innings for Kannapolis.
-Dace Kime retired from professional baseball on June 16th.
A Short Season
-Josh Stowers ended his first professional season after earning All-Star recognition for the Everett AquaSox. In 58 games, Stowers hit .260/.380/.410 with 32 total hits, 15 doubles, 5 home runs, 20 stolen bases, and 28 RBI’s.
-Riley Thompson ends the season as a champion as the Eugene Emeralds won the Northwest League championship. Thompson finished his first season as a professional with at 0-2 with a 2.84 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, .253 BAA, and 25 strikeouts in 25.1 innings.
-Adam Wolf’s summer has come to an end with the Connecticut Tigers. Across a couple of different levels, Wolf finished 1-1 with a 2.19 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, .224 BAA, and 32 strikeouts in 37 innings.
Rookie Level
Austin Conway did not pitch this week for the Voyagers but they are still alive in the Pioneer League Playoffs.
-Liam Jenkins first summer in professional baseball has come to a conclusion with the AZL Indians. Jenkins finished the season 4-0 with a 4.91 ERA, 1.55 WHIP, .228 BAA, and 37 strikeouts in 22 innings.
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
