This week, the games recorded include the half-week after the All-Star Break!

Top Prospect Watch

#1: Marco Luciano

This Week (High-A): Did Not Play

Season (High-A): .288/.360/.507 – 42-146, 8 2B, 0 3B, 8 HR, 15 BB, 38 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Luciano is still on the shelf, but reports are that he’s working out in Arizona right now.  So hopefully his back is improving and he is close to returning.

#3: Luis Matos 

This Week (High-A): .189/.279/.270 – 7-37, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 4 BB, 6 SO, 1-1 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .176/.257/.282 – 42-238, 7 2B, 0 3B, 6 HR, 22 BB, 42 SO, 5-6 SB-SBA

It’s slow steps forward for Luis Matos.  What is very encouraging is that he’s starting to draw more of the walks to show off the plate discipline that helped him be a top prospect.  Hopefully, making more contact is next.

#4: Kyle Harrison

This Week (AA): 0.00 ERA, 1.17 WHIP – 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 4 BB, 14 SO

Season (High-A): 1.55 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, .179 Avg – 7 G, 7 GS, 29.0 IP, 19 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 2 HR, 10 BB, 59 SO

Season (AA): 2.79 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, .171 Avg – 10 G, 10 GS, 48.1 IP, 28 H, 16 R, 15 ER, 5 HR, 26 BB, 74 SO

After a difficult game at the Futures Game, Harrison has been held back in terms of innings, going just 3.0 innings in two different starts.  But he’s bounced back with some great pitching, and out of 18 outs he’s gotten, 14 have been by strikeout.  That’s okay with me.

#5: Heliot Ramos 

This Week (AAA): .125/.300/.125 – 1-8, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 2 BB, 4 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (AAA): .221/.314/.330 – 67-303, 10 2B, 1 3B, 7 HR, 34 BB, 80 SO, 4-9 SB-SBA

Heliot Ramos has missed the entire week, just getting into a couple of games right after the All-Star Break.  There’s been no news about why he’s been out, but it’s just another unfortunate setback for him in a rough season.

#6: Will Bednar

This Week (Low-A): Did Not Play

Season (Low-A): 4.19 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, .167 Avg – 12 G, 12 GS, 43.0 IP, 25 H, 22 R, 20 ER, 7 HR, 22 BB, 51 SO

Bednar is still out, as he’s been since mid-June.  There’s no word about when he’ll be back.

#7: Jairo Pomares 

This Week (High-A): .300/.417/.400 – 9-30, 0 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 5 BB, 16 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .225/.301/.395 – 58-258, 14 2B, 0 3B, 10 HR, 26 BB, 104 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

This week was a good one for Pomares, though not the most spectacular one.  He’s getting hits, but he is striking out a lot as well.  That’s something to expect for a slugger like Pomares, though, so it’s not as huge a worry.

#8: Aeverson Arteaga

This Week (Low-A): .182/.357/.303 – 6-33, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 8 BB, 12 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (Low-A): .264/.339/.418 – 96-364, 25 2B, 2 3B, 9 HR, 34 BB, 109 SO, 7-9 SB-SBA

Arteaga was not getting a lot of hits this week, but what he’s doing is getting walks, with a 12:8 K:BB ratio.  Arteaga has a lot of progress to go, but it’s good to see some of this work happening in his first full season.

#9: Hunter Bishop

This Week (High-A): Did Not Play

Season (High-A): .229/.319/.423 – 64-279, 11 2B, 2 3B, 13 HR, 29 BB, 106 SO, 17-19 SB-SBA

In very worrying news, Hunter Bishop has not played since the All-Star Break.  Again, there’s been no news or information about what’s going on, but here’s hoping his shoulder has not been acting up.

#10: Nick Swiney

This Week (AA): 2.84 ERA, 1.89 WHIP – 6.1 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 6 BB, 7 SO

Season (AA): 3.41 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, .178 Avg – 15 G, 15 GS, 66.0 IP, 43 H, 34 R, 25 ER, 3 HR, 35 BB, 81 SO

With two starts this week, Nick Swiney had a bit of a rough time, as his defense behind him has let him down a bit, but then, he was giving up too many walks in these two games.  

System Risers

Vaun Brown

This Week (High-A): .241/.385/.414 – 7-29, 2 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 4 BB, 17 SO, 3-4 SB-SBA

Season (Low-A): .346/.427/.636 – 79-229, 14 2B, 5 3B, 14 HR, 25 BB, 67 SO, 23-3 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .320/.403/.583 – 33-103, 6 2B, 0 3B, 7 HR, 10 BB, 39 SO, 12-13 SB-SBA

This may have been the worst week for Vaun Brown yet in what has otherwise been a fantastic season.  He still got some hits, but his strikeouts shot up.  He had a 29.2% strikeout rate in Low-A, but his High-A rate has shot up to 37.9% as for a few days this week, every out he made was by a strikeout.

Grant McCray

This Week (Low-A): .385/.455/.487 – 15-39, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 HR, 5 BB, 17 SO, 7-7 SB-SBA

Season (Low-A): .289/.375/.510 – 103-357, 18 2B, 8 3B, 15 HR, 46 BB, 124 SO, 29-37 SB-SBA

Grant McCray had one of his best weeks for getting on base, with a .455 OBP between singles and walks, and stealing nearly 25% of his steals on the season in this past week.

Casey Schmitt

This Week (High-A): .333/.447/.600 – 10-30, 2 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 9 SO, 0-0 SB-SBA

Season (High-A): .275/.364/.486 – 86-313, 13 2B, 1 3B, 17 HR, 39 BB, 84 SO, 1-3 SB-SBA

Casey Schmitt has had a hot and cold season, but he’s back towards hot with a pair of home runs and a pair of doubles.  

Sean Hjelle

This Week (AAA): 5.63 ERA, 2.50 WHIP – 8.0 IP, 13 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 1 HR, 7 BB, 7 SO

Season (AAA): 5.22 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 297 Avg – 16 G, 16 GS, 70.2 IP, 86 H, 48 R, 41 ER, 9 HR, 28 BB, 57 SO

Coming off the All-Star Break, Hjelle has really been hittable, and it’s cost him.  It’ll be important to keep an eye on how he does going forward.

Ryan Murphy

This Week (AA): Did Not Play

Season (High-A): 2.90 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .180 Avg – 7 G, 7 GS, 31.0 IP, 20 H, 11 R, 10 ER, 1 HR, 12 BB, 47 SO

Season (AA): 9.35 ERA, 2.19 WHIP, .265 Avg – 2 G, 2 GS, 8.2 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 9 ER, 2 HR, 10 BB, 7 SO

Murphy has been out since July 6th with back issues.  It’s been a month, so hopefully he’ll get back pretty soon.