Here’s an inventory of the crazy stuff that happened at each level on Tuesday night.
Charlotte
Eloy Jimenez went 0-for-4, but that’s not all — one of his flyouts was caught by Micah Johnson on the warning track. Johnson is still a second baseman, but he happened to be part of a four-man outfield on the play.
Eloy Jimenez has been so dominant, Durham decides to defend him w FOUR outfielders. Durham 2B Micah Johnson makes the catch up against the wall.. pic.twitter.com/ocsH9Jn4ni
— Jonathan Lee (@followmefor3) August 28, 2018
Birmingham
Alex Call hit a three-run homer to send the game into extras, and Luis Basabe walked it off with a double in the 10th.
FINAL/10: Barons 5, Generals 4
It’s walk-off obstruction! Luis Basabe hits one to right-center and Joel Booker is called out, but the umpires talk it over and call obstruction!
Booker scores and the Barons win to end the home schedule! Wow! 👏 pic.twitter.com/AEpfOtsFsT
— Birmingham Barons (@BhamBarons) August 29, 2018
Winston-Salem
Not to be outdone, the Dash also pulled off a 10-inning with a walk-off … balk? Yup, walk-off balk:
We swear all these things happened tonight against Salem…
+ @cleansheets24: 3-for-5, two-run double
+ @lazriv02: two-run homer, RBI single
+ Luis Robert; game-tying single in extras
+ A walk-off balkDon't believe us? Here are the highlights… pic.twitter.com/qGaWX847k0
— Winston-Salem Dash (@WSDashBaseball) August 29, 2018
Kannapolis
They needed 11 innings to beat Augusta, and they did so with some classic #WILDPITCHOFFENSE
And that’s a win!! Michael Hickman scores in the bottom of the 11th! pic.twitter.com/9R0ywOR7rX
— Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (@Kcannonballers) August 29, 2018
Great Falls
They didn’t play extra innings, and they didn’t even win in a walk-off, but their 3-2 victory was assisted by a 4-6-3 triple play started by Amado Nunez.
Great Falls turned a triple play in the bottom of the third. After two batters reached to start the inning, Pablo Abreu lined out to Amado Nunez at second. Nunez threw to Lenyn Sosa at second who stepped on the base and threw to first behind the runner to complete the feat.
Now, on to the box scores…
Durham 4, Charlotte 3
- Charlie Tilson went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Ryan Cordell was also 1-for-4.
- Eloy Jimenez went 0-for-4.
- So did Welington Castillo, who struck out once.
- Spencer Adams: 7 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Birmingham 5, Jackson 4 (10 innings)
- Joel Booker went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts, but was caught stealing twice.
- Luis Basabe, 2-for-4 with a double, walk and strikeout.
- Zack Collins went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- Alex Call broke out of his slump, going 2-for-4 with a homer and a strikeout.
- Danny Mendick was 0-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Kodi Medeiros: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Winston-Salem 9, Salem 8 (10 innings)
- Luis Robert went 1-for-6.
- Luis Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base.
- Nick Madrigal was 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Blake Rutherford went 2-for-5 with two doubles and a strikeout.
- Gavin Sheets, 3-for-5 with a double.
- Laz Rivera was 2-for-5 with a homer.
- Ti’Quan Forbes struck out in both of his plate appearances.
- Alec Hansen: 3 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 7 BB, 2 K
- Tyler Johnson: 2 IP, 3 H,2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Kannapolis 5, Asheville 4 (11 innings)
- Luis Curbelo went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Steele Walker, 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- Carlos Perez went 1-for-5 with a K.
- Will Kincanon: 1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Great Falls 3, Helena 2
- Romy Gonzalez went 0-for-4.
- Lenyn Sosa was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Bryce Bush’s 13-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-3 night. He walked once and struck out once.
- Amado Nunez homered, singled and struck out twice.
- Gunnar Troutwine was 1-for-4 with a double.
- Codi Heuer: 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
When Steve Stone mentioned his conversation with Joe Girardi about Dellin Betances, I immediately thought of Alec Hansen. Betances couldn’t throw strikes in the minors. Maybe when Hansen learns to throw strikes, he can turn out like Betances. We can only hope.
Now that Bryce Bush’s hit streak has ended, it appears Ryan Cordell has the longest active hit streak in the farm at 7 games.
Any news on Dunning? Coming up on the 8 weeks he was going to be out
Think a week or so ago he said he was heading to Arizona on Twitter. Probably still doing simulated games as long as there haven’t been any set backs.
With AZL wrapped up I’d guess he probably just stays on a schedule down there until the fall league
Hansen with 7 walks? Wow
And Hahn rejoiced, for there was another box to check.
Solid line for Medeiros.
He’s had 3 good starts in a row after 2 subpar ones.
I still think he ultimately ends up in the bullpen, but I also see him as part of the rotation in Charlotte at the start of next year.
If he can keep limiting walks then we may be looking at a different type of prospect. Let’s see if the last couple starts are any indication
He’ll only get 1 more start this year with the Barons, probably on the last day of the season next Monday.
Well I meant if he can do it as his career progresses. The Knocks on him were his command and getting righties out consistently. But if he can drop is bb/9, I think he has more promise than any of us probably thought of at first
Basabe and Sheets finImaging off the season very nicely
Lol wow. No idea what the hell my phone did there. I don’t think I’m drunk, but that’s supposed to say finishing, not finlmaging.
Basabe making it easier for the Sox to justify moving him up to Charlotte at the start of next season, if that’s what they want to do.
Do we have ideas as to whom the Sox are going to send to Arizona for the Fall League?
I’m hoping the aforementioned Dane Dunning is among them.
Luis Robert and Zack Burdi are two candidates. Will know for sure tomorrow morning.
I’m wondering if one of, or possibly both, Basabe or Call might garner consideration.
All those guys can use some finlmalging touches.
Your face could use some finlmalging touches
Basabe seems like a guy who could use a breather. Though I guess as a guy who is routinely referred to as “raw”, he could also use as many reps as he can get.
Kiley McDaniel saw Cease pitch against Jacksonville last week. Hints at a longer write-up but here’s what he said in a Fangraphs chat today:
I’ve come to the conclusion that Fangraphs only exists to make people feel crappy about their team. They suck the fun out of everything.
I have no idea if Dylan Cease is going to be a starting MLB pitcher, let alone a good one. But he’s looking good right now, and until he crashes and burns somewhere up the line, I’m going to stick with that.
Well they did bring on Dan Szymborski, so it’s not all doom and gloom from Fangraphs.
Unless you’re a Royals fan. Then yes, there is much doom and lots of gloom from Fangraphs.
Not sure that Royals fans need Fangraphs to tell them it’s doom and gloom.
No, Dan was upbeat, I remember that now. Have him on more often! 🙂
Or a child
They made me feel good about Giolito yesterday.
And now there’s this:
I’ve noticed in his chats throughout the year that he always seems to be the low guy on Cease, so that’s not surprising at all. At this point, with Cease looking so dominant, it feels more like a case of Kiley digging in than anything, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Longenhagen has also been lower than most on him for a while. I don’t think I’d call this him digging his heels in, those two are pretty fair about changing their opinions on guys when they show something that drives a change in value.
You think he’s lying about what he saw to avoid revising a prospect grade?
No, I don’t think he’s lying at all. If I did, I would have said that. I think he has convinced himself that Cease will be a bullpen arm, and it’ll take something substantial for Cease to change his mind (apparently dominating batters for 125 innings is not substantial enough). I think there are other prospects they rank higher that aren’t as talented and have similar concerns, but for some reason those concerns appear to be easier for them to overlook. I’m also not a fan of how his “frame” gets brought up as a negative all the time like he’s Marcus Stroman, despite the fact that he’s actually pretty big (6’2 190lbs). The injury history is a legitimate concern, but I find that hard to hold against someone – it’s more of a “worst case scenario” type thing in my opinion.
Honestly, based on pure stuff/command, I think he compares very favorably to Reynaldo as a prospect. Say what you want about Reylnaldo now, but he was a top prospect prior to last year. Cease is also a bigger guy than Reynaldo. What made them see Reynaldo as a top 30 prospect and say, “Some scouts think he ends up in the bullpen due to size/command. I think the changeup and command will grow enough that he’ll be an above-average big-league starter.”? What has Cease done (or not done) that makes them think differently enough of him to barely sneak him into the top 100 and be dead set on the idea of Cease being a bullpen arm? If healthy, I really think that’s closer to his floor than it is the “likely outcome.”
Out of the sites I have free access to, MLB.com has him at 44 and Baseball Prospectus has him at 30. That’s a pretty substantial difference between them and the guys at Fangraphs, minus Marc Hulet. Hulet wrote an updated top 10 for the Sox in August, putting Cease above Kopech as the #2 prospect in the system. Again, I’m not saying anyone is lying. I’m saying they seem to already have their minds made up for one reason or another, and it seems like it’ll be quite tough for Cease to change their opinions (if he hasn’t been able to do it after a year like this).
*Off-topic, but I also want to know how Eloy still has a 30 grade hit tool.
I think you’re looking at this too much as a biased fan. He prefers some other comparable guys to Cease, he gives reasons for why. I can’t tell how much you’ve really watched him based on your comment, but it seems like you’re scouting his stat line to some degree.
Thanks for posting, was looking for something from him on Cease since he mentioned going to see him pitch the other week.
Been checking back at FG, too, since I saw his pre-trip heads-up.
This is an EDIT.