Minor League Game Thread for Tuesday, July 27-, 2021

Louisville - 7:38 PM EDT - 27-44 - The Bats had a day off yesterday, and they certainly needed it. Losers of 7 games in a row, Louisville will try to get back on the smiling side of the scoreboard against Iowa, the Cubs AAA farm club. In the 7 games versus Memphis last week, the Bats plated just 13 runs. Ouch! Perhaps, a little roadie will refreshen the sticks. One person they can't blame for the slumbering offense is Jose Barrero. Barrero, in his last 11 games, is lighting things up to the tune of .386/.481/.682/1.163. This includes 7 extra-base hits - 4 doubles and 3 home runs. Alejo Lopez will be back with the club tonight, maybe that helps spark some offense. In a curious move, the Reds released Jose De Leon. He may have asked to be released. But, in 30 innings of work in '21, he fanned 52. I think that's someone you may want to keep around, just to see what develops. I thought wrongly. Riley O'Brien (4.41) is the odds-on favorite to make the start tonight for Louisville. Riley has been up and down, but over his last 4 starts he is sporting a 2.25 ERA. I believe that Iowa is just going to pick a fan at random. That would be a very Cubbie-like thing to do. Iowa plays their games at Principal Park, and it is Dollar Dogs Night. Don't they pay their players a little more than that? The park is situated at the confluence of the Des Moines and Raccoon Rivers. LOL. The Iowa State Capitol building is visible from beyond the center field fence, while some seats also provide views of the Des Moines skyline. Fans still go anyway. By the late 1980s the original stadium was becoming run down, and was starting to develop a seedy reputation, much like the parent club.

Chattanooga - 7:00 PM EDT - 37-32 - The Lookouts are another team that needed a break on Monday, having lost 5 of their last 6 contests. Ricky Salinas (5.05) is looking to bounce back in a big way. He only went 2 innings in his last outing, and gave up a touchdown's worth of earned runs, and 8 runs altogether. Leonard Rivas is back from the IL, but has been sent back to Dayton. Chattanooga, as a team, ranks middle of the pack (4th of , in both hitting and pitching. This has resulted in a 37-32 record, which is also 4th in the 8-team league. They are currently a game and a half out of an end-of-year playoff position. The pitching staff stubbed its collective toe in last week's series against Birmingham, allowing 49 runs in 6 affairs. The sticks could only manage 28 runs themselves, resulting in a -21 RS/RA deficit for the week. That is a butt kicking. I understand that at times they pictures of players from a short time back, but this is ridiculous. If you look at the league stats page, there is a photo of Michael Jordan. 
Not only are the Lookouts slow (last in the league with 37 stolen bases), but they aren't very successful when they try (31 caught stealing). With Jose Barrero gone, the team's top two base thieves are Lorenzo Cedrolla - 4 SB, 5 CS, and Yoel Yanqui - 4 SB, 4 CS. Nick Lodolo's numbers are sick. Not sure why he hasn't been moved up yet. Take a gander: 40 IP, 27 H, 1 HR, 7 BB, 62 K, 0.85 WHIP, .190 BAA and 1.58 ERA.

Dayton - 7:05 PM EDT - 39-32 - Dayton will be at home tonight and will be hosting the Lake County Captains. Dayton split their 6-game series with Fort Wayne last week. And, as of the moment, are sitting in fourth place, just one-half game out of a playoff spot. Just a couple of days ago, Braxton Roxby was kicked up to Chattanooga (about time), and Vincent Timpanelli was elevated to Dayton from Daytona. This is Timpanelli's first year of pitching, and an eye should be kept on this young man. Jesse Stallings has been released as they make way for the 2021 draftees, I suppose. For the second time in two months, Carson Spiers has won the Pitcher of the Week Award. Congratulations!
Michael Feliz is on a rehab assignment, and is expected to toe the rubber at some point in tonight's proceedings. Lyon Richardson (5.72) will drag himself to the mound for the 5th time this month. It hasn't gone well - 10.38 ERA for the month. I am lukewarm on Richardson. Having written that, he did start the year on fire, and is pretty young for this league. So, let's see how this plays out. His number of pitcher per plate attempt is 4.07. That would suggest that he is not going to give you a bunch of innings, even if things are going well for him. 50.1 IP over 13 starts is less than 4 a game. In 13 starts he has gone 5+ innings just 3 times. Francisco Urbaez has reached base in 32 consecutive games. The catcher merry-go-round has been active. Jose Tello up to Chattanooga, and Garrett Wolforth up to Dayton.

Daytona - 7:05 PM EDT - 34-38 - The Tortugas snap back into action tonight, sending Christian Roa (4.00) out to the mound. He has seen limited duty in Daytona this season (3 starts - 9 innings pitched). Over those 9 innings, he has fanned 11. Roa is more of an off-speed pitcher, than a fireballer.

Here is a scouting report on him from Prospectslive.com. Physical Description: Tall, broad shoulders, athletic looking body, muscular build, thick legs, prototypical workhorse build, team leader at Texas A&M. Mechanics: High 3/4 arm slot, short arm action, first-base side of the rubber, big leg kick, good balance, medium length stride, creates downhill plane and slight deception with size, low effort and clean delivery. Fastball: 92-94 mph, tops out at 96 mph, inconsistent depending on the day. At its best with arm-side run and two plane movement; pounds the bottom of the zone. At its worst flat and straight; left up in the zone for hitters to feast on. Overall an average offering. Grade: 50 Curveball: Swing and miss pitch that sits 80-81 mph, featuring 11/5 shape with depth and power. Shows great feel and fairly consistent; sweeps across the plate. Potential to be an above-average pitch. Grade: 55 Slider: Occasional nasty offering at 83-86 mph with late bite; other times flat and left hanging. Inconsistent but potentially average with further pro instruction. Grade: 50 Changeup: Possibly Roa's best current secondary, the offering fades and sinks at 81-84 mph. Great feel; consistent pitch that leaves hitters off balance. Features optimal 10-11 mph separation from the fastball; elicits swing and miss. Overall a solid above-average pitch. Grade: 55 Control and Command: Control far exceeds command at this point. Definitely a strike-thrower that does not walk a lot of hitters but leaves pitches in undesirable places; resulting in loud contact. Susceptible to the long ball; makes up for lack of command with strikeouts. Well below-average currently, Roa's command should reach fringe-average at maturation. Control: 55 | Command: 45 Overall: Roa was recently drafted in the 2nd round out of Texas A&M and signed for the full slot amount: $1.5M. His pitching line from his COVID-19 shortened junior year sums up both his strengths and weaknesses well: 20 innings, 35 strikeouts, 8 walks, 4 home-runs, .230 opponents' batting average and15.8 K/9. He has the size, frame, stuff and composure needed to become a middle of the rotation big league starting pitcher. He boasts four potential average or better pitches but must improve overall consistency especially within his secondaries. He has never taken on a starter's workload for an entire season and hangs additional reliever risk. Overall a possible backend SP or back of the bullpen piece.

Any postseason aspirations are pretty much on life support, barring a lengthy winning streak. They are nearly double digits away.
Austin Hendrick's bat came alive last week. In five games, he hit .381. He had 3 consecutive multi-hit games. For the month of July, he has compiled an OPS of .936. In his 37 starts, the Tortugas have a record of 21-19. Daniel Vellojin has an on-base streak that has grown to 13. It is his 3rd such double-digit streak on the season. During his current string of 13 games, he has walked 15 times.

Thanks Wombat !!

Also Sims is on rehab tonight in AAA.

Louisville - No score as the game is in the third inning.

Riley O'brien has retired the first six in order, none on strikes.

Jose Barrero, Braxton Lee, Michael De Leon and Narciso Crook all have singled.

Braxton Lee was gunned down at the plate to end the top of the third.

Dayton - Michael Feliz was blistered for 4 runs in the first inning.

Lyon Richardson has been excellent in his 4 innings on the mound. Nice to see.

Francisco Urbaez homered (4) in the first to extend his on-base game streak to 33.

4-1 Dragons trail.

Daytona - The Tortugas game has yet to start and is in a delay.

Chattanooga - The Lookouts jumped ahead 4-0 in the second. The gap has been closed to 4-3 through 4.

Ricky Salinas has allowed 3 runs (2 earned) so far. He is pitching in the 5th innings, and has struck out just one batter.

Brian Rey and Errol Robinson have 2 hits apiece, including Rey's 3rd shot on the season.

Louisville - The bats jumped in front 2-0 in the fourth. Iowa has tied it up in the 5th, and is still at the dish.

Beau Taylor doubled to lead things off. Michael De Leon and Riley O'Brien walked to drunk the bases. Alejo Lopez doubled home a pair.

Chattanooga - Game still stands at 4-3.

Alexis Diaz and Diomar Lopez have each worked a scoreless inning.

Brian Rey, Drew Mount, Robbie Tenerowicz and Errol Robinson each have two hits.

Dayton - Game is now 5-2 going into the 8th.

Lyon Richardson has held the line, giving up just one hit and one run in six innings.

The Dragons second run came on a base on balls to Urbaez, a single by Juan Martinez and a single by Victor Ruiz.

Daytona - The Tortugas are underway and through 3. Game is tied up at 1 run apiece.

Christian Roa has given up that lone run. He has also struck out 4 without walking a batter.

Daniel Vellojin's single preceded walks to Hendrick, Cerda and Elly De La Cruz.

Just got back in.  I keep waiting for Mount to 'dismount' but he just keeps on going....

Just watched Sims pitch his inning in AAA.  (I assume he is just getting one).  Velocity was there topping out at 96. Control not so much as he walked 2 guys on 3-2 pitches.  The last out looked like it might be heading out but was caught right before fence.

Chattanooga Recap - Chattanooga jumped ahead 4-0, watched as the lead dipped to 4-3, and then hung on.

Ricky Salinas was meh.
Alexis Diaz worked a scoreless inning.
Diomar Lopez worked two. (ERA - 1.89).
Hector Perez earned his 3rd save with a scoreless 9th. (ERA - 1.04). Perez faced five hitters. He threw 25 pitches (12 strikes). And the ball was never put in play once. He walked 3 and fanned 3.

Brian Rey singled and homered (2).
Drew Mount singled twice.
Robbie "Bird' Tenerowicz reached base all four trips to the plate. He singled twice, and was hit by a pitch twice. Pass the Advil please.
Errol Robinson singled twice, walked and stole a base (2).

Dayton Recap - Dayton, and the rehabbing Michael Feliz, fell behind 4-0 after half an inning of play, and were never really a factor.

Lyon Richardson came on in the 2nd, and pitched 6 innings of one-hit, one-run baseball. He fanned five.
Spencer Stockton put the game out of reach by giving up 2 runs in the top of the 9th.

Francisco Urbaez needs to start getting some prospect love. The college hitter started his minor league career in High-A, and hasn't missed a beat. He is averaging .340, while OPSing .912. Tonight, he singled twice and went deep (3).
Victor Ruiz singled twice.
Miguel Hernandez, also known as the Mayor of Dayton, singled and doubled.
Quin Cotton singled and walked.
Jacob Hurtubise singled twice and walked. He also threw out a runner at third.

Mike Siani made 2 fielding errors, and went 0-5. Not a good night at all.

Louisville Recap - Make it 8 losses in a row for the boys from River City. They fell this time 3-2.

Riley O'Brien hammered out a quality start: 6 IP, 3 ER. 1 BB. 6 K.  He also drew two bases on balls.
Lucas Sims rehabbed a shutout frame (24 pitches, 11 strikes).
Carson Fulmer struck out two in his scoreless inning of work.

Braxton Lee singled and walked twice.
Alfredo Rodriguez singled and walked.
Michael De Leon also singled and walked.
Jose Barrero singled and was hit by a pitch.

Some highlights for the DSL Reds: They trailed 4-2 after 7, scored 7 runs in the final two innings, but it wasn't enough. They go down in flames 11-9. Their record stands at 5-5.

Raynardo Cruz with his third consecutive excellent start. He has worked 12 innings across those three starts, and has yet to be charged with an earned run. He has 20 Ks.
Fraiber Castillo has pitched 1.2 innings this year, and given up 8 runs. Zero of those runs were earned.

Carlos Jorge, who has just started playing recently, went 4-5. He is hitting .462.
Malvin Valdez went 3-5 and drove in 4 runs.
Jose Serrano with 2 singles.
Jesus Torres with 2 singles.

Daytona Recap - Daytona puts a late-game beatdown on the St. Lucie Juicies by scoring 4 runs in the 8th. They prevail 7-2.

Christia Roa had St. Lucie saying no moa for five innings. He fanned 8, while giving up just one earned run.
Sam Hellinger pitched well. 3 scoreless frames dropped his ERA to a tidy 1.62.
Stevie Branche worked the 9th and gave up a meaningless run.

Danny Vellojin singled, walked and stretched his on-base game streak to 14.
Austin Hendrick singled and walked.
Allen Cerda singled and walked.
Ashton Creal singled twice and stole a base (1).