Around the Minors: 6/30/2013

Norfolk 7, Gwinnett 3: L.J. Hoes was named the Orioles' Minor League Player of the Year for 2012 and has responded in 2013 by having one of his best professional seasons yet. Young Jerome has walked 18 times in June against 16 strikeouts and is overall slashing an impressive .347/.450/.485. Hoes picked up a couple singles today in support of a solid seven inning outing from Josh Stinson. Yamaico Navarro also had a pair of hits in addition to a walk. Cuban Defector Henry Urrutia was held hitless, but also walked. Russ Canzler swatted a base clearing off of old friend Luis "Don't Lose My Number" Ayala. These are the shifting fortunes of Luis Ayala: starting off an inning in relief in a minor league game and getting charged with five earned runs without having gotten anybody out. Ouch. For no reason, I'd also like to mention that the Gwinnett Braves have a guy named Wirfin Obispo.

Bowie 7, Harrisburg 0: What can we say about Eddie Gamboa? In the first leg of today's doubleheader, Gamboa pitched a seven inning no hitter. Gamboa also struck out five and walked two. Going back to the back to the beginning of June, Gamboa has allowed eight earned runs in five starts and those have been confined to two starts. Additionally, Gamboa has allowed one hit in his last two starts and no earned runs in three of his last four. After toiling in the minors since 2008, could Gamboa on the verge of a breakthrough with the big club? Gotta root for the knuckler. Speaking of guys we like to root for, Nolan Reimold homered. After starting his rehab off slowly, Reimold has seven hits in his last four games. The second leg of the doubleheader was postponed.

Frederick 2, Winston-Salem 8: Making his first start in the Carolina League, Luc Rennie was beaten up a bit. Rennie walked four and gave up five hits including a home run in 4.1 innings. His mates in the bullpen weren't much better, but they were all let down by the defense. Jason Esposito had his 10th error on the year and Sammie Starr was charged with his 17th (!). Nicky Delmonico homered, Christian Walker doubled and Michael Ohlman was amazingly held hitless. Brenden Webb and Jerome Pena picked up a couple singles in honor of Ty Kelly.

Delmarva 6, Greensboro 7: I had high hopes for Roderick Bernadina at the start of the year, but the Willemstad, Curacao native has had sort of starcrossed 2013 between injuries, slumps and the like. Hopefully, today's game was a harbinger of things to come as he went 3-5 with a double and a homer. Also, we should take note of Creede Simpson who is tearing up the Sally League. While drafted in 2012, Simpson turns 24 in September and certainly should be tearing Low A competition apart, having come from a fairly advanced college league. That being said, Simpson has slashed a studly .327/.439/.509 in June. His .418 wOBA and 157 wRC+ are good for 10th in the Sally League. While Adrian Marin drew a walk, he was otherwise hitless in four at bats. Starter Juan Guzman allowed six earned runs and two homers in 5.1 innings, while the Hobgoblin allowed six baserunners in 4.1 innings of relief, but was charged with a blown save and a loss. Any additional information on this game would be appreciated as the box shows Byron Capellan relieving Hobgood and allowing a run without facing a batter. Confusing.

Aberdeen 2, Staten Island 8: The Austin Urban renewal project has not gotten off to a swimming start. Five days after allowing eight earned runs, Urban walked six batters in four innings. How the offense didn't get more than a run off a pitcher named Rookie Davis, I cannot say. Hector Veloz homered though, and Little Yaz picked up his professional hit.

DSL Orioles1 3, DSL Reds 4: I don't know if you'd call a 21 year old in his 4th crack at Rookie League ball a prospect (okay...you wouldn't), but I still wonder if Alexander Mercedes can do...something. Mercedes leads DSL O's1 in all slash categories and has 12 XBH. Today he was 1-4 with a double. Starter Wilmer Aquino went 6.2 innings and struck out five batters. Aquino is a 21 year old Dominican lefty.