Down On The Farm: June 12

On Monday night, Enny Romero had another positive start for Port Charlotte (command still needs work), Ryan Carpenter struggled, Kyle Farnsworth made his first rehab appearance, and Reid Brignac hit a grand slam.

AAA Durham Bulls

Behind Reid Brignac's grand slam, the Durham Bulls defeated Toledo 6-3. In the second inning, Reid Brignac, with Allen, Anderson, and Mangini on base, launched a homerun to RF. The Bulls would only score one more run, but they wouldn't need any more as the pitching held Toledo to 3 runs. Pendleton gave up 3 runs in only 4 innings, but the relievers combined to pitch 5 shutout innings.

AA Montgomery Biscuits

Montgomery took home the first game of the doubleheader by the score of 6-4. The pitching, collectively, did not give up an earned run, as both Thomas and Bortnick (two errors) committed errors. Montgomery scored all 6 of it's runs in the bottom of the 6th inning as they sent 10 batters to the plate. Omar Luna and brad Coob both had two hits on the night.

Game 2: Late, not sure if they will play as a write this.

High-A Charlotte Stone Crabs

The Stone Crabs couldn't push across enough runs on Monday as they lost to St. Lucie 3-2 despite a strong effort by the Crab's pitching staff. Farnsworth received the start, going an inning while surrendering one hit. Garvin relieved him but gave up two runs in his 2 innings. Enny Romero then entered the game and gave the Crabs 7 shutout, no-hit innings. Nate Garcia gave up the losing run. Offensively, the Stone Crabs reached base 10 times but could only push across 2 runs. The middle of the order particularly struggled, with Torrez and Dietrich both failing to reach base.

Low-A Bowling Green Hot Rods

Doomed by Ryan Carpenter's poor start, the Hot Rods lost to Dayton 9-5. Carpenter lasted only 4.2 innings while allowing 7 runners to cross home plate thanks to 9 hits and three walks. Vettleson tried his best to keep the Hot Rods in the game, reaching base in 4 of his 5 PAs. Glaesmann added a HR.

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Star of the day: Drew Vettleson, who reached base 4 out of the 5 times he came to the plate.

Goat of the day: Ryan Carpenter, who gave up seven runs.

Today's Games (probables courtesy of Milb.com):

Durham v. Toledo, 12:05 ET, Milb TV
Paduch (2-4, 4.35) v. Oliver (3-5, 3.93)

Montgomery does not play.

Charlotte @ Jupiter, 6:35 ET
Romero (not correct) v. James (3-3, 4.45)

Bowling Green v. West Michigan, 8:05 ET
Gomez (5-2, 2.80) v. Smith (1-3, 3.60)

Notable Stat Lines.....

• Stephen Vogt: 1-3, BB, K
• Brandon Allen: 0-3, K
• Brandon Gomes: 1 IP, K
• Hak-Ju Lee: 0-4, K
• Ty Morrison: 0-3, 2 Ks
• Hector Guevara: 2-6, K
• Riccio Torrez: 0-4, 2 Ks
• Derek Dietrich: 0-5, 2 Ks
• Mikie Mahtook: 1-4, BB
• Kyle Farnsworth: 1 IP, 1 H
• Grayson Garvin: 2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 Ks
• Enny Romero: 7 IP, 0 H, 4 BBs, 6 Ks
• Jake Hager: 1-5, 2 Ks
• Jeff Malm: 1-3, 2 BBs, K
• Todd Glaesmann: 2-5, HR
• Drew Vettleson: 3-4, 2B, BB, K
• Josh Sale: 1-5, 2 Ks
• Cameron Seitzer: 1-3, 2 BBs, K
• Tyler Goeddel: 1-4, 2B, 2 Ks
• Ryan Carpenter: 4.2 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 3 BBs, 4 Ks
• Jason McEachern: 2.1 IP, 4 Ks

Thoughts for Discussion:

• I have heard many fans calling for Sale to be promoted to Port Charlotte. I'd be fine if the Rays kept him at Bowling Green all year. Each level presents different challenges for prospects to overcome. I'm a believer that some players are rushed and they are able to survive in the upper levels on sheer talent alone. But when they reach the major leagues, the highest level of competition, they struggle because they never learned the valuable lessons taught at the lower levels. This is just a theory of mine , but I like to think that it holds some weight.
• Drew Vettleson has a cannon for an arm. Don't believe me? He has 14 assists this year. Also, check out this video: Link.
• I tried to catch some of the Bowling Green games and have managed to watch fragments of several so far this year (Milb TV). From my observances, I have noticed that Vettleson is a solid runner (with a strange running form) who uses his instincts to steal bases. Ryan Brett is a fireball who has showed an innate ability to square up the baseball. Ryan Carpenter's stuff is a bit underwhelming, but he has shown potential in the past. Felipe Rivero has very advanced command despite his age and shows a great fastball/changeup combination. Parker Markel has a wicked slider but works up in the zone too often where his sinker flattens out, making him more hittable than he should be.Jake Floethe, a real sleeper, pounds the lower half of the zone and looks like he could be a future 3/4 starter. Just a few observations coming from my untrained eyes....
• Chris Archer is still struggling with his command. The good news? I think he is getting close to rounding the corner. He is starting to locate his fastball on the corners and displays the ability to control hard fastballs. He also can control his slider at times. Unfortunately, he often has bouts of command struggles, where it looks like he looses focus. A scout (h/t RJ Anderson for the quote) noticed this also. Last start, he hit the 1B ump on a pickoff play, and it clearly bothered him. His command deserted him and he walked three batters in the inning. He is also vulnerable to giving up quick 4 pitch walks where it looks like he just needs to slow things down and get back into control. His stuff is devastating; both his fastball and his slider are at least 70 grade pitches. I watched Archer pitch last year, and his stuff was never as sharp as it is now.
  
• I believe Kevin will be publishing his top 30 with the new draftees later today (don't quote me on that). Personally, I think it a bit crowded on the top of the Rays list, with a bunch of good prospects but no elite ones. Around 10 guys (Shaffer, Guerrieri, Sale, Mahtook, Vettleson, Brett, Romero, Rivero, Archer, and Colome) have a reasonable argument for being in the top 3.
• Be sure to check out RaysProspects.com and RaysDigest minor league and draft coverage. RaysProspects has an awesome draft board while RaysDigest has conducted many interviews with the new draftees.