Rays prospects and minor leagues: Sanchez makes Triple-A debut

Jesus Sanchez made his Durham debut Thursday, going 0-for-4 as the Bulls’ right fielder. Over the last two seasons, he played in 105 games for Montgomery, batting .260/.324/.384, which was a little above the Southern League average OPS in that period. In his time at Double A, his walk rate improved, and his power numbers will likely appear better with the juiced ball at his new level.

Triple-A Durham Bulls (54-37)

Emilio Bonifacio homered twice in Durham’s 6-4 win over Norfolk. He led off the game to give the Bulls a 1-0 lead, and his second home run gave them the lead for good in the eighth. In the sixth, Joe McCarthy’s two-run home run tied the game at four. After Jalen Beeks opened with a scoreless inning, Ricardo Pinto allowed all four Tides runs in 4 ¹⁄₃ innings.

3B Matt Duffy: 0-for-3
2B Nick Solak: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 K (.829)
CF Joe McCarthy: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 K (.728)
RF Jesus Sanchez: 0-for-4, 1 K (.000)
SS Emilio Bonifacio: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI (.813)

RHP Ricardo Pinto: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 0 K (3.72)
RHP Cole Sulser: 2 ²⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K (4.35)

Durham’s site offers this recap.

Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (13-8)

Josh Fleming was sharp in Montgomery’s 9-2 win over Pensacola. The Blue Wahoos scored both of their runs against him, but only one of them was earned. He struck out eight and walked none in seven innings. In the third, the Biscuits extended their lead to 2-0 on a successfully executed double steal. They led 5-2 before adding four insurance runs in the ninth.

SS Vidal Brujan: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB, 1 CS (.872)
2B Taylor Walls: 0-for-3, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 SB, 1 CS (.717)
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K, 2 SB (.744)
DH Lucius Fox: 1-for-4, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 SB (.704)
LF Miles Mastrobuoni: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B, 3 RBI, 1 BB (.690)

LHP Josh Fleming: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R (1 ER), 0 BB, 8 K (3.86)

Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (18-4)

Charlotte rolled to an 11-4 win over Florida. The Stone Crabs scored one in the first and then three in the second on a bases-clearing double by Michael Smith. They led by six before the Fire Frogs finally managed to get on the board in the fifth against Michael Plassmeyer, who was sharp again. He struck out five, walked none, and allowed just the run on six hits in six innings.

SS Wander Franco: 1-for-5, 2 R (1.083)
DH Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-5, 2 K (.677)
LF Moises Gomez: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K (.665)
RF Garrett Whitley: 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 2 K (.722)
CF Michael Smith: 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K, 1 SB (1.117)
C Joey Roach: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.662)

LHP Michael Plassmeyer: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K (2.29)

Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (14-6)

Bowling Green couldn’t slow down Beloit’s relentless offense in a 13-9 loss to the Snappers. The Hot Rods scored six in the second thanks to RBI hits from Jonathan Aranda, Grant Witherspoon, and Roberto Alvarez, but Beloit piled up four multi-run innings over the rest of the game to take control. Matthew Liberatore allowed seven runs in four innings.

DH Chris Betts: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP (.744)
SS Osmy Gregorio: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.591)
RF Tony Pena: 2-for-3, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.632)

LHP Matthew Liberatore: 4 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (2.56)

Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (14-12)

Hudson Valley erased a 4-0 deficit and held on for a 6-5 win over Staten Island. After allowing four runs in the second, the Renegades started their comeback with a Cristhian Pedroza RBI double in the bottom half of the inning, and they scored four times to go in front in the third. Greg Jones singled in two and then scored himself, and Pedroza’s second RBI double put them ahead. John Doxakis allowed four runs — three earned — in 1 ²⁄₃ innings, but Evan McKendry was great in relief, striking out seven in 4 ¹⁄₃ scoreless frames.

DH Greg Jones: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 K (.708)
2B Cristhian Pedroza: 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K (.677)

LHP John Doxakis: 1 ²⁄₃ IP, 3 H, 4 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 1 K (3.24)
RHP Evan McKendry: 4 ¹⁄₃ IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K (0.00)

Rookie Princeton Rays (10-12)

Princeton dropped a wild game against Kingsport, 8-6. The Mets scored five runs in the first three innings, but the Rays tied it in the fourth. Luis Leon capped the error-filled inning with an RBI single. In the sixth, Nick Schnell’s RBI hit gave Princeton its first lead, but Kingsport closed the game with three unanswered runs. In his pro debut, Trevor Brigden allowed two runs in an inning.

CF Nick Schnell: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K (.768)
1B Jhosner Vargas: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB (.783)

RHP Trevor Brigden: 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (18.00)

Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (6-8)

Drew Strotman returned to the mound in the GCL Rays’ 5-1 loss to the GCL Pirates. In his first appearance since May 26, 2018 due to Tommy John surgery, he pitched two innings and was charged with two unearned runs. Juan Garcia’s sacrifice fly in the seventh accounted for the Rays’ only run.

C Julio Meza: 2-for-4, 1 K (.519)

RHP Drew Strotman: 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R (0 ER), 1 BB, 1 K

CLICK HERE FOR ALL BOX SCORES

Friday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)

Durham vs. Norfolk 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Chandler Shepherd (0-7, 7.62)

Montgomery @ Pensacola 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
Riley O’Brien (4-6, 4.20) vs. Randy Dobnak (4-0, 2.92)

Charlotte vs. Tampa 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
Joe Ryan (5-2, 1.83) vs. TBA

Bowling Green vs. Beloit 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Reid Birlingmair (2-5, 5.12)

Hudson Valley vs. Staten Island 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Anderson Munoz (2-1, 1.53)

Princeton @ Kingsport 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. Cesar Loaiza (0-0, 3.24)

GCL Rays @ GCL Braves 12 p.m. DOUBLEHEADER

Completion of suspended game followed by seven-inning game.

*Listed as TBA on milb.com

Scouting the opposition

Norfolk Tides (Baltimore)
34-56 (4th in IL South)
Offense: 439 R (8th) .758 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 5.49 ERA (14th) 1.52 WHIP (11th)
Top-30 prospects: 3B Ryan Mountcastle (3), OF Austin Hays (4), LHP Keegan Akin (6), RHP Luis Ortiz (13)

Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Minnesota)
10-11 (T-3rd in SL South)
Offense: 377 R (3rd) .680 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.56 ERA (6th) 1.29 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Alex Kirilloff (2), RHP Brusdal Graterol (3), RHP Griffin Jax (14), RHP Jorge Alcala (16), C Ben Rortvedt (22), OF Aaron Whitefield (27)

Tampa Tarpons (Yankees)
10-12 (3rd in FSL North)
Offense: 338 R (7th) .641 OPS (10th)
Pitching: 3.83 ERA (10th) 1.32 WHIP (11th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Estevan Florial (1), RHP Clarke Schmidt (13), RHP Trevor Stephan (20), C Jason Lopez (21), RHP Frank German (23)

Beloit Snappers (Oakland)
6-13 (7th in MWL West)
Offense: 308 R (16th) .628 OPS (16th)
Pitching: 4.38 ERA (13th) 1.41 WHIP 13th)
Top-30 prospects: 2B Marcos Brito (16)

Staten Island Yankees
12-13 (4th in NYPL McNamara)
Offense: 88 R (11th) .599 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 2.44 ERA (2nd) 0.94 WHIP (1st)
Top-30 prospects: OF Everson Pereira (3), SS Oswald Peraza (17)

Kingsport Mets
10-12 (4th in AL West)
Offense: 85 R (9th) .664 OPS (8th)
Pitching: 4.60 ERA (7th) 1.40 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: C Francisco Alvarez (12), RHP Junior Santos (25), 3B Brett Baty

GCL Braves
4-7 (6th in GCL South)
Offense: 49 R (17th) .604 OPS (17th)
Pitching: 5.27 ERA (17th) 1.55 WHIP (16th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Michael Harris

Daily news and links

Forgot about this from a few days ago: Baseball Prospectus subscribers can read its midseason top 50 prospects.

Baseball America has an index linking to batting-practice video from each player in the Futures Game.

The Charleston RiverDogs had one of the better promotions I’ve read about lately.