Princeton doesn’t have anyone with Wander Franco levels of hype this season — though it’s fair to say that no one except Bowling Green and Charlotte has this season — but it does have a couple hitters who have stood out so far. Outfielder Diego Infante is second in the Appalachian League in home runs with 10 in 30 games. He was the organization’s top international signing in 2016 (Baseball America $). Catcher Luis Leon is third in the league with a .951 OPS. He signed a six-figure bonus in the same class as Infante.
Triple-A Durham Bulls (60-45)
Durham scored five in the first and rolled to a 9-2 win over Buffalo. Dalton Kelly started the scoring with a leadoff home run, and Nathan Lukes capped the inning with a three-run homer. After the Bisons scored their first run of the game in the top of the fourth, the Bulls responded with four more runs in the bottom half of the inning. Arturo Reyes struck out seven and was charged with two runs — one earned — in 7 1⁄3 innings.
RF Joe McCarthy: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.735)
DH Jesus Sanchez: 1-for-4, 1 R (.611)
SS Lucius Fox: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K (.472)
1B Dalton Kelly: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 K (.784)
CF Nathan Lukes: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI (.621)
RHP Arturo Reyes: 7 1⁄3 IP, 6 H, 2 R (1 ER), 2 BB, 7 K (4.54)
Durham’s site offers this recap.
Double-A Montgomery Biscuits (24-11)
Montgomery cruised to a 7-1 win over Tennessee. The Biscuits hammered the Smokies for 17 hits — seven of which went for extra bases. Josh Lowe homered in the second to give Montgomery a 3-0 lead, and it led 5-0 after Thomas Milone’s home run in the sixth. Jason Garcia allowed a run in seven innings.
SS Taylor Walls: 3-for-5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 SB (.754)
CF Josh Lowe: 1-for-6, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI (.748)
3B Tristan Gray: 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 K (.643)
2B Miles Mastrobuoni: 3-for-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 BB (.720)
RF Thomas Milone: 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 BB (.649)
RHP Jason Garcia: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (2.35)
Class A-Advanced Charlotte Stone Crabs (27-10)
Charlotte had an early 3-0 lead, but it wasn’t enough in a 6-5 loss to Clearwater. Wander Franco’s RBI double started a two-run first, and the Stone Crabs scored again in the second. Later, Moises Gomez homered for the second straight game, but the Threshers tied the game and then went ahead in the eighth. Tobias Myers allowed a run on one hit in four innings.
SS Wander Franco: 2-for-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI (.974)
C Ronaldo Hernandez: 0-for-4, 1 BB, 2 K (.732)
RF Moises Gomez: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI (.680)
LF Garrett Whitley: 2-for-4, 1 K (.743)
RHP Tobias Myers: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K (2.95)
Charlotte’s site offers this recap.
Class-A Bowling Green Hot Rods (22-11)
Shane Baz was better in Bowling Green’s 4-2 win over Fort Wayne. The TinCaps scored in each of the first two innings, but after a string of rough outings, Baz settled in. He completed six innings and struck out six. Izzy Wilson drove in the Hot Rods’ first run with an RBI single in the seventh, and Osmy Gregorio put them ahead with a two-run double.
DH Roberto Alvarez: 2-for-3, 1 R, 1 BB (.662)
RHP Shane Baz: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (3.40)
Short-Season Hudson Valley Renegades (23-16)
Hudson Valley rallied for a 3-2 win over Aberdeen. The Renegades only had six hits, but they made one of them count. Greg Jones led off the sixth with a triple and tied the game when he stole home. They went ahead when the IronBirds couldn’t turn a double play with the bases loaded, and they scored their third run on an error. Evan McKendry allowed a run in four innings.
DH Greg Jones: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 BB, 2 SB, 1 CS (.898)
RHP Evan McKendry: 4 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (1.88)
Rookie Princeton Rays (18-18)
Diego Infante and Luis Leon powered Princeton to a 9-4 win over Burlington. The Royals actually went up 2-0 in the top of the first with a two-run homer, but Infante’s three-run dinger in the bottom half gave the Rays the lead. Kevin Melendez also hit a two-run double in the first. In the fifth, Leon and Infante hit back-to-back homers. Matthew Peguero allowed three runs — two earned — in 3 1⁄3 innings.
C Luis Leon: 2-for-4, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI (.951)
RF Diego Infante: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 K (.899)
RHP Matthew Peguero: 3 1⁄3 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, 0 K (5.76)
Rookie Gulf Coast League Rays (12-13)
The GCL Rays lost a rare night game, falling to the GCL Braves, 6-3. After a 1-2-3 first, JJ Goss ran into trouble in the second, allowing four runs. With five strikeouts in 4 2⁄3 innings out of the bullpen, Franklin Dacosta kept the Rays in the game, but they didn’t score until they eighth when they were already trailing by six.
C Julio Meza: 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 K (.560)
RHP JJ Goss: 2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (10.29)
LHP Franklin Dacosta: 4 2⁄3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K (2.04)
Saturday’s games (probables courtesy of milb.com)
Durham vs. Buffalo 6:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. Sean Reid-Foley (3-4, 6.33)
Montgomery vs. Birmingham 7:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA
Charlotte @ Clearwater 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA
Bowling Green vs. Fort Wayne 7:35 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA
Hudson Valley @ Aberdeen 6:05 p.m. ET (MiLB.TV, radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA
Princeton vs. Burlington 6:30 p.m. ET (radio stream)
TBA vs. TBA
GCL Rays vs. GCL Braves 10 a.m.
*Listed as TBA on milb.com
Scouting the opposition
Buffalo Bisons (Toronto)
54-50 (2nd in IL North)
Offense: 481 R (12th) .765 OPS (12th)
Pitching: 4.89 ERA (8th) 1.41 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: SS Bo Bichette (2), RHP Sean Reid-Foley (10), OF Anthony Alford (13), RHP David Paulino (29)
Birmingham Barons (White Sox)
19-12 (2nd in SL North)
Offense: 379 R (7th) .687 OPS (5th)
Pitching: 4.10 ERA (8th) 1.37 WHIP (8th)
Top-30 prospects: 2B Nick Madrigal (5), OF Micker Aldofo (6), OF Blake Rutherford (8), OF Luis Gonzalez (9), 1B Gavin Sheets (14), SS Laz Rivera (16), RHP Alec Hansen (17), RHP Zack Burdi (18), RHP Codi Heuer (26), OF Joel Booker (27), RHP Tyler Johnson (29), LHP Kodi Medeiros (30)
Clearwater Threshers (Philadelphia)
18-20 (4th in FSL North)
Offense: 400 R (5th) .686 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.60 ERA (8th) 1.24 WHIP (6th)
Top-30 prospects: RHP Spencer Howard (7), RHP Colton Eastman (11), LHP Zach Warren (17), SS Nick Maton (19), C Rodolfo Duran (20), 2B Daniel Brito (21), OF Jhailyn Ortiz (22), OF Matt Vierling (27)
Lake County Captains (Cleveland)
17-15
Offense: 462 R (2nd) .715 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 3.62 ERA (7th) 1.32 WHIP (10th)
Top-30 prospects: C Bo Naylor (4), RHP Luis Oviedo (8), OF Quentin Holmes (27)
Aberdeen IronBirds (Baltimore)
24-17 (T-1st in NYPL McNamara)
Offense: 159 R (5th) .688 OPS (3rd)
Pitching: 2.49 ERA (1st) 1.13 WHIP (2nd)
Top-30 prospects: OF Kyle Stowers (22)
Burlington Royals
19-18 (2nd in AL East)
Offense: 179 R (4th) .716 OPS (6th)
Pitching: 3.80 ERA (2nd) 1.30 WHIP (3rd)
Top-30 prospects: LHP Rylan Kaufman (25)
GCL Braves
10-13 (T-5th in GCL South)
Offense: 78 R (17th) .591 OPS (18th)
Pitching: 4.15 ERA (10th) 1.48 WHIP (15th)
Top-30 prospects: OF Michael Harris
Daily news and links
FanGraphs has made recent changes to its prospect board.
Before there was Dr. Poo Poo, there was Donnie Dewees.
Always trade your prospects: you can't name guys given up for JDMartinez, Verlander, Cueto, Machado, etc. Yelich deal looks meh.
— Mike Petriello (@mike_petriello) July 26, 2019
Never trade your prospects: Meadows, Glasnow, Eloy, Gleyber, Giolito, Moncada, etc.
Always never do the thing you never always think you should do