Jay Groome in action on Saturday night. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys 7, Chihuahuas 6
Key Statistics: RF Matt Beaty 4-4, RBI, BB; 1B Taylor Kohlwey 2-4, 2 RBI; 3B Eguy Rosario 2-5 HR (19), RBI; SB (19); SS C.J. Hinojosa 2-4, BB; CF Luis Liberato 1-5, HR (15), 2 RBI; LHP Jay Groome 6 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 3 K; RHP Reiss Knehr (BS, 3) 0.2 IP 4 H, 4 R (3 Earned); RHP Evan Miller 1.0 IP 3 H 2 R K
Matt Beaty reached base five times on Saturday. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Prospect Watch: El Paso got six strong innings from the recently acquired Jay Groome, but Sugar Land put up four runs in the seventh and tacked on two more in the ninth to deal the home team a loss. … Groome pitched well in his system debut last Saturday and was better tonight as he threw six innings in 79 pitches, 50 for strikes. He doesn’t have the strong swing-and-miss stuff he was projected to have as a high-profile draft pick, but he did a quality job of locating his four-seam fastball to go along with a quality slider. If he can get his curve back to where it was before his Tommy John surgery, the 6-foot-6, 265-pound lefty could be someone to watch. … Matt Beaty had his best night with the Chihuahuas reaching base five times. The former Dodger has struggled with injuries this year but is hitting .338/.454/.437 in 20 games and 86 plate appearances across multiple attempts at a rehab assignment with El Paso. … Eguy Rosario hit his 19th homer of the year and swiped his 19th bag, becoming the PCL’s first 20/20 player since Kyle Tucker went 30/30 in 2019. Defensively, the 22-year-old has played nearly equal amounts at shortstop, second and third base. After striking out in over 30% of his plate appearances and struggling badly in April, Rosario sports an OPS well north of 1.000 since June 1.
Brandon Dixon had a big night in his return to the Missions. (Photo: Rey Holguin)
Missions 5, Frisco RoughRiders 4
Key Statistics: DH Yorman Rodriguez 1-3, 2B, BB; 1B Brandon Dixon 2-4, HR (6) 2 RBI; C Webster Rivas 2-4, RBI; RHP Thomas Watson (W, 4-4) 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K; LHP Fred Schlichtholz 2 IP, H, BB, K; RHP Moises Lugo (S,1) 1.1 IP, H, 4 K
Prospect Watch: The Missions hung on in Frisco when Moises Lugo recorded a four-out save, striking out the side in the ninth to preserve the victory for the visitors. Lugo, 23, has thrived since the Padres moved him to the bullpen this year, striking out 78 against 32 walks in 55.1 innings for a 3.09 ERA. The walk rate is high right now, but the stuff is real with a fastball in the high 90s. … Brandon Dixon hadn’t played with the Missions since April 27, when he injured his elbow in a collision at first base while attempting to make a tag. At the time, the former Murrieta Valley High School star was hitting .319/.397/.621. He hit a two-run home run to left center in his first game back and second plate appearance of the night. Dixon played with the Dodgers, Reds, Tigers, and Japan before signing an off-season minor league contract with San Diego.
Missions Roster Moves: Dixon and Ethan Skender were activated from the 60-day IL and added to the Missions roster. INF/OF Jack Stronach has been released, and Reggie Lawson, a MadFriars Top 20 prospect for many years, has retired. On our recent visit to San Antonio, Mark Wilkens interviewed Reggie about his journey.
Lake Country Captains 9, TinCaps 1
Key Statistics: 2B Olivier Basabe 2-3, HR (3) RBI; CF Joshua Mears 1-4, 2B; DH Anthony Vilar 1-3, 2B; RHP Jose Espada (L, 0-2) 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R (1 ER), 5 K, 2 HR
Prospect Watch: David Jay was in suburban Cleveland with coverage of the TinCaps.
TinCaps Roster Moves: Outfielder Tyler Malone was activated from the IL and transferred from Lake Elsinore.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 7, Storm 4
Key Statistics: RF Justin Farmer 1-3, 2B, RBI, 2 BB; DH Charlis Aquino 1-3, BB, SB (19); RHP Victor Lizarraga (L, 6-3) 4.2 IP 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K; LHP Hazahel Quijada 2 IP, 2 H, BB, K
Prospect Watch: The Storm dropped their fifth straight as they couldn’t overcome a pair of big innings by the Dodgers’ affiliate. .. A nice game by Justin Farmer, 23. who reached base three times. The undrafted free agent from Florida International University has 36 stolen bases on the year and has a .383 on-base percentage to go along with 30 extra-base hits in 64 games. The club will look for him to make more consistent contact to make his strong skillset play more consistently. … Gigantic first baseman Griffin Doersching, 24, joined the Storm and was 0-3 with a walk in his first game in Low-A. He was an eighth-round draft pick out of Oklahoma State University and is listed at 6-foot-4 and at least 260 pounds. As one would imagine, power is his call card.
Griffin Doersching was on the move from the ACL. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza).
Storm Roster Moves: With Doersching joining the club, the organization released 2015 international signee INF Kelvin Alarcon.
ACL Padres 6, ACL Mariners 4
Key Statistics: RF Jakob Marsee 1-3, BB, 2 RBI, SB(1); 1B Nathan Martorella 2-4, 2B, SB(1); 3B Rosman Verdugo 1-2, BB, SB(3); CF Nick Vogt 1-3, BB; DH Jonny Homza 0-2, BB, RBI; RHP Reiner Para (W, 3-1) 2.2 IP, 3 H, R, BB, 2 K
Prospect Watch: The ACL Padres scored all their runs in the fourth inning then held on to move to a season-best four games above .500. The team on the field has been transitioning from one made up nearly entirely of the Padres international signees from Latin America to the players from the 2022 Amateur Draft, along with the 13 undrafted free agents. … Two of the players that San Diego took in this year’s draft, Nick Vogt and Jakob Marsee, were in the lineup today. Vogt, another draft pick from UC Santa Barbara, didn’t hit above .200 until his junior year, when he slashed .316/.405/.539 for the Gauchos. According to Baseball America, he’s a solid defender in center with more doubles than home run power. Marsee was an on-base machine at Central Michigan, finishing his three-year career with a .434 on-base percentage and a slash line of .345/.467/.550 in his draft year. No one is sure if he will have enough power to hit for a corner outfielder with only eight collegiate home runs in 556 career plate appearances, but his best statistic from this Spring was that he swung and missed at only five percent of the fastballs that he saw. … Jonny Homza, continuing to recover from a gruesome offseason bike injury that left him with a broken neck, drew a walk and scored a run Saturday. He’s made all four of his rehab starts at DH but hopes to be back behind the plate by the time Instructs begin.
