Albuquerque Isotopes 10, Chihuahuas 5
Key Stats: LHP Jackson Wolf (L, 5-10) 4 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, BB, 4 K; RHP David Morgan IP, H; RHP Andrew Moore 2 IP, H, ER, 3 K; C Blake Hunt 3-for-4, HR (8); 1B Romeo Sanabria, 1-for-5, RBI, R; 3B Marcos Castañon, 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, R
David Morgan returned to action for El Paso. (Photo: Jorge Salgado)
Prospect Watch: Without a doubt, the most notable performance out of El Paso’s sixth straight loss came courtesy of David Morgan. The right-hander returned to the bump on Sunday for the first time in over two weeks and looked sharp, tossing a scoreless fifth inning in which he allowed one hit. Morgan’s pitch mix generated a 22% whiff rate and saw his fastball average 97.4 mph on the radar gun. Twelve of his 15 pitches went for strikes. … Right-hander Andrew Moore followed and turned in a decent relief outing, allowing one run on a homer while punching out three over two innings. Moore’s sinker topped out at 98.5 mph and generated a pair of whiffs while sitting 96-97. While the stuff is electric, his command remains 20-grade. While he owns a 34.1% strikeout rate between two levels, he counters it with a brutal 25.1% walk rate. … Blake Hunt continued to mash the ball for El Paso, swatting his 8th homer in 28 games as part of his 3-for-4 day at the dish. Hunt’s solo shot in the bottom of the fourth left his bat at 96.5 mph. In his time with El Paso, Hunt has below-average batted ball data, claiming just a 102.0 mph 90th percentile exit velocity and 36.5% hard hit rate, which rank in the 38th and 45th percentile respectively among Triple-A hitters… Marcos Castañon turned in a 2-for-4 day at the dish, pushing his season OPS to .776. The UC-Santa Barbara product has posted solid EVs and batted ball data in his first full season with El Paso, sporting a 40.0% hard hit rate, 104.3 90th percentile exit velocity, and a 111.6 max exit velocity that rank in the 63rd percentile or better among Triple-A batters. Despite a very swing-happy approach, he’s managed to limit the strikeouts to only a 17.9% rate.
Amarillo Sod Poodles 7, Missions 6 (10 innings)
Key Stats: LHP Jamie Hitt 4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; RHP Clay Edmondson 2 IP, 2 BB, K; RHP Tucker Musgrove (L, 0-2) 0.1 IP, H, 1 R (0 ER), K; RF Braedon Karpathios 3-for-5, HR (11); LF Jake Cunningham 1-for-5, HR (4); DH Tirso Ornelas 2-for-5, 2 RBI
Braedon Karpathios continued his strong run through Amarillo. (Photo: San Antonio Missions)
Prospect Watch: After delivering a three-hit day on Saturday, Braedon Karpathios logged another three-hit game on Sunday, going 3-for-5 with a homer in an extra-inning loss to Amarillo. The opposite-field bomb from Karpathios in the first traveled 384 feet. Over his past 10 games, the 23-year-old has launched three homers, driven in 10 runs and sports a .846 OPS. While he has 11 homers this year, Karpathios still only pulls the ball in the air at a 5.1% rate. … Jake Cunningham also collected a solo homer in the top of the first inning as the Missions jumped out to a 3-0 lead they would squander by the fifth inning. The homer, his fourth with the Missions and 19th overall between two levels, wasn’t cheap either, leaving his bat at 111 mph and traveling 440 feet. Cunningham hasn’t looked overmatched since arriving in Double-A for the first time in his career, posting an .814 OPS, 116 wRC+, and .359 wOBA. The minor league free agent signee has kept his strikeout rate to a respectable 26.3%… Right-hander Clay Edmondson returned after more than a week out of game action and delivered one of his better outings since moving up to Double-A, working around two walks to throw a pair of scoreless innings with one strikeout. All told, the sidearmer generated five whiffs from 10 Amarillo swings. After striking out 33% of the batters he’s faced at High-A, Edmondson has managed just a 12.2% K rate and 17.6% whiff rate with the Missions as his command faltered. He sports a walk rate north of 25% through his first 11 outings. … Tucker Musgrove entered the game in the bottom of the 10th inning with the Manfred man on second base. While the right-hander punched out the first batter he faced, Druw Jones then connected on a walk-off single. Despite being charged with the loss, Musgrove continues to flash impressive stuff. In his short time with the Missions, he owns a 43.8% strikeout rate that’s fifth among all pitchers who have thrown at least 10 innings in Double-A this year, fueled by a 45.1% whiff rate. However, his command remains an issue, as he also sports a 20.8% walk rate for the Missions.
Justin DeCriscio has flashed plenty of defensive ability while contributing at the plate. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Prospect Watch: Resuming play from Friday night in the bottom of the second inning, the Fort Wayne offense picked up where they left off, pushing across five runs over the final seven frames. Justin DeCriscio finished 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. The infielder has been one of the better hitters in the system for about a month now, logging nine multi-hit performances on his way to an .871 OPS and .382 wOBA over his past 24 games. … Like DeCriscio, Jack Costello – the other TinCaps with University of San Diego ties – tallied three hits in game one. He is slashing .271/.354/.514 with five homers and seven extra-base hits over his past 21 games played. In that same span, he is whiffing at just a 14.3% clip and owns an in-zone contact rate of 88%. The 25-year-old has a .767 OPS in his second trip through the Midwest League. … Abraham Parra worked five innings for Fort Wayne, allowing four runs on five hits, walking four and punching out five. While he is 3-0 in his past five outings, Parra’s results are a mixed bag. In the positive, he sports a 34.2% whiff rate and respectable .322 opponent wOBA in that span; on the negative, he has a 5.49 ERA and a walk rate north of 17%.
Storm 5, Stockton Ports 3
Key Stats: SP Luis Maracara 3.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, HBP, 2 K; RP Jordan Valenzuela 3 IP, H, 2 BB, 5 K; SS Jorge Quintana 2-for-4, 2 RBI, R, SB (23); LF Conner Westenburg 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 SB (44); C Ty Harvey, 0-for-4, RBI, R
Jorge Quintana has stayed hot as the calendar turns to August. (Photo: Jerry Espinoza)
Prospect Watch: Two of the eight hits turned in by the Storm offense came from shortstop Jorge Quintana as the 19-year-old continued an encouraging stretch. Dating back to July 1, Quintana is slashing .265/.390/.482, with three homers among 10 extra-base hits. The power surge can be partially attributed to Quintana doing a better job of lifting the ball to the pull side. From April 1 to June 30, he owned a just a 6.2% pulled fly ball rate. Over the past month, that number has jumped to 10.9%. … From the leadoff spot, Conner Westenburg tallied a 2-for-4 day, which included the speedy outfielder swiping his 43rd and 44th bases of the season. In doing so, he passed Ryan Wideman – who was promoted six weeks ago – for the Storm team lead. An undrafted free agent last year, the Houston native has shown solid bat-to-ball skills this season, with a respectable in-zone contact rate of 83.4% and a 26.2% whiff rate. While he’s hitting .261 this season with Lake Elsinore, he boasts just an 84 wRC+ and .331 wOBA in 93 games played. … On the bump, Luis Maracara endured another struggle-filled outing. The right-hander lasted just 3.1 innings and allowed three runs on three hits, walked two, and struck out two. While he generated a 25% whiff rate (7 whiffs on 28 swings), he threw just 56% of his offerings for strikes and has now walked two or more in all five of his starts with Lake Elsinore.