HR Roll Call: Paulo Orlando (11,12), Samir Duenez (10), Jecksson Flores (7), Alfredo Escalera 2 (4,5), Chase Vallot (14), Nick Pratto (14)

Sunday BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nick Pratto 2-4 R, 2-2b
Monday BPKC Hitter of the Day: Alfredo Escalera 2-4 2HR

Sunday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Josh Dye 5 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 6 K 1-1 GO-FO 72p/50k
Monday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Ofreidy Gomez 7 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 2-8 GO-FO 77p/49k

76-60 2nd Half Champs
Sunday Greenville Drive 7 Lexington Legends 4
Monday Greenville Drive 6 Lexington Legends 4
Avg Brewer Hicklen .307
HR Seuly Matias 31
RBI MJ Melendez 73
Wins Garrett Davila 7
ERA (minimum 50 IP) Holden Capps 2.98
Saves Tad Ratliff 10

The Legends were outslugged over the weekend as they rested their prime pitchers in waiting for their first playoff appearance in 12 years. First baseman Nick Pratto kept his hot hitting going with two hits in each game with a home run on Monday and pair of doubles on Sunday.

Nick Pratto: 4-9 3R, 2-2b, HR, RBI
Cal Jones: 3-8 RBI, CS
Sebastian Rivero: 2-4 2 RBI

68-72 Overall 3rd place
Sunday Game 1 Potomac Nationals 1 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0
Sunday Game 2 Wilmington Blue Rocks 3 Potomac Nationals 2
Monday Potomac Nationals 5 Wilmington Blue Rocks 4
Average Travis Jones .298
HR Gabe Cancel, Kort Peterson 8
RBI Gabe Cancel 73
Wins Gerso Garabito 8
ERA Garabito 3.16
Saves Bryan Brickhouse 14

The Rocks finished off their season losing two of three games, the last one an extra-innings loss to the Nationals. All three starters allowed just one run in each game with Josh Dye earning his first High-A win following the Burlington season with a spot start. Reliever Tyler Zuber blew Monday’s game with three runs allowed in the tenth inning on three hits and a walk.

Josh Dye: 5 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 6 K 3-4 GO-FO 72p/50k
Andres Sotillet: 7 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 4 BB 7 K 6-3 GO-fO 109p/69k
Ofreidy Gomez: 7 IP 5 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 2-8 GO-FO 77p/49k

70-70
Sunday NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Arkansas Travelers 3 F/10
Monday Arkansas Travelers 8 NW Arkansas Naturals 3
Avg Nicky Lopez .333
HR Alex Liddi 23
RBI Liddi 72
Wins Emilio Ogando 11
ERA Pedro Fernandez 2.81
Saves Jake Newberry 12

The Naturals split their weekend games to finish and even 70-70 for the season. Starter Scott Blewett gave NW Arkansas a quality start on Sunday before Ian Kennedy was roughed up on Monday. The Sunday game featured a Jecksson Flores game-tying home run in the ninth for the infielder who won the Texas League batting title.

Alfredo Escalera: 2-7 2HR, 2 RBI, K
Jecksson Flores: 1-6 HR
Samir Duenez: 2-3 HR

66-74
Sunday New Orleans Baby Cakes 6 Omaha Storm Chasers 4
Monday Omaha Storm Chasers 6 New Orleans Baby Cakes 5 F/10
Avg Humberto Arteaga .292
HR Frank Schwindel 24
RBI Schwindel 93
Wins Jon Dziedzic, Trevor Oaks 8
ERA Richard Lovelady 2.47
Saves Lovelady 9

The Chasers split their final weekend with an extra-inning win and a blown lead on Sunday. First baseman Frank Schwindel connected on five hits in the two games with a pair of doubles. Those doubles were his 37th and 38th of the season which broke Omaha’s franchise record for a season that had stood since 1983. Closer Richard Lovelady completed his ninth save of the season to finish with an ERA of 2.47 on the season.

Jake Kalish 5 IP 8 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 5 K 3-4 GO-FO 85p/55k
Frank Schwindel 5-10 2R, 2-2b, 3 RBI
Nicky Lopez 1-9 2R, RBI, BB, SB

Idaho Falls Chukars 4 Ogden Raptors 2

The Chukars kept pace with first place Grand Junction with a slim win on Monday. Starter Kris Bubic worked five innings with seven strikeouts giving up just a second inning two-run home run as his only blemish. The Chukars quickly answered in their half of the second inning with a Hunter Strong RBI double and a Rubendy Jaquez run scoring single. Royals seventh-round pick Tyler Gray toss four scoreless innings in place of Bubic, working around three walks and earning the win with Offerman Collado’s two-run single in the sixth inning.

Rubendy Jaquez: 2-2 RBI, BB
Kris Bubic: 5 IP 4 H 2 R 2 ER 4 BB 7 K 3-1 GO-FO 90p/51k
Tyler Gray: 4 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 3 BB 3 K 6-3 GO-FO 72p/42k

Sunday Boxscores
Monday Boxscores

Saturday BPKC Hitter of the Day: Nathan Eaton 4-5 R, 2b, 3b
Sunday BPKC Hitter of the Day Rudy Martin 3-5 2R, 2b, HR, 3 RBI

Saturday BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Josh Dye 5 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K 5-3 GO-OF 71p/51k
Sunday BPKC Pitcher of the Day Josh Staumont 2.2 IP 0 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 1-1 GO-FO 35p/27k

Saturday Lexington Legends 2 Hagerstown Suns 1
Sunday Hagerstown Suns 10 Lexington Legends 5

Despite a split over the weekend, the Legends find themselves three games up in the loss column with eight to play to win the second half division title. Saturday’s game featured a pair of good starting outputs as Yefri Del Rosario kept his run of good starts (1.98 ERA last 9 starts) with six innings of one-run pitching. For six innings Del Rosario was outdone though as Hagerstown starter Andrew Lee no-hit the Legends until the seventh. In that seventh inning, a leadoff walk by MJ Melendez started the inning before Nick Pratto’s blast to the left of centerfield gave Lexington a 2-1 lead with their first hit of the game. The bullpen shut things down and Lexington earned the win despite just three hits in the game. Sunday’s affair didn’t feature as much pitching with Lexington starter Charlie Neuweiler giving up seven runs in just three and one-third innings including a pair of home runs. The Legend scored five runs off the Sun’s starter in just three-plus innings but it wasn’t enough as the bullpen kept them off the board the rest of the way.

Nick Pratto: 2-6 HR, 3b, BB, 3K
MJ Melendez: 2-7 2R, HR, 2b, 2BB, 2 RBI
Janser Lara: 2 Ip 0 H 0 R 1 BB 2 K 3-0 25p/16k

Saturday Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Salem Red Sox 2
Sunday Wilmington Blue Rocks 8 Salem Red Sox 3

A sweep of Salem over the weekend ended Wilmington’s abysmal 12 game losing streak that likely cost them a shot at the division title. The offense scored eight runs in all three games with an 11 hit output on Saturday making a winner of Gerson Garabito despite five innings in which he walked three and struckout just one. The righty did limit the damage to just one run while Gabe Cancel and Travis Jones paced the offense with two hits and two runs scored each. Sunday’s game saw Dan Tillo get his first victory since June 17th as the lefty worked into the seventh inning with five strikeouts while navigating seven hits with two runs allowed. Outfielder Rudy Martin did much of the offensive damage, finishing a triple short of the cycle while accounting for four of the Wilmington’s eight runs. Leadoff man Blake Perkins pitched in a four-hit effort as well. The Rocks trail Lynchburg by five games with nine left to play although their next four comes against the first place squad.

Rudy Martin: 5-10 3R, 2b, 3b, HR, 5 RBI, 3K
Emmanuel Rivera: 4-9 R, 2-2b, SB
Dan Tillo: 6.2 IP 7 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 5 K 9-2 GO-FO 89p/59k

Saturday NW Arkansas Naturals 3 Arkansas Travelers 1
Sunday NW Arkansas Naturals 4 Arkansas Travelers 3 F/10

A weekend sweep kept the Naturals season alive for now. Both games featured quality starting pitching as Jace Vines gave the Naturals five innings with just a run allowed on Saturday before Emilio Ogando toss his fifth consecutive quality start on Sunday. A throwing error in the third inning on Saturday put a pair of runners in scoring position and first baseman Samir Duenez made the Arkansas pay with a two-run single. A wild pitch gave them insurance in the sixth and the bullpen did some lifting with four scoreless innings. Sunday’s game saw Ogando’s streak of 31 innings scoreless pitching end in the first inning when a passed ball allowed an unearned run. Two innings later the lefty gave up an earned run as he completed six innings of two-run ball with just three hits allowed. Trailing 2-0 into the seventh the Naturals got a run with an Anderson Miller rbi double before scoring two more in the eighth on Jecksson Flores RBI single and Samir Duenez’s sacrifice fly. The Travelers answered that with a run in the ninth off Franco Terrero to send the game into extra innings. In extras, Erick Mejia doubled in the free runner for the Naturals and Grant Gavin secured the win with a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a groundout. The win pulled the Naturals even with Arkansas for second place with an opportunity to overtake them on Monday before a five-game series with first place Tulsa.

Samir Duenez: 2-7 R, 3 RBI, BB
Jecksson Flores: 3-9 R, 2b, RBI
Emilio Ogando: 6 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 5 K 4-4 GO-FO 74p/45k

Saturday Omaha Storm Chasers 3 Iowa Cubs 2
Sunday Omaha Storm Chasers 7 Iowa Cubs 2

The Chasers used home runs to take the weekend games over Iowa. Shortstop Nicky Lopez hit his third home run in six games as part of a three-run sixth inning. That made a winner out of Jon Dziedzic as the lefty didn’t give up a hit until one out in the sixth inning. Reliever Richard Lovelady finished things up with two and one-third innings with just one hit allowed to secure the save. With Glenn Sparkman back from Kansas City on Sunday, the Chasers bats showed they could hit like major leaguers as Paulo Orlando connected on a three-run home run to go with Frank Schwindel’s 23rd home run of the season. Six of the seven runs came late which made a winner out of Josh Staumont who tossed two and two-thirds innings of perfect ball with five strikeouts.

Richard Lovelady: 2.1 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 2 K
Frank Schwindel: 2-7 HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Glenn Sparkman: 5.1 IP 3 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 5 K 9-1 GO-FO 78p/57k

Saturday Burlington Royals 11 Kingsport Mets 2
Sunday Burlington Royals 9 Kingsport Mets 5

A very offensive weekend for the Royals as they piled up 20 runs on 26 hits against the Mets rookie squad. Starter Josh Dye earned the win for his one run (0 ER) five-inning effort that featured five strikeouts while lefty Marcelo Martinez earned Sunday’s win with a quality start over six frames. Saturday’s game featured a seven run sixth frame that included a Michael Emodi three-run home run to blow things open. Looking for the weekend sweep the top five hitters in the lineup each had multi-hit games on Sunday to pace the way for a win.

Jose Marquez: 3-9 3R, 3b, 3 RBI
Eric Cole: 4-10 R, 3 RBI
Isaiah Henry: 3-4 2R, 2 RBI

Saturday Grand Junction Rockies 9 Idaho Falls Chukars 5
Sunday Idaho Falls Chukars 3 Grand Junction Rockies 1

The Chukars defense let down start Jon Heasley Saturday as four defensive miscues led to five unearned runs in just four and two-thirds innings despite just four hits allowed. The offense missed plenty of opportunities, going just 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position in the loss. Sunday’s starter Rito Lugo gave the Chukars his third consecutive outstanding start with six innings with just a run allowed while striking out eight. The lefty has now put away 24 hitters via strikeout in his 18 innings of work in the Pioneer League. The Chukars scored a pair in the fifth on a balk and a Julio Gonzalez double before adding an insurance run in the eighth via a groundout by Kyle Kasser that scored Jesus Atencio after his leadoff double.

Nathan Eaton: 6-9 R, 2-2b, 3b, K
Rito Lugo: 6 IP 6 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 8 K HR 4-3 GO-FO 86p/60k
Jon Heasley: 4.2 IP 4 H 7 R 2 ER 2 BB 4 K 8-5 GO-FO 84p/55k

Friday Boxscores
Saturday Boxscores

Rounds 1-5
Rounds 6-10
Rounds 11-20

21st Rd Pick #632 Overall
Nathan Eaton C Virginia Military Institute
5’11 185 lbs
DOB 12/22/96
Slot Value  $125,000

Primarily an infielder and relief pitcher for VMI, Eaton was announced as a catcher for the Royals. As a relief pitcher, he likely has the arm necessary to play the position while he likely has the needed movement as someone who played some middle infield in his college and high school days. One of the more productive players on the VMI squad, Eaton actually hit leadoff with his greater than .400 on-base percentage while hitting eight home runs for the squad.

Analysis – Organizational Catcher

22nd Rd Pick #662 Overall
Bryce Hensley LHP UNC Greensboro
6’4 215 lbs
DOB 10/3/95
Slot Value  $125,000

The left-handed pitcher has been one of the most dependable arms on the Greensboro staff the last two seasons while helping Coach Link Jarrett rebuild the program. From his 3/4 to high 3/4 arm slot Hensley works his 2-seam fastball with good movement (87 MPH-91 MPH) with both sink and run to both sides of the plate, pairing it with a slider that he can back foot to right-handers or work around the zone to lefties. The lefty also throws a curveball and changeup that lag behind is two primary pitches.

“Bryce is a physical and competitive individual with a want the ball mindset that helped develop the winning culture in our program.” – Coach Jarrett

The left-hander was their starter in 2017 during their first regional game in 20 years when they took on Clemson, and this past season he was their Friday starter (college #1 starter) during a Southern Conference championship season.

Analysis – A pitchability lefty who will be a strong addition to the organization in work ethic, competitiveness and in the weight room

23rd Rd Pick #692 Overall
Josh Dye LHP Florida Gulf Coast
6’3 175 lbs
DOB 9/14/96
Slot Value  $125,000

Throwing from a similar arm slot as the school’s greatest player, Chris Sale, the current version is a shorter version but has a similar lean body frame that has had the good fortune to pick the Red Sox ace’s brain about pitch grips and improving his stuff. That stuff isn’t the same as Sale had in college but a plus changeup was that lefty’s go-to pitch in college and it’s Dye’s go to as well. With a tall and lean frame should he continue to pick up velocity the way Sale did into his pro career, then the Royals could have a poor man’s version.

Coach Dave Tollett has been impressed with Dye’s improvement, particularly with the added spin on his slider and the velocity of his fastball, currently sitting between 85-88 mph.

“And he’s got a plus-plus change-up; that’s his bread and butter,” Tollett said. “He can throw it at any time, in any count. But the development of his slider and his two-seam fastball has really put him in a different place.

Analysis – A pitchability lefty from a difficult arm slot that can mess with hitters timing. Good arm to add in hopes he gains velocity.

24th Rd Pick #722 Overall
Gage Hughes Middle Infield Greenup County HS Greenup, KY
6’1 170 lbs
DOB 8/15/99
Slot Value  $125,000

From a sports family as his grandfather describes it, Hughes followed his mother and three aunts as a Division I commit when he signed his name to play baseball to the University of Cincinnati. From the sounds of it that wasn’t what the ultimate goal of this prep Kentucky product was as he was working out for multiple teams in the winter while playing in showcase tournaments. This was after multiple dominant high school seasons that saw the middle infielder with a 3/1 walk to strikeout ratio as a hitter while showing off the power to carry greater than a 1.400 OPS during his final three high school seasons, including a home run in his final high school at-bat.

Prep Baseball Report – Athletically built and strong at 6-foot-1, 163 pounds. A switch-hitter, he helped lead the Giants Scout Team to the championship in the upper-class division. He hit balls extremely hard from both sides of the plate all weekend. He has a knack for finding the barrel with a gap-to-gap approach, which should develop into power at the next level. Defensively, he has fluid actions at shortstop and is a steady defender with a clean release that produces accurate throws with carry.

Analysis – Adding a prep player with a solid plate approach and middle infield abilities is never a bad idea.

25th Rd Pick #752 Overall
Hunter Strong OF Central Arkansas
6’1 200 lbs
DOB 3/25/97
Slot Value  $125,000

The Royals drafted three players from this school as scout Matt Price obviously saw something he liked out of the Southland Conference program. Interestingly this isn’t the first time they’ve taken two players from the same school in the Southland as they also drafted Corey Toups and Ryan O’Hearn from Sam Houston State a few years back. In Strong, the Royals are getting a decently athletic player that has played infield and outfield for Central Arkansas while being a steady offensive threat the past two seasons. Finishing 6th all-time in hits in his three seasons there the key to Strong’s game is in his approach at the plate and gap to gap style.

The players the Royals have added from this conference have been solid returns in the past with Johnny Giavotella (New Orleans), Logan Moon (Cent. Arkansas ’11-13), Jon Dziedzic (LaMar ’10-’13), Ryan O’Hearn (Sam Houston State), Corey Toups (Sam Houston Sate), and  Nick Heath (Northwestern State) contributing well up to the Triple-A level or in Heath’s case contributing well for Wilmington currently.

Analysis – A positive plate approach that hopefully spreads to the younger players around them

26th Rd Pick #782 Overall
Daniel James RHP University of Texas-Arlington
6’4 215 lbs
DOB 1/19/96
Slot Value  $125,000

The right-hander that throws in the low to mid 90s with his fastball missed some time in school after encountering hip surgery.

Analysis – Hoping a healthy season brings more velocity from the bullpen. Likely organization bullpen arm.

27th Rd Pick #812 Overall
Derrick Adams LHP Jacksonville State
6’3 215 lbs
DOB 3/08/97
Slot Value  $125,000

Pitched in a very offensive conference as Tennessee Tech who was still playing on Monday is regularly one of the best offenses in the country. Struggled to limit hits allowed in his college days with a high 80s, low 90s fastball and curveball. Performed well in the Cape in 2017 with just three walks allowed in 28.1 innings and nearly 8 strikeouts per nine from the bullpen.

Via d1baseball – There were nights that watching Adams works out of the Falmouth bullpen was like watching an artist at work. A strike-throwing machine, the 6-foot-3, 205 southpaw walked just three batters in 28.1 innings of work for the Commodores. Generating a high, difficult angle for hitters to contend with, Adams carved hitters up at 87-90 mph with late two-seam life. His high leg kick also gave hitters another challenging piece of deception to deal with. He locates his above-average breaking ball 71-75 mph very well, and it shows outstanding depth. He also mixed in a quality 77-79 mph changeup. This Jacksonville State star really knows how to mix pitches and keep hitters off balance

Analysis – Org LOOGY

28th Rd Pick #842 Overall
Rhett Aplin RF Florida State
6’2 220 lbs
DOB 10/10/95
Slot Value  $125,000

Fringy outfielder who likely needs to play first base in pro ball. Takes a good plate approach but if you’re struggling to put the ball out at Florida State then it’s not likely to improve much in pro ball.

Via D1 Baseball – Senior Rhett Aplin showed a strong throwing arm and solid defense at first base. After converting from right field last season, he has not committed an error this spring. Offensively, he impressed with his ability to control the barrel. He has a muscled swing and hit several balls on the nose, with strength and some versatility.

Analysis – Org outfielder/first base guy

29th Rd Pick #872 Overall
Andres Nunez RHP Florida International
6’4 240 lbs
DOB 9/20/95
Slot Value  $125,000

According to Coach Melendez, the big-bodied Nunez was thought to be their closer prior to the season but due to his performance, he couldn’t be denied the Friday starter role as he became their most reliable pitcher. Throwing from a high 3/4 slot the right-hander tosses a two-seam fastball with plenty of movement as the lead to his four-pitch mix. A groundball/strikeout pitcher who struck out more than a hitter per inning Nunez amazingly developed a new pitch as the season went on aligning a cutter next to his slider. According to Melendez, this gives Nunez three plus pitches with his fastball, cutter, and changeup helping him limit contact or create groundball contact. The two-seam fastball operates typically in the 89-91 mph range running into right-handers with the cutter and slider missing bats in the other direction. The velocity maintains throughout the game be it first, second or seventh inning.

“A phenomenal individual, a quality human being who will be successful in life in or out of baseball.”
– Coach Melendez

The right-hander dealt with a back injury that forced him out for his junior season which gave the coaching staff the thought that he would be the closer but a needed spot start against a good hitting Louisiana Tech club altered those plans.

Analysis – Organization arm with the knowledge of pitching that could move him to the upper levels.

30th Rd Pick #902 Overall
Kyle Kasser SS Oregon
5’10 180 lbs
DOB 10/12/95
Slot Value  $125,000

The BABIP gods giveth and taketh away as Kasser led the Oregon squad in hitting last year with a .378 BABIP helping him towards a .352 average during his junior year and a .305 BABIP pushing it towards his .278 this season. A walk-on at Oregon that played all four infield positions, Kasser, is a player most organizations would like to have on their squad as he is going to play hard every day while playing multiple positions. Physically there is very little power but a good contact rate with more walks than strikeouts in his college career.

According to Coach Horton, Kyle and his family are the embodiment of baseball and teammate, giving more than they take and doing whatever his coach and teammates need of him. A solid contact player with an extremely high game IQ Kasser will get all he can out of his tools. Likely a second baseman at the pro level due to an average arm. Will get the most out of his speed with his IQ, reading the ball off the bat to take the extra base or off the pitcher.

Analysis – Org utility infielder who will make his teammates better around.