Down On The Farm – Week #2

Last week, I started sharing with Athletics Nation readers our weekly look at how things are going down on the farm, as I do every day on my A’s Farm blog. And this past week has been another interesting one down on the farm, with top pitching prospects Brad Peacock and Jarrod Parker turning in the kind of strong performances that A’s fan will be hoping to see more of from them, with outfielder Michael Taylor and catcher Derek Norris continuing to look good, and with infielder Miles Head getting off to a much more promising start than the guy he was traded for – the oft-injured Andrew Bailey! More details after the jump…

SACRAMENTO RIVERCATS

(Triple-A Pacific Coast League)

Record This Week: 5-2

Record This Season: 8-3

After wearing themselves out scoring 18 runs in Tuesday’s game against Tucson, the River Cats offense finally cooled off, scoring only 10 runs the rest of the week. Fortunately, the pitching staff picked up the slack with strong performances from Jarrod Parker, Brad Peacock, Fabio Castro and Travis Banwart, and the Cats finished the week 5-2 to put them at 8-3 on the season. After the first two weeks of the season, Sacramento’s biggest hitting stars include outfielder/designated hitter Brandon Moss, who sports an impressive .472 on-base percentage, right fielder Michael Taylor, who leads River Cats regulars with a .381 batting average, and catcher Derek Norris who leads all regulars with a .700 slugging percentage.

Top Cats:

Outfielder Brandon Moss (5 R / 2 HR / 6 RBI / .345 AVG / .472 OBP / .655 SLG / 1.127 OPS)

Outfielder Michael Taylor (7 R / 1 HR / 11 RBI / .381 AVG / .426 OBP / .595 SLG / 1.021 OPS)

Catcher Derek Norris (6 R / 2 HR / 7 RBI / .350 AVG / .333 OBP / .700 SLG / 1.033 OPS)

Pitcher Brad Peacock (12 IP / 6 H / 2 ER / 4 BB / 14 K / 1.50 ERA / 0.83 WHIP)

MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS

(Double-A Texas League)

Record This Week: 4-2

Record This Season: 6-4

Before they scored a whopping 18 runs for the win on Sunday, it was strong outings from starting pitchers Gary Daley, Daniel Straily and Murphy Smith that accounted for the RockHounds’ wins earlier in the week. But the best pitching performance of the week, a 6-inning no-hit effort by right-hander A.J. Griffin, was wasted when former first-round draft pick James Simmons gave up 5 runs in 1 1/3 innings of relief. Top prospect Sonny Gray gave up 2 earned runs over 6 innings to take the loss in his second start of the season. After the first two weeks of the season, Midland’s top hitters include outfielder Shane Peterson, who’s been getting on base more than 50% of the time, and first baseman Anthony Aliotti, who leads all RockHounds’ regulars with a .625 slugging percentage.

Top Hounds:

Outfielder Shane Peterson (9 R / 0 HR / 7 RBI / .371 AVG / .511 OBP / .571 SLG / 1.083 OPS)

First Baseman Anthony Aliotti (6 R / 1 HR / 8 RBI / .375 AVG / .444 OBP / .625 SLG / 1.069 OPS)

Second Baseman Conner Crumbliss (7 R / 2 HR / 4 RBI / .294 AVG / .467 OBP / .529 SLG / .996 OPS)

Pitcher A.J. Griffin (11 IP / 2 H / 0 ER / 2 BB / 16 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.36 WHIP)

STOCKTON PORTS

(Advanced-A California League)

Record This Week: 4-2

Record This Season: 7-3

The Ports had a good week, going 4-2 and winning two tight 10-9 victories thanks to 9^th inning RBIs from normally light-hitting infielder Ryan Pineda. Infielder Miles Head, acquired from the Red Sox in the Andrew Bailey deal, has been alternating between first and third base this season. But the position switching hasn’t seemed to affect his hitting. The right-handed slugger currently leads the team in hits, runs, home runs, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage. Stockton’s starting rotation, expected to be a strength with arms like A.J. Cole, Ian Krol and Blake Hassebrock, so far has struggled a bit – with the exception of 15^th round draft pick T.J. Walz, who’s had a couple of good outings, allowing 3 earned runs and striking out 12 over 12 1/3 innings. Former first-round draft pick Sean Doolittle’s conversion to pitching so far looks like a success – he’s struck out 11 batters over 5 1/3 innings of relief work.

Top Ports:

Infielder Miles Head (10 R / 3 HR / 11 RBI / .439 AVG / .477 OBP / .805 SLG / 1.282 OPS)

First Baseman A.J. Kirby-Jones (6 R / 1 HR / 4 RBI / .379 AVG / .486 OBP / .517 SLG / 1.003 OPS)

Outfielder Josh Whitaker (10 R / 2 HR / 6 RBI / .325 AVG / .400 OBP / .550 SLG / .950 OPS)

Pitcher T.J. Walz (12 1/3 IP / 9 H / 3 ER / 2 BB / 12 K / 2.19 ERA / 0.89 WHIP)

BURLINGTON BEES

(Class-A Midwest League)

Record This Week: 3-4

Record This Season: 5-5

Outfielders Chad Oberacker and Doug Landaeta came on strong for the Bees this week, both homering twice. Meanwhile, tenth-round draft pick out of Fresno State, outfielder Dusty Robinson, still leads the team in runs, home runs, triples, RBIs and total bases. On the mound, the Bees’ bullpen has been performing much better than the starting staff, with relievers Brent Powers, Jeff Urlaub and Ryan Doolittle notching 3 wins and combining for a 0.00 ERA over 16 2/3 innings of work. Starter Raul Alcantara has a 7.88 ERA over his first two starts for Burlington.

Top Bees:

Outfielder Doug Landaeta (4 R / 2 HR / 3 RBI / .429 AVG / .467 OBP / 1.000 SLG / 1.467 OPS)

Outfielder Chad Oberacker (8 R / 2 HR / 2 RBI / .419 AVG / .486 OBP / .742 SLG / 1.228 OPS)

Outfielder Dusty Robinson (10 R / 4 HR / 10 RBI / .308 AVG / .400 OBP / .744 SLG / 1.144 OPS)

Pitcher Brent Powers (8 2/3 IP / 5 H / 0 ER / 5 BB / 12 K / 0.00 ERA / 1.15 WHIP)

You can check out my blog - A's Farm - for daily updates on the A’s minor league teams and all the top prospects down on the farm.