Well, with the exception of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, there’s been some tough times down on the farm of late, with A’s affiliates besides the Cats going a combined 3-16 last week. The Double-A Midland RockHounds are currently riding a 6-game losing streak, while the Class-A Stockton Ports are now in the midst of a brutal 13-game losing streak. Top prospect Michael Choice hit just his 2nd home run of the season for Midland last week, and infielder Miles Head, who was acquired in the Andrew Bailey deal with Boston, has pretty much been the lone bright spot at Stockton. You can get daily updates on everything that’s going on with the A’s minor league teams and top prospects on my Athletics Farm blog and lots more details on the last week of A’s minor league action right here on Athletics Nation after the jump…
SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS
(Triple-A Pacific Coast League)
Record This Week: 4-2
Record This Season: 25-13
Unlike most of the A’s other affiliates, the River Cats continued their winning ways last week, led by the strong performance of their starting rotation. Right-handers Graham Godfrey, Brad Peacock and Bruce Billings have all been solid, and A.J. Griffin, who had been Midland’s most dominant starter, has now been promoted to join the River Cats’ staff. Sacramento’s bullpen lost its best arm when Andrew Carignan was called up by the big club and right-hander Jim Miller was sent down to take his place. The team also lost two of its hottest hitters when third baseman Josh Donaldson and outfielder Collin Cowgill were recalled by the A’s. But the River Cats regained the team’s most productive hitter this season when outfielder Michael Taylor was returned to Sacramento. After 100 at bats, Taylor’s batting average stands at a robust .360 and, despite his time with the A’s, he still manages to lead the River Cats in both doubles with 14 and stolen bases with 7. Outfielder Brandon Moss is the team-leader in home runs and total bases, and first baseman Chris Carter leads the team in hits, walks and RBIs, but the right-handed slugger also leads the club in strikeouts with 43 in 138 at bats.
Top Cats:
Outfielder Michael Taylor (16 R / 2 HR / 18 RBI / 10 BB / 14 K / .360 AVG / .416 OBP / .560 SLG / .976 OPS)
Outfielder Brandon Moss (19 R / 7 HR / 19 RBI / 14 BB / 19 K / .298 AVG / .376 OBP / .540 SLG / .916 OPS)
First baseman Chris Carter (21 R / 4 HR / 23 RBI / 17 BB / 43 K / .283 AVG / .361 OBP / .449 SLG / .810 OPS)
Catcher Derek Norris (20 R / 4 HR / 21 RBI / 9 BB / 21 K / .293 AVG / .333 OBP / .500 SLG / .833 OPS)
Pitcher Graham Godfrey (26 IP / 27 H / 4 ER / 4 BB / 18 K / 1.38 ERA / 1.19 WHIP)
Pitcher Bruce Billings (28 1/3 IP / 23 H / 7 ER / 7 BB / 24 K / 2.22 ERA / 1.06 WHIP)
Pitcher Brad Peacock (39 1/3 IP / 36 H / 16 ER / 14 BB / 37 K / 3.66 ERA / 1.27 WHIP)
MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS
(Double-A Texas League)
Record This Week: 0-6
Record This Season: 18-18
After going 6-1 the previous week, the RockHounds really turned the tables and lost all 6 of their games last week to even their record at 18-18. Rocky outings from previously reliable right-handers Daniel Straily and Gary Daley contributed to the slide. The team’s only real productive hitters have been outfielders Shane Peterson, Conner Crumbliss and Jeremy Barfield along with former shortstop turned third baseman Josh Horton. Horton currently leads the team in hits and total bases, Barfield leads in RBIs and doubles, Crumbliss in runs and stolen bases, and Peterson leads all RockHounds regulars in on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Outfielder Michael Choice notched just his 2nd homer last week in 136 at bats with Midland.
Top Hounds:
Outfielder Shane Peterson (24 R / 2 HR / 21 RBI / 29 BB / 33 K / .297 AVG / .451 OBP / .486 SLG / .937 OPS)
Outfielder Conner Crumbliss (26 R / 4 HR / 14 RBI / 26 BB / 22 K / .273 AVG / .404 OBP / .438 SLG / .842 OPS)
Third Baseman Josh Horton (14 R / 4 HR / 19 RBI / 21 BB / 34 K / .280 AVG / .381 OBP / .447 SLG / .828 OPS)
Outfielder Jeremy Barfield (21 R / 3 HR / 24 RBI / 7 BB / 18 K / .297 AVG / .336 OBP / .466 SLG / .802 OPS)
Pitcher Murphy Smith (35 IP / 25 H / 12 ER / 13 BB / 28 K / 3.09 ERA / 1.09 WHIP)
Pitcher Daniel Straily (45 1/3 IP / 42 H / 22 ER / 16 BB / 54 K / 4.37 ERA / 1.28 WHIP)
Pitcher Jonathan Ortiz (12 2/3 IP / 10 H / 2 ER / 3 BB / 12 K / 1.42 ERA / 1.03 WHIP / 6 Saves)
STOCKTON PORTS
(Advanced-A California League)
Record This Week: 0-6
Record This Season: 11-24
The misery continued in Stockton as the Ports lost all 6 of their games last week, running their losing streak to a painful 13 games, and the team has now lost 18 of its last 19 games. Stockton’s starting staff, which was expected to be a real strength has instead turned out to be a real weakness. A.J. Cole, Ian Krol and Blake Hassebrock were expected to lead the staff, but they currently have 1 win between them and, after 7 starts, Cole’s record now stands at 0-6. None of the trio has an ERA under 6.75, and another Stockton starter, Josh Bowman, has an ERA of 6.14. The only impressive member of Stockton’s starting staff has been 15th-round draft pick T.J. Walz, who sports a nifty ERA of 2.72 after 6 starts. The only consistently productive hitter for the Ports has been infielder Miles Head, who currently leads all A’s minor leaguers in hits, RBIs and slugging percentage and is tied for the lead in home runs with Burlington outfielder Dusty Robinson.
Top Ports:
Infielder Miles Head (25 R / 8 HR / 27 RBI / 7 BB / 30 K / .336 AVG / .372 OBP / .656 SLG / 1.029 OPS)
1B A.J. Kirby-Jones (15 R / 5 HR / 18 RBI / 20 BB / 36 K / .273 AVG / .382 OBP / .455 SLG / .836 OPS)
Outfielder Josh Whitaker (20 R / 3 HR / 11 RBI / 15 BB / 45 K / .256 AVG / .340 OBP / .384 SLG / .724 OPS)
Pitcher T.J. Walz (36 1/3 IP / 34 H / 11 ER / 8 BB / 42 K / 2.72 ERA / 1.16 WHIP)
Pitcher Blake Treinen (44 IP / 48 H / 22 ER / 8 BB / 35 K / 4.50 ERA / 1.27 WHIP)
BURLINGTON BEES
(Class-A Midwest League)
Record This Week: 3-4
Record This Season: 17-19
The Bees’ offense has been led by outfielder Dusty Robinson since the start of the season, but third baseman B.A. Vollmuth has been starting to heat up of late. The 2011 3rd-round draft pick currently leads the team in doubles, is tied with Robinson for the team lead in hits, and is second to Robinson in both RBIs and total bases. Burlington’s starting staff has been led by the dynamic duo of Sean Murphy and Drew Granier. Murphy leads all A’s minor leaguers with a miniscule ERA of 1.27, and Granier leads all A’s minor leaguers with 5 wins after 7 starts. The rest of the Bees rotation hasn’t been quite so impressive. Jose Macias sports an ERA of 7.16, Jonathan Joseph’s stands at 5.15 and Raul Alcantara, who was starting to fare a little better of late, currently has an ERA of 4.41 with 17 walks in just 32 2/3 innings.
Top Bees:
Outfielder Dusty Robinson (23 R / 8 HR / 26 RBI / 14 BB / 31 K / .269 AVG / .351 OBP / .562 SLG / .913 OPS)
Outfielder Royce Consigli (15 R / 3 HR / 13 RBI / 14 BB / 17 K / .248 AVG / .333 OBP / .422 SLG / .755 OPS)
3B B.A. Vollmuth (17 R / 4 HR / 25 RBI / 10 BB / 42 K / .250 AVG / .301 OBP / .414 SLG / .715 OPS)
Pitcher Sean Murphy (42 2/3 IP / 28 H / 6 ER / 17 BB / 44 K / 1.27 ERA / 1.05 WHIP)
Pitcher Drew Granier (38 IP / 33 H / 9 ER / 11 BB / 38 K / 2.13 ERA / 1.16 WHIP)
You can check out my blog - Athletics Farm - for daily updates on the A’s minor league teams and all the top prospects down on the farm.