Down On The Farm: A's Affiliates Winning Big!

The A's four affiliates were all big winners this week, going a combined 19-7 - and three of them recorded some really big wins. Sacramento scored 20 runs on Sunday, while last Monday, Stockton put up 16 and Midland notched 19! It makes it easy to win when your lineup can give you that kind of edge. But the A's affiliates have been clicking on all cylinders lately, with pitchers like Sonny Gray, Tanner Peters and Raul Alcantara holding it down on the mound as well. You can get daily updates on all the A's 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...

SACRAMENTO RIVER CATS

(Triple-A Pacific Coast League)

Record This Week: 5-2

Record This Season: 29-21

The River Cats managed to put 20 runs on the board in Sunday's game. A grand slam from recently returned outfielder Michael Taylor in the 1^st inning helped, as did Hiro Nakajima's 1^st home run and Scott Moore's 3^rd home run in 2 days! Taylor has once again been hitting well since his return to the River Cats, going 10 for 26 this week. Hiro Nakajima, who's been getting some time at second and third base recently, seems to be swinging the bat a bit better now that his rehab assignment has ended and he's been officially assigned to Sacramento. The infielder went 10 for 27 this week to raise his average to .292. But third baseman Scott Moore has been the hottest hitter at Sacramento lately, going 10 for 22 with 3 home runs this week. The River Cats' rotation has been even more impressive of late though. RHP Bruce Billings and LHP Andrew Werner both had solid starts this week, and top prospect Sonny Gray delivered two strong outings, allowing just 3 earned runs over 13 innings, but even more impressively, he struck out 20 while walking 0. And since the biggest rap on Gray has been that he doesn't work efficiently enough and tends to walk too many guys and throw too many pitches, that's got to be considered a very positive development for the A's top pitching prospect! On the other side of the coin, RHP Chris Resop surrendered 4 runs in his first relief appearance for the River Cats. And in other news, the A's traded infielder Josh Horton, a former 2^nd-round pick from 2007 who'd been with Sacramento, to the Orioles for cash.

Top Cats:

OF Michael Taylor (6 HR / 8 BB / 23 K / .333 AVG / .387 OBP / .574 SLG / .961 OPS)

C Stephen Vogt (6 HR / 16 BB / 21 K / .331 AVG / .394 OBP / .554 SLG / .948 OPS)

3B Scott Moore (7 HR / 22 BB / 36 K / .297 AVG / .395 OBP / .514 SLG / .909 OPS)

OF Michael Choice (9 HR / 31 BB / 40 K / .287 AVG / .401 OBP / .470 SLG / .871 OPS)

RHP Sonny Gray (56 2/3 IP / 51 H / 15 ER / 1 HR / 19 BB / 58 K / 2.38 ERA / 1.24 WHIP)

RHP Dan Otero (22 IP / 10 H / 1 ER / 0 HR / 1 BB / 17 K / 0.41 ERA / 0.50 WHIP / 12 SV)

MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS

(Double-A Texas League)

Record This Week: 4-2

Record This Season: 24-25

The RockHounds rallied for 19 runs on Monday. Outfielder D'Arby Myers had 4 hits and drove in 5 runs to help the cause in that game. And he's been a hot hitter of late, going 8 for 19 with 4 extra-base hits and 8 RBIs this week. Outfielder Jake Goebbert was also a hot hitter for the Hounds this week, hitting 3 home runs, as was catcher David Freitas, who drilled 4 dingers this week! But first baseman Anthony Aliotti continues to be the most consistent threat in the RockHounds' lineup, and he still leads all A's minor leaguers in hits, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The starting rotation continues to keep Midland in most games. RHP Sean Murphy had his first rough outing for the RockHounds on Monday but followed it up with a gem on Sunday, allowing 1 run on just 2 hits while striking out 8 in 7 innings of work. One Midland starter who didn't have an easy time of it was recently signed RHP Erik Arnesen, who gave up up 5 earned runs, including 3 home runs, in just 4 1/3 innings to take the loss in his debut for the RockHounds this week. And in other news, struggling third baseman Miles Head joined fellow third baseman Jefry Marte and outfielder Josh Whitaker on the Hounds' disabled list this week.

Top Hounds:

1B Anthony Aliotti (8 HR / 36 BB / 44 K / .364 AVG / .464 OBP / .576 SLG / 1.040 OPS)

OF Jake Goebbert (9 HR / 12 BB / 42 K / .273 AVG / .325 OBP / .477 SLG / .801 OPS)

OF D'Arby Myers (2 HR / 7 BB / 30 K / .287 AVG / .328 OBP / .413 SLG / .741 OPS)

RHP Murphy Smith (58 1/3 IP / 59 H / 17 ER / 4 HR / 17 BB / 35 K / 2.62 ERA / 1.30 WHIP)

RHP Zach Neal (59 2/3 IP / 56 H / 18 ER / 4 HR / 15 BB / 41 K / 2.72 ERA / 1.19 WHIP)

RHP Sean Murphy (39 2/3 IP / 32 H / 15 ER / 3 HR / 14 BB / 36 K / 3.40 ERA / 1.16 WHIP)

STOCKTON PORTS

(High-A California League)

Record This Week: 5-1

Record This Season: 26-23

The Ports were the A's hottest affiliate this week, losing just once. And their lineup was really on fire, scoring 16 runs on Monday, then following that up with 11 runs on Tuesday. Third baseman Tony Thompson teed off for 2 home runs and 7 RBIs in Monday's game, and he's been the team's hottest hitter of late, going 10 for 28 with a pair of home runs and a pair of doubles and 11 RBIs this week. His defensive liabilities have kept him mainly in the DH spot this year, where he can focus on what he does best. First baseman Max Muncy went 4 for 4 in Monday's game and was 10 for 27 on the week. Infielder Wade Kirkland was the star of Tuesday's game, hitting the game-winning homer in the 17^th inning to make himself the winning pitcher, since he'd come in to pitch the last 2 innings! The Ports' pitching staff was far more impressive this week than it's been all year. RHP Tanner Peters tossed two solid games, allowing 3 earned runs on just 8 hits while striking out 11 over 12 innings of work to pick up a pair of wins. But even more interesting has been the return of former 1^st-round pick James Simmons to Stockton as a starter. Over his first 2 starts, Simmons has allowed just 5 hits and walked 1 while striking out 8 without allowing a run over 11 innings. Another pitcher recently added to the Ports' pitching staff is LHP Shaeffer Hall, who was released by the Yankees and signed by the A's and threw 3 scoreless and hitless innings in his debut for Stockton. In order to make room for Simmons and Hall on the roster, the team recently released RHP Sergio Perez and put RHP Deyvi Jimenez on the disabled list.

Top Ports:

1B Max Muncy (9 HR / 39 BB / 33 K / .280 AVG / .409 OBP / .462 SLG / .871 OPS)

3B Tony Thompson (7 HR / 16 BB / 28 K / .241 AVG / .320 OBP / .444 SLG / .764 OPS)

C Ryan Delgado (4 HR / 7 BB / 20 K / .239 AVG / .309 OBP / .432 SLG / .741 OPS)

SS Addison Russell (6 HR / 23 BB / 52 K / .209 AVG / .308 OBP / .411 SLG / .719 OPS)

RHP Drew Granier (58 1/3 IP / 46 H / 16 ER / 3 HR / 29 BB / 68 K / 2.47 ERA / 1.29 WHIP)

RHP Pedro Vidal (23 2/3 IP / 10 H / 2 ER / 0 HR / 6 BB / 23 K / 0.76 ERA / 0.68 WHIP)

BELOIT SNAPPERS

(Class-A Midwest League)

Record This Week: 5-2

Record This Season: 29-20

The Snappers pitching staff continued to look strong this week, with RHP Raul Alcantara leading the way. Alcantara leads all A's starters with 6 wins, has walked just 5 batters in 51 1/3 innings and boasts an ERA of 2.81 after his first 10 starts. RHP Dakota Bacus has struck out 40 in 40 innings, while RHP Michael Ynoa has struck out 29 in 28 2/3 innings, RHP Tucker Healy has struck out 28 in 19 1/3, and RHP Ryan Dull has struck out 27 in 18 2/3 - and Ynoa, Healy and Dull all sport ERAs under 1.60! Renato Nunez continues to lead Snappers' hitters with 10 home runs, second only to outfielder Jeremy Barfield in the entire A's system. Catcher Brue Maxwell's been swinging a big bat for Beloit lately, going 6 for 17 this week and driving in 5 runs. But after mashing for most of May, first baseman Matt Olson and shortstop Daniel Robertson have cooled off a bit of late. Olson's current slash line is .249/.332/.441, while Robertson's is .263/.317/.400.

Top Snappers:

3B Renato Nunez (10 HR / 13 BB / 49 K / .282 AVG / .350 OBP / .536 SLG / .886 OPS)

C Bruce Maxwell (2 HR / 17 BB / 19 K / .306 AVG / .374 OBP / .431 SLG / .805 OPS)

OF Ryan Mathews (5 HR / 13 BB / 37 K / .286 AVG / .345 OBP / .446 SLG / .791 OPS)

OF John Wooten (7 HR / 15 BB / 36 K / .290 AVG / .344 OBP / .461 SLG / .805 OPS)

RHP Raul Alcantara (56 1/3 IP / 62 H / 20 ER / 3 HR / 6 BB / 36 K / 3.20 ERA / 1.21 WHIP)

RHP Michael Ynoa (28 2/3 IP / 21 H / 5 ER / 1 HR / 10 BB / 29 K / 1.57 ERA / 1.08 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.