Down On The Farm: Reddick, Lewis And The Trickle-Down Effect

Well, we saw a great example of baseball's version of the trickle-down effect this week, when something as simple as outfielder Josh Reddick's return to the A's roster prompted a series of roster moves that effected players at virtually every level of the A's minor league system. Here's how it worked: when Reddick returned to the A's roster, veteran minor league catcher Luke Montz was optioned back to Sacramento to make room for him, which resulted in catcher Ryan Ortiz's return to Stockton after getting his first chance to see time in Triple-A. This caused catcher Ryan Delgado to be sent down from Stockton to Beloit, and that meant that someone on the Snappers' roster was going to be a marked man. And this time, that marked man was infielder Chad Lewis, who was given his release by the A's. The 21-year-old third baseman out of Huntington Beach was the A's 4^th-round draft pick back in 2010, but he never seemed to be able to get things going with the bat. And except for a brief appearance in the rookie league the year he was drafted, he never finshed a season in the A's system with a batting average over .240 or an on-base percentage over .280. Folks sometimes forget that for every Josh Reddick enjoying life at the top of baseball's food chain, there's a Chad Lewis getting his pink slip in Beloit at the bottom of baseball's food chain. That's just the way it works in baseball - and remember, there's no crying! 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: 3-4

Record This Season: 32-25

The big story at Sacramento this week was Josh Reddick's 3-game rehab stint with the River Cats, where he went 2 for 11 before bringing his bat to the big club. But besides all the hoopla surrounding Reddick's arrival, the main storyline on the field was the dominance of the River Cats' rotation. RHPs Sonny Gray and Bruce Billings and LHPs Justin Thomas and Andrew Werner all had outings this week where they surrendered 2 runs or less. Though the River Cats' lineup wasn't exactly on fire most of the week, a few Cats' hitters wielded big bats. Catcher Stephen Vogt tagged 2 home runs in Tuesday's game and infielder Andy Parrino slugged a grand slam on Thursday. Meanwhile, infielder Hiro Nakajima continues to look more comfortable at the plate, and in his last 4 games, he's gone 8 for 18, collecting a pair of hits in each game to raise his batting average to .322. With Reddick's reinstatement on the A's roster, catcher Luke Montz rejoined Sacramento and went 1 for 4 in his return to the River Cats.

Top Cats:

C Stephen Vogt (8 HR / 17 BB / 23 K / .329 AVG / .388 OBP / .573 SLG / .961 OPS)

OF Michael Taylor (6 HR / 10 BB / 26 K / .328 AVG / .383 OBP / .539 SLG / .922 OPS)

1B Daric Barton (3 HR / 33 BB / 23 K / .291 AVG / .429 OBP / .440 SLG / .870 OPS)

RHP Sonny Gray (63 2/3 IP / 60 H / 17 ER / 1 HR / 20 BB / 65 K / 2.40 ERA / 1.26 WHIP)

RHP Bruce Billings (55 IP / 53 H / 26 ER / 5 HR / 19 BB / 60 K / 4.25 ERA / 1.31 WHIP)

LHP Justin Thomas (58 IP / 65 H / 28 ER / 4 HR / 20 BB / 44 K / 4.34 ERA / 1.47 WHIP)

MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS

(Double-A Texas League)

Record This Week: 3-4

Record This Season: 27-29

A couple of Midland's most reliable starters had their roughest outings of the season this week. RHP Sean Murphy allowed 7 runs in Friday's loss, while RHP Zach Neal surrendered 11 runs in Wednesday's loss to long-time major leaguer Roy Oswalt. But the other member of Midland's ‘Big 3' starters, RHP Murphy Smith, continued to cruise in 2 starts this week, allowing just 1 run over 14 innings of work, and his 2.24 ERA currently leads all A's minor league starters. The lefty-righty combo of Frank Gailey and Kyler Newby also continues to be strong out of the RockHounds' bullpen, with both boasting ERAs below 1.50. The Hounds weren't scoring an awful lot of runs this week, but outfielder Jake Goebbert has been one of Midland's biggest bats of late, going 10 for 23 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs this week. And first baseman Anthony Aliotti's .352 batting average and .453 on-base percentage still lead all A's minor leaguers. Meanwhile, infielders Jefry Marte and Michael Fabiaschi both made premature returns from the disabled list this week and ended up back on the DL before the week was through.

Top Hounds:

1B Anthony Aliotti (8 HR / 41 BB / 51 K / .352 AVG / .453 OBP / .562 SLG / 1.015 OPS)

OF Jake Goebbert (9 HR / 18 BB / 47 K / .292 AVG / .363 OBP / .472 SLG / .835 OPS)

OF D'Arby Myers (2 HR / 7 BB / 35 K / .278 AVG / .316 OBP / .389 SLG / .705 OPS)

RHP Murphy Smith (72 1/3 IP / 65 H / 18 ER / 4 HR / 22 BB / 44 K / 2.24 ERA / 1.20 WHIP)

LHP Frank Gailey (25 1/3 IP / 22 H / 4 ER / 1 HR / 3 BB / 19 K / 1.42 ERA / 0.99 WHIP)

RHP Kyler Newby (28 1/3 IP / 24 H / 6 ER / 1 HR / 6 BB / 24 K / 1.91 ERA / 1.06 WHIP / 5 SV)

STOCKTON PORTS

(High-A California League)

Record This Week: 4-3

Record This Season: 30-26

Josh Reddick made his first rehab appearance in Stockton on Monday, bringing a few more warm bodies and a little added enthusiasm to Banner Island Ballpark. The A's outfielder went 1 for 3 in the game but left a big impression on some of the A's Class-A prospects. Besides Reddick, the big star at Stockton this week was outfielder Bobby Crocker who hit 3 homers and drove in 6 runs over the course of two games, while first baseman Max Muncy hit a dramatic grand slam to put the Ports over the top in Sunday's game. Stockton's pitching staff continues to surrender plenty of runs, with two big exceptions being starters Tanner Peters and Drew Granier. After getting off to a bit of a rough start this season, Peters hasn't allowed more than 2 earned runs in any of his last 5 starts. And Granier's 83 strikeouts surpass anyone in the A's minor league system, while his 2.50 ERA after 12 starts in the hitter-happy California League speaks for itself. RHPs Deyvi Jimenez and Seth Frankoff returned to action this week after brief stints on the disabled list, while starter Josh Bowman was added to the DL and LHP Omar Duran was placed on the temporarily inactive list. And with catcher Ryan Ortiz's return from Sacramento, catcher Ryan Delgado was sent to Beloit.

Top Ports:

1B Max Muncy (10 HR / 40 BB / 38 K / .274 AVG / .395 OBP / .451 SLG / .846 OPS)

OF Bobby Crocker (6 HR / 8 BB / 63 K / .262 AVG / .305 OBP / .445 SLG / .750 OPS)

SS Addison Russell (6 HR / 25 BB / 58 K / .219 AVG / .313 OBP / .422 SLG / .736 OPS)

RHP Drew Granier (72 IP / 55 H / 20 ER / 4 HR / 37 BB / 83 K / 2.50 ERA / 1.28 WHIP)

RHP Tanner Peters (63 1/3 IP / 63 H / 31 ER / 12 HR / 13 BB / 61 K / 4.41 ERA / 1.20 WHIP)

LHP Jake Brown (45 1/3 IP / 42 H / 19 ER / 4 HR / 5 BB / 33 K / 3.77 ERA / 1.04 WHIP)

BELOIT SNAPPERS

(Class-A Midwest League)

Record This Week: 3-4

Record This Season: 32-24

Third baseman Renato Nunez continues to wield the big bat for Beloit, going 11 for 29 this week to raise his average to .297. He also hit his 11^th home run to tie him with outfielder Jeremy Barfield for the lead amongst all A's minor leaguers. Another top prospect, shortstop Daniel Robertson, had a big game on Saturday, going 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and a home run. Second baseman Chris Bostick had 3 hits in that same game, including a home run and a double, and also came through with a grand slam in Thursday's game. Meanwhile on the mound, RHP Raul Alcantara delivered another gem this week, allowing just 1 run and striking out 9 in 8 innings of work on Friday. But RHP Michael Ynoa had a slightly rougher time of it in 2 outings this week, giving up 5 runs on 7 hits while walking 3 and striking out 3 over 7 innings of work. Chris Lamb, one of only two left-handers on Beloit's pitching staff, was put on the disabled list this week while outfielder Dayton Alexander joined the team from extended spring training. And when catcher Ryan Delgado was sent down to the Snappers from Stockton, it spelled the end of former 4^th-round draft pick Chad Lewis's time with A's, as he was released as the final trickle-down effect of Josh Reddick's return to the A's roster.

Top Snappers:

3B Renato Nunez (11 HR / 14 BB / 55 K / .297 AVG / .354 OBP / .536 SLG / .891 OPS)

C Bruce Maxwell (2 HR / 18 BB / 19 K / .311 AVG / .381 OBP / .432 SLG / .813 OPS)

OF Ryan Mathews (7 HR / 15 BB / 42 K / .281 AVG / .354 OBP / .479 SLG / .833 OPS)

SS Daniel Robertson (3 HR / 11 BB / 25 K / .292 AVG / .357 OBP / .451 SLG / .808 OPS)

RHP Raul Alcantara (64 1/3 IP / 67 H / 21 ER / 3 HR / 6 BB / 45 K / 2.94 ERA / 1.13 WHIP)

RHP Michael Ynoa (35 2/3 IP / 28 H / 10 ER / 2 HR / 13 BB / 32 K / 2.52 ERA / 1.15 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.