Minor League Report July 28th-August 3rd

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes 60-48 (6 GB)

C Alberto Rosario H-AB 8-16 Avg .500 HR 1 2B 1 3B 1 RBI 3 R 3 SB 0 CS 1 K 0 BB 2

Rosario struggled earlier this year in Double-A hitting .193 over 51 games. Since being demoted to Single-A he is hitting .416, and already has 5 more hits in 77 fewer AB. Rosario is also showing power that he has never shown before, he has hit 4 HR for the Quakes in just 23 games; he has a total of 1 HR in his previous 302 games.

OF Mike Trout H-AB 7-22 Avg .318 HR 1 2B 2 RBI 1 R 2 SB 2 CS 0 K 6 BB 1

Trout started off the week going 1-13 and striking out 5 times, so on Saturday he got the day off. Since then he has gone 6-9 with 1 HR and 2 2B. Trout will barely turn 19 on August 7^th; he is super young and already showing so much promise.

more after the break

1B Gabriel Jacobo H-AB 8-22 Avg.364 HR 2 2B 2 RBI 4 R 5 K 3 BB 2

Jacobo is tied for 8^th in the California League with 18 HR. Jacobo is having a very good season and will probably be joining his teammates Roberto Lopez, Alexi Amarista, Tyson Auer, and Tyler Chatwood in Double-A any day now. Jacobo is hitting .308 on the season but is only walking once every 23.3 AB.

SP Garrett Richards G 1 IP 5.2 H 10 ER 1 K 7 BB 1

Richards made his California League debut against one of the toughest teams in the league. He gave up 10 hits but only one was an extra base hit. Richards was also getting them to hit the ball on the ground he had a 9-1 ground ball to fly ball ratio.

RP Jason Bulger G 1 IP 0.2 H 2 ER 2 K 1 BB 0

This is the first time Bulger has stepped on the mound since early June after going on the DL with a sore right shoulder. Bulger will probably make a couple more appearances for the Quakes before joining the Angels pen.

RP Brian Stokes G 1 IP 1 H 2 ER 1 K 1 BB 0

Stokes like Bulger is on a rehab assignment, Stokes hasn’t pitched in almost three months after going on the DL with right shoulder fatigue on May 10^th. Stokes probably won’t join the Angels bullpen until rosters expand next month, he will probably join the Bees bullpen sometime in the next few weeks.

RP Mike Piazza G 2 IP 4 H 1 ER 0 K 7 BB 1

Piazza skipped Cedar Rapids, joining the Quakes straight from the Orem Rookie League where he struggled giving up 8 earned runs in just 12.1 innings. It’s nice to see Piazza having success against tougher competition but it probably won’t last for long.

Cedar Rapids Kernels 64-42 (1^st place)

CF Matt Long H-AB 10-27 Avg .370 2B 2 RBI 3 R 3 SB 2 CS 0 K 4 BB 3

Since Mike Trout got promoted to Rancho Cucamonga Long has taken over for him in CF. Long has very good patience he is walking once every 7.5 AB. Long is already 22 so he is old to still be in Single-A, he will probably get a promotion to Advanced Single-A before the season ends.

2B Jean Segura H-AB 8-31 Avg .258 HR 1 2B 1 RBI 2 R 3 2B 0 SB 3 CS 0 K 4 BB 1

Segura has taken over the leadoff spot since Trout got promoted and he has struggled. Segura is still having a good season hitting .300, and 4^th in the Midwest League with 38 SB. Segura has just 31 BB over 401 AB so patience is something he needs to work on.

The Kernels starting rotation had so much talent at the beginning of the year with Garrett Richards, Patrick Corbin, Tyler Skaggs, Fabio Martinez Mesa, and Orangel Arenas the Kernels now only have one of those guys since Skaggs and Corbin were traded to the Diamondbacks, and Richards and Arenas were promoted to Rancho Cucamonga. The Kernels now fill the rotation with Fabio Martinez Mesa, Tyler Kehrer the #48 pick in the 2009 draft who had been coming out of the bullpen, Stephen Locke, Ariel Pena, and Max Russell the Angels 4^th round pick in the 2010 draft. The Kernels still have the best record in their division but this is a lot less talented team then it was in the beginning of the season.

RP Young-IL Jung G 2 IP 3 H 0 ER 0 K 4 BB 1

The Angels signed Jung in 2006 out of Korea. Since then he has pitched only 25.2 innings. Jung missed all of 2008 with an arm injury and pitched only 2 innings last season. Jung has done an ok job so far this year he has struck out 16 batters in just 14.2 innings but he has also walked 10 batters so control is an issue.

RP Mike Kenney G 3 IP 5 H 1 ER 0 K 4 BB 1

Kenney has struck out almost a batter an inning and Midwest League hitters are hitting only .186 off of him. When Kenny was called up to Rancho Cucamonga for 4 games he lost his control walking 7 batters in 4.2 innings, in Cedar Rapids Kenney has walked only 10 in 34 innings. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kenney got another shot in Rancho Cucamonga before the season ends.