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Minor League Update Undefeated In The Dominican!
The affiliates were 1-0 in the Dominican Thursday but were 2-5 in the U.S. featuring two blowout losses and two of the come from ahead variety.  A couple of starting pitchers threw five shutout innings but only one of them got a victory.  Find out how in today's edition of the MLU.




Colorado Springs 11 Las Vegas 4

Colorado Springs, CO - The Rockies affiliate responded to a 1-0 deficit with three runs apiece in the first and second innings and five more in the sixth.

Batting - Brett Lawrie (3/5), 2B, RBI, SB; Ricardo Nanita (3/5), RBI; Darin Mastroianni (2/5), 2B, RBI, Brian Jeroloman (2/4), 0BB (BJBBM=27).

Pitching - Robert Ray (L0-1) 2.0IP, 7H, 6R, 6ER, 0BB, 1K, HR, 4GO.


Portland 6 New Hampshire 2

Manchester, NH - The Fisher Cats only two runs came in the ninth against the Red Sox affiliate.

Batting - Callix Crabbe (2/3), BB; Anthony Gose (2/4), 2B; Mark Sobolewski (2/4); Yan Gomes (1/4), HR, 2 RBI.

Pitching - Chad Beck (L7-4) 5.1IP,  9H, 5R, 5ER, 0BB, 5K, 2HR, 5GO.


Charlotte 4 Dunedin 3

Port Charlotte, FL - Dunedin blew a 3-0 as the Rays affiliate scored once in the ninth for the walkoff win.

Batting - Jon Talley (2/3), HR, RBI, BB; Ryan Schimpf (2/4), RBI; Sean Ochinko (2/4); Brad McElroy (1/4), 2B, BB; Kevin Ahrens (1/3), BB.

Pitching - Nestor Molina 5IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 4K; Aaron Loup (BS2) 3.0IP, 2H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 2K; Dumas Garcia (L2-3) 0.1IP, 1H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB(IBB), 0K.


Lansing 5 Wisconsin 4

Lansing, MI - The Lugnuts built a 5-1 lead after four innings and it proved to be just enough to defeat the Brewers affiliate.

Batting - Michael Crouse (2/4), RBI; Carlos Perez (2/4), 2B; Oliver Dominguez (1/3), BB, RBI; Jack Murphy (1/4), 2B, 2 RBI; Gari Pena (1/2), BB.

Pitching - Andrew Liebel (W2-0) 5IP, 4H, 3R, 2ER, 3BB, 4K, 7GO; Sam Strickland (SV1) 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K.


Vancouver 2 Eugene 1

Eugene, OR - The Canadians runs in the third and fifth bested the Padres affiliate's run in the eighth.  Vancouver had just two hits in this one.

Batting - Jonathon Berti (2/4), HR, RBI; Jonathan Jones (0/3), BB; Nicholas Baligod (0/3), BB; Matt Newman (0/2), BB, R.

Pitching - Justin Nicolino (W5-1) 5IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 9K; Drew Permison (SV7) 0.2IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1K, 2/0 INR-INS.


Pulaski 5 Bluefield 4

Pulaski, WV - The Mariners scored twice in the eighth and once in the ninth for the comeback victory.

Batting - Chris Hawkins (2/3), HR, 2B, 3RBI; Matt Johnson (2/4), SB; Andy Fermin (1/3), BB; Carlos Ramirez (1/4), RBI.

Pitching - Ajay Meyer 6IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 4K, 1HR; Ian Kadish (BS2, L2-2) 1.1IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 1K, WP.


GCL Braves 11 GCL Blue Jays 10

Dunedin, FL - The Jays could not battle all the way back from 8-3 and 11-5 deficits.

Batting - Dalton Pompey (3/4), HR, 3 RBI, 2B, BB; Christian Frias (3/4), RBI; Santiago Nessy (2/4), BB; Nico Taylor (2/3), HBP, RBI; Eric Arce (1/4), HR, 2 RBI, BB;  Jorge Vega-Rosado (1/4), 2B, 2 RBI.

Pitching - Jose Vargas L(0-2) 3IP, 7H, 6R, 5ER, 0BB, 1K, HBP, WP.


DSL Blue Jays 7 DSL Marlins 5

San Pedro de Macoris, DR - The Jays rallied from a 5-1 deficit with six runs divided evenly in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.

Batting - Kervin Santiago (3/4), SB, RBI; Mauricio Nagahashi (1/4), BB, SB, 2 RBI; Franklin Moreno (1/3), BB, 2 SB, 2R, Jonathan Pumarol (2/3), HBP, SB.

Pitching - Steven Romero (W3-1) 3IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 2BB, 0K


*** 3 Stars!!! ***


Nestor Molina, Dunedin


Dalton Pompey, GCL


Justin Nicolino, Vancouver
Posted by #2JBrumfield on Friday, July 22 2011 @ 12:32 PM EDT.
Undefeated In The Dominican! | 12 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Mike Green - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 01:15 PM EDT (#239039) #
Pompey will apparently turn 19 in November.  He's a good candidate to be carded for the next 5 years.  He looks like he is about 14 in the picture.

Nicolino has now struck out 47 in 34 innings while walking 10 and giving up 18 hits.  I wonder whether he'll begin 2012 in Lansing or in Dunedin. 
[ Reply to This ]
Hodgie - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 01:53 PM EDT (#239040) #
Are there any current reports out of Vancouver regarding Nicolino's velocity? Pre-draft scouting reports seemed to have him touching 92 MPH but settling in at 88-89 MPH. Considering how young he is and his slight frame (6'3" 160lbs), I am curious if there is projection in his fastball to go along with what sounds like a very good change and improving curve.
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ramone - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 02:06 PM EDT (#239042) #

Are there any current reports out of Vancouver regarding Nicolino's velocity?

In Kevin Goldstein's Future Shock Blog on BP he says Nicolino is up to 94mph, and hands out lots of praise for him today.

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Mike Green - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 02:18 PM EDT (#239045) #
Goldstein's blog mentions that Tyler Pastornicky was promoted to triple A a couple of days ago.
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Ryan Day - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 02:30 PM EDT (#239046) #
Whoa. I saw Dante Bichette's name on that list and got very confused.
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Sano - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 02:42 PM EDT (#239049) #
Can anyone tell me when Nicolino's next start will be?  I'm in Vancouver and would love to watch him live.
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Mike Green - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 02:53 PM EDT (#239050) #
MILB.com posts schedules and starters.   Nicolino could conceivably start on Tuesday  when the Canadians have an early home game.  Be sure to post something about what you see.
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Kelekin - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 04:32 PM EDT (#239057) #
I hope he starts in Lansing.  I really think the Rays' system of slowly promoting pitchers has really prepared them better for the majors.  It gives them a lot of time to work on refining their game, and then you get their best years out of them.

I really hope Sanchez starts turning things around.  Things were looking good before that last game.  He seems to be either stellar or brutal at this point.

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Mike Green - Friday, July 22 2011 @ 09:57 PM EDT (#239069) #
Fine outings tonight from Zach Stewart, Deck McGuire and Noah Syndergaard.
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TamRa - Saturday, July 23 2011 @ 12:14 AM EDT (#239080) #
one of the things I love about our minor league system this year is that there is a legit high ceiling pitching prospect to check in on virtually every night. If I say i want to know what happens every time one of these guys pitches:

Drabek
Jenkins, Alvarez, Stewart
Molina, McGuire, Hutchison (McGowan)
Nicolino
Sanchez, Syndergaard
Murphy, Cardona

(not that there are not others but these are musts)

...there's been TWO nights since the short season teams started when none of those guys were pitching - and one of those nights Brett Cecil was down there to pay attention to.




[ Reply to This ]
TamRa - Saturday, July 23 2011 @ 01:15 AM EDT (#239081) #
Can anyone tell me when Nicolino's next start will be?  I'm in Vancouver and would love to watch him live.

His turn would be Tuesday but SS teams tend to meddle freely with their rotation. also, he might be moved up ant any time.




I wonder whether he'll begin 2012 in Lansing or in Dunedin.

I'm guessing he'll be in Lansing sooner than next year. But being a HS pitcher he will probably start 2012 there as well and move up slowly unless so many of the guys behind him excel that there's simply not enough turns in Lansing to handle them all.

Sanchez is being erratic but in theory, He and Syndergaard and Murphy seem like logical candidates and Stilson, if he signs, might be there too. If I were laying odds though, my guess is Nico will come out of ST on the Lansing squad.

(no, I'm not an expert nor do I play one on TV ;)


As for the promotion schedule, it seems to me that Liebel is WAY too old for much time in Lansing. a couple more starts at most and they will have to move him to Dunedin (assuming the give up on Tepera at some point) where he will still be too old but it will be somewhat better - then Nico is the obvious candidate to take the turn Liebel is now occupying (could be Anderson but dude can't stay off the DL)

also, while on the subject, the clock has to be ticking on McGuire.

Just looking in from the outside, I could see the logic of:

Carreno to AAA
McGuire to AA
Liebel to Hi-A
Nicolino to Lo-A
Syndergaard to Vancouver.

All happening in the first week to 10 days of August.


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Emaj25 - Sunday, July 24 2011 @ 05:50 PM EDT (#239161) #
In response to Nicolino, there was a report written on him by Jason A. Churchill in a game versus Everett on either June 24, or June 29. Churchill posted it on his prospectinsider.com website.

The report indicated that Nicolino sat in the 90-92 range and hit 93 ten times and 94 once. The article also mentions his fastball has excellent run in on right handed batters.

The report gives a good description of the other facets of Nicolino's repetoire and delivery.

http://prospectinsider.com/nicolino.php

(Sorry about the link, I'll have to search how to do the link properly.)
[ Reply to This ]
Undefeated In The Dominican! | 12 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.