By Scott Barancik, Editor
Here are your minor-league highlights from the week of August 6-12, 2018:
Jewish Baseball News Hitter of the Week: Ty Kelly*
2B Ty Kelly* (Mets/AAA) hit .300 (6-for-20) with 2 doubles, 6 RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage. His 49 RBIs rank #3 on the Las Vegas 51s.
Jewish Baseball News Pitcher of the Week: Matthew Gorst
- Matthew Gorst (Red Sox/AAA) extended his remarkable scoreless streak to more than 37 innings with a 2-inning relief appearance on August 10. After recording a 1-2 record with 8 saves in 8 chances and a 1.59 ERA in High-A, Gorst has not yielded a single earned run in 13 games at the Double-A and Triple-A levels.
Mazel tov
- C Andy Yerzy (Diamondbacks/short season) participated in the Northwest League’s Home Run Derby, hitting 5 round-trippers in the first round (see article).
- P Noah Davis (Reds/unassigned), an 11th-round pick in the 2018 draft, has signed with Cincinnati for a $127,500 bonus. According to Baseball America, Davis was “one of the top pitching prospects in the [2018] draft class…but injuries limited him to just two starts this spring and he had Tommy John surgery in March…He won’t be ready to pitch again until summer 2019.”
- RF Blake Gailen*, a 5’9″ fireplug who played in three MLB farm systems, has 22 home runs for the Lancaster Barnstormers, tops in the independent Atlantic League.
- P Tyler Herron*, a former 1st-round draft pick who spent time in four MLB farm systems, is seeing success with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent CanAm Association (see article).
- P Kenny Koplove, a former Phillies and Marlins farmhand, is turning heads in the independent CanAm Association with his over-the-top, sidearm and submarine deliveries (see article).
Other highlights
- C Ryan Lavarnway* (Pirates/AAA) hit .357 (5-for-14) with a home run, 3 doubles, 3 RBIs and a .438 on-base percentage.
- SS Michael Wielansky (Astros/short season), a 2018 draftee, hit .278 (5-for-18) with 2 doubles, an RBI and a stolen base. He’s had at least one hit in 7 of his last 8 games, raising his batting average 18 points.
- P Scott Effross (Cubs/AA) pitched 3 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding 2 hits and zero walks while striking out 5.
- P Rob Kaminsky (Indians/AA) pitched 2 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding a hit and a while while striking out 2 and earning his 2nd save in 2 chances.
- P Zack Weiss (Reds/AA) pitched 2 scoreless innings on August 8, yielding zero hits and a walk while striking out one.
- P Jason Richman (Dodgers/AA) pitched 2 scoreless innings on August 10, yielding zero hits and one walk while striking out 3.
- P R C Orlan* (Indians/AA) pitched 3 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2.
- P Jake Fishman (Blue Jays/High-A) pitched 3 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding 2 hits and a walk while striking out 4.
- P Alex Katz* (Orioles/High-A) pitched 2 scoreless innings on August 8, yielding a hit and a walk while striking out one.
- P Keith Weisenberg (Braves/A) pitched 5.1 scoreless innings in an August 9 start, striking out 7 and scattering 4 hits and 2 walks to earn a win.
- P Sam Delaplane (Mariners/A) pitched 2.2 scoreless innings across 2 games, yielding 2 hits and a walk while striking out 3, earning a save, and dropping his ERA to 1.99. The highlight: inducing a bases-loaded, game-ending groundout on August 10 to preserve a 1-0 win.
- P Simon Rosenblum-Larson (Rays/A) finally gave up his first earned run as a professional on August 11. But he still earned a save and finished the week with a season ERA of 0.32 across 28.1 innings.
- P Spencer Kulman (Padres/short season) pitched a perfect inning of relief on August 12, yielding zero hits or walks while striking out one.
- P Zack Leban (Marlins/rookie), a 2018 draftee, pitched 2 perfect innings of relief on August 9, striking out 2.
Transactions
- 3B Danny Valencia (Orioles) was designated for assignment on August 10.
- 1B Cody Decker* (Diamondbacks/AAA) entered the disabled list on August 6.
- P Jeremy Bleich* (Athletics/AAA) was designed for assignment on August 6 and sent outright to Triple-A on August 10.
- P Alex Fishberg signed with the Watertown Bucks of the independent Empire Professional Baseball League.
- 1B Evan Hirschbaum signed with the Puerto Rico Islanders of the independent Pecos League.
- LF Zach Kapstein (White Sox/rookie) was placed on the 60-day disabled list retroactive to June 15.
Free agents
- Former major- and minor-leaguers believed to be seeking employment include Scott Feldman, Elliott Barzilli, Dalton Blumenfeld, Mike Meyers*, Troy Neiman* and Adrian Spitz.
Disabled list
- 1B Cody Decker* (Diamondbacks/AAA), since August 6.
- C Nick Rickles* (Phillies/AAA), since August 3.
- SS Preston Grand Pre (Dodgers/rookie), since June 29.
- P Brad Goldberg* (Diamondbacks/AA), since July 23.
- LF Zach Kapstein (White Sox/rookie), since June 15.
- P Ryan Sherriff (Cardinals/AAA), since May 18. Out for season with Tommy John surgery.
- P Mitchell Osnowitz (Cardinals/High-A), since April 9.
Note to readers: Minor-League Monday does not include stats for all current Jewish minor-leaguers. Click here for a complete list of players, and then click on a player’s name to be taken to his stat page.
Members of Team Israel’s 2017 squad are marked with an asterisk.
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