D-backs Farm Report: Rudy Flores swinging a red-hot bat in Visalia

Here are all the happenings in the Arizona Diamondbacks’ minor league system this week …

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Reno Aces (Triple-A Pacific Coast League)

Week: 2-4/Overall: 12-17, tied for 3rd place in Northern Division

Cold bats: There wasn’t a whole lot of offense for the Aces last week. In fact, they pushed across just 12 runs in six games, while position players batted just .224 (45-for-201). Peter O’Brien, who just last week was the PCL Player of the Week, came down to Earth, hitting just .143 (3-for-21) with nine strikeouts. He did connect on a solo home run, his ninth of the season, off of Salt Lake’s Matt Shoemaker Friday in a 6-1 loss.

#Dbacks No. 8 prospect Peter O’Brien ties for PCL lead with ninth HR for @Aces. Watch LIVE: https://t.co/hPDCDZFhgN pic.twitter.com/KBCZzseEP8

— MiLB.com (@MiLB) May 7, 2016

Bradley humming along: Right-hander Archie Bradley was outstanding in his latest start. Bradley allowed just two runs and five hits over seven innings while tying his career-high with 11 strikeouts in a 3-2 win over Fresno last Wednesday. On the season, Bradley is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP and 34 strikeouts in just 25.2 innings. For the second time this season, he’ll join the D-backs for a spot start when he faces the Colorado Rockies Monday night at Coors Field. Still red-hot: Veteran outfielder Jason Bourgeois hit .400 (8-for-20) on the week, raising his season average to .380, which ranks third in the PCL. Bourgeois now has 1,603 hits in his minor league career, making him the active leader in that category.

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Mobile BayBears (Double-A Southern League)

Week: 3-2/Overall: 11-17, tied for 5th place in South Division Close games: The BayBears played five one-run games last week, coming out on top in three of them. Mobile has played in 12 one-run contests this season, going 6-6. Going deep … twice!: Catcher Ronnie Freeman, a 2012 fifth-round pick out of Kennesaw State, went yard twice in the BayBears’ 6-5 win over Chattanooga on Thursday. It was the first two-HR game of Freeman’s career. In fact, he’s only got eight homers in 279 career minor league games. Lopez sparkles: Right-hander Yoan Lopez, the D-backs’ seventh-best prospect according to MLB.com, was fantastic in his last outing. Lopez pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing six hits in a 1-0 win over Chattanooga Saturday night. Gibson putting up zeroes: Left-handed reliever Daniel Gibson, a seventh-round pick out of Florida in 2013, was solid again out of the Mobile bullpen last week, pitching 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Gibson has yet to allow an earned run on the season in 10.2 innings of relief work. Dating back to 2015, he’s riding a streak of 15 straight appearances without allowing an earned run. Gibson not alone: The BayBears have five members of their bullpen, including Gibson, with sub-2.00 ERAs on the season. Matt Stites (0.60), Steve Hathaway (0.63), Seth Simmons (1.69) and Joey Krehbiel (1.93) are the others.

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Visalia Rawhide (High-A California League)

Week: 5-2/Overall: 22-8, 1st place in North Division Whooping sticks: Unlike their brethren in Reno and Mobile, the Rawhide absolutely crushed the baseball last week, hitting .318 as a team, scoring 63 runs and knocking 12 balls out of the yard. Visalia had three games in which they scored 10 or more runs, including a season-high 19 in Sunday’s rout of Lancaster. Souvenirs for everyone: The ‘Hide had four players with multiple home runs last week. First baseman Rudy Flores had three, bringing his season total to nine, which is second in the California League. Flores’ 32 RBI lead the league, by the way. Second baseman Henry Castillo, ,Grant Heyman and infielder Dawel Lugo each had two.

#Dbacks infielder Rudy Flores has posted gaudy RBI numbers in his return to @VisaliaRawhide. https://t.co/Rxdrkzj92q pic.twitter.com/TnygA5lmSS — MiLB.com (@MiLB) May 9, 2016

Collmenter shelled: In his second rehab start with Visalia Saturday, D-backs right-hander Josh Collmenter got roughed up. Collmenter didn’t get out of the first inning — he allowed seven runs (five earned) on five hits and walked one. He was replaced by reliever Bud Jeter, who eventually got out of the inning. The Rawhide lost 19-5.

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Kane County Cougars (Class-A Midwest League)

Week: 3-3/Overall: 16-13, tied for 2nd place in Western Division

Outfielders getting hot: It was a big week for Zach Nehrir and Jason Morozowski. Nehrir batted .529 (9-for-17) with a home run while Morozowski hit .450 (9-for-20) with a dinger. After a slow start, Morozowski has returned to his 2015 form. The 13th-round pick his hitting .353 (12-for-34) over his last 10 games and has three of Kane County’s seven home runs this season. Nehrir, a 16th-round pick out of Houston Baptist last year, has four consecutive multi-hit games entering this week.

Getting work done: After being named the D-backs Minor League Pitcher of the Month, right-hander Justin Donatella kept rolling along last week. In two starts, Donatella pitched 12.2 innings, allowed nine hits, four runs (three earned) and struck out seven. For the season, Donatella is 4-0 with a sterling 1.01 and 0.76 WHIP. In fact, Donatella has yet to taste defeat in his young minor league career, going 6-0 with a 1.30 ERA in 18 appearances (12 starts).

One-hitter: Right-hander Taylor Clarke combined with relievers Gabriel Moya, Jency Solis and Keegan Long on a beautiful one-hit shutout in a 4-0 win over Lake County last Wednesday.

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