ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

D-backs Farm Report: Socrates Brito scorching hot in Reno

Aug 29, 2016, 9:07 AM | Updated: 11:29 am

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RenoAces

Reno Aces (Triple-A Pacific Coast League

Week: 4-3 | Overall: 73-63, 2nd place in Pacific Northern Division — 3.5 games behind Tacoma

Picking up ground: The Aces made up two games in the standings by taking four of five from Tacoma on the week. In the first three games of the series, Reno exploded for 36 runs. Tacoma stopped the bleeding by winning on Sunday, 4-3, and still leads the division by 3.5 games with eight games remaining. The two teams close the regular season with a four-game series in Tacoma that starts Thursday night.

Brito on fire: Outfielder Socrates Brito led the Reno hit parade (the Aces hit .339 as a team in seven games) by belting out 15 hits in 30 at-bats last week. Brito had a homer, six RBI, two triples and scored 12 runs. He enters this week riding a 12-game hitting streak.

It’s a broken record: It seems every week, first baseman Kyle Jensen takes up space in this feature, and this week is no different. Jensen batted .333 (10-for-30) with two homers and nine RBI. Jensen now has 30 home runs and 120 RBI on the season. Jensen plays first base and is 28 years old, so he doesn’t figure into Arizona’s plans at the big-league level, but after nearly 1,000 games in the minor leagues since 2009, it would be nice for the D-backs to reward him with a September call-up.


baybears

Mobile BayBears (Double-A Southern League)

Week: 3-3 | Overall: 31-29. 3rd place in South Division — 2.5 games behind Mississippi

Making a mark: Shortstop Domingo Leyba has been excellent for the Bears since joining them in mid-July — a trend that continued last week. Leyba hit .333 (7-for-21) with two home runs and five RBI on the week. In 36 games for Mobile, the 20-year-old is hitting .331 with three homers and 19 RBI while committing only one error in 110 defensive chances. Leyba was picked up in the three-way trade that brought Robbie Ray to the D-backs and is considered the D-backs’ eighth-best minor league prospect, according to MLB.com.


rawhide

Visalia Rawhide (High-A California League)

Week: 3-3 | Overall: 31-32, 2nd place in North Division — 4.0 games behind Bakersfield

Big week for Castillo: Outfielder Henry Castillo, the D-backs’ 23rd-best prospect, had a nice week at the plate for the Rawhide, hitting .313 (5-for-16) with two home runs and eight RBI. Castillo leads Visalia with 62 RBI this season.


cougars

Kane County Cougars (Single-A Midwest League)

Week: 2-5 | Overall: 26-37, 7th place in Western Division — 17.0 games behind Clinton

Another broken record: The Midwest League isn’t exactly known as a hitter’s circuit, but seemingly every week, the Cougars struggle offensively. Kane County was shut out twice and scored a total of 10 runs in seven games, hitting just .198 (44-for-222) as a team. The Cougars rank dead last in the Midwest League with 447 runs scored.

Vargas with another gem: Emilio Vargas, who made national headlines with 17 strikeouts in a start against Quad Cities Aug. 20, followed that up with another good performance. Thursday night against Burlington, Vargas allowed just two hits over five scoreless innings while striking out six and walking none.


hillsborohops

Hillsboro Hops (Short-Season-A Northwest League)

Week: 5-1 | Overall: 19-11, 2nd place in South Division — 2.0 games behind Eugene

Hops are playoff bound

Anderson goes off: Third baseman Josh Anderson drove in at least one run in all six games last week, totaling 11. The 23-year-old had a season-high four RBI Sunday in an 11-8 win over Boise. Anderson started the season with Kane County, but has played very well since getting bumped down to Hillsboro. With 33 RBI in 49 games, the former 38th-round draft pick ranks eighth in the Northwest League in that category.

Racking up wins: Left-hander Junior Garcia won two games last week, pushing his season record to 4-1. Over his last four starts, the 20-year-old is 3-0 with a 2.38 ERA, 19 strikeouts and six walks.


MissoulaOsprey

Missoula Osprey (Rookie Pioneer League)

Week: 2-5 | Overall: 12-15, 3rd place in North Division — 6.0 games behind Great Falls

De La Garza still raking: Second baseman Paxton De La Garza enjoyed another big week at the plate, hitting .448 (13-for-29) with three home runs and 10 RBI. The 33rd-round draft pick from Angelo State started the week off with a five-hit performance in a 7-5 win over Billings. He’s now batting .390 in 20 games with the Osprey after starting the summer off with the Arizona Rookie League D-backs.

Tough-luck loss: Right-hander Alex Gouin tied a season-high with 11 strikeouts in a 3-1 loss to Great Falls Sunday. Gouin, a Cuban native, signed a minor-league contract with the D-backs in July and promptly struck out 11 in his first pro game for Hillsboro. On the season, Gouin is 2-5 with a 4.96 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 52.2 innings.


AZLDbacks

Arizona Rookie League D-backs

Week: 3-4 | Overall: 14-14, 4th place in East Division — 2.5 games behind Angels and Giants

Herrmann on the mend: D-backs catcher Chris Herrman is rehabbing a hamstring injury in the Arizona Rookie League, and as expected, is hitting the ball well. Herrmann went 4-for-9 with three doubles in three games with the D-backs last week.

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