D-backs Farm Rumblings: Christian Walker and Eric Jokisch star in Reno
Aug 21, 2017, 2:50 PM
Reno Aces
Triple-A Pacific Coast League
Week: 4-3
Overall: 72-56
Standing: 1st place in Pacific Northern Division, 2.0 games ahead of Fresno
Christian Walker homers again for @Aces. No. 32 on the season and the second in two days for #Dbacks No. 27: https://t.co/dUgyt9Q9AU pic.twitter.com/Mc5qPJBt5T
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 20, 2017
Single-season leader: First baseman Christian Walker smacked two more home runs last week, giving him 32 on the season, which is a new Reno Aces single-season record. The previous record was set last season by Kyle Jensen, who finished with 30 round-trippers. He is tied with Nashville’s Renato Nunez for the Triple-A home run lead.
A gem from Jokisch: Eric Jokisch, a 28-year-old left-hander, pitched a whale of a ballgame Wednesday night in a 4-0 win over Sacramento. Jokisch allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out nine over seven shutout innings for his eighth win of the season. Jared Miller and Jimmie Sherfy finished off the shutout for the Aces.
We're going to run out of fingers pretty soon, Eric.
Jokisch is dealing tonight! pic.twitter.com/sHq59PmeBj
— Reno Aces (@Aces) August 17, 2017
Jackson Generals
Double-A Southern League
Week: 2-4
Overall: 25-30 (2nd half)
Standing: 4th place in North Division, 14.0 games behind Chattanooga
With great uniforms comes great responsibility: The Generals, who have already worn Shark Week jerseys this season, busted out their Spiderman threads Saturday night. They weren’t much help, as the webslingers lost to Biloxi, 7-2.
Spiderman jerseys didn't give Jackson the Spidey skills they need to defeat Biloxi on Saturday :/ RECAP: https://t.co/XGS0pRBjXU pic.twitter.com/i5nHjmKF7N
— Jackson Generals (@jacksongenerals) August 20, 2017
Near no-hitter: Frank Duncan, a 25-year-old right-hander, pitched his best game of the season Friday night against the Biloxi Shuckers. Duncan allowed just two hits and one earned run over 8.1 innings in a 2-1 win. Duncan took a no-hitter into the ninth, but Angel Ortega led off the frame with an infield single and then was knocked in by Dustin Houle, who doubled in the next Biloxi at-bat. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Jackson. It was only Duncan’s second start for the Generals. In 22 games (21 starts) for Reno, he went 8-8 with a 6.94 ERA. Duncan was acquired by Arizona last February from the Pirates in the deal that sent infielder Phil Gosselin to Pittsburgh.
FINAL: Smile wide, Frank Duncan! The righty takes a no-no into the 9th as we beat Biloxi. pic.twitter.com/z6rAsAh0Po
— Jackson Generals (@jacksongenerals) August 19, 2017
Visalia Rawhide
Single-A California League
Week: 4-3
Overall: 27-30 (2nd half)
Standing: In three-way tie for 2nd place in North Division, 1.0 game behind Modesto
Robbie Ray makes an appearance: D-backs All-Star Robbie Ray made a rehab start for the Rawhide Thursday night. Ray fanned 11 Modesto batters in just 4.2 innings, but took the loss after allowing two earned runs and four hits. The rehab assignment was a one-off for Ray, who has been cleared to rejoin the Diamondbacks’ rotation for Thursday’s game against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Ray was recovering from being hit in the head by a line drive in a game against St. Louis on July 28.
I'm at the @VisaliaRawhide game, thanks to @RobbieRay for taking time out for the kids! Sean pic.twitter.com/SaMjFqteUD
— The Rattle (@TheRattleAZ) August 18, 2017
Reed piling up Ks: Ray wasn’t the only Visalia lefty to hit double-digits in strikeouts in a game last week. Cody Reed struck out 10 over seven innings while allowing only three hits, one walk and two earned runs in a 4-2 win over San Jose Sunday night. It was Reed’s second game with 10 or more Ks this season — he struck out 11 for Kane County in a win over Wisconsin in his second start of 2017 on April 26.
Cody Reed is racking up the K's for @VisaliaRawhide:
7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 K#Dbacks No. 13: https://t.co/dUgyt9Q9AU pic.twitter.com/E6WHkCrKJX— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 21, 2017
Kane County Cougars
Single-A Midwest League
Week: 1-6
Overall: 28-28 (2nd half)
Standing: Tied for 3rd place in Western Division, 8.0 games behind Quad Cities
Rough patch: It wasn’t the best of weeks for the Cougars, who enter this week riding a five-game losing streak. In seven contests last week, Kane County batted just .230 as a team (53-for-230) and scored just 21 runs. If there was anything resembling an offensive bright spot, it was third baseman Eudy Ramos. The 21-year-old Dominican native batted .321 (9-for-28) with a double and two RBI. Ramos is hitting .297 (73-for-246) in stints with Hillsboro and Kane County this year.
#YourCougars cough up lead, drop fifth straight
RECAP: https://t.co/uQYlLPJ8Vv pic.twitter.com/6BuNcUoEhP
— Kane County Cougars (@KCCougars) August 20, 2017
Hillsboro Hops
Short-season-A Northwest League
Week: 3-4
Overall: 12-13 (2nd half)
Standing: Tied with Boise for 1st place in South Division, 1.0 game ahead of Salem-Keizer
Blanked: Sunday afternoon, the Hops got a strong pitching performance from Brian Shaffer and Kevin McCanna. Shaffer, a sixth-round pick in June out of Maryland, started and went three innings, allowing just one hit. McCanna, a 23-year-old right-hander whom the D-backs signed earlier this month, took over and finished strong, hurling six innings of shutout baseball while striking out seven. McCanna has been quite the find for the D-backs organization. In 22.1 relief innings since joining the Hops, he has yet to allow an earned run. His WHIP is a minuscule 0.58 and opposing hitters are batting just .096 against him.
Missoula Osprey
Rookie Pioneer League
Week: 3-4
Overall: 6-12 (2nd half)
Standing: 3rd place in North Division, 4.0 games behind Great Falls
Snapping the streak: William Gorman and Andy Yerzy each had solo home runs while Franklyn Soriano allowed four runs over five innings to pick up his third win of the year in a 6-4 win over Billings that broke a four-game losing streak… Yerzy (.350), Eduardo Diaz (.346), Dominic Miroglio (.333) and Ernie De La Trinidad (2 triples, 6 RBI) enjoyed solid weeks at the plate for the Osprey.
The O's used two homers & strong pitching to beat the Mustangs on Sunday afternoon, snapping a 4-game skid
READ: https://t.co/w6KOsGumct
— Missoula Osprey (@ospreybaseball) August 20, 2017
D-backs
Rookie Arizona League
Week: 2-4
Overall: 6-12 (2nd half)
Standing: 5th place in East Division; 6.0 games behind Giants
Dominican look-in: While we don’t track the every-day happenings of the Arizona’s two squads in the Dominican Summer League, we did want to point out the season outfielder Yoel Yanqui is having for the D-backs. The 21-year-old is leading the league with a .380 batting average (although a recent slump has seen that mark plummet from .418 two weeks ago.)
