D-backs Farm Rumblings Week 7: Zeroes galore posted by Kane County pitching
May 22, 2017, 8:48 AM | Updated: 11:36 am
We can’t go a week here in Farm Rumblings without highlighting the pitching staff of the Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League.
Five of Arizona’s top 30 prospects, according to MLB.com, are currently on the Cougars roster, and they’re living up to their billing.
The fun began Thursday night with lefty Cody Reed (No. 19 prospect) on the mound in the opener of a road series at Quad Cities. Reed was masterful, allowing just three hits (all singles) and a walk in the D-backs’ first organizational complete game shutout by any pitcher in 2017 in a 1-0 win. The next night, it was Jon Duplantier’s turn. The right-hander threw six shutout innings, allowing four hits and three walks while fanning six before giving way to Jake Winston, who pitched three scoreless frames for his first save of the season in a 5-0 win.
The Cougars weren’t done.
Saturday night, 20-year-old right-hander Emilio Vargas kept the zeroes coming, hurling five shutout innings. Wei-Chieh Huang, Ryan Burr and Tommy Eveld then allowed one base runner over the final four innings in another 1-0 win.
The magic ran out Sunday as Quad Cities posted three runs in the first on their way to a 15-8 victory, but Kane County had a string of 28 consecutive scoreless innings. Duplantier and Reed continue to be two of the best pitchers in the Midwest League. Duplantier is 4-0 with a 0.64 ERA while Reed is 3-1 with a 1.08 ERA.
Make it three: #YourCougars blank Quad Cities once again
RECAP: https://t.co/nx0vDqI5dF pic.twitter.com/PNGI7J1r0k
— Kane County Cougars (@KCCougars) May 21, 2017
• Shipley update – Reno Right-hander Braden Shipley, who got one spot start with the D-backs early this month, continued an impressive 2017 campaign this past week. The 25-year-old picked up two wins — the first coming Tuesday in his best outing so far. Shipley pitched eight scoreless innings while allowing just three hits in the Aces’ 9-0 win over Round Rock. He took the hill again Sunday on the road at Omaha and went seven innings while allowing three runs and six hits in a 14-3 win over the Storm Chasers.
On the season, Shipley is 5-1 with a 3.42 ERA and has struck out 35 and walked only 12 in 50 innings of work.
Braden Shipley complete game!
Offense blasts 5 home runs!#Aces score 14 runs!#Aces win!
We get to play again in 30 minutes! pic.twitter.com/gcu40jAkHY— Reno Aces (@Aces) May 21, 2017
• Can anyone get this guy out? – It’s also been hard to keep Reno shortstop Ketel Marte out of this weekly space, because the guy is always on base.
Last week, Marte batted .406 (13-for-32) with a double, a triple, a home run and four RBI. He enters this week on a 21-game hitting streak and has four consecutive two-hit games. The 23-year-old has at least one hit in 39 of 41 games this season. Marte currently ranks second in the Pacific Coast League with a .393 average.
Ketel Marte brings his hitting streak to 21 games! pic.twitter.com/LJXrZehFyU
— Reno Aces (@Aces) May 21, 2017
• Walker bombs – Reno first baseman Christian Walker had two more home runs last week, including a 458-foot blast. He now has 12 homers and 47 RBI on the season, good enough to lead the PCL in both categories.
Christian Walker just hit a baseball 458 feet for his second home run of the game. @CWALK328 is now the PCL HR and RBI leader. pic.twitter.com/5omBgUK9K6
— Reno Aces (@Aces) May 18, 2017
• Grand salamis! – Rudy Flores and Kelly Dugan both had grand slams in the Jackson Generals’ 17-5 win over the Montgomery Biscuits (yes, they’re named after food) Friday night.
Generals get slams from @duganbaseball and @ruuudboy11 en route to big win in Montgomery Friday night. 🎉 pic.twitter.com/P2DWtk4dOQ
— Jackson Generals (@jacksongenerals) May 20, 2017
• Big week for Marty – There’s a Twitter account devoted to Visalia first baseman Marty Herum simply called @HowsMartyDoing.
Simple answer: pretty good.
The 25-year-old batted .458 (11-for-24) last week for the Rawhide, including a four-hit, three RBI night in a 6-4 win over San Jose Wednesday night.
#Dbacks prospect Marty Herum records his seventh career four-hit game for @VisaliaRawhide. https://t.co/bVrSm2PQcu pic.twitter.com/N26oWw2oMD
— MiLB.com (@MiLB) May 18, 2017
Herum leads Visalia with a .320 average, which is currently seventh in the California League and 85 points higher than the Rawhide’s team average of .235.
Standings
| Team | Week | Season | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
5-2 | 27-17 | 2nd place in Pacific Northern Division, 1 game behind Tacoma |
|
3-4 | 24-19 | 2nd place in North Division, 0.5 games behind Tennessee |
|
2-5 | 21-23 | 2nd place in North Division; 4 games behind Modesto |
 |
5-3 | 24-17 | Tied with Cedar Rapids for 1st place in Western Division |
