D-backs Farm Rumblings: What you need to know about Arizona’s minor leaguers

Baseball season is here!

The Arizona Diamondbacks are off to an impressive 7-2 start that has them in first place in the National League West.

Four of the D-backs’ minor league affiliates — the Reno Aces, Jackson Generals, Visalia Rawhide and Kane County Cougars, started their 2018 seasons last week.

It's #MiLBOpeningDay18. Good luck to the @Aces, @jacksongenerals, @VisaliaRawhide, @KCCougars, @HillsboroHops, and @ospreybaseball this season! #GenerationDbacks pic.twitter.com/AImJ9ZfWOF

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) April 5, 2018

Each Monday, we’ll give you the essential information to keep up with what’s going on in the lower levels of the Diamondbacks’ farm system.

–	Team	League	Week	Standing
	Reno Aces	Pacific Coast League (Triple-A)	2-2	Tied for 2nd in Pacific Northern Division (0.5 games out)
	Jackson Generals	Southern League (Double-A)	3-1	Tied for 1st in North Division
	Visalia Rawhide	California League (High-A)	2-2	Tied for 2nd in North Division
	Kane County Cougars	Midwest League (Single-A)	1-2	Tied for 6th in Western Division

What’s Going On

Tomas makes early impact – Many were shocked when the D-backs outrighted outfielder Yasmany Tomas to Reno, especially considering starting right fielder Steven Souza Jr. started the season on the DL. Tomas didn’t appear to be affected by it. The Cuban native clubbed a two-run homer off of Fresno’s Andrew Thome in the Aces’ 10-2 season-opening win Thursday night. Tomas had a good first week, batting .313 (5-for-16) with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Tomas, who is in the minors to concentrate on defense, did a little of that, too.

🚨🚨Yasmany Tomás diving catch🚨🚨@marguliespxp 🎤 pic.twitter.com/7npZY3vfzn

— Reno Aces (@Aces) April 8, 2018

Clarke in command – Taylor Clarke, one of the D-backs’ top pitching prospects was featured in a piece by MiLB.com that illustrated his perseverance through struggles in the minors. And then the 24-year-old right-hander threw a gem in his first game of 2018. Clarke hurled five shutout innings, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out nine in the Aces’ 8-4 win over Fresno Friday night. The former third-round pick of Arizona is coming off a solid 2017 season during which he went 12-9 with a 3.35 ERA in 27 starts for Jackson and Reno.

Brito on fire – Reno outfielder Socrates Brito is starting his ninth year of minor league baseball with the Aces. He could still figure prominently in the future of the D-backs, but for now, he’s relegated to Triple-A duty for a third straight year. Brito has come out of the gates on fire. The 25-year-old had his first career five-hit game Saturday night in a 15-8 loss to Fresno. Brito has hit safely in all four Aces games this season, and is batting .667 (10-for-15) with five RBI.

Fresno plates three in the top of the 5th off Albert Suarez & Jared Miller.

Socrates Brito will lead it off for Reno. Story of his historic night via @MiLB https://t.co/roIy2YkqrF

— Reno Aces (@Aces) April 8, 2018

First look at Widener – Right-hander Taylor Widener, acquired by Arizona in the three-team deal that brought Souza to the D-backs, made his 2018 debut Friday. The 21-year-old started and went two innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs, but struck out five in a 14-6 win over the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp. Widener, who is ranked as the D-backs’ fourth-best prospect by MLB.com, went 7-8 with a 3.39 ERA, a 1.15 WHIP and 129 strikeouts in 119.1 innings for Tampa of the Florida State League last season.

There’s really only one ‘K’ in Takahashi? – Visalia right-hander Bo Takahashi had quite the debut Friday night. The 21-year-old Brazilian allowed three hits and one run over five innings while striking out a career-high 12 in a 4-1 loss to Rancho Cucamonga.

#Dbacks prospect Bo Takahashi records a career-high 12 strikeouts over five innings (3H, 1R/ER, 0BB) for @VisaliaRawhide. https://t.co/aMBopdWkfk pic.twitter.com/nQBzpyS8Tn

— MiLB.com (@MiLB) April 7, 2018

Quick Hits

• Jackson catcher Matt Jones clubbed two home runs against Jacksonville Friday night. Jones had 10 home runs in 283 at-bats last season for Visalia. He also had a walk-off single that scored Rudy Flores in a 1-0 win on Sunday.

• Jackson outfielder Jay Gonzalez has racked up five stolen bases in the Generals’ first four games. The 26-year-old has 127 steals in 395 career minor-league games.

• Visalia right-hander Jon Duplantier, who is ranked as the D-backs’ top prospect by Baseball Prospectus, MLB.com, Minor League Ball and Prospects1500.com, started the season on the disabled list with a hamstring issue. Duplantier was 12-3 with a 1.38 ERA in 24 MiLB starts last season.

• Kane County right-hander Brian Shaffer, a sixth-round pick out of Maryland last summer, had nine strikeouts in just 4.2 innings of work during the Cougars’ 1-0 win over Clinton Sunday.

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