D-backs Farm Report: Socrates Brito scorching hot in Reno
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.
Sócrates’ speed: ? pic.twitter.com/uCyooPJ24m
— Reno Aces (@Aces) August 27, 2016
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pitching was stellar, but #KCCougars blanked by @BeloitSnappers in series opener Recap: https://t.co/Mt9bgW59N4 pic.twitter.com/RQvjAtSQTL — Kane County Cougars (@KCCougars) August 27, 2016
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.
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
Luis Veras celebrating with @HillsboroHops after clinching a playoff spot. pic.twitter.com/5ntJykIgmv
— Jared Ravich (@JaredRavich) August 29, 2016
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.
In the bottom of the 2nd @JJAnderson_24 GRAND SLAM #AllHoppedUp Hops lead 8-2. pic.twitter.com/ransiBv9Hb — Hillsboro Hops (@HillsboroHops) August 28, 2016
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.
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.
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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