Minors Report for 6/15/10 (Ivan Nova; David Phelps; Dellin Betances; Zolio Almonte)

Minor Leagues Report — By Tom K on June 15, 2010 10:20 pm

Scranton:

Ivan Nova pitched eight brilliant innings to lead Scranton to a 4-1 victory.

Nova allowed one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out five. On the season, the 23-year old righty is 5-2 with a 3.42 ERA. In 71 innings, he has allowed 73 hits while walking 25 and striking out 53. He is 3-0 in his last three starts, allowing four runs (three earned) in 20.1 innings.

Not a huge offensive night for the true prospects in Scranton. Eduardo Nunez & Colin Curtis each went 1-for-4 while Jesus Montero went 0-for-3. The big blow was a 3-run home run by 29-year old minor league lifer Reid Gorecki in the 8th inning, his third of the season.
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Trenton:

David Phelps is putting together one of the better first halves to a season that you’ll find. Phelps threw seven innings of one-run ball while Brandon Laird hit his 14th home run of the season to lead Trenton to a 9-1 victory.

Phelps (23) is now 5-0 in 12 starts for Trenton with a 2.00 ERA. In 76.1 innings, he’s allowed only 52 hits while walking 20 and striking out 67. He has allowed only one home run and has a 1.17 GB/FB. Phelps is now 26-6 in his minor league career. He was drafted out of Notre Dame in the 14th round of the 2008 draft. Phelps throws a bunch of pitches (fastball, curve, slider, change) and supposedly has a funky delivery that helps keep hitters off-balance. He is consistently in the low 90s, though he could dial it up a bit more when needed. His slider is his best breaking pitch.

Laird is at .305 with 14 home runs and 62 RBI. The 62 RBI I believe leads all minor league players. Austin Romine contributed a hit and a run, but was only 1-for-5 overall to drop his average to .291.

Ryan Pope pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits while striking out two. His ERA overall stands at 4.17, but here is his line since joining the bullpen: 17.2 IP, 14 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 25 K.
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Tampa:

Dellin Betances pitched a great game, only to have JB Cox blow it, as Tampa took a 6-2 loss. Betances went six shutout innings, allowing only two hits. He walked one and struck out seven. It’s almost as if he’s been pitching all season. In two games since coming back from rehab, he is 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA (12 IP, 5 H, 1 BB, 13 K). Not too shabby.

Cox, making his return to the organization, allowed five runs in one inning.

Melky Mesa went 2-for-4 with a triple and an RBI in the loss. ———————————————————————————————————————-
Charleston:

Zolio Almonte hit another home run, his 10th of the season, as Charelston pulled out a 4-3 victory. Almonte has hit home runs in back to back games and has four home runs in his last three games.

Slade Heathcott contributed a hit and two stolen bases (5) to the winning effort. Heathcott is now 15-for-45 since joining Charleston and is 5-for-6 stealing bases. I don’t know if he is going to stay here or not, but so far, he is comfortable at this level.

22-year old Robert Lyerly contributed three hits and an RBI to the cause, and is now hitting .321. He has yet to show home run power in his brief minor league career, but he does have 20 doubles this season in 215 at-bats. In Staten Island last year, he hit 8 doubles in 71 at-bats. He is a left-handed hitter who has played both corner infield positions.

Tags: Austin Romine, Brandon Laird, Colin Curtis, David Phelps, Eduardo Nunez, Ian Kennedy, Ivan Nova, Jesus Montero, Phil Hughes, Reid Gorecki, Robert Lyerly