AAA -- Tacoma 7, Albuquerque 6  -- Box

Not vintage Taijuan Walker (Talk40 #2), but OK: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.

He got dinged for a pair of homers by the Isotopes.

And then on came Tom Wilhelmsen.  They said they'd have him start so that things would be more "structured," but maybe that only applied to the first game.  This time, he pitched the 7th and 8th: 2.0 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.

I've looked a bit closer at his stats, and he has not been hit harder this year than in prior seasons, but he's walking more and striking out fewer.  So there's reason to think the issues are more mechanical and not that he's been "solved."  His OPS-against is .582, which is right exactly in line with his prior two seasons (.580 and .578).  His HR% has actually dropped.

But his BB% is up to 13% from career 9%, and his K% is down to 18% from career 23%.

Anyway, they do not appear to be on the path of converting him to the rotation.  Not yet at least.

***

Yes, I agree ... Nate Tenbrink (26intheMix) is a very fine baseball player: 4-for-5, double.

And tres hits each for Los Dos Carlos: Carlos Peguero (Watch List) 3-for-5 with two doubles; Carlos Triunfel (26intheMix) 3-for-5 with a stolen base.

AA -- Mississippi 3, Jackson 1 [7 innings]  -- Box

AA -- Jackson 7, Mississippi 2 [7 innings]  -- Box

Yeah, yeah. Seven-inning games. Yada yada yada.

Game 1: The M-Braves did just enough damage against Roenis Elias (26intheMix): 4.1 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.

Daniel Paolini (Talk40 #26) has taken awhile to adjust to AA, but that's what we needed to find out.  He had a double and a single, but is at .214/.333/.339 in 17 games at Jackson.

Game 2: The offense busted out behind our man Ji-Man Choi (Talk40 #19) who had a double and two singles.  Denny Almonte homered.

I realized after running some stats that I don't mention Stephen Kohlscheen often enough.  The huge righty (6-foot-6, 225) having a great year, and he had another good outing: 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.

And our guy Dominic Leone (Talk40 #25) gave up another run after his 17.2 IP scoreless streak ended last time out.

High-A -- Lancaster 6, High Desert 0 -- Box

Kyle Smith was traded from Kansas City to Houston in a minor deadline-day deal.  The Royals got Houston OF Justin Maxwell.  So?

So ... in just his second game in the Cal League, Smith pounded the Mavericks into High Desert dust.

Two hits.  Zero extra-base hits.  Zero walks.  Nine strikeouts.

Low-A -- Peoria 4, Clinton 2 -- Box

Ketel Marte (26intheMix) Mind-Blowing Hit Extravaganza Watch:

Hits = 0

Yes, it's done.  After 11 games and 29 hits, Marte is back to just another glove-first shortstop prospect.  But it was fun while it lasted.

D.J. Peterson had three more hits, but they were all singles.

Short Season-A -- Salem-Keizer 4, Everett 2 -- Box

Another shortstop prospect, Jack Reinheimer, stole his ninth and 10th bases.  He's also been showing some nice on-base skills, but not much with the bat.

Rookie -- Princeton 13, Pulaski 12 -- Box

The P-M's certainly didn't give up.  They fell behind the P-Rays 9-0 in the top of the 1st, but rather than being demoralized, they managed to even the game at 9-9 by the 4th.

Then Princeton went back up 13-9 and Pulaski still made one last push before coming up short.

Gabrial Franca (Talk40 #30) is still a shortstop I like a lot, with (way) better on-base ability than Marte, but the club doesn't seem to view him that way.  He had two more walks and two steals on Saturday.

And Isaiah Yates (Talk40 #39) is another guy I'm high on.  He had a single, double, triple and walk, plus a steal.

Homers from Wilton Martinez (his eighth) and Kristian Brito (Watch List) (his fifth).

AZL Rookie -- Giants 5, Mariners 3 -- Box

Interesting pitching stats in a losing effort:

• Zack Littell: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.
• Daniel Missaki: 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K.

The youthful M's ended up with 15 total strikeouts.

After DH'ing yesterday, Jesus Sucre (Watch List) got in a few innings at catcher.  He walked once in two plate appearances.

Looking Ahead

Emerging interesting arms: Jose Flores for Pulaski; Jacob Zokan for Everett.

Emerged uninteresting arm: Blake Beavan for Tacoma.