Henry Misses Team Flight
By Phil Graves
Word out of Highlanders camp today is that Bill Henry may be fined by the team or benched for the next game as punishment for missing the team flight. “It’s unacceptable,” commented manager Mark Donnelly. “He should know better and should take responsibility for his actions. Something needs to be done tocurb this behavior before it becomes a real problem.”
Pressed for comment, Henry simply said “I overslept, It happens.”
Game time tonight is at 6:05 and pits RHP Jose Souza (2-0, 4.07) against RHP Andres Patino (3-2, 3.35). Hopefully we can avoid the Tampa fans from bringing out the brooms for the sweep.
Wesley has provided me with his prospect lists for Mesa and Philadelphia for my review. Tomorrow is a day off so I would like to make some movement on a trade of some sort.
Mesa Prospect Lists
Mesa’s current minor league system rank’s 31st out of the 32 team’s in the ABL. They have only one prospect ranked in the top 100 and two in the top 200.
#81 – 2B Paul Wiggins (AAA) – In 7 games at AAA he is hitting .348/.500/.348 with 4 runs batted in. Wiggins is an extremely hard worker, but his future in the ABL is more that of a role player rather than a starter.
#158 – SS Carlos Sorenson (AA) – In AA this year he is hitting .207/.266/.391 with 2 HR and 10 RBI. Sorenson is an above average fielder, but doesn’t appear to have the offense to be a daily player in the ABL.
Philadelphia Prospect List
Philadelphia’s current minor league system ranks 28th out of the 32 teams in the ABL. They have two prospects in the top 100 and three in the top 200. All of their top prospects are starting pitching.
#51 Larry Ballard (AA) – In 5 starts he is (1-0, 2.90 ERA) – Larry has flashes of brilliance, but overall he doesn’t project to have much of a career in the ABL. He is cocky and arrogant, without the tools to back it up. He also doesn’t appear to have the stamina to make it deep into games.
#62 Ash Anderson (AAA) – In 6 games he is 4-1, 3.34 ERA – Projects to be an ABL starter, but doesn’t have the tools to be ace. He is good kid with good leadership skill and is well liked in the clubhouse.
#115 Mike Axley (AA) – In 4 games he is 1-1, 4.50 ERA – Not a lot of potential in this guy, he has a questionable work ethic and is already injury prone.
Not really a lot here for me to work with, to give up a #17 prospects. Tomorrow I will get back in touch with Jacksonville and Long Beach to see where we can take this. No changes to the trading block or waiver wire this morning either.
Game Time
@tligget – New York’s Steve Scott has left the game with a strained hamstring. He looks to be sidelined for 3 to 4 weeks.
Top of the second inning Kouno leads off with a solo home run, immediately followed by M. Fiadeiro who hits a solo home run.
Top of the third inning, we loaded the bases and Fiadeiro brings in two runs with a single on two outs. That is the clutch hitting we need. Through three innings we lead Tampa 4 to 0 and Souza has not allowed a baserunner.
No baserunners came to an end in the fourth inning as Souza loades the bases with one out. An error allows one run across, but that is all the damage that Souza allowed. After 4 innings the Mallards lead 4 to 1.
After five innings the Mallards leads 4 to 2; Souza allowed a solo home run to Aaron Williams.
@tligget – Charlotte’s Travis Elledge leaves the game with an injury, no diagnosis as of yet.
After six innings, the Mallards lead Tampa 7 to 2 after scoring three more runs in the top of the sixth inning.
@tligget – Pete Huggins, LF from New York is out for about 4 days with a Quadriceps strain.
Tampa scores another run in the seventh inning; the score is now 7 to 3.
@pgraves – Austin pitcher Joseph McKay has struck out 13 batters through 6 innings.
@tligget – Fresno MR Kelly Payne leaves the game with a sore shoulder, he will be day to day for a week.
J. Souza picks up his third win of the season, as we prevent a sweep at the hands of the Tampa. The win gets up back to .500
@pgraves – Columbus’ Logan Turner gets home run number 300 of his career.
@pgraves – Austin pitcher ties the team record for strikeouts with 15, 2 shy of the record set by now Mallard pitcher J. Souza in 2012.
It’s 10:30 and Oklahoma City and Cleveland are entering into the 14th inning. At the bottom of the 13th Cleveland had the bases loaded with two outs and ended up striking out, not allowing a run. Oklahoma City is on its sixth pitcher of the game. Cleveland ended up winning with a run in the bottom of the 16th inning in game that lasted 5 hours and 13 minutes.
Mallard Prevent Sweep, beat Tampa 7 – 3
By Rick Featherstone
Lead by Maurili Fiadeiro, the Madison Mallards defeat Tampa 7 to 3 to avoid being swept. Fiadeiero was 2 -5, R, 3 RBI and HR. Since being called up Fiadeiro is hitting lights out with a batting average of .458 in 17 games and 48 at bats. Starting pitcher Jose Souza picked up his 3rd win of the season pitching 6 1/3 innings allowing 3 runs, 2 of them earned and striking out 6. Your Mallards have moved back to .500 and are 3 games out of first place, behind Tampa, Memphis and Columbus.
Performances of the Day
