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 Grand Junction Jackalopes

Pitchers of the Week

July 7, 2015 - Pioneer League (PL)
Grand Junction Jackalopes News Release


International League

Angel Sanchez, Indianapolis (PIT)

(2-0, 0.64 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 14 IP, 9 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 2 BB, 16 K)

Sanchez was a top-20 prospect in the Dodgers and Marlins systems as recently as 2013, but a rough go at Double-A Jacksonville (0-8, 6.88 ERA) to start last season sent him on a journey that saw him take brief stints in the Rays and White Sox systems before being claimed off waivers by the Pirates on July 31 last summer. Now in his first full season with the Bucs, Sanchez is finally thriving at age 25. After going 8-1 with a 2.79 ERA in 13 starts for Double-A Altoona, the Dominican right-hander got the bump to Indianapolis on June 20 and has settled in nicely over his first four Triple-A starts. Last week, he struck out nine over seven two-hit innings against Columbus and followed that up with seven more punchouts while allowing just a run in another seven frames against Louisville. He is 3-0 with a 2.88 ERA, 21 strikeouts and five walks over 25 innings since his promotion to the IL.

Pacific Coast League

Adam Conley, New Orleans (MIA)

(1-0, 0.69 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 13 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 5 BB, 14 K)

In terms of accolades, Conley might have had the best week on this list. On Wednesday, he was one of two starting pitchers elected to the PCL All-Star team. Now, he's the circuit's Pitcher of the Week. Of his two starts last week, his most impressive came just under the wire on Sunday, when he held Iowa to two hits while striking out seven in a seven-inning complete game. The Marlins' No. 6 prospect has been fairly consistent this season, having not produced an ERA above 3.00 in any month yet, and is 8-2 with a 2.33 ERA (third-best in the PCL) and 1.18 WHIP in 89 innings for New Orleans.

Eastern League

Gabriel Ynoa, Binghamton (NYM)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 9 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 0 BB, 6 K)

The Mets' No. 11 prospect never had an issue finding success at the lower levels of the Minors but has found Double-A a tough nut to crack. Until now, that is. Thursday's complete-game one-hitter marked the fourth start in a row in which Ynoa had allowed two earned runs or fewer over at least 6 2/3 innings. The buzzword for his recent run of success? Command. Control hasn't been a worry for the 22-year-old right-hander, who has a career 1.3 BB/9 in the Minors and a 2.1 BB/9 mark for Binghamton, but the Mets were worried that he was pitching so much in the strike zone so as to become pretty hittable. That's changed in the last month. "I think he just needed to be focused better," Binghamton pitching coach Glenn Abbott told MiLB.com. "The kid works hard -- it's not like he's not ready to pitch. I just think sometimes the focus wasn't there like it can be. He can throw strikes -- strikes aren't the issue. It was just a matter of the command. Just like I tell all of them, I said, 'You're in Double-A because you have the stuff, but the thing that will dictate how far you go in this game is the command.'"

Southern League

Jacob Faria, Montgomery (TB)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 3 BB, 14 K)

Faria's numbers at Class A Advanced Charlotte were straight from a video game -- 1.33 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, .199 batting average-against. Surely, they wouldn't carry over to Double-A Montgomery. Flash the small-sample light, but so far, that's exactly what's happened, as his line above from his second Biscuits start Saturday indicates. In 13 innings in the Southern League, Faria has allowed only two earned runs (1.38 ERA) on six hits and five walks while fanning 22 batters and gives credits for his incredible numbers to an improved changeup that acts like a "modified" split finger.

Texas League

Jharel Cotton, Tulsa (LAD)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 0 BB, 7 K)

Cotton was hoping to build off a positive second half in 2014 with Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga -- during which he had a 2.55 ERA with 93 strikeouts and 18 walks in 84 2/3 innings after discovering he was tipping his pitches -- but a broken wrist kept him from making his 2015 debut until May 26. The Dodgers moved their No. 25 prospect to Double-A Tulsa on June 21, and he's continuing to show that promise from a year ago this time. Cotton is 2-0 with a 0.95 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 18 strikeouts and only three walks in 19 innings since being bumped up to the Texas League. With Jose De Leon racking up K's and Julio Urias set to return sometime this month, the Drillers should have one of the most interesting rotations in the Minors from a prospect perspective in the second half.

California League

Harrison Musgrave, Modesto (COL)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 1 HBP, 0 BB, 8K)

Most pitchers want to get out of the California League as quickly as they can, and the way Musgrave has pitched for Modesto, the southpaw should be punching his ticket to Double-A New Britain at some point soon. His dominant start last Wednesday marked the ninth consecutive outing in which the 2014 eighth-rounder hasn't given up more than two earned runs in an outing. He leads the Cal League with 10 wins -- a stat he is quick to discount -- and ranks in the top 10 for ERA (2.76, third), strikeouts (78, fourth-tied) and WHIP (1.09, second).

Carolina League

Teddy Stankiewicz, Salem (BOS)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 1 CG, 1 SHO, 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 0 BB, 9 K)

Stankiewicz, a second-round pick back in 2013 and Boston's No. 19 prospect, is much more of a groundball pitcher than a strikeout guy. Entering his Friday start at Myrtle Beach, his season high for K's was just five, and that came all the way back on April 30. But against the Pelicans, he managed to nearly double that mark and still only required 83 pitches to work a seven-inning shutout. The 21-year-old right-hander is 3-8 with a 3.69 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 48 strikeouts and 15 walks in 90 1/3 innings during his second full season in the Red Sox system.

Florida State League

John Gant, St. Lucie (NYM)

(0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 1 BB, 10 K)

How dominant was Gant's start last Monday at Tampa? So dominant that his second start of the week came with Double-A Binghamton. After spending all of 2014 at Class A Savannah, the 22-year-old right-hander started his season two levels higher in the Eastern League, but after going 2-3 with a 4.75 ERA in his first seven starts there, he was sent to the FSL for the first time in late May. He was dominant with St. Lucie, where he was 2-0 with a 1.79 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 40 1/3 innings, prior to his Double-A return. Like Ynoa, Gant will have to show he can perform against more advanced hitters at Double-A. For what it's worth, he gave up only one earned run (three others were unearned) on six hits in six frames for Binghamton on Sunday.

Midwest League

Angel Heredia, Quad Cities (HOU)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 7 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 3 BB, 9 K)

It's rare that relievers capture Pitcher of the Week honors, so they'd have to really stick out for that to happen. Two outings and 7 2/3 innings of combined hitless ball ticks that box. Heredia, a 5-foot-9 right-hander out of the Dominican Republic, is holding opponents to an .082 average this season, and his five hits allowed have come in only three of his 10 outings this season with the River Bandits since joining the club in late May. With nine walks in 18 2/3 innings, the 22-year-old has his problems with control, but otherwise he's been dominant (0.96 ERA, 22 strikeouts) in his short stints on the mound for Quad Cities.

South Atlantic League

Yency Almonte, Kannapolis (CWS)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 8 2/3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 1 HBP, 1 BB, 6 K)

Almonte came within one out of a no-hitter for Kannapolis on Saturday, and when Augusta's Jeremy Sy singled up the middle to break that bid up -- an event that forced him to throw up his hands and laugh -- he was still one out away from his first career complete game. The 21-year-old right-hander gave up another single to Aramis Garcia, and alas, that was the end of his evening. Still, Saturday marked the longest outing of the White Sox prospect's career and dropped his South Atlantic League ERA from 4.80 to 4.19 through 13 appearances.

New York-Penn League

Tyler Badamo, Brooklyn (NYM)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 0 BB, 4 K)

With quality starts in his first two outings with the Cyclones in June, Badamo looked like he was building a solid resume in Brooklyn. He sealed that in his third start for the club on the first day of July. The 2014 24th-rounder out of Dowling College on Long Island allowed only one Hudson Valley batter to reach -- a single by Nic Wilson in the third -- in a dominant start last Wednesday. He is 1-1 with a 1.83 ERA, 14 strikeouts and three walks in 19 2/3 innings so far in the New York-Penn League and has a 1.78 ERA in 50 2/3 innings since going pro last summer.

Northwest League

Carlos Hernandez, Hillsboro (ARI)

(0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 3 BB, 10 K)

Hernandez's trips to Rookie-level Missoula in 2013 (5.06 ERA) and 2014 (4.22 ERA) were both unspectacular, but upon being moved up to Class A Short Season Hillsboro as a 21-year-old, the results this season have been quite the opposite. In three starts (18 innings) for the Hops, Hernandez ranks second in the Northwest League with 24 strikeouts and sits fifth with a 1.50 ERA. Time will tell if that's sustainable or just statistical noise in a small sample, but it's an impressive start for the Dominican Republic native.

Appalachian League

Dereck Rodriguez, Elizabethton (MIN)

(1-0, 0.000 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0, HR, 0 HBP, 1 BB, 7 K)

You might think the most interesting thing about Rodriguez is that he's the son of future Hall of Fame catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez, but his story goes much deeper than that. The 2011 sixth-round pick spent most of his first three seasons in the Twins system as an outfielder before making the transition to the mound last year. He posted a 1.05 ERA with five saves as a reliever for Elizabethton in 2014, but the Twins decided to transition him once more to a starter this season. He made his first two starts at Class A Cedar Rapids in June and was bumped down to Rookie-level ball later in the month. After flirting with a no-hitter last Monday, the 23-year-old right-hander is 2-0 with two earned runs allowed (1.46 ERA) on 11 hits and a walk with 11 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings with the Twins.

Pioneer League

Parker French, Grand Junction (COL)

(1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 2/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 0 BB, 2 K)

French posted a 2.41 ERA in 104 2/3 innings as a senior at the University of Texas this spring, but after being taken in the fifth round by the Rockies, he's learning pro ball can be a bit of a different animal. He allowed 10 earned runs and three homers over just eight innings in his first two starts but rebounded nicely in a Friday outing at Orem, as seen above. The 6-foot-2 right-hander isn't much of a strikeout pitcher -- he had 5.3 K/9 with the Longhorns and has a 6.8 K/9 in Grand Junction so far -- but he has shown good control with zero walks in 14 2/3 innings as a pro.


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