* * * (Updated April 20, 2015 at 11:00 am PT) * * *

Great Lakes Loons
The Loons had a good week finishing 4-2 with three one run victories, all by a 5-4 score. They lost a sixteen inning game when they ran out of pitchers. First baseman Josmar Cordero was brought in to pitch and took the loss giving up a two run home run in the bottom of the sixteenth inning. The Loons presently sit in first place in their division with a 5-2 record.

The Loons success can be attributed primarily to the pitching staff as the team batting average is .232 while they are near the bottom of the league in a number of offensive categories. There has been a power outage thus far in the season as the they have hit only one home run. However, they are putting the ball in play having struck out only 70 times which is the third fewest in the Midwest league.

Twenty year old Justin Chigbogu hit the lone home run during the week in the ninth inning of a game on April 13th against West Michigan. His blast provided the winning run in a 5-4 tussle with the WhiteCaps.

Eighteen year old Alex Verdugo hit .285 in six games while nineteen year old catcher Julian Leon hit .312 in the four games in which he played. Third baseman Michael Ahmed has hit safely in six consecutive games and and sports a .333 batting average.

Drafted as a pitcher, Alex Verdugo hit .286 as an outfield this past week.
(Photo credit – Robby Lloyd)

On the mound the Loons pitching staff has compiled the best ERA in the league at 2.00 and the best WHIP at 0.96. They have walked the fewest batters giving up only 18 free passes in 72 innings. However, they have also played three fewer games as their first three games of the season were postponed due to field conditions.

Starters Trevor Oaks, Victor Gonzalez, Kevin Guzman and Grant Holmes all pitched five innings in their starts during the week. They combined to give up only 4 earned runs with Oaks giving up only one hit in his five innings on Monday. After giving up a lead off hit he retired fifteen straight hitters.

To date eight relievers with the Loons have given up no earned runs in 34.1 innings while giving up only 13 hits. Jeff Brigham perhaps had the best week earning two victories while pitching seven innings. He gave up only one earned run and struck out 11. Karch Kowalczyk earned a victory on Friday pitching three scoreless innings.

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes

The Quakes won four of six games in the past week. They are presently tied for first place in the Southern Division of the California League with the Inland Empire 66ers. Both teams have a 7-3 record.

Visalia Rawhide have an offensive juggernaut but the Quakes are near the top of the entire league in a number of offensive categories. They have a .285 team batting average, second to Visalia, and a .349 OBP, second only to the Lancaster JetHawks .350.

In a 13-3 trouncing of the Lake Elsinore Storm on Saturday the quakes collected 17 hits, all of them singles with the exception of Joey Curletta’s two doubles. Along with Curletta, Devan Ahart, Brandon Trinkwon, Cody Bellinger, Adam Law and Spencer Navin all had multiple hit games.
Right fielder Joey Curletta hit .363 during the week while driving in five runs. Six of his eight hits were doubles. Center fielder Devan Ahart compiled a .333 batting average in six games as did nineteen year old first baseman Cody Bellinger. Third baseman Brandon Trinkwon had perhaps the hottest bat hitting .368 in four games while teammate Paul Hoenecke had four multi-hit games during the week. Hoenecke has since been promoted the the Class A Tulsa Drillers.

The Quakes pitching staff had an outstanding week. They lead the California League with a 2.55 ERA and 0.95 WHIP.

During the past week starters Jose De Leon, John Richy, Scott Barlow and Zachary Bird pitched a total of 20 innings giving up six earned runs. Only left-hander Michael Johnson ran into some difficulty in making the transition from relief to starting pitching.

Zach Bird is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in his first two starts with the Quakes.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

The relief corps – Albert Vanagas, Luis De Paula, Jacob Rhame, Rob Rogers, Daniel Tillman, Victor Arauja, Randy Fontanez and Ramon Benjamin – made fourteen appearances in the past week giving up but two earned runs.

Tulsa Drillers

The Drillers finished the week with a 3-2 record and are presently two games back of the Arkansas Travelers in their division of the Class AA Texas League. Corpus Christi is leading the league in most offensive categories but the Drillers are not far behind ranking second in a number of categories. The Drillers have a team batting average of .274 second to the Hooks’ .285.

Shortstop Corey Seager’s bat continued to be on fire. He went 12 for 21 including three doubles, a triple and two home runs. During the past five games he struck out only twice and interestingly enough has not drawn a walk this season.

Seager has three doubles, one triple, two home runs, 11 RBI’s and is hitting .500 two weeks into the new season for the Tulsa Drillers. (Photo credit – Rich Crimi)

Third baseman Daniel Mayora had a four hit game against the San Antonio Missions on Friday. Right fielder Jeremy Hazelbaker went six for fifteen during the week

The Drillers starting staff had an outstanding performance by Chris Anderson who pitched six innings of two hit ball in his lone appearance during the week. Julio Urias also pitched scoreless ball through 5.2 innings in his start while Deck Maguire gave up only one earned run in seven innings.

During one broadcast Tulsa play-by-play announcer Dennis Higgins indicated that an edict came out from the Dodgers that the Drillers were not to designate a closer among their relievers. The parent team wants all relievers to work in the late innings. Perhaps the best week for a Drillers reliever went to left -hander Michael Thomas who pitched four innings giving up no hits and striking out five. Jeremy Horst pitched 3.1 innings giving up four hits but no runs and striking out eight. Chris Reed continued his transition to relief with two appearances. He pitched three innings giving up a run on four hits and struck out four.

Oklahoma City Dodgers

The Dodgers won four of five games during the week and lead their division of the Pacific Coast League by two games over the Omaha Storm Chasers. The Dodgers hitters have not yet really started to reach their offensive potential. With a team batting average of .235 they rank third from the bottom. They have hit only seven home runs. The success of the offense has resulted from some strategic hitting with everyone contributing at important times in games. Every offensive player has contributed with runs batted in.

Third baseman Buck Britton is leading the way with a .393 batting average. Catcher Austin Barnes is hitting .333 with a .429 OBP. Darnell Sweeney is leading the league with five stolen bases.

The pitching staff seems to be in mid-season form featuring a league leading WHIP of 1.06 and also a league leading 104 strikeouts in 83 innings. They have walked only 20 hitters and posted a 2.71 ERA.

The Oklahoma City starters are all vying for a spot with the parent Dodgers in case an opportunity is made available. Scott Baker, Joe Wieland, Zach Lee and Mike Bolsinger combined for 22 innings in four starts and gave up a total of four earned runs. Lee had the longest outing limiting the Nashville Sounds to five hits, no runs while striking out nine. Bolsinger continued his hot start by tossing five scoreless innings and striking out eight. Bolsinger has started the season with 11 scoreless innings in two starts while striking out a total of 17.

Zach Lee is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA after two starts with the OKC Dodgers. There is an outside chance that he might make his MLB debut with the Dodgers this week as a spot starter against the hated Giants. (Photo credit – Cameron Spencer)

David Aardsma seems to have emerged as the closer recording saves on two consecutive days. On April 15th relievers Rudy Owens, Daniel Coulombe and Josh Ravin combined for eight scoreless innings with Ravin getting the win in the tenth inning.

* * * (Updated April 20, 2015 at 11:00 am PT) * * *

Corey Seager and Julio Urias have been named the Texas League Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Mike Bolsinger has been named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week.