AAA Norfolk Tides
The Tides haven’t started off as well as they would have hoped. Chris Tillman and Troy Patton have started off the season at 0-2. Jake Arrieta has looked particularly strong. He has pitched 12 innings this season and has yet to yield a run. Positional prospects Brandon Snyder and Josh Bell have started the year off slowly. They are batting .207 and .214 respectively.
AA Bowie Baysox
Zach Britton has 2 starts under his belt and he has pitched magnificently both times. His 1st outing was cut short by rain, but he held the Flying Squirrels to 3 hits in 5 innings. On Tuesday, beat Harrisburg 2-1 going 6 innings and only giving up 1 run. He also managed to force the Senators into 9 ground outs. The Baysox in general are doing really well. They are 8-1 and are alone in 1st place in EAS Western Division. The team is being led by Robbie Widlansky who hitting a mere .500. Both C Caleb Joesph and 2b Ryan Adams are also hitting the ball well.
High A Frederick Keys
The Keys are 4-4 so far. Offensively, Xavier Avery is the star. He is batting .345. Ronnie Welty is at .318 and has 2 HR. Joseph Mahoney is batting .290 and is leading the team with 12 RBIs. Billy Rowell has struggled so far this season. He is batting a measly .214. From a pitching perspective. Nate Nery and Rick Zagone are the team leaders. They have yet to win a game but they have posted respectable ERAs in their 1st 2 starts. When you get a chance, check out this nice write-up by Camden Chat on Xavier Avery.
Low A Delmarva Shorebirds
Delmarva is off to a good start. They are sitting at the top of their division at 6-3. Offensively they are on a tear. They have 7 players batting over .300. The pitching of Jake Cowan has been fabulous. This team also starts fellow prospects Matt Hobgood (who looked better in his 2nd start) and Ryan Berry. Heath over at Dempsey’s Army has some good coverage of the Shorebirds and their visit to Greenville.
The Baysox have been on a hot streak! Seven in a row I believe. Britton, Johnson and Spoone look solid so far. I'm looking forward to them coming home so I can get out there and cover these guys.
Looks like Avery has made a lot of progress. I don't really think Rowell is struggling though. He has 6 walks and 6 strikeouts. I was at the Keys game today and he had some excellent bats. He waited for his pitch, worked the count and had a few clutch hits. The batting average isn't great, but you have to like the OBP. I think he'll pick it up soon.
It's tough to say that Rowell is playing well when he's STILL with the Keys. We drafted this guy ahead of Prince Fielder. It's time for him to step it up.
It's obviously a small sample size but it's starting to look like he's figuring things out. He usually looks lost at the plate, not today. Obviously he shouldn't be here, but draft picks don't always work out. He was also drafted one slot ahead of Tim Lincecum….
Yeah that's frustrating looking back. I'm an optimist too Jordon. I want to see these guys pan out…it's just tough to be positive about Rowell.