Minor Notes
Per Nate, Josh Bell is going to undergo season ending knee surgery.
Per Diamond Leung Hu has eye problems that need to be addressed.
As the big club continues to struggle it is not much different for their prospects. With the promotion of LaRoche and Kershaw there is not much left in the minors that would resemble the onslaught of prospects that we've seen in the past three years. Nate asked earlier last week if we had any players who might make the top 100 next year. If you look at our community top 10, we lost DeWitt, Kershaw, LaRoche, Hu, and Young. The 5 remaining are Elbert, Meloan, McDonald, Withrow, and Dejesus. Are any of the them capable of cracking the top 100? McDonald is doing okay for the Suns but is not repeating his dominance from last year when he was unable to crack the top 100. Elbert is just now getting back on the mound and results have been mixed so far. The 5th outfielder thinks Meloan is having a solid year but I disagree. I see that K/BB ratio and think he's got a lot work to do and fail to see the optimism that he does. Withrow has yet to throw a professional inning this year. He suffered a nasty slice to his hand while in Florida but hopefully will be ready to go when the rookie leagues kick into action. I'm high on Carlos Santana and DeJesus , but I doubt they kick into the top 100. It would be quite a jump for Carlos who wasn't even in our community top 30 even though I did lobby for him. Maybe Andrew Lambo, but as a corner outfielder he needs to bring a little more to the plate in the Midwest league.
Blue Hot
Jason Repko looks to have finally shrugged off the rust and is blazing hot for Vegas. He played eight games last week and collected 17 hits in 33 at bats with six XBH. He's staying healthy and also added 3 stolen bases. I expected Repko to eat up AAA and was a little surprised it took him this long to get going. While I have no illusions that Repko will ever be a full time major league ballplayer I do think he is an excellent backup outfielder when healthy. He's got a great arm and can play all 3 outfields positions. Excellent guy for coming off the bench as a pinch runner, pinch hitter against LHP, and defensive replacement.
I don't think I've given John Lindsey much love here but he continues to rake for Vegas. Even Andrew said he's starting to believe a little more in him.
Eric Stults has put in his claim to be considered for the possible open Penny spot. Had a nice 6 inning shutout on Saturday and has been pitching very well most of the season.
Okay this is a reach but I just heard of this guy.: Travis Jay Schlichting is one of those guys whose decided to give pitching a try after not being able to hit a professional curve ball. He was the 98th pick in the 2003 draft by the Tampa Bay Rays and was once highly regarded as a 3rd baseman. This winter he was signed out of an independent league . I know nothing about him but I like the story. Tonight he threw a nice game to help the Suns take the win. He and McDonald can swap stories about how hard it is to hit unless Zach Hammes is pitching.
Carlos Santana continues to rake and walk but you can't make the list every week.
Brian Matthews has a six game hitting streak and has a .998 OPS for June. He's been stealing some 3rd base time from the disapointing Pedro Baez.
Daigoro Rondon has not come close to matching the numbers he put up in the rookie league last year but he did have an interesting game today. In four innings in relief he struck out 9 hitters, while also giving up 8 hits.