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| Mitch Talbot |
Last night's only run came on Beau Mills' first AAA hit/RBI/long ball, in the 8th inning. Corey Kluber (4-7, 6.05) delivered a typical performance (5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) in taking the loss and CC Lee (4-1, 1.99 overall) allowed his first AAA run. Mitch Talbot, though, showed up with an excellent outing. Talbot (0-1, 3.07) pitched the last 2.2 innings scoreless, while allowing 2 hits and a walk. As mentioned previously, I do expect that we will see Mitch back with the big club in August out of the 'pen.
Sunday featured absolutely nothing worth mentioning, as the Clips mustered but 2 hits. Saturday, at least, saw an impressive outing from LHP Nick Hagadone (5-2, 2.75 overall) as he threw 2 perfect frames featuring three strikeouts. Nick Has settled in now and he will make the trip to the NC should a trade deadline deal involve Tony Sipp or Rafael Perez. Zach McAllister started that game and it might be that he is feeling somewhat of a hangover after David Huff got the call for last week's double header and the subsequent rotation spot. McAllister was passable (5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), but has not lately been nearly as sharp as he was early in the season. His last 4 starts have seen an 0-1 record with a 4.13 ERA and a .298 OBA. Zach remains 8-3 with a 3.11, even though he has won just once since May 20th. He, too, is a possible chip in a coming deal.
Columbus hit .141 (13-for-92) as a team over the last three games. This is what happens when an organization calls up all of the talent to the bigs and does not make the corresponding moves deeper in the system.
Other Minor Points of Interest --
It seems as if Adam Miller (1-3, 5.45 overall) has hit a wall in Akron. Last night, Miller took the loss after giving up 5 earned on 5 hits and 2 walks in an inning and a third. He has now thrown 34.2 innings this season, the most he has pitched since 2007. In the last 8.2 of those innings, he has allowed 11 runs (12.07 ERA) on 13 hits (.362 OBA). I would not be surprised to see Adam hit the DL soon with a "tired arm."
Drew Pomeranz started for the Aeros yesterday and lasted just 4.1 due to a strict pitch count. Pom (3-3, 1.98 overall) surrendered 2 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks and 6 K's. Drew's numbers have been remarkably similar between High-A Kinston and his current stop with his OBA (.202 vs .200), BB/9 (3.74 vs 3.86), and K/9 (11.10 vs 10.93) almost identical. He still needs to stretch himself beyond 5 innings (91 IP in 18 starts), but, otherwise, Pomeranz is right on track. Oh, he will not be traded. Write it down.
The recently promoted Felix Sterling made an outstanding first appearance for the Lake Country Captains. Sterling earned the W in Sunday's 6-1 victory. Felix (3-3, 3.62 overall) allowed 3 hits and 3 walks, while fanning 2. Still just 18, expect Sterling to make waves at the A+/AA level next season.
RHP Jake Sisco, the Tribe's 2011 3rd round pick, got shelled in the AZL. Sisco (0-2, 2.95) allowed 4 earned on 4 hits, 2 walk and 2 punch outs as he got tagged with loss #2. It was Jake's first poor outing as a professional. He came into the game with a 1.42 ERA and .246 OBA.
Despite allowing a run, friend of the blog Tyler Tufts picked up his 4th AA save on Sunday. Ty (4-1, 2.05, 7 SV overall) has compiled all four of those saves over the past month as he has taken on a more prominent role out of the Rough Riders bullpen. According to sources familiar with the situation, the organization has finally taken notice of Tyler, a 32nd round pick in 2008. While the Rangers have a bevy of relief talent in the high minors, he was supposedly told that, if he continues to produce for Frisco, he could very well skip AAA and go straight to the bigs. As much as I hope this is true, the promotion of a AA relief pitcher to the majors, when he is not on the 40-man roster, is highly unlikely.
Cheers.
