TWitM: River Bandits pitching continues to shine

Quad Cities has some pitching.

This Week in the Minors is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less-heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: “Who had a good week?”

Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (10-15, 5 games back)

It was a rough week for the Storm Chasers as they went winless against Toledo and have now lost seven in a row. The offense has scored just five runs over their last four games. Infielder Dustin Dickerson was on fire, going 11-for-24 (.458) with two doubles and it hitting .355 since joining the Storm Chasers a few weeks ago. Nick Lofton went 3-for-13 (.231) with a home run and two more walks, before earning a promotion to the big leagues. His 26 walks are second most in all of minor league baseball. Catcher Luke Maile went 2-for-7 with three walks and a steal.

The starting pitching also continued to struggle this week. Noah Cameron was lifted after just two shutout innings on Saturday, perhaps in expectation he could fill in for the injured Cole Ragans. Cruz Noriega filled in to provide three scoreless innings of relief with two strikeouts. Taylor Clarke had 3 ²⁄₃ innings without an earned run (two unearned runs) and three strikeouts. Austin Cox had a pair of scoreless outings in relief to lower his ERA to 3.86. Ryan Brady had two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, giving him 5 innings with an ERA of 0.00 since joining Triple-A.

Cam Devanney was activated from the Injured List this week and Tyson Guerrero was placed on the full-season injury list.

Double-A Northwest Arkansas (12-9, 2 games back)

The Naturals took 4 of 6 against Tulsa, winning the last three games of the series. Jac Caglianone this week managed two hits off Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who was on rehab assignment. For the week, he hit .348/.444/.522 with four doubles and three walks, and his .854 OPS is fourth-best in the league. Carter Jensen went 5-for-18 (.278) with a home run and four walks. Jordan Groshans hit 8-for-21 (.381) with a home run and four walks and is hitting .339/.394/.539 for the year. Peyton Wilson cooled off a bit, but he still stole five bases and was promoted to Triple-A having hit .392/.506/.689 with 19 RBI in 19 games for the Naturals.

Javier Vaz returned from injury and went 6-for-17 with two steals in his return. On the other side, the team lost outfielders Connor Scott and Diego Hernandez, and pitcher Anderson Paulino to the Injured List.

Henry Williams improved to 3-0 with a seven-inning performance on Friday, allowing three runs and no walks with seven strikeouts. Ryan Ramsey gave up just one hit in four scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 3.38. Ben Sears pitched three scoreless innings of relief with five strikeouts, picking up his first save of the year. Brandon Johnson pitched three more scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 1.59, picking up his team-high third save.

High-A Quad Cities River Bandits (14-6, first place)

The River Bandits won 4 of 6 against Peoria and have the best record in the Midwest League. Shortstop Daniel Vazquez enjoyed a five-hit night with four runs on Friday, and went 8-for-19 with five walks and two steals for the week. Outfielder Erick Torrres continues his hot pace, going 5-for-17 (.294) with four walks to bring his season line to .392/.475/.471. Third baseman Trevor Werner began to heat up, hitting 6-for-19 (.316) with a home runs and two steals. First baseman Callan Moss went 5-for-16 (.313) with four walks and six RBI.

Hunter Patteson improved to 2-0 with 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball with just one hit allowed on Thursday, and was named Midwest League Pitcher of the Week. Frank Mozzicato also kept the Chiefs off the scoreboard with 5 ²⁄₃ innings of scoreless ball with just two hits and five strikeouts to drop his ERA to 1.27. Felix Arronde picked up his first win of the year on Tuesday with six strikeouts in five innings, then tossed four shutout innings on Sunday to lower his ERA to 1.77. Logan Martin also tossed six shutout innings to lower his ERA to 1.77 and his 22 strikeouts are tied for seventh in the league. River Bandits pitchers collectively have a 2.26 ERA, lowest in the Carolina League.

Low-A Columbia Fireflies (13-8, tied for first)

The Fireflies took the first four games of their series against the Carolina Mudcats, only to drop the final two affairs. Asbel Gonzalez continues to terrorrize Carolina League pitchers, going 7-for-21 (.333) with five walks and seven runs. He had five more steals to give him 25 for the year, more than anyone else in professional baseball. Catcher Ramon Ramirez continued to stay hot, going 6-for-17 (.353) with four RBI. Derlin Figueroa went 7-for-20 (.350) to lift his average to .306. Brennon McNair went 6-for-18 (.333) with a double, triple, home run, and steal.

Blake Wolters was sensational on Friday, giving up just one hit in five scoreless innings – his second start of the year where he has accomplished that feat. Opponents are hitting just .182/.375/.291 against him this year. Tanner Jones struck out eight Mudcats in just 3 2/3 innings on Thursday, the most by any Fireflies pitcher in a game this year.

Mason Miller picked up his third win in relief this year, tossing four shutout innings with four strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 1.23. Josh Hansell gave up just one uneared run in five innings with seven strikeouts and one walk on Thursday.