Padres Farm Report (7 Jul 08)

Triple-APortland 4, Tacoma 3

Clay HensleyCraig Stansberry (SS): 1-for-3, HR, 2 BB
Chip Ambres (DH): 2-for-4, BB
Brian Myrow: 0-for-5
Justin Huber (LF): 2-for-4, BB
Will Venable: 1-for-4, BB
Colt Morton: 0-for-3, BB
Clay Hensley: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 SO (99 pitches, 60 strikes)

With the Beavers down, 3-0, in the ninth, Stansberry launched a three-run bomb to left. Five batters later, Venable drove home Ambres with an infield single. Hensley, after making a brief cameo with the Pads in Denver, returned to the Portland, where he enjoyed his third consecutive 6-inning start.

While I was away, catcher Nick Hundley got called up to the big club. We actually saw one of his last games at Portland before the recall. Short-term, it’s hard to say what he’ll provide, especially if he’s only serving as Luke Carlin’s backup, but long-term, as mentioned in the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual, I expect Hundley to have a Mike Macfarlane type career.

Double-ATulsa 9, San Antonio 8

Drew Macias: 0-for-3, BB, SH
Craig Cooper: 3-for-5, 2 2B, HR
Jose Lobaton: 1-for-4, BB
Kyle Blanks (PH): 1-for-1, HR
Chad Huffman (PH): 0-for-1
Matt Buschmann: 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 BB, 3 SO, WP (11 GO)
Jonathan Ellis: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO
Paul Abraham: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 HR, 1 BB, 0 SO

Some folks have expressed concern at Blanks’ lack of power, but I’m not seeing it. He’s essentially duplicating his 2006 season at Fort Wayne, but with fewer strikeouts:

Kyle Blanks’ Development
Year Level PA BA OBP SLG BB/PA K/PA ISO
Statistics are courtesy of FirstInning and are through games of July 6, 2008.
2006 A 357 .292 .376 .455 .098 .221 .163
2008 AA 345 .326 .406 .497 .104 .130 .171

No, Blanks isn’t driving the ball with as much regularity as he did at Lake Elsinore in 2007 (when he had a nifty .239 ISO), but the other skills have held and he continues to tighten his strike zone. Interestingly, over his past 10 games, Blanks appears to have favored more of a “grip-and-rip” approach, with 10 strikeouts to 1 walk. Then again, he’s hit .395 with four homers in that span, so it’s hard to complain.

High-ABakersfield 8, Lake Elsinore 5

Kellen KulbackiCedric Hunter: 2-for-5, 2 2B
Kellen Kulbacki: 3-for-4, 2B, BB, E
Mitch Canham: 2-for-5, 2B
Cesar Carrillo: 5 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 HR, 3 BB, 2 SO
Corey Kluber: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 1 SO

Kulbacki is a beast; what else is new… Good to see Carrillo go five… He also picked the same guy off first base twice after walking him…

Low-ASouth Bend 6, Fort Wayne 2

Brad Chalk: 1-for-3, 2B, 2 BB, SB
Lance Zawadzki (SS): 0-for-4, BB
Danny Payne (RF): 0-for-3, BB
Justin Baum: 1-for-4
Yefri Carvajal: 1-for-3, BB
Aaron Breit: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 0 HR, 5 BB, 1 SO, 2 HBP

I guess you could say Breit didn’t have his best command…

Short-Season-ASpokane 5, Eugene 3

Jeudy Valdez: 0-for-4
Logan Gelbrich: 3-for-4, 2B
Cooper Brannan: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 HR, 0 BB, 0 SO

Valdez impressed the heck out of me when I saw him last Tuesday. He knocked three doubles in four trips to the plate, and all of them were hit hard. He is extremely aggressive at the plate and can be pitched to, but he’s also got terrific bat speed. He wears #12, and it’s pretty obvious from watching him that he patterns his game after that of Alfonso Soriano. Valdez looked fine with the glove, although defense is tough to judge at that level. Several players jumped out of the way of ground balls, and given the condition of that infield, I can’t say as I blame them.

RookieAZL Athletics 10, AZL Padres 3

Keisy Marte: 1-for-5
Kevin Hansen: 1-for-4, BB
Edgar Garzon (DH): 0-for-4

Rookie

DSL Padres did not play on Sunday.