TWiTM: Jac dominates Triple-A

Caglianone rakes in his first week with Omaha

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?”

Note: This recap is for games through Sunday

Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (20-29, 10.5 games back)

The Storm Chasers have struggled recently, ending a seven-game losing streak by defeating Salt Lake on Sunday. Jac Caglianone homered twice on Sunday, giving him home runs in four consecutive games. He hit .346/.357/.923 with five home runs in six games in his first week of Triple-A, with four strikeouts in 28 plate appearances.

Cam Devanney hit four home runs of his own, giving him 11 for the year, tied for second in the International League. His 38 RBI are tied for third in the league. Nick Loftin went 4-for-12 with two doubles and two steals before being promoted to the big leagues and John Rave went 8-for-23 (.348) wtih two home runs and two steals before his promotion. MJ Melendez hit two home runs to give him five for the year, and went 8-for-26 (.308) for the week with three steals.

Omaha pitching really struggled this week as they had to cobble together a few bullpen games to adjust to a fluid pitching staff. Nate Ackenhausen had three shutout innings with four strikeouts. Eric Cerantola was pegged with the loss on Tuesday, giving up two runs in an inning, but he bounced back on Saturday to strike out six in two shutout innings. Jacob Wallace gave up one run in four innings with five strikeouts.

The Sotrm Chasers activated Joey Wiemer from the injured list, but placed pitcher Ryan Brady on the injured list. Sam Long began a rehab assignment there. The team also acquired infielder Diego Castillo from the Mets organization and had catcher Luke Maile and infielder Cavan Biggio join the team to replace Loftin and Rave.

Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals (23-22, 1 game back)

The Naturals dropped the first three against Arkansas, but swept the weekend to even the series. Hunter Owen picked up his second win, allowing one run on five hits with five strikeouts in five innings on Friday. Frank Mozzicato struck out six, but gave up six runs in 4 ²⁄₃ innings in his Double-A debut. Kyle Wright retired all six hitters he faced – one via strikeout – in his rehab start on Sunday. Brandon Johnson picked 3 ¹⁄₃ shutout innings and picked up his seventh save this week, most in the Texas League.

Catcher Carter Jensen enjoyed a four-hit day on Tuesday and hit 8-for-20 (.400) for the week with a double, triple, and three steals. Javier Vaz went 6-for-20 (.300) with two walks and no strikeouts. Dustin Dickeron was 6-for-17 (.353) with two doubles. Outfielder Rudy Martin was 5-for-15 (.333) with two doubles and two steals.

High-A Quad Cities River Bandits (28-17, first place)

The River Bandits continue to roll, winning four of seven against Beloit this week. Sam Kulasingam was 7-for-23 (3.04) with four walks and two steals. Carson Roccaforte has had a slow start, but he hit 7-for-22 (.318) with a home run and four steals, lifting his average above the Mendoza Line. Bryan Gonzalez was 10-for-25 (.400) with six RBI. Carter Frederick went 2-for-4 with a double, home run, and walk on Tuesday. Colton Becker went 3-for-12, but drew five walks and stole six bases, including a steal of home.

Hunter Patteson is now 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA after six more shutout innings with no walks. Drew Beam won his fourth game with six shutout innings and four strikeouts on Friday. Josh Hansell tossed five shutout innings with just one hit allowed and six strikeouts in his High-A debut. A.J. Causey picked up his fifth win in relief with two shutout innings on Thursday, and even an earned run on Sunday only lifted his ERA to 1.88. Zachary Cawyer had a pair of one-inning shutout relief outings.

Low-A Columbia Fireflies (24-21, 1 game back)

The Fireflies had a rough week in Kannapolis, dropping four of six with a pair of games where the lineup could manage just two hits. Derlin Figueroa was 5-for-24 with his fourth home run of the year. Asbel Gonzalez was just 4-for-21 (.190) but hit his first home run of the year and stole three more bases to give him 38 for the year. Ramon Ramirez was just 4-for-21 (.190), but he hit his ninth home run of the year and drew five walks.

David Shields gave up just one run over four innings with five strikeouts on Tuesday, then tossed five shutout innings with just one hit on Monday with seven strikeouts to lower his ERA to 0.69. Hiro Wyatt gave up two runs in five innings with six strikeouts and no walks on Wednesday. Blake Wolters had five shutout innings with just three hits allowed on Sunday. Dash Albus had two scoreless relief outings, picking up his first save of the year. Dennis Colleran struck out six in 3 ²⁄₃ innings of relief, allowing just one unearned run.