Triple-A - Columbus Clippers 9, Durham Bulls 3
Double-A - Richmond Flying Squirrels 3, Akron RubberDucks 1
High-A - Lake County Captains 3, Peoria Chiefs 1
Single-A - Lynchburg Hillcats 5, Fredericksburg Nationals 1
HIGHLIGHTS
Angel Martinez (2B, Columbus): 2-5, 2B, SB - Martinez has turned things around, somewhat intermittently in Triple-A. He really needs to improve his chase rate in order to find more big league opportunities, as that’s what made him successful early on in his callup, but that tapered off as he struggled some.
Doug Nikhazy (SP, Columbus): 6IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 8K - Nikhazy collected 18 whiffs in this one, with his fastball sitting 89-91. His slider racked up seven of those whiffs in a solid start, but the two walks and a homer are also kind of areas that hold back Nikhazy at times and given the Triple-A/Major League gap right now, those things often stand out.
Trenton Denholm (SP, Akron): 6IP, 6H, 3R (2ER), BB, 7K - Denholmd continues to stack solid start after solid start in Double-A. His real only hiccup was his first start and he’s looked like he belongs since then.
Travis Bazzana (2B, Lake County): 2-4, BB, SB, K - Three times on base for Bazzana with a steal is a nice day at the top of the order and it broke a 14 at bat hitless streak for him.
Alex Mooney (3B, Lake County): 2-4, HR, 2 RBI - Mooney went more than a month without a homer but now has two in the last three weeks, so that’s an improvement over his late season struggles.
Carter Spivey (SP, Lake County): 6.2IP, 2H, ER, BB, 9K - Spivey took a perfect inning into the seventh inning and could have gotten through seven perfect if not for an infield hit, that could have even been scored an error. But, after the infield hit, things unwound a bit and he allowed a walk and another hit to lose the perfect game, no hitter and shutout all in one inning and didn’t record another out, Still, another great outing for Spivey as an undrafted free agency in Indy ball a year ago.
Jackson Humphries (SP, Lynchburg): 5IP, 3H, ER, BB, 9K - It’s been a very up and down season for Humphries but he’s shown some very promising flashes in stints and will get a chance to do it against in High-A in 2024.
Notable Performances
Andrew Walters (RP, Columbus): IP, K - Walters now hasn’t allowed a run since July 26, spanning 14 appearances. Cleveland still isn’t letting him pitch on back to back days, which brings into question if they will use him in the majors this year without that previous experience. Cleveland wants its pitchers or all prospects to get experience in ways they’ll be used in the majors. Perhaps if he were called up, Cleveland wouldn’t use him in back to back games, but that’s also something relievers need to learn and be prepared for because you never can predict that at the major league level. You might be able to control it more in September with a 14 man bullpen, but it still is questionable right now for a look at Walters in September.
Nic Enright (RP, Columbus): IP, 3K - It took a little bit, but Enright seems to be back, sitting 92-94 with good breaking stuff, racking up five whiffs in 12 pitches. Not sure what happens now, but if healthy all year, Enright should have been a major league option this year. He still could be next year, but his age and status in the minors create questions as to wear.
Kahlil Watson (2B, Akron): 0-2, 2 BB, SB - Not a lot of offensive action in Akron on Saturday but it’s nice to see Watson get on base with a pair of walks and not strike out, more strides he needs to make more often.
Jake Fox (DH, Lake County): 2-5, RBI, 3 K - Fox has had some good games lately, but still is lacking any consistency and hasn’t gotten hot like he did at one point last year.
His fastball ran up to 95 a couple of times!
I heard announcer on Bally say 95