There were plenty of players on the move throughout the A’s system this past week. Injuries at the major league level and the minor league level, particularly to pitchers like Chris Bassitt, Daniel Gossett and Dustin Driver as well as others, necessitated a number of different moves. But the promotions of Sean Manaea and Jesse Hahn to Oakland, the return of Yairo Munoz to action at Midland and the promotion of Daniel Mengden to Nashville represented some of the biggest moves this week. A version of this weekly minor league report by Athletics Farm originally appeared on Athletics Nation…
Click here for this week’s update on Nashville, Midland, Stockton & Beloit…
SEASON’S TOP PERFORMERS:
(through games of 5/1/16)
1B Ryon Healy (Midland – AA)
5 HR / 9 BB / 20 K / .354 AVG / .406 OBP / .656 SLG / 1.062 OPS
OF Tyler Marincov (Stockton – A+)
7 HR / 9 BB / 25 K / .316 AVG / .387 OBP / .632 SLG / 1.018 OPS
3B Matt Chapman (Midland – AA)
7 HR / 15 BB / 22 K / .262 AVG / .392 OBP / .595 SLG / .987 OPS
OF Brett Siddall (Beloit – A)
0 HR / 9 BB / 15 K / .359 AVG / .433 OBP / .500 SLG / .933 OPS
OF-3B Max Muncy (Nashville – AAA)
5 HR / 9 BB / 11 K / .293 AVG / .386 OBP / .533 SLG / .920 OPS
OF James Harris (Stockton – A+)
1 HR / 5 BB / 19 K / .362 AVG / .398 OBP / .486 SLG / .884 OPS
1B-DH Viosergy Rosa (Midland – AA)
1 HR / 16 BB / 18 K / .288 AVG / .427 OBP / .424 SLG / .851 OPS
3B Renato Nunez (Nashville – AAA)
4 HR / 4 BB / 14 K / .273 AVG / .326 OBP / .506 SLG / .832 OPS
OF Skye Bolt (Beloit – A)
1 HR / 10 BB / 13 K / .301 AVG / .398 OBP / .425 SLG / .822 OPS
RHP Daniel Mengden (Midland – AA)
(23 IP / 15 H / 2 ER / 12 BB / 28 K / 0.78 ERA / 1.17 WHIP)
LHP Evan Manarino (Beloit – A)
(20 2/3 IP / 17 H / 2 ER / 3 BB / 20 K / 0.87 ERA / 0.97 WHIP)
LHP Zack Erwin (Stockton – A+)
(21 1/3 IP / 16 H / 3 ER / 10 BB / 18 K / 1.27 ERA / 1.22 WHIP)
RHP Kyle Friedrichs (Beloit – A)
(26 2/3 IP / 23 H / 5 ER / 3 BB / 19 K / 1.69 ERA / 0.97 WHIP)
RHP Angel Duno (Beloit – A)
(23 IP / 21 H / 5 ER / 1 BB / 23 K / 1.96 ERA / 0.96 WHIP)
RHP Dylan Covey (Midland – AA)
(20 2/3 IP / 18 H / 5 ER / 14 BB / 17 K / 2.18 ERA / 1.55 WHIP)
RHP Ryan Doolittle (Midland – AA)
(10 1/3 IP / 4 H / 0 ER / 1 BB / 6 K / 0.00 ERA / 0.48 WHIP)
LHP Jared Lyons (Beloit – A)
(7 2/3 IP / 7 H / 0 ER / 2 BB / 10 K / 0.00 ERA / 1.17 WHIP)
LHP Daniel Coulombe (Nashville – AAA)
(11 1/3 IP / 4 H / 1 ER / 2 BB / 10 K / 0.79 ERA / 0.53 WHIP)
NASHVILLE SOUNDS
Pacific Coast League – Triple-A
The Sounds starting rotation has been going through some changes lately. With Nashville losing both RHP Jesse Hahn and LHP Sean Manaea to the A’s, LHP Eric Surkamp and RHP Daniel Mengden will be taking their place on the pitching staff. Surkamp struck out 10 over 7 shutout innings in his first game for the Sounds on Friday, while Mengden is expected to make his Nashville debut on Monday night after posting a 0.78 ERA in 4 starts for Midland. Mengden and Surkamp will be joining Dillon Overton, Zach Neal and Chris Smith as the Sounds starters. With Danny Valencia landing on the disabled list for Oakland a week and a half ago, utilityman Tyler Ladendorf returned to the A’s and veteran minor league infielder Josh Rodriguez was called up from Midland to replace Ladendorf on the Sounds roster. And Jake Smolinski, who’s already collected 10 doubles on the season, has taken over as the Sounds’ everyday center fielder since Ladendorf’s departure. Meanwhile, RHP Andrew Triggs earned some frequent flyer miles last week, being called up to Oakland twice and being returned to Nashville twice over the course of just 6 days. Max Muncy, who’s primarily been playing left field of late, has been the Sounds’ best hitter, compiling a .293/.386/.533 slash line over the season’s first few weeks. Third baseman Renato Nunez has been the best hitter among the team’s top young prospects at Nashville, collecting 4 doubles and 4 home runs while putting up a .506 slugging percentage. Matt Olson, who’s started all but 1 game this season in right field, has yet to really get going with a slugging percentage of just .338 so far this season, while shortstop Chad Pinder has drawn just 2 walks on the season and is currently carrying a .253 on-base percentage. Even more problematic for Pinder is the fact that he’s currently leading all A’s minor leaguers in errors with 11 in just 21 games, and the majority of them have been throwing errors.
MIDLAND ROCKHOUNDS
Texas League – Double-A
The biggest news in the A’s minor league system last week was the unexpected death of RHP Sean Murphy in Arizona on Monday. Murphy had undergone Tommy John surgery in September of 2014 and was sidelined all of last season. He was officially on the RockHounds roster and was serving a suspension after a second positive test for a drug of abuse this past February. The 33rd-round draft pick from a small Pennsylvania college got off to a great start with Burlington in 2012, posting a 1.97 ERA over 8 starts before earning a promotion to Stockton. Murphy started 34 games for Midland between 2013-2014. And he eventually made 7 starts for Triple-A Sacramento in 2014, his last season on the mound before being sidelined with arm trouble. In other news at Midland, catcher Carson Blair was placed on the disabled list on Wednesday with an oblique strain, while RHP Sam Bragg also landed on the DL with a right hip strain. Catcher Andy Paz and RHP Ben Bracewell were promoted from the Ports to replace them on the RockHounds roster. And with RHP Daniel Mengden and his 0.78 ERA heading up to Nashville, RHP Kris Hall was activated off the disabled list to take his place on the roster. RHP Corey Walter came out of the bullpen to take Megden’s turn in the RockHounds rotation on Sunday. But the big arrival in Midland last week was infield prospect Yairo Munoz from extended spring training in Arizona, where he’d been recovering from foot, heel and quad issues. In his first 3 games with Midland, Munoz started one at shortstop, one at second base and one at designated hitter. And he’s looked good in his first few games, going 4 for 11 with a home run. After starting his first 19 games at shortstop, Franklin Barreto has started his last 2 games at second base and made a series of stellar plays there on Saturday. He also had an 8-game hitting streak going that was snapped on Sunday. Third baseman Matt Chapman turned on the power this week, belting 3 home runs over 7 games to give him a total of 7 on the season, and he’s currently tied with Stockton’s Tyler Marincov for the most home runs among A’s minor leaguers. Chapman’s also drawn 15 walks in 23 games this season and just made his first professional start at shortstop on Sunday. But first baseman Ryon Healy has been the RockHounds best overall hitter, collecting 17 extra-base hits, the most among A’s minor leaguers, while compiling a .354/.406/.656 slash line on the season. Meanwhile, down in the bullpen, RHP Ryan Doolittle has yet to allow a run in his first 8 appearances, while RHP Aaron Kurcz has yet to allow a walk while striking out 10 in his first 11 innings of relief for the RockHounds.
STOCKTON PORTS
California League – High-A
RHP Daniel Gossett was placed on the disabled list on Wednesday after being bothered by a trapezius muscle issue in his last start last Saturday. RHP Joey Wagman came out of the bullpen to make the start for Gossett on Friday. And with RHP Ben Bracewell and catcher Andy Paz reassigned to the RockHounds on Wednesday to fill vancancies there, catcher Lana Akau, RHP Brendan Butler and LHP Cody Stull all joined Stockton from extended spring training this week. Before landing on the DL, Gossett had been one of the Ports’ best pitchers so far this season, posting a 3.32 ERA while striking out 26 in 19 innings over 4 starts. LHP Zack Erwin has also been solid, allowing just 3 earned runs over his first 4 starts for Stockton. RHP Brett Graves had struggled most of the season but allowed just 1 hit and 1 run over 5 innings of work in his last appearance on Saturday. Meanwhile, RHP Carlos Navas has struck out 18 in 13 innings of relief while posting a 1.38 ERA for the Ports. Outfielder Tyler Marincov has been the team’s best hitter so far this season, putting up a .316/.387/.632 slash line for Stockton, while center fielder James Harris has been a solid leadoff hitter for Stockton with his .398 OBP, and he currently leads all A’s minor leaguers in hits and batting average.
BELOIT SNAPPERS
Midwest League – Class-A
Young pitching prospect Dustin Driver was placed on the disabled list on Tuesday after experiencing elbow pain in his last appearance for the Snappers last Sunday. RHP Jesus Zambrano also landed on the DL along with shortstop Trace Loehr. RHP Kevin Johnson came off the disabled list and LHP Mike Fagan joined the Snappers from extended spring training. The injuries to Driver and Zambrano have impacted the Snappers tandem pitching plan that they were implementing to start the season. With two arms down, the Snappers starting rotation now consists of RHPs Kyle Friedrichs, Angel Duno, Boomer Biegalski and James Naile, with RHP Xavier Altamirano and LHP Evan Manarino forming the only remaining tandem at the moment. The good news is they’ve all been doing a great job for Beloit, as has LHP Jared Lyons, who’s yet to surrender a run in his first 6 relief appearances. Outfielder Brett Siddall has been Beloit’s best hitter so far this season, and his impressive .433 OBP currently leads all A’s minor league regulars. CF Skye Bolt also has been doing a great job of getting on base for the Snappers, compiling a solid .398 on-base percentage so far this season.
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