by Ethan Kassel / A’s Farm Stockton Correspondent
A chain reaction of roster moves, fueled by post-draft promotions, injuries and trades, left the Stockton Ports roster full of fresh faces in July. And after putting up the California League’s best record in the first half of the season, the team struggled to an 11-18 record last month.
The Ports most productive player in July had to be first baseman Sandber Pimentel. The 23-year-old slugger spent much of the month riding one of the hottest streaks of any minor leaguer in the game. Pimentel crushed nine home runs in July, including four in a three-game stretch, while posting an impressive .612 slugging percentage for the month. And his two homers on July 19 accounted for all five runs in Stockton’s 5-4 win over Lancaster.
Of the recent roster additions, one of the brightest has been Chase Calabuig, this year’s 27th-round draft pick out of San Diego State, whose experience as a college senior undoubtedly helped hasten his promotion. Though he’s cooled off a bit after a scorching start, the 22-year-old finished the month batting .310 with 8 walks and just 12 strikeouts in his first 22 games for Stockton. Calabuig has shown impressive plate discipline as well as a real knack for fouling off pitches and working the count.
This year’s 18th-round draft pick, Cobie Vance, was also added to the roster from the Arizona League last month. And while he hasn’t looked like Calabuig at the plate, he has begun to settle in nicely at third base for Stockton.
The few mainstays among the position players include catcher Collin Theroux, who’s been playing a more prominent role since backstop Jonah Heim’s promotion, and outfielder/first baseman Luke Persico, who has been one of the Ports’ most productive everyday players. Known as a streaky hitter, Persico went 6 for 10 in a recent three-game set at Modesto but followed that up by notching just one hit in his next 16 at-bats.
Infielder Brallan Perez, who’s spent time at short, third and second, has been a regular in the leadoff role since shortstop Kevin Merrell landed on the disabled list early in the month. And while he has just 12 extra-base hits this season, he did finish the month with a .282 batting average.
The Ports spent much of the month with a depleted roster, seeing outfielder Dairon Blanco go down with a hamate bone injury at the start of the month and losing Heim, infielder Nate Mondou and outfielder Luis Barrera to Double-A Midland. The team played significant stretches with just ten available position players, though the roster has grown again as of late.
Outfielder Greg Deichmann finally returned to the team on July 28 after being on the disabled list since late April with a wrist injury. On the final day of the month, infielder/outfielder Eric Marinez returned to play in his first game since serving an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug. Having finally receiving a promotion to the Ports after spending the better part of three seasons with Beloit, infielder Trace Loehr has yet to really heat up at the plate but has shown impressive range at second base, particularly to his forehand side. And infielder Edwin Diaz returned from Midland for two weeks and clubbed a grand slam in Saturday’s win at Lake Elsinore, which was the team’s lone win last week.
As for starting pitching, Matt Milburn and Zack Erwin are the holdovers from the first-half rotation, and Milburn has emerged as the standout among Stockton’s current starters. Overshadowed early in the season by the likes of Jesus Luzardo, Brian Howard and Parker Dunshee, Milburn turned heads with a pair of solid starts for Triple-A Nashville in May and has cruised for Stockton since his return. Over his last ten starts for the Ports, the righty has lowered his ERA by a full two runs, from 5.59 to 3.59. And Milburn has issued just 13 walks in 107 2/3 innings for Stockton this season. While he is one of the older players in the league, having just celebrated his 25th birthday on Sunday, Milburn has managed to put up far better numbers in the hitter-friendly California League than he did in either the Midwest League or the New York-Penn League.
Another 25-year-old, soft-tossing southpaw Evan Manarino, has been very hit-or-miss for Stockton this season, and he finished the month with a 4.87 ERA for the Ports. Righty Kyle Friedrichs has returned to Stockton’s rotation after spending most of the season in Midland, and righty Xavier Altamirano was promoted from Beloit to join the Ports rotation in late June. Although Altamirano’s first start was excellent, a two-hit effort over seven shutout innings, he’s been roughed up recently. The same Modesto team that he shut down in his Cal League debut amassed ten hits and nine runs off him last Wednesday, though that did include a bevy of bleeders and infield tappers.
Though Stockton closer Miguel Romero was promoted to Midland in late June, the bullpen still boasts righty Angel Duno, who’s sporting a nifty 1.93 ERA to go along with 12 saves. And when he’s on his game, the 24-year-old Venezuelan is a ground-ball machine.
The Ports bullpen features more experience than any other area of the roster and currently includes righties Brendan Butler and Trey Cochran-Gill to go along with lefties Will Gilbert and Andrew Tomasovich. Though Tomasovich did allow three runs in his final appearance of the month, he averaged nearly a strikeout per inning in July. And while it’s been a rough campaign for Butler, his last two outings at Modesto were outstanding. He allowed just one hit and one walk in 4 1/3 frames over the pair of relief appearances for the Ports.
Though lefty Ty Damron has allowed three home runs and seven walks in 13 2/3 innings since joining the Ports from Beloit in late June, he has struck out 19, which has helped keep his ERA at 3.95. Righty Sam Sheehan has also struggled with walks, issuing 27 in 42 2/3 frames, but he’s been lights-out when he’s found the zone, striking out 64 batters for Stockton this season.
Towering lefty Pat Krall was tremendous in July, walking just one batter and allowing just one earned run in eight appearances last month. Though he’s struck out just 13 over 25 1/3 frames for Stockton this season, his command and knack for soft contact has made him a nightmare for California League hitters, who are batting just .224 against him.
Though the constant roster flux left Stockton somewhat inexperienced and short-handed during much of July, the Ports still finished the month in first place in the California League North Division, even with a rather uninspiring second-half record of 18-21. But whatever happens the rest of the way, the Ports can be confident in knowing that they’ve already clinched a playoff berth thanks to putting up the best record in the California League in the first half.
* * *
Be sure to like A’s Farm’s page on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @AthleticsFarm. You can also get our exclusive A’s minor league newsletter e-mailed to you free by signing up here.