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?”
Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers (24-38, 18.5 games back)
The Storm Chasers had a rough week, dropping all six games to the Iowa Cubs and extending their losing streak to ten. John Gant gave up three runs in five innings with five strikeouts, but picked up a loss. Eric Cerantola struck out six in 4.1
shutout innings of relief. Stephen Nogosek gave up just one run in four innings of relief. Chazz Martinez struck out fourr in 3.2 innings, allowing just one run. Cole Ragans had a successful rehab start on Sunday with seven strikeouts in three innings with just one run allowed.
Harold Castro continued his hot hitting by batting 10-for-25 (.400) with three more home runs. He’s batting .426/.472/.843 with 13 home runs in 29 games since the start of August. Bobby Dalbec had a three-hit game on Friday, and was 8-for-25 (.320) with a home run and three doubles for the week. Tyler Gentry was 3-for-11 (.273) with his eighth home run of the year. MJ Melendez hit his 18th home run of the year.
Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals (32-31, 9 games back)
The Naturals dropped their first five games against the Springfield Cardinals, salvaging the final game with a walk-off win on Sunday. Dustin Dickerson hit 6-for-17 (.353) with three walks and his 20th steal of the year. Rudy Martin hit .333 (4-for-12) with a double and a triple. Carson Roccaforte was 5-for-18 (.278) with a double, triple, six walks, and 7 RBI. He’s hitting .308/.405/.491 overall with the Naturals. Brett Squires hit .292 (7-for-24) with two doubles, giving him a team-high 23. Gavin Cross hit his 17th home run of the year and his seventh since the start of August.
Ethan Bosacker tossed five no-hit innings on Sunday, striking out six with just one walk. Frank Mozzicato allowed just two hits in five shutout innings with three strikeouts and three walks. Hunter Patteson gave up two runs in 51. innings with six strikeouts. Henry Williams struck out a season-high ten batters in six shutout innings. He has a 3.15 ERA in 12 starts since rejoining the Naturals back in mid-June. Jonathan Heasley threw 3.1 shutout innings with one strikeout.
High-A Quad Cities River Bandits (35-31, 3.5 games back)
The River Bandits finished the season by splitting six games with Cedar Rapids and will finish as the only Royals affiliate with a winning record in both the first half and second half. Mason Miller tossed 3.2 shutout innings with seven strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 0.91. Logan Martin threw 4.1 shutout innings with four strikeouts on Wednesday. Emmanuel Reyes gave up just three earned runs in ten innings, striking out seven. Max Martin struck out five in 4.1 innings of relief without allowing a run. Cory Ronan struck out five in three shutout innings. Juan Martinez struck out four in three innings, earning his fourth save.
Austin Charles had hits in each of his final five games, hitting .286 (6-for-21) for the week with a double, triple, and four walks. Sam Kulasingam had a big week, hitting .381 (8-for-21) with five walks, two steals, two doubles, a triple, and his second home run of the year. Blake Mitchell hit three doubles, stole two bases, and drew five walks. He finished the season with a line of .207/.372/.296 in 49 games with the River Bandits.
Low-A Columbia Fireflies (28-35, 14.5 games back)
Columbia took three out of five from the Myrtle Beach Pelicans to end the regular season, with Sunday’s finale rained out. The Fireflies take on the Pelicans again in a best-of-three playoff series beginning tonight.
Jose Gutierrez threw five shutout innings on Friday to improve to 2-4. Darwin Rodriguez allowed just one hit in four shutout innings on Saturday. Augusto Mendieta struck out six in four shutout innings, earning his fifth save. Bryson Dudley struck out five of the eight batters he faced in 2.1 shutout innings, earning his second professional win. Kamden Edge struck out four in two shutout innings, and Yimi Prresinal struck out five in two shutout innings.
Asbel Gonzalez stole two more bases to finish the season with 78, second-most in the affiliated minors. Tyriq Kemp hit 3-for-12 with a triple and a steal. Hyungchan Um hit .364 (4-for-11) with a double and three walks. Luke Nowak had a sensational first pro season, hitting 9-for-14 (.643) this week and finishing at .446/.554/.585 with nine doubles in 19 games.
