Caden Grice Fantastic in His Professional Pitching Debut

Last year's second round pick had a professional debut on the mound to remember.

Clemson's Caden Grice (31) throws a pitch during a NCAA baseball regional game between Tennessee and Clemson / Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA

Caden Grice had one of the most memorable pitching debuts as last night's top prospect performance in the Diamondbacks organization. The former two-way star will develop primarily as a pitcher in the organization but showcased an advanced arsenal with the Visalia Rawhide.

Grice showed good fastball command of a low-90s fastball with some sinking action, a slider with both good sweep and depth, and a changeup with arm-side fade to it. It resulted in seven strikeouts against the nine batters faced, with the only baserunner coming from a wild pitch on a poor block from the catcher on a slider in the dirt. Everything about his debut is encouraging for a D-backs system light on starting pitching prospects who can stick in a rotation.

AAA: Reno Aces 9, Sacramento River Cats 1

Cristian Mena turned in another quality start with the Reno Aces. The right-hander continues to make his case for a midseason call-up candidate, holding Sacramento to one run in six innings with two strikeouts and three walks. His fastball still sat in the low 90s, but showcased a slider that generated 7 whiffs on 15 swings. Command wasn't necessarily as sharp as last time out, as evidenced by the three walks compared to zero in his first start of the year, but he made the pitches when he needed to.

Jorge Barrosa singled and hit a three-run home run off the scoreboard in left field that broke the game open in the 4th inning. The home run left the bat at only 93.7 MPH although it cleared the fence by plenty. His 7th inning RBI single came off the bat at 101.5 MPH.

Kevin Newman had three hits, including his first home run of the year. He hit a 94.8 MPH fly ball that got caught in a windstream in right field and carried over the fence for a solo home run in the third. With the D-backs hurting at shortstop at the moment, with starter Geraldo Perdomo headed for an MRI on his right knee, he could be brought up to cover a few games.

Double-A: Amarillo Sod Poodles 5, San Antonio Missions 12

Yu-Min Lin was excellent for three innings. The 5'11" left-hander induced 12 swings and misses, but needed 67 pitches to get through three innings. Lin finished the game with five strikeouts and two walks in his start, allowing just one run.

Caleb Roberts was 1-for-3 with a walk and an opposite field home run. Deyvison De Los Santos in his first game back in the D-backs organization doubled and drove in two. Ivan Melendez walked twice and struck out only once. A.J. Vukovich wore the Golden Sombrero, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

High-A: Hillsboro Hops 4, Everett AquaSox 5

Ricardo Yan did not allow an earned run in four innings on three hits, two walks, and five strikeouts. He allowed two runs in the fourth, with a pair of two-out errors each allowing a run to score. His trademark sinker/slider combination induced six groundouts.

Gino Groover had an adventurous day. He was 1-for-5 with an RBI, two strikeouts, a stolen base, and two fielding errors at third base on consecutive hitters. Christian Cerda was the only Hop with multiple hits, with the other eight starters recording one hit each. He also gunned down a runner at second base. Tommy Troy singled and stole a base.

Low-A: Visalia Rawhide 4, Inland Empire 66ers 0

Landon Sims piggybacked off Grice and threw three scoreless innings. His command was very erratic, but showcased a fastball with good carry, a slider with good depth, and the occasional cutter. Sims said he was working on adding a cutter last month. This will be a big year for him, as he's two years removed from Tommy John surgery and close to where he was before the injury. He was credited with the win, the first of his professional career after going 0-4 last season. He struck out the first and last batter faced, the first coming on a backfoot slider and the other on a fastball on the low-inside corner to a lefty.

Ruben Santana tripled on a fly ball to right field where it looked like the right fielder mistimed his leap while feeling for the fence. He scored later in the 5th on a balk, where the pitcher did not declare he'd pitch out of the windup with a runner at third and one out. Santana finished with two hits, two runs scored, and two strikeouts.

Jakey Josepha had two hits on a slow ground ball to short and a bloop single down the left field line. Cristofer Torin had a two-run single on a blooper to shallow right that busted the game open 4-0. Druw Jones struck out in his first three plate appearances, but walked in his fourth. Jansel Luis added a hit in four trips to the plate.