© Carter Pirtle for the Amarillo
Deyvison De Los Santos Homers Off Top 100 Pitching Prospect
The Diamondbacks slugging prospect went yard against Tink Hence, the St. Louis Cardinals' top prospect, and No. 57 prospect according to MLB.
Deyvison De Los Santos had a big at-bat in Amarillo's 6-3 win against the Springfield Cardinals, the Double-A affiliate for the St. Louis Cardinals. De Los Santos got a 96 MPH fastball down broadway from Tink Hence, the top prospect in the Cardinals' system, and smoked a line drive to the right field berm for a solo home run.
De Los Santos is off to a hot start, batting .354 (17-for-42) with four home runs in his first 12 games. Last season, he didn't get his fourth home run until his 30th game on May 16th. While the results are much improved compared to the start of last year, the one concerning stat is 17 strikeouts in 52 plate appearances (32.7%). That's the main hurdle remaining before he gets a major league opportunity.
Triple-A: Reno Aces 8, Salt Lake Bees 3
Cristian Mena lasted four innings, as he pitched an effective but inefficient game for Reno. He needed 81 pitches to record four innings, allowing one run on three hits, three walks, and seven strikeouts. His fastball velocity was in the 89-93 MPH range, but his slider and curveball missed bats. The two pitches generated 17 whiffs on 27 swings and 22 called strikes or whiffs on 47 pitches.
Adrian Del Castillo had an extremely rare dud of a game, going 0-for-5 with a strikeout. Pavin Smith was 1-for-3 with two walks. José Herrera went 3-for-4 with a double and a caught stealing. Left-hander Andrew Saalfrank pitched the final two innings without allowing a baserunner.
Outfielder Jorge Barrosa was placed on the 7-day injured list. He was removed from Sunday's game against Tacoma with an injury and has not played since.
Double-A: Amarillo Sod Poodles 6, Springfield Cardinals 3
Wilderd Patiño had two hits and a run scored from the leadoff spot. A.J. Vukovich had an RBI single as part of a five-run 8th inning. Infielder Ivan Melendez sat out for the second night in a row after getting pinch hit for in the 6th inning Tuesday night.
High-A: Hillsboro Hops 3, Tri-City Dust Devils 7
Manuel Peña paced the offense with three hits, including a double, driving in two of the three runs Hillsboro scored. Tommy Troy was 1-for-4, Kevin Sim 1-for-4 with a triple, and Jack Hurley struck out three times while going hitless in four at-bats.
Low-A: Visalia Rawhide 6, Lake Elsinore Storm 7
Jacob Steinmetz allowed four runs on six hits in three innings, with four walks and just two strikeouts. Hard-throwing right-hander Sam Knowlton struck out three and walked one in two scoreless innings.
Jansel Luis was 1-for-3, reaching three times from the leadoff spot in the Rawhide lineup and scored a run. Luis has a hit in four straight games now, going 6-for-15 over that stretch. Druw Jones was 1-for-3 with two walks, including one with the bases loaded. Cristofer Torin walked and scored, but went hitless in his other four at-bats.
