The August Grind Down On The Farm

Baseball players especially those from our area trying their best to move up the ladder of minor league baseball are split into two groups.  Those that have spent since Febrary playing baseball against other pros, then those who spent the spring in college and now are in their early games of pro baseball.  We start this week with:

Benton Moss has appeared in nine games so far since joining the Tampa Bay Rays rookie league team in The New York Penn League called Hudson Valley.  Five of his appearances have been starts and has pitched 32.2 innings or about three and a half innings per appearance.  Has an excellent 2.76 ERA having struck out 35 and walked only eight which is one in every four innings pitched which is excellent.  His record is 1-2.

Hobbs Johnson has started twenty times pitching for Buloxi Ms. AA team for the Milwaukee Brewers.  His record is 7-5 having pitched 96 innings struck out 84 and walked 51.  His ERA stands at 3.31.

Collins Cuthrell playing in Florence Kentucky for the Freedom an independent team and looking to impress any major league team willing to sign him is in a slump.  His average has dropped to 246 and he still leads the Freedom with seven home runs despite only playing half the games his other team mates have played while he was still in the DII playoffs playing for UNC Pembroke.

Brian Goodwin still hanging around 225 playing centerfield at AA Harrisburg Pa.  This remains Brian's biggest obstacle to making it to the majors.  He has struck out 63 time is 339 at bats.  That one K every five at bats.  He is hitting 293 if you take away his strikeouts.  So if those 63 strikeout were 18 more hits which is 293 when he makes contact he would be batting 277.  Those type numbers get you up the ladder much faster.

Others of interest:  Isaiah White the Greenfield Academy player playing in the Gulf Coast rookie team for the Miami Marlins is stroking it at a 330 clip in 27games since the draft.

John Wooten the ECU- Eastern Wayne high product played this weekend in Zebulon and plenty of Nash County folks were there since John is the son of former Gryphon player Sonny Wooten.  He is hitting 250 playing the the A TEAM Potomac a minor league team of the Nationals.

Whit Merrifield playing for AAA Omaha the minor league team of the Kansas City Royals is batting 275 with four home runs playing the outfield for Omaha.  Merrifield who played at South Carolina is the son of former Gryphon Bill Merrifield..