Kentucky Minor League Free Agents

Wladimir Balentien; Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Matt Eddy of Baseball America recently posted the complete list of Minor League free agents and several Kentuckians are on the list. I’ve copied the Kentucky MiLB free agents below with organization and 2010 team:

RHP Jesus Delgado — Cincinnati Reds — AAA Louisville Bats
RHP Jason Isringhausen — Cincinnati Reds — AAA Louisville
RHP Chad Reineke — Cincinnati Reds — AAA Louisville
C Wilkin Castillo — Cincinnati Reds — AAA Louisville
OF Wladimir Balentien — Cincinnati Reds — AAA Louisville
OF Sean Henry — Cincinnati Reds — AAA Louisville
OF Luis Terrero — Cincinnati Reds — AAA Louisville
RHP Matt Wilhite (WKU) — Colorado Rockies — AAA Colorado Springs
C Neil Wilson (Covington) — Florida Marlins — AAA New Orleans
RHP Cory Wade (Ky Wesleyan) — Los Angeles Dodgers — AAA Albuquerque
3B Neil Sellers (EKU) — Philadelphia Phillies — AAA Lehigh Valley
LHP Zach Jackson (UofL) — Toronto Blue Jays — AAA Las Vegas
RHP Zach Dials (UK) — Washington Nationals — AA Harrisburg

You can see the full MiLB free agent list here.

MiLB Roundup: Bats, Legends, Hot Rods win; Cunningham streaking; Bertram, Glad, Kuhn homer; Darnell gets win

Minor League Baseball

Logan Darnell; BluGrass Baseball photo

Highlights from Friday Kentucky MiLB action:

Second baseman Wilkin Castillo drove home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning to send the Louisville Bats to a 2-1 victory over Columbus. Cuban phenom Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth inning for the win and reportedly hit 105 mph on the radar gun.
The Lexington Legends scored two runs in the top of the ninth inning to earn a 5-3 win over Kannapolis. Center fielder Grant Hogue was 4-5 with a double and two runs scored.
The Bowling Green Hot Rods pitching staff struck out a club-record 18 batters in a 12-6 win over Lake County. Right fielder Brett Nommensen drove in four run in the win.
Former UK left-handed pitcher and 2010 Twins draftee Logan Darnell earned the win for rookie-level Elizabethton after pitching six shutout innings.
Former UK infielder and 2010 Twins NDFA Gunner Glad supported Darnell with his second home run of the season for rookie-level Elizabethton.
Former UK infielder Michael Bertram slugged his 11th home run of the season for AAA Toledo.
Former Murray St. first baseman and 2010 Padres draftee Wes Cunningham extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a 1-2, two walk performance for short-season Eugene.
Lexington Catholic alum Ben Revere returned from his DL stint for AA New Britain with an 0-3 performance.
Trinity alum Tyler Kuhn was 3-4 with a home run and double for AA Birmingham.

MiLB Roundup: Bats, Hot Rods win; Ray homers; Richmond has big night; Royse gets no decision

Minor League Baseball

Juan Francisco; Photo by mwlguide via Flickr

Highlights from Monday Kentucky MiLB action:

Right-handed pitcher Matt Maloney surrendered just one unearned run in six innings to lead the Louisville Bats to an 11-2 blowout win over Charlotte. Shortstop Zach Cozart, third baseman Juan Francisco, outfielder Wladimir Balentein and catcher Wilkin Castillo each homered in the game for Louisville.
The Bowling Green Hot Rods scored three runs in the eighth inning to earn a 7-5 come-from-behind win over Peoria. Designated hitter Cody Rogers homered and right fielder Brett Nommensen was 3-4.
The Lexington Legends were off Monday.
Former UK infielder and 2010 Padres draftee Chris Bisson was 3-4 for short-season Eugene.
Former UK outfielder/first baseman and 2010 Twins draftee Lance Ray slugged his first professional home run for low A Beloit.
Former UofL outfielder and 2010 Rangers draftee Joshua Richmond reached base five times via four walks and a single for short-season Spokane. He scored twice and drove in one run. In four professional games, Richmond is 5-13 (.385) with five RBI and four runs scored.
Former UofL right-handed pitcher and 2010 White Sox draftee Thomas Royse took a no decision for rookie-level Great Falls after surrendering four runs in six innings. Royse struck out seven and walked none.
Boyd County native and 2010 Royals NDFA Tyler Gatrell picked up his sixth save of the season for the rookie-level AZL Royals and still hasn’t surrendered an earned run in his professional career over 10 appearances.

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t416&gid=2010_07_19_louaaa_chraaa_1&cid=416&t=g_box

Louisville Bats June Awards

Minor League Baseball

Travis Wood; Photo by mwlguide via Flickr

Today marks the turn of the calendar to July so its time to look back at June awards for each of the three Kentucky Minor League teams, other Kentuckians in MiLB and Kentucky major leaguers. We’ll start by looking at the Louisville Bats:

Hitter of the month: SS Zach Cozart

Stats: 32-116 (.276), 4 HR, 15 RBI, 12 R
Honorable Mention: Todd Frazier, Wilkin Castillo, Juan Francisco

Pitcher of the month: LHP Travis Wood

Stats: 2-2, 1.26 ERA, 5 GS, 35.2 IP, 37 SO, 6 BBs
Honorable Mention: Chad Reineke, Jesus Delgado, Carlos Fisher, Lee Tabor, Pedro Viola

Louisville Bats 2010 Opening Day Roster

Uncategorized

The Louisville Bats are set to start play today and will feature two Kentucky natives in the lineup as well as several of the best prospects in the Cincinnati Reds organization. Check out the roster below via the Courier-Journal. I’ve included Baseball America prospect rankings for the Reds organization. Remember top prospects Juan Francisco and Mike Leake are starting the season with the Reds but might appear in Louisville at some point if they struggle, and Yonder Alonso is starting the season in AA but should earn a callup to Louisville early this season.

Pitchers

LHP Travis Wood (BA #7) (SP) — 2nd Round (2005)
RHP Sam LeCure (SP) — 4th Round (2005)
LHP Matt Maloney (BA #8) (SP) — Phillies 3rd Round (2005)
RHP Federico Baez — Cubs NDFA (2002)
RHP Jon Adkins — Athletics 9th Round (1998)
RHP Chad Reineke — 2005 Lexington Legend — Astros 13th Round (2004)
RHP Enerio Del Rosario (BA # 19) — NDFA 2005
LHP Lee Tabor — 30th Round (2006)
RHP Justin Lehr (SP) — Athletics 8th Round (1999)
LHP Pedro Viola (BA # 22) — NDFA (2005)
RHP Carlos Fisher — 11th Round (2005)
RHP Jared Burton — Athletics 8th Round (2002)
LHP Aroldis Chapman (BA #1A*) (SP) — Cuban FA (2009)

Catchers

Corky Miller — Amateur FA (1998)
Wilkin Castillo — NDFA 2002
Jake Long — 37th Round (2005)

Infielders

2B — Chris Burke — St. X High School — Astros 1st Round (2004)
3B — Michael Griffin — 14th Round (2005)
3B — Drew Sutton — 2005 Lexington Legend — S/R — Astros 15th Round (2005)
2B — Chris Valaika (BA #12) — 3rd Round (2006)
SS — Zach Cozart (BA #10) — 2nd Round (2007)
3B/LF — Todd Frazier (BA #1B) — 1st Supp. Round (2007)

Outfielders

RF — Josh Anderson — Pulaski Co., EKU, 2004 Lexington Legend — 4th Round (2003)
LF/1B — Daniel Dorn — 32nd Round (2006)
LF — Chris Heisey (BA #4) — 17th Round (2006)
OF — Luis Terrero — D’Backs NDFA (1997)

* — Chapman signed after Baseball America released its Reds top 10 prospects list, but is ranked higher than No. 1 Frazier on the overall top 100 prospects list published by the magazine.