Player of the day

Josue De Paula is tearing up the High-A Midwest League. After his two-homer, four RBI game in Saturday’s Great Lakes Loons 13-5 win over the Dayton Dragons, his .981 OPS is .059 points better than any other player in the league. MLB Pipelines’ 35th-best overall prospect has been on fire in May, hitting .412 with an OPS of 1.281 in nine games. For a 19-year-old especially, De Paula demonstrates advanced hitting characteristics, including pitch selectivity, contact, and usage of the entire field. De Paula now has 291 at-bats at the High-A level, with a 60/73 strikeout/walk ratio. His emerging power and ability to drive the ball to the opposite field can be seen in both his home runs.

Triple-A Oklahoma City

Justin Wrobleski pitched his best game of the season, going seven innings and holding the Rockies’ affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes, to one run in a 2-1 victory. This was the second quality start in a row for Wrobleski, who had a very rough beginning to the season. Austin Gauthier provided all the offense Wrobleski needed, with two RBI singles to drive home both runs for the Comets.

I could not find any update on Dalton Rushing’s injury. Rushing was taken out of the game on Friday after apparently hurting his right wrist/hand fielding a ball in the dirt while catching. No word may be good news, but we’ll have to wait to see how much time this injury will cost him. He did not play in Friday’s game.

Double-A Tulsa

It was a quiet game for the Drillers, who didn’t score until the eighth inning and lost 5-1. Peter Heubeck started for the Drillers and pitched four innings, giving up three runs (two earned), and taking the loss. The Drillers only run scored on a sacrifice fly by Yeiner Fernandez.

High-A Great Lakes

The Loons pummeled the Dayton Dragons (Reds) 13-5 with a 16-hit attack, including four home runs. Zyhir Hope hit a three-run homer and is now second in the Midwest League in RBIs with 26.

Both Hope and De Paula now have six home runs, which tie them for the league lead with a bunch of other guys. DH Joe Vetrano added a double and his second home run.

Starter Luke Fox went five innings to pick up his first win, surrendering one hit, five walks, and striking out seven. 23-year-old Alex Makarwich made his first appearance at High-A after striking out 27 batters while giving up only four hits for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga. He faced four hitters, striking out one and walking three.

Low-A Rancho Cucamonga

The Quakes defeated the Diamondbacks affiliate, the Visalia Rawhide, 6-2. The Quakes scored three runs in the second on singles by Roger Lasso and Kellon Lindsey to take a 3-0 lead. It was a lead they would never give up. Lindsey ended the day with two hits, a walk, his ninth stolen base, and two RBIs. Aidan Foeller started the game for the Quakes and went four and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs, two hits, two walks, and striking out eight.

Saturday scores

Sunday schedule

Great Lakes (Sean Linan) at Dayton (Gabriel Aguilera), 10:05 AM PST
Tulsa (Jackson Ferris) at Amarillo (Avery Short), 11:05 AM PST
Albuquerque (Anthony Molina) at Oklahoma City (Clayton Kershaw), 12:05 PM PST
Rancho Cucamonga (Logan Tabeling) at Visalia (Grayson Hitt), 2:00 PM PST