Austin Robichaux Tops This Week’s Prospect Hotlist (June 29 – July 5th, 2015)

In Robichaux’s last 4 starts, he has only allowed 1 earned run in 25.2 innings pitched (0.35 ERA). You can stretch that two more games and his ERA is still a solid 1.72 in 36.2 innings pitched. Robichaux has thrown 19.2 consecutive scoreless innings. He continued that stretch in his start on Wednesday. Austin threw 7 shutout innings and only gave up 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 6 batters. Overall, Robichaux lowered his ERA to 3.02 with a WHIP of 1.17 in 80.1 innings pitched this season.

Although Nate Smith did not have a start this week, he has been on a strong stretch of starts dating back to May 27th. In 6 starts since then (37.2 IP), Smith has an ERA of 1.43 to go along with 25 strikeouts, 9 walks and just 25 hits allowed. Smith’s last start on the 25th saw him go 7.0 shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks with 5 strikeouts. Smith has posted great numbers so far this season. His ERA stands at 2.74 with a 1.11 WHIP. He has also posted solid strikeout and walk numbers with a BB9 of 2.5 and SO9 of 7.2. Nate Smith was placed on the temporary inactive list as he will be a part of the USA baseball team in the 2015 Pan-American Games.

Andrew Daniel got a fresh start to the week with a new team. The 2nd baseman from the University of San Diego was promoted from Low-A Burlington to High-A Inland Empire on Monday. Since then, Daniel has been on an absolute tear. In 26 at-bats, Daniel has 9 hits (.346 AVG) with 6 of them going for extra bases ( 4 doubles, 1 triple and a home run). Although Daniel is listed as a second baseman, 5 of Daniels 6 starts with the 66ers came at 3rd base.

Eric Aguilera continued to be the best hitter for the 66ers. Aguilera logged 5 multi-hit games this week (.454 AVG) and also slugged 2 doubles (19) and his 9th home run of the season. In 71 games played, Aguilera has a .314/.368/.491 slash line with 20 BBs and 67 SOs in 283 at-bats.

The Bees went 1-5 since our last prospect report and now have an overall record of 33-51 (14.0 GB). Tyler DeLoach gave up 1 earned run in 6.0 innings (4 H  5 BB  5 SO) on his start Friday before being placed on the temporary inactive list. Drew Rucinski tossed his 6th straight quality start on Wednesday, with 5.0 shutout innings with 7 hits, no walks and 4 strikeouts. Josh Rutledge has a home run in back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday, with the latter being a part of a 4-hit game. Outfielder, Alfredo Marte, posted his 5th straight multi-hit performance and is batting .442 in his last 10 games (.364 season average).

The Travelers opened up the second half of their with a split of a 4-game series with Midland. Chris Ellis pitched a quality start on Saturday, going 5.2 innings with 3 earned runs and 7 strikeouts (8 H  2 BB). 1st baseman, Wade Hinkle, hit 2 home runs this week and has 3 in his last 10 games. His season total stands at 6.

The 66ers are 4-2 to since our last prospect hotlist and boast a second-half record of 5-5 (1.0 GB). Victor Alcanta threw 6.0 of 2-run ball on Saturday and only allowed 4 hits and no walks with 7 strikeouts. Sean Newcomb only allowed 1 earned run in his start on Sunday. The southpaw struck out 5 batters while allowing 4 hits, 4 walks and hasn’t allowed more than a run in each of his last three starts. Roberto Baldoquin had himself a 4-hit game with 2 doubles on Thursday. Kody Eaves hit his 6th home run of the season this week, and is batting .333 in his past 10 games. Caleb Adams hit his first home run as a 66er on Tuesday.

The Bees of Burlington are currently 4-7 in the second half of their season and sit 6.0 GB first place. Jeremy Rhoades had a two-start week this week. He pitched a total of 12.0 innings and gave up a combined 3 earned runs, 8 hits, 1 walk and struck out 5 batters. 34th round draft pick, Nick Flair, hit his professional home run on Sunday and is currently batting .318 in his first 6 games with the Bees. Zachary Houchins hit his 7th home run of the season on Thursday.

The Orem Owlz went 5-1 since our last prospect hotlist and currently sit in 1st place with an overall record of 13-5. 3rd round draft pick, Grayson Long, threw 3.0 shutout innings on Thursday and allowed 1 hit and 2 walks with 2 strikeouts. Joe Gatto gave up 3 earned runs, 6 hits and 2 walks with 3 strikeouts in his start on Friday. Taylor Ward hit his second homer of the year on Wednesday. 5th round draft pick, Jared Foster (2nd baseman), is batting .371 with 10 RBIs and 3 stolen bases in his first 8 games of professional baseball. 7th round draft pick, Hutton Moyer (2nd baseman), hit his 2nd home run of the season on Sunday in a 3-hit effort that raised his batting average to .274.

The AZL Angels are currently in first place with a record of 7-6. 39th round draft pick, Jared Walsh, currently leads the team in batting average at .429 to go along with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run and 11 RBIs. Connor Lillis-White is off to a strong start to the season. The 32nd round draft pick has allowed 2 earned runs, 9 hits and 1 walk with 11 strikeouts in 9.0 innings pitched.

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