- Swarmer returned to form last night spinning six scoreless innings and strikeing out seven. Last night’s outing was a bounce-back start, with Swarmer allowing 8 earned runs over his last 12 innings. The 19th round pick in 2016 out of Kutztown University (PA.) charged out of the gate to begin 2018. The lanky (6′ 5″ 175 lb) right-hander posted a 1.32 ERA with 33 strikeouts and 3 walks in 27.1 innings during his first five starts. That earned him the Top UTR “Minors” National League Pitcher for April 2018.
- This is the year for Alvarado to make an impact, and needs to quickly get to Double-A Bowie. He’s repeating at HiA Frederick, where he’s showing slight improvement stat-wise, but more work needs to be done. The 6′ 3″- 175 lb. righty could make a nice back-end rotation type for Baltimore, but needs to strip back his propensity for the fly ball; a rate that currently stands at 60%, and it’s alarming since he allowed 16 home runs last season. Here at UTRMinors, Alvarado has built an impressive resume. He’s been a UTR Organizational All-Star for three straight seasons (2015, 2016, 2017) and was my “One to Watch” during the 2016 season. I labeled him a “Legit UTR” and “Solid Stash”, but I may pull back on the latter until he can string some consistent starts together for the Keys.
LoA Mentions – Starters RHP Maverik Buffo (LoA Lansing – Toronto) 22 years old 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 4.46 ERA RHP Brandon Miller (LoA Greensboro – Miami) 22 years old 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 6.11 ERA, Win 1-3 LHP Nick Margevicius (LoA Fort Wayne – San Diego) 21 years old 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 2.35 ERA, Win 3-2 RHP Simon Mathews (LoA Burlington – Los Angeles Angels) 22 years old 5 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.13 ERA LHP Raymond Kerr (LoA Clinton – Seattle) 23 years old 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 4.91 ERA LHP Josh Fleming (LoA Bowling Green – Tampa Bay) 22 years old 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1.17 ERA, Win 2-0
HiA Mentions – Starters RHP Andro Cutura (HiA Fort Myers – Minnesota) 24 years old 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.13 ERA, Loss 2-1 RHP Dylan Cease (HiA Winston-Salem – Chicago White Sox) 22 years old 7.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 2.83 ERA, Win 6-2 LHP Cam Roegner (HiA Carolina – Milwaukee) 24 years old 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, Win 6-1 LHP Brendan McKay (HIA Bowling Green – Tampa Bay) 22 years old 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 0.00, Win 2-0 Season Stats: 4-0, 0.76 ERA, 35.2 IP, 12 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 50 K in 8 appearances with 6 starts
- Let those season stats sink in for bit. This is coming from a two-way player. McKay made another relief “rehab” appearance last night, this time for Yonny Chirinos. The 6′ 2″- 212 lb lefty has extended his HiA scoreless streak to 11 innings, but combined with his stats prior to his promotion from LoA Bowling Green, the streak stands at 21.2 innings.
National League – Relief RHP Reid Humphreys (HiA Lancaster – Colorado) 23 years old 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2.45 ERA, Save (11)
- California League leading 11 saves
Under The Radar Minors 