Mitchell rocked during Triple-A beanball war

Lots of notes, mostly injury related and from Josh Norris…

• LHP Nik Turley (blister), OF Melky Mesa (sore arm), and IF Walt Ibarra (finger) have all been placed on the DL. RHP Craig Heyer hit the DL with an arm injury last week, but it’s nothing serious and he will return this season.
• OF Zoilo Almonte (hamstring) and IF Jose Pirela (mystery injury) are working out in Extended Spring Training and should return to Double-A Trenton soon enough. LHP Josh Romanski (blister) has yet to start throwing off a mound, so he’s still a few weeks away.
• LHP Vidal Nuno (High-A to Double-A) and LHP Evan DeLuca (ExST to High-A) have been promoted to help cover for this wave of pitching injuries.
• In case you missed it earlier, both Eduardo Nunez (thumb) and Manny Banuelos (sore elbow) were placed on the DL this afternoon.

Remember when RHP Armando Galarraga was working out with the Yankees in Tampa earlier this month? Don’t worry about then signing him, he’s hooked on with the Astros. The club has enough veteran filler in Triple-A as it is.

Triple-A Empire State (9-6 win over Columbus)
CF Kevin Russo: 2-5, 1 R, 1 BB
2B Matt Antonelli: 1-4, 2 R, 1 3B, 1 BB
1B Steve Pearce: 3-5, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K — three homers in his last ten games
DH Jack Cust: 0-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HBP — the HBP was apparently intentional and the pitcher got ejected for it
RF Ronnie Mustelier: 0-5, 2 K
3B Brandon Laird: 1-3, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 K
C Frankie Cervelli: 1-5, 2 RBI, 1 K
LF Cole Garner: 3-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K — his second and third homers of the season
SS Ramiro Pena: 2-5, 1 R, 1 K
RHP D.J. Mitchell: 5 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 WP, 3 HB, 8/6 GB/FB — 47 of 78 pitches were strikes (60.3%) … certainly did his part in the beanball war
LHP Justin Thomas: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 4/0 GB/FB — 15 of 25 pitches were strikes
RHP Chase Whitley: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K, 3/0 GB/FB — only seven of 16 pitches were strikes (43.8%)
RHP Kevin Whelan: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 WP — eight of 16 pitches were strikes

Double-A Trenton (5-1 loss to Akron)
CF Abe Almonte & C Jeff Farnham: both 1-3, 2 K — Almonte stole a base and threw a runner out at the plate … Farnham made a throwing error
DH Corban Joseph: 0-3, 1 RBI
1B David Adams, 1B Luke Murton & SS Yadil Mujica: all 0-4, 1 K — Adams committed a fielding error
LF Cody Johnson: 1-4, 1 2B
RF Dan Brewer: 1-4, 1 K
3B Addison Maruszak: 1-2, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K
RHP Brett Marshall: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 10/4 GB/FB — 55 of 91 pitches were strikes (60.4%) … he’s going to need to keep getting those ground balls because the strikeouts just aren’t there (4.47 K/9)
RHP Kelvin Perez: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 2/3 GB/FB
RHP Michael Dubee: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K — half of his 16 pitches were strikes

High-A Tampa (5-2 win over Palm Beach)
LF Ramon Flores: 3-4, 1 R — 13 hits in his last 32 at-bats (.406)
C J.R. Murphy: 1-3, 1 R, 1 BB
3B Rob Segedin: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 K — has homered every other day recently, giving him three dingers in his last five games
RF Neil Medchill, 2B Kelvin Castro & CF Eduardo Sosa: all 0-4 — Medchill scored a run and committed a fielding error … Castro doubled
DH Kyle Higashioka: 1-4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
1B Kyle Roller & SS Jose Mojica: both 0-4 — Roller struck out
RHP Zach Nuding: 7 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 11/5 GB/FB
RHP Branden Pinder: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 4/0 GB/FB — strikeouts and grounders

Low-A Charleston (5-3 win over Savannah in 11 innings)
CF Mason Williams: 1-3, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 K — stuck in a little 8-for-39 rut (.205)
SS Cito Culver: 1-6, 3 K
3B Dante Bichette Jr.: 1-5, 1 RBI, 2 K
RF Tyler Austin: 2-5, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 K, 2 SB — up to 30 extra-base hits in 41 games
C Gary Sanchez: 0-5, 1 K
LF Ben Gamel, 2B Angelo Gumbs & 1B Rey Nunez: all 2-5 — Gamel stole a base … Gumbs doubled, scored a run, and struck out twice … Nunez scored a run
DH Kelvin DeLeon: 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 CS — doubled in the go-ahead run in the 12th
RHP Brett Gerritse: 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 WP, 3/4 GB/FB
LHP Fred Lewis: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1/1 GB/FB
RHP Phil Wetherell: 1 IP, zeroes, 2 K, 0/1 GB/FB — first appearance in ten days … I wonder what that’s about
RHP Pedro Guerra: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3/1 GB/FB, 1 E (throwing)
RHP Ben Paullus: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 0/2 GB/FB