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California League notebook 09/08/2009 2:58 PM ETBy Chris Martinez / Special to MLB.com
Bakersfield Blaze (Texas Rangers) THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Blaze ended the year with a 6-1 week. They tied Modesto for second place in the North Division overall standings with a record of 75-65. BEST OF THE BLAZE: DH Mauro Gomez hit 28 homers, fourth best in the league. Forced to repeat the Class A Advanced level in 2009, Gomez obliterated his 2008 statistics, adding 35 doubles and 94 RBIs to his homer total. Last season, he had eight homers, 13 doubles and 41 RBIs. He also hit 41 points higher in 2009, his .285 average a career best. ... RHP Evan Reed's 25 saves made him one of four pitchers in the league to record at least 20 this year. While his ERA inflated to 5.06 in August, he threw 8 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings to end the year and had seven saves last month. Reed had 65 strikeouts in 48 2/3 innings. Texas picked Reed in the third round of the 2007 Draft and plugged him into the organization as a starter the following season. One year later, they have a future closer candidate who picked up 17 saves over 25 second-half appearances. PUNCH YOUR TICKET: Bakersfield tips off the Wild Card round of the playoffs against Modesto on Sept. 9. The Blaze hold home-field advantage in this series, and may also hold a psychological advantage over the Nuts as the Blaze won three of four in Modesto from Aug. 27-31 after winning a series against them at home the previous weekend. Beating the Nuts over the final weekend in August secured Bakersfield's first playoff berth in eight years.
High Desert Mavericks (Seattle Mariners) HIGH PRAISE FOR THESE MAVERICKS: 3B Alex Liddi stayed hot all year on a team full of offensive standouts. Liddi enjoyed a power surge in 2009, hitting 23 home runs and collecting 104 RBIs. He tied for first in the league with a .345 batting average and was named Most Valuable Player. The third baseman never hit more than eight homers in any year before this season. He also walked 52 times, another career best. ... Seattle fast-tracked RHP Phillipe Aumont through High Desert after he saved 12 games and posted 35 strikeouts in 33 1/3 innings in the first half of the season. Aumont wound up on the disabled list at the end of the year with Double-A West Tenn and didn't duplicate his success from his High Desert days. ... LHP Donnie Hume led the league with 17 win, the highest total for a Cal League pitcher since San Jose's Darin Blood won 17 in 1996. THIRD TIME'S A CHARM: High Desert held onto first place for most of the year and will make their first appearance in the playoffs as a Mariners affiliate. They finished last in the South in 2007 and 2008, so the turnaround to first- and second-half champs in 2009 is impressive. As first-half winners, High Desert gets a bye in the opening round of the playoffs.
Inland Empire 66ers (Los Angeles Dodgers) WHO'S HOT: CF Trayvon Robinson collected 144 hits and stole 43 bases, one behind league-leader Tyson Gillies of High Desert. Robinson's .306 average led the team, and he finished two hits behind RF Scott Van Slyke for the team lead in hits. A California League repeater, Robinson improved on last year's numbers and hit 17 home runs between Inland Empire and Double-A Chattanooga. ... LHP Alberto Bastardo didn't last long in the Cal League, going 6-2 with 71 strikeouts in 75 innings. Bastardo advanced through the Dodgers system this year, making 13 starts in Chattanooga (6-3) and a relief appearance in Albuquerque. He pitched one scoreless inning and allowed two hits Sept. 7 against Iowa. RARE LOSSES: The 66ers will miss the playoffs for only the second time since the team assumed its current identity. The 66ers won two league titles as a Seattle affiliate in 2003 and 2006 and made back-to-back playoff appearances in their first years as a Dodgers farm team in 2007 and 2008.
Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego Padres) STORM FRONT: RHP Jeremy Hefner was a 14-game winner for the Storm. His 142 strikeouts were fourth best in the league, and he walked only 38 batters in 150 2/3 innings. Lake Elsinore relied heavily on Hefner after ace LHP Cory Luebke moved on to Double-A San Antonio. Luebke left the Storm after going 8-2 with a 2.34 ERA. It was up to Hefner to pitch the team through their playoff push, and he delivered with two wins in his final two starts. ... 1B Matt Clark led the team in home runs and did so in far fewer at-bats. Clark came up from Fort Wayne after hitting .266 with 11 homers in 252 at-bats and blasted opposing pitchers, especially in August. The first baseman hit seven home runs in 93 at-bats last month. His combined stats for 2009 include 24 homers and 101 RBIs in his first full year as a pro. PLAYOFF FIGHT: Lake Elsinore hosts Rancho Cucamonga in the South Wild Card series starting Sept. 9. The Quakes have home-field advantage with the two final games scheduled on their turf. The winner of the series draws High Desert in the best-of-5 divisional round.
Lancaster JetHawks (Houston Astros) HIGH ON THESE HAWKS: C Koby Clemens tied High Desert's Alex Liddi for the league lead in batting at .345, but his 121 RBIs put him atop that category in the entire Minors. He also bashed 45 doubles, another Cal League high. Clemens finished second on the JetHawks in home runs behind LF Jon Gaston, who led the league with 35 long balls. The pair powered Lancaster's lineup all season as the only two hitters on the team with 100 RBIs. ... Lancaster's staff struggled all year, so you have to go back to the first six weeks of the season to find a consistently good hurler. RHP Chia-Jen Lo impressed in his brief time in Lancaster, posting a 1.78 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings. Houston signed Lo in October 2008 as the first Taiwanese free agent in team history. Lo has long since moved on to Double-A Corpus Christi, where he continued to excel in relief with 39 strikeouts in 39 innings. MAYBE NEXT YEAR: Lancaster missed the playoffs after two years of postseason success as a Boston affiliate in 2007 and 2008. Last year, the JetHawks lost the Championship Ceries to Stockton. They also made it to the Finals in 2004, but lost to Modesto.
Modesto Nuts (Colorado Rockies) STAPLES OF THE TEAM: RHP Craig Baker set a Modesto record for saves with 33. He was an iron man out of the bullpen with 62 appearances, eclipsing his mark of 52 games in 2008 with Asheville. Baker took a scoreless streak from Aug. 9 through the end of the year, topping out at 13 1/3 innings. ... CF Charlie Blackmon was the Nuts' hit king with 169 and finished second with 34 doubles, behind All-Star 2B Jason Van Kooten. Blackmon led the way in RBIs with 69 and stole a team-high 30 bases. THESE NUTS DON'T CRACK: Modesto has enjoyed postseason success as a Colorado farm team, making the playoffs three times out of five years under the Rockies' umbrella.
Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Los Angeles Angels) QUAKES ARE A 10: LHP Alex Torres took home the league ERA title with a 2.74 mark in 121 1/3 innings, and took his 10 wins and 124 strikeouts to the Tampa organization. Torres briefly appeared with Arkansas in the Texas League before being traded along with 3B Matt Sweeney to the Rays for LHP Scott Kazmir. ... 1B Efren Navarro led the team with 61 RBIs in his second try with the Quakes. Navarro hit .349 for Rancho Cucamonga last season after moving up from Cedar Rapids -- not bad for the Angels' 50th-round pick in the 2007 Draft. SHAKY GROUND: The Quakes are the only team in the playoffs with a losing record. Still, they're in the postseason for the third time as an Angels affiliate. Rancho Cucamona missed the playoffs four years in a row from 2005-2008.
San Jose Giants (San Francisco Giants) WHO'S HOT: LHP Craig Clark was named Cal League Pitcher of the Year. Clark kept his winning streak alive, going from May 13 through the end of the year without a loss. He won seven straight starts from July 6-Aug. 8, and he pitched five shutout innings en route to his final win of the year Sept. 6. The left-hander finished fifth in strikeouts with 135 and led the Giants to the best team ERA mark at 3.27. ... LF Thomas Neal was among the league's leaders in nearly every offensive category. His .337 average and 41 doubles placed him fifth in both stats, and he led the league in on-base percentage at .431. Neal slugged .579 and scored 102 runs. Neal was one of three Giants to make the postseason All-Star Team, along with Clark and RF Roger Kieschnick. ... Kieschnick had 23 homers and 106 RBIs, earning him the Rookie of the Year award. GIANT ACCOMPLISHMENT: Three Giants pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter against Inland Empire on Sept. 3. RHPs David Mixon, Ryan Shaver and Rafael Cova shut down the 66ers on the road. Mixon had 10 strikeouts in six innings before yielding to the bullpen. The last no-hitter in San Francisco's Minor League system came in 2006, when Augusta RHPs Sergio Romo and Osiris Matos and LHP David Quinowski blanked Rome on Aug. 10, 2006. The last no-hitter in San Jose history came in 2002 when Boof Bonser and R.D. Spiehs combined to throw a no-no against Rancho Cucamonga. DON'T LOSE IT: As the first-half winner, the Giants will wait through the first round of the playoffs. San Jose, which has made five straight postseason appearances and won three titles in the last nine years, will have to protect their legacy without Clark, who was promoted to Double-A Connecticut on Tuesday.
Stockton Ports (Oakland Athletics) SHORT TIMERS MAKE GOOD: CF Grant Desme led the Ports with 20 homers, and he didn't even show up until June. Desme hit .274 in Kane County before arriving in Stockton, where he turned on the power. He drove in 51 runs and drew more walks, 33 free passes with the Ports compared to 21 with the Cougars. ... LHP Ben Hornbeck also impressed in a brief time with the Ports. Hornbeck joined the cause in mid-June and put up 111 strikeouts in 76 2/3 innings, pitching both as a starter and reliever. He held opposing batters to a .225 average and issued 32 walks. DON'T START A TREND: The Ports missed the playoffs for just the second time since Minor League baseball returned to Stockton in 2002. Stockton won two Cal League titles over the last eight years, including 2008 for the Athletics organization. Their other title came as a Reds affiliate in 2002 -- the only year they were affiliated with the team. The Ports last failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2007.
Visalia Rawhide (Arizona Diamondbacks) BRIGHT SPOTS: RHP Josh Collmenter won the strikeout title with 152 and threw the only complete game of the year for the Rawhide, a one-run performance against San Jose on May 27. Collmenter won Pitcher of the Week twice this year and was named to the mid-season All-Star Team. ... C Konrad Schmidt led regulars in batting at .304 and tied for the team lead in doubles with 28. Schmidt was one of five Rawhide batters with 50 or more RBIs. Arizona rewarded him with a late-season promotion to Triple-A Reno, where he went 7-for-16 with four RBIs. RAW DEAL: Visalia graduated a few starting pitchers to Mobile by the end of the first half. RHP Jarrod Parker left for Mobile after posting an 0.95 ERA in four starts and RHP Wes Roemer quickly joined him, going 3-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 30 2/3 innings with the Rawhide. While the progress of prospects was great for the Arizona organization, it left the Rawhide in shambles. The team won 10 games in a row at the beginning of the year but watched its lead, and its playoff hopes, fade with a 25-45 record in the second half. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.
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