Miami Marlins: April 5th Fish Farm Report

A quick spin around the Miami Marlins Farm System on Minor League Baseball’s Opening Day.

Roster Moves

Braxton Lee was recalled from New Orleans to Miami early in the day.

The Grasshoppers put LHP’s Brett Lilek, Gabriel Castellanos and Braxton Garrett, along with RHP’s Chad Smith, Dustin Beggs, and Tyler Kolek on the 7-day DL.

High-A Florida State League

Jupiter Hammerheads 3, Palm Beach Cardinals 2

It happened minutes after the final pitch of Miami’s 5-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night. It was the first pitch of the Marlins’ minor league season, tossed at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium.

A crowd of 1,149 packed the stands to watch their home team Palm Beach Cardinals host the Jupiter Hammerheads. It’s also the Hammerheads home stadium, but their home opener is Saturday.

Sam Perez got the start, and ended up tossing five innings of two-hit shutout ball. He struck out one and walked one, getting 46-of-69 pitches in the strike zone. Cards starter Anthony Shew matched him with five shutout innings of his own.

The teams continued to match goose eggs until the bottom of the seventh. Palm Beach’s Shane Billings picked that time to get the Cards on the board with an RBI-single.

The Palm Beach lead wouldn’t last long. Cards relief pitcher delivered first base to Rodrigo Ayarza and Jarett Rindfleisch with consecutive HBP’s. His relief, Jacob Patterson, walked Corey Bird to load the bases. That’s when the 2017 third-round pick Joe Dunand connected on a three-run triple to center field.

Stefan Trosclair hit an RBI-groundout in the bottom of the frame, but that’s all the offense the Cardinals could muster. Lukas Schiraldi nailed down a save with a perfect ninth, striking out one. The two clubs combined for just eight hits, with four each.

Single-A South Atlantic League

Greensboro Grasshoppers 6, Hickory Crawdads 1

A much more robust crowd of 6,604 took in Greensboro’s opener at First National Bank Field. They played host to the Hickory Crawdads.

Behemoth 6’8″ right-hander Brady Puckett (1-0, 0.00) shut down the Crawdads with six scoreless innings, allowing seven hits and two walks. He struck out four. While he was doing that, the Hoppers offense took over.

Garvis Lara started things out in the bottom of the third with a two-RBI double, scoring Jhonny Santos and Micah Brown. In the fourth, J.C. Millan hit an RBI-double, Brown hit an RBI-single, and Aaron Knapp also brought one home with a single.

With the lead at 5-0, the Grasshoppers added a run in the fifth with Millan’s second run producing double of the day, this one a one-run hit. In the meantime, Reilly Hovis came on to pitch a perfect seventh and eighth inning, striking out three.

The Crawdads touched Manuel Rodriguez with a run in the ninth, between three strikeouts. It was too little, too late, however, to put much of a dent in the Greensboro lead. Marcos Rivera, Millan, and Brown all finished with three hits.

Double-A Southern League

Jackson Generals 7, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp 3

The Jumbo Shrimp opened on the road with 1,064 in the house at the Ballpark at Jackson, Tennessee. They struck first in the top of the first, scoring on John Norwood‘s RBI-single to score Monte Harrison. Unfortunately, Jumbo Shrimp starter Cody Poteet surrendered a round-tripper to Kevin Medrano to immediately tie it at one.

Jackson continued to tee off on Poteet. Galli Cribbs hit an RBI-triple and an RBI-single over the next three innings to make it 3-1. Marty Herum finished Poteet off with a fifth-inning two-run homer to make it a 5-1 ballgame.

Despite allowing five earned runs on eight hits and two walks, Poteet struck out six in his start. The Shrimp started to fight back in the sixth, on an Austin Dean RBI-double and a Brian Schales RBI-sacrifice fly.

The Generals would reestablish their four-run lead in the seventh, on Jose Vinicio‘s two-RBI-double.

Each team struck out 11 times in the ballgame, although Jackson outhit Jacksonville 13-to-7. Dean and Norwood each finished the game with two hits. Here’s more on MILB.COM.

Triple-A Pacific Coast League

Nashville Sounds 11, New Orleans Baby Cakes 0

New Orleans starter Adam Conley let things get out of hand early, and the Baby Cakes offense couldn’t keep up with the high-octane Sounds in a 11-0 setback on opening day. 10,218 were on hand to witness the destruction at Shrine on Airline.

After a scoreless first inning, Conley allowed a Mark Canha solo home run to open the scoring in the second. It was all the Sounds would need. Conley then surrendered a two-run shot in the third to Franklin Barreto to make it 3-0.

Before recording an out in the fourth, Conley allowed a Sheldon Neuse walk, an Anthony Garcia single, a Nick Martini RBI-single, and a Dustin Garneau single. After he was replaced by reliever Joe Gunkel, Nashville continued to pummel Cakes pitching. Jorge Mateo hit a two-RBI single, Dustin Fowler hit an RBI-groundout, and Barreto added a sacrifice fly to make it 8-0.

Seven earned runs were credited to Conley’s account. He allowed seven hits and three walks while striking out two in three innings of work.

Later on, James Buckelew got in on the act, allowing three earned runs on four hits in the eighth inning to make it an 11-0 ballgame. There’s more on MILB.COM.

Scott Van Slyke, Eric Campbell, J.B. Shuck, and Peter Mooney each hit a single, and Jonathan Rodriguez added a double for a total yield of five hits. Nashville had 16.

Tomorrow

The Palm Beach Cardinals will host the Hammerheads in game two at 6:30. Technically, it’s a two-game series. The two clubs, however, will remain at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium for two more games, with the “home” team switched.

The Grasshoppers will host the Hickory Crawdads in game two at 7:00. Tyler Kolek is listed as the Greensboro starter, but he was just placed on the DL. The four-game series will continue through Sunday.

The Jackson Generals will host the Jumbo Shrimp in game two of a five-game set at 7:05. Nick Neidert will get the start opposite Taylor Widener.

Zac Gallen will start for the Baby Cakes, hosting Frankie Montas and the Nashville Sounds in game two of five.

Next: Prospects to Watch

Thanks for reading our tour of the minor leagues today. Check back for more tomorrow. In the meantime, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @MarlinManiac.