8/26/2015 WEDNESDAY MINORS FINAL .... Behold! Jonathan Morales!

While we, rightly or wrongly, have been getting all hot and bothered by the power shown by Riley and Wilson in recent days, GCL catcher Jonathan Morales has six home runs in his short GCL season, all since July 30. He hit a pair in his Monday game and followed that up with a two-doubles game Tuesday. He has raised his average from .213 on August 10 to .264 at present -- a sign he's figuring it all out. The funny part is he has six homers with wooden bats, yet hit only during his college season.

Righty hitter, 5-11, 180, maybe a steal in the 25th round.


WEDNESDAY SCHEDULE

ALL TIMES EDT

CLASS AAA

Charlotte 3, Gwinnett 1

LP: Texeira (6-4) 5.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K.
Burawa 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K.
Hunter 1-4, 2B; Olivera 1-4; M. Smith 1-2, R, BB.

CLASS AA

Pensacola 3, Mississippi 1

LP: Janas (1-7) 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K.
Ruiz 2-4, 2B, RBI; Ahrens 1-4, 2B, R.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Wilmington 5, Carolina 0

LP: Walters (5-8) 5.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
Schrader 2-4, 2B; Lien 1-4, 2B; D. Peterson 2-4.

CLASS A

Rome 13, Lexington 9

SP: Belicek 4 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
WP: Emmons (2-6) 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.
Dykstra 4-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI; Murphy 1-4, HR (6th), 3 RBI; Tellor 2-5, 2 R, 2B, HR (4th), 4 RBI; Davidson 2-4, R, 2 RBI, BB, SB, OF assist; Obregon 4-6, 3 R, 2 SB.

SHORT-SEASON

Burlington 4, Danville 3

SP: Clark 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
LP: Grosser (0-1) 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Geekie 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
Riley 1-4, 2B; Yepez 3-4, 2 2B, R, 2 RBI; Campbell 1-4.

GCL Braves 10, GCL Tigers 9 (11)

Estevez walkoff RBI 1B, in 11th.
SP: Falcon 3 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K.
WP: Orozco (5-1) 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
Estevez 4-6, HR (1st), 3 RBI; Morales 2-3, 3 R, 2B, HR (7th), 3 RBI, 2 BB; Nesovic 1-4, 3 R, SB.

Morales yet again. 2/3, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB.

I'm sold. Can Morales find his way to Atlanta by tomorrow?

Riley gets the night started off good with a 2B

Dustin Peterson 1-1

Keeps on hitting

Mallex 1-2

Olivera 1-2

Davidson 1-2, rbi, sb

Obregon 2-2, 2 sb

Dysktra 1-2

Quote:

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Originally Posted by msstate7

Mallex 1-2

Olivera 1-2

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It was a bloop for Olivera but I'll take it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by striker42

It was a bloop for Olivera but I'll take it.

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Looked like a screaming line drive looking at the box score haha

Juan Yepez cranking it up. 3 for 3 with 2 doubles. Only 17.

Ruiz 1-3, 2b, rbi

Quote:

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Originally Posted by striker42

It was a bloop for Olivera but I'll take it.

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A bloop.....heck.... he got a hit....we need to celebrate this!

Morales is old for the GCL, so I'd like to see him pushed up to compete against players more his age. He should probably be in Danville right now with a chance to start 2016 at Rome. Still, what he has done over the past month or so is impressive. 6 HRs in a little of 70 plate appearances in August. He was a 2B/C at Miami Dade CC. Interestingly enough, Victor Caratini also played at Miami Dade. Mychal Jones as well. Atlanta seems to scout that CC a lot.

Big night for Luke Dykstra. 4/5, 1 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, in Rome's comeback win.

As for Morales, I get that he's a 20-year-old, but he's a late round guy who played all over the diamond in JC ball (and he's been DHing a lot in the GCL) so they probably want to get him acclimated behind the plate at the lowest level. There isn't much in terms of the position in the low minors now (except for the injured Herbert), so I wouldn't be shocked if Morales leapfrogged Danville altogether and started next season in Rome. It's all about swings and reps for him.

Dykstra is a prospect for sure. Long way off though.

Encouraged by Ruiz's second half...The power is starting to show back up it seems.

Davidson packing the stat sheet last night! NICE

Quote:

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Originally Posted by msstate7

Ruiz 1-3, 2b, rbi

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Ended up 2 for 4...Stay hot Rio