Minor league report 811: Kubitza Earns Carolina batting honor

rico43

<B>Director of Minor League Reports</B>
Lynchburg third baseman Kyle Kubuza has za been named Carolina League Hitter f the week for games ending August 4.

Kubitza, the Braves' third round pick out of Texas State in 2011, was 11-for-23 (three walks) for the week with three doubles, two triples and -- indicative of Lynchburg's lineup problems -- only the one RBI.

Though July was Kubitza's weakest month of the season -- he hit .229/.340/.337 with seven RBIs in 25 games -- the 23-year-old third baseman's notable patience at the plate began to pay off last week. Kubitza doubled and singled twice at Frederick on Monday, doubled again Tuesday, then reeled off three straight multi-hit games. Kubitza leads the Carolina League with 63 walks and ranks sixth with a .380 on-base percentage.

There's an excellent chance that one of Kubitza's teammates may follow his big week with the same honor. Second baseman Elmer Reyes, who largely has been playing under the radar in 2013, has gone 12-for-22 in his last five games, including a four-hit performance August 6.

In that five-game span, the second baseman has two doubles, a homer, six runs scored and four RBIs. He's hitting .400 in August, gong a long way to offset a horrible (.208) July. That followed a .333 June in his see-saw season.
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Any question that today was the biggest, the best of Chfristian Bethancourt's career? And will people who keep saying he's not developing fast enough please shut the heck up or go back to Scout.com?

SUNDAY'S SCORES

CLASS AAA

Lehigh Valley 3, Gwinnett (51-72) 1


LP: Hale (6-7) 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Constanza 1-4; Boggs 1-2, 2B, R; Pagnozzi 1-2, 2B..

CLASS AA

Mississippi (65-55) 4, Jackson 0


WP: Thomas (7-7) 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 K.
Simmons 1 IP, O H, 1 K.
Bethancourt 4-4, 2 HR (9th, 10h), 3 RBI (.288); Martinez 2-3, HR (6th), RBI; La Stella 0-4. Two players had all six hits.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Lynchburg (55-59) 5, Winston-Salem 4

WP: W.Perez (5-`1) 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Hyatt (Save, 11) 1.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BBl, 0 K.
Lipka 1-3, 3 SB (26); Rohm 1-3, RBI; E. Reyes 2-4, 2B, R.

CLASS A

Charleston 1, Rome (59-60) 0


LP: Lafreniere (5-12) 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K .
Wren 1-4; Peraza 1-3, SB (53); E. Garcia 3-4, SB; Marte 2-4, 3B.

SHORT-SEASON

Bristol @ Danville (23-23), ppd.

Saturday Score

DSL Blue Jays 9, DSL Braves (24-33) 8


SP: Falcon 2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. (2.10)
Jesus Jones 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. (1.04)
Miranda 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K. (1.96)
LP: Manzanares (0-4) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER(2R), 2 BB, 0 K.
Azuaje 4-6, R, RBI; Chin 3-5, 2 R; Flores 0-6, 3 RBI; Castro 1-4, RBI; Puello 2-4, 2B, R, RBI.
 
Hopefully Kubitza can become a valuable bench/util guy in the future.

Usually a major league bench has three guys to back up at a premium defensive position (catcher, short, center) and a couple corner infield/outfield guys who are there more for their bats. Gattis (even though he is also a catcher) and Terdoslavich currently occupy those roles. There are not too many in that mold ahead of Kubitza. The main one is Salcedo. There could be an opening for a starter at third in the next two or three years. Salcedo probably is the leading internal candidate. I think he and Kubitza will be competing with each other for spots on the major league roster, whether it be as starters or bench players. It is good to have multiple options because you never know who will develop and who won't. La Stella might be in that competition too. Given the age difference and power potential, I'd have to rate Salcedo a bit higher than Kubitza and La Stella at this point.
 
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