It’s Monday! That means its time for the news and notes from around the MiLB portions of the Diamondbacks organization.

• Reno Aces (AAA)
• The Reno Aces took on the Salt Lake Bees (Angels) and the Sacramento River Cats (Athletics) this week

• Mobile BayBears (AA)
• The BayBears finished up their series against the M-Braves (Atlanta) and played against the Blue Wahoos (Reds) and the Montgomery Biscuits (Tampa Bay Rays)

• The BayBears have a stacked pitching rotation, but there were a number of BayBears getting it done with the bat this week: Rossmel Perez (C) ended the week batting 0.364; David Nick (2B) at 0.372 and Matt Davidson (3B) at 0.462.
• Adam Eaton had also collected 6 stolen bases by the end of the week.
• Trevor Bauer collected his 3rd win of the year, but finally allowed an earned run, raising his season ERA to 0.57 – he also walked 5 during that start. His season line to this point: 3 game, 3-0 record; 15.2 innings, 8H, 12BB, 20K, 0.154 batting average against.

• Visalia Rawhide (A Adv.)
• The Rawhide took on Modesto Nuts (Rockies)  and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Dodgers)

•  There were 2 dominant pitching performances this week. David Holmberg got the win on April 10 for 7.0 innings of 2H, 1R, 0BB, 9K. He brought his ERA to 1.38 and collected the win to draw him to 1-1 so far this season. The second outing was Andrew Chafin. He improved to 2-0 on the season with a 0.82 ERA after throwing 6.0 innings of 3H, 0R, 0BB, 9K baseball.
• The outstanding offensive performances of the week went to Jonathan Griffin (1B) and Raywilly Gomez (C) who finished the week with batting average of .350 and .379, respectively.

• South Bend Silver Hawks (A)
• The team took on the Fort Wayne Tincaps (Padres) and Dayton Dragons this week (Reds).

• Yakima Bears (SS)
• The Bears will begin the season on June 15.

• Missoula Osprey (R)
• The Osprey will begin the season on June 18.

It’s Monday! That means its time for the news and notes from around the MiLB portions of the Diamondbacks organization. Now that the minor leagues are back in action, Minors Monday is back.

Today’s post has been brought to you by Wade Miley (2010 Visalia Rawhide and Mobile BayBears; 2011 BayBears and Reno Aces) - who pitched 4.0 innings of hitless relief for the Diamondbacks yesterday to hold the SF Giants at bay while the Diamondbacks staged an unlikely, messy comeback.

• Reno Aces (AAA)
• Opening day roster: HERE
• The Reno Aces took on the Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA Colorado Rockies) this week.

• Mobile BayBears (AA)
• Opening day roster: HERE
• The BayBears played against the M-Braves (AA Atlanta) this week and started their season 4-0.

• Highlights: To say that this team has strong starting pitching would be a bit of an understatement:
• Trevor Bauer (April 5) – 5IP, 2H, 0R, 3BB, 7K – WIN
• Charles Brewer (April 6) – 6IP, 4H, 1R, 1BB, 6K – No Decision
• Kevin Munson earned his first career hold by striking out 3 and walking 1 in 1.0 IP
• Derek Eitel (April 7) – 4IP, 4H, 0R, 2BB, 3K – No Decision
• Patrick Corbin (April 8th) – 6IP, 6H, 0R, 1BB, 5K – Win

•  Visalia Rawhide (A Adv.) 
• This week, they took on the Bakersfield Blaze (A Adv Cincinnati Reds), splitting the series.

• Yakima Bears (SS)
• The Bears will begin the season on June 15.

• Missoula Osprey (R)
• The Osprey will begin the season on June 18.

Wrapping up the week that was, while we get ready for the week to come.

From “Snakes on the Grass”:

• The first day of spring training games was a good one for the Dbacks.
• JJ Putz is a big prankster. And, the Dbacks had to stop a game for a “swarm of bees” delay. For the third time in franchise history.
• We examined how having pitchers who can pitch 200+ innings can lead to success. And, how the 2010 Dbacks did not, but the 201 Dbacks did.
• The Diamondbacks have yet to come out of hibernation and are off to another slow start, much like 2011.
• Trevor Bauer is a smart kid with smart thoughts. A late-night twitter debate spawned some thoughts about the disabled list and pitchers’ injuries.
• Daniel Hudson and Adam Eaton each illustrated some of the reasons that we, as fans, need to remember that spring training games do not matter.

The best of the rest of the web:

• Go here. If its by Nick Piecoro, you need to read it.
• Ditto here. Steve Gilbert is at camp and he’s got his finger on the pulse.
• A great interview with Takashi Saito. It seems like the team is much better off for his presence.
• If you haven’t thought about the park factors involved with home field advantage, the folks at Bleacher Report have thought about it for you.
• A fun story about the family connections in Dbacks baseball, include Stephen Drew.
• Trevor Bauer was all over the news this week. Among the people heaping praise upon him was Keith Law of ESPN. Click here to listen to the interview or read a transcript.
• There were bees at this week’s game. But, there was also a game in Jason Kubel‘s career that was suspended for a college football game.

Don’t forget: The Dbacks will be featured on “30 Clubs in 30 Days” on March 15.

Trevor Bauer signed with the Dbacks in 2011

There were also two alternate titles for this post: “Trevor Bauer Is A Smart Dude” and “How A Pitching Prospect Spawned a Post About The History of the Disabled List“. But, basically, what it boils down to is that you should probably familiarize yourself with Trevor Bauer – if you haven’t already.

He’s a 21 year old RHP who was drafted 3rd overall in June 2011.

He did a whole lot of very impressive things while playing baseball for UCLA, eventually winning the Golden Spikes award during his draft year. And, after he signed, he pitched a total of 7 games for A+ Visalia and AA Mobile in 2011 following signing with the Diamondbacks.

Other things that are interesting about Trevor Bauer have been chronicled in a number of different places. Here’s the rundown (all links are well, well worth a read), before we get to the meat of this article:

» Continue reading “Meet Trevor Bauer. Or: Not Your Average Pitching Prospect”

Wrapping up the week that was, while we get ready for the week to come.

From “Snakes on the Grass”:

• Minors Monday focused mostly on an in-depth profile of top prospect Trevor Bauer.
• There was some mild speculation that the Dbacks would be looking for depth at catcher.
• We took a look at why the Diamondbacks and Miguel Montero might be having a bit of difficulty reaching an agreement on an extension.
• MLB announced that an early spring training game against the Cleveland Indians will have the players wearing microphones.
• We took a look at why the Nats would have to be creative to pry Gerardo Parra from the Diamondacks
• Thanks to Charles Brewer, the hazing trip that that the Diamondbacks’ rookie pitchers took to the Renaissance Festival was posted to twitter for us all to enjoy!

Best of the rest of the web:

• AZCentral posted a great interview/profile of John McDonald. It’s a great look into the camaraderie inside the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse. Well worth a read.
• For a complete round-up of spring training news, head over to the blog of MLB.com’s beat reporter Steve Gilbert‘s blog (Inside the Dbacks)
• Trevor Bauer showed up to training camp. He thought he was early. Turns out, he was wrong. This story and a few other nuggets from spring training here at AZCentral.
• Some people have high expectations of Bryan Shaw
• John Sickels at minorleagueball.com took a look back at the history of Miguel Montero‘s career.
• MLB.com reported that the Washington Nationals were interested in Gerardo Parra. The Diamondbacks quickly squashed that rumor – for the moment.
• Speaking of Gerardo Parra, he definitely showed some class in addressing his most-likely-4th-outfielder role in 2012.
• Nick Piecoro revealed that Takashi Saito has a different training program than the other Diamondbacks’ pitchers. And, perhaps more surprisingly, wasn’t required to take a physical prior to signing- because the front office thought he would fail it.