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This week:
- There were promotions galore. INF Carlos Sanchez got promoted to Birmingham. In Baseball America's mid-season report, Sanchez was the fifth youngest player in the Carolina League; he's now the second youngest player in the Southern League. In his debut last night, he kept on doing what he's done: 3 for 4, all singles.
- Joining Sanchez on the Barons is RHP Jake Petricka. The 24 year old had a spot start for Birmingham a couple months ago that didn't go particularly well: 5 IP, 3 H, 7 BB, 6 K. While that number of walks was certainly an outlier, they have been a problem again after it looked like he'd made some strides in control in 2011. For Winston-Salem this season, his BB/9 was back above 5 per 9 innings and his BB% was above 12%.
- While the Dash lost a couple interesting prospects, they also gained a couple interesting prospects. Most notably, 2011 first supplemental round pick CF Keenyn Walker made the short drive to Winston-Salem. Walker hasn't hurt his prospect status though he hasn't helped it much, either. The 21 year old is a switch-hitter but he still hasn't shown much of an ability to hit left-handed pitchers. In 2012 for Kannapolis: .235/.303/.309. It does seem like he's become a better base-stealer (39 for 50), with a noticeable increase in success rate versus last year. While he's brought the strikeout rate down some, it still hovers around 30%. He's currently deferring center field to Trayce Thompson; in 4 games for the Dash, he's split between right field and left field.
- Joining Walker is 2011 second round pick RHP Erik Johnson. After coming out of extended spring training, the 22 year old was decent for the Intimidators: 39 IP, 36 H, 18 BB, 35 K. The walks are certainly a concern. In his debut last night: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 1 K.