Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#136 Post by Matt »

August 2022 Rio Grande Valley Ocelots Prospect Report

A look at the top prospects in the Rio Grande Valley Ocelots minor league system.

According to BNN, the Ocelots have the 6th best rated farm system in PEBA. Let's take a deeper look at the players who could shape the future of the Ocelots. Here are the Ocelots top 12 pitching prospects, ordered only by minor league level.

Carlos Rodriguez – AAA – 24 years – LHP – Rodriguez signed a minor league contract with the Kawaguchi Transmitters in August of 2020. The flame throwing southpaw compliments his 99 mph fastball with a changeup that can lock hitters up, and mixes in an average slider just to give hitters a different look now and again. He can be tough to hit, and when he is on he is downright dominating. Scouts still question his control, though he has made strides this season. He has been used mostly as a reliever in his minor league career, but has begun to get stretched out in a late season starting role for Texarkana. His numbers at AA least season and the first half of this season are mind boggling: 4-4, 28 saves, 1.92 ERA, 56.1 innings, 33 hits, 108 strikeouts. That 17.3 strikeouts per 9 innings. During the second half of this season at AAA, he is 5-1 with 1 save, pitching 58 innings in 19 appearances, 10 of those starts. He has posted a 2.48 ERA and struck out 68 batters. Decision time is near with Rodriguez, as he is out of options and would surely never make it through waivers next spring. He will also be 25 when next season starts. The Ocelots are having him work as a starter during the final months of the 2022 season to get a longer look at him, but with his borderline stamina most scouts see him as a left handed specialist or middle reliever in PEBA, who might make a few spot or emergency starts. Rodriguez could inherit the bullpen role of Kei Tenno next season.
ARRIVAL: 2023
PROJECTED ROLE: Lefty middle reliever/emergency starter

Makoto Shimizu – AAA – 23 years old – RHP – drafted in the 2nd round of the 2020 LRS draft by the Kawaguchi Transmitters. Shimizu rose quickly through the Ocelots system, and has made three starts for the Ocelots this season (0-0, 5.17) in order to get his feet wet at the PEBA level. He has complained about not being in the major leagues, and his attitude at times may have affected his performance at AAA. A hard thrower with 4 pitches, his stamina is borderline for a starter, and his eventual role could be as the primary swingman. The Ocelots see Shimizu as being similar to Xavier Gomes, who performed so well in the swing role in both San Antonio and RGV. The Ocelots believe Shimizu is close to being ready for PEBA, but he has two options remaining and could find himself splitting time between AAA and RGV over the course of the next couple of seasons.
ARRIVAL: Mid 2023
PROJECTED ROLE: Swingman

Luis Reyes – AAA – 22 years old- RHP – acquired in trade with Niihama-shi March 19, 2022. Originally drafted by the Florida Featherheads in the supplemental round of the 2018 draft, he was later dealt to the Ghosts before coming to RGV in the Glenn Dixon trade. Reyes throws in the mid 90's and mixes up 5 pitches. He has excellent stamina and should work as a front end starter for years to come. After going 11-13 4.32 in his first season of AA in 2021, he blossomed in his second season at the level in 2022, going 7-2 2.47 in 12 starts before being promoted to AAA. In 12 starts at AAA he has been just as good, going 9-2 2.48. For a flyball pitcher, he is pretty good at keeping the ball in the park, having allowed just 8 longballs in 160 innings pitched this season. For a right handed pitcher, he also holds runners really well. The Ocelots are already planning to send Reyes to winter ball this off-season, as they would like him to ditch the curveball and concentrate on making the changeup a devastating out pitch. He is already penciled into the teams starting rotation for 2023.
ARRIVAL:2023
PROJECTED ROLE: Starting rotation

Dan Field – 23 years old – LHP – acquired in trade with Yuma that sent Domingo Hernandez to the Bulldozers. Originally a 2nd round pick of the Bulldozers in 2020. Field can hit 96 on the gun, and is an extreme ground ball pitcher who gives up just 0.3 HR per 9 innings in his career. He throws just 2 pitches, a sinker and a curveball, and the Ocelots would like him to learn a 3rd pitch so that he can eventually be part of the PEBA rotation. There is the possibility that he makes the trip to winter ball this off season. His stamina is borderline, but as a left hander who could pitch in the back of the rotation he could eventually be fairly effective as a 6 inning starter. In just his 3rd year of pro ball, Field likely spends the entirety of 2023 at AAA Texarakana.

ARRIVAL: 2024
PROJECTED ROLE: Starting rotation

Naoki Hayashi -23 yrs old – LHP – drafted by the Kawaguchi Transmitters with the first overall pick in the final LRS draft in 2020. Hayashi has been slow to develop, though he has finally showed some signs of progress in the last month. He was probably rushed up to the AA level too quickly, a problem resulting from the absolutely desolate nature of the organizations minor league system just two seasons ago. Hayashi throws hard, hitting 99 on the radar gun, keeps the ball in the park, and has good stamina. What he lacks is a third pitch, something which he desperately needs in order to ever make the jump to PEBA as a starter. His progress is being watched closely by the organization down the stretch to determine whether or not he even makes the jump to AAA to start next season. Despite his slow progress to this point, the organization believes that Hayashi will eventually deliver on his promise and become the ace of the Ocelots staff.

ARRIVAL: Mid- season 2024
PROJECTED ROLE: Starting rotation


Otis Pearson – 22 yrs old – RHP – acquired in the Orlando Barron trade with Yuma, April 18, 2022. Originally a first round pick of the Yuma Bulldozers in 2019. A hard throwing reliever, Pearson is another pitcher who does quite well at keeping the ball in the park. Pearson is 5-1 1.93 with 8 saves in 33 appearances for Medicine Hat this season. Pearson has the look of a pitcher who could eventually be a strong setup man or even a closer at the PEBA level. He will likely spend the entire 2023 season at AAA Texarkana, but he should make it to RGV by 2024 and become a long time part of the Ocelots bullpen.

ARRIVAL: 2024
PROJECTED ROLE: Right handed set up reliever


Ryobe Kobayashi – 23 yrs old – RHP - 3rd round draft pick of the Kawaguchi Transmitters in 2020. A lot like the lefty Hayashi, Kobayashi has struggled at AA after being rushed to the level. Unlike Hayashi, he has shown little to give hope that things will turn around soon. A pitcher with good stamina but just two pitches, Kobayshi will need to learn a third pitch if he is ever to make to the Ocelots rotation. He almost surely starts next season at AA again, and will have to earn the next step to AAA. If he ever puts it together, he could eventually be a back end starter for the Ocelots, though a spot in the middle of the bullpen is much more likely, at least early in his career.

ARRIVAL: 2025
PROJECTED ROLE: Eventual starter

Cory Wood – 22 years old – RHP - 4th round draft pick in 2021. A starter with good stamina and 5 mediocre pitches, Wood is another pitcher who has been rushed to the level, but he has handled it fairly well all things considered. He pitched a no-hitter for A Nogales earlier this season prior to his advancement to AA. The Ocelots would like to eventually see him shave a pitch off his repertoire and concentrate on coming up with an out pitch. A native of San Antonio, Wood remains several years away from the PEBA level. Much like Kobayshi, Wood may have to start his PEBA career in the bullpen and earn a spot in the rotation. Expect at least a full season at AA next year.

ARRIVAL: 2025
PROJECTED ROLE: Eventual starter.

Elvis Carter – 21 years old – RHP – drafted in the 6th round of the 2022 draft by the Ocelots. Carter went straight to A ball upon being drafted, and has been decent in his first year of pro ball, 4-5 4.02 in 10 starts. He has 4 mediocre pitches and borderline stamina, but keeps the ball in the park fairly well. He has some work to do, but could eventually find himself in a swingman role if he ever makes it to the PEBA level.

ARRIVAL: 2026
PROJECTED ROLE: Swingman

Mito Nomura – 21 years old – RHP – drafted in the 2nd round of the 2022 draft by the Ocelots. Nomura struggled in a couple of starts at Nogales, but flourished when sent back down to short season Homer, where he is 1-1 1.54 with 2 saves in 16 appearances, 2 of those starts. He has 3 decent pitches, and average stamina, does really well at keeping the ball in the park, and should eventually at least be considered for a job in a rotation. He should spend all of 2023 at A Nogales, working in the rotation.

ARRIVAL: 2026
PROJECTED ROLE: Back of rotation


Brandon Vale – 16 years old – RHP – signed as an international free agent out of England. Vale is opening eyes in his first season of pro ball despite the tender age. He already has 4 pitches and can throw in the low 90s. His stamina is borderline, so he may need to learn to be more efficient with his pitches. He is 1-0 2.28 in his first 5 starts for SSA Homer.

ARRIVAL: 2027
PROJECTED ROLE: Starting rotation


Roy Woodward – 22 years old – RHP - 2nd round pick in 2022 draft by the Ocelots. Woodward is out until at least next May with a torn rotator cuff, but a college WHIP of 0.62 and 17 walks to 149 k's in 112.1 college innings made him the ultimate high risk, high reward draft selection. When he does return next season, he will start his career at A ball, but if he can bounce back from the torn rotator cuff he will be on the fast track to eventually join the Ocelots bullpen.

ARRIVAL: Mid season 2024
PROJECTED ROLE: Right handed setup reliever.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#137 Post by Matt »

An 0-5 week for the Ocelots. Somehow an epic crash and burn is so much more satisfying than slowly fading away. About the only bright spot for the Ocelots was getting rained out on Sunday, preventing the imploding Justin Barton from inflicting any more damage. A 7 game losing streak has the Ocelots going from being in the catbird seat for a wild card spot to suddenly being in a mix of 5 teams fighting for 3 spots, all separated by only 3 games in the loss column.

Pitcher of the Week:
Ruben Hernandez. 7 innings, 3 runs, only 1 of them earned, in a 3-1 loss to Dayton. Hernandez has just one win in his last 10 starts. He hasn't pitched poorly, but the truth about Hernandez is that for the most part he's a 6 inning pitcher. Every now and then he can get stretched out to 7, but usually it's 6 and done. That's going to lead to a lot of no decisions. When he reaches his early 30's he is a guy I suspect will have to be moved back to the bullpen, similar to Marcos Gonzalez. Until then he might make a decent #4 starter, but it's hard to see him being much more than that. His lack of stamina sort of has him out of place heading up a rotation. Before the all-star break he was 9-3. Since the break he is 1-3. Overall he is 10-6 3.33 on the season.

Honorable mention:
Dave Parkinson, 3 Er in 6 innings in a 5-0 loss to Dayton. The loss drops Parkinson to 5-4 2.38 on the season. Can't do much without some run support.

Pitching Goat of the Week:
Justin Barton. 2.1 innings, 6 ER. Last 4 starts, 13 innngs, 23 ER, 10 HR allowed. This was one of those regressions that was easy to see coming. He is now 11-5 4.28 on the season, and has been demoted to the long role in the bullpen. Rintaro Yamasaki will be called up in September to take Barton's roster spot.

Hitter of the Week:
Russell Wright, 312 with a double. Yeah, when the team hits .148 for the week, that's how your batter of the week doesn't even muster a single rbi.

Honorable mention:
Trevor Powell, .250 with 3 doubles and a stolen base.

Hitting Goat of the Week:
Everyone else. Take away the 9 hits combined between Powell and Wright, and the rest of the team batted .113 for the week.


Couple of roster moves. RF Takahiro Fujihara and SS Min-u Yi have been recalled from AAA, while SS Bernardo Rivera has been demoted to AAA, and RP Cris Reyes has been waived and designated for assignment. If the Ocelots do hold onto a playoff spot, a big IF, the team wanted the right handed bats of Fujihara and Yi on the roster, Yi most especially for his glove.


AAA Texarkana was 3-4 on the week, bringing the season record to 82-52, 5 games up on Namuko with 6 games to play. Makoto Shimizu led the pitching staff, appearing 4 times in relief, pitching 6 shutout innings of relief, and picking up a win along the way. SS Min-u Yi batted .375/.483 with 2 doubles, a triple, 2 rbi, 2 stolen bags, and 4 runs scored.

AA Medicine Hat was 1-6 on the week and appears to be mailing it in at this point, sitting at 63-70 on the season and now 25.5 games back. Infielder Takahashi Hayagawa had a big week with the bat, batting .333 with 3 HR and 8 RBI.

A Nogales was 4-2 for the week, and at 66-55 sit 2 games back with 7 to play. Sen Ota led the offense, batting .500 for the week with 2 HR and 8 RBI. Jon Dalton struck 11 in 7 innings, allowing 3 hits and 0 runs in a 7-0 victory. Dalton is 3-5 3.38 in 12 starts since being drafted in the 8th round back in June.

SSA Homer was 4-2 on the week, taking the season mark to 40-28, and forging a 4 game lead in the Samurai Division. Paul Paige led the offense batting .391 with 2 HR and 5 RBI, while Bob Lacy pitched 6.2 shutout innings in a no decision to lead the pitching staff. A 10th round pick this past season in a pitching heavy draft for the Ocelots, Lacy is 4-3 2.96 in 25 games, 5 of those starts.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#138 Post by Matt »

An hour before the next sim, and I finally find some time to do last week's recap.

The Ocelots were 2-4 for the week, brining the season record to 73-63.

Pitcher of the Week:
Rintaro Yamasaki, who finally makes his first PEBA start, and helps the Ocelots break a 9 game skid with a solid 7 innings, allowing 1 run, in a 6-1 win over Kentucky. Yamasaki, who went 11-4 3.01 in 28 games, 22 of those starts, at AAA Texarkana, is 1-0 3.18 in 4 games, including this one start, for RGV this season.

Honorable mention:
Makoto Shimizu, who allowed no runs in 6.1 innings in picking up his first career PEBA win in a 5-0 win over San Antonio. Shimizu is 1-0 3.68 in 4 starts for RGV, but is struggling with his control, 10 walks versus 3 k's in 22 innings for RGV. Shimizu will rotate to the bullpen this week as the Ocelots don't want to over expose the youngster.

Pitching Goat of the Week:
Iwane Sato, 4 runs in 5.2 innings in a 5-4 loss to Kentucky. Sato is 10-11 3.72 on the season in 25 starts.


Hitter of the Week:
Takahiro Fujihara, who was just 3 for 8 for the week, but had 3 runs scored, a HR, and his 5 rbi led the team. His grand slam was a key blow in the 6-1 win over Kentucky that ended the Ocelots 9 game losing streak. Fujihara is batting .296/.367 in 27 games with RGV, and has removed all doubt that he is ready to be a contributor in RGV next season.

Honorable mention:
Leslie McDonald, .400 for the week ( 8 for 20) with 2 runs scored and 3 doubles. Amazingly, he struck out in all 12 at bats in which he didn't get hits. McDonald is batting .245/.312 with 17 HR and 51 RBI on the season.

Hitting Goat of the Week:
Orlando Reyes, whose 2 for 24 week did include a solo HR and 2 stolen bases. But .083 isn't getting it done. Reyes has been locked in a miserable slump since returning from the DL, and is batting .240/.278 with 13 HR and 44 RBI in 76 games for RGV.

The only notable change this week is that Carlos Rodriguez will get a turn in the rotation, with Makoto Shimizu taking a turn in the bullpen.

AAA Texarkana head into the playoffs on a sour note, going 1-5 over the final week. It's probably not helping that RGV raided the Texarkana roster for September help. Carlos Rodriguez had a nice final start for Texarkana before his callup, throwing 7.1 innings of shutout ball, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, and punching out 8. Rodriguez was 6-1 2.18 in 21 games, 12 of those starts, at AAA before his callup to RGV. Prior to that, Rodriguez was 1-1 1.42 in 27 bullpen appearances at AA Medicine Hat. This week Texarkana takes on Allentown in the AAA playoffs.

AA Medicine Hat was 0-7 for the week, and finished the season with 11 straight losses. They were an extremely ugly 11-30 over the final 41 games, and finished the year 63-77.

A Nogales was 4-3 for the final week, finishing 70-58 on the season, but 2 games back and missing the playoffs. Elvis Carter threw 7 shutout innings in picking up his 6th win of the season. The 6th round pick in the most recent draft was 6-5 3.30 in 13 starts for A Nogales, Carter will finish the season at SSA Homer to get in some additional work over the final month of the season.

SSA Homer was 5-2 for the week, running the season record to 45-30 and stretching their lead in the Samurai division to 4 games. 18 yr old 3b Santiago Salazar crushed the ball this week, batting .750 (12 for 16) with 4 doubles, a HR, and 7 RBI. He is batting .437/.540 on the season with 3 HR and 18 RBI in 71 at bats. For his efforts this week, Salazar won the SS-A AL player of the week award.

Coming up this week, the Ocelots have 4 at home versus NJ and then travel to Charleston for 3.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#139 Post by Matt »

A 6-1 week from the Ocelots, highlighted by a 4 game sweep of New Jersey, puts the Ocelots back in the thick of the playoff chase at 79-64 on the season. After sleep walking through the second half of August, the team used 4 one run victories, and pair of come from behind victories over NJ, to finally show some life. It's still a tough road ahead for the Ocelots, as 16 of the final 19 games are on the road. 13 of those 16 road games are against playoff contenders, Dayton, Florida, Arlington, and Kentucky.

Pitcher of the Week:
Dave Parkinson, a complete game victory over New Jersey, allowing 1 run on 4 hits, 0 walks, 5 k's. On the season, Parkinson is now 6-5 2.29 in 19 starts.

Honorable mention:
Carlos Rodriguez, 7 shutout innings in a 1-0 victory over Charleston, picking up a win in his first PEBA start.

Pitching Goat of the Week:
Rintaro Yamasaki couldn't duplicate the success of his first start, allowing 6 runs in 3.2 innings, digging the Ocelots a 6-1 hole before exiting the game. The Ocelots would rally to win the game 7-6.


Hitter of the Week:
Jose Padilla, .375, 3 HR, 7 RBI. Padilla has batted .265/.353 with 10 HR and 24 RBI in 36 games since his acquisition from Neo Tokyo prior to the trade deadline.

Honorable mention:
Josh Shaffer, .417 with 4 doubles on the week. Shaffer is batting .289 with 1 HR and 15 rbi in 51 games for RGV.

Hitting Goat of the Week:
Orlando Reyes, .136 for the week, a HR and 2 RBI. The lengthy slump since the DL stint shows no signs of abating.

Changes this week: Justin Barton will take a turn in the rotation after spending the last two weeks in the bullpen. Carlos Rodriguez will get back up to pitch in the doubleheader on Friday against Florida.

AAA Texarkana was bounced out of the AAA playoffs by Allentown in 4 games. 3b Bob Vollmer had a nice series, batting .267 with a triple, a HR, and 6 rbi.

SSA Homer was 1-5 on the week, with the pitching being mostly awful. At 46-35, the Wallbangers fall into a tie for first with the Swamp Dragons.

Coming up, 3 at Dayton, then 4 at Florida.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#140 Post by roncollins »

Padilla has been a great acquisition.

And, regarding Josh Shaffer, never has there been a guy who was so happy to take a $7.5M pay cut to get out of Lupin. Between Stewart, Shaffer, and Forrest, we appear to be the team third basemen go to die. This does not bode well for poor Iván Juárez.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#141 Post by Matt »

Cliff Hangers wrote:Padilla has been a great acquisition.

And, regarding Josh Shaffer, never has there been a guy who was so happy to take a $7.5M pay cut to get out of Lupin. Between Stewart, Shaffer, and Forrest, we appear to be the team third basemen go to die. This does not bode well for poor Iván Juárez.
Acquiring Padilla was as much about keeping Reyes happy as anything else. Reyes wanted some fellow countrymen on the team, and our options were few, and we needed some offensive help after losing Meade and Dickson. Had a hunch he would play better in a different environment

Still looking at a tough decision with him come option time. I waver back and forth about whether we are going to pick it up or not.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#142 Post by Matt »

At the end of August the Ocelots were fading fast, having lost 8 straight, but after going 5-2 this week the Ocelots have won 11 of their last 13 to get back into the battle for a playoff spot. After not having been a very good road team for most of the season, the Ocelots have won 8 of their last 10 away from home.

Taking 2 of 3 from Dayton, including a 16 inning win, was important as the Flyers are still very much in the playoff chase. More impressive was taking 3 of 4 from Florida at a time when we really needed to at least find a way to split. The coming week will see us play 3 at Arlington, who are on a 6 game winning streak, and then our final 3 home games of the season versus the Calzones. The final week will see us with 6 games on the road; 3 at Kentucky, which could factor into the playoff chase or playoff seeding, and we finish the season with 3 at New Orleans.

Despite a successful week, the offense still only managed 24 runs. Losing Padilla early in the week had some effect, and he will be out most of this week as well, possibly returning for the finale of the San Antonio series on Sunday.

Hitter of the Week:
Josh Shaffer, .379, 3 doubles, a HR, 3 rbi, and a team leading 4 runs scored for the week. Shaffer has batted .302/.353 in 58 games, 202 AB, with 19 doubles, 2 HR, and 18 RBI on the season.

Honorable mention:
Orlando Reyes, who ends his dreadful slump with a .296/.387 week, with 2 doubles and 5 runs batted in.

Hitting Goat of the Week:
Tadamichi Sato, 0 for 11 on the week. Granted, we picked him up to help us at 2b with the glove, but we were also hoping he could get on base and put his speed to use. FWIW, Sato, Marino, and Nunez, all guys helping out on the infield down the stretch, combined to go 0 for 27 on the week with 1 walk and 10 strikeouts. Thankfully a deep bench in September provides a lot of pinch hitting opportunities.

Pitcher of the Week:
Ruben Hernandez, 8 shutout innings in a 2-1 win over Florida. That was just his second win since the All Star break, with the other coming in his first start after the break. He was 0-4 in his previous 9 starts. He is 11-7 3.23 on the season.

Honorable mention:
Attilio Gaivo, with 8 shutout innings in a 3-1 win over Florida. Gaivo is 7-9 4.80 on the season.

Pitching Goat of the Week:
Justin Barton, who got a spot start, allowing 4 runs in 4.2 innings. Fortunately the bullpen held the rest of the way and the Ocelots struck for 3 runs in the 9th to comeback and win the game 6-4. Barton is 11-5 4.34 on the season.

Carlos Rodriguez will slide back into the rotation for a start this week, with Barton banished back to the bullpen.

SSA Homer was 2-5 this week, and 3-10 in their last 13 has them falling to 2 games back in the Samurai Division with 2 games to play. Gary Leclair had a big week with the bat, hitting .357/.474 with 2 HR and 8 RBI. Leclair is batting .257/.392 with 8 HR and 50 RBI on the season. He has drawn 51 walks on the season.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#143 Post by Matt »

The Ocelots stumbled to a 2-4 week, losing 2 of 3 to both Arlington and San Antonio. Fortunately for the Ocelots playoff hopes, none of the teams behind us appeared all that interested in making up the ground they were trying to give away. With a firm 3 game lead with a week to play, the Ocelots would seem to be all but guaranteed a playoff spot, as it would take two of the three teams chasing them overcoming 3 game deficits with 6 to play. Not impossible, but it seems unlikely.

The offense continues to struggle to score runs, just 20 in 6 games this week, and a lot of those were of the manufactured variety as the Ocelots cranked up the running game, swiping 14 bases in 6 games, bringing their season total to 80, 3rd in the IL in that department.

Hitter of the Week:
Josh Shaffer takes the award for the second week in a row, batting .381 with 3 doubles and 3 rbi. Shaffer is batting .309 with 22 doubles, 2 HR, and 21 RBI on the season in 64 games played.

Honorable mention:
Trevor Powell, who batted .200/.368 with 4 walks, 5 stolen bases, and a team leading 3 runs scored for the week. Powell is batting .288/.323 with 15 stolen bags in 62 games for RGV this season.

Hitting Goat of the Week:
Esteban Miranda, who hit .238, but didn't supply a single RBI out of his spot in the middle of the order.

Pitcher of the Week:
Dave Parkinson, 7 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 0 walks, 5 k's in a 3-1 win over San Antonio. He didn't even become a part of the rotation until June, but has 20 quality starts in 21 trips to the hill. Parkinson is 7-6 2.34 on the season, and pitching to an insanely low babip of .217.

Honorable mention:
Carlos Rodriguez, who pitched 6 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 ER, walking 4 and striking out 5 in a 2-1 win over Arlington. Rodriguez would get a no decision for his effort, but his two excellent starts since coming up in September are making the decision the Ocelots will have to make on him this winter that much harder. He is 1-0 0.66 in 13.2 innings of work for RGV.

Pitching Goat of the Week:
Justin Barton, whose magnificent late season implosion continues. In 1/3 of an inning of bullpen work this week, he allowed 3 runs and took a loss. Barton was 1-3 15.92 in August, and now 0-1 8.69 in September.

With the Ocelots very likely to make the playoffs barring a complete and total collapse over the last 6 games, Ruben Hernandez and Iwane Sato are being rested this week. The organization does not want to waste them in the final series of the season and then not have them available for the start of the playoffs. Makoto Shimizu and Justin Barton will join Rintaro Yamasaki, Carlos Rodriguez, and Dave Parkinson in the rotation for the final week of the season.

Upcoming this week, 3 games @ Kentucky than 3 @ New Orleans to finish the season. It's possible the Kentucky series could have an impact on playoff seeding. Overall, if our makeshift rotation can pull off one win over the final six games we should hold onto the playoff spot.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#144 Post by Matt »

Another 2-4 week has the Ocelots somehow manage to hold onto a playoff spot despite limping to a 4-8 mark down the stretch. After having lost 8 of 10 and 6 straight, the Ocelots finally clinched a playoff berth with a win on the second to last day of the season. A win on the final day of the season followed.

Hitter of the Week:
Leslie McDonald, who hit .333/.412 with 2 doubles, a HR, and 6 RBI. His 3rd inning grand slam fueled the Ocelots to a 9-5 playoff clinching win over New Orleans on the second to last day of the season. On the season McDonald batted .246/.319 with 29 doubles, 20 HR, and 66 RBI. His 20 HR matched a career high.

Honorable mention:
Takahiro Fujihara, who batted .417/.500 with 3 doubles, 2 stolen bases, and 4 runs scored on the week. Fujihara batted .310/.380 with 2 HR, 13 RBI, and 12 stolen bags over 129 plate appearances for RGV. Fujihara has proven himself to be fully ready for a larger role next season.

Hitting Goat of the Week:
Min-u Yi, 1 for 11 on the week. He finishes the season batting .119 in 84 at bats. Yes, he is a glove man, but it would be nice if he could at least throw us a bone on offense once in a while.


Pitcher of the Week:
When the staff a whole produces a 7.32 ERA on the week, it's hard to find a bright spot. Here we go with Cris Reyes, who in 3 appearances in mop up allowed just 1 run in 5 innings. He also walked 5, but at least he kept the runs off the board and chewed up a few innings. Rough week when your mopup man wins pitcher of the week. Reyes finished the year 2-1 5.21, with a 2.11 WHIP and 17 walks against just 4 k's in 19 innings of work. Reyes is not on the teams playoff roster.

Honorable mention:
Justin Barton, who did just enough to pick up the win in the Ocelots playoff clinching win over New Orleans. He allowed 5 runs over 6.2 innings, but picked up his team leading 12th win in the process. He allowed 3 HR in the game, bringing him to 15 HR allowed in his last 27 innings of work. He finished the season 12-6 4.67.

Pitching Goat of the Week:
Rintaro Yamasaki, 10 runs allowed over 8 innings in two starts. He did manage to put up a 1-1 record in the two starts, picking up the win on the final day of the season in a 5-4 win over New Orleans. On the season, Yamasaki finishes 2-2 7.01 in 9 appearances, 6 of them starts, for RGV. He has likely blown his opportunity to pitch his way into the 5th starter role on next years club.

Ogai Kato was activated from the DL and will be on the playoff roster, with Trevor Powell being left off the playoff roster. Orlando Reyes will work CF during the playoffs, with Kato and Fujihara sharing duties in RF.

The rotation for the first 4 games of the playoff series with Amsterdam will be Sato, Hernandez, Parkinson, and Gaivo. The Ocelots are totally undecided about how to handle a potential 5th game at this point.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#145 Post by Matt »

The Ocelots go to Amsterdam and steal the first two games of the series, 9-7 in 10 innings, and 6-5.

Game 1 was a back and forth affair. Both teams plated 2 runs in the first inning. In the 4th, the Ocelots would strike for 3 to make it 5-2. In the bottom of the 5th, the Lions struck for 4 runs to make it 6-5 in favor of Amsterdam. The Ocelots would score 2 in the top of the 7th to go back on top 7-6, but the lead wouldn't last long, with Amsterdam tying it in the bottom of the frame. From there the game would go to the 10th, still tied at 7, when back to back two out rbi singles by Josh Shaffer and Trevor Veeneman would plate a pair of runs to give the Ocelots a 9-7 lead. Because our manager had pinch hit for both McDonald (2b) and Yi (SS) in the 7th inning, Russell Wright was on to play shortstop for the final 4 innings. He had played shortstop exactly once in his career previously. In the bottom of the 10th, with 2 out, this move almost came back to haunt the Ocelots, as Wright kicked a ground ball allowing Wells to reach, and brining Yang to the plate as the potential tying run Fortunately Yank struck out swinging and the Ocelots had a 9-7 victory and a 1-0 series lead.

Game two would see the teams trade single runs in the second inning. In the top of the 4th, Josh Shaffer, who has been on fire since returning from the DL in early September, launched a two run HR for a 3-1 Ocelots lead. Amsterdam would answer with a single run in the bottom of the frame to cut the lead to 3-2. In the top of the 5th, Jose Padilla went yard with a 3 run shot to make it 6-2 RGV. Again, Amsterdam would answer with a single run to make it 6-3. And that's how it would stay until the bottom of the 9th, when Amsterdam would rally for 2 runs, have runners on the corners with 2 outs, and Martin Cantin comes on to replace closer Jorge Nunez, who just didn't have it this night. Cantin gets Prado to strike out looking and the Ocelots hold on for the 6-5 victory and a 2-0 series lead with the series moving to RGV for game 3 and if necessary game 4.

Giving Sato and Hernandez the final week of the season turned out to not help much, as neither was terribly effective. Sato left after 4.1 in game one, and Hernandez managed to make it through 5 innings, allowing 3 runs and getting a win. The fact that Sato only threw 64 pitches leaves open the option of bring him back for a game 5, if necessary, on 3 days rest. Our bullpen already looks close to being gassed, if we're going to win this series it will need to be behind Parkinson in game 3. I can't see our bullpen standing up for 2 or 3 more days against the continual onslaught from the Lions offense. We got lucky with the offense doing the job and the bullpen doing just enough to get us by in the first two games. If Parkinson can't get us deep into the game, or better yet pick up the win, in game 3, it's hard to see Gaivo and whoever might start game 5 being able to get it done when the bullpen behind them is likely to be totally gassed.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#146 Post by Matt »

RGV strikes for 4 runs in first inning of opener. A 2 out rally as Junior Cook walks each of the bottom 4 batters in the lineup in consecutive order, the last 3 of which force in runs. Staked to a 5-0 lead after 2 innings, Seon-keun Yi coasts to a 5-2 win.

'Hobo' makes his debut for the Ocelots in game 2, and wins his debut allowing just a run over 7.2 innings in a 2-1 victory.

Game 3 was all Dave Parkinson, who went the distance allowing 2 hits, walking 1, and striking out 1 in a 3-0 complete game shutout. Parkinson needed all of 82 pitches.

Heading to the road for the 4th game of the season, the Ocelots cruised to an 8-1 victory behind 6 solid innings from Ruben Hernandez and a 3 inning save from Bill Carpenter.

The pitching had a let down in game 5 of the season, as Sato didn't make it out of the 4th, and the Trendsetters led 9-6 after 7 innings. Reyes would HR in the 8th and 10th innings, and the Ocelots scored 2 in the 8th, 1 in the 9th, and 2 in the 10th for an 11-10 victory.

In the final game of the week, the Ocelots led 5-0 after 7 innings, but New Orleans got a run in the 8th, and 3 in the 9th to make it close. Gaivo had to come on in relief of closer Nunez to nail down the 5-4 victory.

It was nice to get off to a good start, as the rest of the month is a death march of road games, just one more home series this month. The goal was to come out of April hopefully around .500 and then maybe take advantage of getting some home cooking in May.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#147 Post by Matt »

2023 Week 1

Pitcher of the Week -

Seon-keun Yi, 2 starts, 2-0 1.17. He picks up wins in both starts, allowing 4 runs, just 2 of them earned, in 15.1 innings pitched.

Honorable mention -

Dave Parkinson - a complete game 2 hit shutout should at least get you something. All it's worth this week is an honorable mention.


Pitching Goat of the Week -

Iwane Sato, who couldn't get out of the 4th inning in his start, allowing 4 runs in 3.2 innings. He was a slow starter last season, looks like he might need some time to round into form.


Hitter of the Week -

Richie Norman, .429/.455 with 4 doubles, 2 HR, and 8 rbi, as well as 6 runs scored.

Honorable mention(s) -

Orlando Reyes, .333, 1 double, 4 HR, 6 rbi, 5 runs scored. We need a lot from Reyes this year, the nice start included a 2 HR game.
Dean Walden, the rookie, batted .346 for the week, with a double, a HR, 6 rbi, and 3 stolen bags. After starting the season 0 for 7, Walden's first PEBA hit was a solo HR off Xavier Mota in the third game of the season.


Infielder Jose Rivera was lost for 4 months with a torn back muscle. We imagine we are looking at a mid to late August return for Rivera. In the meantime, we are likely to pull Josh Shaffer back off waivers and put him in the mix at 3b. John Dickson struggled this week at AAA, and after missing spring training he looks like he needs some extended work at AAA to round into shape. Tadamichi Sato was signed to a minor league contract this week, and he will also join the Ocelots, replacing Salvador Gonzalez as the utility infielder, for now.

The Ocelots opened a stretch where they play 20 of 23 games on the road by sweeping New Orleans down on the bayou. The death march continues this week with a trip to Kentucky for 3 games, then 4 games at Havana.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#148 Post by Matt »

The bullpen has troubled us all spring, and some changes are coming.

Carlos Rodriguez was kept on the squad because Jon Miller was injured in the spring and needs a rehab assignment. But in the lefty specialist role, Rodriguez faced one batter, a lefty, and gave up a majestic HR. Despite his minor league numbers, I could just never get comfortable with Rodriguez. Because he is out of options, he has earned a trip through the waiver wire.

Makoto Shimizu will be called up to take the spot in the bullpen until Jon Miller finishes his rehab assignment. It's been a little hard to keep Shimizu in the minors this year as it is, he has nothing else to prove at the minor league level.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#149 Post by Matt »

2023 Week 2

A 3-4 week that drops the Ocelots to 9-4 on the season. The big damage was done early in the week when RGV was swept in 3 games at Kentucky, but the Ocelots bounced back to take 3 of 4 from Havana on the island.

Worrisome was the 8 errors from the Ocelots this week, a team that prides itself on defense. 3 of the errors were made by pitchers, but 4 of the errors were made by guys whom are on the field as much for their gloves as anything else, with 3b Shaffer, SS Yi, C Glenn, and 1b Norman all kicking the ball around this week. Hopefully they have gotten that all out of their system and can get back to playing more traditional Ocelots type defense.

The injuries continued to mount, as reliever Travis Hanson was lost for 3 months with inflammation in the rotator cuff, while DH and cleanup hitter Jose Padilla was lost for 3 to 4 months with a hip strain.

LHP Shinji 'Gimmick" Kichida will be called up to take Hanson's spot in the middle of the bullpen. Signed a couple of weeks ago to a minor league deal, Kichida has mostly struggled at the PEBA and LRS level the last 4 seasons, but the Ocelots need a short term solution until Miller is ready to return from his rehab assignment. Short on lefties in the pen, Kichida gets a shot for a week or two.

Replacing Padilla in the lineup is a harder task. On the plus side, we can move Tessier to DH, which improves the defense by getting his glove off the field permanently. On the down side, it's near impossible to replace Padilla's power in the middle of the lineup. John Dickson gets recalled from his rehab assignment, with Tadamichi Sato being waived and designated for assignment. With Tessier off the infield, Dickson will return to the utility infielder spot. Francis Dixon is called up to take Padilla's roster spot for now. Dixon is a former supplemental round pick of the Crystal Lake Sandgnats back in 2016, but an injury history that would make Jose 'Glass" Camacho envious has stifled his development. He's an excellent defensive right fielder with a cannon for an arm, he shows some power to the gaps, could be dangerous against left handed pitching, and he's an excellent presence in the clubhouse. He'll fill in at RF for O against left handed pitching.

Hitter of the Week - Orlando Reyes continues his early season tear, hitting .333 with 3 HR and 6 rbi for the week, as well as stealing 3 bags. Reyes is batting .333 on the season, with 7 HR and 12 RBI in two weeks of play.

Honorable mention - C Darwin Boyer gets called up this past week with Koizumi being sent down, and Boyer responds by hitting .444 with 2 HR and 3 RBI in 4 games.

Hitting goat of the week: Takahiro Fujihara is out of the gate slow, batting .067 for the week, dropping his average after two weeks of play to .083.


Pitcher of the Week - Seon-kyun Yi, who goes the distance in a 12-3 win over Havana, allowing 6 hits, 3 ER, 0 walks, and striking out 7. Yi is 3-0 1.85 on the season.

Honorable mention - Atilio Gaivo, who allowed 1 run in 6.1 innings over 4 relief appearances. The early returns on Gaivo in the lefty setup role are promising, as he has a 1.35 ERA and 0.90 WHIP through the first two weeks.

Pitching Goat of the Week - Makoto Shimizu, 13.50 ERA in 3 appearances after getting called up this week to help in the bullpen.


AAA Texarkana - the Bandits are off to a 7-7 start after two weeks, good for a 3 way tie for 2nd, or last, depending on how you want to look at it. Lefty reliever Dan Field has not allowed a run in 7 relief appearances on the year. Starter Luis Reyes is 2-0 2.33 in 3 starts on the young season. 1b Jorge Mojica, signed to a minor league deal a week ago, batted .320 with 2 HR and 5 rbi on the week.


AA Medicine Hat - the Drillers are 7-7 on the season, good for second place, 3.5 games behind Ranma. SP Ryobei Kobayashi is finally getting some traction at AA, going 2-0 3.44 in his first 3 starts of the season. 1b Shigenobu Kawakami is batting .256/.411 with 5 HR, 11 RBI, and 12 BB on the season.
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Re: Kitty Litter - The RGV Ocelots Blog

#150 Post by Matt »

A 4-2 week for the Ocelots, highlighted by a 3 game sweep of the Featherheads in Florida. The offense got the speed game going, swiping 13 bags on the week. 11 of those were in the Florida series, with 6 coming in one game. Amador just didn't have a good series versus the Ocelots, as the Florida catcher allowed 11 of 12 to steal on the base paths and also allowed a passed ball. RGV came home from the sweep of Florida, and won the opener versus Manchester, but suddenly found the red hot offense cooled down in the final two games of the series.

Pitcher of the Week - Ruben Hernandez, 2 starts, 1 win, 3 runs allowed in 13 innings pitched. If there were any justice in the world, Hernandez would have had two wins on the week, as he pitched 8 shutout innings in the finale versus Manchester, only to watch closer Nunez blow the 1-0 lead when he gave up a 2 run HR to Doug Stokes. Hernandez is 2-1 3.91 on the season in 4 starts.

Honorable mention - Iwane Sato goes the distance in a 10-3 victory over Manchester, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits, 0 BB and 8 k's. Sato is 1-0 4.19 on the season.

Pitching Goat of the Week - Junichi Yoshino, who gave up 5 runs on 3 HR in 3 innings of work. Fortunately for the Ocelots, a big 5 run 9th by the visitors, propelled by 3 9th inning HR's, gave the Ocelots an 11-7 victory. Yoshino has had two starts since tweaking his back and leaving the start on the 10th, and both have been rather rough. Yoshino is 1-2 6.88 on the season in 4 starts.

Hitter of the Week - Mario Tessier, who moved to DH this week and filled in admirably, batting .304 with 2 doubles, 2 HR, and 6 RBI. Tessier is batting .259 with 3 HR and 13 RBI on the season.

Honorable mentions - Shigekazu Shimizu, .280/.357 with 2 doubles, 2 triples, a HR, 3 rbi, and a team leading 7 runs scored on the week. Shimizu is hitting .274 on the season with 2 HR and 7 rbi.
Orlando Reyes, who after putting on a power display the first two weeks, hit .350 and stole 5 bags this week. Reyes is batting .338 with 7 HR, 15 Rbi, and 8 stolen bags on the season.

Hitting Goat of the week - Takahiro Fujihara, who batted .154 for the week and continues mired in a season long slump. He is batting .108 on the season.

The team fielding was much better this week, with just 4 errors after last weeks disaster. And 2 of this weeks errors were committed by the pitchers.

Outside of the blown save by Nunez, the bullpen was excellent this week, allowing just 3 runs, 2 earned, in 18.1 innings amongst the 6 relievers not named Nunez. This weeks addition to the bullpen, Shinji Kichida, appeared twice, allowing no runs in 3 innings.

The only major injury in the organization this week was to SP Glenn Powell at A Nogales, who will be lost for 12 months with ligament reconstruction surgery to his elbow. Powell had a promising season at Nogales last season, so its sad to see him lost for the season.

AAA Texarkana was 2-4 on the week to fall to 9-11 on the season. Esteban Miranda had a triple, 3 HR, and 8 rbi on the week as he is apparently lobbying for a return to the DH role in RGV.

AA Medicine Hat was 1-5 on the week to fall to 8-12 on the season. Naoki Hayashi allowed 1 ER over 7.1 innings in a 5-3 victory. Hayashi is finally gaining some traction at AA, he is 2-2 3.51 on the season. 1b Kawakami continues his hot hitting, 2 doubles, a HR and 3 rbi while batting .429 on the week. He is batting .298/.438 with 6 HR and 14 rbi on the season.

A Nogales was 4-3 on the week. Orlando Mejia batted .320 with 2 HR and 9 rbi on the week.

A 7 game road trip for the Ocelots this week, with 3 at Hartford then 4 at New Jersey.
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