August 27, 2011
Minor league notebook: Eastern League All-Stars named
by Roger Brown/
Three players from the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, two players from the Portland Sea Dogs and one player from the New Britain Rock Cats were named to the Eastern League's season-ending All-Star Team, which was announced Thursday.
New Hampshire catcher Travis d'Arnaud, New Hampshire shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, New Hampshire outfielder Anthony Gose, Portland third baseman Will Middlebrooks, Portland outfielder Chih-Hsien Chiang and New Britain second baseman Yangervis Solarte are among the All-Star selections.
►D'Arnaud leads the Eastern League in slugging percentage (.552) and is third in batting average (.321). He leads the Fisher Cats in hits (126), home runs (19), total bases (217) and on-base percentage (.382). Baseball America has him ranked as the Eastern League's top defensive catcher and the No. 5 prospect in Toronto's minor league organization.
►Gose leads the Eastern League in stolen bases (61) and broke New Hampshire's previous record for stolen bases in a season. Darin Mastroianni stole 46 bases in 2006. Gose leads New Hampshire in games played (126), triples (seven) and walks (59), and ranks third in the league in runs scored (78). Baseball American has him rated as Toronto's No. 4 prospect.
►Hechavarria leads all Eastern League shortstops with a .974 fielding percentage. He hit .235 with 22 doubles, six triples, six home runs, 58 runs scored, 46 RBI and 19 stolen bases when he was promoted to Triple-A on Aug. 11.
►Chiang hit .340 with 18 home runs, 37 doubles, 76 RBI and 68 runs scored in 88 games with Portland this season before he was traded to Seattle on July 31 as part of the package for pitcher Erik Bedard. He led the league in batting average, runs scored, RBI, doubles, extra-base hits (59) and slugging percentage (.648) at the time of the trade.
►Middlebrooks was leading the Eastern League in RBIs (80) when he was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket on Aug. 19. Boston selected Middlebrooks in the fifth round of the 2007 draft. He hit .302 with 18 home runs in 96 games with the Sea Dogs this season.
►Solarte is hitting .318 with 30 doubles, three triples, five home runs, 55 runs scored and 40 RBI in 109 games with New Britain. He ranks sixth among Eastern League players in batting average, tied for 10th in hits (129) and tied for 10th in doubles (30).
The rest of the team includes first baseman Tyler Moore (Harrisburg), outfielder Starling Marte (Altoona), utility player Josh Satin (Binghamton), designated hitter Matt Rizzotti (Reading), right-handed pitcher Brad Peacock (Harrisburg), left-handed pitcher Eric Surkamp (Richmond) and relief pitcher Cory Burns (Akron).
Pitch Men
Triple-A Pawtucket owned a .500 record (32-32) on June 14, but has put itself in position to make the International League playoffs by going 41-16 since then.
Pawtucket ranks 14th (last) among International League teams in batting average (.252), but is second in team ERA (3.55).
Downward trend
Portland was officially eliminated from Eastern League playoff contention following Wednesday's 9-3 setback against Harrisburg. The loss stretched the team's losing streak to seven games and punctuated an 0-6 homestand.
Portland entered Thursday night's game against Reading needing at least eight victories in its final 12 games to avoid the worst record in franchise history. Portland finished 60-81 in 1984, the team's inaugural year in the Eastern League.
Benson bounces back
New Britain center fielder Joe Benson, Minnesota's second-round pick in 2006, missed all but one game in June with a torn meniscus in his left knee, but appeared to be in mid-season form when he returned from the injury.
Benson hit .309 with 18 RBI in July. He was batting .283 with 14 home runs and 57 RBI in 99 games this season.
