Almonte returns

Some housecleaning:

• Zach McAllister has been promoted to High-A Tampa. Just 12 days ago Brian Cashman said the plan was to keep Z-Mac in Charleston all year long. A 19-yr old in High-A is pretty insane, he’ll be facing better competition than he would have if he followed through on his commitment to Nebraska. It’ll be a nice test for him. (h/t Pending Pinstripes)
• Dellin Betances has a tired shoulder, just like Dice-K. I’m not surprised, he’s just gotta rest up and get healthy. I’m pretty sure I wrote this after he was drafted, but he’s a long term project, and this is just part of the process. Not everyone flies through the system like Hughes.

Triple-A Scranton (5-2 loss to Pawtucket)
Brett Gardner & Bernie Castro: both 1 for 3 – Gardner K’ed & was caught stealing
Alberto Gonzalez: 0 for 4, 2 K
Jason Lane & Chris Stewart: both 0 for 3, 1 K – Lane was hit by a pitch, stole a base & scored a run
Ben Broussard & Justin Christian: both 1 for 4, 1 K – Christian scored a run
Greg Porter: 2 for 4, 1 2B
Danny McCutchen: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 5-5 GB/FB – AAA hasn’t been so kind
Steven White: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 1 HB, 1-5 GB/FB – 27 of 50 pitches were strikes (54%)
David Robertson: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Double-A Trenton (7-4 win over New Hampshire)
Ramiro Pena, Austin Jackson & Pj Pilittere: all 1 for 4, 1 R – Pena committed a fielding error … Ajax drew a walk, stole a base & K’ed
Colin Curtis: 3 for 5, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 K
Edwar Gonzalez: 2 for 4, 1 2B, 1 BB – all he does is hit doubles
Cody Ehlers: 1 for 2, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Jose Tabata & Carlos Mendoza: both 0 for 2 – Mendoza K’ed
Kevin Russo: 3 for 4, 1 R, 1 3B, 1 RBI
Reegie Corona: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB
George Kontos: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 4-10 GB/FB – 55-20 K/BB ratio in his last 58.2 IP
Zack Kroenke: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 E (missed catch)
Mike Gardner: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

High-A Tampa (5-4 win over Lakeland) the opposing starter threw 383 pitches in a span of 8 days during the 2006 College World Series, and it took about 18 months before he finally regained his stuff, but I digress
Damon Sublett: 0 for 0, 1 BB – left the game right after the very first plate appearance of the game with a foot injury, which stemmed from a take-out slide in yesterday’s game as he stood in on a double play
Chris Kunda, Mitch Hilligoss & James Cooper: all 0 for 4 – Kunda was caught stealing & K’ed … Hilligoss committed a throwing error … Cooper scored a run & K’ed
Andres Perez: 1 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 RBI
Kyle Anson & Luis Nunez: both 0 for 3, 1 K – Anson drew a walk & committed a throwing error
Ben Blumenthal: 2 for 4, 1 R, 2 2B, 1 K
Kevin Smith: 3 for 4, 1 R, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 K
Timmy Battle: 2 for 3, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K, 1 CS – picked off first
Grant Duff: 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 8-1 GB/FB – keeping a spot warm for McAllister
Phil Bartlewski: 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Jose Valdez: 1.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Josh Schmidt: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Low-A Charleston (2-1 win over Hickory)
Abe Almonte: 1 for 3, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI – the offense just wasn’t the same without him
Justin Snyder: 2 for 4, 1 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 BB
Brandon Laird, Braedyn Pruitt & Carmen Angelini: all 1 for 3 – Laird drew a walk … Angelini swiped a bag
Jesus Montero: 1 for 4, 1 2B – 16 doubles in 51 games
Austin Romine & Taylor Holiday: both 0 for 3, 1 K
Jairo Heredia: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HB, 3-0 GB/FB – slowly working his way back
Noel Castillo: 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 10-3 GB/FB
Jon Ortiz: 1 IP, zeroes, 2 K