Mark Teahen's fractured finger triggered a flurry of activity in the minor-league ranks. Here's a list of all the movement that happened in its wake:
- Brent Lillibridge took Teahen's place on the 25-man roster.
- Brent Morel took Lillibridge's place at Charlotte.
- C.J. Retherford headed back down to Birmingham.
- Robert Hudson took his place at Charlotte.
And somewhere along the line, Erick Threets returned to action and Jhonny Nunez received a call to Charlotte as well.
Oh, and Trayce Thompson is out for a couple months after undergoing thumb surgery (h/t Larry).
So with all that on the table for the month ahead, let's take a look at what happened in the minors to get to this point.
CHARLOTTE KNIGHTS
Record: 21-31 (tied for last place)
Team offense: .692 OPS (12th in IL)
Team pitching: 4.58 ERA (12th in IL)
PITCHING DEPTH AT THE READY
Daniel Hudson
6-2, 4.56 ERA, 53 1/3 IP, 54 H, 8 HR, 16 BB, 62 K
It looks like Hudson just wanted to put a little scare in us. He's back to his old self and then some.
- April: 2-2, 9.37 ERA, 16 1/3 IP, 6 HR, 8 BB, 18 K, .352 BAA
- May: 4-0, 2.43 ERA, 37 IP, 2 HR, 8 BB, 44 K, .210 BAA.
The scouting reports are favorable, so it looks like he's merely waiting for a chance. Funny how it looked like Freddy Garcia was the most replaceable, and now it's Jake Peavy.
Carlos Torres
3-5, 3.68 ERA, 66 IP, 55 H, 7 HR, 24 BB, 69 K
You can take Hudson's storyline and apply it to Torres. He hasn't reached Hudson's extremes, but he's looking quite like the guy who dominated Triple-A last season.
He's been very good against righties (.171 BAA; .274 against lefties), so, as always, he's a great swingman candidate. The only problem is that Tony Pena is already playing that role pretty well.
ONE STEP FORWARD
Dayan Viciedo
.286/.323/.519, 10 2B, 11 HR, 5 BB, 42 K over 185 AB
So far, the shape of Viciedo's 2010 season is looking a lot like his 2009, but he's ahead of the curve. He hit for better contact in May last year; he's hitting for better contact plus power this time around, to the tune of a .304/.355/.588 month.
There are concerns when looking at his splits:
Lefty/righty: He's got a .295 OBP and 36 strikeouts to two walks against right-handed pitching over 147 at-bats.
Home/away: He's slugging 200 points higher at Knights Stadium (.631 SLG)
Add in the gigantic chasm between the walks and strikeouts, and he's still got a lot of learning to do. But he's making good progress, and has been hit by five pitches, which is helping him offset that difference a little.
TWO STEPS BACK
Tyler Flowers
.208/.311/.424, 5 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 19 BB, 57 K
Flowers ended his month mired in a 3-for-39 slump with 18 strikeouts. He said that he was trying to implement some changes suggested by Greg Walker, but they don't seem to be working. Next month will be a big one.
Jordan Danks
.237/.311/.366, 14 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 18 BB, 64 K, 10-for-12 SB
Flowers' struggles have overshadowed the fact that Danks has been awful, himself. He hit .206/.271/.290 with 40 strikeouts and zero homers over 107 at-bats in May. Buck Coats is your emergency left-handed outfielder for the time being.
NEVER GOT STARTED
C.J. Retherford
.201/.249/.321, 7 2B, 4 HR, 8 BB, 30 in 69 ABs
Retherford lost all momentum when he ended his month with a 2-for-22 skid. After his numbers declined nearly all the way across the board, he's back in Birmingham.
BIRMINGHAM BARONS
Record: 18-32 (last place)
Team offense: .646 OPS (last in SL)
Team pitching: 3.97 ERA (8th in SL)
CHARLOTTE-BOUND
Brent Morel
.324/.375/.434, 12 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 14 BB, 36 K, 5-for-10 SB
Morel stamped his pass to Triple-A with an outstanding month, as he hit .352/.405/.467. He had some problems with strikeouts early in the month, but he seemed to eliminate that issue over the last couple of weeks. He also picked up his running game, successful on 5-for-7 attempts after going without a stolen base in April.
His home/road splits were virtually identical, except he managed to slug 40 points better at home, which is no easy feat. The Sox have been patient with Morel for a couple years, so it will be interesting to see how he responds to a faster track.
Jhonny Nunez
1-4, 3.71 ERA, 51 IP, 53 H, 3 HR, 17 BB, 38 K
Nunez had a nice May in terms of results (2.05 ERA, .231 BAA), but there isn't much to show it peripherally. His walk rate is decent, but his strikeout and groundball rates are nothing special. I wonder if they're going to turn him back into a reliever in Charlotte, perhaps as new right-handed relief blood in case they trade J.J. Putz.
BEST OF THE REST
Charlie Shirek
2-1, 2.36 ERA, 49 1/3 IP, 48 H, 0 HR, 12 BB, 27 K
Nine of the 13 earned runs allowed by Shirek this season have come over his last two starts. Moreover, he's only thrown 5 2/3 innings combined. His numbers for the season are still good, but considering his health history, it's not the greatest way to close out a month.
Christian Marrero
.245/.369/.346, 7 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 30 BB, 31 K in 159 AB
Marrero's strange season continues. He's topped his 2009 walk total in two months, but he's still wanting for extra-base power in a big way despite some small across-the-board improvements. Some more oddities -- he's a left-handed hitter who's hitting lefties way better (.813 OPS to .672), and his OPS away from Regions Park is below .700. Like I said, weird year, and not particularly encouraging.
Brandon Hynick
1-0, 2.89 ERA, 9 1/3 IP, 11 H, 0 HR, 2 BB, 5 K.
Not much to report here, except that Hynick is finally up and running with two starts under his belt. He should be in Triple-A once he gets to full strength.
Shelby dramatically improved his walk rate last season, but saw his average and slugging drop. He went back to his old ways starting 2010, but has drawn all five of his walks over his last seven games. He's a hard guy to figure out.
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Minor league roundup:
- Charlotte 3, Pawtucket 2
- Flowers doubled! But he also struck out twice.
- Danks also struck out twice, and laid down a sac bunt.
- Threets threw a scoreless inning in his return, allowing just a hit.
- Tennessee 3, Birmingham 0
- Justin Edwards allowed two runs on five hits and three walks over seven innings. Both runs came on one swing, and he struck out one.
- Marrero went 0-for-2 with two walks.
- Winston-Salem 9, Potomac 1
- Brandon Short went 2-for-5 with a triple and an RBI. He struck out once.
- Eduardo Escobar singled twice, walked once and struck out once. He drove in two.
- Jon Gilmore joined the above teammates with a pair of singles over five at-bats.
- And Justin Greene had two hits, driving in one.
- Stephen Sauer allowed one run on four hits and four walks over 6 2/3 innings, striking out five.
- Kyle Bellamy (1 1/3 IP, 1 BB, 1 K) and Santos Rodriguez (1 IP, 1 H, 2 K) contributed scoreless relief.
- Greenville 2, Kannapolis 0
- Kyle Colligan went 3-for-4.
- Brady Shoemaker drew the collar and struck out twice.
