Last year, a jump to an upper level of the minors gave Ian Hamilton a reality check. But he handled Birmingham with no issues his second time around this season, and Charlotte isn't posing him a challenge over his first 16 games at Triple-A.
Hamilton has a 1.86 ERA over 19⅓ innings with peripherals to match -- 16 hits, four walks to 21 strikeouts. Baseball America profiled him this week, and said that reliever was the role he was supposed to play all along.
With the burden of pacing himself for seven innings at a time off his back, Hamilton’s stuff jumped up. On Monday night against Buffalo, he sat between 97-99 mph with his fastball and touched 100 mph once. He finished his inning with a flourish, striking out Jason Leblebijian with a wicked 92 mph slider. [...]
Beyond the success in the stat line, Hamilton is having more fun letting it go for an inning at a time.
“I hated throwing five or six innings, sitting down for however long it was and waiting to throw again,” he said. “Here, it’s like throw one day and the next day you could be hot again. If not, the next day after that, so it’s a quick bounceback.”
Buffalo 4, Charlotte 2
- Ryan Cordell went 2-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Eloy Jimenez, 1-for-4 with a walk.
- Jose Rondon went 0-for-4 with a K.
- Seby Zavala, 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.
Tennessee 1, Birmingham 0
- Luis Basabe went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Danny Mendick was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Zack Collins walked twice and struck out twice.
- Alex Call went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jameson Fisher, 0-for-3 with a K.
Buies Creek 5, Winston-Salem 0
- Luis Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Luis Robert was 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
- Blake Rutherford, 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
- Gavin Sheets, 1-for-3 with a K.
- Laz Rivera and Ti'Quan Forbes both were 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
Kannapolis 7, Augusta 6
- Luis Curbelo wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Steele Walker went 1-for-3 with a double, an HBP and a stolen base.
- Carlos Perez went 1-for-3 with a sac fly.
- Will Kincanon: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 1 WP
- Andrew Perez: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
Ogden 10, Great Falls 4
- Romy Gonzalez went 0-for-4 with a walk and three strikeouts.
- Lenyn Sosa, 0-for-4 with a K.
- Bryce Bush went 2-for-4 with a double.
- So did Amado Nunez, who also struck out.
- Maiker Feliz went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Gunnar Troutwine doubled, singled and struck out twice.
- Codi Heuer: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
AZL White Sox 10, AZL Reds 6
- Anderson Comas went 1-for-6 with a double and two strikeouts.
- Kelvin Maldonado went 1-for-6 with two strikeouts.
- Lency Delgado was 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Camilo Quintero walked in both of his plate appearances.
- Harvin Mendoza went 3-for-6 with a double.
- Cabera Weaver, 2-for-5 with two strikeouts and a stolen base.
- Luis Mieses went 2-for-5.
- Sam Abbott, 0-for-3 with two walks and a strikeout.
- Brayant Nova went 3-for-4 with a steal.
- Hunter Kiel: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
DSL White Sox 4, DSL Orioles 3
- Sidney Pimentel went 1-for-4 with a strikeout.
- Jose Rodriguez, 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Jerrick Francees was 0-for-2.
