Watching Korey Lee for a second straight day, I'm still not seeing a reason that he should replace Yasmani Grandal ASAP. He struck out on three pitches in his first two plate appearances, and the only ball he put in play was a 67.8 mph chopper over the mound.
That said, one thing I didn't appreciate until watching him the last couple of days is that he's actually pretty fast for a catcher. He beat out that infield single, and then he ended up stealing second after drawing a walk in his final plate appearance.
It shouldn't have surprised me, given that he stole 24 bases in 29 attempts over his last two seasons at Triple-A, but I think I was too distracted by the debate over his bat. His sprint speed with the Astros rated in the 71st percentile, and it looked the part in live action.
As for his defense, he wasn't tested the way Adam Hackenberg had to contain pitch after pitch in the dirt with runners on base Friday, but that's a good thing. Six Knights pitchers held the Nashville Sounds to three hits, three walks and two plunked batters over nine innings, and the only stolen base attempt came on a ball four, so Lee's arm wasn't tested.
Charlotte 5, Nashville 1
- Korey Lee singled, walked, struck out twice and stole a base.
- Jordan Leasure: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HBP
Notes:
*Leasure sat 97-98 with his fastball, and 88-89 with his slider. The control seems fine, the command needs work.
Chattanooga 6, Birmingham 3
- José Rodríguez went 2-for-5 with two strikeouts and two stolen baes.
- Colson Montgomery came up a homer shy of the cycle during a 3-for-5 night, striking out once.
- Bryan Ramos was 2-for-5 with a strikeout.
- Wilfred Veras struck out thrice during an 0-for-5 night.
- Edgar Quero did the same while going 0-for-4 with a walk.
- Tim Elko went 3-for-5 with a double.
- Luis Mieses, 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
- Alsander Womack went 4-for-5.
- Terrell Tatum, 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Ky Bush pitched five shutout innings, but finished with this line: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 2 HR.; He threw 55 of 83 pitches for strikes.
Notes:
*See how I listed everybody in the lineup? That's something. Here's Montgomery postgame:
Winston-Salem 6, Greenville 5
- Loidel Chapelli went 1-for-3 with two walks, a strikeout and two stolen bases.
- Jacob Burke was 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout.
- Brooks Baldwin went 1-for-4 with a homer, walk and strikeout.
- DJ Gladney was 1-for-3 with a homer, walk and strikeout.
- Mason Adams: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR
- Andrew Dalquist somehow picked up the win with this line: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 3 K, 2 WP, 14 of 42 pitches for strikes.
Kannapolis 3, Carolina 0
- Jacob Gonzalez hit his first A-ball homer, making the most of his 1-for-4.
- Calvin Harris went 2-for-4.
- Jordan Sprinkle, 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
- Peyton Pallette: 3.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 4 K, 36 of 62 pitches for strikes.
Highlights:
*Gonzalez's homer was a little anticlimactic.
ACL Reds 5, ACL White Sox 4
- Ronny Hernandez had a perfect night at DH, doubling, singling and drawing two walks.
- Erick Hernandez walked once and struck out twice.
- Jake Peppers: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K
DSL White Sox 6, DSL Mets Orange 5
- Javier Mogollon drove in five runs with a pair of homers during his 2-for-4 day.
- D'Angelo Tejada wore the collar and silver sombrero.
- Abraham Nunez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
