The first significant rounds of promotions have arrived, with Ted Cahill of Baseball America reporting that 23-year-old Jeremy Hazelbaker (.279/.389/.475) is getting the call-up to Double-A Portland, which of course means a number of counter-moves must be made.
While none of the other moves are completely clear, there are obvious answers and rumors to be had. Either Alex Hassan (.359/.472/.531) or Che-Hsuan Lin (.268/.373/.333) will presumably be leaving Portland for Pawtucket. Hassan is older and with much better numbers than Lin, but Lin's problem is power, and there's no real difference between leagues when what's really needed is muscle. The deciding factor could be that Lin will be Rule-5 eligible after this year, so having him capable of facing major league pitching without being overmatched as a replacement is more urgent than with Hassan if he's going to be taking up a 40-man spot.
Meanwhile, there's a pretty clear choice to move from Greenville to Salem. Bryce Brentz (.359/.414/.647) has nothing left to prove in Greenville, and should definitely be on his way up.
5/19
Salem L 0-1
Jeremy Hazelbaker: 1-4, K
Kolbrin Vitek: 1-4, 2B, K
Reynaldo Rodriguez: 0-4, 2 K
Pete Hissey: 0-4, K
Chris Balcom-Miller: 6 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
-And so CBM joins the elite company of pitchers to take the loss in a one-hitter.
Greenville W 6-5 (In 11)
Bryce Brentz: 0-5, K
Miles Head: 2-5, HR, K
-Head also reaches double digits in homers.
Brandon Jacobs: 0-4
Christian Vazquez: 0-1, K
David Renfroe: 0-4, K
Manny Rivera: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 3 HR
-From 2 homers allowed in 34 innings, to 8 in 42. That's something right there, especially since he's had a decent number of groundballs in the games.
Keith Couch: 2.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, E
Juan Rodriguez: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
5/20
Pawtucket Game 1 W 5-2 (Continued from 5/19)
Jose Iglesias: 0-3, K
Josh Reddick: 1-4, HR, K
Lars Anderson: 2-4, K
Luis Exposito: 2-4, K
Jason Rice: 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Pawtucket Game 2 L 0-3 (In 7)
Tony Thomas: 1-3, K, E
Josh Reddick: 0-3, K
Lars Anderson: 0-3, K
Michael McKenry: 1-2, BB
Jose Iglesias: 0-2
Portland L 1-3
Che-Hsuan Lin: 2-4, BB, SB
Alex Hassan: 0-3, BB, 2 K
Ryan Lavarnway: 1-4, 2 K
Tim Federowicz: 0-4
Will Middlebrooks: 0-3, BB, K
Oscar Tejeda: 0-3, BB, K, E
Alex Wilson: 6 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Salem W 7-4
Jeremy Hazelbaker: 0-3, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 SB, A
-A full if not spectacular line for his last appearance in Salem.
Pete Hissey: 2-3, 2 2B, 2 BB, 2 SB
Kolbrin Vitek: 1-4, BB, 2 K
Reynaldo Rodriguez: 0-3, 2 BB
Junichi Tazawa: 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
-Not a brilliant return, but what do you expect? Fastball touched around 87.
Greenville W 9-3
Bryce Brentz: 3-5, HR
-Not quite as full a line, but rather more spectacular for his departure--if, indeed, he's on his way out. Make it 11 homers in Greenville.
Miles Head: 1-4, BB, SB
Christian Vazquez: 2-4, SB, E
Brandon Jacobs: 0-3
-Regression to the mean for Jacobs, whose BABIP is still a garish .440