Well, there was certainly a massive Down to start with this month, eh? By now you know that Rickey Tiedemann will be undergoing Tommy John surgery tomorrow (Tuesday) and it feels like a system-wide down given that he’s the third Top 10 pitcher in the organization to lose at least a year to elbow surgery. Other pitchers have lost significant time to injury as well so every time one of them returns from the Injured List, it feels like an outsized triumph.

Anyway, I should get into what’s been happening when guys DO play (Most stats cited are through Monday’s off-day).

After taking a month to get his feet under him in AAA, OF Alan Roden may be getting his rhythm. Over the last two weeks, he’s hitting .324/.410/.500 which, yes, it’s just 39 PA but in the context of a month that doesn’t offer much to highlight for the Bisons’ offense (partly because the best of it is already in Toronto) I’ll award him an UP and hope it’s not just a passing hot streak. Also worth noting is that during his two-week demotion in mid-July, Addison Barger threw up a .927 OPS. On the other hand, once super-hot 3B/1B Riley Tirotta has slid into a cold snap. He’s hitting .189 over his last 12 games. Normally I wouldn’t count that a big enough sample for a Down but since I rewarded Rhoden for a similarly small sample I guess I must.

On the pitching side, let’s give an UP to Bowden Francis (who will have been recalled again by the time you read this). After having gotten touched up a few times working out of Toronto’s ‘pen, he came down to Buffalo and threw nine innings of two-hit shutout ball, striking out 13 against a single walk. Don’t dismiss him yet. A mild nod also to three relievers I’ve mentioned before who haven’t been down lately (or at all) this season, so are not technically set to take an up, who were a little off in June but are all back on track – Brandon Eisert, Mason Fluharty, and Hayden Juenger. Earning a Down is Chad Dallas who seemed to have found himself again after coming off the IL in June, but he’s gotten knocked around in 3-of-4 July starts before being listed as injured again. I have to be fair and hand a Down also to my guy Eric Pardinho, who’s struggled with the strike zone since moving up to AAA and paid for it with a 7.11 ERA in the early going.

The one big Up among hitters here goes to 1B Rainer Nunez. He ran up an .824 OPS in July (so far, technically) after having cooled some (from his above-average May) in June. It’s kinda thin, I admit, but most of these guys either held steady or got worse so he stands out a bit. Nunez has an .808 OPS since May 1. I’ve got one for OF Gabe Martinez too, who had his first (comparatively) good month in AA by hitting .293 with a .756 OPS.  On the other hand, SS Josh Kasavich, who began the season hot after being listed 15 or better on most preseason prospect lists, continues to falter at the plate registering a paltry .520 OPS in July. That’s a Down even for a guy who wasn’t hitting well in June. Ryan McCarty was very hot over his first month in AA (.888 OBP), but July hasn’t been so kind. He gets a Down for his .639 OPS this month.

I want to brag on Trenton Wallace but he just keeps being so good that he doesn’t fit the Up/Down format (I may have to rethink this before next year). The Organization gave him a better up, though, getting promoted on Tuesday to AAA (WELL earned). Anyway, let me extend an Up to Devereaux Harrison. He’s stepped up his game in July for a 2.74 ERA but more to be noticed: Early in the season he had strikeouts, but way too many walks (30 in his first 44.1 IP). In June, he got a better grip on the strike zone but the K rate was down. In July, in 23 IP he struck out 23 and walked just six. That plays a lot better.

Got to give one to CJ Van Eck too, although given his wild roller-coaster season it looks like he’ll get one or the other every month. After a 10.07 ERA in June, it’s a much more respectable 3.47 in July. Mainly due to giving up less contact and fewer homers. Most of the relievers are either continuing to be good or continuing to be not good, but there are a couple of special cases I want to mention. The organization has been bouncing Nick Fraze up and down to AAA as each team has a need and so it’s harder to spot trend lines. But during his last run in Buffalo, he had just one rough outing and over 25 innings otherwise, he had a 1.80 ERA, just 5 walks and 26 strikeouts. The other name worth noticing is Braydon Fisher, just promoted this weekend to Buffalo, who came over in the Biggio trade. He had a 2.76 ERA for New Hampshire and 26 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. He’d been struggling in the Dodgers org but that was in the PCL Walks have always been his issue, and this is too small a sample yet to know if he’s improved on that.

To be honest, I can’t find a place to drop an Up on this offence. I guess I’ll nod to free agent catcher Robert Brooks who was released last spring (2023) by the Rays complex league team. He’s put up a (relatively) impressive .816 OPS for the C’s so far after coming on board in early June and just got promoted to AA. Similarly, there’s not a hard Down here – a lot of guys who were struggling still are. Some who were doing okay like Payton Williams are off a bit but nothing to really report on.

A minor Up goes to Carson Pierce, who moved into the rotation this month and responded with nine innings over two starts allowing just one run. Kendry Rojas came off of the IL and has a 1.98 ERA in the three games since. But, ya know, he’s been being good for a while. Juran Watts-Brown and Connor O’Halloran both get Downs as their transition to High-A has been rough. In both cases, too many walks and JWB has the better ERA at 6.43 which… is not what you hope for. A few “non-prospect” relievers (old for the level, overdue for promotion yet not) keep doing fine work and given this short write-up on Vancouver, I’ll tip my metaphorical cap to Conor Larkin, Grayson Thurman and Jon Lavallee.

Maybe the best news in the system is my big Up for Arjun Nimmala. He’s cooled a bit in the contact department but the power is there (along with more than a strikeout per game). Since he came back from the tune-up over in the complex he has an .850 OPS. Catcher Nick Deschamps earned a promotion to Vancouver this weekend partly with an .845 OPS in July (after a cold .619 in June) so an Up for him to go with that. After a cold May, Victor Arias put up a .860 OPS in June. Hard to top that but he did, with a line of .313/.436/.531/.967 in July. He’s two years older than Arjun and Vancouver could really use a bat like his. Similarly, 1B Christian Feliz might get a promotion at some point, albeit he could make better contact. Still, when he does, it’s impressive. He has a .940 OPS in July after slumping hard over the second half of June.

Mild Up for Grant Rogers, the 6’7″ 11th-round choice last year had a rough May but has steadily delivered solid work since and just got promoted to Vancouver. Some credit is due also. Consider it possibly a past-due Up, for Irv Carter. He was considered a minor steal when drafted, but he got knocked around a little in his first season (’22) and knocked around a LOT last year trying to start. So they shifted him exclusively to the bullpen this season and while it was ordinary in April, he’s steadily gotten better since. Stretching back to June 5 he’s thrown 29.2 IP and surrendered just 4 runs (1.21 ERA), allowing 14 hits and striking out 29. Seems overdue for a promotion too. Similarly, there’s Bo Bonds. He caught my eye when he was drafted because, to be honest, I just liked the name. But injuries limited him to 3.1 innings last season. This year he started a few weeks late and was getting touched up some for his first six weeks or so. But in 10 appearances in June and July he’s got a 1.98 ERA with 4 walks and 22 K in 13.2 IP. It’s a small sample but a nice trend.

Played their last game on July 25 and most of these guys are going to need to work on some things for the rest of their time in camp. The one guy who gets an Up for the season is 3B Kendry Chinos. The 19-year-old Venezuelan got to June with a line of .215/.320/.308 and since that point through the end of the season, he hit .373/.440/.560 in 84 PA. Maybe he stole some of that mojo from highly-ranked prospect Emanuel Bonilla. The bonus-baby outfielder was hitting .298/.368/.479 through June 8 then went over the most massive cliff I may have ever seen. Since that peak, he went 7 for 100, with one triple and one homer among those few hits. And he struck out 46 times. Just completely lost. That will get you an epic Down.

On the pitching side, all I can do is give a Down to each of the two SPs who were early on considered the two guys here who might have an upside. Lefty Christopher Castro in seven of his first eight outings got good results. Take out one train wreck (where he has charged with 7 ER less than 2 IP) and he had a 2.05 ERA at the end of June. But he put up a 5.87 ERA in four July outings while walking 13 in 15.1 IP. The other, RHP Sam Colmenares, was not as untouchable over the early months, putting up a 4.28 ERA through the first of July but he struck out 32 in 27.1 IP. And yet he was an absolute mess in July with an 8.74 ERA and yes, over a walk per inning.

The Dominican squad still has three weeks to go, but there’s a clear two tiers among the hitters. Awkwardly for my format, not a lot of up-and-down movement. Bonus baby catcher Franklin Rojas gets a tentative nod. He came off the IL in late June and was pretty cold for his first 21 AB (hitting just .190) but then found his feet and has gone 6-for-19 since. Small sample but I noticed. Oh, and overall he has 12 walks against just six strikeouts which is a good sign at this level. A full Up goes to OF Yorman Licourt who was okay in June with a .719 OPS but has really picked it up in July with an .899 OPS

Bending the format a tiny bit to salute 21-year-old Cuban Silvano Hechavarria who is frankly just too advanced for this league. His first start here saw him allow four runs in 3.0 IP  and in 31 IP since he has a 1.16 ERA with nine walks and 31 K. I’m wondering given that he’s old for the league as he won’t get to Dunedin before the D-Jays are done. Sann Omasako was nearly untouchable before his last two outings but that sample is way too small for me to analyze. Also, I don’t know how to make this fit the format, but I have to mention Angel Rivero. On July 6 they let him carry ELEVEN earned runs in 1.1 innings. Take out that one start and he has a 1.75 ERA in his other 20.1 IP over seven starts.