Athletics Minor League Baseball Blog

Jermaine Mitchell was promoted pretty quickly but when he was with the Rockhounds, he, well, rocked.  He belted 15 doubles, 13 triples and 10 home runs in 74 games and he finished with an impressive 1.042 OPS.   He was also second on the team with 67 runs despite the limited time with the Double-A affiliate.

Michael Spina led the team with 75 RBIs and he was second on the team with 32 doubles in 129 games for Midland. He had a solid .803 OPS and he also led the team with 70 walks.

Adam Heether led the team with 13 home runs and he did it while striking out just 72 times.  His OPS was .786.  So the Rockhounds didn’t have a ton of home run talent, but they definitely have some power and it’ll be interesting to see what these guys can do when the get to the PCL.

When your pitcher that led the team in innings finished with a 7.08 ERA, you  know your pitching stars are going to be few and far between.  Still, here were the guys to keep an eye on going forward that posted solid numbers for the Rockhounds in 2011.

Ethan Hollingsworth was one of the more effective starters.  In 94 2/3 innings, he finished with a 3.61 ERA but he struck out just 66 versus a nice 23 walks.  For Midland he kept the ball down and induced a ground ball well more then half the time.  He’s a pitch to contact guy though and a right hander at that so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of success he has at the big league level.

Trey Barham had a 2.95 ERA in 61 innings although he’s a lot like Hollingsworth.  Pitch to contact and he gets his share of ground balls.  He only gave up five home runs in 61 innings which is nice.  He’s also 26 now so he’s well past prospect status.

Neil Wagner was the hard thrower with 53 strikeouts (and just 13 walks) in 37 1/3 innings. He finished with a 3.38 before he was sent to Sacramento.  He also gets a lot of ground balls but he also has the strikeouts to go with them.  He’s also older (he’ll be 28 in January) so he’s hardly a prospect anymore but he’s a solid guy to have in the pen.