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Midwest League
Kane County Cougars (Oakland Athletics)
Well, the Cougars horrible season just seems to roll on – they are 26 games below .500, and have been in the bottom half of the Western Division all year long. The team has been getting better, though – at least the starting pitching has not been nearly as horrible as earlier.
Andrew Bailey started eleven games for the Cougars from May through July before a recent promotion to Stockton (High-A). His last two outings for the Cougars saw him last at least seven innings after not having done that in any of his previous nine starts. In the last two starts, Bailey surrendered five hits each outing, and a combined two earned runs and three walks. Andrew also struck out 18 in those outings.
Trevor Cahill has struggled since coming to the Cougars in mid-May. In his last outing, he made it through just two innings and it was not pretty. The previous four, however, were solid, including a seven inning, six hit performance against Burlington on June 16. The next three after that were all quality starts – a minimum six innings with three or fewer runs. Unfortunately for Cahill, he was just 1-2 in those three thanks to mediocre offensive support.
Possibly the best starter for the Cougars the last month or so has been Henry Rodriguez. He went five innings, giving up two hits and one walk against South Bend on July 15. Before that, he has gone more than five innings in each of his last six outings.
Offensively, the Athletics supplemental first round pick, Sean Doolittle, came to the Cougars a couple of weeks ago, and has been hitting in the middle of the order and getting his fair share of playing time at first. He has been hitting pretty well, he just has not really driving the ball that much yet. He did hit his first pro homer this past week.
Matt Smith, another draft pick from this year’s draft, has been solid behind the plate. He has a little trouble with his pitching staff since some of them do not know where the ball is going. He has been blocking the ball well, though. Smith also has been a good singles hitter so far for the Cougars.
Jermaine Mitchell has been getting on base and has been a real bright spot for the Cougars on the offensive side all year long. He can flat out fly down the base paths. He needs to use the speed a little better as he tries to muscle the ball a little too much, but the speed is most definitely there.
Mike Massaro, who has been the center fielder for the Cougars and the leadoff man for almost two years, has been solid. He gets on base and knows how to get around the bases. His center field instincts are good.
Right fielder Ramiro Mendez needs a compass sometimes to figure out where the ball is, as his routes to the ball are horrible. At the plate, he has had a little trouble hitting for much power.
A sleeper for the pitching staff might be Jason Fernandez, who was a starter last year for Vancouver. Fernandez has done a fantastic job out of the bullpen for the Cougars. When given regular work, he is superb, and he pitched great when he got a start for the Cougars a couple of weeks ago. He does not have the best stuff, but he seems to just know how to get outs.
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