WINLESS IN ATLANTIC LEAGUE, SCARPETTA PART OF CAROLINA LEAGUE NO-HIT HISTORY

Cody Scarpetta could not even collect a victory (0-2, 5.13) in his eight starts for the Lancaster (PA) Barnstormers this season, but the 25-year-old already has two wins in his first three starts in the Carolina League.  Oh yes, the onetime Milwaukee draft choice from Guilford, IL also played a major part in a no-hitter. Scarpetta made history for Lynchburg, VA Friday night, hurling the Hillcats to their second consecutive no-hitter for the Atlanta Braves Class A farm club.  Since pitchers in affiliated leagues often are held to tight pitch counts, the 6-foot-3 right-hander went the first seven innings and Benino Pruneda threw the last two in the 5-0 victory at Wilmington, DE. “Being able to go pitch Indy baseball, it taught me some things,” Scarpetta told MiLB.com.  “I had to learn how to pitch to older hitters in that (Atlantic) league and I was able to carry that with me here.  It’s a different mentality that came through than when I was younger. ”  Scarpetta, who is 2-1, 1.89 for three starts with Lynchburg, has allowed 12 hits and five walks in 19 innings while striking out 15.  He surrendered a two-out walk in the sixth and hit the leadoff hitter in the seventh while throwing 99 pitches in the no-hitter. It is believed this is the first time in the long history of the Carolina League that pitchers have thrown no-hitters against the same opponent on consecutive days although Rocky Mount, NC hurlers combined for two seven-inning no-hitters in a doubleheader May 15, 1966.

We will have more on Scarpetta’s gem in next Thursday’s Independent Baseball Insider column, which is written exclusively for subscribers (www.WirzandAssociates.com).

HOW IS THIS FOR PARITY?

All four teams in the Freedom Division of the Atlantic League have posted 5-5 records in their last 10 games.  Pennsylvania rivals Lancaster and York share the first-half lead with nine games remaining while Sugar Land, TX, which has 10 games to play, trails by two and a half games.  Southern Maryland (Waldorf) is well off the pace. York is the most recent team to lose a player to a major league organization.  Reliever Julio DePaula (2.42 in 28 appearances) had his contract purchased by Baltimore this week.

NOTEWORTHY RELEASES

Pitchers Cody Eppley, who was in the major league camp of the Pittsburgh Pirates this spring, has been let go by the Bucs out of Triple-A.  The same fate hit veteran major leaguer Mike MacDougal, who was with Seattle’s top farm club.  Eppley was signed by Pittsburgh after last season with Lancaster while MacDougal also has Atlantic League experience with Camden, NJ. 

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CATCHING UP WITH STEVE DELABAR, SHAWN HILL AND OTHERS

Catching up on a number of Independent Baseball notes this Friday afternoon.

Wildness probably cost Steve Delabar his bullpen job with Toronto when he walked three and gave up a run when the Blue Jays were only trailing the New York Yankees 5-2 in the seventh inning Thursday night.  As we had noted in this week’s Independent Baseball Insider, Delabar (Can-Am and Frontier Leagues) had been optioned to Buffalo for two days earlier in the week, in part because of six walks in his previous 5.1 innings…Shawn Hill, who was scheduled to return to return to the Atlantic League’s York (PA) Revolution until Toronto decided to give him another look this season, has had two decent starts since his contract was sold to the Chicago White Sox.  Hill has allowed two earned runs in five and six-inning starts for Triple-A Charlotte, NC, bringing his season record in AA and AAA to 2-4, 4.63 for 11 appearances (nine starts)…I am not certain I would class the decision by the San Rafael (CA) Pacifics of the Pacific Association to wear uniforms next Friday (June 27) patterned after those worn by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League as one of the highlights of the season although it will net some publicity.  There is a worthy cause involved since A League of Their Own star Tom Hanks will autograph two of the uniforms with the proceeds after an auction going to support breast cancer…first baseman Mark Minicozzi’s 28 RBI in only 29 games with San Francisco’s top farm club in Fresno, CA along with his .423 on-base percentage has to keep the Giants thinking of this longtime Indy leaguer (Can-Am League, American Association and Atlantic League)…Former NBA star Tracy McGrady, who has been on the inactive list for some time, will make another start for Sugar Land, TX at Long Island, NY tomorrow (Saturday) in the 1 p.m. portion of a day-night doubleheader…catcher Salomon Manriquez, who spent a great deal of time in the Atlantic League and some in the American Association from 2009-last season, has taken a minor league coaching job in the Texas Rangers system.

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WITH PROMOTION OF CHRIS MARTIN, 23 ONETIME INDY PLAYERS IN MAJORS (31 THIS YEAR)

With all of the promotions recently, including American Association (Grand Prairie, TX) grad Chris Martin rejoining the Colorado Rockies (and the Phillies sending Luis Garcia, Newark, NJ, Can-Am League, back to Triple-A) right after we put our subscriber-only Independent Baseball Insider to bed this week, 23 onetime Independent Baseball players are currently on major league rosters.

Thirty one have been in the majors so far this season, only six behind the count for all of last season and that was the second best year on record.

HERE AND THERE WITH THE INDEPENDENTS

The surprising announcement that the New Britain (CT) Rock Cats are planning to move to nearby Hartford in 2016 opens up what could be a very fine market for either the Atlantic or Can-Am League. Both are likely to be interested because of the strong attendance history and the quality stadium…How many pitchers does it take to throw a seven-inning no-hitter? Winnipeg used five to blank Sioux Falls, SD, 3-0, and collect a road victory in the American Association…hot-hitting David Peralta picked up two more hits to keep his average above .400 in his young major league career with Arizona Friday night. Peralta also continues to use social media to show how grateful he is to various people who have helped him. He used Facebook to tell the Wichita (KS) Wingnuts, the first of two American Association stops (Amarillo, TX was the last one), how much he appreciated everyone’s help, singling out hitting coach Jose Amada, who the outfielder said “helped me learn a lot about hitting”. Peralta was part of establishing two records in his very first game with the D-Backs. The team started an all-Venezuelan outfield (Peralta, Ender Inciarte, Gerardo Parra), a first for a National League team, and along with Miguel Montero and Martin Prado it marked the first time five Venezuelan natives were in a starting lineup in either major league.

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DAVID PERALTA AND JARRETT GRUBE MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUTS SPICE WEEKEND FOR INDEPENDENTS

Independent Baseball had another magical weekend with two players getting first-time calls to the major leagues and a third receiving a one-day call, his first time back in “The Show” since 2012.

Unfortunately, there were casualties as well with Atlanta lefty Ian Thomas (Winnipeg, American Association, and York, PA, Atlantic League) and Boston outfielder Daniel Nava (Chico, CA, Golden League) once more optioned to Triple-A.

Right-hander Jarrett Grube, an Atlantic Leaguer at Southern Maryland (Waldorf) in both ’09 and ’10, and outfielder David Peralta (Amarillo, TX and Wichita, KS, American Association; Rio Grande Valley, Harlingen, TX, United League) got the exciting news of going to the majors for the first time. Grube is with the Los Angeles Angels, Peralta with Arizona.

Grube had to wait until five months shy of his 33rd birthday to make his major league debut. For now, he has to transition from being a starter to working as part of the Angels’ bullpen where he debuted with two-thirds of an inning and a home run against Oakland. He had only allowed 52 hits in 61.1 innings at Salt Lake while compiling a 3-2 record and 3.52 ERA in 11 starts, his most recent a 6.2 scoreless stint for a 6-1 win over Tacoma.

Peralta’s had a 2-for-4 debut in a 4-3 Diamondbacks loss to Cincinnati Sunday, but the left-handed hitter is only 26 and in his fourth year–three of them in Independent leagues–since converting from pitching. He was blistering Southern League (Mobile, AL) pitching with 46 RBI in 53 games while hitting .297 with 17 doubles, a triple and six homers.

He had a combined .359 average with an abundance of power before the Angels purchased his contract from Amarillo mid-year in 2013.

We will have more in depth on Grube and Peralta when this week’s Independent Baseball Insider goes out to subscribers on Thursday.

Bobby Korecky, a relief pitcher for 23 games in Winnipeg’s last season in the Northern League in 2010 (0-2, 10 saves, 5.32), spent one day with high-flying Toronto over the weekend, recording four outs without allowing a hit. The 34-year-old also pitched in one game for the Blue Jays in ’12 and had seen work with Minnesota and Arizona prior to his Independent stint.

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