TWitM: Omaha continues to roll, Gavin Cross continues his comeback campaign in NWA

Walter Pennington continues to impress.

This Week in the Minors’ is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less-heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: “Who had a good week?”

This Week in the Minors: Tuesday, May 7 to Sunday, May 12

AAA Omaha Storm Chasers (24-12, 1st Place, International League West)

The Storm Chasers remained hot in the win column this week. In all, they’ve won 10 of their last 11 contests. Last week Omaha finished 5-1 at home against Jacksonville.

A quartet of bats led the way last week for Omaha, including three hitters with big-league experience. Devin Mann and Nick Pratto tied for the team lead with eight hits across six games. Pratto struck out seven times against just one walk but hit two doubles and a home run en route to seven RBI. Nate Eaton slashed .350/.350/.800 with three doubles and two home runs to lead Omaha with a 1.150 OPS. Second baseman Nick Loftin rounds out the standout hitters on the week. He walked five times with just four strikeouts, hitting .286 with a .444 on-base percentage.

On the mound, Walter Pennington continued his hot start to the season. The 26-year-old lefty pitched 5.2 innings, allowing just one earned run and one walk while striking out a team-high eight. On the season now, Pennington continues to put out his best season to date. Over 25.2 IP in 2024, he has a 1.40 ERA with 36 strikeouts and just four walks.

It wasn’t just Pennington leading the way in the bullpen for Omaha. Sam Long (3.0IP), Dan Altavilla (1.2IP), Anthony Veneziano (3.0IP), Austin Cox (2.0IP), Steven Cruz (2.0IP), Jonah Dipoto (2.0IP), John McMillon (1.0IP), and Evan Sisk (2.0IP) all pitched scoreless weeks. The bullpen in Kansas City has been strong but the depth in Omaha has been just as strong and should supplement the big leagues nicely should a need arise.

AA Northwest Arkansas Naturals (16-15, 3.5 GB, Texas League North)

It was a solid week for the Naturals. They went 4-2 on the week at home against Springfield. The team now has a +14 run differential on the season and ranks third in runs allowed among Texas League affiliates.

RHP Chandler Champlain was the standout arm this week. He made one start on the week, scattering just three hits and no walks across six scoreless innings of work. He struck out seven. That outing dropped Champlain’s season-long ERA to 4.25, with 38 strikeouts and just six walks across 29.2 IP. Those numbers become even more impressive considering what Champlain has done since his rough first outing of the season. Excluding April 7th (when he allowed 8 ER), he’s logged a 2.00 ERA across 27.0 IP with 34 strikeouts and five walks.

LHP Tyson Guerrero tied Champlain for a team-high seven strikeouts last week. He walked a batter and allowed two earned runs over five innings to lock up a quality start last week. Noah Cameron allowed just one earned run over five innings in his start but landed on the 7-day injured list with an undisclosed injury. Eric Cerantola, Anderson Paulino, and Jacob Wallace all pitched scoreless weeks as well.

At the plate, Javier Vaz continues to storm back after a slow start to the 2024 season. He led the Naturals with seven hits on the week, slashing .368/.500/.368 with five walks and just two strikeouts. 1B Josh Lester was even more impressive. Lester played in five games, slashing .600/.615/1.000 with a double and a home run as a part-time player. Gavin Cross continued to get back into the groove, launching his third home run of the season.

A+ Quad Cities River Bandits (19-14, 2.0GB, Midwest League West)

If you’re looking for a better pitching team in all of High-A, you won’t find one better than Quad Cities this season. The team has allowed just 107 runs this season. That’s the lowest mark of any High-A affiliate. Despite the strong pitching, the team went 2-4 last week at home against Wisconsin.

Ryan Ramsey notched a four-inning save in his lone appearance this week. There are enough starting pitchers on the Quad Cities roster that the team has resorted to “piggy-back” outings. One pitcher will get the start and go four or five innings, followed by the piggyback arm giving four or five of their own innings. Oscar Rayo didn’t allow a run in his three innings of piggyback work, allowing just one hit and one walk in the process.

Henry Williams led the team with seven strikeouts last week. He walked three but allowed just two hits and one earned run across six innings of work. Natanael Garabitos — acquired from the Mariners in the Samad Taylor trade — struck out four over three innings of work. He walked two but allowed just one hit without allowing a run to score.

On offense, Brett Squires continued to torch his way through the Midwest League. He had seven hits on the week, including three home runs. He slashed .500/.563/1.143 on the week and now has a 171 wRC+ on the season. Jack Pineda tied Squires with seven hits of his own. He had a home run and two doubles, slashing .368/.400/.632 last week.

A Columbia Fireflies (16-14, 0.5 GB, Carolina League South)

The Fireflies went an even 3-3 last week at home against Salem. It was a week full of low-scoring affairs. There were three one-run games and all six games were decided by two runs or less.

Felix Arronde made two starts on the week, giving him a team-leading nine strikeouts on the week. Unfortunately, he allowed 12 hits over 9.1 IP in what was an otherwise rough week. Reliever Chase Isbell struck out nine of his own, against just one walk and two hits over 3.2 scoreless innings. Lefty Hunter Patteson got back on track after a rough outing to start the month. Last week, he struck out six against one walk across five innings. He allowed just one earned run. Logan Martin didn’t wow in the strikeout department, but did hold opponents to a .125 batting average over five scoreless innings in his lone start on the week.

At the plate, the team’s offense was pretty absent for most of the week. Derlin Figueroa led the team with six hits, slashing .300/.417/.450 with a home run on the week. No other hitter had a batting average above .200 on the week. Shortstop Daniel Vazquez only appeared in two games, suffering a hand injury on May 8th that sidelined him the remainder of last week. He hasn’t landed on the injured list to this point.