Drew Rucinski's Rehab Start, Zack Gelof's 2023 Debut

Rucinski Rehabs, Gelof Debuts

Drew Rucinski made his first rehab start with the Las Vegas Aviators on Wednesday night, tossing 45 pitches to get through 2 innings. He allowed six hits, all singles, along with two runs while striking out 2. 

Mark Kotsay told reporters in Baltimore that Tuesday's rehabbing starter Paul Blackburn would be in line for a couple more starts with Las Vegas, and would be aiming for 65 pitches in his next outing, and then 90 in the following one. It would make sense for Rucinski to be on a similar usage plan. 

Zack Gelof (A's #2 prospect) made his season debut for the Aviators and went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two strikeouts. In his first at-bat he drilled a single at 101 mph off the bat. 

The Salt Lake Bees (Angels affiliate) grabbed a 1-0 lead in this one in the top of the second and never relinquished it, taking the game by a 6-3 final. 

The story of this game had to be 31-year-old Jake Kalish, who got the start for the Bees. He went 5.2 innings, gave up 6 hits and 2 ER, but he also struck out 10. Among all of the Triple-A starters on Wednesday, Kalish had the most swings and misses with 20 on just 80 pitches. Las Vegas only swung at 41 of those 80 pitches, which means that nearly half of their swings were whiffs. 

His slider was particularly effective, using it 49% of the time, and getting 12 whiffs on 19 swings (63%). 

Cal Stevenson was the only Aviator besides Gelof to collect multiple hits, and he also scored two runs in a 2-for-4 effort that included a walk and no strikeouts. The 26-year-old outfielder is 8-for-19 (.421) with six walks and three strikeouts in his first six games. 

The Aviators are now 2-8 on the season. Jack Cushing is their scheduled starter for Thursday night.

J.T. Ginn Makes His 2023 Debut

Ginn (#15) was acquired as part of the Chris Bassitt deal with the New York Mets along with Adam Oller. Injuries kept him from staying on the field consistently last season. 

He got the start in Wednesday's game against the Tulsa Drillers (Dodgers affiliate) and went 3.2 innings, gave up 7 hits, 5 runs (4 ER), walked 3, hit 2 batters, and struck out 1. Ginn gave up a single to Andy Pages in the first, then hit him to lead off the third inning, and then with the bases loaded in the fourth, hit him again. That was the last batter Ginn saw last night. 

The 'Hounds were down 6-1 after six, but scored two in the bottom of the seventh on a Lawrence Butler (#9) single, making it 6-3. Tulsa added two of their own in the top of the eighth, and Midland would score two in the bottom of the ninth to give us a final score of 8-5. 

Lawrence Butler finished the night 2-for-5 with two rbi, a run scored and two strikeouts. 

Darell Hernaiz (#16) has struck out five times in the last two games. Last season his strikeout rate went from 16.9% to 27.1% when he reached Double-A, albeit it in a small sample. This will be something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks. 

Midland is now 3-2 on the year. 

Lugnuts Drop First Game of Season

The trend of A's affiliates not holding a lead on Wednesday night continued in Lansing, as the Lugnuts dropped their first game of the season, 9-4 to the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers affiliate). 

Lazaro Armenteros snapped an 0-for-10 to start the season with a single in the bottom of the second, and added another single in the ninth. He finished the game 2-for-4 with a hit by pitch, a strikeout, two stolen bases, and a caught stealing. Despite not having a hit coming into this one, Lazarito had already collected four steals. Now he has six, and is six for seven in stolen base attempts. 

Jorge Juan tossed 2 innings in relief, gave up 2 hits, 1 ER, walked 1, and struck out 5. The only out he recorded that wasn't a strikeout was actually a caught stealing thrown by A's #6 prospect, catcher Daniel Susac. 

Joelvis Del Rosario (minor league Rule 5 pick) is listed as Lansing's probable starter for Thursday. In his first outing, he went 4.1 innings and gave up just 1 hit, walking 2 and striking out 4. 

Tough Night for Ports Pitching

Let's make this one quick. The Ports lost 14-2 and Stockton pitchers gave up 16 hits and walked 11. The defense also committed four errors. 

Clark Elliott (#17) went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a strikeout. 

Colby Thomas (#20) went 2-for-4 with an rbi, a double, and two strikeouts. 

Brayan Buelvas (#24) went 2-for-4. 

The loss drops the Ports to 1-4 on the season.