Minor league update: Another season in books for locals

The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level.

Kelson Brown (La Cañada High, 2006) Altoona Curve infielder: Brown wrapped up his fifth season in the minor leagues with his third team and the same Altoona squad he’s been a part of for three years now.

Brown posted a career-high .295 average but did it in a career-low 51 games.

For the season with the Curve, the double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Brown, a second baseman, played in 51 games, as Altoona went 61-81.

Brown tallied 38 hits in 129 at-bats with eight runs, eight runs batted in, three stolen bases and a .321 on-base percentage.

His best game of the season was likely one of his last, as he went three for five with a season-high five runs batted in against the Bowie BaySox on Aug. 29.

The Curve finished the season fifth in the Eastern League Western Division.

Fernando Valenzuela Jr. (St. Francis High, 2000) Leones de Yucatan first baseman: Valenzuela, who also played at Glendale Community College and UNLV, concluded another fine season in the triple-A Mexican League. Leones de Yucatan wrapped up the season Aug. 14 with a 6-4 road win against Tigres de Quintana Roo. Though Valenzuela didn’t play in the game, he finished up the season strong by hitting safely in his last six games and nine of 10 overall.

In that stretch, Valenzuela, 31, had six multiple-hit games and batted .381 (16 for 42). He had four straight two-hit games. In his final game Aug. 13, Valenzuela had a single in Yucatan’s 5-3 defeat against Quintana Roo.

Overall, Valenzuela finished hitting .321 (109 for 340) with eight home runs and 50 runs batted in. He also collected 19 doubles, two triples, 30 runs and a .459 slugging percentage. It marked the third time in the past four seasons in which Valenzuela hit at least eight home runs. He was selected to the league’s all-star game for the second time in the past three seasons.

Yucatan (46-64) finished seventh in the league’s eight-team Sur Division.

Kevin Swick (La Cañada native) Arizona White Sox third baseman: A 22nd-round pick out of USC by the Chicago White Sox in June’s Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft, Swick saw his share of struggles in his rookie season.

He played in 26 games for the White Sox’s Arizona League rookie ball squad and batted .184 with a .263 on-base percentage. He drew nine walks, drove in seven runs, scored 10 times and had 10 hits in 87 at-bats.

He ended the season well enough, notching hits in five of his last seven games played, including a span of three games in which he went five of 11 with a three-game hitting streak and drove in runs each game.

The White Sox finished the season at 30-25 with a 6-4 loss to the Giants. Swick did not play in the game.

Joe De Pinto (St. Francis High, 2007) Birmingham Barons outfielder: De Pinto’s battle for playing time ended with his release on June 18 from the White Sox organization.

De Pinto, a multiple-time All-Area player at St. Francis before moving on to USC in college, played in just 15 of the team’s 70 games prior to his release. He was drafted in 2011 in the 21st round by Chicago, the parent organization of the double-A Barons.

His final stats were a .160 average with eight hits in 50 at-bats. He had four runs, one run batted in, two doubles, a home run and four stolen bases. Consequently, he hit safely in the last four games he played with Birmingham, going five for 16.