Jesse Meaux’s dominant season with Asheville Tourists put on hold
The following are updates on local baseball players at the minor league level.
Jesse Meaux (Glendale High, 2007) relief pitcher, Asheville Tourists: A season almost too good to be true hit a speed bump when Meaux was placed on the seven-day disabled list May 26.
What was projected to be a short stay with a right-shoulder injury has dragged on for the former Glendale High and UC Santa Barbara standout right-handed pitcher, who was drafted in the 19th round by the Colorado Rockies in the 2011 Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft.
The right-handed pitcher had been dealing with a biceps injury when he was drafted with the 588th overall pick two years ago.
Meaux, 23, had been downright dominant for the Tourists, the Rockies class-A affiliate in the South Atlantic League. In 16 appearances with Asheville, the former Nitro had maintained an impressive and team-best earned-run average of 0.90. He’s allowed two earned runs in 20 innings and struck out 26, walked 17 in that span for a 1.25 WHIP.
Meaux has also recorded one save and five holds this year. In his last outing on May 24 against the Rome Braves, he went 1 1/3 innings and struck out three in a 6-0 home victory.
Through Friday, the Tourists are in fourth place in the South Atlantic League Southern Division with a 36-30 record.
Alonzo Gonzalez (Glendale Community College, 2012) starting pitcher, Lansing Lugnuts: After a bumpy start to his first season with the Toronto Blue Jays class-A partner, Gonzalez has managed to settle down a bit.
The former Vaquero has pitched through at least five full innings in his past five starts after making it through just 3 1/3 in two of his first seven starts with the Lansing Lugnuts this season.
At 2-5, Gonzalez has yet to flash the dominance he displayed with the Bluefield Blue Jays, a rookie affiliate, in 2012 that helped earn him a promotion to Lansing this year. He was 2-0 and gave up three hits, three walks, no runs and struck out nine through 12 innings in Bluefield.
The 6-foot-5 left hander has given up at least two earned runs in each of his past 10 starts and is coming off consecutive losses.
Gonzalez was hit with the losses after giving up eight hits in each of his last two outings — a 4-3 loss to the South Bend Silver Hawks Tuesday and a 5-3 loss to the Fort Wayne TinCaps on June 6.
He also surrendered three runs, all earned, two home runs, two walks and struck out two batters through five innings versus the Silver Hawks. Against the TinCaps, Gonzalez gave up five runs, two earned, struck out two more batters and walked another in five frames.
The Lugnuts currently sit in fourth place in the Midwest League Eastern Division with a 32-35 record.
Joe De Pinto (St. Francis High, 2007) outfielder, Winston-Salem Dash: When De Pinto got a chance, he was impressive after he got his promotion in the Chicago White Sox minor league system. The only thing is those chances were few and far between.
The former Golden Knight was promoted from the Winston-Salem Dash to the Birmingham Barons, the White Sox’s double-A affiliate, on April 26. He batted .375 with a .524 on-base and .438 slugging percentage, but it all came in a small sample size.
De Pinto appeared in just five games out of 23 in his first stint at the double-A level and was six for 16 with two runs scored, two more driven in and a double. Despite the impressive numbers, he was sent back to the class-A advanced Dash on May 22.
In De Pinto’s first 10 games at Winston-Salem, he batted .158 (six for 38) and he’s since improved that number to .238 (20 for 84) through 14 more games with the Dash and is batting .333 (10 for 30) in the past 10 contests.
The St. Francis High graduate went one for four with a single and a walk Thursday, but was out of the lineup Friday. For the season with the Dash, De Pinto has 17 runs, seven doubles, six runs batted in and four stolen bases.
Winston-Salem is in second place in the Carolina League Southern Division this season with a 37-31 record after winning eight of its past 10.
