It was a week of resurgence and deflation. Strikes and balls, ups and downs. 

In the past week we saw Brady Singer get knocked around in his second AA start; While Bubic brought the funk with 10 strikeouts and a big time bounce back performance. Kowar evaded trouble early and often as he continues to display his durability, and Lexington suddenly has a bevy of arm talent and a winning record to show for it. 

Friday 6/7/19

Northwest Arkansas

Brady Singer – 4.2 IP, 10H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K

Singer had a rough go of it on Friday. Through three innings Singer had allowed three runs, the thing is, NWA had already piled on nine. One can’t help but wonder if Singer eased his foot off the gas a little bit with the six run cushion. He allowed three more in the fourth and couldn’t finish off the fifth. This was only his second start in AA and he’s having to compete at this level. This is no time to lose faith.

Wilmington

Kris Bubic – 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB 10K

Josh Dye – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

It was Vintage Bubic last Friday as he shutdown Fayetteville with his best start since joining Wilmington. The lefty struck out 10 through 6 scoreless innings. The signature moment came in the sixth: after Bubic allowed 3 straight ground ball singles, he closed out the inning with 3 straight strikeouts.

Dye worked a scoreless seventh, navigating around two walks and picking up his first win with the Blue Rocks. 

Saturday 6/8/19

Lexington

Jonathan Bowlan – 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K

Bowlan may be the most consistent starter in Lexington’s rotation. Picking up his fifth quality start in his last six appearances, he’s posted a 2.97 ERA in that window and held hitters to a .215 BA.

 Other Notables and Weekly Totals:

Jackson Kowar (2 GS) – 11 IP, 14 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 7 K

Kowar had a tepid start on June 3, allowing four runs in five innings, but he rebounded well in his start on Saturday. After allowing three runs in the first inning, Kowar settled in and pitched five scoreless to earn a quality start and help the Blur Rocks to their thirty-ninth win of the season. This isn’t the first time we seen Kowar get off to a  slow start, his start on May 29 (detailed here last week) played out in a similar fashion. 

Kowar has pitched more innings than any player in the Royals system, and only three pitchers in the Carolina League have logged more innings. His 3.76 ERA is still below league average and there is certainly something to be said for his durability. I can’t help but have the feeling that Kowar is about to get hot.

Austin Lambright – 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Lambright had two scoreless appearances over the last week and picked up his first save of the season on Wednesday. His five strikeouts in three innings increased his K/9 to 13.2. Lambright has held opponents scoreless in seven of his last eight relief appearances.

Austin Cox – (2 GS)12 IP, 13 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 12 K

Cox made two more quality starts over the past week. He has six quality starts dating back to May 12. He has a 1.20 ERA in that stretch with 40 K against 6 BB.

Jon Heasley pitched 6 innings of one run ball last Thursday, chiseling his ERA down to 2.56. Heasley has allowed just 37 hits in 52.2 innings, while striking out 58.

Will we see any promotions this coming week? Perhaps a return to the bump for Daniel Lynch? Will Singer settle in and give us some of what we saw from him earlier this season?

Check back next week for updates, news, numbers and more.

 Photo Credits: Ryan Griffith (@ryanrgriffith)