The dog days of summer are reaching their twilight as July gives way to August, but that hasn’t stopped certain MiLB Pack Pros from continuing to torch the box scores. With a pair of catchers blazing through the minor league season, let’s have a look at the recent success of these Wolfpack baseball alumni.
Scott Manea, catcher, Sugar Land Space Cowboys (Houston Astros)
The Astros’ major league club is hurting for offense from its catchers, with no backstop on the 40-man roster eclipsing the Mendoza line, but Manea is putting up big numbers in triple-A Sugar Land. Since June 22, he’s slashed .276/.409/.397 in 17 games for the Space Cowboys.
While the power numbers are a tad overwhelming for a guy that’s struck out 18 times in his last 71 plate appearances, Manea’s ability to “hit ‘em where they ain’t” is paying dividends with a .385 batting average on balls in play. With 11 walks to keep up appearances in the plate discipline department, the 26-year-old is making his case for a late-season call-up to the big leagues.
Evan Mendoza, third baseman, Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals)
Mendoza is another Pack Pro exercising plate vision to boost his stats in triple-A ball. With 16 walks and just 11 strikeouts since June 21, the Redbirds’ third baseman is seeing the strike zone well.
Mendoza reaped the benefits of his discipline at the dish with a slash line of .333/.426/.422 featuring a home run and five doubles. For a primarily defensive player with a career slugging percentage of .315 in triple-A, this recent power surge is a step in the right direction.
Mendoza’s spent over 200 games in the top level of the minor leagues going back to 2019, with a steady glove and speed on the basepaths propping up his largely mediocre stats. If the 26-year-old can maintain this newfound prowess at the plate, a long-awaited MLB debut is likely in store for him.
Nick Swiney, left-handed pitcher, Eugene Emeralds (San Francisco Giants)
The lone pitcher in this edition of MiLB Pack Pros, Swiney maintained his 3.48 ERA on the season with that exact same figure in five starts since June 24. With an opposing slugging percentage of .243 over that span, the southpaw’s success is tied to his ability to limit extra base hits.
Swiney got the bulk of his 28 strikeouts over this stretch in his last June outing, sitting down 12 against the Tri-City Dust Devils on June 24. The lefty quickly fell back to earth in his next start, allowing six earned runs to the Everett AquaSox on July 1 for his only real blip since then.
Swiney wasn’t the only Emerald to struggle that day, as Eugene got thumped 10-6. The Emeralds already faced a 4-0 hole by the end of the first inning, but things just kept going off the rails as Swiney’s battery mate and fellow MiLB Pack Pro Patrick Bailey was ejected in the top of the second.
The southpaw’s smoothed out his statline and rejoined Bailey on the field since then, tossing his two most recent outings with Bailey behind the plate. Though he’s confined to high-A ball for the time being, Swiney continues to make progress towards jumping up to double-A.
Luca Tresh, catcher, Quad Cities River Bandits (Kansas City Royals)
Tresh is another Pack pro catcher getting the job in MiLB, but unlike Manea, Tresh’s success is driven by his power bat. Since June 21, the 22-year-old backstop’s racked up five home runs and 20 RBIs for the high-A Quad Cities River Bandits.
He is not quite a “three true outcomes” hitter, however, with six doubles and even a triple boosting that slugging percentage and driving Tresh to a .309 batting average in that same span.
In his first full season of professional baseball, Tresh is showing the Royals organization why it gave a $423,000 signing bonus to a 17th-round pick. Even though he strikes out in exactly one out of every four plate appearances in 2022, Tresh justifies his aggression at the plate with a season OPS of .817 powered by 12 dingers.
