Salpointe High grad Donny Sands having All-Star season

Even though he’s mired in a bit of a slump, it’ll be hard to wipe the smile off Donny Sands’ face this week: he’s scheduled to play in Tuesday’s South Atlantic League All-Star Game.

 

The 2015 Salpointe Catholic High School graduate had a big surge at the plate from the start of May until last week, batting .323 across 25 games to earn the All-Star nod. Sands enters the break on a 2-for-19 skid but shows promise in the Yankees’ organization.

A change of scenery — namely, a demotion to Double-A last Tuesday — seems to be just what Slania needed after a two-month experiment as a Triple-A starting pitcher fell flat.

 

In his first start with Richmond since April 6, the ex-Salpointe star pitched seven strong innings Saturday with seven strikeouts and no earned runs allowed. Slania is 1-0 with a 0.69 ERA in two Double-A starts this year.

 

In 12 starts with Triple-A Sacramento in the Giants farm system, he was 0-8 with a 7.82 ERA. 

It seems safe to say Farris was in line for the Eastern League All-Star Game after dominating Double-A hitters much of this season. Alas, the former Arizona Wildcats standout hasn’t been able to replicate that success since his June 1 call-up to Albuquerque.

 

Farris has allowed a run in four of his seven relief outings this month including two last week. He already has twice as many walks (four) pitching for the Rockies’ Triple-A affiliate than he did in 17 appearances in Double-A earlier this season.

If you play well, you’re apt to be named an All-Star, as Mejia was Wednesday when the Double-A Texas League announced its honorees. And if you play well, you’re apt to be promoted, as Mejia was 24 hours later.

 

The former UA All-American was assigned to Memphis on Thursday. He spent most of the previous two seasons there with notable success, mostly as a defensive whiz while also batting .274 across 93 games.

.487 Alex Verdugo’s batting average the last 10 games for the Oklahoma City Dodgers (AAA) through Sunday. The Sahuaro High alum has six multi-hit games and 14 runs in that span, raising his season average to .332. Read more.