D-backs Minor League Affiliate Receives Great Pitching Effort

Sunday's Arizona Diamondbacks-affiliated minor leagues saw one win and three losses, with one outstanding starting pitching effort.

Double-A: Amarillo Sod Poodles 5, Corpus Christi Hooks 6

Roman Angelo tossed seven dominant shutout innings Sunday night. The 6-foot-5 right-hander gave up just three hits, walked two and struck out nine. It was by far his best start of the season, lowering his ERA from 7.04 to 5.96.

He handed off a four-run lead to his bullpen. Unfortunately Phillip Abner gave up four runs in the eighth, allowing Corpus Christi to tie it up. Amarillo eventually lost in extra innings.

The 25-year-old Angelo was signed by the Diamondbacks as an undrafted free agent out of Fresno State in 2023. He pitched well in rookie ball that year, and advanced through two levels last year, reaching High-A Hillsboro. In total he pitched to a 3.49 ERA and 1.203 WHIP in 121 innings in 2024.

That performance, along with a velocity increase to 94 MPH on his fastball and a swing-and-miss changeup caught the attention of Baseball America. That outlet ranked him the D-backs' No. 23 overall prospect heading into 2025.

Due to his age however, he did not crack Arizona Diamondbacks On SI's top 40 list. He gave up eight runs in each of his first two starts this year, blowing up his ERA. But he's steadily improved since and appears to be back on track.

High-A: Hillsboro Hops 5, Everett AquaSox 4

The Yordin Chalas conversion to starting pitcher experiment continued. He threw 3.1 innings and gave up two runs. Ricardo Yan pitched four innings, giving up two runs as well, but struck out six and got the victory.

Hayden Durke pitched a scoreless ninth to record his fifth save, lowering his ERA to 0.89 in 20.1 innings. He has an eye-popping 36 strikeouts. Durke was recently featured in an article by Michael McDermott identifying three prospects on the rise.

Druw Jones came all the way around to score from second base after he stole second and the throw went into center field. That was the go-ahead run, capping a three-run seventh inning that delivered the win for the Hops.