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Diamondbacks Minor League Recap Features Great Pitching Performances

Originally posted on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI
By Jack Sommers | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 11:02 AM ET

MLBTW.net Hung-Cheng Li

Arizona Diamondbacks affiliates won three of four ballgames on Saturday night, getting outstanding pitching performances in all three victories.

Triple-A Reno Aces 4, El Paso Chihuahuas 3

Dylan Ray had his best performance since being promoted to Triple-A, going 6.2 innings and allowing two runs on three hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. The runs scored on a two-out, two-run homer in the third inning.

Ray proceeded to set down 11 straight batters from there before issuing a one out walk in the seventh. He got one more out before being removed from the game. Ray threw 94 pitches, 62 for strikes. He used his entire arsenal of four seamers, changeups, cutters and curveballs to induce 12 WHIFFS on 47 swings.

There were only two balls hit over 100 MPH, and both of those were turned into outs. Just six of 16 balls in play were over 95 MPH, which is the "hard hit" threshold. It was Ray's fourth start for the Aces and lowered his ERA to 7.32.

Joge Barrosa hit a solo homer and Catcher Rene Pinto hit a three-run blast, providing the run support for Ray as the Aces came back to win the game.

With Gabriel Moreno on the injured list due to a hairline fracture in his pointer finger, and Aramis Garcia called up to the Diamondbacks, the veteran Pinto is the next man up if there is another injury. Adrian Del Castillo is also on the minor league injured list with back spasms.

Double A Amarillo Sod Poodles 10, NW Arkansas Naturals 2

Jonatan Bernal had a fabulous debut for the Sod Poodles. The 22 year old had been working out of the Visalia bullpen in High-A but was bumped all the way to Double-A to make his first start of the year. All he did was deliver five scoreless innings, giving up just two hits and two hit batters while striking out four.

Bernal even helped his own cause with a diving catch of popped up bunt

WHAT A CATCH

A show stopping stop from Bernal in his first outing with the Soddies! pic.twitter.com/gwysBnUrD0
— Amarillo Sod Poodles (@sodpoodles) June 22, 2025

Bernal got all the support he needed in the early going when the Sod Poodles tallied a run in the second inning and four more in the third. The offense never looked back, scoring ten runs on 12 hits including homers from Christian Cerda and Caleb Roberts.

Cerda had a four hit game, falling just a triple shy of the cycle while driving in three runs. Roberts' homer was a three run blast in the seventh inning. Gavin Conticello collected two hits, a walk, and scored three runs.

High-A Hillsboro Hops 5, Tri-City Dust Devils 14

The Yordin Chalas conversion to starter project hit a speed bump on Saturday. He lasted just 2.2 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and four walks. He threw 67 pitches, just 37 for strikes, to record eight outs. Chalas took a 5-0 lead into the third, but gave up a three-run homer, and then couldn't get out of the inning after that.

Ricardo Yan got the last out of the third and threw a scoreless fourth, but then completely melted down in the fifth inning. It began with a double, a walk, and a hit batter to load the bases. A sacrifice fly and yet another hit by pitch proceeded a bases clearing triple. That gave Tri-City a 7-5 lead, after which they continued to pound on the Hops bullpen for seven more runs.

Druw Jones had two hits, including a triple, drove in a run and scored two. He's batting .235 with .612 OPS. Anderson Rojas hit a two-run double. But the Hops managed just seven hits overall on the way to their fifth straight loss to the Dust Devils.

Class-A Visalia Rawhide 2, Fresno Grizzlies 0

Wilkin Paredes threw seven shutout innings, giving up five hits, one walk, and striking out five. His ERA now stands at an impressive 3.32 for the season. The five strikeouts tied a season high, done twice before this year.

Paredes has only 28 strikeouts in 65 innings, His 9.9% strikeout rate is less than half what he posted last year in the ACL and his first taste of affiliated ball in 2024.

His walk rate meanwhile is 8.1%, nearly double the tiny 4.6% rate he posted last year. From a peripherals perspective, his 5.25 FIP (Fielding Independent Pitching) is far from impressive, but his results continue to be outstanding.

Lefty Jake Fitzgibbons closed it out and completed the shutout with two innings of work, giving up a hit, a walk, and striking out three. He has allowed only one run in 22 innings this year, and that came all the way back on May 8. His ERA is 0.41, but he has a 5.05 FIP due to 16 walks.

Catching prospect Alberto Barriga had two hits and an RBI. Trent Youngblood had two hits and scored both runs.

This article first appeared on Arizona Diamondbacks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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