Electric Diamondbacks' Minor Leaguer Wins Pitcher of the Year

Eagen's body of work for the Hops was certainly impressive, albeit short-lived. The 22-year-old right-hander began his first season of professional baseball with Hillsboro, and, after a short transition period, began to quickly dominate his competition.

Eagen threw to a 2.49 ERA with the Hops, and it wasn't a small sample size, either. He made 19 starts and pitched 97.2 innings, giving up just 27 earned runs. He walked 41, had a WHIP of 1.04, and opposing High-A batters were hitting just .184 against him.

In three of those outings, he did not allow a base hit. In two of those three, he went six innings, and in the third, he punched out 10 batters while allowing just a single baserunner — a walk.

Eagen earned pitcher of the week nods for both of his six-inning, no-hit performances, and rapidly made the jump to Double-A, where he immediately dominated.

In his first start for Amarillo, he pitched 7.2 innings and did not allow a baserunner until the sixth inning.

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Since that start, however, he's hit some growing pains, giving up 12 earned runs in his next 12 innings over three starts.

His stuff plays well, and he has a very high ceiling, so some development is to be expected. The Texas League is also a more hitter-friendly environment than the Northwest League, which may inflate results slightly.

Still, Arizona may have a future star if Eagen continues to develop at a similar pace.

Diamondbacks' Double-A Afilliate Drops Game One of Playoffs

Eagen's club, those very same Sod Poodles, clinched the second half of the Texas League and began their playoff journey on Tuesday night.

Unfortunately, Amarillo fell just shy of a thrilling comeback, losing 8-7 and going down 0-1 in the three-game series.

The Sod Poodles trailed 6-0 after the first six frames. Left-hander Mitch Bratt (part of the Merrill Kelly trade) pitched 4.2 innings and gave up three runs. But Amarillo battled back, scoring seven runs in each of the final three innings.

They strung together two singles and a walk to pull within one run in the ninth, but ultimately came up just short.

No. 10 prospect LuJames Groover was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Shortstop Jose Fernandez went 2-for-5 as well, and infielder Cristofer Torin had a walk and a triple.

Game two of the series begins Thursday at 5:00 p.m. MST.

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