Mark Maloney on Kentucky sports

J.D. Martinez

Lexington Legends outfielder J.D. Martinez is among 10 players selected to the Topps Class A All-Star team. Topps, in conjunction with Minor League Baseball, honors the top performances in all minor-league classifications.

J.D. Martinez

Class A includes the South Atlantic, Midwest, California and Florida State leagues — 52 teams in all.

Martinez, MVP of the South Atlantic League and Minor League Player of the Year in the Houston Astros organization, is the only SAL player named to the Topps All-Star team.

Martinez, 23, led all of Class A with a 1.030 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentages). He also led the SAL in batting (.362), slugging (.598) and on-base percentage (.433). At the time of his promotion from Lexington to Double-A Corpus Christi on July 15, he led the league in hits, doubles, extra-base hits, runs and total bases. He hit 15 home runs and drove in 64 runs over 88 games with the Legends.

Topps Class A All-Stars

Pos.  Player                  Team/League    MLB affiliate  Avg.-HR-RBI
1B   Paul Goldschmidt     Visalia/California      Arizona        .314-35-108
2B   Kyle Seager             High Desert/Calif.    Seattle         .345-14-74
3B   Stephen Parker       Stockton/California   Oakland      .296-21-98
SS   Grant Green            Stockton/California   Oakland       .318-20-87
OF   Johermyn Chavez   High Desert/California  Seattle     .315-32-96
OF   J.D. Martinez           Lexington/SAL           Houston      .362-15-64
OF   Mike Trout              Cedar Rapids/Midwest L.A.Angels .341-10-58
                                      Rancho Cucamonga/California
C    Jason Hagerty          Fort Wayne/Midwest   San Diego  .302-14-74
DH   Rich Poythress       High Desert/California  Seattle     .315-31-130
                                                                                           W-L    ERA
P    Matthew Moore      Charlotte/Fla. State     Tampa Bay  6-11    3.36

Jarvis moves from Diamondbacks to Padres

Kevin Jarvis

Kevin Jarvis, 41, is switching organizations as a major league scout, moving from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the San Diego Padres.

Jarvis, a former Tates Creek High School and Wake Forest standout, pitched for the D-backs and Padres, among others, over a 12-year big-league career.

During his time with the Padres (2001-03), the right-hander was 18-23 with a 5.06 ERA over 55 starts. For his career, Jarvis was 34-49 with a 6.03 ERA.

The Padres also named former catcher Brad Ausmus as special assistant to baseball operations, and former Arizona State University head coach Pat Murphy as manager of the short-season A Eugene (Ore.) Emeralds.

Lawless, Clapp, Montague assigned to Hooks

Tom Lawless

Stubby Clapp

The Astros have stocked the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks staff with multiple connections from the Legends.

Named as manager is Tom Lawless, who held the same post with Lexington in 2009 and High-A Lancaster last season.

His staff includes former Legends hitting coach Stubby Clapp and trainer Eric Montague. Also on Lawless’ staff is pitching coach Don Alexander.

Baseball

South Atlantic League

Lexington Legends vs. Asheville Tourists

What: Four-game series

When: Wednesday through Saturday (7:05 each night)

Where: McCormick Field (Asheville, N.C.)

Major-League affiliates: Houston Astros (Legends), Colorado Rockies

Robby Donovan

Zach Grimmett

Jose Cisnero

Juan Minaya

Probable pitchers (Legends listed first): Wednesday, RH Robby Donovan (1-3, 4.50) vs. LH Jonathan Vargas (0-3, 5.64); Thursday, RH Juan Minaya (0-5, 5.72) vs. LH Wes Musick (3-3, 5.81); Friday, RH Jose Cisnero (2-1, 5.22) vs. RH Chris Balcom-Miller (0-0, 0.00); Saturday, RH Zach Grimmett (0-0, 0.93) vs. RH Nick Schnaitmann (3-3, 5.79).

Jared Clark

Tourist to watch: 1B Jared Clark (6-foot-4, 215 pounds, from Van Nuys, Calif.) is the “slumping giant” whom the Legends hope will stay in a funk for at least four more games. The slugger nicknamed “Diesel” is batting .255 with seven homers, 26 RBI and 18 runs over 29 games. However, in eight games this month, Clark is hitting .067 with no homers, one RBI and four runs over eight games. A 21st round draft pick of the Cleveland Indians in 2007 and a 45th round choice of the Angels in 2008, Clark passed on both chances to play for Cal State Fullerton. The Rockies drafted him in the 12th round last June and soon assigned him to Casper of the Pioneer League. There, Clark hit .348 with 11 homers, 44 RBI and 33 runs over 58 games. He had 29 walks to 34 strikeouts and a gaudy 1.015 OPS.

Arcenio Leon

Legend to watch: RHP Arcenio Leon (6-1, 162, from Maracaibo, Venezuela) is 1-1 with two saves, a hold and a 1.17 ERA over nine relief appearances. Over 23 innings, Leon has struck out 23 and walked nine, while holding opposing batters to a .130 average. In his two appearances in May, Leon has tossed seven innings of no-run, one-hit ball, holding the opposition to a .048 batting average. According to Baseball America’s pre-season rankings, Leon is the 19th-best prospect in the Astros system. Signed at 18, in 2005, Leon played two seasons with the Venezuelan Summer League Astros and two seasons with the Greeneville (Tenn.) Astros of the Appalachian League before joining the Legends in 2009. Including his 4-2, 5.86 results with Lexington, Leon came into this season with career marks of 10-16, 13 saves, 4.42 ERA, 52 strikeouts and 49 walks over 228 innings. Baseball America wrote, in part: “When he finally made it to low Class A in 2009, he showed perhaps the best pure stuff among Astros farmhands. He sits at 93-95 mph with his fastball, topping out at 96. He mixes in a slider thant can be an electric pitch at 86-88 mph, a swing-and-miss offering with sharp, late break and depth. As good as Leon’s stuff is, his control prevents him from having success. … If he ever can harness his control, Leon has the potential to be an excellent reliever.”

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