Saturday Night Notes

FDLS

Stacy Long had a couple of interesting notes on OF John Matulia and LHP Frank De Los Santos:

Matulia's grand slam Monday night was his 12th home run of the season between Double-A Montgomery and Triple-A Durham. He had just 20 previous career homers from 2005-10, including nine last season with the Biscuits.
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De Los Santos tossed three perfect innings Tuesday and hasn't allowed an earned run in 16 2/3 innings. After a wretched start to the season, he has a 3.47 ERA. He attributes it to adding a cut fastball and sinker.

"I just threw a fastball, change-up and slider last year. That was it," De Los Santos said. "I learned those pitches this year, and they have helped a lot.

Parker Markel

In case you missed it earlier this week, Sean McMann named six Renegades (so far) who will head to fall instructs:

Some of the Rays' top minor-league prospects, as determined by the organization, will head to Port Charlotte, Fla., following the New York-Penn League season's conclusion for the Florida Instructional League. During the instructional league schedule, players work out for a week before starting three weeks' worth of games, in which player development is the focus.

Infielders Juniel Querecuto and Jeff Malm, catcher Matt Rice and pitchers Ryan Carpenter, Lenny Linsky and Parker Markel are among the Hudson Valley players headed to the instructional league in Florida.

Deshun Dixon

Adam Lawson profiled a player I've been interested in since the Rays took him in the 10th round of the 2010 draft, Princeton OF Deshun Dixon:

Dixon has athleticism in his DNA. His brother, Rashun, plays for the Stockton Ports, a Class A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. Another brother, Antwon, plays football in Texas for Midwestern State University. Deshun's oldest sibling, Anthony, just got drafted into the NFL as the sixth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers. Deshun says that this athletic blood fueled a lot of competition at a young age.
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In high school, aside from being a star center fielder, Dixon was a left-handed pitcher who possessed a fastball that had been clocked at 93 miles per hour and a curveball that changed speeds. In the end, and for the time being, Tampa Bay decided that Dixon is best suited to be an everyday player instead of a southpaw that goes once every five days.

"Tampa told me I was going to be an outfielder because of my athleticism," Dixon acknowledged.

Hope everyone made it through the hurricane without too much trouble.