Most of this was recently posted on Lance McAlister’s blog (I’ve added some numbers and some of Lance’s numbers might be a bit off b/c of the delay in posting this):
Louisville Bats/International League rankings
BA .249 (13th of 14)
Runs 377 (14th)
OBP .313 (13th)
SLG .370 (13th)
OPS .683 (14th)
BB 264 (12th)
Double-A Pensacola/Southern League rankings
BA .222 (10th of 10)
Runs 301 (10th)
OBP .303 (10th)
SLG. .326 (10th)
OPS .631 (10th)
BB 315 (3rd)
High-A Bakersfield, California League rankings
BA .258 (6th of 10)
Runs (10th)
OBP .324 (8th)
SLG .415 (5th)
OPS .738 (6th)
BB 273 (9th)
Low-A Dayton, Midwest League rankings
BA .257 (7th of 16)
Runs 416 (7th)
OBP .322 (12th)
SLG .363 (11th)
OPS .686 (12th)
BB (15th)
Read more: http://www.espn1530.com/pages/lancesBlog.html?page=2#ixzz2Z2g9KRoY
As can be seen, we don’t have one team that is very effective in scoring runs. The best is the Dragons, which are barely in the top half of their league in scoring runs. The rest are so bad you don’t even want to think about it.
Looking at individual players doesn’t improve the view much either.
Louisville Leaders:
OBP:
Nevin Ashley (29 year old part time catcher) .358
Denis Phipps (28 year old OF) .352
Josh Fellhauer (25 year old OF) .342
And just in case you were wondering: Billy Hamilton (22 year old future hope) .300
SLG:
Mike Hessman (35 year old slugging roster filler) .521 (6th in IL)
Nevin Ashley (see above) .465
Nefi Soto (24 year old trade chip) .418
Other than Hessman, none of these leaders are anywhere near the top group of leaders in the IL.
Pensacola Leaders:
OBP:
Ray Chang (FA pickup, 30 year old, demoted from Louisville) .374
Luis Durango (FA pickup, 27 year old) .373
Bryson Smith (24 year old 34th rd pick/2011) .363
SLG:
Donald Lutz (24 year old, OF) .423
Ray Chang (see above) .415
Marquez Smith (28 year of FA pickup, promoted from Bakersfield) .414
Not a pretty picture, is it?
Bakersfield Leaders:
OBP:
Juan Silva (22 year old OF) .395 (7th in league)
Steve Selsky (24 year old OF, sent to AA, brought back) .383
Yovan Gonzalez (2009/30th, 23 year old catcher) .357
SLG:
Steve Selsky (see above) .519
Juan Silva (see above) .486
Juan Silverio (22 year old 3B) .476 (but has only walked 7 times in 87 games)
Silva might be something to get a little excited about, same with Selsky, but he needs to move up and stay up, if he’s going to be an impact player.
Dayton Leaders:
OBP:
Jesse Winker (19 year old, 2012/1st) .368
Jeff Gelalich (22 year old, 2012/1st) .362 (slugging of .331)
Zach Vincej (22 year old, 2012/34th) .355
Seth Mejias-Brean (22 year old, 2012/8th) .353
SLG:
Junior Arias (21 year old, OF) .469
Jesse Winker (see above) .452
Seth Mejias-Brean (see above) .383
I’m very excited about what I’ve read and heard about Jeese Winker. I’m surprised he hasn’t been moved to Bakersfield, but the Reds seem to be very cautious, especially with really young guys. I also wonder, if with the struggles Billy Hamilton is having at AAA, it might convince them to be even more cautious with Winker and not rush him.
The biggest offensive hole for the Reds in 2014 is obviously in the OF with Choo leaving and Hamilton not looking to be ready for 2014, you wonder where the help will come from?
Other than Hamilton, the minor league system doesn’t seem to offer much help offensively, at least not in the next couple of years.
The trade for Mat Latos drained the minors of a lot of top echelon talent (Alonso, Grandal, Boxberger). They also gave up Donnie Joseph (who is up for the Royals now) for Broxton.
But we’ve been told how good the Reds minor league drafts have been for the past several years…does that seem to be truly the case? Do you see any help on the horizon? Who? And is there someone that’s simply having a bad year, but will be a better player than his 2013 numbers indicate? What are you thoughts? Is the future as bright as we were led to believe?