I’m going to take a look at the Reds top level minor league depth at seasons end. The last three weeks I covered the pitchers, catchers, and infielders. Now I’ll take a look at the outfielders. This is more of a who is closest to helping in the majors type of ranking rather than who has the most top side prospect ranking. I’ll only be covering players who played at least as high as AA this season.
Outfielders
Jason Bourgeois – Bourgeois is a 32 year old RH who can play all three OF positions. He’s totaled 549 PA over 7 major league seasons with a .258/.303/.324/.627 slash line. He batted .242/.265/.303/.568 over 34 PA with the Reds in September after putting up a .278/.328/.363/.691 line in 600 PA at Louisville. He’s way too old to be a prospect and doesn’t get on base enough to be a leadoff hitter and put his speed to use. He’s a 5th outfielder on a bad team. I was disappointed that the 34 September PA he got didn’t go to someone like Lutz or Rodriguez.
Felix Perez – The 30 year old LH OF can play all three OF positions. He put up a .280/.325/.450/.775 line at AAA this season. This was his 3rd straight full season at AAA with this year being his best year there. The Reds have not placed him on their roster or given him a Sept. call up so one can only assume he’s not in their plans. He’s a 5th OF at best who would struggle to top a .700 OPS in the majors.
Ryan LaMarre – LaMarre is a 25 year old RH CF. He lost nearly all of last season to a knee injury and was removed from the Reds 40 man roster. He spent the two previous seasons at AA where he put up a .255/.343/.362/.705 line in 1092 plate appearances. He’s a speedy, good defending CF, who has a 9.2% walk rate in the minors. I was looking forward to seeing how former 2010 2nd round pick would fare in AAA last year after a disappointing 2nd season in AA in 2013. Hopefully he will be healthy next season and we will get to see how he responds to AAA pitching.
Donald Lutz – Lutz is a 25 year old LH LF/1B. He has 113 PA with the Reds over the last two seasons with a .211/.239/.284/.523 line. He’s put up a .266/.335/.463/.797 line in 517 PA over the last three years in AA. This season he did get 218 PA at AAA with a .236/.307/.395/.702 line. The Reds seem determined to let him rot unused on the major league bench when he obviously needs minor league ABs. He’s only totaled 570 minor league PA over the last two seasons. He’s playing winter ball in Mexico now to get some extra AB. Hopefully the Reds will let him get the time he needs in AAA this year because a LH LF/1B with power off the bench is something they’ve been without for several years now.
Steve Selsky – This 24 year old is a RH OF/1B who began the year with a solid .301/.410/.367/.777 line in 205 PA at AA. He put up a .240/.359/.339/.697 line in 145 PA after he was promoted to AAA. His 9.9% minor league walk rate and .379 OBP illustrate his very good on base skills. His SLG numbers have fallen off badly since reaching AA. He could be a viable option as the RH OF/1B off the bench if he continues getting on base at AAA this coming season.
Yorman Rodriguez – The toolsy 21 year old RH OF got a late season call up this year and hit .222/.276/.222/.498 over 29 PA. Before his call up, he had 502 PA at AA where he put up a .262/.331/.389/.720 line that closely resembles his career minor league line. His late season promotion however was a reward for a very strong 2nd half where he slashed .291/.379/.453/.832 over his final 254 AB. He’ll be headed to AAA next season and we can only hope he continues his hot second half there.
Juan Duran – This 22 year old RH corner OF put up a .243/.297/.464/.761 line over 364 PA in his first appearance at AA this season. He has big power and strikes out a lot. He’s had between 130 and 152 SO in each of the last four seasons. He’s going to need to make better contact and improve on his career minor league average of .240 to see continued success.
Kyle Waldrop – Waldrop is a 22 year old LH corner OF who began this year back in A+ where he put up a .359/.409/.516/.925 in 288 PA. He was then promoted to AAA where he got another 252 PA and hit .315/.359/.517/.876. He’s now playing in the Arizona Fall League where he is off to hot start and logging time at 1B. Likely to start out at AAA next season where he will test his bat against more advanced pitching.
Jesse Winker – Winker is a 20 year old LH LF and is the Reds best hitter in the minors. He too started this season at A+ and hit .317/.426/.580/1.006 over 249 PA. Promoted at mid season to AA he started out slow and hit .208/.326/.351/.677 over 92 PA before a wrist injury in a car accident ended his season. He appears to have recovered well though as he too is off to a hot start in the Arizona Fall League where he’s batting .350/.440/.600/1.040 over his first 20 AB. If he continues to hit there and shows well in Spring Training, he will most likely begin next season in AAA.