The Reds first deadline trade has been completed and Johnny Cueto is off to Kansas City where he’ll get a shot at being in the post season this year. The Reds got a pretty good haul of three LH SP in Brandon Finnegan, John Lamb, and Cody Reed in return. I’ll touch on where these three will start their Reds career below and see what else is going on down on the farm.
AAA Louisville Bats
Tuesday night SP Robert Stephenson tossed a gem as he threw 8 IP of shutout baseball allowing 3 H and 1 BB with 10 SO to lower his AAA ERA to 2.40. In his 5 GS at AAA, Stephenson now has threw 30 IP allowing 20 H and 11 BB with 31 SO. Newly acquired LH SP John Lamb (2.67 ERA at AAA with Omaha) started last night and went 5 IP allowing 3 R on 6 H and 3 BB with 8 SO. New LH SP Brandon Finnegan (5.00 ERA in 27 IP between AA and AAA this year) is slated to start tonight for Louisville. David Holmberg, 4.40 ERA in 108.1 IP with 129 H, 38 BB, and 61 SO at AAA, will get the call up to start for the Reds tonight against Pittsburgh. Yeah, I don’t why either. I would have thought Lamb or possibly Stephenson would have been the best choice.
Yorman Rodriguez, .269/.308/.429/.736, was placed on the DL with a left calf strain. Kris Negron, .193/.253/.349/.602, also landed on the DL with a left shoulder strain. Chris Dominguez, who was DFA, cleared waivers and was assigned back to the Bats roster.
AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos
OF Jesse Winker, .259/.363/.384/.748, has some competition in Pensacola for best batting eye. Seth Mejias-Brean (.257/.370/.375/.745) and Zach Vincej (.259/.371/.343/.714) are also doing a great job at getting on base. The Southern League average OBP is .333.
RH SP Tim Adleman, 2.41 ERA, was removed from last nights game during the 2nd inning with an elbow injury. No word yet on when newly acquired LH SP Cody Reed (2.53 ERA in 96 IP between A+ and AA this year) will get his first start with the Blue Wahoos. Josh Smith is slated to start tonight and they have TBD for Friday night, so it may be then.
High A Daytona Tortugas
Alex Blandino, .302/.375/.449/.824, has picked up where he left off with the bat since his stay on the DL. It is also interesting to note that Blandino has started 3 of the last 4 games at 2B since his return.
Nick Travieso, 2.98 ERA in 63.1 IP, has not pitched since 06/15 when he left that game in the 1st inning after a comeback liner caught him in the arm and forced him to leave the game.
Low A Dayton Dragons
2B Ty Washington, .273/.348/.396/.744, is still hitting well since his return from the DL. OF Jonathan Reynoso, .292/.335/.394/.729, is hitting well and has 5 3B and 12 SB.
Ty Mahle (2.41 ERA), Wyatt Strahan (2.87 ERA), and Tejay Antone (2.95 ERA) are anchoring a strong Dayton rotation. Midwest League average ERA is 3.55.
Rookie Billings Mustangs
3B Brantley Bell (.336/.392/.478/.870) and CF Ed Charlton (.276/.357/.494/.851) are leading the Mustangs on offense. LF Kevin Garcia (.339/.425/.400/.825) and SS Blake Trahan (.326/.392/.424/.816) are both also hitting better than the high offense Pioneer league average OPS of .790.
LH SP Ty Boyles (1.88 ERA) is the lone standout in the Mustangs starting rotation. Tyler Parmenter (2.20 ERA) is pacing the bullpen.
Rookie AZL Reds
2B Blake Butler (.367/.393/.557/.950) and 1B James Vasquez (.299/.356/.545/.901) are pacing the Reds offense.
Wendolyn Bautista still leads the staff with a 1.14 ERA in 31.2 IP. RH SP Adrian Rodriguez has 2.90 ERA in 31 IP.