The minor league season is nearly complete and half of the teams have already qualified for the playoffs with one team still in contention with a week remaining.
The Pensacola Blue Wahoos qualified for the playoffs by winning the first half North Division crown with a 41-29 record. They’ve continued to play well in the second half of the season, currently sitting at 34-29. They’ve got the second best overall record in the Southern League with a .564 winning percentage. The team just got some reinforcement when the Reds sent Rookie Davis back to Double-A to help anchor their rotation. They will get things started in the playoffs on Wednesday September 7th.
Daytona is still alive in the playoff race with a week left, but they are 4.5 games back of first place Dunedin with just seven games remaining for each team. The Tortugas finished the first half of the season at 36-33. They have improved in the second half, currently sitting at 38-26 but they’ve likely got to win out if they’re going to have any shot at participating in the Florida State League playoffs.
The Billings Mustangs won the first half North Division to qualify for the playoffs. They went 23-15 in the first half and they’ve continued to win in the second half, though not quite at the same rate. They are in second place at 15-13 with 10 games remaining before the start of the playoffs on Friday September 9th.
The Arizona League Reds actually wrapped up the regular season last night, losing 5-2 to the Angels. They finished with a league best second half record of 19-8 and tied for the second best record overall in the league. The playoffs at this level are a one game series with the winner moving on. They playoffs begin on Wednesday August 31st.
Overall the Cincinnati Reds farm system has a record of 329-328, but if you remove the Dayton Dragons record (they are an 45-89), the organizations other five teams are 284-239. That’s a winning percentage of .543. It’s certainly been a rough year for the big league club when it comes to wins and losses, though the second half has been better. The farm system, generally speaking, has been nice to follow along with during the year as the teams have remained quite competitive.
Quick notes from the past week
Jonathon Crawford is coming back from shoulder surgery, and while the results haven’t been strong yet, his velocity has increased since he returned just a few weeks ago. The results don’t matter much at this point, but it’s nice to see his velocity spike recently after throwing in the upper 80’s when he first came back.
Cody Reed left his start last night in Triple-A with back spasms.
The Reds have been contiuing to scout Cuban right handed pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez. He’s the top pitching prospect still available on the international free agent market.