Luis Castillo (3.38 ERA) had his second good start in a row for the Reds. RH RP Kevin Shackelford has joined the Reds and looks to make his MLB debut after posting a 1.53 ERA for the Louisville Bats.
We now have a full slate of minor league teams playing, so let’s jump right in and see how things are going down on the farm.
AAA Louisville Bats
The Bats have a 31 – 46 record and are 4th out of 4 in the International League West.
The AAA All-Star Game will be on July 12th.
International League hitters are hitting .257/.327/.397/.724.
IF Alex Blandino, .333/.455/.444/.899 in 23 PA, continues to swing a hot bat since joining the Bats. OF Jesse Winker, .316/.398/.409/.807, hangs out in Louisville waiting for someone to sort something. OF/IF Darnell Sweeney, .290/.367/.411/.778, has played well since joining the Bats. IF Hernan Iribarren, .295/.351/.424/.775, mostly plays 1B now when he’s not pitching relief. IF Brandon Dixon, .249/.326/.437/.763, leads the club with 13 E. C Rob Brantley, .298/.335/.435/.770, is doing a nice job in AAA. OF Sebastian Elizalde, .301/.358/.397/.755 is having a solid season for the Bats. 2B Dilson Herrera, .248/.301/.383/.684, has a .853 OPS in June before being put on the DL with a concussion. OF Cedric Hunter, .300/.310/.475/.785 in 43 PA, was released.
International League pitchers have a 4.06 ERA.
The Bat’s have now had an amazing 21 different pitchers start a game for them this season. RH SP Tyler Mahle had a great first start for the Bats going 6 IP allowing 0 R on 4 H, 1 BB with 9 SO. RH SP Robert Stephenson, 2.73 ERA in 5 GS, had a good start last night going 7.2 IP allowing 2 R on 4 H, 0 BB with 8 SO. Cody Reed (2.26 ERA in 10 GS), Sal Romano (3.23 ERA in 8 GS), and Amir Garrett (2.35 ERA in 2 GS) are all pitching well also. RH RP Jimmy Herget has a 3.00 ERA and 2 S after his first 6 IP in AAA. RH RP Alejandro Chacin, 3.02 ERA is pitching well out of the bullpen. RH RP Nick Christiani, 9.00 ERA, was released.
AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos
The Blue Wahoos have a 41 – 34 record and are 1st out of 5 in the Southern League South. The Blue Wahoos are the Southern League South first half division champions.
Southern League hitters are hitting .245/.323/.369/.692.
1B Gavin LaValley, .353/.389/.824/1.212 in 18 PA, has picked right up at AA where he left off at A+. 3B Nick Senzel, .176/.263/.235/.498, and 2B Shed Long, .077/.200/.077/.277, are both off to much slower starts at AA. OF Tyler Goeddel, .268/.370/.408/.778, continues to hit well at AA. OF Aristides Aquino, .213/.275/.379/.655, continues to try to find his stroke at AA.
Southern League pitchers have a 3.58 ERA.
RH SP Austin Ross, 1.23 ERA, rejoins the club from AAA (4.91 ERA). RH SP Deck McGuire, 3.18 ERA, is putting together a nice season. RH SP Jose Lopez, 3.57 ERA, is pitching well since being promoted from A+. RH SP Keury Mella continues to struggle. RH RP Carlos Gonzalez, 2.25 ERA, is pitching well since joining the team. RH RP Geoff Broussard, 2.95 ERA, is pitching well out of the bullpen.
High A Daytona Tortugas
The Tortugas have a 34 – 37 record and are 4th out of 6 in the Florida State League North.
Florida State League hitters are hitting .250/.321/.363/.684.
OF T.J. Friedl, .286/.324/.286/.610 in 37 PA, is hitting for good average, but is yet to record an extra base hit since his promotion to A+. 1B James Vasquez, .294/.400/.412/.812 in 20 PA, is off to a great start. SS Luis Gonzalez, .333/.300/.389/.689 in 20 PA, is off to an OK start since his promotion. C Chad Tromp, .311/.351/.412/.763, is putting up some good numbers at the plate. SS Alfredo Rodriguez (.608 OPS) and C Chris Okey (.525 OPS) continue to struggle. OF/1B Brian O’Grady, .197/.340/.410/.751 at AA, was sent down to the Tortugas.
Florida State League pitchers have a 3.55 ERA.
RH SP Wendolyn Bautista, 2.38 ERA, leads the Tortugas rotation. RH SP Vladimir Gutierrez, 4.63 ERA, has peripheral numbers (68 IP, 71 H, 13 BB, 74 SO, 2.89 FIP) that look a lot better than his ERA. RH SP Jesus Reyes, 4.07 ERA, is throwing pretty well also. RH RP Ryan Hendrix, 0.00 ERA in 2 IP, is off to a good start following his promotion to A+. RH RP Brian Hunter (1.15 ERA) and Zack Weiss (2.25 ERA) are pitching well out of the bullpen also.
Low A Dayton Dragons
The Dragons have a 43 – 34 record and are 2nd out of 8 in the Midwest League Eastern. The Dragons clinched a wildcard berth in the Midwest League East Division with their first half finish.
Midwest League hitters are hitting .250/.324/.382/.706.
OF Jose Siri, .276/.337/.472/.809, is putting together a nice season at Dayton. OF Taylor Trammel, .258/.339/.439/.778, is hitting very well also. 1B Bruce Yari, .255/.378/.388/.766, has hit well since joining the club. C Tyler Stephenson, .265/.358/.388/.745, is having a nice season.
Midwest League pitchers have a 3.95 ERA.
LH SP Scott Moss, 2.78 ERA, leads the Dragons rotation. RH SP Tony Santillan, 2.85 ERA, is having a great season on the mound as well. LH SP Wennington Romero, 4.23 ERA, is throwing pretty well also. RH RP Carlos Machorro, 154 ERA, is throwing very well out of the bullpen. RH RP Sandy Lugo, 1.59 ERA, is pitching well since joining the club from Daytona. RH RP Aaron Fossas, 2.58 ERA, continues to pitch well also.
Rookie Billings Mustangs
The Mustangs have a 6 – 3 record and are 1st out of 4 in the Pioneer League North.
The Pioneer League hitters are averaging .303/.389/.479/.868.
C Pabel Manzanero, .294/.368/.706/1.074, is off to a great start. CF Miles Gordon, .393/.469/.571/1.040, is off to super hot start. 3B Leandro Santana, .344/.382/.656/1.039 is off to a real hot start as well. 1B Montrell Marshall, .281/.314/.594/.908 is out to a real good start. CF Stuart Fairchild, .235/.316/.412/.728 is getting his first taste of pro baseball.
The Pioneer League average ERA is 6.53.
RH SP Tyler Mondile, 0.90 ERA, is doing great after his first 2 GS. RH SP Matt Blandino (4.50 ERA) and Jhon DeJesus (4.05 ERA) are both off to good starts as well. RH RP Cory Thompson (0.00 ERA), RH RP Dauri Moreta (0.00 ERA), RH RP Moises Nova (1.29 ERA), and RH RP Luis Alecis (3.38 ERA) are the early leaders out of the bullpen.
Rookie AZL Reds
The Reds have a 1 – 2 record and are 4th out of 5 in the AZL Central.
The AZL hitters averaged .271/.365/.409/.775.
RF Reshard Munroe,.800/.833/.800/1.633, has started out very hot. 2B Alejandro Paulino, .429/.500/.714/1.214 is off to a super hot start. LF Mariel Bautista, .571/.500/.571/1.071, is hitting great in the early going. RF Raul Wallace, .385/.429/.538/.967, is hitting well also. 2B Cash Case, .286/.375/.357/.732, is off to good start in pro ball.
The AZL average ERA is 5.91.
SP Edward Escoboza, 3.60 ERA had a good first start. RH SP Rookie Davis went 3.2 IP allowing 1 ER, 3 H, 1 BB with 4 SO in a rehab start. RH RP Francis Jones, RH RP Junior Harding, and RH RP Anderson DeLeon have all yet to scored on out of the bullpen.
I am with you Old Cossack except they are pitching to minor league hitters that will chase balls out of the zone.Its just hard for me to be able to take anything these guys do in the minors and say they have got it or they don’t have it.They should do all you say but I just feel like they will pitch to the hitter they are facing and if he can’t hit 95 down the middle then that’s what he will get.Castillo was a strike thrower in the minors but in 11 innings he has walked 8 batters but they are big league hitters so it doesn’t surprise me.I feel everybody should earn a promotion but once you are here then you must give these guys legitimate chances to succeed or fail.Castillo should be given the ball every 5th day for the rest of the year and not because he has pitched lights out its because his stuff is electric and so is Reed’s and so is Stephensen’s.They should pitch every 5th day in the big leagues as well.This team has absolutely nothing to lose by doing this and a lot could be lost if they don’t especially if they make a decision to trade one of these guys.
Shed especially has something like a .100 BABIP so far, so pretty much the epitome of small sample size. Senzel has K’d 7 times in 5 games though. Still a small sample.
What happened to Dilson Herrera? Is he hurt again or did Blandino just move past him? I think we got damaged goods from the Mets? I thought he had a chance to be a Suarez type hitter at 2b.
Oh ok…thanks. He started off the season DH’ing mostly…think they said it was his shoulder?