The Reds have signed 21 of the 41 players that they selected in the draft. These players will mostly stock the three Reds Rookie level teams in the US which begin play over the next week. The Billings Mustangs will kick off Rookie level play for the Reds tomorrow.
The Rookie Billings Mustangs begin play on June 15th.
The Rookie Greeneville Reds begin play on June 19th.
The Rookie AZL Reds begin play on June 18th.
Now let’s see what is going on down on the farm.
AAA Louisville Bats
The Bats had a 23 – 38 record and in 4th out of 4 in the International League West.
International League hitters are hitting .249/.321/.383/.704.
- 2B Dilson Herrera .300/.374/.455/.829, is tied for 2nd on the team with 4 HR. The 24 year old has played 23 G at 2B and 6 G at 3B with the Bats.
- 2B/3B Nick Senzel, .289/.368/.452/.820, is 2nd on the team with both 7 SB and 17 BB. The 23 year old has played 22 G at 2B and 12 G at 3B.
- RF Gabriel Guerrero, .302/.333/.397/.730, has 6 BB and 34 SO in 123 PA with the Bats. The 24 year old hit .296/.336/.469/.806 in 107 PA at Pensacola to begin the season.
International League pitchers have a 3.79 ERA.
- LH SP Justin Nicolino, 4.02 ERA, has thrown 65 IP allowing 70 H and 17 BB with 35 SO. The 26 year old has allowed 9.7 H/9 and 2.4 BB/9.
- RH SP Bob Stephenson, 4.11 ERA, has tossed 57 IP allowing 42 H and 35 BB with 67 SO. The 25 year old has allowed 6.6 H/9, 5.5 BB/9, and 10.6 SO/9.
- RH RP Kevin Quackenbush, 0.50 ERA, has tossed 18 IP allowing 14 H and 2 BB with 21 SO. The 29 year old has recorded 8 SV.
- RH RP Tanner Rainey, 2.01 ERA, has tossed 22.1 IP allowing 9 H and 14 BB with 37 SO. The 25 year old has an amazing 14.9 SO/9 and a bad 5.6 BB/9.
AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos
The Blue Wahoos had a 27 – 36 record and are 4th out of 5 in the Southern League South
Southern League hitters are hitting .250/.329/.389/.718.
- LF Narciso Crook, .476/.500/.762/1.262 in 22 PA, is red hot since joining the Blue Wahoos. The 22 year old was hitting .208/.296/.354/.650 in 54 PA at A+ and .263/.337/.525/.862 in 92 PA at A before joining Pensacola.
- 2B Shed Long, .260/.336/.423/.759, leads the team with 3 3B. The 22 year old LH hitter is also 2nd on the club with 10, 2B, 6 HR, and 8 SB.
- OF/1B Brian O’Grady, .222/.338/.421/.758, has 21 BB and 28 SO in 151 PA. The 26 year old LH hitter is tied for 3rd on the team with 5 HR.
- CF C. J. McElroy, .281/.340/.398/.739, leads the team with 9 SB. The 25 year OF has played 27 G in CF, 8 G in LF, and 4 G in RF.
Southern League pitchers have a 3.99 ERA.
- RH SP Keury Mella, 3.33 ERA, has thrown 67.2 IP allowing 58 H and 23 BB with 71 SO. The 24 year old has allowed 3.1 BB/9 and 9.4 SO/9.
- LH RP Seth Varner, 2.78 ERA in 11 G/3 GS, has thrown 35.2 IP allowing 29 H and 8 BB with 34 SO. The 26 year has a 1.04 WHIP.
- LH RP Alex Powers, 3.38 ERA, has tossed 18.2 IP allowing 13 H and 6 BB with 24 SO. The 26 year old has recorded 5 S.
High A Daytona Tortugas
The Tortugas had a 34 – 28 record and are 1st out of 6 in the Florida State League North.
Florida State League hitters are hitting .251/.323/.370/.693.
- 1B Ibandel Isabel, .250/.337/.618/.955, leads teh team with 16 HR and 55 SO. The 23 year old is 2nd on the club with 34 RBI.
- OF Taylor Trammell .297/.408/.453/.861, is tied for the team lead with 3 3B. The 20 year is 2nd on the club with 6 HR and 34 BB.
- OF T.J. Friedl, .290/.400/.406/.806, leads the team with 11 SB and 36 BB. The 22 year old LH hitter is tied for the team lead with 3 3B.
- C Tyler Stephenson, .274/.364/.442/.806, has played 45 G at C and has appeared in 7 G as the teams DH. The 21 year old is 2nd on the team with 12 2B.
Florida State League pitchers have a 3.79 ERA.
- RH SP Tony Santillan, 3.00 ERA, has thrown 69 IP allowing 66 H and 18 BB with 55 SO. The 21 year old leads the club with 55 SO.
- LH SP Wennington Romero, 3.22 ERA, has tossed 67 IP allowing 52 H and 15 BB with 43 SO. The 20 year old leads the starters with a 1.00 WHIP.
- RH RP Ryan Hendrix, 1.69 ERA, has thrown 26.2 IP allowing 21 H and 17 BB with 39 SO. The 23 year has a very good 13.2 SO/9 and has recorded 4 S.
- RH RP Jesse Stallings, 2.00 ERA, has thrown 18 IP allowing 14 H and 5 BB with 12 SO. The 23 year has 3 S.
Low A Dayton Dragons
The Dragons had a 31 – 33 record and are 5th out of 8 in the Midwest League Eastern
Midwest League hitters are hitting .250/.328/.375/.703.
- C Hendrik Clementina, .329/.402/.615/1.018, leads the club with 9 HR. The 21 year old has played 30 G at C and 12 G at DH.
- OF Stuart Fairchild, ..283/.381/.466/.847, leads the team with 29 BB. The 22 year old is tied for 2nd on the club with 5 3B.
- 2B/SS Jeter Downs, .261/.328/.422/.750, has played 37 G at 2B and 22 G at SS this season. The 19 year old middle infielder leads the team with 18 SB and is 2nd on the team with 7 HR.
Midwest League pitchers have a 3.98 ERA.
- RH SP Andrew Jordan, 4.50 ERA in 6 GS, has thrown 30 IP allowing 32 H and 14 BB with 20 SO. The 20 year old has allowed 9.6 H/9.
- RH SP Hunter Greene, 5.70 ERA, has thrown 36.1 IP allowing 43 H and 17 BB with 50 SO. The 18 year old phenom has a 12.4 SO/9.
- RH RP Cory Thompson, 1.95 ERA, has tossed 32.1 IP allowing 34 H and 4 BB with 31 SO. The 23 year old has 3 S and 1.1 BB/9.
- RH RP John Ghyzel, 2.42 ERA, has tossed 22.1 IP allowing 12 H and 14 BB with 33 SO. The 22 year old has also recorded 12 S for the Dragons.
- RH RP Ryan Nutof, 2.86 ERA, has tossed 34.2 IP allowing 38 H and 16 BB with 45 SO. The 22 year old has a 11.7 SO/9.
Questions spring to mind:
Granted, it looks like Stevenson will always have a higher queue priority as regards who gets called (back) up next. The one good thing I’ve seen is that, this season, it seems to be taking only a third or a quarter of a season to find some semblance of form rather than half or two-thirds like last year. Another year or two and he might actually be able to -pitch- in May (I know, snark….snark…..)
Given that the rest of the talent pool is either rehab/retool land (Bailey, to a lesser extent Finnegan) or still just too young (high A/AA), where does Nicolino stand in the picture? Like Ervin was as an outfielder, Nicolino seems somehow to be the invisible man.
Related, what is his pitch style? Flyball or groundball? If the latter, it might warrant bringing him up ahead of Stevenson, even though is H/9inn. ratio is on the high side.
Shed had a BABIP of about .450 in April, and he’s been at about .250 since then. He hit 6 homers in May, so maybe he got a little homer-happy and it messed with his swing.
One thing the development people like to see is a guy righting himself after struggling for a bit. It’s going to be an interesting 10 weeks for Long. He won’t turn 23 until late August, and Baseball Reference puts him at 2.1 years younger than the weighted average for the league.
Gabriel Guerrero: can he play CF? I seem to recall he did play CF in AA ball.
His cousin is Vladimir Guerrero, you may have heard of him.
Nicolino was another farm system cast off/signing. He has pitched in the Majors, and found to be wanting. Maybe a left handed Dan Strailly?
Cossack, I read once that about 10 percent of players at any given minor league level make it to the next level. I don’t remember the source, but it seemed pretty reasonable. I presumed that to mean staying and making a contribution at the next level, not just a “cup of coffee,” as they used to call it. The players identified as prospects usually are the ones who are in the 10 percent, but not always.
It is encouraging to see Senzel posting better batting numbers (up to .289) and Hunter Greene’s ERA is trending downward. His 12.4 SO/9 is stupendous at his age. His future seems to be bright which will be essential to the team’s future success. Agree that BobSteve needs to be more consistent. What will it take for him to be convinced to pound the strike zone consistently?!