The MLB All Star Break comes to an end today.Ã‚Â How about that Todd Frazier?Ã‚Â He hit a HR every 30.1 PA in the minors and now he is hitting them every 20.4 PA in the Majors and winning the MLB HR Derby.Ã‚Â Aroldis Chapman did all right for himself as well striking out the side while hitting 100+ on the gun with 12 of his 14 pitches.Ã‚Â Unfortunately, that was pretty much the big excitement for Reds fans for this season.Ã‚Â The Reds are 15.5 GB in the NL Central and 7.5 GB in the Wild Card race with 5 other teams in front of them.Ã‚Â Rumors of changes for the Reds are already swirling with the trade deadline at the end of the month.Ã‚Â Trades will bring big news for the Reds minor leagues as current prospects are promoted to fill holes left behind by traded players and new prospects acquired in trades will populate the farm system.Ã‚Â Strap in, it could be one wild ride.
AAA Louisville Bats
2B Irving Falu represented the Bats in the AAA All Star Game and went 0 for 2.Ã‚Â Falu is a 32 year old switch hitter who is currently slashing .309/.375/.411/.787 with the Bats this season.Ã‚Â That is better than his AAA lifetime numbers of .286/.345/.369/.715 in 3106 PA, most of which was in the high offense PCL.Ã‚Â No word yet on whether IF Josh Satin, .263/.368/.387/.755, excercised his op-out clause yesterday.Ã‚Â The Bats will most likely make some moves before today’s game as both Kyle Waldrop and Yorman Rodriguez were placed on the Temporarily Inactive list while they were participating in the futures game.
The Reds claimed 25 year old RHP Donn Roach off waivers from the Cubs and assigned him to the Bats.Ã‚Â Roach has accumulated 33.2 IP (17 G with 2 GS) with a 5.35 ERA over the last two seasons in the Majors with San Diego and Chicago.Ã‚Â At AAA over the last two season he’s thrown 166 IP (34 G with 28 GS) allowing 181 H and 56 BB with 77 SO.Ã‚Â Roach does have a high ground ball rate, over 60%, and can provide depth at AAA in both the rotation and the bullpen.Ã‚Â To make room on the 40 man roster for Roach, the Reds DFA 29 year old RHP Donavan Hand who had 3 IP of scoreless relief for the Reds earlier this year and had a 5.10 ERA in 65.1 IP (20 G with 10 GS) with the Bats.
AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos
OF Jesse Winker (.272/.379/.391/.771) is still tearing it up after his slow start and is hopefully in line for a AAA promotion real soon.Ã‚Â 3B Seth Mejias-Brean, .251/.367/.361/.728, is not hitting for much power but is showing very good plate discipline.Ã‚Â SS Zach Vincej, .248/.364/.321/.685, is quietly putting together a nice season.Ã‚Â Vincej is below the Southern League average OPS of .719, but he is carrying a very good.364 OBP with is well above the .332 league average.Ã‚Â C Kyle Skipworth is slashing .260/.333/.529/.862 in 118 PA with the Blue Wahoos.
RH SP Tim Adleman has a 1.95 ERA after 17 GS..Ã‚Â Recently acquired LH RP Patrick Schuster is off to a good start with the Blue Wahoos as he is unscored on over 8 G and 6 IP.
High A Daytona Tortugas
SS Alex Blandino (.295/.372/.428/.800) is still on the 7 Day DL and I’ve yet to discover what he has injured.Ã‚Â OF Sebastion Elizalde, .278/.337/.450/.788, is hitting well and has hopefully earned himself a promotion to AA soon.Ã‚Â Elizalde now has a career A+ slash line of .275/.334/.455/.789 in 617 PA between last year and this year.
SP Jonathan Crawford, who came to the Reds with SS Eugenio Suarez in the trade for P Alfredo Simon, was activated from the DL.Ã‚Â Crawford allowed 3 R over 3 IP in his first start.Ã‚Â 2014 first round pick RP Nick Howard (6.63 ERA) who has been struggling with his control (50 BB in 38 IP) was placed on the DL.Ã‚Â There was no indication what Howard’s injury was.
Low A Dayton Dragons
OF Aristides Aquino, .226/.288/.321/.609 in 59 PA, was activated from the DL.Ã‚Â Aquino hit .308/.333/.558/.891 in 54 PA on a rehab assignment in Billings where he hit .292/.342/.577/.919 last year.Ã‚Â OF Jimmy Pickens, .249/.297/.365/.662, was placed on the DL with a left shoulder sprain.
SP Wyatt Strahan (2.71 ERA) and SP Tyler Mahle (2.78 ERA) continue to lead the Dragons strong rotation.Ã‚Â RP Brian Hunter (2.23 ERA) has 7 S and 41 SO in 32.1 IP.
Rookie Billings Mustangs
OF Reydel Medina (.268/.307/.537/.843), OF Ed Charlton (.283/.358/.500/.858), OF Kevin Garcia (.362/.438/.420/.858), SS Blake Trahan (.337/.424/.442/.866), and 3B Brantley Bell (.324/.405/.456/.861) are all out pacing the high offense Pioneer League average of .291/.367/.447/.814.
LH SP Ty Boyles has a 1.93 ERA in 28 IP where he allowed 24 H and 12 BB with 22 SO.Ã‚Â RP Sarkis Ohanian (3.38 ERA) has 17 SO in 10.2 IP.Ã‚Â The league average ERA in the Pioneer League is 5.75.
Rookie AZL Reds
SS Alberti Chavez, .371/.421/.486/.907, is off to a very hot start.Ã‚Â Austrailian C Jake Turnbull (.323/.400/.387/.787) is still hitting well.Ã‚Â OF Raul Wallace (.309/.319/.471/.789) and OF Jose Siri (.268/.268/.493/.761) are hitting well but showing no plate discipline at all.Ã‚Â Wallace has 19 SO and 1 BB in 69 PA and Siri has 20 SO and 0 BB in 71 PA.
Wendolyn Bautista has a 0.87 ERA over 20.2 IP.Ã‚Â SP Jesus Reyes has a 2.53 ERA in 21.1 IP.Ã‚Â Carlos Machorro has a 0.90 ERA over 10 IP with 2 S.