Busy week in prospect-world, but things are going slightly better there than they are in big league-world. Here's the stock report.
Travis Wood
His season is really starting to come around. Woody has 7 quality starts in a row, with 47 (!) strikeouts in that span with only 10 walks. If someone gets called up soon, his name should be in the mix.
Sean Henry
Henry is absolutely raking right now in Carolina, with a line of .345/.406/.517 in his last 10 games, including some clutch game winners as well. Hopefully we'll see him in Louisville soon.
Juan Francisco
He's back from injury, and hasn't missed a beat. He's hit in all 6 of his games since coming back. At the same time, he hasn't had a walk, so let's see how that pans out, but at least the bat hasn't shown any rust at all.
Wladimir Balentien
After coming out hot to start the year, Wlad has been rough. His line is a dreadful .094/.162/.219 in his last 10 games. He needs to be better than that if he wants to get back to Cincinnati.
Travis Webb
Since arriving in Carolina, Webb only has 1 out of 9 quality starts. His K/BB ratio is 46/28. In his last start, he allowed 7 runs. None of these are good.
Josh Fellhauer
More like Josh Fell-off-a-cliff. He's OPSing .507 in his last 10 games, with only one walk in that span.
Information about the weekend, lots of interesting roster moves, and some names to know on the rookie ball rosters after the jump...
- Roster Moves: A few new faces in new places, as Philippe Valiquette makes his debut in AAA. The lefty's ERA was a shade under 4 in AA to start the year. He'll take Federico Baez's spot, who moves back to Carolina. Lynchburg's new left fielder is surprising, as it's 2010 draftee Brodie Greene. He was drafted in the 4th round out of Texas A&M, but was a middle infielder and most scouts profiled him as a 2B. It'll be interesting to see how he does in the outfield, as he's only played 2nd so far. Dayton's Brian Pearl has had injury trouble, so not to be outdone, they had a roster move of their own, bringing in Luca Panerati, one of the two Italian lefties the Reds picked up a few years ago. This will be the first time he's pitched in Dayton, and he'll be making his 2010 debut.
- Louisville lost their series to Durham over the weekend, losing 2 of 3. Aroldis Chapman pitched on Friday night, giving up 2 ER in 6 innings in a 8-2 loss. His walk total still wasn't impressive with 4, but he struck out 6 on the night. Jared Burton was good out of the bullpen with a scoreless frame, but Philippe Valiquette and Jesus Delgado gave up 2 runs each to put the game out of reach. Offensively, Yonder Alonso, Juan Francisco, and Drew Sutton had two hits each, but there wasn't much else. Saturday's result was better, with a come from behind walk off win, 5-4. END had another pair of hits, as did Chris Burke and Zack Cozart. Ben Jukich started the game, and was excellent with 9 strikeouts in 5 innings pitched. He gave up 4 runs, but the bullpen was solid, with Carlos Fisher, Bill Bray, Jared Burton, and Jon Adkins putting zeroes on the board in the runs column. Sunday's game wasn't as good, with a 5-1 loss despite a good start by Travis Wood. Wood gave up 1 ER in 6 2/3 innings, with 7 strikeouts, but Enerio Del Rosario gave up 3 runs in relief to put the game out of reach. Chris Burke led the team with 2 hits. Up next: The Bats take on Toledo at 7:05, with no starter announced yet.
- Carolina also lost 2 of 3 in their series against Mississippi. Friday saw a stunning comeback win, with 2 runs in the 9th to get a 5-4 win. Scott Carroll got a no-decision, despite a good start where he gave up 3 runs in 7 innings with no walks. Denis Phipps went 3-for-4 with a RBI, as did Jose Castro, who had 2 doubles. Saturday was another great start wasted, with Tom Cochran's 8 inning, 2 run start going for naught in a 2-1 loss. Kris Negron had 2 of the Mudcats' 4 hits, including a solo HR, his 5th of the year. Sunday saw another crappy start by Matt Fairel, who gave up 5 runs in 5 1/3 innings in a 5-5 loss. Sean Henry went 2-for-4 with a HR, and Eric Eymann had two doubles. Up next: Mudcats are off today.
- Lynchburg had the same result against Potomac, losing 5-4 and 9-2 before coming back on Sunday to win 3-0. Jordan Hotchkiss started Friday's game, giving up 2 runs in 5 innings, and Nick Christiani continued his brilliance out of the bullpen with two more scoreless innings. Alex Buchholz led the offense with a 2-for-4 night with a HR, his 6th. Josh Fellhauer and Carlos Mendez had two hits each as well. Mark Serrano got lit up on Saturday, with 7 runs given up in 4 innings. Sunday's game was pitching dominated, with Lance Janke starting and giving up 3 hits in 6 scoreless innings, and Brad Boxberger, Justin Freeman, and Donnie Joseph each pitching a hitless inning of relief. Yep, you read that right, Boxy Brown is pitching out of the bullpen for some reason. More word on that when we get it. Up next: The Hillcats get a day off too.
- Dayton actually won their series against Great Lakes. They won 3-1 on Friday, with a solid performance on the mound by Jacob Johnson. Johnson went 5 innings of 1 run ball, with 5 strikeouts. Josh Garton and Tommy Nurre each homered as well. Saturday saw an exciting game, with Dayton dropping a tie in the top of the 13th before coming back in the bottom to win 4-3. Ryan LaMarre was the star of the show, going 3-for-5 with his first professional home run. Mariekson Gregorius and Chase Weems had multi-hit games as well. Pedro Villarreal pitched 5 scoreless innings in his start. On Sunday, the Dragons staged a rally with 5 runs in the 9th but it wasn't enough as they lost 7-5. Mariekson Gregorius went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and Shane Carlson hit a 3 run homer. Ricky Bowen had 8 strikeouts, but gave up 6 ER in 6 innings. Up next: Dragons are off too.
- Billings kicks off their season tonight against Great Falls. Daniel Tuttle will get the ball for a team that features all kinds of exciting Reds talent. Names you should know are '09 draftees Billy Hamilton, Tucker Barnhart, and Dayne Read, '10 draftees Devin Lohman, Daniel Wolford, and David Vidal, former GCL standouts Theo Bowe and Jefry Sierra, and international standouts Jesus Adames, Porfirio Martinez, and Tzu-Kai Chiu. Oh yeah, and huge signings Yorman Rodriguez and Juan Duran are there too. Stacked. Tuttle's first pitch goes at 9:05 tonight.
- The AZL Reds are the newest affiliate, as the GCL team doesn't exist anymore. They start their season tonight too against the AZL Dodgers, a 10:00 start. Their roster still hasn't been announced.