Farmers Only: Dayton Renaissance

by nycredsfan on Aug 26, 2011 9:49 AM EDT in Farmers only

Last year, the Dayton Dragons were bad. Historically bad. The team finished with a record of 53-85, good for last place by a big margin. The team was near the bottom of the league in runs scored, runs allowed, and they led the league in errors. But in some nice karmic retribution for the faithful fans in the fair city of Dayton, this year's edition has turned it around completely. Their record currently sits at 75-54, good for first place, and they lead the league in runs allowed, are second in runs scored, and are in the lower half in errors. What a difference a year makes.

Louisville won 6-5. Matt Maloney added to his franchise record in wins, going 6 innings, giving up 4 runs. Kris Negron and Jeremy Hermida homered, and Chris Valaika doubled twice. Brad Boxberger earned the save with a scoreless 9th. His ERA in Louisville is down to 3.42 and he's striking out more than a batter an inning.
Carolina lost 5-3. Yasmani Grandal hit a 2 run, pinch hit double. Otherwise, this game looked boring.
Bakersfield lost 2-0. The team wasted a good start by Tim Crabbe (7 IP, 2 ER) by only managing 4 hits.
Dayton made Great Lakes their bitch, winning 9-0. Kyle Lotzkar threw 6 shutout innings, striking out 4. Billy Hamilton was 2-5 with a double, Ronald Torreyes was 2-5 with 2 triples, and Juan Duran was 2-4 with a double and a walk. Duran's OPS is almost at .800 for the season. Who saw that coming?
Billings won 7-6. Kyle Waldrop went 4-5, and and Spencer Dickinson (seriously, rookie ball has some amazing names) doubled and tripled.
AZL Reds lost 9-0. There is literally nothing good to say about this game.

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No SB attempts for Billy?

Looks like he had one chance to steal third with less than two outs, but didn’t go.

by ken on Aug 26, 2011 10:07 AM EDT reply actions

If Rick Perry will pray this storm away, I'll vote for him...and his hair

Dayton sucked last year and Carolina sucks this year. Seems there’s a dead spot in the system.

When you come to the fork in the road, take it.

by poojols on Aug 26, 2011 10:12 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

I think that's true. Bakersfield kind of sucks too.

You’ve got the current Louisville contingent, including guys just recently called up, then you have the Dayton contingent.

In between there are a few guys (Rodriguez, LaMarre, Grandal, Gregorius), but for the most part it’s pretty barren.

It feels so nice to be back to normal

by nycredsfan on Aug 26, 2011 10:14 AM EDT up reply actions

I suppose that's probably a good way for a small-market team to compete...

Every 3-4 years, a bunch of young talent comes in, loses for a year or two and develops, then puts it together and wins for a few years before being traded or signed as a free agent.

The only downside would be where you have the drought crops from the farm and have to pull non-prospects to the MLB club for playing time due to injuries up there.

And likewise, when the bumper crops come in, there may not be a spot to drop someone in (see Alonso, Yonder).

by Nasty N8 on Aug 26, 2011 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions

Grandal's really had a heck of a year

Seems like he struggled a little bit when he got to Carolina, but he’s now hitting with almost as much power there as he did in Bakersfield. Walks have gone down a bit and the Ks are still high, and I guess all of this is subject to SSS. But to do well at AA in his first full season is very encouraging. We could be talking about him being blocked a la Yonder this time next year.

by ken on Aug 26, 2011 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I was thinking that too.

Hopefully if that happens, they handle it a bit better. I have to think that a strong offensive catcher will have a LOT more trade value than a strong hitting, weak fielding first baseman.

It feels so nice to be back to normal

by nycredsfan on Aug 26, 2011 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I have no idea why this you would trade a catcher like that...

Which of the two is seen as weaker game-caller? You train that player to play an alternate position (preferably 3B). Strong offensive catchers are way too hard to come by to trade them away.

by Nasty N8 on Aug 27, 2011 9:04 AM EDT up reply actions

Semantical nitpick!

Is Maloney’s record truly a “franchise” record for wins? Because I think Louisville counts as part of the Reds’ franchise. I think he has the team record, not the franchise record.

"You said 'walks' twice."
"I like walks."

by Cy Schourek on Aug 26, 2011 10:49 AM EDT reply actions

I think of "organization" as referring to all clubs under one MLB team's umbrella

I guess I’d say that Maloney has the “affiliate’s” or “team’s” record. I guess it depends on whether you think a team/affiliate’s records survive an affiliation switch. Per Wiki, the Louisville Redbirds were St. Louis’ AAA affiliate until 1997, when the Cardinals shifted their AAA affiliation to Memphis (and took the Redbirds name). In 1998, the Louisville Redbirds became the Riverbats and became affiliated with the Brewers for two years. They then affiliated with the Reds in 2000, and dropped the “River” in 2002. I’m assuming Maloney’s record reflects the 2000- affiliation of the Bats.

by ken on Aug 26, 2011 11:44 AM EDT up reply actions