If you are sitting all alone at home and are bored tonight, flip your TV on to MLB Network at 8pm.  The Arizona Fall League wraps up with their Rising Stars game.  It's a chance to see some young players who could end up being stars in the big leagues in the very near future.

From a Reds perspective, there should be four farmhands getting playing time tonight.  Chris Heisey is batting 4th and playing LF for the home AFL West team.  Batting right behind him is 1B Yonder Alonso.  Zack Cozart is on the bench for the AFL West team and Mike Leake will be in the bullpen.  Since it is a showcase game, I expect we'll see all of them play.

If you can't watch the game on TV, you can follow along with Gameday.  The game is in Surprise, so if I'm not mistaken, there will be Pitch FX for your viewing pleasure.

No, it's the FarMIES...but they're all welcome anyway

View full size photo »

Welcome to day two of the Farmies.  Yesterday brought us some major power, defense, and rising prospects.  Today we celebrate the real cream of the crop of the Reds minor league system.

Comeback Player of the Year

Homer Bailey

Let's review: 

2007-Bailey makes his debut to delirious fan support and is anointed the Great Hope.  He proceeds to struggle a bit the rest of the year.

2008-He's beaten out for a rotation spot by Johnny Cueto and has a very rough year between AAA and the bigs.  In the offseason he almost gets traded straight up for Jermaine Dye.

2009-He learns a bit of humility, a bit of control, and the split-finger and dominates AAA.  He comes up to Cincinnati and has a positively Arroyo-like end to the season.  His last 9 starts he goes 6-1 with a 1.70 ERA, striking out 53 in 58 innings and holding opponents to a .631 OPS against.

Last offseason many had given up on him. As of this minute he might be our second best starter.  Welcome, GoodHomer.  We hope you're here to stay.

Honorable Mention:

This goes to Justin Lehr for two reasons: 1) He was pitching in Korea last year, and this year posted a 2.51 ERA and .89 WHIP in 75 AAA innings, and 2) Teaching Homer the splitter.   Big ups, Justin.  I wish you the best of luck, just not with the Cincinnati Reds.

Continue reading this post »

The Beckhams love the Farmies!

View full size photo »

It's that time of year again!  That's right, time for everyone's favorite minor league awards, the (1st annual) Farmie Awards!  We'll be presenting awards for outstanding performances in the Reds minor league system during the 2009 season.  We'll present the awards over two days.  Today are the smaller awards (think Art Direction and Makeup Design).  Tomorrow we'll get into the major prizes.  As with any awards show, there will be awkward acceptance speeches, terrible clothes, and controversial winners.  That's where you come in.  Let me know why my picks are wrong and who the award should've gone to.

Hope you enjoy!

Continue reading this post »

The offseason lull may have made its way to us Reds fans a few weeks ago (actually, a few months ago), but for most Reds minor leaguers, there's not much of an offseason.  Reds farmhands will be playing in 5 different leagues, the most prestigious one of which starts today.  Here's what you need to know about the Arizona Fall League.

Q: What the hell is it?

A: The AFL is a place where many organizations send their top prospects from the US, from the AA and AAA levels (although one "class-A" player is allowed and one international player is allowed from each team).  Among the big names competing this year, the Marlins' Mike Stanton, the Braves' Jason Heyward, the Mariners' Dustin Ackley, the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg, the Giants' Buster Posey, the Rangers' Tanner Scheppers, as well as our own Yonder Alonso. 

Q: How many players are sent from each team?

A: Each roster is filled by 5 teams who send 7 players each, giving the league 6 teams of 35 players.

Q: Who's participating from the Reds?

A: The Reds sent 4 pitchers to Arizona, a class headed by 2009 first round pick RHP Mike Leake.  Joining him will be supplemental pick RHP Brad Boxberger, AA reliever RHP Sean Watson, and AAA closer RHP Logan Ondrusek.  Rounding out the players sent are 1B Yonder Alonso, AA SS Zachary Cozart, and AAA outfielder Chris Heisey.

Q: Are they all on the same team?

A: Yep!  The Reds prospects will be playing on the Peoria Saguaros this year, along with prospects from the Indians, Astros, Padres, and Braves organizations.

They kick off their year tonight at 8:35 ET against the Scottsdale Scorpions, with former Vanderbilt standout Mike Minor on the hill.  We'll have occasional updates all season long of this league, plus the Mexican and Venezuelan leagues (which have already kicked off) and the Dominican and Puerto Rican leagues (which are set to start soon).

So last Friday night, Slyde, jsl413 and I ventured down to Louisville to watch the Reds AAA affiliate take on Durham in Game 3 of the first round of the IL playoffs.  We had a pretty good time.  Slyde got some pretty sweet tickets for $12.50 each.  We ended up about halfway up the box seats, one section to the left of home plate.  Here's a view from our seats:

That, my friends, is prime real estate.  More about the game (and more pics) after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

Labor Day means that most of the minor league teams are done for the year, with one still going on and one team in the playoffs.  Let's go over some highlights of the long weekend, and see what's ahead.

• Louisville closed out their season by winning 3 of thelr last 4.  Highlights included a combined 7-hit game from Todd Frazier and Juan Francisco, a 5-inning shutout relief outing by Lee Tabor, a 9 strikeout start by Ben Jukich, 3-hit games by Jay Bruce and Ryan Hanigan, 7 shutout innings by Sam Lecure, and another 2-hit game by Jay Bruce.  Bruce was 5-for-18 and Hanigan was 7-for-18 on their rehab stints.  Up next: Obviously the big news is that the Bats are the sole team in the Reds organization to make their playoffs this year.  They'll take on the Durham Bulls (TB) in a 5-game series, starting Wednesday in Durham.  They'll play at least one game in Louisville on Friday night, so if you're so inclined, come on down and see a playoff game.  Slyde and I will be there, so come say hello.
  
• Carolina also won 3 of their final 4, but finished 11 games back in their division at 28-42 in the second half.  Some highlights of their weekend: 2 hits and a homer by Yonder Alonso, a 3-for-3 game from Alonso, and 7 shutout innings by Jerry Gil (!).  Yonder has been hitting .412 over his last 10 games, and is rumored to be joining Louisville for their playoff run.
• Sarasota finished dead last in their division at 26-43 in the second half, but won 2 of their final 3 games.  Lance Janke had a 1-run, 7 inning outing, Carlos Fisher had a perfect inning of work, Neftali Soto had a 2-hit game, Denis Phipps had a 3-hit game with a HR, Curtis Partch pitched 7 shutout innings, Jordan Wideman had a 3-hit game, and Matt Fairel finished his season with 8 shutout innings.
• Dayton lost 3 of their last 4 to finish out their year.  Highlights include another good start by Chase Ware, a homer by Josh Fellhauer, and a 3-hit night by Carlos Mendez.  The Dragons finish out the second half at 31-38, 17.5 games out of first.
  
• Billings will continue their season until the end of this week. 
  

As this is the last Farmers Only column of the season, I'd like to thank all you people for putting up with me and reading.  nycredsfan and I have a lot planned for the offseason, and we'll still continue to cover Louisville's playoff run (including live updates from Friday night's game) and finish up the Billings season.  The minor league season really doesn't end.  Next comes the Arizona Fall League!

First things first.  Jay Bruce and Ryan Hanigan have both reported to Louisville on rehab.  Also, most of the Carolina pitching staff from a few months ago are now with the AAA team.  A couple of recent callups are starters Tom Cochran and Camilo Vazquez, and stud reliever Joseph "The Cycle" Krebs.

• Louisville beat Indy 4-2 behind another good start by Travis Wood.  Woody gave up 1 run in 5 innings of work, and struck out 6 Indians.  Logan Ondrusek earned his 11th save for the Bats with a perfect 9th, dropping his ERA to 1.93 in AAA.  Juan Francisco had two hits for the offense, and Daniel Dorn drove in 2 runs with a pinch-hit double.  Up next: Ben Jukich takes on Indy at 7:15.
• Carolina went back and forth in their game against Mississippi before they won 6-5.  Matt Maloney had a great start, pitching 7 innings and giving up 1 run on a solo HR, and left with a 3-1 lead.  After Zach Ward predictably blew it, the Mudcats battled back with 2 in the 8th only to give up 2 in the top of the 9th.  Jose Castro broke the tie again in the 9th with a game winning single.  Jason Bour and Sean Henry each had 3 hits for the Mudcats, and for some reason shortstop Kris Negron started the game in CF.  Not sure where that came from, but we'll see if it becomes a trend.  Up next: Luis Montano takes on Mississippi at 7:15.
• Sarasota lost to Palm Beach 3-2, as the normally automatic Mace Thurman gave up the winning run.  Dave Sappelt was 3-for-4, and Alex Buchholz had a multi-hit game too.  Travis Webb started, and gave up 4 runs (1 earned) in 5 innings.  Up next: Lance Janke takes the hill against Palm Beach at 7:05.
• Dayton beat South Bend 5-3 behind a solid start by J.C. Sulbaran.  Sulbaran gave up 3 runs in 6 innings of work for his 5th win of the year.  Carlos Mendez drove in 3 runs with his 3 hits, and Kevin Coddington added a solo shot.  Up next: Chase Ware takes on South Bend at 7.
• Billings lost to Great Falls 4-3 in 10.  Efrain Contreras and Thomas Nurre both homered.  Leonardo Astorga gave up 1 run in 5 innings.  Frank Pfister was 3-for-5.  Up next: Billings takes on Helena at 9:05.

• Louisville won 10-6.  Wes Bankston went 4-5 with his 17th HR of the year, Juan Francisco went 2-4 with a walk (!!), and Lew Ford started making his case to be on the 25 man roster next year by going 2-4 with his first homer.   23 year old groundball machine Enerio Del Rosario pitched 2 1/3 shutout innings.  His ERA is 1.19 through 22 2/3 AAA innings. Up Next: Travis Wood and the Bats go up against Indianapolis at 7:00.
• Carolina was off.  Up Next: Carolina plays Mississippi at 7:15.
• Sarasota was shut out 7-0.  Justin Reed went 2-4 and Carlos Fisher responded to being demoted three levels by pitching a shutout inning with 2 K, 1 hit, and 2 walks. Up Next: Sarasota takes on Palm Beach at 7:00.
• Dayton won 8-6.  Carlos Mendez went 3-4, Cody Puckett went 2-4 with 2 doubles, and Dragon Slayer Mark Serrano pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up 1 ER and striking out 8. Up Next: Dayton plays South Bend at 7:00.
• Billings lost 10-5.  Yorman Rodriguez was 1-4 with a double and walk, and D.D. Gregorius went 3-4 with a double and a walk, raising his average to .321 on the year.  The pitching was bad. Up Next: Billings takes on Great Falls at 9:05.

The Louisville Bats are 80-57 on the year and have clinched a playoff berth.  Must be nice for those Louisvillians to have winning baseball in their town.