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- The Reds took Mike Leake with the 8th pick in the draft, and the reaction from the Reds blogosphere has been uniformly positive. Here is what Red Reporter's Resident Amateur Baseball Czar Thundering Turtle had to say about him: "He’s athletic and produces. A three-sport athlete in high school, Oakland drafted him in the seventh round in 2006. He’s a strike thrower with a fastball ranging from 88-92, having touched 94. He gets plenty of movement. Leake thros from a 3/4 arm slot, which gives him armside run and sink on his fastball. He gets a lot of ground balls. His change and slider are improving. His cut fastball is above average. leake is smart.His stats: 14-1 1.24 ERA. 15 G, 116 IP, 66 H, 128 K, 18 BB."
Jinaz at Basement Dwellers likes him too, being a recent ASU grad himself. But being the sourpuss that he is, he reminds us that 7 of 10 top draft picks end up working at car dealerships.
Reds scouting director Chris Buckley had this to say about him: "He’s a very polished college pitcher; throws four pitches. The numbers are just off the charts. He’s a very good baseball player. He’s one of their better position players. This guy hit the ground running in college. He’s a groundball pitcher. We’re thrilled to have him."
Doug at RML has a few videos of Leake.
Dave Cameron at FanGraphs had this to say: "I love Mike Leake. This pick breaks a lot of hearts. Leake’s a great command groundball guy who can pound the strike zone and knows how to pitch. The stuff isn’t as great as some of the other arms, but he’s a better pitcher than all of them. He’s got the kind of package that you look for in an innings eater, and this is a great selection for the Reds."
Tom at the Enquirer provides us with a link to Leake's prospect blog. -
Doug also gives us his take on the first day of the draft for the Reds. They took RHP Brad Boxberger from USC in the supplemental round, high school SS Billy Hamilton in the 2nd, and LHP Donnie Jospeh from U of Houston in the 3rd round. Here's what Doug had to say: "Overall I think that I really like what the Reds have done so far. Leake came in ranked #7 on my overall draft board and while my #3 guy was sitting there, I don’t mind passing over him. Adding perhaps the best athlete in the draft (Hamilton) is never a problem for me even if he is raw and is not taken in the first round. We also have two live arms who may need a little time (Boxberger and Joseph) but have plenty of good going for them."
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Now on to the Big Leagues:
I miss Adam Dunn. And he understands that. But he says we just need to let him go:
Dunn was asked about what Brandon Phillips said the other day about having a left fielder that could hit AND field and he replied with his usual easy humor: "Nice, real nice. I could probably think of something nasty or humorous to say. I'll ask him about it. No, I won't. That's Brandon. Brandon has to let me go. I'm not there any more. Let me go."
He also had some advice for the struggling Jay Bruce: "Jay's scuffling, huh? What's he doing? Swinging at everything? Worst thing you can do. You feel like you have to swing early in the count so you're not behind in the count." Told that Bruce was 2 for 33, Dunn laughed and said, "I'm about 3 for 38. But I feel good at the plate."
From the same article, Hal updates us on some injury news: Votto started working out in Cincinnati on Monday. When asked if Votto could be ready by Sunday, when he is eligible to return from the DL, Dusty Baker said: "It'll be two weeks Sunday? Seems longer (UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY). He could do that, but I don't want to put that time frame on him. All I know he is doing better and working on coming back." Edwin Encarnacion suffered a setback in his rehab and will not be embarking on a rehab assignment just yet. I'm worried. -
In case you missed it
Alex Gonzalez now as a better batting average than Jay Bruce. Good thing batting average is a stupid stat, right? Right? -
Tom Verducci thinks the Reds have 1 of the 5 biggest problem positions for contending teams
Do you think he picks LF, CF, or 3B? How about all three? And what about SS? -
Willy Taveras had the #1 Web Gem on Tuesday
It totally makes up for those 3 strike outs and that caught stealing. -
Murray Chass has an interesting article on how teams manipulate player service time to avoid arbitration
It looks like it's happening more and more every year, with a bevy of top prospects getting the call in the last 2 weeks. The Reds did something similar with Jay Bruce in 2008. -
Todd Frazier has gone consecutive games without a hit just once this year
How do I know this? FanGraphs now has game logs for minor league players! As far as I know, this is the first time game logs have been available on the internet for minor leaguers. It's an outstanding development.