Back in February jinAZ published a cool study comparing the run scoring environments of the different leagues in the minors. The Reds old rookie ball league, the GCL, was one of the most run-supressing leagues in the entire minors, but their new league, the AZL, is one of the most run-happy. That certainly is proving to be true so far, as in their three games the AZL Reds have scored 28 runs and allowed 26. That's something to keep in mind when a 31st round pick is hitting .380 a month from now. On to the games!!
- Louisville beat Toledo 7-4. Edinson Volquez moved the Elbow Rehab Tour to AAA, throwing 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits, no walks, and 1 strikeout. He touched 98 on the stadium gun. He was followed by Aroldis Chapman, who threw 2 innings, giving up 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and struck out 3. Of course, this relief appearance means Chapman is imminently headed for the Reds pen. (/fay'd). Zack Cozart continues to tease us in our quest for a legitimate major league shortstop. He went 2-4 with a triple. He's only OPSing .732 on the season, but his last 10 games he's OPSing .917. I feel fairly confident he could outperform Lando right now. Juan Francisco was 3-4 with 2 doubles, Todd Frazier was 2-4 with his 9th homer, and Michael Griffin was 2-4 with a double. Up Next: The SoulSucker Ben Jukich starts at 7:05.
- Carolina fell to Tennessee 6-5. Travis Webb had a nice bounceback start, going 6 innings allowing just 1 run, although he did give up 10 hits. Last week's Bullpen Flavor of the Week Joe Krebs gave up 3 runs in 1 inning of relief. Jose Castro was 3-4 with a double, Kris Negron was 2-4, and my main man Devin Mesoraco was 1-3 with a walk and yet another homer. That's his 5th homer in AA and his 15th on the year. That's right, he has as many homers as Joey Votto and Scott Rolen. Up Next: Scott Carroll starts at 7:15.
- Lynchburg and Dayton both were off again. Dayton is off again tonight, while Lynchburg resumes with someone taking the hill at 7:00.
- Billings had 2 finals,losing 4-3 in a game completed from Tuesday, and then losing 7-0. In the first game, this year's 3rd round pick Devin Lohmann went 2-6. In the second game, Juan Duran was 2-4 with a double. I really want to see him have a good year. Up Next: Clayton Shunick starts at 9:05.
-
AZL Reds lost 15-12. All 5 Reds pitchers allowed at least 2 runs, but to be fair to them the defense did commit 5 errors. Yay for rookie ball! Dominic D'Anna was 2-6 with a double and triple, Juan Silva was 4-6 with a triple, and Ohio University product Robert Maddox was 2-4 with 2 walks. There was a lot more offense, go check out the box score. Up Next: Someone will try to stop the bleeding at 9:00.