It's time for our weekly look at who's hot and not in the Reds minor league system.
Travis Wood
Wood is working off of 8 straight quality starts, with a 4-0 record in that span with an average of 7 K/start. That's gotten him back to the top of the leaderboard, where he currently leads the IL with 97 strikeouts. With LeCure out of the picture in the rotation, could Wood be the next in line?
Yorman Rodriguez
The hottest hitter in the Pioneer League isn't old enough to buy a pack of smokes. The 17-year-old is currently working on a .424/.412/.606 line with 13 RBI in his first 7 games of the year. Keep it up, young man.
Cameron Satterwhite
What a story. The undrafted local boy has a 13-game hit streak right now, and is OPSing 1.073 in his last 10 games. I'd like to see him get a shot at the next level.
You know what, there isn't too much here to be disappointed about. Let's keep it positive, and highlight 3 more performances that have Reds fans turning their heads.
Donnie Joseph
Watch your back, Arthur. DoJo is coming for you. There's 7 scoreless appearances in a row, and now he has 11 saves on the season. His ERA between both levels is still under 1. Is there a chance he could help at the big league level this year?
Kris Negron
After a slow start to the year, Negron is starting to pick it up. He's OPSing .945 the last 10 games to bring his average up to .239 on the year.
Dave Sappelt
Sappelt continues to get better wherever he goes. He's currently hitting .340 in AA, and .359 in his last 10 games with 8 RBi in his last 3. I think there still could be a chance he gets promoted again this year.
Ok, now on to the games...
- Louisville lost their series with Norfolk, 2 games to 1. Friday night, they won 7-0 on a dominant pitching performance by Travis Wood. Wood pitched 8 innings of shutout ball, only surrendering 5 hits while striking out 9. Chris Burke and Wladimir Balentien homered for the Bats, and Chris Valaika and Wilkin Castillo both drove 2 runs in. On Saturday they lost 4-3 in 13 innings, due to a run scoring on a wild pitch by Philippe Valiquette. And what's worse, it was on an intentional walk. Bummer. Gary Matthews Jr. was 0-for-6 with 5 strikeouts in his Bats debut, and Danny Dorn and Todd Frazier homered for the Bats. Matt Maloney had a quality start for the Bats, and Aroldis Chapman, Carlos Fisher, and Bill Bray each were perfect out of the pen. They lost the rubber match 8-3 on a rough day by Chad Reineke, who gave up 7 runs in 5 innings. GMJ led the way going 3-for-5 and Frazier jacked his 11th bomb of the year. Up next: Bats have a 7:15 start tonight, with the starter TBD.
- Carolina got the better of Tennessee in their series, winning 2 of 3. They stomped the Smokies 11-4 on Friday, behind Kris Negron and Dave Sappelt, who combined to drive in 7 runs, Sappelt ending up a double away from the cycle. The most interesting ripple of this game was Brad Boxberger coming out of the bullpen, to give up 3 runs in one inning pitched. Feel free to make your own conclusions on this one. On Saturday, Matt Fairel actually left with a lead before his bullpen blew it to lose 7-6. Sappelt drove in 3 runs and hit his 5th homer of the year, and Fairel himself helped his cause with a 2-run bomb. Sean Henry and Devin Mesoraco had three hits each on Sunday in a 10-3 win. Matt Klinker pitched very well in his start, giving up 2 runs in 7 innings with 7 strikeouts. His ERA is now an obscene 1.75 in AA, yet he still continues to pitch there. Crazy. Up next: Jacksonville at 7:15.
- Lynchburg won the final two games against Kinston, 9-1 and 5-3, before dropping Sunday's game to Myrtle Beach 11-8. On Friday, the bats broke out in a big way, with newcomer Brodie Greene going 4-for-5 and Josh Fellhauer collecting 3 hits. James Avery pitched well in his start with 5 innings pitched and only giving up 1 run with 7 strikeouts. On Saturday, the Reds other Cuban prospect, Felix Perez, made his US debut with 1-for-4 start. He was batting .429 for the DSL team so far this year. Mark Serrano struck out 6 in his start, and Donnie Joseph collected his 5th save for the Hillcats. Sunday's game wasn't too impressive, especially on the mound, but Felix Perez had two doubles and Josh Fellhauer homered in the loss. Up next: Curtis Partch takes on Myrtle Beach at 7:05.
- Dayton got swept by Lansing over the weekend. They lost a 7-6 heartbreaker on Friday in 11 innings, after scoring 2 in the top of the 11th. Cameron Satterwhite had 3 doubles in that game, and Chris Richburg and Mark Fleury homered. Despite being wild with 6 walks, Tim Crabbe only gave up 1 hit and struck out 6 in 5 scoreless innings in the start. They lost 4-1 on Saturday with J.C. Sulbaran getting the loss. Sunday was another close one, a 5-4 loss in 11 innings. Henry Rodriguez was 3-for-5, and the Dragons mounted a late inning rally, down 4 in the 9th to come back and tie with Satterwhite's grand slam. Jacob Johnson gave up 2 runs in 6 innings in the start. Up next: Justin Walker gets Fort Wayne at 7.
- Billings lost their weekend series against Missoula. Friday's game was a 9-8 loss, with the pitching not really showing up. Oliver Santos had 4 hits, and Yorman Rodriguez and Juan Duran homered for the Mustangs. I could get used to that. They lost Saturday 10-9 with Y-Rod and Jonathan Kaskow leading the way with 4 hits each. Daniel Tuttle gave up 4 runs in 4 innings in his start. The Mustangs came back on Sunday for a 6-2 win, with Daniel Corcino, Tzu-Kai Chiu, and Porfirio Martinez all pitching well. Stormin' Yorman had 3 hits and 3 RBI, and Jefry Sierra had 3 of his own. Up next: Starlin Gerson takes on Helena at 7:05.
- After an off day Friday, the AZL Reds won both of their games over the weekend 8-3 on Saturday and 8-5 on Sunday. On Saturday, Daryl Thompson had his second rehab start, giving up 3 runs in 5 innings and striking out a season-high 9. Carlos Contreras gave only 1 hit in his 4 innings of relief. Junior Arias was 4-for-5 with a homer, and obc's favorite Robert Maddox drove in 3 runs. On Sunday the A-Reds struck early, with Dominic D'Anna leading the way with a 4-for-4 night with 3 RBI. Evan Hildebrandt started and struck out 6 in 4 innings. Up next: The AZL Reds will take on the AZL Rangers tonight at 10.