Rookie league ball begins today, and we'll have a post up about the two Reds rookie teams in the near future. Another item of note is that, while he didn't make the "Fresh" list, Dontrelle Willis seems primed to break onto the Reds roster soon. His start yesterday was so good it warrants top billing. He threw 7 IP, allowing just 1 run on 3 hits, while striking out 7 and walking no one. Reports were that his fastball was running up to 93 mph and hitters were looking foolish against him.
Dave Sappelt
This is his second straight week on the fresh list, and he deserves it. Since coming back from injury, Sappelt has hit .381/.395/.548 in 42 at bats. I keep waiting for him to hit a cold streak, and it keeps not happening.
Daniel Corcino
The young Dominican is putting together a very nice season, propelling himself up the prospect ranks in the process. He began the year with two straight rough starts, but since then he has been lights out. In his last 10 starts he has thrown 54 innings, striking out 67 while only walking 8. His ERA over that span is 1.33.
Ronald Torreyes (not pictured)
There are some good pictures of Torreyes out there (here and here, for example) but they are too big for this space. Still, Mr. Torreyes deserves a mention on this list. He just joined Dayton from extended spring training and has 4 hits in his first 8 at bats. He also stole 2 bases. Only 18, and listed at just 5'9", 140, it says a lot about what the organization thinks of Torreyes that they already have him in Dayton. There are literally only a handful of 18 year olds in the MWL, and Yorman Rodriguez is another one. This guy is definitely someone to keep an eye on moving forward.
Jaren Matthews
Most of you probably don't even know who this guy is, but after reading his scouting report last year and watching him succeed in rookie ball, I had hopes that he might be a diamond in the rough. So far, no. Definitely not. Matthews is only managing a .604 OPS as a 22 year old in low A. So, nevermind. Nothing to see here.
Devin Lohman
Talk about a waste of a draft pick. Lohman was last year's 3rd round pick. He started the year in Dayton, but after sucking to the tune of a .525 OPS he was sent back to Billings. So you have a 22 year old collegiate shortstop, 3rd round draft pick being sent back to rookie ball in favor of the 18 year old Torreyes. Doesn't bode well for Lohman's future.
Chris Valaika
We often see players struggle in their first tour through AAA (Frazier, Valaika, Cozart, etc) but often they adjust and put up significantly better numbers the next year. Well, this is Valaika's 3rd year in AAA and he's OPSing a robust .603. I think his days as any kind of a prospect are over.
Follow the jump for an abbreviated summary of the weekend's action.
- Louisville won 2-1, 3-1, and then 4-2 over the weekend. On Sunday Dontrelle Willis had his aforementioned excellent start, and Devin Mesoraco reached base 5 times in 12 at bats, with 2 doubles, over the weekend.
- Carolina had a strange weekend. They are currently on their all star break, but preceded that by playing doubleheaders both Friday and Saturday. Friday they won 9-3, then lost 1-0. Saturday they won 5-1 and 8-4. Lots of guys had good offensive weekends. On Saturday, Aroldis Chapman threw 2 shutout innings, striking out 3 and walking none.
- Bakersfield lost 6-4, won 11-6, then lost 3-2. Yasmani Grandal is hitting again and has his OPS up to .920. JC Sulbaran gave up 4 runs in 5 innings Friday, but he did strike out 9.
- Dayton won 15-11, lost 8-4, and lost 8-2. Daniel Renken had one of his first bad starts of the year on Friday, Yorman Rodriguez hit 2 homers over the weekend, and Juan Duran continues to improve. His OPS on the year is up to .780.