In case you were not aware, the MLB Futures game was played last night. This game is a recently new addition to All-Star Break festivities, and features some of the best young players in the minor leagues. Devin Mesoraco, Yonder Alonso, and Zack Cozart were all invited to participate. Of course, Cozart had better things to do, but the other two played, and played well. Devin was 1-1 with a HBP and also had a nifty defensive play. Yonder walked twice, struck out, and flew out. Now, turning our attention to the Reds system, as more players from the 2011 draft get signed, the system increasingly skews younger. Will any of these guys be invited to the futures game in coming years? Some are putting themselveson the right track, while others are leaving themselves with some work to do.
Ronald Torreyes
Torreyes is quickly becoming one of my favorite young prospects in the system. First, he's younger than almost every other player in the organization, including Wunderkind Rodriguez (see below). Second, he has a cool skill set. He's tiny (listed at 5'9", 140) and profiles as a solid 2B, although he can play SS and 3B as well. He'll never be a slugger, but his very good speed should translate into quite a few doubles. What makes him so interesting to me is that he almost never, ever strikes out. In 425 professional ABs he has struck out 24 times and walked 30. (5.6% K rate, 6.5% BB rate) All of that contact has led to a lot of hits, as he is currently sporting a line of .368/.429/.526 in Dayton. Oh yeah, he's also the youngest player in the league. I think this thread should be devoted to coming up with a good nickname for this kid.
Yorman Rodriguez
Still struggling a bit on the year, Yorman has turned it on a bit of late, OPSing close to .800 in his last 10 games. He is still striking out too much, but he's started walking a lot more too. Still only 18, and the second youngest player in the MWL (behind Tiny Torreyes), an adjustment year was probably to be expected, and hopefully he can continue to build on his recent success.
Sean Buckley
This year's 6th round pick, and son of Reds Scouting Director Chris Buckley, Sean has certainly done his part to quell any suspicions of nepotism. So far in 16 games for Billings, Buckley has put up a line of .323/.366/.631. Already 21, Buckley should get a promotion to Dayton soon.
Billy Hamilton
I picked Billy for the stale list on Friday afternoon, so of course he goes 6-14 with 3 SB over the weekend. Still, those were 6 singles, and he didn't walk. Hamilton will never be a slugger, but if he's ever going to have value at the plate he needs to become either a walking machine, a contact machine, or both. Right now the walk rate is just average and he strikes out like a power hitter.
Juan Silva
I really liked this kid when he was picked in the 8th round in 2009. After a slid debut, he is currently working on his second consecutive disappointing year. Now 20 years old and still in Billings, Silva has posted an unimpressive .255/.340/.277 line.
Kyle Lotzkar
Another guy picked on Friday who responded with a good weekend. But even after Lotzkar's good start yesterday, his ERA through 6 starts is 5.74. He's striking out a lot of guys, and there is some noise in his numbers (notably his last start before this weekend: 4.2 IP, 7 K, 1 BB, 2 H....and 5 ER. How does that even happen?) This should settle as he gets more starts, but for a guy with such a high injury risk, he can't afford any performance hiccups.
- Louisville got crushed Friday, 10-1. Devin Mesoraco had 2 hits. On Saturday they lost again, 2-0. Tom Cochran gave up 1 run in 5 IP. The Bats only managed 3 hits and no walks in the game. Turrible. Sunday the team finished their Reds impression, losing in extra innings,5-3. Brad Boxberger did his best CoCo impersonation, giving up 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning for the loss. Kris Negron was 3-5, and Jeremy Hermida hit his 9th homer. Up Next: The team is also on their all star break.
- Carolina was postponed Friday, so they doubled up on Saturday, winning 7-3 and then 8-5. In game 1, Matt Klinker gave up 3 runs in his 7 IP complete game. Yasmani Grandal was 2-3 with a double. In game 2, Felix Perez was 2-4 and Donnie Joseph earned the win with 1.1 shutout innings. Sunday's game was also postponed, so Up Next: A double header today, starting at 5:43.
- Bakersfield lost 4-2 on Friday. Clayton Shunick pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief. His ERA is 1.66 on the year. Kevin Coddington had 2 hits, and DiDi Gregorius doubled. On Saturday they lost again, 2-1. Curtis Partch gave up just 2 runs in 7 IP, striking out 5. Ryan LaMarre was 1-3 with 2 walks and his 27th SB of the season. Sunday they lost for the third time, 11-1. The team used 7 pitchers. Ryan LaMarre went 2-5. Up Next: The team is off Monday.
- Dayton cruised 9-1 on Friday. Yorman Rodriguez was 2-4 with 2 doubles, and Ronald Torreyes was 2-3 with a homer and 2 walks. Donald Lutz also homered, his 12th. On the mound, Stalin Gerson threw 6.1 shutout innings. His ERA through 6 starts is 0.75. Saturday they won again, 4-1. Daniel Renken was tremendous, going 6.1 innings and giving up just the 1 run while striking out 8. Billy Hamilton was 2-4 with his 62nd SB, Donald Lutz was 2-3 with his 13th homer, and Juan Duran was 2-3. Sunday the Dragons won 6-2. Kyle Lotzkar gave up 2 runs in 6 IP, striking out 5. Billy Hamilton was 3-5 with 2 more SB, bringing his total to 64. David Vidal was 2-3 with his 10th homer. Up Next: Josh Smith starts at 7:00.
- Billings won Friday, 9-8. Sean Buckley was 3-4 with 2 homers and a walk, and Robert Maddox was 2-5 with a homer. Saturday they fell 8-5. Buckley was 2-4 with his 5th homer. Ismael Guillon struggled a bit in his start, giving up 3 runs in 5 IP. Blog favorite El'Hajj Muhammad gave up 4 runs in the remaining 3 innings. Sunday they lost again, 12-8. Lots of hitting, terrible pitching. Up Next: Tony Cingrani starts at 9:05.
- AZL Reds won 9-6 on Friday. I really need to start getting familiar with these guys. I still don't recognize a single name. Saturday they lost 7-0, but that wasn't starter Daniel Tuttle's fault. He gave up just 1 unearned run in 3 IP and struck out 7. Sunday they lost 9-3. Move along, nothing to see here. Up Next: Someone will start at 10:00.