By now you've already heard the news, and speculation is rampant as to who will replace Joey Votto on the Reds roster. How do you replace the irreplaceable, even if it's only for a month (or so) (hopefully)? The FO's money is on Henry Rodriguez, as he's having a good year and can play multiple infield positions, which will come in handy with Frazier and Cairo splitting time manning 1B. The only problem with him is that he's only played 10 games above AA, and you'd probably like to have a little more experience there if possible. Neftali Soto is another candidate to take over the job, but he's OPSing .679 out of the 1B position, and only has 10 HR, well off the pace of the 30 he hit last year. Other than that, we've been down the Mike Costanzo/Willie Harris roads already, and Didi Gregorius probably isn't there yet, considering he has less AAA experience than Hank-Rod. Who do you think gets the call?
Anyway, to today's games...
- Louisville lost 8-2 to Columbus. Denis Phipps had 2 of the Bats' 4 hits., with Didi getting one and Xavier Paul getting the other. Hank-Rod and Soto were both 0-for-4. Ryan Feierabend started, and was not good. Up next: Louisville (hopefully minus one player) takes on Columbus again, with Todd Redmond making his Bats debut.
- Pensacola lost 2-1 to Jacksonville as J.C. Sulbaran got a tough loss. He went 4 2/3 innings and only gave up 1 run (but labored a bit, throwing 88 pitches). Billy Hamilton was 1-for-4 with no stolen bases, the bum. Up next: Wirfin Obispo takes the hill against the Suns at 8.
- Bakersfield slaughtered Rancho Cucamonga 8-1. Tim Crabbe was masterful, going 8 innings of 1-run ball, with 6 strikeouts. Steve Selsky hit his 7th homer of the year, and Juan Duran was 2-for-4 with a triple. Up next: High Desert at 10:05, starter is TBA.
- Dayton lost 4-1 to Burlington, only collecting 3 hits in the process. Radhames Quezada got the start, giving up 1 unearned run in 5 innings, but Lucas O'Rear gave up 2 runs in relief to earn the loss. Up next: Off day.
- Billings was rained out. They'll play 2 today, starting at 4:05, with Ismael Guillon scheduled to pitch one of them.
- The AZL Reds lost 6-3 to the AZL Tribe. Amir Garrett gave up 4 unearned runs in 2 innings with 3 strikeouts to get the loss. Jose Williams filled in admirably, going 4 shutout innings in relief, and Humberto Valor was 2-for-4. Tanner Rahier was 0-for-4, and is now hitting .088 in July after his hot start. Up next: AZLngels at 10.