Red Reposter: Late Afternoon Farmers Only Bias Edition

Sheldon is singing the praises of Tony Cingrani. It's a quick little piece, but there are some interesting nuggets to be found. Dusty wants Cingrani to be ready to take over should one of the Reds starters go down. He mentions that there was discussion of whether or not the Cinnerman would get the call when Marshall hit the DL, but ultimately they decided to let him stay stretched out in the Louisville rotation. I've been skeptical of whether or not Cingrani can hack it in a major league rotation, but he's dominated at every level so far, and I'm starting to see the light.

Over at Fangraphs, fellow prospector JD Sussman talks about the 2013 debut of Bob Steve. There is a GIF of Stephenson snapping off a nasty yakker, which lacks consistency, but when it's right, it is damn near unhittable. Sussman thinks that Bob's changeup may become his preferred secondary offering when all is said and done, which he'll pair with a 96-99 mph fastball. TNSTAAPP and all, but this kid seems very special.

Sheldon has another piece over at Reds.com about the state of the farm. It's nothing that you guys don't already know, since you read Farmers Only every day, right? RIGHT?!?

Cubs top prospect Jorge Soler tried to go all Juan Marichal on the Clearwater Threshers dugout yesterday. After a close play at second base, tempers flared when Soler was apparently stepped on by the Clearwater second baseman. After the benches had cleared and everyone returned to the dugout, Soler retrieved a bat and ran toward the Clearwater dugout waiving it around like a madman. He did not hit anyone with the bat, but he was ejected and is looking at a lengthy suspension.

I'll have some of what Bud Black is smoking. After exhausting his bench options, former Reds prospect Yonder Alonso started off the 9th inning of last nights game against the Dodgers at second base. With two on and one out, Alonso moved to third base, switching positions with Jed Gyorko. The next batter, Andre Ethier was hit by a pitch to load the bases, prompting Gyorko and Alonso to trade positions again. The Padres managed to make it out of the inning unscathed but were unable to come back in the bottom of the ninth.

In other weird baseball news, Chicago police are investigating a suspicious package that showed up at Wrigley Field addressed to Cubs owner Tom Ricketts. The packaged was dropped off to a security guard by an unidentified man in pickup truck. Inside the box was a severed goat's head. Never change, Cubs fans. Never change.