8/17 Game Review
Louisville lost 2-0. Box Score
- Neftali Soto went 3-4 with a double.
- Cody Puckett went 1-3.
- Kanekoa Texeira threw 5 shutout innings with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts.
- JJ Hoover threw a perfect inning.
Game notes
Neftali Soto continues to hit very well since the All Star break. JJ Hoover lowered his ERA to 1.29 with the Bats.
Pensacola lost 4-1, won 10-2 in a double header.
Game 1: 4-1 loss. Box Score
- Billy Hamilton went 1-4 with a steal (142).
- Andrew Means went 1-4 with a double and a run.
- Bryson Smith went 1-4 with an RBI.
- Donald Lutz went 2-4.
- Ryan LaMarre went 1-3.
- David Vidal went 2-3.
- Mark Fleury went 0-1 with 2 walks.
- Chris Manno threw a shutout inning.
Game 2: 10-2 win. Box Score
- Billy Hamilton went 1-4 with a run.
- Bryson Smith went 1-4 with a double, RBI and 2 runs.
- Beau Mills went 3-4 with a HR (8), 2 RBI and 3 runs.
- Donald Lutz went 3-4 with an RBI and 2 runs.
- David Vidal went 3-4 with 2 HR (16) and 4 RBI.
- Brodie Greene went 2-4 with a double and 2 RBI.
- Mark Serrano allowed a run in 5.2 innings with 7 strikeouts.
Game notes
Billy Hamilton now needs 3 steals to tie the all time minor league steals record. David Vidal had a big double header with 5 hits, including two home runs.
Bakersfield lost 11-10. Box Score
- Theo Bowe went 2-5 with 2 RBI.
- Kurtis Muller went 2-5 with a double and a run.
- Travis Mattair went 3-4 with a double and 2 runs.
- Steve Selsky went 4-4 with a double, walk, HR (16) and 2 runs.
- Devin Lohman went 1-4 with a double, walk, RBI and a run.
- Chris Berset went 2-4 with 2 doubles, an RBI and 2 runs.
- Daniel Wolford threw 2.1 shutout innings with 4 strikeouts.
- Michael Griffin threw a perfect inning with a strikeout.
Game notes
The Blaze jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 1, but found themselves trailing 5-4 after 1.5. They tied it up after 2 but immediately saw themselves back down after High Desert scored 4 more in the 3rd. Bakersfield made a run in the 9th and scored one, but fell a run short. Travis Mattair continues his hot hitting and he is up to .274 on the year. Steve Selsky is hitting .351 with the Blaze.
Dayton lost 5-3. Box Score
- Jefry Sierra went 1-4 with a run.
- Joe Terry went 1-4 with a run.
- Robert Stephenson allowed a run in 5 innings with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts.
- El’Hajj Muhammad allowed a run in 2 innings with a walk and a strikeout.
- Michael Dennhardt threw a perfect inning.
Game notes
The Dragons only had 4 hits and had 3 errors in the game. Robert Stephenson struggled with his control early in the game but settled down as the game went along. He lowered his ERA to 2.74 with the Dragons in 23 innings. He took his first professional loss in the game.
Billings lost 11-3. Box Score
- Beau Amaral went 1-4 with a walk and a run.
- Zach Vincej went 2-4 with a double, walk and a run.
- Carlos Sanchez went 3-5 with a triple, RBI and a run.
- Wagner Gomez went 1-3 with a walk.
- Amir Garrett threw 3 shutout innings with a walk and 3 strikeouts.
Game notes
The Mustangs jumped out to a 3-0 lead through 5 innings before the bullpen gave up 11 runs over the final 4 innings. Amir Garrett made his final appearance of the year and it was a good one with 3 shutout innings, 3 strikeouts and 6 groundouts without a fly out. Zach Vincej is hitting .424.
AZL Reds had the night off
Game preview
| Team | 1st half | 2nd half | Time | Probable | Box Score | Listen Live | Watch Live |
| Louisville | 48-80 | N/A | 6:05pm |
Villarreal | Here | Here |
Here |
| Pensacola | 34-35 |
28-26 | 8:05pm |
Corcino |
Here |
Here |
N/A |
| Bakersfield | 41-29 | 21-32 | 10:15pm |
Gerson |
Here |
Here |
Here |
| Dayton | 30-40 | 22-29 |
7:00pm |
Allen |
Here | Here |
N/A |
| Billings | 21-17 | 13-6 |
9:05pm |
Langfield |
Here | Here |
N/A |
| AZL Reds |
15-30 | N/A |
10:00pm | TBA |
Here | N/A |
N/A |
Doug / others
Would you keep Stephenson in Dayton to start 2013, with perhaps a mid season promotion to Bakersfield, or start in him in A+ to begin 2013? What will be his innings limit next season
I’d start him in Dayton. No need to rush arms through the system right now, and he still has to work on his control/command and consistency. Corcino threw around 140 IP as a 20 year old in Dayton so I would probably have Stephenson around the same limit. Remember, he has thrown simulated innings in EST before Billings started up, and he’ll throw more in fall instructionals, so it’s not as big a jump in innings as it seems. Whether he gets promoted to Bakersfield or not will depend on his performance and if he is still being challenged in Low A.
I too would start him in Dayton and go from there. Maybe he only needs 30-50 innings in Dayton next year. His innings limit is a bit of an issue, because none of us know how much he threw before the season started. Without knowing that, I can’t really say how much he should be throwing.
I’d be surprised if his handling was all that different tha Corcino’s
Very impressed with Amir Garrett’s two starts and 6 innings at Billings. A short sample size but very promising for someone who has limited experience. Looking forward to seeing how he looks next season but do to his basketball commitment and likely lack of time to build-up innings, could his future be as a reliever.
His future could be a reliever, though I think they want to try and stick with a starter as long as they can. He is going to likely be a project more than most guys because of his basketball time, but there is plenty of time.
It’s nice to see some of these guys finishing strong. With Votto manning 1st for the foreseeable future it’d be nice to see Soto garner a little trade value.
Didi and HRod continue to struggle a bit. I’m starting to wonder if a Sept. call-up is in their immediate future. But I would think Didi’s ability at SS would provide good enough reason to see him up this year.
Hoping Lutz and Vidal build momentum this year and come back next year and crush AA, then get promoted to AAA at some point in the year. Bryson Smith just keeps on hitting at every level. Good to see.
Vidal is there to play everyday, consistently has good games. I like Lutz and Bryson Smith, Liking Lutz at first base some and really fast for a big guy.
Didi has a .263 BABIP in Louisville. He has been between .303 and .327 for the last several years. Normalize that for him to say .310 and he is hitting .291/.331/.489 for Louisville. His line drive rate is higher than it was in Pensacola too. He is just having some bad luck on the balls not finding the holes right now.
Henry on the other hand is struggling. He has 6 walks and 26 strikeouts. He is being far too aggressive at this point.
Smith is an interesting guy that I really would like to do some more work on. He is one of the few guys who have been around for over a year that I don’t have a good grasp on still.
Vidal’s on pace for 18-19 HR after his 20 last year. His HR rate hasn’t dropped from Bakersfield to Pensacola surprisingly and he is starting to hit. Not too bad for 22 in AA. Hopefully, he can take thr next step with the bat next year and hit for more average.
Byrson Smith needs to work more counts. Only 16 walks on the year. The upside is jlhis K rate is pretty good so he is making a lot of contact.
Smith is a very aggressive hitter, which is one thing I noticed with him while watching in Pensacola. He had several 1 pitch at bats while I was there. He does make contact at a good rate, but such a low walk rate and no much power probably has him as an extra outfielder. But I would like to look more into him before I say that for sure.
I’ll be pretty surprised if he is ever more than a 4th OF, but he could be a very good 4th OF. Can play all 3 OF spots well, solid arm, can be a good pinch hitter with the occasional spot start. The only way he ever starts is if he can hit over .300 in regular at bats.
Brady Clark, Chris Denorfia, Chris Heisey, Bryson Smith … nice
Really glad to see Vidal have couple of big games. He has been just kind of cruising along being neither great nor really bad. I’d love it if he carries this through to an end of the season hot streak.
Hi Doug,
Two questions:
1. Looking at Todd Frazier’s peripherals, are you confident that he is legit?
2. I just read that we have a team option (not mutual) on Ludwick next year for 5 million. Isn’t it a no-brainer to resign him for that price?
Thanks.
It’s a mutual option
According to Hal McCoy it isn’t a mutual option. I had previously heard that it was mutual…
http://www.daytondailynews.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/dayton/cincinnatireds/entries/2012/08/17/reds_should_exercise_ludwicks.html/?cxtype=feedbot
I think this was a typo in Hal’s article. I think the sentence was supposed to say “Ludwick does have a mutual option”. I believe the point that Hal was trying to make was that the Reds should exercise their side NOW….and if they were to do that, he would likely exercise his side.
If not a typo…Hal is simply wrong. The mutual option has been reported in multiple places…and was a part of the official announcement from the Reds when he was signed.
1. Confident that he is a Major Leaguer, yes. Confident he is an .895 OPS bat? No. His BABIP is sitting at .335 right now. Going to need to see him do that over a few years to believe he can sustain that. The power is real though.
2. Mutual option, as discussed below. I am sure we would gladly pick it up, but I doubt Ludwick has any plans to play next year for that amount of money.