The Louisville Bats posted the worst record among the Reds teams during 2012 as they finished the year at 42 games under .500 with a 51 and 92 record.
Louisville got the season off on the right foot as they took the season opener to move to 1-0. That would mark the last time during the season in which the Bats would be above .500 as they lost the second game of the season. That would mark the last time during the season in which the Bats would even reach the .500 mark of the season as they also lost the next two games to fall to 1-3. Louisville’s offense scored 99 runs on the month, while the pitching and defense gave up 129 on the month as they finished with a 9-16 record.
For as tough as things were in April, May got worse for the squad as they fell to 8-21 on the month to push the overall record to 17-37. The offense struggled as they scored just 93 runs while the pitching and defense gave up 128 runs on the month. The Bats began the month with a 3-13 run before they won 3 of 4 games from the 17th-20th.
June was easily the best month of the year for the Bats, though it started out rough. Louisville began the month 1-6 through the first 6 days before winning 3 of the next 4 games. They would lose four in a row after that, before winning 10 of the next 11 games, with a 9 game winning streak. They would lose the next 9 games in a row, stretching into July. On the month they posted a 14-16 record where they scored 131 runs while giving up 139.
July began by continuing the previously mentioned losing streak as they went 2-6 before the All Star break. Coming out of the break the Bats went 3-1 before losing 4 of the next 5 games. They would end the month with a 12-17 record with 134 runs scored, while the pitching and defense allowed a season high 155 runs.
In August and September the Bats put up their worst stretch of the year, going 8-23. That is truly impressive given that they had a 4 game winning streak from August 4-7. From August 8-September 3, the Bats went 4-26. With a record of 1-13 over the final two weeks of the season the Bats secured the worst record in franchise history as they fell to 51-93.
Top Position Prospect
Henry Rodriguez gets the nod here over Neftali Soto, though both had disappointing seasons with the Bats. Rodriguez hit .348 with Pensacola before breaking his thumb after roughly 150 plate appearances. He struggled mightily in Louisville though as he would hit just .244/.264/.333 in 221 plate appearances. His aggressiveness may have been hurting him with 6 walks and 35 strikeouts in that time frame, but historically he has been a high contact switch hitter with enough plate discipline that coming off of an injury to his hand, he gets some slack for his first poor performance in his career.
Honorable Mention: Neftali Soto, Felix Perez
Top Pitching Prospect
Pedro Villarreal gets the nod here by default. Not that he isn’t a solid prospect, but between trades, graduations and poor performance, he is the only guy to choose from. Villarreal probably has a future in the Major League bullpen with good control and two solid to slightly above-average pitches with a fastball in the low 90′s and a strong slider.
Honorable Mention: Nick Christiani
OK bat me down if this crazy…All Dayton area followers od Redsminorleagues.com. What about a meetup around Christmastime to discuss all things Cincinnati Reds. We could do a Saturday lunch at Flanagans near the UD campus, or Bullwinkles in Miamisburg. Open to other sights and ideas. Any thoughts?
lets go nats
Doug,
I’m a little surprised Redmond doesn’t at least get some consideration as the top pitching prospect. I dont’ think he’s anything more than a serviceable spot starter, but I wouldn’t think Villareal is really going to be any more than that down the road.
Generally speaking, being 27 pretty much cuts you out of the discussion.
With that said, he probably should have also gotten an honorable mention. I think he certainly has a MLB future, though the extent of it, I don’t know. Perhaps a swing starter/6th inning reliever type.
Hoover?
He no longer qualifies as a prospect. He has spent more than 45 days on the roster (non September days). If he had qualified, he would have been the pick.
harper for rookie of the year go nats
Doug, I know this might be a tricky thing as he is no longer a Reds prospect but wouldn’t Donnie Jospeh qualify as the top pitching prospect from Louisville, despite the fact that it is for the Royals now?
I would have said so, but I was only including Reds guys.
Doug, is Phipps just filler or does his late start and tools give him a little longer rope as a prospect?
Filler. He has tools, but the only time he has ever hit was when his BABIP was the highest that anyone has ever seen. He is roughly the same hitter he has been since he was in Dayton. Sure, he has improved some since he has kept that same ability while also moving up, but if he is ever more than a cup of coffee guy, I would be surprised.
Phipps is good enough defensively in Right and Center that his bat could play off the bench. He has to pinch hit well, and often, to make any kind of Major League career. But there are a lot of guys who stuck around on rosters with weaker hit tools becasue they could give you quality innings in the field and show flashes with the bat.
But that said, I agree with Doug that he is highly unlikely to repeat his 2011 success at any level of pro baseball again. And I also believe that the Reds have better bench options for the outfield already in place (Heisey, Paul) or coming up behind Phipps (Lamarre).
A year ago when Quinten Berry (Then a Reds farmhand) looked like a career AAA player. Now he has a shot to stick with the Tigers for awhile, so you can never say never.
Harper ROY is a joke. 3rd best candidate. National media making him out to be a front runner. Miley and Frazier clearly outperformed Harper.