Prospect News
The Reds have converted Stephen Hunt to a pitcher. Hunt hit .262/.335/.385 since being drafted in the 15th round of 2010. He has made four appearances as a pitcher to this point in his career throwing 4 innings with 4 strikeouts, 6 walks and an ERA of 11.25.
Billy Hamilton is among several position players in camp early, but so far, the only prospect in camp who isn’t supposed to be there yet (in big league camp that is).
The Reds announced a signing of an 18-year-old Australian pitcher named Dakota Mitchell. He is a 6′ 1″ right handed pitcher who weighs 185 lbs.
Left hander Ismael Guillon is not yet in camp. He had some problems with his VISA in Venezuela.
Other News
The Cincinnati Enquirer has up a photo gallery from Arizona. How great is it to see baseball again?
Fangraphs writer Steve Staudenmayer has up an interesting article right now that looks at how we adjust linear weight values based on different environments that players find themselves in. In the article he looks at the different values of outcomes based on home parks (home runs are more valuable in some places than others) or in certain line ups (where a walk is more valuable in some line ups than others). But it got me to thinking about just how valuable a guy like Billy Hamilton could be, where the normal values we apply to plays don’t really work for a player like him. Linear weights give a play credit for X value based on what that type of play has been worth, in runs, throughout a given time period (depending where you look, it may be 3 seasons, 5 seasons, 10 seasons or 25 seasons). His baserunning, and not just his steals, will be incredibly interesting to follow when it comes to this kind of stuff.
I wrote the Cincinnati Reds season preview as well as their prospect outlook for Big Leagues Magazine’s 2013 Season Preview. The magazine is online based and does cost money, but if it is something that you might be interested in, check it out.
Heisey for Stubbs straight up. Any takers? :)
Interestingly enough, for 2013, I would pass. However, 2014 may be different, depending on what Hamilton can do at AAA.
I will pass. Won’t miss the strikeouts. On another note, Rolen is not coming back(at least for now). Things are starting to shake out in the right way. Hopefully, this is a trend through spring training and the season(especially with injuries).
It appears Rolen will only come back if needed(later).
Wasn’t Hunt the one who hit well in Bakersfield a few years ago and hasn’t done much since?
Yeah, Hunt hit incredibly well in Bakersfield for about the first 8-10 weeks, then has struggled since.
Doug, what was your take on Rolen? Mine is that the amount off playing time and salary rellypaed into his decision. My guess he waits out Spring to see if any starting jobs open up via injury on contending teams. He could wait all the way through June to see if the Reds need him. This could be a very old topic by year’s end.
Who leads Reds minors in HR’s this season and will that season be enough to get excited about?
Rank 1 2 ad 3 Reds bullpen prospects by season’s end.
I think that the lack of playing time is the sole reason Rolen isn’t a Red. He wants to play his 70% and the Reds were offering him 25%.
Reds minors HR leader: Lutz or Mattair. Friendly park + actual power gets them the nod over a guy like Soto who has the power, but LSF plays pitcher friendly, especially on home runs.
Tough to say on the bullpen guys. A whole lot could happen. Some guys will be in the bullpen that we don’t even know about yet as relievers.
With Rolen officially not coming back, I think Walt has “Dusty-proofed” the lineup just about as much as possible. I say that half-jokingly, but in all reality, barring injuries, this lineup seems to finally write itself in a way that joins common sense and Dusty’s preferences together. That’s really important, because there are aspects of being a manager that Dusty really excels at, and aspects that he doesn’t, and Walt has pretty much removed one of the major things in the latter column.
I don’t think I’ve been as excited for a Reds season going into spring training in my lifetime (not old enough for the Big Red Machine days, but pretty much from the late 80s on).
It really is a shame that a GM has to “manager proof” his roster so the manager doesn’t screw it up. But, I think you are right. This roster is built to suit everything Dusty wants out of his hitters.
If Dusty can get us to 97 wins again I’ll take that. We were 1 game from the NLCS. Bad play is why we didn’t win and advance. Been to the playoffs 2 out of the last 3 years. Ending quite a dry spell in playoff appearanes along with a long line of under 500 seasons. I’m glad we got Dusty. I’m sure if he wins it will be in spite of his abilities. Also Doug many a front officce and field managers have differences of opinion. The fact that they overcome them and utilize each others strengths is what makes for a stong management team. Shame many can’t recognize that fact.
To be perfectly honest, I think this is the first season where I am honestly happy to have Dusty as well. I recognize that he seems to have some very positive strengths as a manager. In years past, I just couldn’t look past how maddening some of his lineup/playing time decisions were to appreciate other things as much as maybe I should have. With this team, I really don’t anticipate those decisions conflicting much with how I would like them to be, and that is exciting. It will allow me, hopefully, to appreciate the winning more, if that makes any sense.
Saw a couple of Hunt’s outings in relief. Good control, but not great velocity. It’ll be interesting to see what he has to offer as he focuses solely on hurling.
I wonder if there are any other interesting candidates for a ‘conversion’ experiment; Any suggestions?
Denis Phipps might be a good candidate for a hard-throwing relief arm, who could come in as a pinch runner. Plus, he’d be a good option for a late inning defensive replacement in the OF.
I can’t imagine they entertain it yet, but if Juan Duran doesn’t make sweeping changes, he has an outstanding arm. Same goes for a guy like Junior Arias. Phipps is interesting as well, though I think at this stage he wouldn’t even contemplate it until he was already 30 and I can’t see too many people giving him that chance.
Has a hitter to pitcher conversion ever resulted in a MLB pitcher for the Reds? Who is a notable example in all of MLB?
I can’t think of one off of the top of my head that the Reds did the conversion on themselves. The best big league example I can think of is Jason Motte, former catcher. I am sure there are several other good ones out there though.
Twitter responses after I originally posted this: Jose Arredondo (position player in the US for one season), Sean Doolittle (rookie last season), Kenley Jansen, Carlos Marmol, Alexi Ogando.
Trevor Hoffman played infield for one season as a Reds minor leaguer until he was turned into a pitcher due to his exceptional arm. Unfortunately, he was taken in the expansion draft by the Marlins and he never played for the Reds.
Mel Queen was a hitter to pitcher is memory serves me well.
Brooks Kieschnick is an example of a guy who played at the major league level as a hitter first before making it in the bigs as a pitcher I’m not sure who converted him, but he had played for the Reds at some point in there.
Brooks was a two-way player in college and as I recall, he was drafted at a bat-first, two way player.
Bruce Berenyi
I’ll show you how old I am, the Reds had an outfielder named Mel Queen in the middle 60′s. Made him a pitcher. Had one middling season as a eliever before baseball swallowed him up.
Dick, yor right showing our age. mel Queen. LMAO!!!
While on the topic of conversions….Given the lack of catching depth in the minors, any outfielders or corner infielders who might not have the bat to make it at their current position, but could be acceptable at catcher?
Of course, the Soto experiment apparently failed a few years ago, but anyone else?
Brandon Dailey played catcher in instructional league this past year. Might be something worth keeping an eye on.
I don’t know if he would get much pt in Dayton because of Hudson, or Billings because of Ortiz. Would they send him back to the AZL?
Wasn’t the Trevor Hoffman(relief pitcher(closer)) that went to San Diego a former position player in the minors for the Reds?
Converted ss
Hoffman was not protected vs. Chris Hammond when during an expansion draft, when he was picked by Miami (I believe)..
And that was one of the Red’s bigger mistakes in hindsight. He was an excellent closer for a number of years. If we just had a crystal ball.
Jon Coutlangus was a converted outfielder.
If my age is not playing tricks with my memory, Hal Jeffcoat was a light hitting outfielder for the Reds in the 50s and extended his career for a time by becoming a pitcher.