Over at Draft America, they interview Yasmani Grandal’s college coach Jim Morris about Grandal. You can read or listen to it.
Speaking of Yasmani Grandal, John Fay notes that he will debut today.
Tom Cochran went to the DL in Carolina and Jordan Hotchkiss was promoted to replace him.
I posted this on Twitter last night, which if you aren’t following me, you should be…. but its the stat of the day. The Reds have 4 guys in their age 19 or younger season hitting over .300 for the Billings Mustangs.
- Yorman Rodriguez, 17, .357
- Billy Hamilton, 19, .329
- Tucker Barnhart, 19, .326
- Theo Bowe, 19, .307
That is very impressive.
Speaking of impressive Billings Mustangs, what a turn around Tanner Robles has made this season. He has made 11 starts on the season. Here is a look at his first 6 and his last 5. It is like someone else is wearing his jersey.
| IP | BB | K | ERA | |
| First 6 Starts | 21.33 | 20 | 24 | 5.91 |
| Last 5 Starts | 24 | 6 | 29 | 0.75 |
Clearly the difference is in the control. Robles went from nearly 9 walks per 9 innings to 2.25 walks per 9 innings, while maintaining a very high strikeout rate. Pitching coach Bob Forsch is doing a great job down there and has really helped turn Robles season around after telling him to nibble less and trust his stuff and throw it over the plate.
I was able to watch last night’s Dayton Dragons game. I got my first look at Tzu-Kai Chiu ever. The guy has very good control and a solid breaking ball that lefties are going to have a really tough time doing anything with. The best breaking ball of the night was thrown by Josh Smith though. Tight break, bottom of the zone. Has a good chance to be a real nice pitch.
Baseball America has a GREAT article up on some of the things that scouts look at when watching young players. If you have any interest in scouting or what goes into it, go read it yesterday. No, seriously, go read it.
In this weeks Hot Sheet at Baseball America, Ronald Torreyes is listed as the ‘Helium Watch’ player. Here is what they said:
Ronald Torreyes, 2b, Reds: The Reds have had a handful of intriguing Latin American players on their Rookie-level Arizona League club. Lefthander Ismael Guillon and shortstop Junior Arias, both of whom we wrote about two years ago when they were July 2 prospects, have posted fine numbers in the AZL, although righthander Jonathan Correa (now in the Pioneer League) might be better than both of them, with a fastball up to 93 mph and an advanced feel for pitching. Yet the player on the club who is the most fun to watch might be Torreyes, a 17-year-old out of Venezuela. Generously listed at 5-foot-10, Torreyes isn’t the toolsiest guy, but he runs well and has remarkable feel for hitting. Torreyes hit .390/.468/.606 in 284 plate appearances with 11 strikeouts (no, not a typo) in the Venezuelan Summer League before the Reds brought him to Arizona a couple of weeks ago. He hasn’t slowed down, hitting .372/.426/.558 with three strikeouts in 47 PAs, leaving AZL observers with some puzzled looks on their faces after showing them surprising power for a player his size. Torreyes, who was a teammate with Guillon two years ago on Venezuela’s 16U youth national team that competed against players like Bryce Harper and Manny Macahado, has played exclusively at second base since coming to the U.S., but he can also fill in at shortstop, third base or in the outfield.