Late on Tuesday night several Cincinnati Reds prospects announced on twitter that they had been promoted. The first was now former Dayton Dragons second baseman Shed Long, who is now heading to join Daytona. An hour later it was now former Billings Mustangs starting pitcher Tony Santillan who announced he had been promoted to Dayton.
Shed Long has been in Dayton now for just over a year. He arrived last June out of extended spring training and initially didn’t see much playing time. In the first five weeks with the Dragons he only racked up 55 plate appearances and he struggled at the plate. Then everything turned around and over his next 118 plate appearances he hit .333/.402/.552 to finish out the season.
He returned in 2016 and just kept on hitting. Long showed power, some patience and some speed. In 94 games he would hit .281/.371/.457 with 24 doubles, a triple, 11 home runs and 16 stolen bases in 18 attempts.
Tony Santillan got out to a very strong start with the Billings Mustangs in the 2016 season. In his first three starts the 2015 2nd round pick struck out 27 batters with just four walked in 13.1 innings pitched. That came along with a 2.70 ERA.
The next two outings were a bit of a struggle for the 19-year-old right hander as he walked nine batters with just eight strikeouts in 9.2 innings pitched. He also hit a batter, all while posting a 5.59 ERA in that span. It was a rough patch, but ultimately seemed to be a blip on the radar.
Over the next three starts he’s posted a 3.94 ERA in 16.0 innings. The Mustangs opening night starter walked just three batters in that span as he regained his control after a hiccup in that department. He also had 11 strikeouts.
Reydel Medina was also promoted. The outfielder arrived in Daytona on Tuesday and played in the game, starting in left field. He went 3-3 at the plate, including a double. He also made an outstanding play in the field, diving to catch a fly ball near the line and then doubling up a runner at first base who was running on the pitch.