Valiquette to Louisville

[muddie]

LHP Philippe Valiquette has been promoted to Triple-A Louisville, with LHP Joe Krebs and RHP Federico Baez returning to the Mudcats. Krebs was with the Mudcats earlier this half, while Baez pitched with Carolina in 2009.

[texasdave]

In 29 1/3 innings Valiquette has struck out 21 and walked 16. Hitters are mashing at a .309 clip. Noone has gone yard on him so far this year. He is 23 years old with a live arm, so it is time to see if he can handle it.

[mace]

How weird is that for Joe Krebs? His line in Louisville: 12.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 8 K, 0.73 ERA.

[lollipopcurve]

Could be showcasing.

[redsmetz]

Could be showcasing.

I think we might be seeing some of that right now. It occurred to me that Smith's promotion might be the same thing, but that's just a guess on my part.

[GIDP]

I think a they are forcing these higher upside arms up to see what they got. They should be moving Donnie Joseph up quicker as well.

[dougdirt]

No problem with Valiquette moving up, but why do you send Krebs down?

[GOYA]

I'd much rather have Krebs than Valiquette. MUCH

[mace]

Goya, what has been your impression of Krebs? I understand he relies on a great curveball. Any other decent pitches? Is his command questionable? Does he look like a LOOGY-in-waiting?

[redsof72]

Valiquette is on the 40 man and he has a great arm, although inconsistent. They want to see what he can do in case they need him. The 40-man situation right now is important. They have a full roster. Once Hanigan comes back, they can DFA Corky and that opens one spot for Volquez, Dickerson, or a minor leaguer if they need one. Outside of that, they would lose a player if they have to activate someone off the 60-day DL or call up a player who is not on the 40-man. So they need to see what Valiquette can do. Krebs does not throw hard enough to be a priority, although he has done all you could ask of him. He is more of an organizational guy right now. I am told that there is some support for considering Reineke or Delgado, and neither is on the 40-man. There are some who believe that those two guys are the two best pitchers on the Louisville club right now.

As far as showcasing, there could be a trade brewing (prospects for bullpen help) but the showcasing would not involve a player moved to the big leagues for that purpose. Too much at stake. Every inning could be the inning that, in the end, determines the fate of this year's team (and the coaching staff). No way is Dusty going to mess around with that. He has too much on the line personally. Smith got hot in Double-A and they called him up to see if he could help.

[lollipopcurve]

Valiquette is on the 40 man and he has a great arm, although inconsistent. They want to see what he can do in case they need him. The 40-man situation right now is important. They have a full roster. Once Hanigan comes back, they can DFA Corky and that opens one spot for Volquez, Dickerson, or a minor leaguer if they need one. Outside of that, they would lose a player if they have to activate someone off the 60-day DL or call up a player who is not on the 40-man. So they need to see what Valiquette can do. Krebs does not throw hard enough to be a priority, although he has done all you could ask of him. He is more of an organizational guy right now. I am told that there is some support for considering Reineke or Delgado, and neither is on the 40-man. There are some who believe that those two guys are the two best pitchers on the Louisville club right now.

As far as showcasing, there could be a trade brewing (prospects for bullpen help) but the showcasing would not involve a player moved to the big leagues for that purpose. Too much at stake. Every inning could be the inning that, in the end, determines the fate of this year's team (and the coaching staff). No way is Dusty going to mess around with that. He has too much on the line personally. Smith got hot in Double-A and they called him up to see if he could help.

Always good to hear what you have to say, 72.

Delgado is somewhat interesting. Only 1 HR allowed all year (35 innings), and he's sharpened his control quite a bit lately. 40-man is an issue. I don't see them letting Corky Miller get away. There's some dead weight in the pitching corps, I think (Lincoln, Burton, perhaps Fisher and even DRH). I'd expect them to trim one of those guys before Corky.

[dougdirt]

Always good to hear what you have to say, 72.

Delgado is somewhat interesting. Only 1 HR allowed all year (35 innings), and he's sharpened his control quite a bit lately. 40-man is an issue. I don't see them letting Corky Miller get away. There's some dead weight in the pitching corps, I think (Lincoln, Burton, perhaps Fisher and even DRH). I'd expect them to trim one of those guys before Corky.
Corky Miller is not going to be picked up by someone.

I am a fan of Delgado. He has a live arm and a good breaking ball. He is one of those guys where I can't figure out how he doesn't strike out more guys.

[Falls City Beer]

The MLB needs another lefty in the pen in the worst way. DRH has got to be on the shortest rope in the pen. Gimmick pitchers have a short shelf-life.

[nemesis]

That Lefty should be Bray and should be in short order. First of July if all things continue to go as they are. Herrera should be demoted to make room on the 25 man. Let him sit in Louisville until September.

[GOYA]

Goya, what has been your impression of Krebs? I understand he relies on a great curveball. Any other decent pitches? Is his command questionable? Does he look like a LOOGY-in-waiting?

I haven't had a chance to see him enough to say. But he doesn't have problems throwing strikes and he is effective.

[Falls City Beer]

That Lefty should be Bray and should be in short order. First of July if all things continue to go as they are. Herrera should be demoted to make room on the 25 man. Let him sit in Louisville until September.

Bray's shown no ability to stay healthy. Yeah, he'll be in the mix, but that's not a horse I'm putting any money on.

[GOYA]

I am a fan of Delgado. He has a live arm and a good breaking ball. He is one of those guys where I can't figure out how he doesn't strike out more guys.

IMO it's because he isn't very good, command-wise. He is in the mold of Baez in that he posts pretty good numbers for a while but he does it by the skin of his teeth. Then reality starts to set in. But I will say he is a little better than Baez.

[lollipopcurve]

He has a live arm and a good breaking ball. He is one of those guys where I can't figure out how he doesn't strike out more guys.

Simple. The fastball doesn't move much and the breaking ball is somewhat loopy.

[lollipopcurve]

Corky Miller is not going to be picked up by someone.

How do you know?

Miller is an excellent defensive catcher. Any team that needs quality depth at catcher would consider him. There's a reason the Reds negotiated the contract they did with him in the offseason -- they knew if he hit the open market, he'd get scooped up.

Bottom line -- it's not worth taking the chance. If Hernandez gets hurt (and he's got bad knees), or Hanigan goes down again, you want this team turning to Castillo as the 2nd catcher in a pennant race?

There are far more expendable players on the 40-man.

[dougdirt]

How do you know?

Miller is an excellent defensive catcher. Any team that needs quality depth at catcher would consider him. There's a reason the Reds negotiated the contract they did with him in the offseason -- they knew if he hit the open market, he'd get scooped up.

Bottom line -- it's not worth taking the chance. If Hernandez gets hurt (and he's got bad knees), or Hanigan goes down again, you want this team turning to Castillo as the 2nd catcher in a pennant race?

There are far more expendable players on the 40-man.
Teams just aren't going to drop someone from their 40 man roster to pick up Corky Miller unless the perfect storm brews and someone has a catcher go down with a real injury immediately after you pass him through waivers.

And I would think the team would go with Denove before Castillo.

[lollipopcurve]

And I would think the team would go with Denove before Castillo.

So, they'd cut from the 40-man to bring up Denove, but wouldn't do the same to keep Miller?

[dougdirt]

So, they'd cut from the 40-man to bring up Denove, but wouldn't do the same to keep Miller?
That isn't what you said. You said they would bring up Castillo if Hanigan/Hernandez got hurt and Miller was scooped up. That all assumes they let Miller go and by some crazy series of events someone actually picked him up, that the Reds were left with only Hernandez and Hanigan on the 40 man as catchers. They would then have to make a 40 man move to get a back up catcher to the Reds. My guess says they would take Denove over Castillo in that scenario. Clearly the Reds want Miller over both and its why he is here now. But I doubt the Reds are concerned in the slightest about someone grabbing Corky Miller off of waivers when they get someone back.

[GIDP]

Id be surprised if someone picked up Corky, then again we did trade for him once.

[camisadelgolf]

I'd be surprised if someone claimed Corky Miller, but I wouldn't be shocked. There are a lot of crappy catchers out there, and if Miller has a line of ~.250/.350/.400 by the time Hanigan comes back, some team might take him to enable one of their younger catchers to have more seasoning in the minors (i.e. Craig Tatum and his zero extra base hits).

[klw]

Could Krebs' demotion be to put him a closer role?

[GIDP]

But are they going to clear a 40 man spot for him? Thats more the issue than anything. Is anyone going to DFA someone to pick up Miller? Id be really really surprised.

[TRF]

Are we assuming everyone's 40 man is full? it isn't always the case.

[mace]

Could Krebs' demotion be to put him a closer role?

That's a good call. There have been recent precedents. His stuff doesn't seem to fit the profile, though. That said, his numbers work.

[GOYA]

But why do it in Carolina? The Bats could use a closer too.

[muddie]

In 29 1/3 innings Valiquette has struck out 21 and walked 16. Hitters are mashing at a .309 clip. Noone has gone yard on him so far this year. He is 23 years old with a live arm, so it is time to see if he can handle it.

I think this is what the Reds are thinking. Ironically, I was thinking on the way home from work last night about why he seemed to be languishing in the pen here and going days between appearances. I think the organization wants to know what they have in this guy and if he is a guy that will be around or not. I personally would like to have seen him pitch more here.

[Kingspoint]

No problem with Valiquette moving up, but why do you send Krebs down?


Especially when the objection is to "always be challenging" a player. Unless you want him to work with a particular coach on something for a while.

I'm guessing it doesn't last too long.

[Kingspoint]

Valiquette is on the 40 man and he has a great arm, although inconsistent. They want to see what he can do in case they need him. The 40-man situation right now is important. They have a full roster. Once Hanigan comes back, they can DFA Corky and that opens one spot for Volquez, Dickerson, or a minor leaguer if they need one. Outside of that, they would lose a player if they have to activate someone off the 60-day DL or call up a player who is not on the 40-man. So they need to see what Valiquette can do. Krebs does not throw hard enough to be a priority, although he has done all you could ask of him. He is more of an organizational guy right now. I am told that there is some support for considering Reineke or Delgado, and neither is on the 40-man. There are some who believe that those two guys are the two best pitchers on the Louisville club right now.

As far as showcasing, there could be a trade brewing (prospects for bullpen help) but the showcasing would not involve a player moved to the big leagues for that purpose. Too much at stake. Every inning could be the inning that, in the end, determines the fate of this year's team (and the coaching staff). No way is Dusty going to mess around with that. He has too much on the line personally. Smith got hot in Double-A and they called him up to see if he could help.

I posted on another thread a few days ago that the REDS need another Power-Pitcher at the Major League level in the bullpen. I didn't know who in the organization qualified under the current scenario that Walt has to work with, but it seems like you've answered that here.

Nice post.

[thorn]

Is it possible they are looking to make some room for Grandal?

[nemesis]

Is it possible they are looking to make some room for Grandal?

No.

Grandal, when he signs on August 15th, will be in Lynchburg. All they have to do is send Wideman back to Dayton or down to Billings.

[thorn]

No.

Grandal, when he signs on August 15th, will be in Lynchburg. All they have to do is send Wideman back to Dayton or down to Billings.


I was referring to the 40 man roster, maybe they are looking at who to drop.

[nemesis]

I was referring to the 40 man roster, maybe they are looking at who to drop.

I hope Grandal isn't on the 40 man to start. Be a bad deal IMO. Catchers just don't develop at the same rate other position players do and the spots on the 40 man are at a premium right now. I do hope however he and Mesorasco are ready by 2012 and give the Reds two top end catching prospects and possibly a very valuable trade piece to go out and improve the ML team or give them two legitimate Offensive threats behind the plate...