Minor League Updates: Monday 4/22/2013

[texasdave]

Louisville is visiting Indianapolis.

Sean Marshall pitched the first inning for the Bats. He was perfect, striking out a pair. Could very well be heading to Cincy.

Nothing happening through three innings. Indianapolis has one hit. That is one more than Louisville has mustered.

Neftali Soto is playing third. Billy Hamilton has struck out twice in two trips to the plate. His OPS was .594 heading into the contest, so that is spiralling down to Janishian levels.

They are flying in Indianapolis. Through 4 and a half innings there is no score. Kyle Waldrop, Indianapolis starter, is perfect through five. Bats' pitchers have only given up one hit.

Pitcher Greg Reynolds says enough is enough and breaks up the perfecto with a two-out single. Billy Hamilton triples him home and the Bats have a 1-0 lead in the sixth.

Louisville gets its offense in gear in the seventh. Felix Perez draws a walk and steals second. Hessman dumps a soft single to center as Perez takes third. Neftali Soto lines a single to score Perez. Denis Phipps follows suit to bring home Hessman. A Konrad Schmidt sac fly brings home the third run in the inning. Bats lead 4-zip. Felix Perez doubled in the eighth and now has a double and a walk on the night.

Reynolds, working in the eighth, is the early leader for MiPOTD. He has pitched six scoreless frames, while breaking up the perfecto and drawing a walk at the plate. Reynold got the first out in the eighth and then wobbled a bit, giving three straight singles and a run. He was relieved by Jose Arredondo who walked the first two batters he has faced to force in a second run. Bases still jammed with one out. Jose gets the next batter he faces to ground into a double play. Bats lead by two heading into the ninth.

Bats fail to score in the top of the ninth. They are sending Arredondo back out to try to nail things down. And Jose promptly hits the first batter he faces in the ninth. See ya, Jose. Clay Hensley trots in from the bullpen. And Clay Hensley spits the bit. A walk and a single load the bases. Hensley induces a double play with a run scoring to make it 4-3. Two outs. The next batter goes yard and the Bats lose 5-4.

[texasdave]

Dayton scored a couple of runs in the top of the first. Amaral walk, Vincej singled, Winker stayed hot by singling in a run and Gelalich brought the second run home with a sac fly.

Ismael Guillon, wild as anything in his last start, walked the first two hitters. One later scored on a sac fly. No hits. Dayton leads 2-1 after one full.

Jesse Winker is now 9 for his last 20 and has lifted his average up to .250.

Ismael Guillon may have purchased himself a one-way ticket to extended spring training. In the second he walked the bases loaded before giving up a salami. His line: 1.2IP 2H 6ER 6BB 3K 1HR. He was relieved by Wes Mugarian.

Dayton scratches its way back in to the game with a 3-spot in the third. Amaral singled, moved up on a grounder and a wild pitch and scored on Mejias-Brean's single. Jesse Winker remains en fuego with a double that brings home SMB. Winker advanced to third on an error and scored on a productive out. Dragons trail 6-5.

Winker singled in the fifth for his third hit of the night. He is now up to .276. He walked in his last about, getting on base all four times he came up to the plate. After a slow start, Winker's slash line is now; .276/.382/.431/.813.

Dayton relievers have kept Lansing off the board, giving the Dragons a chance to come back. 4.1 scoreless innings combined from Mugarian and Klimesh. Klimesh falters, permitting two Lugnuts to cross the plate in the eighth.

Dayton falls 8-5.

[texasdave]

Meanwhile, down at the beach, Pensacola has opened up a 3-nothing lead. Josh Smith, after two rough starts to begin the season is turning things around. He has four scoreless inning to his credit tonight and eight consecutive going back to his last start.

Offensively, the Wahoos of Blue scored three times in the third. Doubles by Vicioso, Chang and Greene scored two and Selsky's single brought home a third run. Selsky and Chang have two hits apiece.

Pensacola and Jackson are both stringing zeroes now. Josh Smith coming up fast on the outside for MiPOTD. He is working on a six-inning, two-hit shutout.

Josh Smith has been outstanding. 7IP 2H 0R 0ER 2BB 7K. He stands at 87 pitches so he may have another inning left in the tank.

Chris Manno relieved in the eighth. He was perfect, striking out two. Curtis Partch earned his 4th save on the season. He allowed a hit but no runs, while also striking out a pair.

Pensacola pitching for the night: 9IP 3H 0R 0ER 2BB 11K. Wahoos win. 3-0.

[Benihana]

Rough start for Reds pitching prospects this season. Excluding Cingrani of course.

Corcino and Guillon, probably the two highest rated (outside of Travieso who won't debut until June) have both disappointed early on. On the flipside, Romano and Cisco are quickly becoming more relevant.

[Steve4192]

After today's results, there is not a single winning team in the Reds farm system, with two teams hovering just below 0.500 (Louisville, Pensacola) and two teams that are absolutely abysmal (Bakersfield, Dayton).

Winning isn't necessarily the goal in the minor leagues, but it is usually a byproduct of a quality player development pipeline. Great prospects tend to pull their teammates along with them, a rising tide lifts all boats and whatnot. The Reds recent lack of success on the farm is a troubling trend.

[dougdirt]

After today's results, there is not a single winning team in the Reds farm system, with two teams hovering just below 0.500 (Louisville, Pensacola) and two teams that are absolutely abysmal (Bakersfield, Dayton).

Winning isn't necessarily the goal in the minor leagues, but it is usually a byproduct of a quality player development pipeline. Great prospects tend to pull their teammates along with them, a rising tide lifts all boats and whatnot. The Reds recent lack of success on the farm is a troubling trend.

Or it is a direct result of losing Grandal, Boxberger, Gregorius, Sappelt, Torreyes, Sulbaran and Joseph who would all have been on our farm right now. Pensacola and Louisville would look a whole lot better with those guys on the teams. The depth would have then pushed down other guys, improving Bakersfield and Dayton. The system has a gap and we all knew it was there.

[texasdave]

Quickie Recaps:

Louisville - http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp..._t416&sid=t416

Sean Marshall got the start for the Bats on an injury rehab appearance. He pitched a perfect first and gave way to Reynolds.

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats...daaa_1&t=g_box

Pensacola - http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp...ecap&sid=t4124
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats...g_box&sid=milb

Dayton - http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp..._t459&sid=t459

The Dragons take on the Lugnuts in a morning game on Tuesday at 10:35 a.m. Pedro Diaz, a hard-thrower just brought in from extended spring training, will make his first start for the Dragons.

http://dayton.dragon.milb.com/milb/s...g_box&did=milb