Minor-League Player of the Day (2014)

[OGB]

Any word yet on whether his caddy will be tending a flag stick at home whilst Bubba is in his windup?

Also, speaking of Covington, whatever happened with Reds prospect
Vaughn Covington?

He was suspended 50 games at the start of last season, but that doesn't explain his current absence. According to his twitter, he is still a member of the Reds' organization. I'd warn you against actually reading his tweets, though, I think I lost a few IQ points after seeing a dozen or so. He's still a young guy, though, I suppose...

[camisadelgolf]

Covington was released last month.

[texasdave]

Thursday, April 14: Donald Lutz, Pensacola....The big man brought some big lumber to the park with him Thursday night. Lutz went 3 for 5. All three hits went for extra bases, as he doubled twice and left the yard once. The home run was #5. He scored three times and drove home four. Lutz is batting .370 on the season. His line for his last 11 starts: .417/.451/.875/1.326.

Tucker Barnhart (Louisville) went 3 for 4 down in Derby City yesterday. He singled twice, tripled and scored both Bats' runs. He was mired in a 1 for 19 skid. Hopefully, he is digging his way out of it.
Argenis Diaz (Louisville) had a nice night at the plate. He singled in four trips and drove in a run.

Yorman Rodriguez (Pensacola) kept right on stroking the ball. Rodriguez went 2 for 4. He singled, tripled and drew a base on balls. He scored all three times that he reached base. YRod has his average up to .325. After a slow start, Rodriguez has been raking over his last seven games to the tune of: .500/.515/.688/1.203.
Travis Mattair (Pensacola) singled and doubled in his five at-bats, scoring once and plating a pair.
Bryan Anderson (Pensacola) The 27-year-old backstop is enjoying a fine April in his first campaign as a Reds farmhand. He pounded out three hits last night, two singles and his third homer of the season. He scored a run and brought home three. Anderson is now hitting .313, and his OPS is a lofty .921.
Juan Duran (Pensacola) The elongated outfielder stroked a pair of singles in a losing cause.

Kyle Waldrop (Bakersfield) dipped under .400 for the first time in a long while on Wednesday and decided that he did not like it. So, he singled in his first three plate appearances on Thursday. He scored once and is batting an even .400.
Chris Berset (Bakersfield) went 2 for 4. His hits included a single and a double.

Beau Amaral (Dayton) is having a much better second season as a Dragon. And Thursday night was no exception. Dayton managed just three hits and Amaral garnered two of them. He singled, tripled and scored a run. His triple in the seventh inning was the first hit of the game for Dayton.

Jaime Walczak (Pensacola) sparkled once again out of the pen. He hurled a hitless inning and a third, while striking out three. His ERA now stands at 0.90.
Shane Dyer (Pensacola) chipped in with a scoreless frame. His ERA for the year is a fine 1.08.
James Allen (Bakersfield) turned in a strong starting effort. 6.IP 7H 2R 2ER 0BB 2K. Allen retired 13 consecutive batteries at one point during the contest.
Jimmy Moran (Bakersfield) continues to pitch well. His relief stint last an inning and two-thirds. He did not give up a hit and walked just one, striking a batter out as well. His ERA stands at (0.57).
Carlos Gonzalez (Bakersfield) has yet to give up an earned run in 2014. He set down all four batters he faced in picking up save #4.
Amir Garrett (Dayton) produced his best starting effort on the year. He allowed just two hits in five innings of moundsmanship. He allowed just one run (earned). He was a bit wild with his four walks and struck out two.
Alejandro Chacin (Dayton) kept his ERA a spotless 0.00. In two innings out of the pen, he did not allow a hit. He did walk three, while fanning one.
Scott Brattvet (Dayton) also pitched two innings of hitless baseball. He faced the minimum six batters, striking out one and picking up his third save. His ERA is 1.08.

[mace]

Hate to be self-indulgent on here, but . . . lollipopcurve, did you happen to see my PM? (It regards tomorrow.)

Edit with program notes: lollipop will be guest-hosting tomorrow. And as you may have noticed today, texasdave has taken over Fridays for the time being, swapping out his conflicted Wednesday detail.

[lollipopcurve]

I'm a lefthander, and I'm relieving 250-inning horse Mace today...

Friday, April 25: Bryan Anderson, Blue Wahoo: 2-3, 2 HR (#s 4,5) 3 RBI, BB. The 27-year-old exile from the Cardinals organization (drafted under Jocketty) went the other way for his two dingers off rehabbing Braves starter Mike Minor and steered eventful Daniel Corcino through 112 pitches to a one-run outing on a night the wind was blowing out. The LH-hitting backstop is up to .333 on the season and is OPSing 1.072.

Also notable . . .

Daniel Corcino, Blue Wahoo: 6.2 IP, 3 H 1 R, 4 BB, 2 K.

Shane Dyer, Blue Wahoo: 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, Save (1). The 26-year-old former starter is throwing well out of the Pensacola pen.

Travis Mattair, Blue Wahoo: 2-4 HR (3). All 8 of his EBHs have come in the last 6 games.

Juan Silverio, Blue Wahoo: 2-3, HR (2). Hitting .323.

Jason Bourgeois, Bat: 3-5, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI.

Ruben Gotay, Bat: 2-3, R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B. Now at .342.

Chris Nelson, Bat: 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB

Tucker Barnhart, Bat: 2-3, 2 R, RBI, BB, 2B. 5 for his last 7, and could be at Turner Field tonight.

Argenis Diaz, Bat: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2B.

Jose Jumbo Diaz, Bat: 1.1 IP, 1 H 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, Save (5).Unscored on in 10 IP, yielding a BAA (batting average against) of .121.

Kyle Waldrop, Blaze: 3-4, 2 R, SB. Your daily dose of the .417 hitting corner outfielder. In LF last night for the injured Winker.

Zach Vincej, Blaze: 2-3, BB.

Beau Amaral, Dragon: 2-5, R, BB. Sounds like the son of Rich Amaral is on his way to AA.

Phil Ervin, Dragon: 2-5, 2 R, 4 RBI, BB, 2B. May be stirring.

Sebastian Elizalde, Dragon: 2-4, 2 BB. OBP at .450, OPS .991.

Sean Buckley, Dragon: 2-6, 3 RBI, SB.

Carlton Daal, Dragon: 3-5, R. The youngster's keeping is AVG and OBP (.370) up.

Sammy Diaz, Dragon, 2-5, 2 R, RBI, 2B.

Nick Travieso, Dragon: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K. The 20-year-old keeps up his impressive start to the season. 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA.

Zach Weiss, Dragon: 1 IP, all zeros with a K. His scoreless streak reaches 12.1 IP, and hitters are hitting .100 against him.

[texasdave]

What is everyone's opinion on Corcino throwing 112 pitches this early in the season?

[Kc61]

What is everyone's opinion on Corcino throwing 112 pitches this early in the season?

If he would walk fewer batters he would throw fewer pitches. He's not going to turn things around throwing four inning stretches of 80 pitches. No problem at all.

[Hillsdale87]

Any word on Travieso's velocity this season? Is it up from last year? Results look great so far, so whatever he's doing is clearly working.

[lollipopcurve]

Any word on Travieso's velocity this season? Is it up from last year? Results look great so far, so whatever he's doing is clearly working.

I've seen a couple of his games on MILB TV. Velocity is better. In the first game he was up to 93-94 pretty consistently, per the announcer. Slider looks sharper, and he's also developing a changeup. IMO, he's taken a significant step forward.

[lollipopcurve]

Saturday, April 26: Daniel Wright, Dragon: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K, Win (1). Wright has stepped into the Dayton rotation and helped the staff continue its dominance of the Midwest League. The 23-year-old 2013 10th rounder and senior sign out of Arkansas State is getting his first run as a starter in pro ball. Over 3 starts and 2 relief outings, his ERA sits at 1.69.

Also notable . . .

Joel Bender/Evan Mitchell/Scott Brattvet, Dragons: 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 Ks. They're lines were identical -- you do the math.

Carlton Daal, Dragon: 3-5, R, RBI. Replaced Beau Amaral in the leadoff spot.

Sebastian Elizalde, Dragon: 2-3, R, RBI, 2 BB, 2 SB(7). Replaced Amaral in CF.

Juan Silva, Blaze: 1-4, 2 R, H, BB, 2B, 2 SB(13). 13-14 in SB attempts.

Ryan Wright, Blaze: 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B, SB.

Seth Mejias-Brean, Blaze: 2-5, RBI, BB.

Chris Berset, Blaze: 3-4, 2B. The 26-year-old switch-hitting catcher is hitting .341 with an OPS of 1.011 in part-time duty.

Mike Dennhardt, Blaze: 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K. Special honors -- 2014 is the 3rd consecutive season he's spent time in Bakersfield.

Jimmy Moran, Blaze: 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K, Win (3). 2011 18th rounder out of South Florida now has an ERA of 0.49 in 18.1 IP.

Carlos Gonzalez, Blaze: 1 IP, 1 H 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K, Save (5). The scoreless streak continues.

Robert Stephenson, Blue Wahoo: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 8 K, 3 HR allowed. 64 strikes in 100 pitches.

Tim Adleman, Blue Wahoo: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R. 2 BB, 2 K. The Independent League signee has a 2.16 ERA out of the Pensacola pen.

Juan Silverio, Blue Wahoo: 1-3, HR (3).

Ryan Dennick, Bat: 1 IP, 1 H. The 27-year-old Buckeye (North Olmstead) is back to the pen and having a good early run -- 0.87 ERA.


Injury notes: Reds OF prospects a MASH unit. Yorman on the DL with an oblique. Lutz nursing a hamstring.

[Kc61]

Tough break for Jimmy Moran. He had my vote.

[lollipopcurve]

Tough break for Jimmy Moran. He had my vote.

Cry me a river. You could have volunteered for a day.


Moran's been stalwart. But he threw less than half the innings Wright did.

[Kc61]

Cry me a river. You could have volunteered for a day.


Moran's been stalwart. But he threw less than half the innings Wright did.

Somebody has to stick up for the relievers, LOL.

List was great, as usual, not being critical. Just want to highlight a relief pitcher, sometimes they don't get a lot of notice.

[mace]

Sunday, April 27: Jon Moscot, Pensacola . . . 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K. It took a manly effort--8 shutout innings in a tight game--for somebody to finally decision the undefeated MiLPOD champion, Ben Lively, who was unscathed over six rounds of his own. The tall righthander (Redszone prospect #11) from the nation's most beautiful campus (that would be Pepperdine) lowered his ERA to 2.08.

For starters . . .

Lively (Bakersfield): 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 7 K. The leading man of the theater of the absurd, the Central Florida product (RZ #10) lowered his ERA to a comical 0.31. Think that's ridiculous? His K:BB is 40:1.

Sal Romano (Dayton): 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K. A winning hand on most days. The 250-pound righty (RZ #40) finished the afternoon with a 2.33 ERA.

Chien-Ming Wang (Louisville): 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 6 K. The 34-year-old former Yankee produced his best effort as a Bat, by far.

Add in Johnny Cueto's performance in Atlanta, and the starting pitchers of the Cincinnati organization posted a line Sunday of 35 IP, 17 H, 1 R, 7 BB, 37 K.

Saves . . .

Jumbo Diaz (Louisville): His 6th was a struggle, but the big fella maintained his 0.00 ERA.

Jamie Walczak (Pensacola): Number 1 for the native of Painesville, Ohio. He's fanned 15 in 11 IP, surrendering only 1 run and 3 hits.

Layne Somsen (Bakersfield): The game wasn't close, but he earned the stat with a 3-inning stint. It was Somsen's High-A debut.

Scott Brattvet (Dayton): A clean inning produced #4 for the Californian, who struts an 0.87 ERA. A promotion to Bakersfield would send him back to where he attended college.

Sticks and such . . .

Juan Silva (Bakersfield): 1-4, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB (15). Only began to play regularly when Junior Arias broke his ankle.

Marquez Smith: 1-3, HR (4), 2 BB, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 old for the California League.

Ryan Wright: 2B, 3 RBI.

Juan Perez: 2-3, 2 BB, R, RBI.

Yovan Gonzalez: 2-3, BB, R, RBI.

Juan Silverio (Pensacola): 2-3, R, .338 BA.

Steve Selsky: 1-2, 2 BB, RBI filling in at LF for Donald Lutz, who, much like Mesoraco, picked an unfortunate time to do the hamstring thing.

Beau Amaral: 1-4, 2B, R in his first start for the Wahoos. Skipped Bakersfield.

Jason Bourgeois (Louisville): 1-3, R, 2 BB.

Daniel Mateo (Dayton): HR #1, BB.

Jeff Gelalich: 2-5, 3B, R.

Sebastian Elizalde: 0-1, 3 BB.

Gratuitous stat of the day . . .

Sunday walks drawn by Reds batters: 28.

Sunday walks issued by Reds pitchers: 5.

(Louisville 12-0. Pensacola 2-1. Bakersfield 9-0. Dayton 5-4.)

[texasdave]

Ben Lively, Bakersfield
(2-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 12 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 HBP, 1 BB, 17 K)
That being said about Winkler, there hasn't been a more consistently outstanding pitcher in the entire Minor Leagues so far than Lively. The Reds' No. 13 prospect did not allow a run in a pair of six-inning gems last week, including a 10-strikeout, one-hit effort Tuesday, and hasn't allowed a run at all since April 6. That's 24 consecutive innings of scoreless ball. His 0.31 ERA is second-lowest among Minor Leaguers who have made four starts or more. But what really stands out is his 40-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Only Buffalo's Liam Hendriks, who hasn't walked anyone in 21 2/3 innings, has a lower BB/9 than Lively (0.31) among qualifiers.

California League POTW