Tuesday April 24, 2012 Minor League Updates

[VottoFan54]

Blaze lineup:

Hamilton SS
Lohman 2B
Y. Rodriguez RF
Lutz 1B
Vidal 3B
Mattair DH
Duran LF
B. Smith CF
Barnhart C

Josh Smith is pitching for the Bakersfield Blaze tonight.

[VottoFan54]

Hamilton hits a leadoff triple and then scores on a Devin Lohman RBI groundout; 1-0 Blaze.

[The DARK]

Stockton strikes back with two. One wonders if Smith is injured or simply a bit overmatched in Bakersfield.

[VottoFan54]

Stockton strikes back with two. One wonders if Smith is injured or simply a bit overmatched in Bakersfield.

The Smith's had a good second inning with Bryson getting an RBI single and then Josh Smith getting a 1-2-3 inning. 2-2 game.

[texasdave]

Slow and steady for the Blaze as they add another run in the third to take a 3-2 lead. A Lutz double and an error account for the tiebreaker.

[texasdave]

Bakersfield makes it in 9 in a row with a 6-4 win over Stockton. Lutz with 3 hits, Vidal and Hamilton with 2 hits. Travis Mattair doesn't hit the ball often but when he does it goes a long way. He had his 5th home run of the season. Josh Smith struck out nine batters in 5 2/3 IPs.

[billy bob]

Y. Rodriguez a big 5 for 5 last night... Now batting .177 with 28K's in 62 AB's... (Eeeeeeee that's not good) Why do they have him batting 3rd

[billy bob]

.

[Blitz Dorsey]

Quite early still but Tony Cingrani may soon be passing Sulbaran as the #3 pitching prospect in the organization, if he hasn't already

It's not even a legit debate IMO. Cingrani is clearly a better prospect than Sulbaran. And that's no knock against Sulbaran. It's just that Cingrani is a flat-out stud. 6-4 lefty who was pitching in college at this time a year ago. All he's done is dominate since reaching the professional ranks. It is early, but I'm confident saying Cingrani is one of the top-5 prospects in the organization; clearly ranked ahead of Sulbaran.

[lollipopcurve]

Y. Rodriguez a big 5 for 5 last night... Now batting .177 with 28K's in 62 AB's... (Eeeeeeee that's not good) Why do they have him batting 3rd

Seems to me they're trying every which way to get this kid to play consistently, without success.

[fastandfurious]

So what are you saying Billy bob and lollipop? The Reds cut a $2.5million loss and not continue to develop the player?

[lollipopcurve]

So what are you saying Billy bob and lollipop? The Reds cut a $2.5million loss and not continue to develop the player?

Nope. He's too young to give up on. But I would not be bothered if they included him in a trade package. I am not optimistic about Yorman's chances. I hope I'm wrong, because he's got a lot of natural talent.

[dougdirt]

So what are you saying Billy bob and lollipop? The Reds cut a $2.5million loss and not continue to develop the player?

I would suggest they think about sending him back to Dayton, where the competition level is likely more suited for his current abilities. There is clearly something in his swing that the advanced pitchers at that level are able to exploit. He is one of the youngest players in that league, so it isn't a surprise that he isn't lighting the world on fire, but how often he can't make contact is alarming.