Congratulations, Billy Hamilton! Ton of coverage about this.
Here’s some stuff:
BA Prospect Hot Sheet They waited until #15 to talk about him.
(There’a also a note about Daniel Corcino: "Reds RHP Daniel Corcino turns 22 on Sunday, and there's a chance he may be in Cincinnati before his next birthday. Corcino allowed only one run in 11 innings over two starts this week, strikeout out 10 with just four hits, though he did walk seven. His ERA dropped to 3.06 through 138 1/3 innings for Double-A Pensacola.)
More BA
About the previous record, held by Vince Coleman and Donell Nixon, and its lack of coverage.
AAA Louisville Bats
Overall: 51-93, last by a wide margin. Thirty-eight games out of first, in case you’re counting.
Okay, look. The Bats were at 50-83 the last time I did one of these. So that means they lost ten of their final eleven, with the opposition outscoring them by 33 runs over that stretch. Do you really want to read recaps of this? Me neither. So let’s just let it roll.
If we’re looking for positives, I’d point to OF Felix Perez, who overcame a brutal start to finish at .301/.348/.401 in 116 games; the 27-year-old Cuban signee wasn’t called up, but it was at least progress after a miserable 2011 at Double-A. 1B Neftali Soto, while unable to salvage his season as a whole (.245/.313/.400 in 122 games, 14 HR, 59 RBI, and a 41/116 BB:K), did hit .301/.357/.427 in August to finish strong. Both SS Didi Gregorius (.243/.288/.427) and INF Henry Rodriguez (.244/.264/.333) struggled at this level after fast starts, but they still earned September callups. OF Denis Phipps did as well, despite finishing at .221/.293/.401 in a season that saw him miss half of May and almost all of June with a wrist injury. He rallied to pop eight of his fifteen AAA homers in August and get the callup.
From the Bats’ press department:
J.J. HOOVER NAMED MARY E. BARNEY TEAM MVP: RHP J.J. Hoover was named the 2012 Mary E. Barney Award winner, which recognizes the team MVP. Past recipients have included Joey Votto, Zack Cozart and Devin Mesoraco. He went 4-0 with 13 saves and a 1.22era in 30 games this season. He converted 13 of 14 save opportunities. He has allowed an earned run in just four of 30 appearances. In 37.0 innings pitched he allowed just 15 hits and opponents hit just .121 against him. He had 55 strikeouts to just 12 walks. In 18 games at LSF, he went 2-0 with nine saves and a 0.82era. On the road he went 2-0 with four saves and a 1.80era. Hoover also made Baseball America’s 2012 Classification All-Stars.
Transactions: SS Didi Gregorius, OF Denis Phipps, INF Henry Rodriguez, RHR Logan Ondrusek, RHS Todd Redmond, RHP Pedro Villareal, and C Devin Mesoraco were recalled by the Reds for September. UT Kris Negron technically received a callup, but he’s out for the season with an injury. The Yankees called up OF Chris Dickerson to provide bench help. Chris really should sign with the Astros or Twins in the offseason. INF Chris Valaika and RHR Jordan Smith, two pending six-year free agents, were outrighted to Triple-A.
Around the minors: San Diego called up RHR Brad Boxberger again. He’s started to pitch well out of the Padre bullpen, too, lowering his ERA to 2.95 as of 9/18 with 29 Ks in 21 IP (despite 15 BB). The Pads also outrighted C Eddy Rodriguez to the minors. The Cubs recalled OF Dave Sappelt, who’s had a tough season (just .266/.314/.376 at AAA Iowa). He’s done better in a handful of big-league games. Houston brought RHR Enerio Del Rosario back again. The Mets brought up OF Fred Lewis. The Rangers released C Koyie Hill, who along with fellow ex-Red Drew Sutton had one of the more interesting journeys this season.
AA Pensacola Blue Wahoos
5-5 over their last ten, with two rainouts.
Overall: 34-35 second half, four games behind new division leader Montgomery (TB) 68-70 overall, the playoffs missed.
The Blue Wahoos had a slightly underwhelming season on the field, falling short in the second half to make the playoffs after finishing five and a half games out in the first. Still, the club and its executives picked up some awards and Pensacola fans got to watch some very strong individual accomplishments, most notably Billy Hamilton’s breaking of the single-season stolen-base record (155 total in 192 attempts over 132 games). Lefty Tony Cingrani also got named a BA Minor League All-Star, joining the Wahoos in June and winning the overall affiliated-ball ERA title (1.73). Other players might have been publicly overshadowed, but still had great seasons: RHS Daniel Corcino (8-8, 3.01, 143 IP, 111 H, 65 BB, 126 K, a consistent presence on the BA Prospect Hot Sheet, OF Josh Fellhauer (.314/.409/.420 in 117 games, a monster August), and a pretty strong bullpen: RHR Justin Freeman (4-7, 2.91, 16 SV, 57 G, 68 IP, 49 H, 16 BB, 68 K), Arizona Fall League representative RHR Drew Hayes (2-3, 3.41, 64 K in 63.1 IP despite 38 BB), RHR Curtis Partch (7-2, 3.35 in relief with 51 K in 53.2 IP), and LHRs Chris Manno (1-1, 3.78, 51 K in 50 IP) and Wilkin de la Rosa (2.49 ERA in 43.1 IP). LHR Donnie Joseph and RHS JC Sulbaran were also strong before being traded to Kansas City at the trade deadline for Jonathan Broxton. RHP Wirfin Obispo (5-2, 2.23, 76.2 IP, 42 H, 77 K) and RHR Mark Serrano (7-4, 3.95, 95 K in 93.1 IP) were good swingmen. RHS Chad “Sharky” Rogers” posted a 1.99 ERA in six starts after coming up from Bakersfield.
Transactions: LHP Tony Cingrani was added to the Reds’ 40-man roster and got a callup in September. OF Don Lutz, despite some post-promotion struggles, was put on the German WBC qualifying team. Manno was named to Team Spain.
High-A Bakersfield Blaze
Record this week: 7-5 over their final twelve to go into the playoffs with some momentum- this turned out to be temporary, though, as the Blaze defeated Modesto (COL) in the first two games of the five-game series before dropping the final three by scores of 12-1, 3-2, and 6-3.
Overall: 31-39 second half. 72-68 overall.
The Blaze were the only one of the Reds’ six affiliates to make the playoffs, and they ended up squandering a 2-0 lead to lose the playoff series. While the second half of the season was a little less exciting once Billy Hamilton and Tony Cingrani moved on, Bakersfield fans still got to enjoy OF Steve Selsky (.348/.420/.618 in 69 games after coming up from Dayton), OF Theo Bowe (.314/.391/.383, 58 steals and 28 CS in 96 games), 1B Dominic D’Anna (.277/.386/.430 after a rough start), 3B Travis “Moose” Mattair (.274/.344/.465, 19 HR and 82 RBI in 126 games), RHS Josh Smith (9-8, 3.80, 140 K in 147 IP), RHS Chad Rogers (6-4, 3.15 in 21 starts before a promotion), and RHR Brian Pearl (1.31 ERA and a spot on the CL All-Star team before promotion). Much of the rest of the Blaze bullpen is best avoided, though, and the hitter-friendly air in the California League also claimed a couple of starting pitchers’ numbers as well.
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