June 25 Minor league notes

[OnBaseMachine]

Q, from Randy in Chattanooga, Tenn.: Just got back from the Lookouts-Mudcats game Homer Bailey started. He was brilliant and looked like a natural, not being fazed by being in Double-A. He was consistently hitting 94-95-96 on the stadium gun. His curveball was very good also. His last pitch was a 98 mph fastball for a strikeout.

A: Matt Belisle told people in the Reds organization that Bailey is ready now. The Reds are trying to be patient with Bailey, but his performance might force their hand.

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.d...378/1071/SPT04

[OnBaseMachine]

Wise tries once more
Injuries have stalled outfielder's career

By Brian Bennett
bbennett@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Many players dislike the final days of spring training, when the exhibition season drags on. Dewayne Wise has more reason than most to hate that part of the calendar.

Wise was in the running for the Detroit Tigers' center-field job last year, only to suffer an injury to his left quadriceps late in the spring. This year a sprained left ankle ended his push to win a backup job on the Cincinnati Reds.

"It's frustrating," Wise said. "But I think everything happens for a reason, so you've got to stay positive."

The 28-year-old from Columbia, S.C., hit .298 in the Reds' big-league camp, impressing the club with his power and speed. But on March 24 he slid awkwardly into second base, suffering what team doctors told him "was one of the worst ankle injuries they'd ever seen."

Wise said he tore the ligaments completely off the bone in his lower leg. He keeps a picture taken of his ankle just after the injury in his locker.

"It's disgusting," he said. "It looks like my whole foot should have snapped off my leg. I have to say I'm really lucky to be out here playing this game."

After two months of rehabilitation in Sarasota, Fla., Wise began running again in late May. He joined Double-A Chattanooga on June 3 and quickly reminded the Reds why they liked him, hitting .420 with three homers in 13 games.

"I kind of shocked myself," he said. "I thought it might take longer for me to get my swing back after missing so much time."

Wise, who has a .203 career major league batting average in 147 games with the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves, made it back to Triple-A last Monday when he joined the Louisville Bats.

"Now it's all about showing them my ankle is good enough that I can go out there and do whatever they need me to do," he said. "I'm just thrilled to be back on field."

All-Star selections
Media and field staff balloting will end tomorrow for the International League All-Star team. Here's a quick look at one writer's picks:

Infield: Charlotte's Josh Fields, third base; Louisville's Ray Olmedo, shortstop; Charlotte's Angel Gonzalez, second base; Durham's Kevin Witt, first base.

Outfield: Louisville's Chris Denorfia and Rochester's Jason Tyner and Josh Rabe.

Catcher: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre's Carlos Ruiz.

Designated hitter: Syracuse's Kevin Barker.

Starting pitchers: Charlotte's Charlie Haeger and Indianapolis' Tom Gorzelanny.

Relief pitchers: Ottawa's Julio Manon and Rochester's Pat Neshek.

Calling all hopefuls
The Reds will hold an open tryout July 9 at the University of Louisville's Jim Patterson Stadium.

Players must be between 16 and 22 years old and supply their own gloves, spikes and uniforms. The tryout will begin at 10 a.m. with registration one hour earlier. Any player under 21 must have a written release of liability from a parent or guardian; American Legion players need written permission from their post commander or legion coach.

Brian Bennett can be reached at (502) 582-7177.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/...606250467/1036

[OnBaseMachine]

Dragons shut out second straight time by South Bend
By Marc Katz

Staff Writer

DAYTON | Cincinnati Reds General Manager Wayne Krivsky has been visiting since Thursday to see how things are going with his organization's Class A Midwest League Dayton Dragons. He's had an eyeful, and not in a good way.

The Dragons have lost all three games Krivsky has witnessed, none worse than Saturday night's 9-0 mashing by the South Bend Silver Hawks, whose leadoff homer run by Pedro Ciriaco was the tip of a six-run, first-inning iceberg.

Neither the Dragons nor Silver Hawks qualified for the playoffs during the first half of the season, both finishing with .500 records — Dayton 35-35 and South Bend 33-33.

Yet South Bend has beaten Dayton nine of 11 times this season, and Krivsky has got to wonder why that is, considering the makeup of the two teams.

Baseball America ranks organizations and prospects and says South Bend has not one of Arizona's top-30 prospects on its roster — although center fielder Justin Upton is certainly one. He isn't listed because he signed too late for the prospects' publication.

Meanwhile, the Dragons are said to have no less than six — three position players and three pitchers — among the Reds top-30 prospects. That's one reason why Baseball America ranks the Reds' farm system talent No. 29 among the 30 big-league franchises and the Diamondbacks' at No. 4.

"The prospects you have don't mean anything," Dragons manager Billy Gardner Jr. said. "It comes down to doing the right thing on the field."

So far this second half of the season, the Dragons haven't. Their strong point, starting pitching, has failed in two of the three games. Offense has foundered in the last two games.

"Does three games define the second half of the season?" Gardner asked. "No. Our problem has been finished games off. We really haven't been knocked out early. But our starting pitching, which has been the strength of the club, hasn't gotten it done, and when you get behind 9-0, it takes the air out of you."

Maybe starter Johnny Cueto can put some of that air back today. He'll need some runs, though. The Dragons haven't scored in two days.

• The Reds promoted relief pitcher Jose Rojas to the Dragons from the Gulf Coast League Reds on Saturday.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...06dragons.html

[OnBaseMachine]

Mustangs pitchers shut down Helena, 9-1
By GREG RACHAC
Of The Gazette Staff

Saturday night marked Anthony Gressick's first professional start.

The Billings Mustangs' rookie never looked uncomfortable.

Gressick threw five strong innings, rendering three hits and no runs while striking out three as the Mustangs cruised to a 9-1 win over the Helena Brewers at Cobb Field.

Gressick, drafted this year by the Cincinnati Reds out of Ohio University, was unshakeable against the Brewers, much to the delight of his manager, Rick Burleson. "He was good from the outset and finished very well," Burleson said. "He did everything we asked. He located the ball down in the zone and threw strikes. You can't ask for much more than that from a guy in his first start."

Burleson and the Mustangs' coaching staff had Gressick pegged for a 55-pitch outing, if he could get there.

Gressick threw exactly 55 pitches, then gave way to a bullpen that was just as effective.

Dane Mason and James Morris combined to toss the final four innings of the game, giving up just two hits and the team's only walk.

Helena pushed a run across in the top of the sixth inning against Mason when leadoff hitter Stephen Chapman delivered a sacrifice fly to score Jordan Swaydan.

He almost didn't score, as centerfielder Drew Stubbs, the Reds' first-round draft choice in '06, nearly threw Swaydan out at the plate after gathering the fly ball.

But that was all the Brewers could muster.

"Our pitchers did an amazing job," said Mustangs third baseman Jason Louwsma. "Everybody did their job tonight. We played together as a team."

On the flipside, the Mustangs' offense could not be stopped, especially from the fifth spot in the batting order on down.

Louwsma, the No. 5 hitter, delivered a pair of hits and a pair of RBIs. The sixth man in the lineup, Angel Colon, added three hits and three RBIs.

Chris Heisey, Tony Esquer and Maikol Mesa -- the 7-8-9 men -- combined to add three hits and drove in a pair of runs to add to Billings' onslaught.

"Basically from the beginning, we made the plays," Louwsma said. "We got guys on and got them into scoring position. We were able to build a pretty comfortable lead."

It started early.

After the Mustangs got a run in the first inning, the team put three more on the board in the third, led by Colon's two-RBI single and followed by Esquer's run-scoring groundout.

They'd get three more runs in the sixth as Louwsma, Colon and Heisey each delivered RBI hits.

On three separate occasions, Billings had the bases loaded. Despite scoring nine runs, it could have been worse for Helena -- the Mustangs stranded 11 runners on base.

"If we can get the bottom half of the order contributing like we did tonight, we'll put up some runs," Burleson said. "Tonight, we had 22 base runners, and scored eight of nine runners from third base with less than two outs. So we're happy about that."

The Mustangs and Brewers will tangle again today at 4 p.m. in the final game of the Mustangs' season-opening homestand.

After today's game, Billings will embark on a seven-game road swing through Missoula and Great Falls.

While the season is still young, Burleson's early impressions of his team is an optimistic one.

"Until you see the whole league, you don't really know where you stand," he said. "But I like our guys and I think we have a good group. We just have to come to the ballpark every day with the attitude that we're going to get better. At this level that's what it's all about."

NOTES: Helena left fielder Zach Clem left the game after the first inning when he collided with shortstop Brad Miller while making a catch off the bat of Heisey. Carlos De La Cruz replaced Clem.

http://www.billingsgazette.net/artic...0-mustangs.txt

[Tony Cloninger]

Someone please tell Matt to be quite...or is he trying to impress people with his scouting ability?

He has no bussiness talking up someone like that......who you are trying to avoid rushing up to the majors. Why feed more fuel to the already bubbling pressure that WK and the rest of the FO feels in regards to the pitching.

[Mario-Rijo]

Someone please tell Matt to be quite...or is he trying to impress people with his scouting ability?

He has no bussiness talking up someone like that......who you are trying to avoid rushing up to the majors. Why feed more fuel to the already bubbling pressure that WK and the rest of the FO feels in regards to the pitching.

Agreed, if Belisle even said anything, I doubt he did. It's hard to believe that anyone would say that right now about Homer. From what I have saw lately out of Homer he doesn't look ready. He needs to be dominating at these levels consistently which he has not yet done. And that is due to his command, it's the same reason he has a somewhat high # of HR's, when he misses his stuff goes out of the park. You put him in GABP right now and he would get smacked around quite a bit and lose all confidence.

Be patient Wayne his future depends on it! As a matter of fact I don't wanna see him up here at all in 2006. Now perhaps 2007, but I could live with waiting until at least mid '07 for his arrival and longer if the FO deems it so. But I don't know if the pressure will allow WK to wait any longer than opening day '07 for him to be a part of this team. Stick to your guns Krivsky!

[tbball10]

'07 rotation: 1) Homer 2) Arroyo 3) Harang 4) Milton 5) Elizardo

and hopefully in a few years we add wood, cueto, ward, pelland and chick into the mix

[reds44]

Originally Posted by Tony Cloninger

Someone please tell Matt to be quite...or is he trying to impress people with his scouting ability?

He has no bussiness talking up someone like that......who you are trying to avoid rushing up to the majors. Why feed more fuel to the already bubbling pressure that WK and the rest of the FO feels in regards to the pitching.

Belisle has no buisness giving the organization his opinon on Bailey? The organization probably asked Matt what he thought, and he told them. If Belisle really feels he is ready do you want him to say that he isn't?

[dougdirt]

He may have said it. He also saw one of Homers better outings. Homer has been ON his last 3 games (4 if you want to count the AS game). His last bad outing came in May. Of course, if management actually takes what Belisle said over listening to what scouts are saying, then there may be problems. I just dont think they are going to do that though.

[OnBaseMachine]

RF Jay Bruce went 2-for-4 with 2 doubles and an RBI while RHP Johnny Cueto rung up 6 batters in 6.2 innings of 4-hit, one-run ball to help propel Dayton (CIN) to a 3-1 home triumph over South Bend (AZD). Bruce has racked up 4 multi-hit games in the last 6 games, going 10-for-24 (.417) during that run to hoist his average to .295. He currently leads the MWL in two-baggers (27), ranks 2nd in total bases (148), and is tied for 3rd in RBIs (48). Will the Reds promote Bruce to High-A? That may depend on the playoff possibilities of Dayton and Sarasota. Cueto has emerged as one of the Reds’ top prospects this season. The 20-year-old right-hander has won his last 3 starts and is a sparkling 8-1 on for the season. He currently ranks 6th in the MWL in punchouts (82) and is 9th in ERA (2.59). He’s doled out just 52 hits and 15 walks in 76.1 innings. Impressive. The Dragons’ rotation features three of the Reds’ best prospects in Cueto, LHP Travis Wood, and RHP Zach Ward.

http://www.ondeckbaseball.com/