Nick Travieso to make first pro start Sunday, July 22nd

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Scrap Irony

Where does it rank in minor league baseball? In the Southern League? In AAA/ International League?

(I'd look but can't find where you're getting ground ball rates from.)

I don't know where it ranks, but it will be near the bottom. That simply is a poor rate. You aren't really going to be able to look up how far down it is because firstinning.com doesn't have a leaderboard that is sortable all that far down.

[Scrap Irony]

I'll do the research-- that's part of the fun.

It'll take a few hours, though.

[Scrap Irony]

Hoover's overall professional GB rate-- including the 18 IP with Cincinnati this year-- is around 38%. (He's had a ton of really small IP lines from various leagues making this a lot harder than it should be. His three longest stints in one place are, not so coincidentally, the places where he's shown the highest GB rates-- at 47%, 42%, and 31%. The 31% GB rate came from only 81 IP though.)

That's about even with the following major league starters:
Bruce Chen
Johan Santana
Colby Lewis
Phil Hughes
Mike Minor
Jake Peavy
Matt Cain
Ian Kennedy
Hector Noesi
Max Scherzer
Wei-Yin Chen
Jered Weaver
Ubaldo Jimenez
Bronson Arroyo
Matt Moore
Dan Haren
Jason Vargas
Tommy Milone
Jeremy Hellickson
Aaron Harang
James McDonald
Josh Beckett
Justin Verlander

and the following closers:
Rafael Soriano
Rafael Betancourt
Ernesto Fireri
Addison Reed
Tyler Clippard
Kenley Jansen
Carlos Marmol
Jose Valverde
Frank Francisco
Joel Hanrahan
Alfredo Alceves
Aroldis Chapman

[Dan]

There's something about Travieso that makes me think he's going to fly through the organization. He strikes me as having a VERY good head on his shoulders - competitive bulldog to the Nth degree, but understanding that there are a lot of things he needs to learn and willing to learn them. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a Reds uniform before he turns 21.

[lollipopcurve]

I wouldn't be surprised to see him in a Reds uniform before he turns 21.

I would. 20 is very, very young, especially for a pitcher. Nothing against Travieso, of course.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by lollipopcurve

I would. 20 is very, very young, especially for a pitcher. Nothing against Travieso, of course.

I may have been mistaken. I thought he was still 17 which would have given him three full years in the minors before he turned 21. But his birthday is in January. So I will revise and say he'll make his debut before his 22ND birthday.

[bellhead]

I'd say 23...

That way he could throw 180 innings his first year.

[membengal]

Like with Stephenson, I am thrilled with what's in line ahead of Travieso, and look forward to the club NOT having to rush him.

[The Rage]

I think a pitcher should be promoted when they are ready, doesn't really matter the age.

You get guys like Kershaw and Cain........then you have the Jason Schmidts.

[redsmetz]

So just out of curiousity, did Travieso actually make his debut?

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by redsmetz

So just out of curiousity, did Travieso actually make his debut?

Not yet. They don't begin until 10pm out in Arizona.

[Vottomatic]

Travieso so far - 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 K.

[Vottomatic]

Travieso so far - 1 IP, 0 hits, 0 walks, 1 K.

.....and looks like that's it for him. Box score shows Wandy Peralta in to pitch the second inning for the AZL Reds.

Edit: More detail. His 3 outs he recorded were 2 ground outs and a K.

[Blitz Dorsey]

Anyone else concerned about Travieso's inability to go deep into games?

Kidding. Nice first start for the kid. For some reason, I didn't like the pick when it was first announced (probably because of BS Mock Drafts from people like Keith Law who projected Tanner Rahier would be a first-round, but didn't have Travieso listed as a first-rounder). However, since about 10 minutes after the pick was announced until now, I absolutely love it. Nice find to get a power arm with good mechanics and a quality arsenal of pitches with the No. 14 pick.

[medford]

Originally Posted by Blitz Dorsey

Anyone else concerned about Travieso's inability to go deep into games?

Kidding. Nice first start for the kid. For some reason, I didn't like the pick when it was first announced (probably because of BS Mock Drafts from people like Keith Law who projected Tanner Rahier would be a first-round, but didn't have Travieso listed as a first-rounder). However, since about 10 minutes after the pick was announced until now, I absolutely love it. Nice find to get a power arm with good mechanics and a quality arsenal of pitches with the No. 14 pick.

I agree with this, though I'll admit 99.9999% of my baseball draft knowledge comes from what people say and quote on this site, so I wasn't upset so much as I was "well nobody mentioned him", however after reading up on him, I came away very impressed.

Now, let the Reds fan in me dream a little dream and imagine that both Travieso and Stephenson become all that and a bag of chips. They sure would arrive in the majors just as Latos and Cueto hit free agency (unless the Reds extend them prior to free agency) and as Homer and Leake are getting expensive. After years of struggling to produce middle to top of the rotation starting pitchers from the draft, up thru the minors and into the ML rotation, it sure would be nice to have 2 more in that vein to replace the handful the Reds have today. Throw in the starting arms in AA right now and the Reds are going to have some real solid trading chips or replacements in the pipeline. The potential (some would suspectial) cost savings in middle to top of rotation arms these guys could be in the majors in 4-6 seasons could really help balance out Joey's large contract in terms of team payroll and the limitations Cincy faces in the current market places compared to teams like the Yankees, Red Sox & Cubs.

The ducks certainly seem to be aligning themselves both at the majors and in the minors for a long, extended 10+ season run.