Winter Leagues

[mth123]

Dominican League through 10/21:

Juan Francisco 9 for 26 with a walk, a double and a HR. .346/.370/.500/.870.
Denis Phipps 7 for 21 with a double and 5 walks. .333/.462/.381/.842
Jeremy Horst 5.1 IP, 3H, 1BB, 0HR, 7K, 1 HB, 1 ER. 1.69 ERA.

[lollipopcurve]

Folks should keep an eye on Phipps. He could be coming fast. Interesting that Sweet has been playing him in LF for Estrellas..

[mth123]

Folks should keep an eye on Phipps. He could be coming fast. Interesting that Sweet has been playing him in LF for Estrellas..

Small sample, but 5 walks is pretty encouraging at this point.

[cinreds21]

Talked to Soto today. He just got back from the Panam games. Can't find his stats, sorry. He is going to play Winterball for Ponce, Puerto Rico, starting on Friday.

[lollipopcurve]

21, any idea who Hamilton will be playing for in PR?

[cinreds21]

None, sorry.

[mth123]

Puerto Rico is underway.

Billy Hamilton went 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 steals and was picked-off once.
Neftali Soto went 0 for 4
Kris Negron went 2 for 4.

[lollipopcurve]

Puerto Rico is underway.

Billy Hamilton went 2 for 4 with a walk, 2 steals and was picked-off once.
Neftali Soto went 0 for 4
Kris Negron went 2 for 4.

Different Negron -- though Kris is on a roster. Other Reds on PR league rosters include Jorge Jimenez (the 3B they had at Bakersfield), who was once a decent prospect with Boston, Vidal, Silva, Castro and even Gabriel Rosa. Don't be surprised if some of these guys almost never see the field. Nice to see Hamilton starting and leading off.

[mth123]

Different Negron -- though Kris is on a roster. Other Reds on PR league rosters include Jorge Jimenez (the 3B they had at Bakersfield), who was once a decent prospect with Boston, Vidal, Silva, Castro and even Gabriel Rosa. Don't be surprised if some of these guys almost never see the field. Nice to see Hamilton starting and leading off.

You're right, Its not Kris.

As far as Hamilton goes, I'm a little on the fence. The kid just stole 103 bases and after a couple of months off he's playing and running again. I like the idea of playing in the winter to develop the rest of his game, but if he accumulates too much wear and tear with more running after running so much last year, I wonder if he'll have problems in 2012. I'd like to see him continue to play to work on his defense and hitting, but I wish he'd limit the running to situational steals. We know he can steal bases. It won't make him a major leaguer on its own. He needs to stay healthy and strong so he can play enough for the rest of his game to catch-up.

[lollipopcurve]

As far as Hamilton goes, I'm a little on the fence.

I believe there have been quotes out of the Reds saying they don't want to wear him down -- so my guess is that they have an agreement whereby he plays X games/week. Agree that they're involved in a balancing act here. But it appears that Hamilton can come fast, at least in the org's opinion, if he gets plenty of reps. I can't blame them for seeing what can happen, because he's an exciting talent.

[oneupper]

Through 11/5 in the Dominican Republic

Phipps .298/.411/.489 OPS .900 (47 ABs) two HRs.
Francisco .317/.403/.428 OPS .831 (63 ABs) only 1 HR, but 9 walks.

The DR is normally a pitchers league, with some big fields and high fences. The real competition starts in December, when some of the better local players return to their teams.

[mth123]

Not many good performances so far for Reds' prospects. Juan Francisco is doing fairly well. In 93 ABs, he has a line of .333/.415/.452/.867 with 24Ks and wonderfully 13 walks. He's only hit 1 HR, but if he's making an effort to be more selective it could be a great sign. He could be a monster if he gets that under control.

At the other end of the spectrum, Neftali Soto has started off 0 for 21.

Denis Phipps has cooled to a .785 OPS in 90+PAs.