Donnie Scott singing high praise for Juan Francisco

[OnBaseMachine]

Dragons weather the cold, defeat West Michigan, 8-7
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By Marc Katz

Staff Writer

Sunday, April 08, 2007

DAYTON — A company man to the end, Dayton Dragons manager Donnie Scott defended the decision to play Saturday night despite sub-freezing temperatures.

"This is good for development," Scott said. "You have to play in this (kind of weather) in the World Series."

Actually, football players play in this kind of weather, and also have their fields littered with small chunks of ice, as Fifth Third Field was when the game began.

But the Dragons had all their seats sold (a few hundred actually came out to use them).

So, with plenty of warmers on hand and hot chocolate in the dugouts, the Dragons shivered through an 8-7 victory over the West Michigan Whitecaps in a Class A Midwest League game that featured three hits by cleanup third baseman Juan Francisco.

Scott said we are just seeing the tip of Francisco's iceberg, so to speak.

"Just watch," Scott said. "He can juice a baseball like you wouldn't believe. He hasn't elevated one yet, but he can put it over the batting eye in center. He's going to be one of the better hitters Dayton has seen come through here. He's only 19."

Francisco, a left-handed hitting third baseman, knocked in one run with a double in the first, singled in the third and stole a base and knocked in a second run with in infield single in the fourth.

He said the cold hardly bothered him.

"Just a little bit," Francisco said with teammate Gerardo Cabrera helping with the translation. "I was just trying to stay focused."

The Dragons stayed focused after starter Jordan Smith fired a bounce-backer past first-baseman Logan Parker with one on and two out, leading to three runs in the first.

"We were down three and it was like, 'No problem,'" Scott said.

It wasn't. The Dragons scored four in the bottom of the inning and scored the winning run in the eighth when catcher Tony Esquer led with a double and pinch-runner Billy Rojo later scored on a wild pitch.

"It's pretty neat to be a part of this team," Scott said. "I don't think it's going to do anything but snowball."

At least on this night, it didn't do that.

Dragons tales

Jim Baker, of Alpha and Omega Building Services, bought a box full of college baseball-style jackets and presented each of the Dragons with one, just in time for the cold weather ... Scott called closer Jose Rojas' pitches "Bugs Bunny" for the way they "bounced around. He had such movement on his ball."

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/con...07dragons.html

[jmcclain19]

This kid excites me as a Reds fan. 19 with serious left handed pop - and he plays a premium defensive position. Could be hitting the bigs right about the time Edwin starts getting a little pricey. At least it creates options.

Jay Bruce was 19 at Dayton when he took his big step forward last year. Maybe Francisco does the same this year.

[Superdude]

It's nice to be able to say that Aaron Herr is not our best minor league third basemen any more. Somebody who regularly attends Dragons games probably has a better idea than me, but if I remember right, that batting eye is 400 feet away and is probably 25-30 feet high.

Can anyone explain why Rojas is still in low A?

[dougdirt]

Francisco turns 20 at the end of June. He is someone really worth keeping an eye on. He has the tools, but still needs lots of work with his defense.

As for Rojas.... I have no idea why he is still in low A.

[jfleur87]

I will admit, I didn't know who he was when i got there, as with most players on the roster. But after I left the game that night, I knew who he was.

Also, I got to compete in the leapfrog event on the field, if anyone was there... I was on the first base side, losing horribly

[Topcat]

It is becoming increasingly exciting to see the red's starting to produce talent for the future. The steps are far off sure, but there seems to be some special talent coming forward.

[TC81190]

I'd rather he be 1B if his defense needs as much work as said, especially with Edwin in the bigs and lack of 1B prospects outside of Votto.

[Doc. Scott]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Francisco turns 20 at the end of June. He is someone really worth keeping an eye on. He has the tools, but still needs lots of work with his defense.

As for Rojas.... I have no idea why he is still in low A.

The only thing I can think of is that Rojas is a converted outfielder. But he probably should have been in High-A after that dominating stint in the MWL in 2006.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Doc. Scott

The only thing I can think of is that Rojas is a converted outfielder. But he probably should have been in High-A after that dominating stint in the MWL in 2006.

Yep. This is from his bio in the Reds media guide

2001-03, spent his first three seasons as an outfielder with
the Rookie VSL Pirates before he was released on 10/15/03...batted .167 with 18 RBI and 40 stolen bases in 117 games. PERSONAL: Was originally signed by
Pittsburgh as a non-drafted free agent on 4/27/01.