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Where do you believe the Prasco Park players will end up this season (assuming we actually have a minor league season)?
Will they all pretty much move up one rung on the developmental ladder, as per usual?
How about the draftees who spent a month or so in Instructionals? 2021 Low A for Austin Hendricks?
Where do you put Hunter Greene, who did manage to pitch 100 "innings" last season? Lodolo?
Depends on each case I'd assume. We know nothing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bourgeois Zee
The reports on Greene are glowing. Low A clearly had nothing for him when he was healthy.
One area that will probably be impacted is the “near ready” group. Having missed that year of AAA ball, Reds could be cautious and keep them in the minors awhile longer.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bourgeois Zee
Could impact Tyler Stephenson, Garcia (needs work on hittting), India, Lodolo, Santillan. Possibly Gutierrez. These guys might have been ready for a big league role if minor leagues had been available last year.
https://www.baseballamerica.comQuote:
After a breakout 2018 season, 23-year-old Tony Santillan struggled in 2019 at times for Double-A Chattanooga as he battled a shoulder injury that led to three different trips to the injured list. He posted a 4.84 ERA in 21 starts.
While there wasn’t a 2020 minor league season, the Reds invited Santillan to join their 60-man player pool and assigned him to their alternate training site at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio. Healthy again, the 6-foot-3, 240-pound righthander looked more like the guy who had been on the mound in 2018.
“Tony had a really good Prasco opportunity, and he took advantage of it” vice president of player development Shawn Pender said. “He was healthy, he threw with greater consistency as far as his velocity and there was improvement in his secondary pitches.
"He really took a nice step forward, and we’re very optimistic that he’s back on track.”
Santillan has focused on improving his secondary pitches. He’s tinkered in the past with a slower breaking ball, but his focus has shifted to getting the most from his hard slider and changeup.
“It was the finish on his slider—it wasn’t that it wasn’t a good pitch, and it wasn’t that everything was too hard," Pender said. "It was that his slider wasn’t doing what he wanted, nor what we wanted it to do. And that was certainly improved upon.
Those improvements for the 2015 second-rounder from Seguin High in Arlington, Texas, didn’t lead to him being called up during the year. But he was one of three pitchers added to Cincinnati’s player pool for the playoffs in case an injury occurred.
With the Reds looking for rotation options heading into the 2021 season, Santillan could be a dark horse candidate for the job.
Santillan could be a bullpen option as well. Call me a pessimist, but I don't think the Reds are going to spend on an established reliever.
I'm probably broken as a Reds fan, but the talk about how wonderful guys like Santillan and Deleon are reminds me a lot of the talk of the rotation candidates in 2016 and 2017. It's just something to try to pacify the fans and their anger over not going out and getting real major leaguers. When it comes to Reds prospects, I'm in full "I'll believe it when I see it in the big leagues" mode. That doesn't mean I'm all for dealing these guys off, I just don't think any of them should be plan A or a reason to pass on getting real players. When they knock the door down, I'm all for them getting a shot. Nobody has done that. Not even Stephenson really.
I agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by mth123
But I can see a guy like Santillan being useful as a reliever. Young, live arm guys can be effective out of the pen even if questionable or not quite ready as starters.
I could see any number of kids ending up being useful. There are eight spots in the pen and I'm fine with one or two being devoted to some kid with upside to get a shot, but the Reds have several spots to fill and it sounds like they are just going to keep talking these guys up and use this type to fill all of those spots. Right now we have Sims, Garrett and Antone (and I don't really consider Sims or Antone really proven yet) and a bunch of question marks. They need two or three more pitchers with a track record of big league success (one could be a starter with Lorenazen back to the pen) then we can talk about all of these other guys as potential contributors.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kc61