2019 Minor-League Player of the Day

[membengal]

Trammell could find 20+ HR power this season with him being dialed in early.

The Friedl/Trammell/Siri rise is fun to watch as together they cover all aspects of the game...running, throwing, Defense, OBP and Power.

Agreed. Looking forward to them holding off Trammell's debut until 2025 while a majority of the Reds Zone forum members defend the front office savvy.

[RedsfaninMT]

Games of April 8:

Lyon Richardson (2nd round, 2018) gave up only 1 R in 4.0 innings, with 2 BB, 2 H, and striking out 5 for the Dragons. On a night with slim pickens, this is your MiLPOD. No hitter registered two hits.


Honorable mention:

Jose Lopez, on his return to the Reds system goes 4 IP, 3 BB, 2H, 5 K's, but only 1 run allowed.

Bats:

Josh VanMeter: 1-4, HR (1)

Sherman Johnson, 1-2, BB

Jesus Reyes, IP, 2 BB, K

Matt Bowman, 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K

Jimmy Herget, 1.1, H, BB, 3 K


Tortugas:

Jonathan India, 1-3, BB ("raised" his OPS to .317)

Randy Ventura, 1-2, BB

Austin Orewiler, 2 IP, BB, 3 K

Ryan Olson 2 IP, 3 K, H

Dragons:

Michael Siani, 1-3, BB, RBI

Miguel Hernandez:, 1-3, BB, RBI

Bren Spillane, 1-3, HBP, 2B

Chatanooga postponed

[Edd Roush]

Games of April 8:

Lyon Richardson (2nd round, 2018) gave up only 1 R in 4.0 innings, with 2 BB, 2 H, and striking out 5 for the Dragons. On a night with slim pickens, this is your MiLPOD. No hitter registered two hits.


Honorable mention:

Jose Lopez, on his return to the Reds system goes 4 IP, 3 BB, 2H, 5 K's, but only 1 run allowed.

Bats:

Josh VanMeter: 1-4, HR (1)

Sherman Johnson, 1-2, BB

Jesus Reyes, IP, 2 BB, K

Matt Bowman, 2 IP, 2 H, 3 K

Jimmy Herget, 1.1, H, BB, 3 K


Tortugas:

Jonathan India, 1-3, BB ("raised" his OPS to .317)

Randy Ventura, 1-2, BB

Austin Orewiler, 2 IP, BB, 3 K

Ryan Olson 2 IP, 3 K, H

Dragons:

Michael Siani, 1-3, BB, RBI

Miguel Hernandez:, 1-3, BB, RBI

Bren Spillane, 1-3, HBP, 2B

Chatanooga postponed

Thanks for pinch hitting! Sorry I gave you such a rough day.

[OGB]

I realize I'm not a mod and this post seems a bit counterintuitive, but a gentle reminder to limit the discussion in this thread so it doesn't become bloated.

[Kingspoint]

I realize I'm not a mod and this post seems a bit counterintuitive, but a gentle reminder to limit the discussion in this thread so it doesn't become bloated.

Yeah, I was wondering if the format was changing.

[Tom Servo]

Games of Tuesday, April 9

Josh VanMeter, Louisville: 2-4, 2 HRs, 4 RBI. Power was always the missing ingredient for the Indiana native who the Reds acquired back in December 2016. Moved up to Louisville last year after doing just enough in Double A, VanMeter had a hot two weeks and then slumped hard from late May to late July with just a .572 OPS in nearly 200 PAs. Then from August 1 on he hit .327/.394/.637 in 31 games with 5 HRs and 13 walks to 20 strikeouts. And so far to start 2019, with VanMeter having turned just 24 last month, he's back at it again with 3 HRs in 6 games so far.

Honorable mention: Jonathan India, Daytona: 3-5, HR, stolen base. The Tortugas third baseman needed this one after last year's first rounder started out with a big league Reds-esqe 2 for 20.


In other action, with the very exciting Lookouts unfortunately enjoying a day off after a rain day:


Aristides Aquino, Louisville: 2-4, stolen base.

Blake Trahan, Louisville: 2-4

Valentin Martinez, Louisville: 2-4, 2B. If you don't know Valentin it's because he's a warm body who can catch and bounces from level to level.

Odrisamer Despaigne, Louisville: 5 innings, 2 hits, 4 walks, 8 strikeouts, 2 runs. Both hits and runs were via solo HR from light hitting veteran infielder Mike Freeman.

Jackson Stephens, Louisville: 2 innings, 0 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 0 runs

Cody Reed, Louisville: 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts, 0 runs. 4 scoreless innings in relief for Reed after being charged with 2 runs in 0.1 innings in his first outing.


Yonathan Mendoza, Daytona: 1-3, 2 walks

Carlos Rivero, Daytona: 2-4

Reiver Sanmartin, Daytona: 5.1 innings, 7 hits, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts, 5 earned runs. Why does this line warrant a mention? Well the Colombian lefthander had allowed only a run in 5 innings in this one until a pesky 6th inning undid it all. Sanmartin loaded up the bases with one out and gave up a 2 run double. Aneurys Zabala then let the other two baserunners come in to officially blow up Reiver's line. He'll look to finish stronger next time out.



Pabel Manzanero, Dayton: 2-4

Bren Spillane, Dayton: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI. First HR of the season and in A ball for the large man from Illinois.

Jay Schuyler, Dayton: 1-3, BB

Juan Martinez, Dayton: 2-4

Jared Solomon, Dayton: 4 innings, 4 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, 0 runs. After dominating in the offense heavy environment of Billings last year, Solomon has found A ball and Dayton to be more challenging with 5.59 ERA in 6 starts to end last season and his first start this year. Hopefully this second start of the year is more of a sign of things to come.

Alexis Diaz, Dayton: 2 innings, 0 hits, walks, or runs, 4 strikeouts. The right-hander out of Puerto Rico has been in the Reds org for several years but is still just 22.

[M2]

How was Mariel Bautista, who already engenders so much fear in the MWL that he got plunked twice yesterday, not the MiLPOD?

[mace]

Games of Wednesday, April 10

Josh VanMeter, Louisville . . . 2-3, HR (4), 2 walks, 2 R, 2 RBI. You can’t keep the young hoosier in the park right now. That’s back-to-back MiLPoDs. The versatile infielder has slammed 4 homers in three days and raised his early OPS to 1.481.

Honorable Mention: Lucas Sims, Louisville . . . 5.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K. The 24-year-old Georgian, acquired last year from the Braves in the Adam Duvall trade, has been likened to Robert Stephenson in potential and development. This outing was a promising indicator.

Honorable Mention: Alejo Lopez, Daytona . . . 3-5, HR (1), 3 RBI. With that, he exceeded last year's HR total. But did you know that, over five seasons, the 22-year-old Mexican is a .305 hitter? Batted third for the Tortugas.

Also notable on a night when Chattanooga finally played, if not particularly well.

Daytona

Jonathan India: 2-3, double, walk, 2 R. Cranking it up.

Yon Mendoza: 2-4, BB, 2 RBI. Free agent signee, batting cleanup, off to a .368 start.

Ryan Lillie: 4.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K. Arrived by trade from Marlins.

Cory Thompson: 2.1 scoreless innings.

Louisville

Brian O’Grady: 3-5, double, RBI. The Scarlet Knight has become a good-looking AAA prospect.

Nick Longhi: 2-4, 2 doubles, BB, 2 RBI. A breakout by the former Boston farmhand would fit well in the Louisville lineup.

Jesus Reyes, Sal Romano, Anthony Bass: 3.2 innings of 1-hit, 4-K relief completed the shutout.

Dayton

Eduardo Salazar: 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.

Connor Bennett: 2 IP, zeros, 3 K. Unfortunately, the horse was already out of the barn. (Jacob Heatherly didn’t make it out of the first.)

Shard Munroe: triple, RBI.

Claudio Finol: 2-3, starting at SS.

Chattanooga

Ibandel Isabel: HR (1). The first of 30-something.

Taylor Trammell: 2-4, SB (1). The first of 30-something?

Gavin LaValley: HR (1).

Aaron Fossas, Ryan Hendrix, Wyatt Strahan: Scoreless frames. After 83 starts, Strahan is apparently a reliever now.

[Edd Roush]

Games of 4/11/19

Brian O'Grady doing his best Adam Dunn impersonation 2 for 4 with 2 HR, 2 R and 3 RBI

Honorable Mention

Taylor Trammell goes 4 for 5 (with 4 singles) to pick his BA up to .417 on the young season. Unfortunately, he did not have an extra base hit and was caught stealing.

Mike Siani went 2 for 3 with 2 BB, 1 R and 3 SB. Siani has now stolen 5 bases on the season and was close to winning POTD until he got picked off first and O'Grady hit his second bomb.

Jhon De Jesus spun a gem going 5 IP allowing 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB while striking out 7. Jhon missed 2018 and is already 22, so I wonder if the Reds will let him pitch the whole season at Dayton if he continues his success.

Louisville bounced back to .500 with a 7-6 win, despite Mella's rough start

Christian Colon 3 for 4 with 2 R

Aristides Aquino hit his 2 HR of the year, this time with two men on base.

Chris Okey got a hit to bring his BA up to .130

Matt Bowman fired 2 scoreless, hitless innings with only 1 walk and 3 K.

Ian Krol picked up the win keeping his ERA perfect, striking out 1 and allowing only 1 hit.

Jimmy Herget went 1 2/3, striking out 2 and allowing only 1 hit.

Anthony Bass did his best Danny Graves impression and loaded the bases with no outs, only to dance out of it allowing only his insurance run to pick up his first save of the season.


Chattanooga wins 6 - 2 to get back to .500

Tejay Antone 5 1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R (both earned), 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR allowed

TJ Friedl 2 for 3 with a RBI to pick his BA up to .308

Tyler Stephenson 1 for 3 with a BB

Gavin LaValley (starting the game at 3B) went 1 for 4 with a BB

Luis Gonzalez went 3 for 4 (including a 2B) with 2 RBI and a BB


Daytona loses 6 - 0 with only 4 hits and none of those for extra bases

Hendrik Clementina went 2 for 4 as the DH

Carlos Diaz (a former Rule 5 Minor League draft pick) threw a clean 8th which is his first positive outing after three rough outings)


Dayton gave up 4 in the 8th to lose 5 - 4.

Miguel Hernandez 2 for 5 with a RBI

Shard Munroe 2 for 3 with 2 BB

[Tom Servo]

Games of Friday, April 12

Ibandel Isabel, Chattanooga: 1-3, HR, 4 RBI. Not an easy choice here because there weren't too many big performances, but the 23-year-old Dominican first baseman made his one hit count as it was a grand slam that turned a 1-0 game into a 5-0 game and the Lookouts won by that final.


In other action, on a night where the farm split but nearly had 3 wins if not for the faltering of the Louisville bullpen:


Rob Refsnyder, Louisville: 1-4, 2B, BB

Josh VanMeter, Louisville: 2-4

Christian Colon, Louisville: 2-3, 2 walks

Sherman Johnson, Louisville: pinch hit 2 run HR

Vladimir Gutierrez, Louisville: 5 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 2 runs. The 23-year-old Cuban with another solid start for the Bats.

Jesus Reyes, Louisville: 2 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 0 runs.



Brantley Bell, Chattanooga: 1-2, 2 walks, stolen base

Taylor Trammell, Chattanooga: 0-2, 2 walks, RBI

Tony Santillan, Chattanooga: 4 innings, 2 hits, 5 walks, 8 strikeouts, 0 runs. Some uncharacteristic wildness from Santillan but he still managed to keep the opponents from scratching a run across despite the walks.

Ty Boyles, Aaron Fossas, and Alex Powers combined to 5 scoreless innings in relief for the Lookouts with 0 walks and 5 strikeouts.



Randy Ventura, Daytona: 0-2, 2 walks, stolen base

Hendrik Clementina, Daytona: 1-3, 2B

Lorenzo Cedrola, Daytona: 2-3. This was all the offense the Tortugas could muster

Austin Orweiler, Daytona: 5.2 innings, 5 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, 2 runs, 0 earned runs

Ryan Nutof, Daytona: 2 innings, 0 hits, walks, or runs, 3 strikeouts



Mike Siani, Dayton: 1-4, BB, 2 stolen bases

Miguel Hernandez, Dayton: 1-5, 2 RBI

Pabel Manzanero, Dayton: 2-4, 2B, BB

Bren Spillane, Dayton: 1-3, 2B, 2 walks

Shard Munroe, Dayton: 3-5, 3 RBI

Jay Schuyler, Dayton: 3-5, 2 RBI. DHed in this one with Manzanero behind the plate and he once again delivered at the dish

James Marinan, Dayton: 5 innings, 4 hits, 3 walks, 1 strikeout, 2 runs.

Jesse Stallings, Dayton: 2 innings, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 0 runs

[lollipopcurve]

Games of Saturday, April 13

MiLPOD
Jose Lopez, Bat: 6 IP, 4H, 1 R, 2 BB, 4 K, win. Lopez is back in the organization after a spring fling with the Giants. Good thing, I say. He's still just 25 and it's not like he's been toiling in AAA forever (has had 1 season there). He's nothing to get excited about, but every organization needs SP depth at AAA, and Lopez has been durable and relatively consistent, and he still may be able to refine his stuff over time.

Honorable mention
Andy Sugilio, Tortuga: 2-3, BB, SB (3). Edges sizzling teamie Alejo Lopez by virtue of the fact he stole a base while Lopez got caught trying. (The MiLPOD algorithms are arcane, and not always this transparent, so take what you can get.) Sugilio played CF, too, pushing fairchild and Cedrola to the flanks. This is a player with interesting tools, and so far this year he's walked more than he's struck out (6:4). OBP out of the gate is .412.


In other action, with the Lookouts rained out...

Kyle Wren, Bat: 1-2, 2 BB, CS

Rob Refsnyder, Bat: 1-3, HBP. Newest grinder on a team full of them.

Cristopher Colon, Bat: 1-4, 2B 2 RBI. Played SS.

Nick Longhi, Bat: 1-3, RBI

Brian O'Grady, Bat: 0-2, 2 BB

Jimmy Herget, Bat: IP, zeros, 2 K

Anthony Bass, Bat: IP, K, save (2). Glad they got him back too. Looks like he'll be the Bats closer.


Bruce Yari, Tortuga: 3-4, 2B (1). Moved atop the lineup and something sparked.

Jonathan India, Tortuga: 1-4, HR (2)

Alejo Lopez, Tortuga, 3-4, 2B (1), CS. Hitting .389, OPS .950 out of the 3-hole.

Stuart Fairchild, Tortuga: 2-4, 2B

Michael Byrne, Tortuga: 5 IP, 6 H, 0 BB, 7 K, pickoff, win. Ex-Gator closer gets his first pro win out of the starting rotation. Will be interesting to see how te soft tossing control artist fares in his new role.

Wendolyn Bautista, Tortuga: IP, zeros, K, save (2).


Mike Siani, Dragon: 2-4. Holding up well so far in his first month in the MWL and atop the Dragons order (not an easy task for a teen). Still looking for that first extra base hit.

Jonathan Willems, Dragon: 1-3

Bren Spillane, Dragon: 0-2, 2 BB

Lyon Richardson, Dragon: 3.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Left the game after giving up a 3 run homer. But all runs were unearned as the Dragons D was shaky behind him.

Jerry D'Andrea, Dragon: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R BB, 6 K. NDFA from 2018 draft season flashes whatever that glint was back in the deep bushes.

[mace]

Games of Sunday, April 14

Nick Longhi, Louisville . . . triple, HR (2), 2 RBI. With this little power display, the 23-year-old first baseman, heretofore disappointing since acquired two years ago from the Red Sox, slipped over 1.000 in OPS.

Also notable on a winless (0-3) day when the Lookouts, indeed doing a lot of looking, took 13 walks, which is how you score 6 runs on 3 total bases, with no errors or stolen bases involved.

Louisville

Courtney Hawkins: 2-3, HR (1), walk, RBI. A veteran at 25, the 2012 first-rounder (White Sox) banged 19 homers at High-A in 2013 and again in ’14.

Jackson Stephens: 3 IP, 2 H, 0 BB, 3 K. Suddenly outpitching Romano, who took the loss with a second straight blowup.

Jesus Reyes: One sharp inning, 2 K.

Chattanooga

Alfredo Rodriguez: 1-2, 2 walks, 2 RBI. Hanging in there at .333.

Jose Siri: 1-2, 2 walks. All day, Jose.

Daytona

Miles Gordon: 2-4, tied the game with a bases-clearing triple.

Alejo Lopez: 2-4. I’ve pretty much decided that a simple 2-4, nothing added, shouldn’t make the cut. Except when it puts the guy at .400.

Reiver Sanmartin: 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Strike-throwers welcome.

--

Chattanooga’s second game was postponed. Dayton was suspended in the first inning.

[Edd Roush]

Games of Monday, April 16

MiLPOD
Jacob Heatherly had 22 professional starts going into Monday's tilt against the Tin Caps, but none of them went as well as last night. Heatherly had his first professional start without a base on balls (thanks for the stat Jax). He was a third round pick in 2017, but the 9.31 BB rate last year really torpedoed many hopes for the lefty. He will need more starts like Monday to get back on the radar.

Honorable Mention
Lucas Sims the righty turns 25 in less than a month, but he sure knows how to make Clippers whiff. After striking out 7 Clippers in 5 and a third last Wednesday, he struck out 10 more on Monday. The walks haunted in his short stint in the bigs last year (7.47/9 in 15 and two third last year), but after three walks in three innings his first start, he went down to two walks last start and only one on Monday. The HRs are still a slight issue (2 allowed this year in only 14 and a third), but Sims has great stuff. Eric Longenhagen at fangraphs said that Sims still has 4 50 grade pitches going into this year and made strides in 2018 using a consistent release point (https://blogs.fangraphs.com/prospect...ost-prospects/). Hopefully he can be one in a long line of pitchers who just took a while to get it together.

Louisville falls late to the Clippers 4 -3

Only six hits on the night for the Bats with no one having multiple hits on the night (Wren, Longhi, VanMeter Colon, Refsnyder and Trahan all singled once). Wren and Aquino each walked once, the only walks for the Bats.

Jesus Reyes walked two batters on full counts that allowed the winning run for the Clippers


Chattanooga got curb stomped by the Mississippi Braves 13 - 4

Friedl had a hit, walk, RBI, and K
Siri had a walk (and no Ks)
Trammell had a hit, walk, run, RBI and K
Tyler Stephenson had a RBI
Unfortunately, Stephenson and Trammell both had errors, although this was only Stephenson's first (Trammell's fourth )
Ryan Hendrix was the only Lookouts pitcher to not give up a run (he only pitched a third of an inning).


The Tortugas fell in 10 to the Jupiter Hammerheads 4 - 3

Yari went 3 for 5 with 2 RBI
Lopez had a hit and a walk and still has a .386 BA
Lillie went 6 IP, 6 H, 3 R (only one earned), 1 BB and 5 K


The Dragons prevent the organizational sweep winning 4 - 0 behind Heatherly's stellar performance

Munroe went 2 for 4 with a R and RBI

Hernandez went 2 for 4

Campbell pitched 2 innings allowing only 1 hit, with no walks and had three K

Stallings had the save going one and a third striking out two without allowing a base runner

[Tom Servo]

Games of Tuesday, April 16

Packy Naughton, Daytona: 6 innings, 2 hits, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts, 0 runs. The 2017 9th rounder out of Virginia Tech gobbled up 154 innings last year in Dayton and is looking for even more success with his brand of walk avoidance to go with strikeouts in the Florida State League.

Honorable mention: Jonathan India, Daytona: 4-5, 2B. Facing some increased scrutiny due to a slow start (he was 1 for 18 going into this one), the Florida Gator flashed some of what made him the #5 overall pick in last year's draft. You can read some quotes from the Tortugas manager regarding India here.


In other action:

Christian Colon, Louisville: 4-5, double, RBI. The 4th overall pick in the 2010 draft is consistently a .300 hitter in the minor leagues, just don't expect much power or it to ever translate to big league success (though stranger things have happened)

Josh VanMeter, Louisville: 2-4, HR, double, 4 RBI. Batting line up to .354/.396/.750 now so far for the young utility man, he just continues to rake.

Juan Graterol, Louisville: 3-4, HR, 3 RBI. Just the 4th HR Graterol has hit in AAA after spending parts of several seasons there but it was a big one.

Nick Longhi, Louisville: 2-4. Quietly off to an impressive start this season in Louisville after a dud of a season last year.

Anthony Bass, Louisville: 1 inning, 0 hits, walks, or runs, 1 strikeout. Picked up his 3rd save, Cincy bound sooner than later?



Ibandel Isabel, Chattanooga: 3-4, HR, 2B, RBI. So far Isabel hasn't let the advanced pitching get in the way of his proficiency for mashing dongers.

Taylor Trammell, Chattanooga: 1-3, BB. Highest OBP in the Southern League at the moment.

Joel Kuhnel, Chattanooga: 1 inning, 0 hits, walks, or runs, 1 strikeout

Alex Powers, Chattanooga: 1 inning, 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 0 runs



Lorenzo Cedrola, Daytona: 1-2, 2B, RBI

Cory Thompson, Daytona: 2 innings, 0 hits, walks, or runs, 3 strikeouts.



Mariel Bautista, Dayton: 3-5, HR, 2 RBI. A big game at the top of the Dragons lineup for the 21-year-old Dominican centerfielder who is off to a solid start in full season ball.

Jay Schuyler, Dayton: 1-3, BB

Bren Spillane, Dayton: 2-4, HR, RBI

Shard Munroe, Dayton: 1-4, 3B

Jonathan Willems, Dayton: 2-3, 2B. 20-year-old from Curacao was off to an ice cold start but is starting to come around a little.

[mace]

Games of Wednesday, April 17

Aristides Aquino, Louisville . . . 2-2, double, HR (3), 2 walks, 2 RBI. The power has always been there for The Punisher; the patience, not so much. The big day pushed his OPS to .894.

Honorable Mention: Austin Orewiler, Daytona . . . 6 innings of scoreless ball (4 H, 1 BB, 4 K) for the Galveston righthander, whose 5 seasons have found him shuttling between the bullpen and rotation. By the looks of this, he might favor the latter. After 13.2 innings, his ERA remains at 0.00.

Also notable on a day when the Bats’ bullpen, expected to be their strength, continued to be their undoing . . .

Louisville

Christian Colon: 3-4, HR (1), walk, 2 RBI. The former first-rounder (Royals, 2010) is no stranger to solid hitting. Homers have been a little harder to come by.

Nick Longhi: single, walk, RBI.

Jackson Stephens: 2 shutout innings, 1 hit, 4 K.

Chattanooga

Tejay Antone: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K. Blanked ’em for the first 5.

Ryan Hendrix: 2.1 IP, zeros, 5 K. Sure, it looks good, but two guys made contact.

Taylor Trammell: 1-2, HR (3), 2 walks. OPS now at a league-leading 1.122.

Jose Siri: 2-4, SB (2). Add a steal of home to his earlier inside-the-parker.

Dayton

Pabel Manzanero: 2-4, double, HR (1). Burly Venezuelan provides the catcher-cleanup combo.

Jonathan Willems: 2-2, HR (1), HBP.

Juan Martinez: 2-4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI. Only 20, third baseman is coming off an .800 OPS season in rookie ball.

Bren Spillane: 2-4, double. OPS .844.

James Marinan: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 4 K. Fourth-rounder for the Dodgers in 2017.

Jesse Stallings: Scoreless inning produced his second save.