Reds Minor League Game Threads for Thursday, May 27, 2021

[texasdave]

LOUISVILLE - 6:30 PM EDT - 5-14 - Tonight is Thirsty Thursday ($2 beer), and if you've been a fan of this team for the past decade, you're probably more than ready. The Bats are playing at a .263 clip, giving them a real shot at a 100-loss season. Has anyone noticed that ERAs of the starters in the Reds farm system, with precious few exceptions, are rising faster than the price of lumber? And, that's a pretty steep rise. Bo Takahashi (4.02 - ERA) is prepped to give it another go tonight. His real name is Rodrigo Hitoshi Takahashi. Not sure how they get Bo out of that. If he pitches like last time out, Bats fans are likely to add another "o" to his nickname. Someone inquired about Joel Kuhnel in the Reds game threads a week or so ago. He's on the 60-day IL. TJ Friedl leads the team in OPS (.856) over the last 7 days. For the year it's Alfredo Rodriguez at (.792). I am somewhat surprised that the Reds called up Vlad Gutierrez instead of Tony Santillan. Gutierrez last pitched on the 19th, which will make it 9 days between starts. Santillan went on the 23rd, which would mean he would have gone on his normal 5-day rest. He has better stats than Gutierrez down in Louisville. So...... Hector Perez, per MLB.com, has a fastball graded at 65. He both a slider and a curve graded at 55. So, why can't he get batters out? Control would seem to be the issue. He is just 24, so there's time. Find the strike zone, Hector.

[texasdave]

CHATTANOOGA - 7:15 PM EDT - 12-8 - Chattanooga will attempt to get train back onto the track after last night's derailment. Hunter Greene (1.69), superlative all season, seems to be the likely starter for the Lookouts. This will be the fifth start of the year for Hunter, who has yet to give up more than three hits in any of the first 4. Last time out, Greene tossed 99 pitches plateward. It would be nice to see him economize those missiless, and go 7 tonight. Leonardo Rivas is having a career year at the dish here in 2021: .375/.490/.550/1.040. He had not had a SLG over .400 in his first 5 seasons, so that is quite a jump up. Jose Garcia is on the Temporarily Inactive List. I am wondering if this has anything to do with the Olympic Qualifying Tournaments that are taking place. Perhaps, Garcia will be representing Cuba over in Japan. Just a guess. If anyone was wondering about Wennington Romero, he is on the 60-day IL. Ricky Salinas is being called up from Dayton. Salinas compiled so-so numbers in Dayton, but has fanned 13 in 8.1 innings. I actually saw Salinas pitch in high school. I was thinking that he was a real good pitcher. And, it turns out, he was, or is. I should have been a scout. I had no idea who he was then. His name is really Ricardo. Some guy was sitting about 2 rows behind me and kept yelling all game, "Cardo! Cardo!". Looking back, he was right to cheer for Salinas. Maybe, he should have been a scout too. LOL. Michael Byrne has been quietly exceptional this season: 12 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. Byrne was selected mid-draft back in 2018. Rumor has it that he has dedicated this season to TheBigLebowski. That has yet to be confirmed. Chomp! Chomp!

[Bourgeois Zee]

Semi-excited to see Miguel Medrano toe the rubber. He had a very good 2019 in the Pioneer League.

[batsfan]

Long time former Louisville Bats who briefly played with the Reds, Hernan Iribarren, will be doing color commentary on the Bats radio and milb.tv broadcast tonight.

[texasdave]

DAYTON - 7:05 PM EDT - 11-9 - Dayton has slipped a bit since its its 5-1 start to the season, going 6-8 over its last 14 games. Miguel Medrano (0.00 - ERA) will be making his season's debut for the Dragons. He joined the Dragons from extended Spring Training on May 24. Another pitcher has been added to the staff, Carson Spiers is up from Daytona. After two years in the Dominican Summer League, Medrano came stateside. He struggled in 2018 in Greeneville, but rebounded well the next season in Billings, striking out 66 in 60.1 innings. His ERA up in the pioneer league was a very respectable 3.13 over 14 starts. Shoot out to Prospectslive for this report:

Physical Description: Stocky, boxy build - definitely weighs more than the listed 165 pounds. Thick lower body makes him look like a pitcher. Delivery & Mechanics: High 3/4 arm slot, gets decent leverage and angle on pitches; strong frame, work down in the zone quite a bit. Fastball: 91-94 mph, tops out at 95 mph with arm-side run. Commands well, fringe-average pitch, hoping for velo to tick up as he matures. Grade: 45 Curveball: 12-6 drop, flashes good spin, sometimes loosens up. Fringe-average currently, needs to improve breaking ball to stick as a starter. Grade: 45 Changeup: Medrano's best pitch; above-average currently with room to grow. Throws it for strikes; swing-and-miss pitch; keeps hitters off balance and guessing. Grade: 60 Control and Command: Strong command helps the entire arsenal play up, 2.0 bb/9 rate in 2019, above-average control currently with potential for plus during his prime. Control: 60 | Command: 55 Overall: Fairly polished pitcher. Showed good results and skills but was also 22 years-old in the Pioneer League: .230 opponent's average, 1.09 WHIP and league leading 3.13 ERA. Has yet to play full-season ball; has some swing-and-miss and one dominant pitch in the change-up. His command is also definitely an asset. He has started 36 of 41 career Minor League games; potential to be a back of the rotation starter with improvement in the breaking ball and slight uptick in velocity. Sharp money is on Medrano ending up in the bullpen as a solid long reliever or low leverage reliever.

Jacob Hurtubise has hit safely in eight straight games, going 12 for 26 (.462) to raise his average from .200 to .333. He is now tied for third in theleague in batting average (tied for second among active players) at .333. Hurtubise has 12 stolen bases on the year to rank third in the league and seventh in all of Minor League Baseball. He has stolen seven bases in the last four games. The Dragons committed have committed only 16 errors in 20 games, ranking first in the league in team fielding. Something to keep an eye on: It is Lyon Richardson's scheduled turn today, but they brought up Miguel Medrano to make that start.

The Dayton Dragons will recognize Bogg Ministries as a “Community All-Stars” recipient during a special inning break of the Dragons game on Thursday, May 27th.

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - 6:10 PM EDT - 10-10 The Tortugas dropped a tough one last night on back-to-back walks with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th. Ouch! Jason "Spidey" Parker (3.00 - ERA) will hope to spin another masterpiece for Daytona. Last time out, Parker combined on a 5-pitcher no-hitter. Jason has yet to allow any opposing player to take him deep this year. The Daytona pitching staff, as a whole, excels at that as well, yielding just 6 roundtrippers in 20 games to lead the league in that category. The next closest team has allowed 11. Michel Triana has been on fire at the plate over the last 7 days. He has gotten on base in over half of his trips to the plate. .385/.529/615/1.145. Triana, a solid 6'3',230 was signed by the Reds out of Cifuentes, Cuba. He has been playing first base for the 'Tugas.

Overall: Size, strength and plate discipline to be an OPS asset as well as an average defender at first, lack of defensive versatility puts more pressure on the bat, needs to work on making better contact versus more advanced pitching and velo, needs to develop hit tool to reach full potential, may be a hit or power profile rather than a hit and power profile, excited to see what he can do in his stateside debut.

Daytona has recently added two young pitchers from their extended spring training complex out in Arizona. They are Luis Mey and Jose Franco.

Mey is considered Cincinnati's No. 26 prospect per Baseball America...He is ranked 29th by MLB Pipeline and No. 25 per FanGraphs... Went 0-5 with an 8.39 ERA (37 ER in 39.2 IP) and 28 strikeouts in 13 appearances (12 starts) with the Rookie Arizona League Reds in 2019. Reportedly can touch 99-100 MPH with the fastball. Franco participated in the Reds' 2020 instructional league in Arizona after leading all Cincinnati MiLBers in ERA (2.20) in 14 starts with the Dominican Summer League club in 2019.

[RED VAN HOT]

Thank you, Texasdave for the research that goes into these write-ups. They are my first RZ reads.

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - The St. Lucie pitcher makes Callihan day by serving up a meatball on the second pitch of the game, which gets deposited over the left field wall. No truth to the rumor that before the pitch, that Callihan asked the pitcher if he felt lucky. 1-0 Turtles.

[JaxRed]

Lookouts site says Curlis is starting tonight.

- - - Updated - - -

DAYTONA - The St. Lucie pitcher makes Callihan day by serving up a meatball on the second pitch of the game, which gets deposited over the left field wall. No truth to the rumor that before the pitch, that Callihan asked the pitcher if he felt lucky. 1-0 Turtles.

St Lucie pitcher is a punk.

[texasdave]

Lookouts site says Curlis is starting tonight.

- - - Updated - - -

They always have it listed as TBD. So, I just count back 5 days, and hope I''m right. I missed this time.

DAYTONA - The Tortugas plate another run in the second on a Vellojin single and a triple by Wendell Marrero.

In the bottom of the second Jason Parker gives up his first home run on the year. With one away, he walks consecutive hitters. 2-1 Daytona with St. Lucie threatening.

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - Well, do ya? Callihan singles, goes to second on a fielder's choice and then scores on a couple of wild pitches. 3-1 Daytona.

[texasdave]

LOUISVILLE - Takahashi with 3 scoreless. Lone Louisville safety is a double by Brantley Bell. Scoreless game through 2.5.

[texasdave]

DAYTONA - Well, do ya?!!!? With runners on first and second, Callihan smacks a ground rule double that gives Daytona a 5-1 margin. Run number four came a walk to Santana and singles by Marrero and Reyes (first base hit on the year).
The game is only in the 4th inning, and Tyler Callihan is a triple shy of the cycle. His average has risen to .338. Another run scores making it 6-1. Gus Steiger strikes out, but reaches on a wild pitch. Reyes scores.

NOTE: Austin Hendrick is sitting out his 4th game in row.

[texasdave]

CHATTANOOGA - Connor Curlis should have let Hunter Greene take the ball tonight. He has just been pounded for 4 runs in the top of the first.

Once again, no Jose Garcia.

[texasdave]

LOUISVILLE - Bo Takahashi keeps hanging goose eggs on the scoreboard. 5 so far. Bats still looking for their second hit. Scoreless game in the 5th.