Reds Minor League Game Threads for Tuesday, June 22, 2021

[texasdave]

Louisville - 7:00 PM EDT - 14-27 - It is finally here- ReOpening Night! BOGO tickets, $1 concessions and Fireworks! You cannot beat fun at the old ballpark. It is 75 degrees and sunny. How does it get any better than this? On the mound for this gloriious occasion will be Reiver Sanmartin (5.23). Scott Heinemann will be back in town for the Bats, as will Jeff Hoffman, on a rehab assignment. Sonny Gray will be on the rehab express on Thursday for Louisville. Wait, there's been a change in the lineup. Jeff Hoffman will be on the mound first for the home team, followed by Sanmartin. Also, Dwight Smith, Jr. will be leading off, pushing Alejo Lopez down to the two spot in the order. There is an opening on the Bats ground crew. So, if you ever dreamed of rolling the tarp out while rain stings your face, here's your opportunity. And, you get paid to watch baseball! Alejo Lopez is on a 9-game hitting streak. Phillip Diehl's favorite ice cream flavor is raspberry chocolate chip. And his favorite baseball player is Ken Griffey, Jr. Louisville pitching coach, Seth Etherton, has pitched for teams in the following cities: Midland, Edmonton, Erie, Anaheim, Louisville, Chattanooga, Norwich, Dayton, Cincinnati, Oakland, Sacramento, Kansas City, Portland, Omaha, Albuquerque, Jupiter, Kia, Long Beach, Reno, Quintana Roo and Uni-President. His last team was the Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions. LOL. Oh, thank heaven. the Uni Lions, as they are most commonly called, own the longest winning streak in league history at 17. They have the most wins, home runs and Taiwan Serioes titles. One current Lion is ex-Red Tim Melville. His claim to Taiwan League fame is the fact that he threw the most pitches in a no-hitter with 142. Wow! Whoa!

[texasdave]

Chattanooga - 7:15 PM EDT - 23-18 - Chattanooga is back home, and will host Rocket City in a six-packer. It is Food City Tuesday, and if you show your Food City Value Card at the box office, it's BOGO time. We don't have Food City here: I wonder if my Food Town Value Card will be an acceptable substitute? If this is Chattanooga, then we have no idea who will start. I believe Nick Lodolo is eligible to come off of the IL, but who really knows? The power has absolutely dried up for Brian Rey since his promotion to AA baseball. He was slugging .904 with Dayton. His slugging percentage with the Lookouts is .243. Ouch! TJ Hopkins is tied with Yoel Yanqui in extra-base hits with 13. This despite not having homered in during the '21 campaign. Hopkins has 9 doubles and 4 triples. Yanqui has 6 doubles, 1 triple and 6 longballs. This is only Hopkins second season in the Reds organization. He OPS'ed .758 in 2019 for Billings. His Lookouts OPS stands at .756. TJ skipped both the Low-A and High-A levels. Nick Lodolo has given up a lone bomb in his minor league career. That was to Micah Bello, who has not hit another home run since.

[texasdave]

Dayton - 7:05 PM EDT - 24-18 - The Dragons are up north playing a series against the West Michigan White Caps. Noah Davis (3.35) has a hard act to follow tonight, In his last start, Davis gave up just one hit and one walk during his 6 innings on the mound. He fanned 7. Davis was drafted out of UC-Santa Barbara in the 11th round even though the Reds knew he needed Tommy John surgery and would miss all of 2018 and part of 2019. As a freshman at UCSB he was the team's #2 pitcher behind some guy named Shane Bieber. He was also a college teammate of Eric Yang. Davis is flourishing at High-A this season. He leads the league in BAA at .177, and has given up 4 or fewer hits in 7 of his 8 starts. It will most likely be an all-Guacho lineup (Davis pitching to Yang). Figure the odds. Gauchos are the cowboys of the Pampas (mainly Argentina), and are revered in that culture. They are noted as skilled horsemen. Indeed, it has been noted that most gauchos begin riding a horse before they can walk. One naturalist has been quoted saying that a man without a horse is a man without legs. This will be the Dragons 8th series of the year. They have won 4, lost 2 and split 1. They currently hold a one-game advantage over Lake County in the division race. Opposing batters are hitting just .077 (4-32) against reliever Braxton Roxby this year. One significant rule change has been made in 2021 in the High-A Central League. Pitchers must now step back off the rubber before throwing to a base, a change that will have its greatest impact on left-handed pitchers. Both the snap throw to first and the “lift and hang” throw by a lefthander will now result in a balk call.

[M2]

Nick Lodolo has given up a lone bomb in his minor league career. That was to Micah Bello, who has not hit another home run since.

Hitters beware the Curse of the Lodolo. You hit a homer off of him and then you never hit another one again.

[texasdave]

Daytona - 7:00 PM EDT - 18-24 - The Tortugas have won 4 of the their last 7 games, and will send James Proctor (1.71) to the hill tonight. The Ivy League grad has yet to be taken deep, and is punching out over 12 batters per 9 innings. He has been shaky lately, allowing 7 runs (4 earned) over his last 8 innings. Since June 3, Leonardo Seminati is OPSing a healthy .956. Seminati is a native of Bergamo, Lombardo in Italy. The city has cobblestones, venetian walls and is accessible by funicular. By what? F U N I C U L A R. Here is a picture of one of the Bergamo funiculars. Attachment 17388 Funiculars are cable cars that go up and down the sides of steep inclines. They are usually counter-balanced, so as one ascends, the other descends. Bergamo is old. Really old. It was settled well before B.C. by the Celts. Gus Steiger has reached in 12 of 13 games. He was especially hot during the Bradenton series going 9 for 20 with 4 walks. Catcher Justin Gomez is up from the Reds academy. Catcher Wilfred Astudillo is heading the other way. Gomez is 31st-round lefty from out of Azusa Pacific. Justin played in Greeneville in 2019, and acquitted himself well, compiling a .753 OPS. He is a bit old, 24, to be in Low-A.

[M2]

Quebec City has got a nice funicular. Though, for Reds purposes, Chattanooga has the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway. I see Cincinnati used to have a few funiculars/inclines back in the early 1900s too. Pittsburgh still has a couple. However, I'm guessing just saying the world "funiculare" in Italian makes the one in Bergamo the best.

[texasdave]

Chattanooga - Ricky Salinas (3.20) will give it a go for the Lookouts tonight.

[texasdave]

Louisville - Louisville hitters have come out with anger in their hearts, and the Bats lead 3-0 in the first and are still at bat. Dwight Smith, Jr. is not leading off, it's newcomer Mallex Smith. He line a single, Alejo Lopez lined a single, one out later Logan Morrison smacked a double and, finally, Alfredo Rodriguez singled to right. The Bats settle for 3.

NOTE: Dwight Smith, Jr. was let go on June 20th.

[texasdave]

Daytona - Daytona grabbed a 3-0 lead in the top of the second, but the game is now in a weather delay.

Garrett Wolforth doubled. Daniel Vellojin walked. Brandon Leyton went yard (1).

[texasdave]

Chattanooga - Chattanooga is getting in on the fun. They plated 2 runs in the home half of the first.

Jose Barrero singled and stole his sixth bag on the season. Lorenzo Cedrolla brought him home by doubling. Mark Kolozsvary completed the scoring with a base hit.

It's 2-0 in the second.

[texasdave]

Dayton - The Dragons said do not forget about us. They score a run in the first and lead 1-zip.

Jacob Hurtubise walked. Francisco Urbaez singled to move him to second. Two ground ball outs bring Hurtubise home.

[batsfan]

Reiver Sanmartin had his hat confiscated and has been removed from the game. Did the Bats just make very dubious history for the first sticky stuff ejection in professional baseball? Nick Curran (Bats broadcaster) says there has been no clarity as to what the penalty for this will be at the minor league level.

[texasdave]

Louisville - Louisville adds a solo shot by TJ Friedl (5). They lead 4-0.

Jeff Hoffman tossed a pair of scoreless innings. 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K.

As noted above, Reiver Sanmartin has been booted, likely for something nefarious. But, maybe not. He worked 2 hitless innings before whatever happened happened.

Braden Shipley has taken over mound duties here in the 5th.

[texasdave]

Chattanooga - Lookouts still lead by that same 2-0 margin.

Ricky Salinas has gone five stellar innings. 3 H, 0 BB, 7 K. ERA is down to 2.55.

[texasdave]

Daytona - They are waiting out Mother Nature down in Florida. 'Tugas are ahead 3-nothing.