I enjoy the Dominican League and Arizona League Rookie Level ball, if only because it's fun to root for guys based on statistics alone. The Reds' DSL club has some very interesting guys this season.
SS Leonardo Balcazar, SS Carlos Jorge, 3B/SS/3B Johnny Ascanio, and 2B/3B Jose Serrano are all 17. They're all among the 30 youngest players in the DSL. They're also among the most productive hitters on the Reds' team.
- Johnny Ascanio's line is fascinating-- .333/ .545/ .333/ .879 with seven BBs against five strikeouts. He also has 5 SB in 7 tries. He's played all over the infield, but settled mostly at 2B. He has only played in 10 games, so SSS alert. But it's still nice to see.
- Jose Serrano has a .319/ .429/ .489/ .918 line with a 9:12 BB:K ratio. (The league OPS is .664, fwiw.) He's a 2B too, as well as a 3B.
- Carlos Jorge's done Serrano one better. His line is .343/ .455/ .514/ .969, with a 6:9 BB:K ratio. He's another small sample. He was hurt and placed on the IL for a period and has only played in 10 games. In those 10 games, though, he's stolen 6 bases without getting caught.
- Leonardo Balcazar is outdoing them both, though. His line-- .343/ .455/ .514/ .969 with a 10:16 BB:K ratio-- is buttressed by a league-leading five home runs. He also has seven stolen bases in 10 games.
- Fwiw, bonus baby Malvin Valdez has struggled a bit in adapting to professional baseball. A .246/ .392/ .298/ .690 line after 17 games isn't horrid, but the 22 K's aren't ideal. He's playing CF and showing plus speed, as his 9 SB would attest. (That ranks in the top five in the league.)
In Arizona, they're quite a bit older. In fact, some of these guys have five and six years on the kids in the Dominican. Part of that is backlog from the 2019 non-season. Part of it is the new draft class. Part of it might be the new paradigm of what minor league baseball now looks like. Regardless, there are some guys really hitting the snot out of the ball in the ACL.
- I've already talked about 22-year-old OF Fidel Castro, who's putting up Ruthian numbers. I don't know what he has to do in order to move up the minor league ladder, but apparently a .333/ .460/ .765/ 1.225 with 5 SB (0 CS) and a 9:15 BB:K ratio won't do.
- There are also recent draftees Ruben Ibarra and Matt McLain (not to mention rehabbing 20-year-old Rece Hinds) to keep an eye on. They're currently mashing in (very) small samples.
Were that it, I'd chalk it up to the difference in age (and follow Castro anyway).
But the young guys on the Red Arizona team are mashing almost as much as the older guys.
- 18-year-old Yerlin Confidan has amassed a line of .292/ .347/ .483/ .830 in nearly 100 PAs. That only works out to a 108 wRC+, but he's nearly two years younger than the league average.
- After two weeks of games, Andruw Salcedo, 18, is leading the ACL with a BA of .467. His line-- .467/ .529/ .689/ 1.218-- dots the league's top 10 across all categories. Did I mention he was 18? He's also a catcher. (I'm already dreaming of the potential production.) That batting line, btw, comes with a 210 wRC+.
- 19-year-old Yassel Pino plays all over the infield, but has settled this season on the corners. He seems to have enough bat for them, certainly. His line is ridiculous. After 17 games (and 62 ABs), he's hitting .404/ .548/ .702/ 1.251 on the season. All of those are also within the top 10 of the ACL league leading hitters. He's just beating out Salcedo with a 213 wRC+.
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