Cincinnati Reds Minor League Report: May 3, 2015

With the Cincinnati Reds wrapping up their series in Atlanta, we take a look at how their minor league affiliates have performed in 2015 and how their top prospects are doing.

Records

Louisville Bats (Triple-A): 10-13, 4th in International League West

Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Double-A): 6-16, 5th in Southern League South

Daytona Tortugas (High-A): 15-8, 1st in Florida State League North

Dayton Dragons (Low-A): 12-11, 4th in Midwest League Eastern

Hitters

Triple-A Louisville: Irving Falu and Ivan De Jesus Jr. have led the Bats’ offense. Falu is first in the International League in batting average, currently hitting .393/.429/.536 with a home run, 10 runs batted in, and three stolen bases. De Jesus is second in the league with 30 hits and is hitting .361/.411/.482 with six doubles, seven runs batted in, and two stolen bases.

The team got some bad news this week, as Donald Lutz was forced to undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

Double-A Pensacola: The Blue Wahoos have struggled in the early going of the season, sitting in dead last out of 10 teams in runs scored in the Southern League. Juan Perez has been the Blue Wahoos’ best hitter, hitting .304/.371/.429 with three doubles, two triples, four runs batted in, and six steals.

Top hitting prospect Jesse Winker is hitting only .234, but has still gotten on base at a high rate at .341 and has two home runs and nine runs batted in.

Reigning Reds’ Minor League Hitter of the Year Kyle Waldrop has struggled in the early going, hitting .233/.269/.370 with two homers and eight runs batted in. He also has 22 strikeouts in 70 at-bats while only walking twice.

High-A Daytona: Phillip Ervin has been on another planet lately, hitting .342 with four home runs and nine RBIs over his last ten games. On Friday night, Ervin hit a walk-off home run to give the Tortugas a 3-2 victory. Overall, he’s hitting .326 (fifth in the Florida State League) with a .426 on-base percentage (ninth), .679 slugging percentage (first), 24 runs scored (first), seven homers (first), 17 RBIs (fourth), and five stolen bases (ninth).

Alex Blandino is hitting .288/.370/.488 with three homers, 12 RBIs, five stolen bases, and 11 walks versus only 8 strikeouts.

Low-A Dayton: Wendell Soto has been the Dragons’ best hitter in the early part of this season, hitting .310/.512 (!)/517 with a home run, six RBIs, four stolen bases, and 12 walks in just 29 at-bats.

Reds’ No. 9 prospect Aristides Aquino got off to a slow start this season (.226/.288/.321, one home run, three RBIs) and things went from bad to worse last week when he fractured his left wrist after being hit by a pitch.

Brian O’Grady has gotten off to a slow start with the bat, hitting only .222 with a .278 slugging percentage, but has a .380 on-base percentage due to walking 19 times in his 22 games. He also leads the team in runs scored (12) and stolen bases (11).

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Pitchers

Triple-A Louisville: Jon Moscot continues to pitch well and is sitting at 3-0 with a 2.16 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts through his first three starts.

Another pitcher off to a hot start has been Dylan Axelrod, who is 1-1 with a 2.10 ERA and 0.94 WHIP through his first 25 2/3 innings.

Left-hander David Holmberg has been awful and sits at 0-3 with a 10.59 ERA through his first four starts. He’s given up 20 earned runs in only 17 innings pitched. Yikes.

If the Reds wind up needing more relief help, they certainly have options. Donovan Hand has yet to give up a run through his first 10 1/3 innings and Nathan Adcock has allowed just three earned runs (2.79 ERA) in his nine appearances.

Double-A Pensacola: Tim Adleman has started off the year strong. Despite an 0-3 record (wins and losses for pitchers are overrated anyway), he has a 2.42 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, with 14 strikeouts and only six walks in 26 innings.

Robert Stephenson has struggled mightily, going 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA and 1.73 WHIP. In his last start, Stephenson made it through only 2/3 of an inning, giving up six runs on three hits and four walks.

High-A Daytona: After a rough first start, Sal Romano has been lights out in his last three. He’s gone 2-0 and allowed just one earned run over that span, striking out 12. Overall, he’s 2-1 with a 3.93 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 15 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings.

Amir Garrett has built on his strong 2014 season in Dayton, going 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and 24 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings.

2014 first round pick Nick Howard has struggled mightily, going 2-1 with a 4.02 ERA and 1.91 WHIP. If you’re wondering why the WHIP is so high, it’s because he has 19 walks in only 15 2/3 innings. That being said, this is his first full professional season so there’s no reason to think he won’t get it together.

Low-A Dayton: Seth Varner has been the star of the Dragons’ pitching staff so far, going 2-1 with a 2.86 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 24 strikeouts, and no walks in 22 innings.

Tejay Antone is 1-2 with a 2.78 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with 17 strikeouts through his first 22 2/3 innings.

*Records and stats as of May 2

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