Dragon Tales: Double Trouble

I have been a bit preoccupied with Reds statistics lately and I have not kept up with the Dragons.  So today we will look at the last 2 weeks of Dragons games and name a Dragon of the Week for both.  The first week in question, July 3-9, saw the Dragons on an impressive tear, winning 6 of 7 games.  The highlight of the week unquestionably occurred Saturday, July 9th when the Dayton franchise took sole ownership of the professional sports sell out record with a record breaking 815 consecutive home sell out.  This mark could easily be one never to be broken again and the Dragons keep building on it already reaching 819 games as of last night.

During this week on the road Dayton played well and looked to separate themselves from the rest of the division.  Week 2, July 10-16, did not go quite so well winning 2 and losing 4 games. So who are the Dragons of the Week?

July 3-9

As you might expect, there are a number of excellent candidates with 6 wins in the span of 7 days.  Moving through the batting order speedy Billy Hamilton continues to see his batting average climb.  He went 11-31 with 6 runs scored and 4 RBIs.  He did get caught stealing twice but was successful 6 more times as he continues to lead all of professional baseball with his stolen base total.

Ronald Torreyes has been a sensation sense he first arrived in Dayton and this week was no exception as he went 9-27 with 9 runs scored and 6 RBIs.  Add to that 2 doubles, a triple, and 2 HRs and you have a very serious candidate for the DOW prize this week.

Dominic D’Anna also put up some gaudy numbers for the week.  He tallied a .375 batting average with 9 hits on 24 at bats with 4 runs scored and a team leading 10 RBIs.  In addition he contributed 2 doubles and a Home Run.

David Vidal also had a nice week going 6-20 with 3 runs and 3 RBIs.

Finally I will highlight a newcomer to the Dragons pitching staff.   Stalin Gerson, a 22 year old native of the Dominican Republic, who returned to the Dragons on July 1st and in his first week back, after a stint in Billings culminating in winning the Pioneer League pitcher of the week accolade on June 28th, Gerson dazzled winning two starts totaling 13 IP with just 1 ER allowed.  Stalin stuck out 9, allowing 3 bases on balls and 7 hits.  Not a bad way to reintroduce yourself to the team.

Dragon of the Week:  Stalin Gerson; Stalin was just too tough to ignore.  In a week where top prospects Daniel Corcino and Kyle Lotzkar struggled, his success coupled with Daniel Renken helped the Dragons immensely.

July 10-16

As previously mentioned this week has not gone quite as well and the numbers reflect the struggles.  For this 6 game week I will highlight 4 hitters and a pitcher again for the success they had this week.

Billy Hamilton again lifted the team going 8-25 and raising his batting average up to .241 by the end of the week.  This does not sound like much but consider that over these 13 games he has gone 19 for 56.  One concern I do have is the lack of extra base hits Billy contributes.  While it is incredibly fun to watch him steal bases seemingly at will, he suffers from the same problem noticeable on the Reds big league club and that is an inability to hit balls in the alleys to give him extra base hits.  In addition, Billy stole 3 more bases for a total of 68 on the season but was once again caught once for the 12th time.  Finally, Billy made his 27th error.  I have been quite critical of his fielding in the past but as I noted after watching him play on July 2nd that sight unseen, I am certain some of his errors are made because he attempts to field balls no one else could even pretend to reach due to his explosive speed.  At some point he will begin to control his speed and these errors will turn into outs.

Ronald Torreyes also again had an impressive week and may not be long for this team as he is clearly better than his opposition, and his own teammates.  This week, the 18 year old Venezuelan third baseman went 8-23 with 3 Runs and 5 RBIs.  He also contributed a double and a triple.  (As of last nights game Torreyes is now hitting .402 in 28 games with 117 at bats under his belt.  His OPS is an astounding .991 and he has only committed 2 errors at third base.)

Yorman Rodriguez had an abbreviated week suffering a shoulder injury on the 14th diving for a line drive but he did well in the 4 games he played in, hitting 7 of 11 times at the plate with 3 Runs and 5 RBIs.  He also added in a SB, double and home run for the week.

The last position player for this week is 1st basemen David Vidal.  David went 7-18 with 7 runs scored and 3 RBIs.  He had 2 doubles and a home run on the week.

This weeks pitcher is starter Kyle Lotzkar, who was the only starter to win during the week.  I truly want this kid to succeed if for no other reason than on the evening of July 2nd he signed autographs for all 3 of my boys.  He is rated the #10 prospect in the Reds organization by Baseball America, the best of the Dragons pitchers.  Unfortunately he has not lived up to his status since arriving in Dayton.  He currently has a record of 1-1 in 7 starts with an ERA of 5.71.  July 10 was significant for Kyle as it represents his only win for the Dragons pitching 6 innings while giving up just 2 runs.  His second outing during the week was not successful as he gave up 2 runs in only 3.1 innings of work.  Hopefully his win will be the first of many for the Dragons and the Reds organization.

With the contestants lined up our selection for Dragon of the Week for July 10-16 is:

Ronald Torreyes!  The young 3rd baseman will have a rich future if he can continue to succeed at the plate as he is.  Congratulations Ronald!

Stay tuned for the next Dragon of the Week on Sunday as we return to our regular schedule!

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