Cincinnati Reds: Minor league affiliates gaining momentum

The Triple-A Louisville Bats and Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos, both affiliates of the Cincinnati Reds, are riding hot streaks of late.

The top two teams in the Cincinnati Reds‘ farm system, the Louisville Bats, and Pensacola Blue Wahoos are riding hot streaks of late. The Blue Wahoos have won six straight games and the Bats have as well. Let’s dive into the numbers and check out why these teams are playing so well.

Let’s start with the Blue Wahoos. Cincinnati’s Double-A affiliate has won 6 straight games after dominating the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, yes that’s their name, over the weekend. Over the course of the 5-game series, the Blue Wahoos outscored the Shrimp 37-16.

The Blue Wahoos have been led all season by one of the Cincinnati Reds’ top prospects, Shed Long, and the series against Jacksonville was no exception. Long went 6-for-20 (.300) with 1 home run and 4 RBIs.

Pitcher Daniel Wright took the hill for Pensacola on Saturday night versus Jacksonville. The 10th round draft pick of the Reds back in 2013 went 8 innings, struck out 3 and didn’t allow a single run. The Wahoos emerged with a 5-1 victory and Wright earned his 5th win of the season. He also lowered his ERA to 3.89.

Jose Siri, who just recently promoted to Pensacola, had a great series against the Shrimp. Siri went 7-for-20 (.350) with 4 home runs a 7 RBIs. The outfield prospect ranks 7th currently in the Reds’ farm system. He’s very aggressive at the plate, which can lead to a lot of strikeouts, but it can lead to a lot of base knocks as well.

How about the Louisville Bats? After 5 straight losses after the All-Star Game in Columbus, the Bats have ripped off 6 straight victories. During their 6-game win streak, the Bats have been hitting the cover off the ball. louisville maintained a plus-31 run differential through their last 6 games.

The six-game win streak is the longest of the season for the Bats and it has predominantly been their pitching that has helped them along the way. At one point during the winning streak, Louisville allowed only one run through three games.

The Bats scored 11 runs in Thursday’s victory over Syracuse. Shortstop Blake Trehan, one of the Reds Top 30 prospects, went 3-for-4 in the game and scored 4 runs. Trehan has 6 hits and 7 runs scored during the Bats win streak.

Right-hander Keury Mella tossed eight innings of one-run baseball on Sunday and allowed only five hits. Mella, who was part of the Mike Leake deal back in 2015, is a Top 20 prospect for the Reds and his fastball is consistently in the mid-90’s.

Next: Blandino's injury reveals hole at SS

No telling how much longer the Louisville Bats and Pensacola Blue Wahoos can continue their winning ways, but it’s always nice to see some of the Reds’ young prospects succeeding.