SB Nation User Blog: BK

Monday Morning Quiz: Reds Pitchers of the 2000s

BK — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:54:35 -0000

Monday Morning Quiz: Reds Pitchers of the 2000s

Name every player to pitch for the Reds in the last decade. As long as a pitcher has one appearance for the team, he's on the list. As always, keep out of the comments to prevent spoilers.

Farmers Only Update: Introducing your 2010 Lynchburg Hillcats

BK — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:48:59 -0000

Farmers Only Update: Introducing your 2010 Lynchburg Hillcats

The Fay is reporting that the Reds High-A affiliate will move from Sarasota to Lynchburg. The Hillcats play in the Carolina League, and won their league last year.

My take is that keeping track of the Carolina League and the Carolina Mudcats is going to get mighty confusing.

Reds name Bryan Price pitching coach

BK — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 20:55:47 -0000

Reds name Bryan Price pitching coach

Via CNati.

Price left the Diamondbacks in May, when A.J. Hinch was named manager there. He was the pitching coach there for 2 1/2 seasons. Prior to that, he was the pitching coach for the Mariners from 2000-2006.

So while it's a coach with some previous success, it's not a big name like Dave Duncan. An interesting strategy, and a little disappointing considering who we were hoping would be considered.

What do you guys think?

Farmers Only: The Arizona Fall League starts today!

BK — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:26:38 -0000

The offseason lull may have made its way to us Reds fans a few weeks ago (actually, a few months ago), but for most Reds minor leaguers, there's not much of an offseason. Reds farmhands will be playing in 5 different leagues, the most prestigious one of which starts today. Here's what you need to know about the Arizona Fall League.

Q: What the hell is it?

A: The AFL is a place where many organizations send their top prospects from the US, from the AA and AAA levels (although one "class-A" player is allowed and one international player is allowed from each team). Among the big names competing this year, the Marlins' Mike Stanton, the Braves' Jason Heyward, the Mariners' Dustin Ackley, the Nationals' Stephen Strasburg, the Giants' Buster Posey, the Rangers' Tanner Scheppers, as well as our own Yonder Alonso.

Q: How many players are sent from each team?

A: Each roster is filled by 5 teams who send 7 players each, giving the league 6 teams of 35 players.

Q: Who's participating from the Reds?

A: The Reds sent 4 pitchers to Arizona, a class headed by 2009 first round pick RHP Mike Leake. Joining him will be supplemental pick RHP Brad Boxberger, AA reliever RHP Sean Watson, and AAA closer RHP Logan Ondrusek. Rounding out the players sent are 1B Yonder Alonso, AA SS Zachary Cozart, and AAA outfielder Chris Heisey.

Q: Are they all on the same team?

A: Yep! The Reds prospects will be playing on the Peoria Saguaros this year, along with prospects from the Indians, Astros, Padres, and Braves organizations.

They kick off their year tonight at 8:35 ET against the Scottsdale Scorpions, with former Vanderbilt standout Mike Minor on the hill. We'll have occasional updates all season long of this league, plus the Mexican and Venezuelan leagues (which have already kicked off) and the Dominican and Puerto Rican leagues (which are set to start soon).

Better Know A Playoff Team: Los Angeles Dodgers

BK — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:06:10 -0000

More photos » by Denis Poroy - AP

Inland Empire 66ers outfielder Manuel Ramirez is getting a lot of attention for some reason. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Browse more photos »

Two truths and a lie:

At least half of the Dodgers starting lineup came up through their minor league system.
The Dodgers swooped in and stole the Reds AA affiliate at the end of last season, and despite their reputation of a solid minor league system, finished with a worse record than when the Reds were with the team.
Despite having the best record in the NL, they actually underperformed according to their Pythagorean W-L record.

Despite being without their big money slugger for 50 games, the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles was the best team in the NL. 18 of their pitchers had an ERA+ over 100, including an obscene 639 ERA+ by reliever George Sherrill, who was acquired from Baltimore in July. Even more amazingly, they've accomplished all of this while giving significant playing time to two of the most maligned former Reds from the mid-aughts, TSF Juan Castro and the top-notch Eric Milton.

Discuss all things Dodgers here. They begin their series tonight at home against the Cardinals at 9:37 ET.

Reds finally decide to start their season, dismantle the Astros 10-4

BK — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 03:53:15 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

You want a shot at the rotation next year? You're going through this man. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

Browse more photos »

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Matt Maloney, of course. Matty went 7 strong innings, giving up only 2 runs on 6 hits, and walked nobody. He struck out 4, and probably could have gone another inning, since he was only at 93 pitches and had an 8-run lead, but Dusty yanked him in favor of unproven bullpenners.

Key Plays

Joey Votto struck early for the good guys, hitting his 23rd home run of the season to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.
The Reds broke out in the 2nd for 5 runs in the 2nd, and ended up chasing former Red Brian Moehler (remember that?) out of the game in the 3rd, giving the Reds a 7-1 lead.
Jay Bruce's solo shot in the 5th and Wladimir Balentien's 2-run single in the 6th gave the Reds 10 runs, and free wings for Astros fans.
After Maloney left after the 7th, Pedro Viola gave up 2 runs in the 8th. That was pretty much the game.

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

Matt Maloney put together another great start, and is now firmly in the conversation for the 5th starter spot next year. If he keeps pitching like he did today, he's got my vote. His ERA is 2.65 over his last 3 starts, and he put together his longest outing of the year this evening. Also, he's only walked 1 batter in those 3 starts.
The Reds 17 hits was the second highest total of the season, one less than the 18 they had in Arizona and it ties the 17 they had in Milwaukee.
6 Reds players had multiple hits, including a 3-for-5 night from Juan Francisco, who filled in for Scott Rolen, who was a late scratch. The other 5 were all names we should all start getting used to, in Drew Stubbs, Paul Janish, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and My Wladdy Balentien. Speaking for myself, it feels pretty good to see all those guys performing well on the same night.
Jo-eh drove in 4 of the Reds 10 runs.
All 9 of the Reds starters had at least one hit.
Jared Burton pitched a perfect 9th. This is a good sign, I think.
Reds win their 5th game in a row, and 9 of the last 11. Too bad the season doesn't start in September.
Rick Sweet was in uniform in the dugout as well. You may remember him as the manager who took Louisville to the playoffs this year.

Eyewitness Report: Louisville Bats vs. Durham Bulls

BK — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 00:07:44 -0000

So last Friday night, Slyde, jsl413 and I ventured down to Louisville to watch the Reds AAA affiliate take on Durham in Game 3 of the first round of the IL playoffs. We had a pretty good time. Slyde got some pretty sweet tickets for $12.50 each. We ended up about halfway up the box seats, one section to the left of home plate. Here's a view from our seats:

That, my friends, is prime real estate. More about the game (and more pics) after the jump.

We were treated to quite the lineup on our trip, and everyone in the Louisville lineup had at least one hit. Sam Lecure started the game for the Bats, and pitched pretty well for the most part.

He was throwing in the 88-91, and has some off speed stuff that is absolutely filthy. He had one rough inning, but the rest of his game wasn't bad.

Yonder Alonso hadn't done much for the Bats since getting called up before the playoffs started. In his first home game in Louisville, he didn't disappoint.

Yonder went 2-for-3 with a solo HR (to the opposite field to left), and a pretty nice diving stab at 1B to save a run on the defensive side.

Similarly, this guy also had a good game.

ROAR! El Nino Destructor also had a decent defensive play, and was 2-for-5 with a RBI.

On the other hand, not everyone had a great game.

That's Todd Frazier, and he struggled at the plate for most of the night. He got badly fooled in one at bat and didn't really hit anything hard all evening. He did end up redeeming himself big time by continuing rallies by hitting infield singles in the 7th and 9th, but I didn't come away impressed. We didn't get much of an opportunity to see some of that vaunted 2B defense, but he did turn a pretty nifty double play to save a run. (The Francisco-Frazier-Alonso DP combo was sick.)

A few other notes from the game:

Louisville Slugger field was pretty good. Cheap tickets, free parking down the street, and a fairly cheap food and beer selection. I got an Amber Bock draft that would have cost me $8.25 at GABP for $4.75.
We met up with xjjeep90 at the park, where he sat in our section for the entirety of the game. Good times. No word on where Rick House was, and we didn't meet Red_Poodle either. What gives, Poodle!?
Chris Valaika didn't look like he's anywhere close to being a major league player. He looked bad for most of the game, and ended up striking out to end the game. Maybe he just had a bad game, but I thought he looked better when I saw him in Spring Training in March.
Out of the 12 total hits, minus the 2 home runs by Chris Denove and Alonso, the rest of the hits were singles. Of those 10 singles, probably 6 were infield hits.
Jeff Kennard is a career minor league journeyman. He pitched two pretty decent innings. If there's room for him, I wouldn't mind seeing him in camp next spring.
Speaking of journeymen, Lew Ford started in RF for the Bats. Let's just say he didn't impress too many people.
I like what I saw from Chris Heisey. He had a hard-hit single, which is more than you can say about most of the other players on the team.
That being said, every position player on the Bats had a hit. It sure didn't seem like it.
Jay Bruce struggled in his rehab start at DH. He looked great on his hit and ran the bases well in his 2nd AB, but kind of jogged to 1B in his first AB when he reached on an error.
The most impressive pitcher on the field wasn't on the Bats. That honor belonged to Durham's Winston Abreu, who closed out the game for them. He threw in the upper 90s, and he struck out the side in the 9th (Heisey, Bruce, and Valaika). Alonso and Francisco both managed to fight in their ABs to get infield hits.
It should also be noted that Valaika batted in front of Alonso, which seemed ridiculous at the time. Even more ridiculous when you figure that Yonder could have been up with the game on the line other than Valaika.
Logan Ondrusek warmed up at some point, and he looked kind of out of place. I didn't realize this, but he's listed at 6'7", and probably was taller than that. It reminded me of any professional basketball team with a token white center from eastern Europe over 7'4".
It was a really exciting game, to be sure. After taking a lead on a home run by Chris Denove, the Bats were down 4-1 after LeCure got roughed up a bit (in a time that seemed like a split second). They then battled back to score a run each in the 6th (Alonso's HR) and 7th (smawl-bawl!).
In that 7th inning, they had a walk, a single to left by Luis Bolivar, and two infield hits by Frazier and Francisco, both of those with 2 outs. Chris Vaiaika killed the rally. At this point, jsl and I decided he should have been batting 7th instead of Alonso.
In the 8th, Yonder led off with a single, and was stranded at 3rd. This would have been a good time to see Danny Dorn pinch hit, but that didn't happen. (Another guy we didn't get to see was Zack Cozart, who didn't play the entire series. Huh?)
Once again in the 9th, Frazier and Francisco started a rally with 2 outs, and were stranded by Valaika. Not his night. Bats lose 4-3.

All in all, it was a good experience, despite the game outcome. I was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere there, as the fans were extremely into the game and knew who most of the players were.

I'm already thinking an RR outing in Louisville needs to happen next year too. Takers?

Reminder: Bats begin playoff series tonight in Durham

BK — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:30:02 -0000

Reminder: Bats begin playoff series tonight in Durham

The Reds AAA affiliate takes on the Rays AAA team, starting tonight in Durham. If you want to check out some excellent minor league baseball, there's no better chance. Travis Wood takes on Jeremy Hellickson tonight, and Ben Jukich and Sam LeCure will pitch the remaining two games. If you're watching on MiLB.TV, listening on the radio or internet, or going to the game, you'll see plenty of Reds prospects. Yonder Alonso joined the team today, and Jay Bruce will play with the Bats in this first round series, along with prospects Todd Frazier, Juan Francisco, and Chris Heisey. RR favorite Joe "The Cycle" Krebs has also joined the team over the weekend, and will play with them through the playoffs.

It's nice to have be able to root for a winning team, so give the Bats your support! Also, if you're in Louisville for Friday night's game, let us know, as Slyde, jsl413, and I will all be in attendance. Come say hi!

Farmers Only: That's All, Folks!

BK — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:41:07 -0000

Labor Day means that most of the minor league teams are done for the year, with one still going on and one team in the playoffs. Let's go over some highlights of the long weekend, and see what's ahead.

Louisville closed out their season by winning 3 of thelr last 4. Highlights included a combined 7-hit game from Todd Frazier and Juan Francisco, a 5-inning shutout relief outing by Lee Tabor, a 9 strikeout start by Ben Jukich, 3-hit games by Jay Bruce and Ryan Hanigan, 7 shutout innings by Sam Lecure, and another 2-hit game by Jay Bruce. Bruce was 5-for-18 and Hanigan was 7-for-18 on their rehab stints. Up next: Obviously the big news is that the Bats are the sole team in the Reds organization to make their playoffs this year. They'll take on the Durham Bulls (TB) in a 5-game series, starting Wednesday in Durham. They'll play at least one game in Louisville on Friday night, so if you're so inclined, come on down and see a playoff game. Slyde and I will be there, so come say hello.
Carolina also won 3 of their final 4, but finished 11 games back in their division at 28-42 in the second half. Some highlights of their weekend: 2 hits and a homer by Yonder Alonso, a 3-for-3 game from Alonso, and 7 shutout innings by Jerry Gil (!). Yonder has been hitting .412 over his last 10 games, and is rumored to be joining Louisville for their playoff run.
Sarasota finished dead last in their division at 26-43 in the second half, but won 2 of their final 3 games. Lance Janke had a 1-run, 7 inning outing, Carlos Fisher had a perfect inning of work, Neftali Soto had a 2-hit game, Denis Phipps had a 3-hit game with a HR, Curtis Partch pitched 7 shutout innings, Jordan Wideman had a 3-hit game, and Matt Fairel finished his season with 8 shutout innings.
Dayton lost 3 of their last 4 to finish out their year. Highlights include another good start by Chase Ware, a homer by Josh Fellhauer, and a 3-hit night by Carlos Mendez. The Dragons finish out the second half at 31-38, 17.5 games out of first.
Billings will continue their season until the end of this week.

As this is the last Farmers Only column of the season, I'd like to thank all you people for putting up with me and reading. nycredsfan and I have a lot planned for the offseason, and we'll still continue to cover Louisville's playoff run (including live updates from Friday night's game) and finish up the Billings season. The minor league season really doesn't end. Next comes the Arizona Fall League!

Farmers Only: Maloney and Wood shine

BK — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:18:50 -0000

First things first. Jay Bruce and Ryan Hanigan have both reported to Louisville on rehab. Also, most of the Carolina pitching staff from a few months ago are now with the AAA team. A couple of recent callups are starters Tom Cochran and Camilo Vazquez, and stud reliever Joseph "The Cycle" Krebs.

Louisville beat Indy 4-2 behind another good start by Travis Wood. Woody gave up 1 run in 5 innings of work, and struck out 6 Indians. Logan Ondrusek earned his 11th save for the Bats with a perfect 9th, dropping his ERA to 1.93 in AAA. Juan Francisco had two hits for the offense, and Daniel Dorn drove in 2 runs with a pinch-hit double. Up next: Ben Jukich takes on Indy at 7:15.
Carolina went back and forth in their game against Mississippi before they won 6-5. Matt Maloney had a great start, pitching 7 innings and giving up 1 run on a solo HR, and left with a 3-1 lead. After Zach Ward predictably blew it, the Mudcats battled back with 2 in the 8th only to give up 2 in the top of the 9th. Jose Castro broke the tie again in the 9th with a game winning single. Jason Bour and Sean Henry each had 3 hits for the Mudcats, and for some reason shortstop Kris Negron started the game in CF. Not sure where that came from, but we'll see if it becomes a trend. Up next: Luis Montano takes on Mississippi at 7:15.
Sarasota lost to Palm Beach 3-2, as the normally automatic Mace Thurman gave up the winning run. Dave Sappelt was 3-for-4, and Alex Buchholz had a multi-hit game too. Travis Webb started, and gave up 4 runs (1 earned) in 5 innings. Up next: Lance Janke takes the hill against Palm Beach at 7:05.
Dayton beat South Bend 5-3 behind a solid start by J.C. Sulbaran. Sulbaran gave up 3 runs in 6 innings of work for his 5th win of the year. Carlos Mendez drove in 3 runs with his 3 hits, and Kevin Coddington added a solo shot. Up next: Chase Ware takes on South Bend at 7.
Billings lost to Great Falls 4-3 in 10. Efrain Contreras and Thomas Nurre both homered. Leonardo Astorga gave up 1 run in 5 innings. Frank Pfister was 3-for-5. Up next: Billings takes on Helena at 9:05.