Today we are looking at the prospects ranked 6-10 on the 2014 Top 25 Cincinnati Reds prospects list. On Friday there will also be a chat to discuss the list, though I will also answer some questions each day in the comments section. All listed ages are the official age during the season, which is calculated by their age as of June 30th of the playing year. Subscribers will get to see the best tool for each player.
10. Ben Lively | Right Handed Pitcher | 2013 Teams: Billings Mustangs & Dayton Dragons
Acquired: 4th Round, 2013 Draft | Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 190 lbs. | Age: 21
Ben Lively got off to a great start to his professional career as he went 7 straight starts without an earned run before finally giving up a run in his 8th start of the year. In 37 innings with the Billings Mustangs he posted a 0.73 ERA with 12 walks and 49 strikeouts. He made one start with Dayton where he allowed a run in 4 innings with 7 more strikeouts in one of the best debuts on the Reds farm in a long time.
| Team | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | BB% | K% | K/BB |
| Billings | 0 | 3 | 0.73 | 0 | 37.0 | 21 | 0 | 12 | 49 | 0.89 | 8.2% | 33.6% | 4.1 |
| Dayton | 0 | 1 | 2.25 | 0 | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.75 | 6.3% | 43.8% | 7.0 |
| Total | 0 | 4 | 0.88 | 0 | 41.0 | 23 | 0 | 13 | 56 | 0.88 | 8.0% | 34.6% | 4.3 |
9. Carlos Contreras | Right Handed Pitcher | 2013 Teams: Bakersfield Blaze & Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Acquired: International Free Agent, 2008 | Height: 5′ 11″ | Weight: 205 lbs. | Age: 22
Contreras made the move to the rotation for the 2013 season after spending most of his career pitching in relief. He posteda3.47 ERA between Bakersfield and Pensacola in 132.1 innings with 62 walks and 122 strikeouts. He dominated against right handers where he walked 8.7% of opposing hitters and struck out 26.9% of opposing hitters. He struggled against lefties though where he walked 15% of the lefties he faced and struck out just 13.6% of lefties.
| Team | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | BB% | K% | K/BB |
| Bakersfield | 5 | 7 | 3.80 | 0 | 90.0 | 70 | 9 | 41 | 96 | 1.23 | 10.9% | 25.5% | 2.3 |
| Pensacola | 3 | 2 | 2.76 | 0 | 42.1 | 36 | 2 | 21 | 26 | 1.35 | 11.5% | 14.2% | 1.2 |
| Total | 8 | 9 | 3.47 | 0 | 132.1 | 106 | 11 | 62 | 122 | 1.27 | 11.1% | 21.8% | 2.0 |
8. Michael Lorenzen | Right Handed Pitcher | 2013 Teams: AZL Reds, Dayton Dragons, Bakersfield Blaze & Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Acquired: 1st Round, 2013 Draft | Height: 6′ 3″ | Weight: 180 lbs. | Age: 21
The Reds aggressively promoted Lorenzen in his professional debut as he had stops at four levels and was sent to the Arizona Fall League. During the year he worked out of the bullpen, but is transitioning to starting pitcher in Arizona. He dominated in 9.1 innings between the Arizona Rookie League and Dayton, but struggled has struggled with his control in Bakersfield, Pensacola and now in the Arizona Fall League.
| Team | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | BB% | K% | K/BB |
| AZL Reds | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 | 0.0% | 20.0% | INF |
| Dayton | 1 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 8.1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1.08 | 6.3% | 21.9% | 3.5 |
| Bakersfield | 0 | 1 | 6.35 | 2 | 5.2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1.94 | 16.7% | 20.0% | 1.2 |
| Pensacola | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 0 | 6.0 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 2.00 | 21.4% | 17.9% | 0.8 |
| Total | 1 | 1 | 3.00 | 4 | 21.0 | 20 | 2 | 13 | 19 | 1.57 | 13.7% | 20.0% | 1.5 |
7. Jon Moscot | Right Handed Pitcher | 2013 Teams: Bakersfield Blaze & Pensacola Blue Wahoos
Acquired: 4th Round, 2012 Draft | Height: 6′ 4″ | Weight: 205 lbs. | Age: 21
Moscot got off to a very rough start in Bakersfield where in his first three starts he posted a 12.71 ERA. After those three starts he posted a 3.50 ERA the rest of the season in 138.2 innings with 42 walks and 130 strikeouts between Bakersfield and Pensacola. He was better against right handers where he struck out 26.6% of opposing batters and walked 6.9% of them. Against lefties he walked 8.8% of opposing batters and struck out 14.6% of them.
| Team | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | BB% | K% | K/BB |
| Bakersfield | 2 | 14 | 4.59 | 0 | 115.2 | 109 | 17 | 36 | 112 | 1.25 | 7.3% | 22.8% | 3.1 |
| Pensacola | 2 | 1 | 3.19 | 0 | 31.0 | 34 | 3 | 12 | 28 | 1.48 | 8.7% | 20.3% | 2.3 |
| Total | 4 | 15 | 4.30 | 0 | 146.2 | 143 | 20 | 48 | 140 | 1.30 | 7.6% | 22.3% | 2.9 |
6. Nick Travieso | Right Handed Pitcher | 2013 Teams: Dayton Dragons
Acquired: 1st Round, 2012 Draft | Height: 6′ 2″ | Weight: 215 lbs. | Age: 19
Travieso didn’t get his season started until June and he initially had some struggles. In his first five starts he posted a 5.40 ERA with 9 walks and 12 strikeouts in 21.2 innings. He made adjustments after that and posted a 4.28 ERA in 61 innings with 18 walks and 49 strikeouts to finish out the season. His strikeout rate was similar against both lefties and righties (17.7% and 17.4%), but his walk rate was much higher against lefties (10.2%) than against righties (5.5%).
| Team | W | L | ERA | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | K | WHIP | BB% | K% | K/BB |
| Dayton | 7 | 4 | 4.63 | 0 | 81.2 | 83 | 7 | 27 | 61 | 1.25 | 7.8% | 17.5% | 2.3 |
Scouting Notes
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10. Ben Lively
Best tool: Slider. Easily his best pitch, the slider is an above-average to plus pitch.
9. Carlos Contreras
Best tool: Change Up. Contreras doesn’t use it as much as some of his other pitches, but the pitch is easily a plus pitch with outstanding movement.
8. Michael Lorenzen
Best tool: Fastball. Lorenzen has topped out at 99 MPH this season and even as a starter in Arizona has topped out at 96.
7. Jon Moscot
Best tool: Slider. Moscot doesn’t have a big stand out pitch, but his slider is above-average and a little better than his other three pitches.
6. Nick Travieso
Best tool: Fastball. While his velocity varied throughout the year, there were games where he sat 93-95 and touched 97 MPH.
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