The Cincinnati Reds minor leaguers got things started yesterday, playing their first games against other organizations on the back fields. Nick Travieso and Robert Stephenson were starting today at one location (in the minor leagues two teams play at home each day and two play on the road each day). Baseball America’s JJ Cooper was there to take in the action and had this to say early on in the games:
Travieso has been wild but is 92-94 Stephenson was 90-94 in first. Struggled with feel for his bball.
— JJ Cooper (@jjcoop36) March 18, 2015
Baseball Prospectus writer Chris Mellon was also there and he had this to say on Stephenson:
#Reds RHP Robert Stephenson: FB 91-94, with late finish/some run; CB 75-77; on the soft side/lacked crispness; trouble commanding.
— Chris Mellen (@ChrisMellen) March 18, 2015
Both guys were in camp with the big leaguers, but Stephenson missed some time early on so he’s a little behind Travieso in terms of readiness. This was the first spring game of the year for the minor leaguers and they’ve got games through April 4th to get ready for the season, which will begin on April 9th for the full season teams.
Tom Nichols is back at DaytonDragons.com with another preview, this time he looks at the potential second base options for the Dragons in 2015. He previews the options of Ty Washington, Ronald Bueno, Avain Rachal and Josciel Veras.
It seems that Ty Washington would be the favorite at this point in time, starting in Billings, mostly at second base, each of the last two seasons. After hitting .288 and finishing third in the league with 20 steals last year the job appears to be his to lose at this point.
Christopher Crawford has up his Midwest League preview at Baseball Prospectus. He previews the Dayton Dragons by profiling Aristides Aquino and Taylor Sparks, also giving a mention to Wyatt Strahan as the best arm likely to be on the team.
Aristides Aquino was one of the better performers in the Pioneer League in 2014, and is one of the more intriguing “sleeper” prospects in the Reds system right now. The discipline is a concern, but he’s got as much offensive upside as any prospect in the organization, and if the approach grows he’s the one prospect on the Reds who has a chance to be a 20-20 player when he reaches Cincinnati in the next two to three years.
The Dayton squad should be interesting to watch. They will mostly be made up of the Billings Mustangs team that won the Pioneer League title last year (and just got some nice looking Championship Rings to show off). There are some high upside guys mixed in with solid all around, more polished but less upside guys. Mix that in with some of the guys who will be returning and the roster should have a little bit of everything.