The Arizona Fall League begins this afternoon, with Peoria taking the field at 3:35PM EST. Yesterday we looked at the position players heading out to Arizona to represent the Cincinnati Reds. Today we take a look at the pitchers.
Stephen Johnson | Right Handed Reliever
The reliever came over to the Reds organization near the end of the year after being acquired in trade for Marlon Byrd on August 20th. He would make his organizational debut on August 23rd and make six total appearances for the Pensacola Blue Wahoos before the season ended. The right hander didn’t allow a run, walked two batters and had 11 strikeouts in 8.2 innings.
He spent his entire season before the trade in Double-A Richmond with the Giants organization and between the two stops he posted a 2.97 ERA with 31 walks and 79 strikeouts in 66.2 innings. The walk rate is a little higher than you’d like to see, but he misses plenty of bats. He lowered his walk rate during the season though, walking just 10 batters in 32.2 innings from the start of July through the end of the season. He went from a walk rate of 13.7% before July began to a walk rate of just 7.8% after. Johnson has always had the stuff, but the control has held him back from reaching his full potential. With the turn around, if he can head out to Arizona and continue along the same path, he could be on a fast track to the Cincinnati bullpen in 2016.
Layne Somsen | Right Handed Reliever
The right handed reliever spent his time split between Pensacola and Louisville in 2015, posting a 2.74 ERA between the two stops with nearly identical numbers at both. The 26-year-old spent a decent chunk of his season on the disabled list after taking a comebacker off of his foot, resulting in a broken toe that shelved him for over seven weeks before he returned in August.
Somsen spent the year working mostly as a long reliever, pitching in nine games out of the bullpen for over two innings and he even made four spot starts. Only six of his 27 appearances were for an inning or less. With the missed time from the injury, he’s likely out in Arizona to make up for some lost time and get some more innings logged to prepare for next season. With what should be plenty of spots available in the big league bullpen, a strong performance could get him an invite to spring training where he could make a run at the role for long reliever.
Nick Travieso | Right Handed Reliever
The lone starting pitcher that the organization is sending to the Arizona Fall League, Nick Travieso is also the youngest player the team is sending. The 21-year-old is the 2nd youngest pitcher on the Javelinas, just three months older than the Braves Lucas Sims. Like Somsen, Travieso was hit by a comebacker in the middle of the season and missed seven weeks before returning to the Daytona Tortugas rotation.
Before he hit the disabled list, Travieso had a 2.98 ERA in 63.1 innings with 17 walks and 55 strikeouts. The right hander didn’t make any rehab appearances before returning, and while his ERA improved his peripherals weren’t nearly as strong, walking 13 batters with 21 strikeouts in 30.0 innings, but he did post a 2.10 ERA. On the season his 2.70 ERA was the best of his career and was the third consecutive year he has lowered it since his 2012 debut. Logging additional innings to add to the 93.1 he threw in the regular season as well as facing more advanced hitters will prepare him for his likely assignment to Double-A Pensacola to start out the 2016 season.
Zack Weiss | Right Handed Reliever
There may not be another Reds prospect who took as big of a step forward in the 2015 season as Zack Weiss. The reliever posted a 1.98 ERA on the season in 63.2 innings pitched between Daytona and Pensacola, all while racking up 30 saves. He would walk just 15 batters on the year and he struck out 90 as he posted a 6-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio on the season.
Not only did he improve his numbers, but his stuff also took a step forward. He threw 52.0 innings in Double-A as the Blue Wahoos closer and getting him a few more innings against more advanced bats in Arizona could really help fast track him in the spring. An invite to spring training shouldn’t be a surprise and with his stuff, he could be competing for a big league job sooner rather than later.