Lyon Richardson, the Cincinnati Reds 2nd round draft pick, took the mound for Greeneville on Wednesday night for his fourth career start. It would be his best start of his young career. The 18-year-old didn’t allow an earned run in 3.0 innings. He also didn’t walk a batter and he struck out four. (video below is NOT from this outing)
His first outing of the year saw him allow four earned runs in an inning of work. That blew up his ERA, and it’s still recovering from there. He’s been working with a limited pitch count, which is expected as an 18-year-old directly out of high school. In his last three outings he’s given up just two earned runs in 6.0 innings with eight strikeouts.
Assuming that he remains on a 5-day schedule, and the weather cooperates, I should see him in Greeneville on Monday. I’ve been holding off on writing up a report on him because he only threw one inning the first time I saw him and I was hoping to get another look.
John Ghyzel exits with an injury
John Ghyzel has been the closer for the Dayton Dragons most of the 2018 season. The right hander had 16 saves entering the game on Wednesday night in Dayton. His velocity dipped in the game, throwing his last two pitches at 90 and 88 MPH and he was pulled from the game. Ghyzel usually throws anywhere from 93-97 MPH. After the game it was announced by the Dragons that he left due to biceps tendonitis and that it is not thought to be serious.
John Ghyzel was lifted due to bicep tendonitis…not thought to be anything serious.
— Dayton Dragons (@DragonsBaseball) July 12, 2018
Randy Ventura playing well in Daytona
Last year the Cincinnati Reds acquired Randy Ventura from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for international signing period cap space. He spent the final month of the year with the Dayton Dragons, hitting .276/.342/.400 in 26 games played before the season came to an end. He would miss nearly the entire first half of the year this season. And when he returned the Reds sent him back to Dayton, essentially as a short rehab assignment. Ventura was only there for seven games before he was promoted to Advanced-A to join the Tortugas in Daytona.
In the three weeks since Randy Ventura joined Daytona he’s hit quite well. He’s gone 24 for 71, good for a .338 average. He’s also walked seven times with just 11 strikeouts. The bat has played well with the promotion. Perhaps what has been more interesting is that when he got to Daytona, the Reds transitioned him to second base. In the 17 games he’s played in the field, only three of them have been in the outfield – where he’s played for his entire career dating back to 2015 as a 17-year-old.