Jonathan India (Photo: Doug Gray)
Photo: Doug Gray

Reds notes on Jonathan India, Hunter Greene, and more

Jonathan India was slumping in a big way entering Tuesday night’s game for the Daytona Tortugas. The 1st round pick from 2018 was 2-20 with 3 walks and 8 strikeouts through the teams first 5 games. That was good for an OPS of .317. Small sample size alert, but the start to the season began with a slump for India. On Tuesday night he busted right on out of it.

After striking out in the 1st inning on a full count, Jonathan India came back to the plate in the 3rd inning and flew out to center field. That put him at just 2-22 on the season. That’s an .091 average for those keeping track at home. In the 5th inning he led off with a single up the middle. The next time he came to the plate he clobbered a home run, his first of the season, to center field. It was 103 MPH off of the bat. In his final trip to the plate, in the 8th inning, he would line a single to left field to plate Miles Gordon – capping off a 3-5 night.

Josh VanMeter homers again. Then again. Begin again.

On Monday night in Columbus Josh VanMeter hit a long home run off of the top of the scoreboard. Last night he decided that one home run in Columbus wasn’t going to be enough. The Louisville Bats second baseman smacked 2 home runs and drove in 4 runs to help lead the Bats to a win. He’s hitting .381/.409/.905 with 2 doubles and 3 homers through 6 games with Louisville this season.

 

Bren Spillane’s hot start to 2019 continues

The Dayton Dragons had misfortune on Tuesday night. After leading 2-0 heading into the bottom of the 8th inning, but a grand slam with 2 outs by Fort Wayne put the TinCaps ahead of the Dragons heading into the final inning. Bren Spillane did what he could to keep the game going, though. He took a 2-1 offering with a runner on and hit it 108 MPH on a line drive into the seats to tie the game up. It was loud. And it got out of the stadium with a quickness.

The strikeouts have been there for Bren Spillane this season, but when he’s made contact he’s made it count. He’s hitting .333/.417/.524 for the Dragons through the first week of the season.

Hunter Greene’s Tommy John surgery is successful

The Cincinnati Reds announced on Tuesday night that Hunter Greene’s Tommy John surgery was successful. It was performed in California by Dr. Neale ElAttrache. He’s the same surgeon who performed the surgery on Shohei Ohtani and Johnny Cueto – among many others.

Injury updates

With the season underway there are a few players who were missing from rosters that caught the attention of myself, and of some of you. As I try to do, I checked in on them to get some updates. Left-handed pitcher Wennington Romero, who made 24 starts for Daytona last season, hasn’t pitched yet this season in games. He is throwing, though, and the expectation is that he’ll be ready for game action soon.

Michael Beltre split his 2018 season between Dayton and Daytona. The Reds 24th rated prospect hasn’t played yet this season, either. He’s expected to play soon, too. Catcher Chad Tromp injured his shoulder at the very end of the 2018 season. He’s still rehabbing that injury. He’s not expected to be on the field again until later this summer, but I’m told he’s making great progress. Sebastian Elizalde, who spent the early part of 2018 with Louisville before heading to his home country of Mexico to finish out the season (still under contract with the Reds, but “on loan”), was a free agent after the season but re-signed with the Reds. He’s dealing with a finger/hand issue. The timetable on his return isn’t quite certain – though it’s not considered serious.