Nick Lodolo, the Cincinnati Reds 1st round draft pick and #7 overall selection made his professional debut on Thursday night. The Reds assigned the left-handed pitcher to their Advanced-Rookie level team in Billings, Montana. The former TCU product pitched just one inning for the Mustangs on Thursday, which was planned. The first batter of the game singled. But he was thrown out attempting to steal second base. The next batter was struck out looking. The third batter of the inning was also struck out, on three pitches, swinging through the final strike. 11 pitches, 9 strikes, and 2 strikeouts. Not a bad day of work in your first game.
While we are only dealing with 11 pitches, they were all either a fastball or a slider. Nick Lodolo also has a curveball and a change up, but he didn’t go to them on Thursday night. Instead he mixed his fastball, that sat at 94 MPH, and his slider, that worked at 80 MPH against the Great Falls batters. It was all he would need.
Aristides Aquino’s hit streak ends at 22 games
On Thursday afternoon Louisville Bats outfielder Aristides Aquino saw his 22-game hit streak come to an end. He began the game 0-4, and heading to the top of the 9th inning he was due up 5th. His teammates did their job to get him to the plate. Down by 1, the Bats had runners on with 2 outs for Aquino, who had one last chance to extend both the game, and his streak. Unfortunately for The Punisher he just missed the ball, getting under it and popping out to the first baseman to end the game. During his streak, Aquino hit .345/.415/.667 for Louisville. The 22-game streak is the second longest in the history of the Louisville Bats.
Wendell Marrero has a big night for the AZL Reds
Two nights ago Wendell Marrero got his first professional hit. The 11th round draft pick out of Puerto Rico homered on Wednesday night for the first hit of his career. Last night he put together a big night at the plate to celebrate. The 18-year-old left-handed hitter went 4-4, was hit by a pitch, doubled, scored 3 runs, and he drove in 2 more in the Reds win on Thursday night.