Jonathan India, the Cincinnati Reds 2018 first round pick, found his way up to Double-A just over two weeks ago. The infielder has had an interesting start to his time with the Chattanooga Lookouts. He’s striking out a tad less, granted in a small sample size, than he was in Daytona with the Tortugas. And he’s drawing walks at a Joey-Votto-in-his-prime level thus far, too – 23%! Those are good signs. His on-base percentage is sitting at .439 in the Southern League. But the hits, and the power, haven’t come around in the early run through the league. He’s hitting .244 and slugging just .311. Neither of those things are likely to continue, but the start has certainly been a bit weird in how it’s played out.
Last night, though, he flashed the raw power for the first time in a game with Chattanooga. The right-handed hitter crushed a pitch into deep left-center field and off of the scoreboard for his first Double-A home run, and his first extra-base hit at the level, too. It was his 9th home run on the season – he had eight of them with the Tortugas.
Here’s India’s homer, his 9th of the season. pic.twitter.com/HAnjy1ceT2
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 6, 2019
Connor Curlis and Brian Rey lead Dayton to a win
The Dayton Dragons played a double header on Monday night. The first game saw them fall to Lake County. In the second game of the night Connor Curlis did everything that he could to make sure the Dragons got a split. The left-handed pitcher entered the night with a 2.73 ERA on the season in 13 games. That’s pretty good no matter how you slice it. But he was at his best against the Captains on Monday.
Curlis didn’t have a runner reach base until the 3rd inning, and that was the result of an error. But it was the 4th inning that saw the lefty have to work out of the only real jam of the game. The first two hitters of the inning singled on grounders into right field. The next batter reached on an error to load the bases. But Curlis clamped down and induced a ground ball that led to a force out at home. The next batter popped up on the infield, and then Curlis came through with a strikeout – his 7th of the game, to end the inning unscathed.
Before the game was through, Connor Curlis would rack up three more strikeouts and two more innings. In total he tossed 6.0 shutout frames, allowed just two hits, walked no one, and he struck out a career high 10 batters. But when he left the game after the top of the 6th inning, Dayton had yet to score a run. That didn’t last much longer, though. In the bottom of the inning, with two outs, Brian Rey came to the plate and unloaded on a moonshot to put the Dragons up 1-0.
?? BRIAN REY MOONSHOT ??
Dayton takes in 1-0 lead in game 2 of the doubleheader thanks to a CLUTCH homer from @BreyBomb!#DaytonStrong #Dragons20? pic.twitter.com/1udHk2UZNC
— Dayton Dragons (@DragonsBaseball) August 6, 2019
The start for Connor Curlis lowered his ERA on the season down to 2.47. He’s made 12 starts and two relief appearances this year between Dayton and Daytona. His season got out to a late start – his first game didn’t come until May 20th. Through his 60.2 innings this year he’s allowed 59 hits, walked 26 batters, allowed just four homers, and he’s struck out 61. Opposing hitters have hit .247/.323/.339 against him on the season. He’s really limited their ability to hit for power when he’s on the mound.
Jose Garcia Update
Saturday night saw Reds shortstop prospect Jose Garcia exit the game in Daytona with a shoulder injury. He slid into second base in the 8th inning and came off of the field with the trainer after being tagged out. He was replaced in the field for the 9th inning. Garcia didn’t play in the game on Sunday. And he wasn’t in the lineup on Monday, either. But on Monday he did participate on the field before the game – throwing and taking batting practice with the team.
Minutiae alert! I just thought it a curiosity that Gausman, Bauer, & Wood were all born in January of 1991, a total of 11 days apart. Unlikely that all 3 will be in the Reds 2020 rotation, but possible.
Alfredo Rodriguez Promoted to AAA according to reports.
https://twitter.com/FrancysRomero10/…85059810652162
Gotta think all of the walks/pitches seen for India have probably helped him adjust to the increased speed of the game at AA
Andy Fisher has been selected the Reds Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July.
The sound of that India tank was otherworldly.
LOL the announcer was rather nonchalant about it.
I like the way India is developing.
An aside. BA Best ML tools has Billy Hamilton as the best bunter. Now, I like Billy, but …
Whaaaaat!
LOL
Who got the nod BA best CF? Winker? Choo?
Yonder Alonso
Doug,
Who do you see as the long term answer at SS, Alfredo Rodriguez, Jose Garcia or someone else?
Jose Garcia.
Wandy to Lville.