Another day and more dominant starting pitching for the Cincinnati Reds farm system. Louisville picked up their first win in a big way, Nick Lodolo still hasn’t walked a batter in his professional career, and a strange ending in the Dayton Dragons game are among some of the highlights for Thursday.
Through this week I will be including the Top 25 Prospect Rundown here on the site and game notes, but after that if you would like to get that each and every day, along with additional notes from each game, you can get it emailed to you every morning during the season by signing up at Patreon and helping support the site.
The Louisville Bats won 9-0. Box Score
- Mark Payton went 3-5 with a double, run, and an RBI.
- Scott Heineman went 1-5 with a triple, steal, 2 runs, and he had 3 RBI.
- Dwight Smith Jr. went 1-5 with an RBI.
- Mike Freeman went 1-3 with a walk, RBI, steal, and 2 runs scored.
- Alfredo Rodriguez went 2-3, a steal, and he was hit by a pitch.
- Beau Taylor went 2-3 with a run and 2 RBI.
- Errol Robinson went 0-2 with 2 walks, a run scored, and he had an RBI.
- TJ Friedl went 1-4.
- Vladimir Gutierrez threw 6.0 shutout innings with 1 hit allowed, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts.
- Phillip Diehl threw a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts.
- Tim Adleman threw threw a shutout inning with a strikeout.
- Shane Carle threw a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts.
Game Notes
Vladimir Gutierrez threw 6 shutout innings. The only hit he allowed was a double to begin the game.
Alfredo Rodriguez continued to swing a hot bat. He’s hitting .429/.636/.714 with three walks, one strikeout, and one steal in three games.
The same can be said for Scott Heineman who is hitting .300/.462/.800 with three walks, no strikeouts, and a steal.
The Chattanooga Lookouts split a double header
Game 1: 6-3 win. Box Score
- Alejo Lopez went 2-4 with a run scored.
- Jose Garcia went 2-3 with a walk and a home run (2).
- Yoel Yanqui went 1-4 with a solo home run (1).
- Wilson Garcia went 1-3.
- Jay Schuyler went 1-2 and was hit by a pitch.
- Lorenzo Cedrola went 1-2 with a walk and a run scored.
- Chuckie Robinson went 1-3 with a run and an RBI.
- Nick Lodolo threw 5.0 shutout innings with 2 hits allowed, no walks, and 10 strikeouts.
Game 2: 10-7 loss. Box Score
- Alejo Lopez went 1-4.
- Narciso Crook went 2-4 with a home run (1) and 2 RBI.
- TJ Hopkins went 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.
- Lorenzo Cedrola went 1-4 with 2 runs scored.
- Luis Rivas went 2-2 with an RBI and 2 runs scored.
- Mark Kolozsvary went 1-2 with a walk, home run (1), and he had 3 RBI.
- Michael Byrne threw 3.0 shutout innings with 1 hit allowed and 2 strikeouts.
Game Notes
Jose Garcia just missed out on a two homer game. He homered in his second at-bat of the day to right field. In his third he hit a long fly ball to left that just went foul, so close that the broadcaster called it a home run at first before the umpires made the call.
Nick Lodolo walked no one. Again. With his 10 strikeouts on Thursday he now has 40 strikeouts and no walks in his professional career. The lefty threw 67 pitches with 47 strikes and had 1 ground out to go against 3 fly outs.
Ryan Olson returned to the mound for the first time since May 2nd 2019. He was forced to retire due to a back injury.
Narciso Crook’s home run in game two went 443 feet. We’re still in week one of the season but it’s far and away the clubhouse leader among the farm system so far.
The bullpen allowed 10 earned runs in the final four innings of game two.
The Dayton Dragons lost 1-0. Box Score
- Brian Rey went 1-3 with a double.
- Quin Cotton went 1-3 with a steal.
- Mariel Bautista went 1-2 with a double.
- Noah Davis allowed 1 earned in 5.0 innings on 1 hit, 1 walk, and he struck out 8 batters.
Game Notes
The game was delayed in the middle of the 6th inning by rain. After 2 hours and 45 minutes the teams returned to the field and Dayton had a pitcher warming up in the bullpen when the umpires met with the managers and decided to call the game.
Noah Davis used his breaking ball a lot in the game and the Great Lakes hitters couldn’t do much of anything with the mid-to-upper 70’s offering.
The Dayton Dragons pitching staff have now held the Great Lakes Loons to six hits in the series so far. Loons are 6-72 on the year. That’s a .083 batting average.
The Daytona Tortugas were postponed.
Game Notes
Double header scheduled for Friday at 5pm.
Organizational Note
I couldn’t really plug this into a team specific spot, so today we’re doing an organizational note. The farm system has played 11 games this season. The starting pitchers in those 11 games have thrown 45.0 innings, allowed 26 hits, walked 13 batters, and struck out 57 batters all while posting a 1.40 ERA.
Top 25 Reds Prospect Rundown
5/7 Game Preview
| Team | Record | Time (ET) | Probable | Box Score | Listen | Watch |
| Louisville | 1-2 | 7:00pm | O’Brien | Here | Here | Here |
| Chattanooga | 2-1 | 7:15pm | Curlis | Here | Here | Here |
| Dayton | 2-1 | 6:05pm | Ashcraft | Here | Here | Here |
| Daytona | 1-1 | 5:00pm | Kravetz/Parker | Here | Here | N/A |
So you think that when the Pirates do their annual hit-Suárez-on-the-hand-with-a-pitch that Alfredo Rodriguez will be the next man up for SS?
Or any injury to Henny for that matter ;-)
I was wondering the same thing. AlfRod looked good in the spring and it’s carrying over. Certainly hasn’t looked like a guy with zero pop as we saw in the past.
Do you know if Michael Byrne is being transitioned back to a starter? Or was this more of a “second game of a 7 inning double header” type of start?
Just a fill in for yesterday.
So starting on 5/10, these recaps won’t be available unless you sign up for the site. Correct?
The recaps will still be here. But they will be without the “notes” and without the “top 25 recap”. Here’s a link from 2019 to see what things will look like next week: https://www.redsminorleagues.com/2019/08/30/cincinnati-reds-minor-league-game-review-8-29-19/
Can’t get them because can’t change Email address on the site.
Did you go to your settings page?
https://www.patreon.com/settings/profile
You should be able to change your email address in there. If that doesn’t work, try this page that shows you how to do it, and if that doesn’t work there’s a link that you can use to email Patreon support who should be able to help you.
https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/203913339-Change-my-email-address
I know everybody, me included, likes “free” content, but I strongly encourage as many who can to support Doug with a subscription. The minor league content is outstanding; there is no comparable site providing the same info; and it gives a lot of insight into what the organization is thinking long-term. Any bit of help gives Doug a chance to provide even more information and keeping himself fed.
I’ve contributed for a couple of years now. Patreon makes it easy, and he is asking for a lot of money. I find it to be very much worth it.
Is “not” asking for a lot of money. Geez.
But if Jeff Bezos is out there reading this, Ed, he can feel free to chip in a lot of money….. lol
Vladimir Gutierrez seems to be so close to pitch with the Reds in the big leagues. He is showing very strong performances recently…
Man I am hopeful for Vlad Guitierez. He looks like he had really finally taken a step forward at spring training, and apparently he was getting good reviews the year before that. He just looks like he may finally be ready for the show, and the Reds could potential he really use a step up and quality from Hoffman if he continues to struggle
These strong organizational pitching numbers certainly suggest Kyle Boddy’s work on the development side is paying off. Time will tell……..
Doug do you know what Lodolo’s velocity was last night?
The weather looked bad at the end of game two in Chattanooga last night. The wind and rain really started howling coinciding with the bullpen meltdown.
Have found that the Dragons players, and I assume the rest of system as well, are being kept in a semi-bubble as much as possible. Dragons players are no longer permitted to stay with host families (98% of them have in the past) as well the Dragon’s booster club can no longer provide team meals before road trips. Reds have asked them to find low cost accommodations for them. I know Doug is always concerned about players compensation. For the guys in Dayton they will longer have free rent and meals while home. I imagine the autograph hounds, (as well as kids inside the stadium)who congregate outside the exit door every night are going to be disappointed this season.
Yes but there IS a season!
Yahoo!
I can’t speak directly to what the Reds instructed players to do, but there have been stories that some organizations are limiting the number of players that can room together in their apartments/rental houses/whatever.
Interesting to see Byrne start the 2nd game of the DH. Starter going forward? Waiting to see Greene and Lodolo join Santillan and Gutierrez in Louisville at some point this season.
No on Byrne into the rotation.
Before the Dragons game on the radio tonight, they explained that it was Major League Baseball that forced the ending of the game last night, due to “health and safety.”
but they waited until the pitcher had warmed up.
Doesn’t sound healthy or safe to me for that pitcher
MLB is on the struggle bus in a big way this year with the “health and safety” business.
I expect to hear that Michael Hill will be handing down suspensions related to this incitement of a shortened game to a number of Reds players to be named soon
Oh—Brian Rey with an oppo 3 run bomb so far tonight
Impressive starts for Gutierrez, Lodolo, and Davis. Would love to see Gutierrez come into his own. He’s typically been a slow starter and picked up as the season has gone on. Glad to see he’s off to a good start. Impressive control/command by Lodolo.
Curtis a scratch today for Chattanooga. Nothing serious I hope. Howard good outing. Prospects in Daytona off to a slow start
Except Hinds in Daytona is still in Beast Mode
I’m not sure that he was necessarily scratched. Larry Ward, the Lookouts broadcaster, said he was starting on Saturday. He may have just been speculating, but it’s also possible the two just switched spots since the probables were announced 4 days ago for the series. I guess we’ll find out together when the lineup comes out a little bit before game time lol.