The Arizona Fall League has now come and gone. The fall league has been considered a “finishing school” at times for many of the top prospects in baseball, but it’s also utilized at times to help players make up for some lost time in a season where they were injured, too. Several of the players that the Cincinnati Reds sent to the league this fall fell into that category. With the league now over, let’s take a look back at how the players that Cincinnati sent to Arizona performed.
Drew Mount
After missing nearly two months to begin the season after an injury in the first game of the year for Chattanooga, Drew Mount went out and hit well in 57 games between the Double-A Lookouts (53 games) and Triple-A Louisville (4 games). The outfielder carried that success into his time out in Arizona. Playing in 14 games he hit .314/.375/.412 with five doubles, two steals, and three walks.
Ivan Johnson
Like Mount, Ivan Johnson also spent some time on the inured list during the regular season – missing a month during his time in Daytona early in the year before returning and eventually earning a promotion to High-A Dayton. The middle infielder carried his solid season at the plate forward to Arizona as well. In 17 games played, Johnson showed off plenty of power, hitting .250/.343/.617 with four doubles and six home runs. He also walked eight times, but he was also struggling to make contact as he struck out 30 times in just 70 plate appearances.
Michael Siani
The time spent out in Arizona was one of extremes for Michael Siani. Overall he played in 14 games and hit .300/.451/.450 with three doubles, a home run, 10 steals, 10 walks, and just 9 strikeouts. But when you look at the breakdown, he picked up 9 of his 12 hits in Arizona on back-to-back days, meaning he had three hits in the other 12 games combined. In the middle of the AFL season Siani missed some time, but returned for the final few days of the season.
Eddy Demurias
After posting a 2.26 ERA in 38 games – mostly in Double-A Chattanooga – during the regular season, right-handed reliever Eddy Demurias struggled out in Arizona. In nine appearances he walked 11 batters and was charged with eight runs in 8.2 innings (8.31 ERA).
Jacques Pucheu
The left-handed pitch split time in the regular season between the rotation and bullpen, making 12 starts between Dayton, Chattanooga, and Louisville, while pitching another 14 games in relief. The 24-year-old lefty made eight appearances out of the bullpen for Surprise and threw quite well, posting a 1.93 ERA in 14.0 innings, allowing 10 hits, walking 4, and picking up 13 strikeouts.
James Marinan
After closing out the regular season’s final month in dominant fashion between Low-A Daytona and High-A Dayton, James Marinan was sent to Arizona to continue pitching. Things started out well and he picked up the Pitcher of the Week early on, but he ran into some struggles in the middle-stretch of his six appearances. He finished the season with 18.0 innings, a 7.00 ERA, 9 walks, and 18 strikeouts.
Michael Byrne
The Arizona Fall League was out to a quality beginning for Michael Byrne. His first three appearances spanned 4.0 shutout innings without a walk and he struck out four batters. But those would also be his only four appearances before he was shut down.
IMO ,Drew Mount and maybe Michael Byrne are likely going to be selected in the next Rule 5 draft so Reds could be losing 2 intriguing minor league players next season..
Don’t really think Mount, especially with his lack of power, brings anything special to the table so can’t imagine every organization doesn’t already have one similar in their system. He is definitely a solid ballplayer but not the typical Rule 5 pick.
Hopefully Marinan and the other pitchers just ran out of gas.