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    Christian Roa named Southern League Pitcher of the Week

    Doug Gray 14

    Last week saw the Cincinnati Reds have two players named the player of the week in their respective league with Jose Acuna taking the honors for Pitcher of the Week in the Florida State League and Tyler Callihan being named as the Player of the Week in the Midwest League. This week the Reds only get one player awarded, but it was a big game from Christian Roa that earned him the Southern League Pitcher of the Week award.

    Wednesday marked just the second start in Double-A for Christian Roa and he took it to the Birmingham Barons in their home ballpark. Roa, the Reds 2nd round pick in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft, gave up just one hit – a 2-out soft line drive into left field for a single in the 5th inning – while walking a batter, giving up no runs in 6.0 innings, and he struck out eight.

    That outing just picked up where he began his Double-A time when he allowed a run in 5.0 innings on August 31st against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. In that outing Roa gave up just three hits, walked two batters, and struck out six. Two starts for the Lookouts, four hits, three walks, one run in 11.0 innings, and 14 strikeouts is a good way to start out at a new level after being promoted.

    There have been 12 other players that have been named as player of the week for their league this season:

    • Matt McLain – Southern League Player of the Week – April 11-17
    • Sam Benschoter – Florida State League Pitcher of the Week – May 2-8
    • Joe Boyle – Midwest League Pitcher of the Week – May 23-29
    • Ruben Ibarra – Florida State League Player of the Week – June 6-12
    • Leonardo Balcazar – Arizona Complex League Player of the Week – June 27-July3
    • Elly De La Cruz – Midwest League Player of the Week – July 4-10
    • Robert Dugger – International League Pitcher of the Week – July 25-31
    • Spencer Stockton – Southern League Pitcher of the Week – July 25-31
    • Yassel Pino – Florida State League Player of the Week – August 15-21
    • Ariel Almonte – Arizona Complex League Player of the Week – August 15-21
    • Jose Acuna – Florida State League Pitcher of the Week – August 29-September 4
    • Tyler Callihan – Midwest League Player of the Week – August 29-September 4

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    14 Responses

    2. Nothing against Roa’s start, but I think Abbott might have had a better week. 2 starts, 10 IP, 13 K, .397 OPS against.

      1. I was surprised by it, too. I fully expected Abbott to be the pitcher of the week after his game yesterday.

        1. Wonder if their week began or ended on Sunday?

          I was lucky to see 7 of 13 winners play in Dayton this season.

    3. We really need one of Roa, Bonin or Boyle to be a contributor at the major league level. All high draft picks who looked good initially. If only someone could get Boyle’s mechanics figured out so he could throw strikes.

      1. I think Boyle is the best shot, he hasn’t had injury issues that I recall. He also seems to be the kind of a pitcher that could do well in the back of the pen. Roa, and Bonnin have preformed well, but just too small of a sample size to have any idea. The good news is Abbott, and Phillips seemed to have adjusted to AA ball. The AA rotation next year could be real strong. Abbott, Phillips, Boyle, Roa, Bonnin

        2. I agree with you MBS. Many say we need more pitching but I think our pitching is stacked.

          ML with 5 or more years of control

          Greene, Lodolo, Ashcraft, Overton

          AAA next year: Brandon Williamson, Levi Stoudt
          AA or AAA: Connor Phillips, Andrew Abbott
          AA: Joe Boyle, Bryce Bonnin, Christian Roa
          A+ or AA: Thomas Farr, Sam Benschoter
          A+: Chase Petty, Jose Acuna, Javi Rivera, Julian Aguiar, Steven Hajjar

          Throw in Luis Mey and you have 19 pitchers as legit ML prospects.

          Throw in Ben Walmsley, Jose Montero, Gabriel Aguilera, Ben Brutti, Kenya Huggins, Eduardo Gonzalez, Adam Serwinowski and others in A ball or AZL and the Reds have quite a few pitching prospects.

        3. Stock, Benschoter has that big curve, too, and there are some sleepers in that Lo-A group, as well, including Cooper, Parks, and Franco.

          Jose Franco, in particular has some eye popping numbers for a third year pro in his age 21 and second full season. Namely, 104 strikeouts vs. 39 bases on balls in 77 innings.

      2. I’m perfectly fine with Roa having a role similar to Antone. I don’t think his BB rate is anywhere close to allowing him to be a starter. Seems like TB always has several of those guys every year who can eat multiple innings out of the pen and they are always in contention.

        1. Right shoulder impingement.

          Same with Steven Hajjar (acquired for Mahle) only it is his left shoulder.

          From what I’ve read rehabilitation can be 6 months.

        2. Isn’t this the same with Proctor, too (shoulder impingement)?

          Crappy injury/condition, wear and tear on muscle(s) running over bone.

          I’d like to think today’s advances in physical therapy can help return these guys to productivity, even if in lesser roles than starting pitches.

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