When Surprise took on Salt River this weekend in the Arizona Fall League the pitching matchup had everyone’s attention. Ricky Tiedermann and Jackson Jobe were the starters on the day and both of them happen to be top 50 prospects in baseball. They are also the two highest rated pitching prospects in the entire league this fall. For Jobe it was also going to be his final outing before being shut down for the year. While the two of them pitched well, Cincinnati had three relievers each toss a hitless inning and combine for six strikeouts with just one walk in the game.
Jayvien Sandridge had the best outing among the three Reds pitchers, though all of them found success in the game. The left-handed reliever faced three batters and he struck all three of them out. On it’s own that would be impressive. But when you add in that he threw 14 pitches, had 11 strikes, and had seven swings-and-misses you can feel free to quote me when I say it was a downright dominant inning.
After the shutout outing his ERA dropped to 1.59 in his 5.1 innings. Sandridge has allowed just three hits and has walked two batters for Surprise. The lefty now has 11 strikeouts in the Arizona Fall League. He’s only faced 22 batters, meaning that he’s struck out half of the hitters he’s seen so far.
Eligible for the Rule 5 draft in five weeks if left unprotected, what he’s been able to do in Arizona may be improving the chances that he will be added to the Reds 40-man roster. During the regular season he posted a 3.71 ERA in 36 games with Dayton and three more with Chattanooga. He struck out 91 batters in his 63.0 innings, but did struggle to throw strikes with consistency as he walked 51 batters on the season.
The inning before Sandridge pitched, it was Zach Maxwell on the mound. He tossed a perfect inning with two strikeouts, throwing 15 pitches on the day. Like Sandridge, Maxwell has been racking up the strikeouts out in Arizona. He now has 12 of them in 7.0 innings where he’s allowed just five hits and has a 2.57 ERA. His control has been a bit iffy so far as he’s walked five batters.
Andrew Moore pitched the final inning of the game, tossing a hitless frame with a walk, a hit batter, and a strikeout. After giving up a run in each of his first two outings he’s come out and tossed a shutout inning in each of the last two. He also didn’t strike anyone out in his first two games but has four of them since.
Watching Sandridge pitch this summer at ground level behind the plate, early on he was getting hit. All of his pitches were flat, any movement being horizontal. He made an obvious adjustment and movement began breaking more vertically. When that happened he started becoming very effective. I think adding him to the 40-man a no brained it has to be done or he will be gone.
It’d be a big plus if a LH reliever came up through the system and succeeded in the ML’s. The years of team control, alone would be a decent savings.
I think Maxwell will continue to be higher risk given his college and pro issues with control. But other teams are having success with these hard throwing relievers, the Astros and mariners in particular. So, it can be done.
Miller is a real sleeper for me. His scouting reports were very interesting. Looking forward to seeing him over a full, healthy season.
Who the devil is Miller?
Moore
I sometimes wonder when I read these articles that these kids do GREAT until they hit Triple A
Then the wheels FALL OFF
Is it coaching or strength of league????
Many players have flaws and as they move up the ladder their opponents are sometimes able to take advantage of these flaws where at lower levels they were not.
Reds pitchers are looking good in the AFL especially considering how hitter friendly the league is. I think the team the Reds are on is averaging like 7 runs a game
They need to trade for the Hicks kid.
His slider is dominant.
6’5 lefty with nice slider and control concerns is basically Amir Garrett. Taking away his first season as starter, Garrett did provide some innings and positive value. Having command/control issues, you’re on the tightrope with your HR/9 ratio, so if he can be like Garrett in his best two years (HR/9 was 1.14 and 1.13, as opposed to 1.96 and 1.7 in the following two years), he can be a positive contributor, like a Sims/Farmer/Law level guy. I wasn’t really a Garrett fan, but it stemmed more from him being overrated.
Moll, another lefty, gave up 4 bb per inning but gave up few hits and very few hr’s for the Reds.
Sandridge is at least worth protecting and hopefully he can produce towards Moll’s level. I was pretty happy with what the Reds got out of their bullpen guys and Sandridge has some good ingredients to work with.
Wonder just how Amir would have progressed if he had remained a starter.