There were some interesting things that happened on Tuesday. The most interesting of it all was that Matt McLain was in center field for the Glendale Desert Dogs out in the Arizona Fall League. He picked up an assist on a 92.5 MPH throw back to the infield and he hit a 431-foot home run.
McLain wasn’t the only Cincinnati Reds player in the game on the day. Tyler Callihan started the game in left field and went 1-5 with a run scored. Edwin Arroyo hit second in the lineup and served as the designated hitter, going 2-4 with a walk, steal, triple, run, and an RBI.
Two of Cincinnati’s pitchers also participated in the game. Jose Acuna got the start on the day, but he struggled as he threw 3.0 innings and allowed four hits, four walks, and three runs while striking out just one batter. Luis Mey threw a perfect inning with a strikeout as he ran his hitless streak to 5.2 innings (accounting for all of his innings in the league).
Prior to taking the mound, Jose Acuna was named the Arizona Fall League’s pitcher of the week for the previous week. He only pitched in one game, but he threw 4.0 hitless innings with two walks and seven strikeouts in that outing.
Connor Burns can catch
When the Cincinnati Reds selected Connor Burns in the 5th round of the 2023 draft he was praised for his catching abilities. He was a 2-time defensive player of the year in the Big West while in college and was considered one of the better defensive catchers in the draft over the past few seasons.
In 2024 he played his first full season, seeing most of his time in Single-A Daytona with the Tortugas, but getting 22 games in the second half with the High-A Dayton Dragons. On Tuesday afternoon, Dan Szymborski of Fangraphs and the architect of ZiPS, released the top three defensive players at each position on the field. At the top spot behind the plate was Connor Burns at +9.4 runs. That was easily the best in minor league baseball according to his numbers.
Swing Decisions
Dylan White at Baseball America broke down different types of swing decisions (subscription required) of every player in the minor leagues who had at least 200 plate appearances. He looked at the in-zone swing rate and their chase rate.
While you can’t see the data for everyone, there are some players mentioned from the Reds system within the article, and on the various charts you can also see a few other guys highlights – but they aren’t mentioned in the write up. Sammy Stafura shows up in the best section of the chart, showing both a good rate of swings on in-zone pitches and a low-end chase rate. Looking at his season walk and strikeout totals, that certainly makes sense.