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    Reds MiLB Notebook: Early but impressive DSL performances

    Doug Gray 14

    We are only in the third week of the Dominican Summer League, but the Cincinnati Reds have several players worth talking about who are out to very impressive starts to the 2025 season.

    Let’s start off with Adolfo Sanchez. He was the top signing by the Reds in January of 2024, Sanchez struggled in his professional debut. Seeing games for both the DSL Reds and DSL Rojos the outfielder hit just .216/.356/.345 with 30 walks and 60 strikeouts. Following the season he made some adjustments to his swing and it appears that at least early on those adjustments have been paying off.

    Sanchez has played in 11 games this season and he’s already matched his home run total from last season. But he’s doing far more than hitting for power. He’s hitting for everything. Sanchez is hitting .361/.489/.639. This season, at least so far, he’s cut his strikeout rate more than in half. In 2024 he struck out 34% of the time he came to the plate. This season he’s only struck out in 15.6% of his plate appearances.

    Pablo Nunez is also in his second season in the Dominican Summer League. Last year he played in 46 games for the DSL Rojos and hit .257/.371/.343. He didn’t hit for much power, and his average was nothing to write home about. But he did make plenty of contact and walk quite a bit. His strikeout rate in 2024 was just 9.4% and he walked 14% of the time.

    This season he’s on a different level through the first 10 games he’s played in. While he’s still not hitting for much power, he’s hitting .429/.636/.464 as I type this. That’s not a typo, either. He has a .636 on-base percentage. And he’s got it because he has now walked 15 times in 44 plate appearances. Nunez also has zero strikeouts.

    Naibel Mariano, like the other two, is also back in the DSL for a second season. The other big dollar signing from the 2024 Reds international class, Mariano struggled last season as he hit just .188/.328/.242. In his 49 games he had 27 walks and 54 strikeouts in 201 plate appearances. This year he’s already matched his home run total from last season (one) and topped his triples total with two of them. And the shortstop’s already halfway to his total of doubles, too. Mariano is hitting .389/.405/.639. He has only walked once in 37 plate appearances. But he’s also only struck out six times. That’s a drop from 27% to 16%.

    And then there’s Angel Salio. He is in his first year as a professional after signing this past January. He’s been playing with the Rojos this season and his career is out to an outstanding start. The infielder is hitting .387/.486/.548 with three doubles and a triple. In his 37 plate appearances he’s drawn six walks and only struck out twice.

    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. great write up, excited about all the guys mentioned. I am hoping Esmith Pineda takes a step forward and lives up to the hype when he was signed. I know that does not always happen, but, we need as much help with luck given our budget.

      1. Keep an eye on our DSL grads in AZ, too. Alcantara and Valencia are more small ball types, but are hitting well.

        I have mentioned this a few times now, proving yet again that my children are correct (Dad, you already said that 20 times). Alcantara got my attention this spring when 1) he made an appearance in a ML game and 2) really held his own. The Reds have been using appearances in ML spring training games as recognition for minor leaguers doing well. So a rookie league guy getting that recognition made me look twice.

        Valencia’s season so far is good to see, given he was a higher profile signing like Pineda, who is an interesting guy to watch in his own right.

      1. It is true that historically the Reds have received no pitching from International signings (I am ignoring Cuban signings of Chapman and Gutierrez because they were not 16 when they signed). The only one I can think of is Cueto.

        But maybe signs are changing.

        There are currently 6 teenagers in the ACL with at least a 3/1 K/BB ratio and less than 3 BB/9 IP.

        They are:

        Ethan Dorchies of the Brewers 1.67 ERA and 0.85 WHIP
        Stharlin Torres of the Reds 1.67 ERA and a 0.81 WHIP
        Reiver Camacho of the Rockies 5.79 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP
        Carlos Carra of the Brewers 5.32 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP
        Tyler Renz of the Brewers 2.48 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP
        Christian Lopez of the Reds 3.27 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP

        I think the Reds have two former DSL pitchers worth watching in Arizona.

        1. It is still early but Luis Mey is back in MLB and was an international signing. He pitched well until he didn’t.

      1. Have to have patience on these international signings. Aponte’s essentially a junior in high school. The vast majority of high dollar Latin American signings spend at least two years in the DSL

        1. He has already hit his first professional home run, too.

          As a short stop with a 65 glove, 55 arm, 45 hit and 40 power, that is impressive.

          Further, at 6’0″ 160, he has room to gain strength and is a kid whose defense is so good he is considered to be the best glove in the 2025 international class,

          Last, Aponte is typically batting third, is slashing .200/.364/.360 (OPS .724), and is just 25 at bats into his pro career.

    5. Pablo Núñez 0 Ks after 44 PAs thus far is insane… Sanchez & Mariano struggled in 2024 maybe because just a matter of pro debuting factors…This year they are obliterating the ball at DSL…
      Jirvin Morillo hasn’t been bad , he’s batting .290/.421/.419 with 7 walks and 8 Ks in 38 PAs

      1. Nunez is also a very different player and hitter than Sanchez and Mariano.

        Nunez is a smallish (5’10”, 145) contact oriented hitter while Sanchez (6’1″ 185) and Mariano (6’3″ 185) are more geared to doing damage.

        That said, i wonder what his K total will be at season’s end, approximately 175 at bats. A 5% strikeout rate is about 9 K’s. Anyone taking the over on that?

    6. Off topic for this article, but seeing a few mock drafts having us linked to Seth Hernandez. Seeing that although he’s rated top 4 overall, several teams are scared of drafting a HS pitcher. If he dropped to us at #9 it would seem amazing.

      We’re pretty stacked with pitching or pitching ready prospects currently, so drafting an elite HS pitcher with a further out timeline makes a ton of sense.

      Interview with him, very humble kid:

      1. I’d be giddy if Hernandez fell to 9.

        Correction. I’d be freakin insufferable (far more than my usual).

        1. Hernandez would be ideal, and it’s doable.

          All 4 of the top college pitchers going top 8 (Anderson, Doyle, Arnold, and Witherspoon)

          Two of the top 5 high profile SSs (Holiday and Willits most likely, though I could see one of Carlson, Parker, Cunningham, Hall sneak into the top 10 too)

          Aiva Arquette seems like a top 7 lock

          Then if another college bat goes earlier than we think and Hernandez could very well be there. Ike Irish has been flying up boards, Weheia Aloy is having a monster college WS, Jace Laviolette’s power might tempt a team.

          Lots of ways it could happen. What if 4 prep SS’s go top 8?

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