The Arizona Fall League begins on Tuesday afternoon. The Cincinnati Reds players will be on the Peoria Javelinas for the 2015 season. Today we will take a look at the hitters that the Reds are sending to Arizona. Tomorrow we will look at the pitchers. Catcher Chad Wallach, infielder Alex Blandino and outfielder Phillip Ervin will be the Cincinnati representatives on the offense side of the ball that suit up for the Javelinas this fall.
Alex Blandino | Infielder
The Reds 2014 1st round pick (29th overall – and second pick in the 1st round for the Reds) had a strong full-season debut. Blandino was leading the Florida State League in OPS when he was promoted to Double-A Pensacola after hitting .294/.370/.438 for the Daytona Tortugas. He struggled some with the Blue Wahoos upon his promotion. In 30 games he hit .235/.350/.374. He walked nearly as often as he struck out (18 walks, 21 strikeouts), but the hits weren’t falling in for him. It’s a small sample size to work with in Pensacola, but I’m sure he’d like to put together a strong AFL run to put that behind him a little bit. He will likely face more advanced pitching than he saw most of the year, and it could give him a head start on next year in terms of knowing a little better on how these types of guys will attack batters when he returns to Pensacola in 2016.
Phillip Ervin | Outfielder
The Reds 2013 1st round draft pick rebounded in 2015, though the tough hitting environment of the Florida State League hid some of his improvements. In 109 games with the Daytona Tortugas Phillip Ervin hit .242/.338/.375 with 53 walks and 83 strikeouts. The average wasn’t where I’m sure he’d have liked it to have been, but he improved everywhere else on the field from his previous season and was even leading the league in home runs when he was promoted to Double-A. Ervin actually hit better in 17 games with the Blue Wahoos, posting a .235/.409/.412 line. Like Blandino, I’m sure Ervin would like to put that low average behind him and put together a strong AFL season.
Chad Wallach | Catcher
Wallach spent his entire season in Daytona, playing for the Tortugas. He split his time between catcher and first base, so getting some extra reps behind the plate are probably the biggest thing for him. He only had 46 games behind the dish in Daytona in 2015. It will mark the second season in a row for the catcher to head out to the Arizona Fall League. Last year was a struggle, hitting .192/.224/.231 in 16 games with Salt River in 2014. After hitting .246/.327/.351 for Daytona, finding himself in a hitter friendly environment will probably be a nice change.