Monday night saw three Cincinnati Reds relievers perform very well for the Peoria Javelinas out in the Arizona Fall League. Right handers LAyne Somsen, Stephenon Johnson and Zack Weiss combined for 3.2 perfect innings of relief with six strikeouts.
26-year-0ld Layne Somsen got things started with 1.2 innings of relief. The right hander needed just 21 pitches to record his five outs. He threw 16 strikes, leading to three strikeouts. He mixed up his pitches, throwing a fastball, cutter, change up and a slider. His fastball topped out at 92.4 MPH.
Somsen handed the ball over to Stephen Johnson after his 1.2 perfect innings. Johnson came over to the Reds in late August and tossed just 8.2 innings for Pensacola before the season ended. Monday night was his Arizona Fall League debut and it was a good one. The right handed needed just eight pitches to get through a perfect frame. He threw six strikes, generating two groundball outs and a line out. His fastball topped out at 95.3 MPH and he also mixed in a few sliders.
Zack Weiss came in for the final inning of the game. The right hander continued his incredible 2015 campaign by striking out the side on 13 pitches. He’s now struck out five of the six batters he has faced in Arizona. Weiss mixed in his fastball, which topped out at 95 MPH, his change up, slider and his curveball.
Alex Blandino started the game at second base and went 0-2 with two walks. He’s out to a slow start, going 1-10 with three walks and two strikeouts through three games played.
Chad Wallach also got the start, playing catcher and batting 9th in the lineup. He’s also out to a slow start after going 0-3 last night. He’s made just two starts, going 1-7 with two strikeouts. Behind the plate he allowed two steals, but he also threw out two attempted base stealers in the game.
Nick Travieso will make his Arizona Fall League debut this afternoon after originally being scheduled to throw on Friday night, but the game was postponed and it moved him back to starting today.