Alfredo Rodriguez has played in a grand total of 17 games for the Dominican Summer League Reds since signing with the team on July 4th for $7,000,000 (not including the overage tax). He’s struggled at the plate, hitting just .226/.306/.274 in that span, with just three extra-base hits over 72 plate appearances. While there’s always negativity if you look for it, there’s been a lot of it directed towards the performance of the Cuban shortstop because of his performance so far. Perhaps it’s just the nature of my job, but I’ve certainly seen the complaints both directed at me (in an “I told you so, well, everyone knew this would happen” way) and just in general on social media.
It would be great if Alfredo Rodriguez were performing better than he is, especially given that he’s significantly older and should be more polished than teenagers in the Dominican Summer League. What I think that a lot of people seem to be forgetting is that Rodriguez hadn’t faced live pitching, at least that was trying to get him out, in 15 months before he made his debut in July. Then he played for 11 days before sitting out two weeks after being hit by a pitch, before returning to the last week. Hitting is all about timing and it’s certainly reasonable to think that the 15-month layoff for Rodriguez has left him a little bit behind the 8-ball in that regard. I’m not really sold that he’s ever going to hit enough to be a big leaguer, but the 2016 season is about getting Rodriguez back on the field far more than it’s about anything else. What he’s able to do in 2017 is important. What he does in 2016 really isn’t.
Will Pensacola be the Reds Double-A Affiliate next year?
The Cincinnati Reds have been the only team that the Pensacola Blue Wahoos have known. The Blue Wahoos franchise began in 2012 and they’ve been with the Reds each of their five seasons. The first few years were bumpy as they missed out on the playoffs each season until 2015 by winning the second half. The team then won the first half of 2016 and has qualified for the playoffs again. Making the playoffs, and winning in general, helps the gate sales and that’s always a plus for a minor league franchise.
It took a while, but the Reds have finally provided that to Pensacola, but was it a bit too late? The player development contract between Cincinnati and the Blue Wahoos expires after this season, and it’s really late in the game for a new one to be announced. While we have seen announcements over the last week between other affiliations and other Major League teams, we haven’t seen it with Cincinnati and Pensacola. Walt Jocketty was in Pensacola last week, and if there were ever a time to announce an extension, that would have been it. But we didn’t see that.
It’s still possible that the two sides extend the PDC into the future, but at this point it would seem that one, or both parties may be set on exploring other options.
Long season for Nick Senzel
Things probably couldn’t be going much better for Nick Senzel right now. The 2nd overall pick in the 2016 draft is hitting .313/.408/.553 for the Dayton Dragons through 42 games with 22 extra-base hits. Baseball America has up an excellent story/slideshow on him right now, which you should go check out after you read the rest of this article. One thing that jumped out to me, at least from a play perspective, is that he admits that he’s a bit worn out. That’s not terribly surprising. The first game that he played this year was February 19th. The guys that he’s playing with, unless they were also drafted this year, didn’t even show up to spring training until March 15th. We often see top prospects like Senzel head out to Arizona for the Arizona Fall League, and we still could see that happen (there’s about 6 weeks off between the end of the regular season and the start of the AFL – though that doesn’t include instructional league which he would probably go to).
Shed Long gets help from Reds greats
Minor League Baseball has up a nice article on Shed Long and his transition to second base, as well as just how well he’s been hitting. On the season he’s hit .297/.377/.486 between the Dayton Dragons (389 PA) and the Daytona Tortugas (87 PA). He’s arguably been the best hitter in the organization’s farm system this season. He gives credit to Eric Davis and Barry Larkin for helping him out along the way.
Long credits Hall of Famer Barry Larkin with helping him make the transition to the middle infield and Eric Davis, another former Reds star, with his progress as a hitter. They are Cincinnati special assistants.
“I talk with both of them every week,” Long said.
“I was always blessed with good hands,” Long said. “Where I’ve made big strides is with plate discipline. He’s helped a lot there.”
Over the last year you’ve been able to see the improvements defensively at second base. The athleticism certainly shows up. At the plate he’s come a long way over the last two seasons as well. In limited action with the Arizona League Reds as a 17-year-old he hit .256/.333/.321 (88 PA) and then followed that up in Billings as an 18-year-old in 2014 with a .172/.217/.207 line (93 PA). Over the last two seasons he’s hit .283/.363/.474 (in 2015 with Dayton) and then, as noted above, he’s posted an .863 OPS between his two stops this season.