Earlier today we learned that Nick Senzel, Gavin LaValley and Shed Long were promoted to Double-A Pensacola. Then a few more moves began to trickle in. It seems that we are now starting to see them all come through the pipeline. The biggest from the second set of announcements is that right handed pitcher Tyler Mahle will move up to Triple-A Louisville to join the Bats rotation. Teammate Alex Blandino will be joining him in moving up to Louisville according to C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
#Reds promote 2B Alex Blandino, RHP Tyler Mahle to Triple-A @LouisvilleBats
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) June 21, 2017
To say that Tyler Mahle has been good this season would be the understatement of the year. The 22-year-old right handed pitcher has demoralized the entire Southern League while pitching for the Blue Wahoos in 2017. He has made 14 starts and thrown 85.0 innings. He’s posted a 1.59 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Mahle has given up just 57 hits and walked just 17 batters while striking out 87 opposing hitters. To put into perspective just how impressive he’s been, he’s allowed three earned runs in one start. In ever other start this season he’s given up two or fewer runs.
For Alex Blandino things haven’t gone quite as well as they have for Tyler Mahle. The infielder was back in Pensacola for the third time. He struggled there in a late season call up in 2015 and then struggled to hit while battling injuries in 2016. April was more of the same in terms of the production as he hit .182/.357/.236.
Everything changed when the calendar switched to May. The hits started to fall in and the power really started coming back. He hit .261/.383/.477 on the month in 107 plate appearances. He walked 15 times, struck out 23 times and had 13 extra-base hits.
June has been even better. In 17 games played Alex Blandino has hit .333/..379/.667 with nine more doubles and three home runs. He’s also driven in 17 runs, which is more than he had in April and May combined (14).
Also moving up will by right handed reliever Ryan Hendrix. He’s heading to Daytona, jumping up from Dayton where he dominated in the first half of the season. For the season he has a 2.36 ERA in 34.1 innings with 10 walks and 61 strikeouts.
April was rough for Ryan Hendrix. He posted a 5.40 ERA in 11.2 innings during the month, walking seven batters in 11.2 innings with 22 strikeouts. Since May began, though, the walks have disappeared and he hasn’t allowed a home run. In 22.2 innings over 15 games since the start of May, Ryan Hendrix has posted a 0.79 ERA with three walks and 39 strikeouts.