2020 1st round pick Austin Hendrick is being promoted from Low-A Daytona to High-A Dayton. The move is not yet official, but I’ve heard it from three different sources.
The timing of the move is certainly interesting. In 2021 Austin Hendrick missed plenty of time during the season, playing in just 63 of the Tortugas 120 games. The outfielder hit just .211/.380/.388 in that span with 51 walks and 100 strikeouts. He walked a ton, 19.2% of the time he stepped to the plate. But he also struck out a ton, fanning in 37.6% of his plate appearances.
The season was a struggle to the point that the Cincinnati Reds decided to have him return to Daytona to begin the 2022 season. In April he hit .258/.370/.436 with a 12.3% walk rate and a 35.6% strikeout rate. Things have gone south in May as he’s hitting .154/.222/.369 with a 6.9% walk rate and a 44.4% strikeout rate. All of that together has led to a .205/.297/.402 line on the season with 14 walks and 58 strikeouts in 145 plate appearances. Compared to last season, his walk rate is down significantly, and his strikeout rate that was astronomically high, is even higher. He has matched last years seven home runs despite have 121 fewer plate appearances, but that seems to be the only place that he’s shown clear improvements over last season.