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    Alex McGarry (Photo: Doug Gray)
    Photo: Doug Gray

    2022 Cincinnati Reds MiLB Hitter of the year: Alex McGarry

    Doug Gray 23

    In 2021 Alex McGarry started out the season on an absolute tear and was promoted after a week-and-a-half. He didn’t keep that hot start going after arriving in Dayton. This season he didn’t start out as hot, but once he got going he barely looked back as he put together a breakout season that saw him play at multiple levels.

    Beginning the season with the High-A Dayton Dragons he homered in six of the 14 games in April and in the final week he put up four multi-hit games. That carried forward to May when he hit .324 and crushed another five home runs. On June 11th he was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga and he stepped up to the challenge, posting an OPS of 1.017 in the three weeks remaining in the month. July saw McGarry add another five doubles and seven home runs, and he even picked up four stolen bases. Late in August he was promoted to Triple-A Louisville, but after arriving he hit the injured list with a wrist injury and only played in a handful of games before the season ended.

    When all was said and done, Alex McGarry played in 110 games between Dayton, Chattanooga, and Louisville. He would hit .264/.316/.543 between the three stops with 23 doubles, 6 triples, 27 home runs, 78 runs batted in, and he went 15-for-19 on stolen base attempts.

    The 27 home runs were second in the organization to Elly De La Cruz. His OPS of .860 was also second to De La Cruz in the organization among full-season players. The same can be said for his .543 slugging percentage. When you toss in that he also stole 15 bases there wasn’t much competition for the award when we consider that De La Cruz wasn’t eligible for this one as he was named the Player of the Year. The teammates helped carry both the Dayton and Chattanooga offenses much of the time they were at both stops.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    23 Responses

    2. Looks like he’ll be about 25 by ST. Does he have the skills, etc. to spend a short time in Louisville next season and make it to the Reds by mid-year? My optimism on Votto successfully handling a full season at 1B next year isn’t high. And unless miracles happen, Moustakas is unlikely to be a suitable filler.

    3. At AA, Christian Encarnacion-Strand had an OPS of nearly 100 points better than McGarry. He would seem to deserve this award. Are midseason trades coming into the organization disqualifying?

      1. Doug will definitively answer, but CES’s full year stats would also have eliminated EDLC’s triple crown for Reds MiLB. There was a discussion about the issue in that thread. So, yes, I expect the answer is that only Reds MiLB stats are considered.

        Still, unless McGarry steps up another notch this year or there is something unsaid about CES ability, CES seems the Reds most likely 1b/DH of the future

    4. I hope he’s a hall of famer, but two things worry me about him even being an everyday player. One is his age. 25 in the Spring doesn’t fit the usual description of an up and coming player. The second is that he fell off considerably in the second half of the year.

      2. He was a college player, and only took 2 years to go up 4 levels of minor leagues. The age thing isn’t a thing. The strikeout thing is a thing, hopefully he’ll get that under control.

      3. McGarry was a four year college guy, even though his 2020 season was mostly a wash. He finished school (Oregon, a good program) at age 22 and has reached AAA by age 24. So, I think he’s very age appropriate for his level.

        He’s not elite, but we may not need him to be elite so much as a valuable everyday or reserve player (or trade asset). On a future team with India, Stephenson, EDLC, Marte, CES, etc., he’s a 6/7/8 batter. Is that a reasonable ceiling for McGarry, IDK? Possibly, given the strikeouts.

    5. McGarry was only eclipsed by EDLC. The good news is both of them play positions of need. To be fair what position isn’t a position of need for the Reds.

    6. The Reds have plenty enough offense coming through the pipeline, and even at MLB level with some health they’ll be average. They really really just need a shut down bullpen and they have no one clearly evident in the pipeline that can be a part of that. Maybe trades are in order.

    7. i was reading an article on Reds.com, and it seems pretty clear Marte is a 3B going forward.

      24 Opening day Infield

      1B McGarry
      2B McLain
      SS EDLC
      3B Marte

      With Stephenson at C, and CES at DH. We’d need to sign an Outfielder or 2, but that could be a fun team to watch.

      1. Read the same article and took it with a grain or two of salt, being the AFL where guys are often working on specific skills and/or experimenting. That said, I’ve just assumed that Marte is second to EDLC and thus at some point moves off of SS to 3B or 2B. That’s a pretty fair assumption in my book. I also suspect Marte will get plenty of reps continuing to play SS at AA and AAA.

        As for 1B, I would not be surprised at all if CES mashes his way to GABP next year. With pretty loose claims on 3B and to a certain extent at 1B, given Joey’s injury, I don’t think McGarry is blocking him. In addition, some have suggested a move to LF for Jonathon India though I’m not sold on McLain or Steer being the one to push him off 2B. Lots and lots and lots of moving parts.

        1. Ok considering both seem likely to make the squad over the next season +, and both will likely eventually assume a starting role, why wouldn’t you put the better defender in the field, and the lesser defender at DH? I’d still probably bat CES higher in the lineup than McGarry.

          CES started 28 games in 2 season at 1B, 59 3B and 20 DH

          McGarry started 130 games in 2 seasons 1B, 12 LF, and 48 DH

          I like to look at a season in 9 game stretches, repeated 18 times for a 162 game season.

          So here’s a hypothetical 9 game stretch for the guys concerned in this discussion.

          Game 1 (Backup C off)
          C TS, DH CES, 1B AM, 3B NM

          Game 2 (Backup C Off)
          C TS, DH CES, 1B AM, 3B NM

          Game 3 (McGarry off)
          C BU, DH TS, 1B CES, 3B NM

          Game 4 (Marte off)
          C BU, DH TS, 1B AM, 3B CES

          Game 5 (CES off)
          C BU, DH TS, 1B AM, 3B, NM

          Game 6 (Backup C off)
          C TS, DH CES, 1B AM, 3B, NM

          Game 7 (Backup C off)
          C TS, DH CES, 1B AM, 3B, NM

          Game 8 (Backup C off)
          C TS, DH CES, 1B AM, 3B, NM

          Game 9 (Stephenson off)
          C BU, DH CES, 1B AM, 3B, NM

          That’s 144 Starts for Stephenson, 5 of 9 or 90 Starts behind the plate and 54 as DH to rest his legs, and 144 starts for CES, Marte, and McGarry. Now I’m not saying the Reds need to have a schedule to follow that is this rigid. Matchups happen, hot streaks happen, and injuries happen, but this is only to illustrate a way to get AB’s for several players that could be the core of the team for many years to come.

        2. I think CES will outhit McGarry, for one, and get more playing time.

          But CES hasn’t played himself off of 3B yet, let alone off of 1B. In fact, reports are of satisfactory defensive.

          I don’t think we’ll know who lands where until the end of 2024, given the inconsistencies of rookies and the difficulty of the game.

          Gonna be fun.

        3. I guess we look at DH differently. I don’t see it as a consolation prize. 162 games at DH has just as many AB’s as 162 at 1st.

          I agree that CES has been the better hitter, and I see both as everyday players once Votto and Moustakas are gone. To me who plays 1B or DH comes down to defense, and McGarry’s natural position is 1B. We’ll see how it plays out, 23 and 24 will be interesting to watch as the prospects start to take over.

        4. @MBS, the Reds have used the DH as suggested above. However, there are significant questions on whether McGarry will earn a promotion to the Majors. His strikeout rate is too high. He regressed with each promotion as a hitter–not uncommon for players to have an adjustment period, but something to monitor next season. He doesn’t show on most prospect lists. Granted, many lists haven’t been thoroughly updated since before the season, but even here, he just cracks the bottom of Doug’s list. I hope he flourishes next year, as the Reds will need a 1B and more LH hitters. I just see a lot of red flags still flapping in the breeze.

          CES showed more consistency. If he’s solid at 3B, there’s little doubt he can play 1B well. He needs to work on taking more walks, but there aren’t other red flags. As lists get updated, I expect him to place in the top 10 of the Reds system and challenge for the bottom of Top 100 lists. I see CES as well ahead of McGarry at this point and very likely to get a promotion to Cincinnati next year.

          You didn’t include Steer in your mix. He’s a solid player who has already shown he can thrive against AAA pitching. It’s taken him about one month to adjust at each level. I expect we’ll see solid improvement from him in 2023 and that he will have solidified his roster spot by midseason. His defensive versatility is something the Reds value. It enables a rotation similar to what you suggest to take advantage of favorable matchups and provide players with rest throughout the season. Frankly, he’s ahead of both CES and McGarry at this point.

        5. @BK I’ve never said McGarry is a better hitter than CES. Just that he’s actually a 1B, and CES isn’t. Every prospect is a question mark until they aren’t. Barrero was our top prospect recently, Senzel was our top prospect at another point.

          The way they used Steer this year in the minors, and on the Reds didn’t indicate they though he was an everyday (fill in position). I’m guessing by the way they used him they see him as a utility player.

          Also these are just scenarios, not necessarily predictions. If A, and B happen then this is a plausible outcome. This one was if EDLC becomes SS, and Marte becomes 3B, then this is an infield that could develop around them.

          The last point, I’d much rather the Reds sign FA’s like Bell 1B, and Benintendi LF than sit back and wait for prospects to hit or miss.

        6. @BK, ok 1 more, CES was not, and is not solid at 3B. There are all kinds of doubt that he will be good in the field at any position. That why the baseball gods made the DH. Sorry if that felt like a rant, but I just don’t understand how anyone can think his defensive numbers translate into good.

        7. @MBS, “During his professional career he’s struggled defensively at third base, but he really turned a corner this year in mid-June and almost overnight his errors stopped.”

          https://www.redsminorleagues.com/2022/10/18/2022-cincinnati-reds-state-of-the-farm-first-basemen/

          That’s where I got the idea that CES defense had improved. I hope McGarry goes from marginal prospect to MLB starter, too. As for Steer, he played every day at AAA and nearly every day with the Reds. Given the DH, a player like Steer offers tremendous flexibility to a manager. It’s certainly not an indication that he’s not in the plans.

        8. I read that to, and it didn’t say almost overnight he became a good defensive 3B. It said the errors stopped. I also hope CES turns from a marginal fielder to a MLB starting fielder. I guess we both got our biases, I’d prefer a defensive oriented team, than an offensive oriented team. A team like the Reds won’t be able to afford a lot of guys who are both. I saw enough of Winker and Castellanos in the field to make me sick.

    8. I’ll admit McGarry is not a name that would have never entered my mind as the Reds’ top minor league hitter.

      He spent most of this season as a 24-year old in high A and AA, with a 30%+ K rate.

      As a guy who only hit 0.250 in AA, and barely hit 0.200 in a very brief stint in AAA, it’s a bit troubling that this was their “best” hitter?

      1. Don’t confuse best hitter in 2022 not named Elly De La Cruz (who wasn’t eligible for this because he was named Player of the Year) with best hitting prospect. With that said, his OPS was second best in the farm at .860. That’s pretty good. And really, I was looking at OPS way more than average when determining this because it’s a far better indicator of how well one hits.

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