On Friday night the Daytona Tortugas went off, scoring 15 runs in a blowout victory over Lakeland. The game featured yet another home run from outfielder Ariel Almonte. His 399-foot blast was his 10th of the season. That’s the best in the Cincinnati Reds organization – big leagues or minor leagues – this season.
The 10 home runs for Almonte are also the best in the Florida State League and it’s not particularly close. Only one other player in the league has half as many home runs as Almonte does and that’s Cristian Feliz of Dunedin who has five. But it’s not just the other players in the league he’s outhomering. As of the end of the day on May 10th – more than a full month into the season – Almonte has outhomered three teams in the league. Palm Beach and St. Lucie had nine home runs as a team. Jupiter only has seven.
Trey Faltine’s racking up the hits
Cincinnati drafted Trey Faltine in 2022. He’s struggled to hit since being drafted, and entering this week’s series against Lakeland he had played in 103 games in his career. During that time he had never had a 3-hit game as a professional. That all changed on Wednesday when he went 3-4 with a double for Daytona. He didn’t get an at-bat on Thursday, but he was back in the lineup on Friday night and he not only had another 3-hit game, but he picked up four hits in the game. Among those four hits were two doubles. Faltine also scored three runs and drove in three runs.
Over the last three games he’s gotten an at-bat in he’s gone 8-11. In 2023 he played in 64 games with Dayton and only had 16 hits (he went 16-for-155). Faltine has more stolen bases this season (5) than he had last season (4).
Jacob Hurtubise working his way back
Earlier this week we saw Jacob Hurtubise start rehabbing his way back from a shoulder injury suffered in the first week of the season with Louisville. He joined the Arizona Complex League Reds a week ago today. He went 2-10 with a double for the Reds this past week. On Friday night he was moved up to join Dayton as he continued his rehab. He got the start in center field during their first game of a doubleheader. Hurtubise went 0-3 on the day.
Transactions of note
Over the last week the Reds have released several players. Last weekend the team released left-handed pitcher Connor Curlis. He had been with the organization since being drafted in 2018, but he last pitched on May 2nd of 2023 and has been on the injured list ever since.
A few days later the organization released Alex McGarry. The Reds picked him up as an undrafted free agent in 2020. In 2022 he hit 27 home runs and was the Reds minor league hitter of the year while seeing time with Dayton, Chattanooga, and Louisville. He had begun the 2024 season in Triple-A, but struggled and was sent back to Chattanooga where he only played in eight games before he was given his release.
The following day the Reds also released outfielder Anthony Alford. Like McGarry, Alford had been with Chattanooga. The 29-year-old signed with Cincinnati in the offseason after spending 2023 playing in Korea. Alford spent some time on the injured list this season and that limited him to just 12 games with the Lookouts this year before he was released.