The Arizona League Reds hovered around .500 for about half of the season before they were able to put together two win streaks of 5 and 6 games over a two and a half week stretch to put them in contention for the playoffs. Coming down to the final three games of the year, the Reds had a chance to win the division if they could take care of business. They wound up losing two of the three games and backed into the playoffs as the lone wild card team in the league.
In the Arizona League, the playoffs are a one game per series format, so if you lose, you get to take your stuff and go home. For the second year in a row, the Reds faced the Giants in round one. Last year the Reds prevailed 6-5 and moved on to the championship game. This year, the Reds were not as lucky. The good guys were able to tie the game up at 2 in the top of the 6th inning, but they came unraveled in the bottom frame where the Giants scored 6 runs to put the game away.
Top Pitching Prospect
This was a tough pick because the guys who posted the strong numbers aren’t big time prospects and the guy who I have the best scouting reports on struggled this season, but I am going to lean toward the scouting reports on this one and go with Carlos Ramos. He is a 20 year old right hander and he posted a 6.14 ERA in 22 innings with 7 walks and 16 strikeouts, so the numbers weren’t good (though his ERA is much worse than his peripherals would indicate). He has drawn some comparisons to Cueto and Corcino though, so his arm is certainly impressive.
Top Position Prospect
This pick was a bit easier, though it was in a similar fashion as the pitcher award. Gabriel Rosa didn’t have the best numbers, far from it actually, but he was also the Reds 2nd round pick in 2011 and has plenty of tools to work with. He hit just .245/.314/.406 on the year, which is far from impressive given the league, but after a real slow start (.184 over his first 11 games) Rosa hit .279/.347/.441 in August.
Among the League Leaders (must qualify)
- Juan Perez – 9th in Average: .346
- Juan Perez – 8th in OBP: .424
- Carlos Sanchez – 9th in doubles: 14
- Brennan May – 3rd in HR: 7
- Steven Selsky – 6th in HR: 6
- Brennan May – 9th in walks: 23
- Brandon Dailey – 2nd in steals: 18
- Jon Matthews – 2nd in steals: 18
- Joel Bender – 7th in ERA: 3.40
- Alejandro Chacin – 1st in saves: 11
- Justice French – 10th in innings: 58.2
- Justice French – 4th in strikeouts: 55
- Justice French – 7th in WHIP: 1.21