Last night in the Arizona Fall League they played the annual Fall Stars Game. It’s not technically an “all star game” in the traditional sense where it’s entirely based on the performance of players to that point int he season, but more as a hybrid of that and a prospect showcase kind of game. The Cincinnati Reds had three players participate in the game and all three of them performed well.
Edwin Arroyo was the only position player from the Reds organization that played in the game. He didn’t start the game, but he took over at shortstop to begin the 6th inning. He would go 2-for-2 from there with both hits being line drive singles into center. After his first one he proceeded to steal second base, but would be stranded after both of his hits on the night.
Jose Acuna was the first of the Reds pitchers to take the mound on the night. He came out of the bullpen for the 5th inning. He tossed a hitless inning that included a walk and a strikeout while throwing 16 pitches.
Luis Mey took over in the 8th inning for the National League side. He gave up an opposite field double to begin his outing. That is worth noting because it’s the first hit he’s given up in the AFL this season – after throwing 7.2 hitless innings in the regular AFL season. Mey would also walk a batter in the inning, though he seemed to get squeezed on a call and attempted to challenge it, but this game was played in a stadium without pitch tracking so he couldn’t. The right-handed reliever got out of the jam with a strikeout and a grounder that turned into an inning-ending double play.
Sunday is an off day for the league, but Glendale will be back on the field on Monday evening. There are only four games left before the playoffs begin. The playoffs begin on Friday with two 1-game “series” and then the championship will be played on Saturday.
Programming Update
At some point last week I noted in the comments section somewhere that on Monday I would begin the Reds Top 25 prospects list. That’s being pushed back a week and will now start on November 18th.
That’s happening because time got away from me and I wasn’t paying attention or something and the Rule 5 protection date is a week earlier this year than it usually is and I didn’t plan accordingly. So this week I will be going over the candidates in the organization who will be Rule 5 draft eligible if the team does not add them to the 40-man roster.