To be blunt, the Arizona League Reds were terrible. They won just 18 games and finished with 38 losses, dead last in the league. There were some players worth noting on the roster, but the team as a whole simply couldn’t put together the wins and finished 16.5 games back of first place.
They did start the season off right, winning their first game on June the 20th. However they only won two other games for the rest of the month as they finished 3-6. They did average 7 runs per game on the month, but they also gave up 8.2 runs per game. The league is quite hitter friendly and when you combine that with the rawness of the players on defense that leads to more than a fair share of errors or misplays and you can see a very high run scoring environment.
July was not any better as the Arizona League Reds went 6-16 on the month. While in a larger sample size, the offense still did well as they averaged 5.2 runs and the pitching was better allowing 6.3 runs per game, it was still far to large of a gap for the team to be competitive.
August saw a bit of a better record than July, but the Reds still fell 8 games below .500 for the month with 9 wins and 16 losses. The offense took a step back for the third straight month as they averaged just 4.6 runs per game, while the pitching staff remained roughly the same as they gave up 6.1 runs per game.
Top Position Prospect
Tanner Rahier was the Reds 2nd rounder this past season and despite having some struggles as he hit just .192/.266/.311, the scouting reports remain solid. His .220 BABIP really held his offense down despite a solid walk rate of 9.6% and a strikeout rate of 19.6%. He has good power potential and if he can couple that development with his current walk and strikeout rates he should begin to put together some good seasons.
Honorable mentions: Ty Washington and Jonathan Reynoso
Top Pitching Prospect
The Reds first rounder Nick Travieso spent his season with the team, so he made an easy choice here. He threw 21 innings with a 4.71 ERA, 5 walks and 14 strikeouts. Travieso throws a good fastball that works anywhere from 91-96 and has touched 100 MPH to go along with a strong breaking ball. Expect the Reds to take it slow with Travieso much like they did with Robert Stephenson this year and keep him back in extended spring training next season to prepare him for a full season.
Honorable mentions: Amir Garret and Pedro Diaz
Among the league leaders
- Jonathan Reynoso – Hits – 59 (9th)
- Jonathan Reynoso – Steals – 30 (1st)
- Brent Peterson – Steals – 15 (10th)