As the Cincinnati Reds take stock of their farm system this offseason, they will receive an extra look at some prospects in the Arizona Fall League, which begins We.
The Reds have seven players representing the organization for the Surprise Saguaros in the Fall League: right-handers Michael Byrne, Eddy Demurias and James Marinan, left-hander Jacques Pucheu, infielder Ivan Johnson and outfielders Drew Mount and Michael Siani.
Johnson is rated as the No. 15 prospect in the organization by Baseball America and Siani is ranked No. 19. Johnson was a fourth-round pick in the 2019 MLB Draft out of Chipola College in Florida and Siani was a fourth-round pick in 2018 out of high school.
Johnson, who turned 23 on Monday, had a .264 batting average and a .367 on-base percentage after playing at Low-A Daytona and High-A Dayton. The middle infielder who missed about a month with an injury had 19 doubles, 10 homers and 41 RBI in 79 games while stealing 11 bases in 18 attempts.
Siani is considered the best defensive outfielder in the organization, but he played through an arm injury in the first month of the season that limited him to designated hitter. He didn’t hit all that well at Dayton with a .216 batting average and .321 OBP, so the Reds hope he will show some strides in the Fall League. He stole 30 bases in 40 attempts, but he needs to reach base more often for a guy who doesn’t hit for much power.
Mount, 25, missed the first month with a left ankle sprain, so this will give him a chance to make up some at-bats. He had a .279 batting average and .335 OBP in 53 games at Double-A Chattanooga with 11 homers and 24 RBI.
Among the pitchers, the 23-year-old Marinan was named his league’s pitcher of the month in September after tossing 12 shutout innings in two starts for Dayton. Marinan, acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a 2018 trade for Dylan Floro, struck out 17 and walked six while giving up only four hits.
Marinan was up to 96-97 mph and displayed a strong breaking ball, according to Dayton’s broadcaster Tom Nichols. It was a strong finish after he had a 5.30 ERA in 52 2/3 innings at Daytona. If the Reds want to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft in December, they must add him to the 40-man roster this offseason.
Demurias, a 27th-round pick in 2018 out of South Carolina, had a 2.26 ERA in 38 relief appearances, mostly at Chattanooga. He totaled 52 strikeouts and 28 walks in 51 2/3 innings.
Byrne, a college teammate of Jonathan India, had a 3.24 ERA across 33 appearances at Chattanooga with 38 strikeouts and 23 walks in 50 1/3 innings. Pucheu spent most of the season at Dayton, posting a 3.45 ERA in 60 innings with 62 strikeouts and 33 walks.
The Fall League will experiment with a 15-second pitch clock, limits on defensive shifts (two infielders on each side of second base and feet must be in the dirt), larger bases and an automatic strike zone at one of the stadiums.
HANK AARON AWARD: Nick Castellanos was named one of the seven National League finalists for the Hank Aaron Award, which is given to the best offensive player in each league.
Castellanos hit .309 with 38 doubles, 34 homers, 100 RBI and 95 runs in 138 games. He ranked fourth in the league with his .939 OPS (on-base plus slugging), fourth in batting average, fourth in doubles, sixth in RBI and seventh in homers.
The other NL finalists are Freddie Freeman (Atlanta), Bryce Harper (Philadelphia), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego), Brandon Crawford (San Francisco), Paul Goldschmidt (St. Louis) and Juan Soto (Washington). There is fan voting through Oct. 15 and there is a panel of Hall of Famers who vote on the winners, which includes Johnny Bench.
Joey Votto was the only Reds winner of the award (2010), which was created in 1999.
NEW DAD: Lucas Sims and his wife, Dani, announced the birth of their daughter, Palmer, on Sunday.
“Our hearts are absolutely overflowing, and we are living in perfect bliss of our sweet daughter,” Dani Sims wrote on Twitter. “I can’t believe she’s ours.”
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