Reds Minor League Baseball Blog

The Bats had plenty of hitting stars in their 11-5 over Gwinnett.  Darnell McDonald went three for five with a pair of solo homers and three runs.  Kevin Barker went two for two with a double, a solo home run and two runs scored while Edwin Encarnacion belted a three run blast during his rehab stint.

Homer Bailey improved to 8-5 with a really nice start.  He gave up one run on six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts in seven frames.

Homer Bailey did it again and he improved to 7-5 with a really nice start in the Bats 6-2 win over Norfolk.  He gave up seven hits and a walk with seven strikeouts in eight shutout innings.  Robert Manuel got the final batter out to pick up his fourth save of the season.

Daniel Dorn was the hitting star in the win.  He went three for four with a double, a run and an RBI.  Luis Bolivar went two for three with a walk, a run and an RBI.

Homer Bailey had another solid inning and he improved to 5-5 with an exceptional start in the Bats 6-0 win.  He gave up just four hits and two walk with eight strikeouts in eight shutout frames.

Darnell McDonald went two for five with a home run and two RBIs.  Drew Sutton went belted a home run, drew two walks, drove in two and scored twice.

It’s hard to believe Bailey’s ERA could get even lower but he did just that yesterday with 7 1/3 shutout innings in a 5-0 win over the Mud Hens.  Bailey gave up just five hits with a walk and three strikeouts and he’s now 3-1 with a 1.03 ERA and a .204 batting average against.  I think the kid has worked through whatever was ailing him this spring and with the Reds struggling, it’s time to see him back with the big league club.

Drew Anderson doubled and drove in two.  Jerry Hairson, Jr. went three for five with a double while Jay Bruce went two for five with a run and an RBI.

Don’t blame Homer Bailey.  He threw about as good of a game as you could, the hitters just didn’t get it going for him.  Bailey gave up a single run on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts in seven innings. 

The Bats picked up just four hits in this one and Ryan Hanigan had two of them.  Jolbert Cabrera doubled and Jay Bruce piled on a single to round out the other Bats hits.

Baseball America was the first site to throw out their top Reds prospects list.  What’s most impressive about the list is how many major league ready players the Reds have at the top of their list.  There’s no surprise that Jay Bruce comes in at number one, even ahead of Homer Bailey.  Bruce had the monster season that saw him go from High A all the way to Triple A with success at every stop.  Bruce might start the season at Louisville, but I’d expect him not to be there for long.

Bailey comes in at number two and while he had a rough season last year, he had some flashes.  His time in Triple A was pretty effective but I’d still expect to find a spot in the rotation from day one this year.  Dusty Baker has a tendency to ride his starters (especially when the pen isn’t all that great) so I’d be worried about overuse.  Hopefully Bailey is handled correctly and he has a solid season in 2008.

Joey Votto comes in at three and while he’s not much of a prospect anymore, he’ll hopefully be the team’s starting first baseman.  The Reds have Scott Hatteberg for another year and if you remember way back with the Cubs, Dusty Baker kind of shut out Hee Sop Choi from finding solid playing time.  Hopefully Votto makes an immediate impact in the spring and forces the Reds hand to start him every day.

Johnny Cueto comes in at four and he’ll probably start in Louisville.  Still, this is a kid who is ready and I’d like to see him at least get a spot in the Reds bullpen.  2006 first round pick Drew Stubbs rounds out the top five and he’ll most likely start the season at Sarasota.  Devin Mesoraco, the team’s first round pick in 2007, checks in at number six.

Those top four guys though could provide a solid nucleus for the Reds for the next several years.  You just have to hope their both pan out and are used correctly.

Pedro Lopez had only one hit, but it was a two run homer and he drew walk en route to a three run game.  Josh Hamilton also continued his solid hitting in his rehab start. He went two for five with a two run homer.

Homer Bailey didn’t have his best stuff but he improved to 6-1 on the season.  He gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in six innings.

Homer Bailey had another great start and he improved to 5-1 on the season in the 4-1 win over Charlotte.  He gave up one run on five hits and struck out nine in seven quality innings.

Joey Votto singled and he drove in two runs in the win.  Christopher Dickerson was a perfect four for four with a double and he scored one of the runs.

The pen made this game interesting by giving up four eighth inning runs after the Bats took a 6-1 lead.  Still Homer Bailey picked up the win and he gave up just one run on one hit and two walks with seven strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Earl Snyder hit a two run homer to help out the cause.  Joey Votto went two for four and he scored two runs.

Homer Bailey’s start wasn’t all that bad, but with just one run of support, it turned into his only loss so far this season. He gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts in six innings. 

The lone run was driven in by Aaron Herr.  Jeff Keppinger went two for four with a double.

Homer Bailey got it done today, but the scored wouldn’t reflect it in the Bats 8-4 loss.  Bailey gave up just a single run on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts in five innings of work.  Then the pen exploed and gave up seven runs in the final four frames with the big inning being the sixth where the Tides picked up six runs.

Anderson Machado went two for four with a double and two RBIs.  Mark Bellhorn went two for five with a double, two RBIs and a run.

Homer Bailey got it done today.  He gave up just one run on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  It’s his second straight start where he’s given up just one run and you wonder how long he’s going to have to prove himself down here at Triple A.

The Bats scored six runs in the ninth inning to break a 2-2 tie.  Joey Votto, Aaron Herr and Earl Snyder all drove in two runs in the 8-2 win.

Homer Bailey got it done and while his numbers weren’t great, he got the benefit of a ton of runs by the Bats offense.  Bailey gave up just a single run on only one hit but he walked three with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Joey Votto had a huge game at the plate.  He hit a grand slam and he finished with five RBIs.  Aaron Herr went three for five with a double, a homerun, two RBIs and two runs.

Chris Kline at Baseball America got a scout’s take on Homer Bailey and while he starts with the fact that Bailey doesn’t yet have a third pitch, and he finishes up with how he thinks Bailey should get some time at Triple A like the Reds are giving him.

Three Reds minor leaguers made the cut in MiLB.com’s All NL Central prospect team.  Homer Bailey is the top right handed starting pitcher while Joey Votto (1b) and Jay Bruce (OF) also made the cut.  Not too shabby considering if they had done this a couple of years ago, there probably wouldn’t be any Reds on the list, or at most maybe one.