Reds Minor League Baseball Blog

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.

Sarasota beat Clearwater 7-4 and their pitchers got it done on the mound.  Johnny Cueto gave up four runs in four innings but he struck out seven.  Then Carlos Bohorquez picked up the win with three shutout innings of relief.  He struck out five in an impressive performance.

Carson Kainer went two for four with two doubles and two RBIs.  Michael Griffin went two for five with a double, a solo homerun and two runs scored.

Wow, this was an impressive win.  The offense racked up 16 runs with three different Reds driving in three runs each while the pitching held Vero Beach scoreless. If I had to pick a hitting star, it’d be Adam Rosales.  He went three for four with a double, a triple, three RBIs and two runs.  Brandon Szymanski also had a nice game and he went three for five with a solo homerun and three runs.

Johnny Cueto improved to 3-4 with six shutout innings.  He gave up three hits and a walk with ten strikeouts in an impressive start.

Josh Hamilton put the Bats in the board with a solo homer in the first inning of the team’s 4-3 win over Charlotte.  Ryan Jorgensen went two for four with a two run homer.

Johnny Cueto made his first start after being promoted from High A and he impressed.  He gave up two runs on five hits with six strikeouts in five innings of work.

Johnny Cueto was hit hard in Sarasota’s 5-2 loss to Brevard County.  He gave up four runs on five hits with two strikeouts in three innings.

Jay Bruce was the hitting star in the loss.  He went two for four with a run.

Eric Eymann went yard not once, but twice in Sarasota’s third straight win.  He hit a solo shot in the fourth inning and then he hit a huge two run shot in the tenth that was the difference in the 7-5 win.

A great start by Johnny Cueto was almost wasted.  He gave up just one run on three hits with three strikeouts in eight innings.  Josh Roenicke picked up the win despite blowing the lead in the ninth and giving up three runs.

This was an ugly game all the way around.  The pitching gave up eight runs, the defense made three errors and the offense picked up just five hits and a run.  Josh Holden was the hitting star.  He went two for two with a walk and he scored the only run of the game.

Johnny Cueto took the loss and he dropped to 2-3 on the season. He gave up five runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

The Reds blew a five game lead but still picked up the win,  it just took them fourteen innings.  Craig Tatum went two for five with a solo homerun and Adam Rosales went two for six with a double and two RBIs in the 6-5 win.

Johnny Cueto was hit hard but the pen picked him up.  He gave up five runs on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts in six innings.  Thomas Lanier picked up the win with a shutout thirteenth and Josh Roenicke picked up his eighth save with a shutout fourteenth inning.

Johnny Cueto picked up the win today with six solid innings in Sarasota’s 7-2 win over Lakeland.  He gave up just one run on five hits and three walks with four strikeouts and the win pushes him to 1-1.

Michael DeJesus went three for four with two doubles and two runs.  Jay Bruce singled twice and drove in two.

Jeremiah Piepkorn led Sarasota with the stick in their 5-3 win over the Dunedin.  He went three for five with two doubles and two RBIs.  Adam Rosales also had a very good game and he finished with three hits, an RBI and two runs.

Johnny Cueto was mediocre in his five innings and he gave up three runs.  Ruben Medina picked up the win with two shutout relief innings and Josh Roenicke picked up his sixth save with a scoreless ninth.

Sarasota got a blow out win and then a close loss in their doubleheader with Dunedin.  In the first game, Craig Tatum drove in three runs with two hits and Carlos Fisher threw six shutout innings in the 8-0 win.

Game two didn’t go as well.  Johnny Cueto had a mediocre start and he gave up two runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.  The lone run came on an RBI single by Norris Hopper in the 2-1 loss.

Sarasota got some phenomonal pitching in their win over Fort Myers.  Johnny Cueto had a tough time and he gave up two runs on three hits and four walks with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.  Then four relievers combined for 7 2/3 shutout innings to close the game out as the Reds won 3-2 in 12 innings.

Jeremiah Piepkorn was the hitting star.  He went two for five with a double, a run and an RBI.

This may be hard to believe, but the Reds actually have other pitching prospects other then Homer Bailey.  They might not be as promising, but they definitely bear keeping an eye on.  The “next best guy” in the Reds farm system is right hander Johnny Cueto.  Mr. Cueto was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2004 and he made his minor league debut in 2005 with the Gulf Coast League.  In 43 innings there, he showed some solid control and walked only eight while striking out two.  The problem was, he gave up runs to the tune of 5.02 and that pretty much took him off the radar.  He did make a brief appearance at Sarasota but he only threw six decent innings.

In 2006, he started the season at Dayton where he finally began to bloom.  In fourteen starts and 76 1/3 innings, he struck out 82 and walked 15 en route to 8-1 record and a 2.59 ERA.  He made the move back to Sarasota and while he was effective, he struggled at times.  His strikeout rate came down a touch (61 in 61 2/3 innings) and his walk rate went up (23).  He did finish 7-2 though and that his full season record an impressive 15-3.  That’ll turn some heads.

Cueto will most likely start the season back at Sarasota but if he proves his mettle, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him up at Double A by midseason.  John Sickels likes him, and while he only gave him a B-, he did say he could see Cueto breaking out this year.