To the Queen City and Checking In ForTheLand
A visit to Cincinnati and Cleveland....
Cincinnati Reds (62-100, 31GB, 4th in NL Central)
Triple A Louisville Bats, 60-90, 10th in International League East
Double A Chattanooga Lookouts, 27-40, 4th in Southern League North second half
High A Dayton Dragons, 28-34, 3rd in Midwest League East second half
Single A Daytona Tortugas, 25-38, 4th in Florida State League East second half
Top 5 Prospects (per MLB Pipeline 11.13.2022)
Elly De La Cruz, SS, Lookouts & Dragons, 471 AB, .304/.359/.586, across two levels, currently with Licey in LIDOM
Noelvi Marte, SS, Dragons, 448 AB, .279/.371/.458 with two teams (traded to Reds July 30 from Seattle), played with Glendale in Arizona Fall League
Edwin Arroyo, SS, 467 AB, .293/.366/.480, with 3 teams, across 2 levels (traded to Reds July 30 from Seattle), currently with Indios de Mayaguez in Puerto Rico winter league
Cam Collier, 3B, ACL-Reds, 27 AB, .370/.514/.630, 18th overall selection in 2022 MLB Draft
Matt McLain, SS, Lookouts, 371 AB, .366 wOBA, 28.1 K%, 15.5 BB%, 116 wRC+
Personal Prospect Pick
Truth be told, Elly is my favourite prospect in all of MILB. Throw Marte and Collier in as others I’m definitely in on as well. However, if we are staying with the theme of personal picks being outside the Top 5, I will be looking at 3B Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Christian finished the year with the Lookouts after being acquired from the Twins as part of the Mahle deal. Over three teams and two levels the triple slash was .304/.368/.587 in 484 at bats. Thirty-two home runs between both organizations shows the bat has some juice. His BB% is low and would love to see a few more walks drawn with an improvement on swing decisions helping the BB & K percentages.
Canadian Content 🍁
1B Joseph Daniel Votto, Etobicoke ON, Reds
OF Matt Lloyd, Toronto ON, Chattanooga
Cleveland Guardians (92-70, 1st in AL Central, L to NYY in ALDS)
Triple-A Columbus Clippers, 85-64, 3rd in International League West
Double-A Akron RubberDucks, 39-30, 3rd in Eastern League Southwest second half
High-A Lake County Captains, 41-22, 1st in Midwest League East second half
Single-A Lynchburg Hillcats, 28-37, 5th in Carolina League North second half
Top 5 Prospects (per Pipeline 11.13.2022)
Daniel Espino, RHP, Akron, 18.1 IP, 0.71 WHIP, 17.18 K/9, 1.96 BB/9
George Valera, OF, Columbus, 484 AB, .250/.353/.463 across two levels
Gavin Williams, RHP, 115 IP, 0.95 WHIP, 11.66 K/9, 3.13/ BB/9 across two levels
Brayan Rocchio, 2B/SS, Columbus, 510 AB, .257/.336/.420 across two levels, currently with Tiburones de La Guaira in Venezuela winter league
🍁 Bo Naylor, C, Columbus, 415 AB, .263/.392/.496 across two levels, received 8 AB with Cleveland
Personal Prospect Pick
Milan Tolentino, finished the 2022 season with High-A Lake County. The 20 year old SS fits the Guardian MIF profile/mold they enjoy so much success with. The glove and arm are 60 grade and played some 3B as well this season. He is a contact > power profile but strikes out an awful lot (136K’s in 412 AB) and some improvement there is needed. He does walk at an excellent rate (~15%) and does get on base at a reasonably good clip. I’m definitely looking to see a reduction in K% especially as pitching advances while remaining steady/improving from an on base perspective. From a selfish point of view, an improving Milan would be great for future Smurf’s collection, as well as their career of course —
Hahaha 🤣 Let’s get to it Milan!!!
Canadian Content 🍁
1B Josh Naylor, Mississauga ON, Cleveland
RHP Cal Quantrill, Port Hope ON, Cleveland
C Bo Naylor, Mississauga ON, Columbus
C Zac Fascia, Brampton ON, Lake County
RHP Cade Smith, Abbotsford, BC, Akron, played for Peoria in Arizona Fall League
LHP Adam Tulloch, Toronto ON, ACL-Guardians
Another couple reviews down with more to come. I’ll talk with ya in a while. Until then…..Keep It 80 Grade.