Loading ...Surprisingly, the Reds have a pretty solid group of pitchers on the cusp of the Major Leagues. Check out this post by Doug, wherein he takes a look a the group, from the Homer Baileys and Johnny Cuetos to the others who might provide some bullpen help in Cincinnati this year (and in the future).
If the Reds get even mildly lucky with some of these pitchers, the staff could be outstanding in 2009…and possibly not bad in 2008.
Travis Wood is my pick for the Reds’ minor league pitcher to take the biggest leap forward in 2008. I only know what I read online, but if his changeup is as good as people say it is he has already conquered a pitch most pitchers never can throw.
His stats were ugly last season due to some injuries, but I’m hoping he turns into a poor man’s Cole Hamels.
Personally, I think that the Reds will perceive Maloney to be the best candidate for the rotation. They seem to like the finesse guys with good control over power pitchers despite the results sometimes.
i like wood i saw him pitch in dayton and was wondering when they were gonna mention him
The reason I didn’t bring up Travis Wood is that I don’t think his time table has him with the Reds next year. I still like his future with the club a lot, I just don’t think he has much of a chance to reach Cincinnati next year as a 21 year old.
They seem to like the finesse guys with good control over power pitchers despite the results sometimes.
Which finesse pitchers have they selected over power pitchers? I’m having trouble thinking of any power pitchers they’ve passed by with finesse guys. (I’m having trouble coming up with recent Red’s power pitchers in general outside of Bailey.)
I just meant in general. In the past, the organization seems to have drafted and produced finesse guys (albeit with little success).
What defines a power pitcher? Since 2004 here are the Reds first 5 round pitchers taken and roughly how hard they throw:
2004:
Homer Bailey – 91-98 MPH
Rafael Gonzalez – 91-95 MPH (at the time)
2005:
Travis Wood – 90-93 MPH (as high as 95 before)
Zach Ward – 89-92 MPH (no longer with the Reds)
Sam Lecure – 88-91 MPH
James Avery – 89-93 MPH
2006:
Sean Watson – 91-95 MPH
Josh Ravin – 92-99 MPH
2007:
Kyle Lotzkar – 91-95 MPH
Scott Carroll – 90-94 MPH
Drew Bowman – 88-93 MPH
There are lots of guys in there that can bring some decent heat.
Found this link off of MLBTR
States the following from a scout:
I think the buyers have a good chance to turn this into a buyer’s market for once. Cincinnati, Seattle, Boston and the two New York teams could have caved in the two months since the market opened and none of them have done so. All of them have what it takes to get the pitcher they want, but refuse to get taken in a deal. It’s smart, but can they hold out?
“In the past few years, Seattle hasn’t, but things are different. They believe they already have an above-average roster and having added Silva they aren’t acting out of desperation. If I had to predict, I think the Mets and Reds get those two arms, but at fairly high prices.
“Mets get Santana, but it’s going to cost them both outfielders (Carlos Gomez, Fernando Martinez) and two of their pitching prospects. I see Cincinnati snagging Bedard if they are willing to go Bailey-Votto-Cueto. Baltimore will have to come down from their demands and have already decided Bedard has very little chance to begin the year in their rotation, no matter what they are saying to the media.”
Again if we could land Bedard for Bailey/Votto/EV, I do it, but I would be reluctant to trade Bailey and Cueto. I would prefer not to give up 2 MLB ready starters, and would ilke to dig deeper from the system.
I hate adding links. I always screw it up.
http://prospectinsider.com/2007/12/28/its-far-too-quiet-but/
I think dealing Bailey and Volquez for 2 years of Bedard would be a large mistake. They’re both power pitchers, and both “under control” for some time. (5 years each? I don’t know how those rules work.)
Let’s go young!
In fact, if Bailey is anywhere near as good as advertised (remember how highly we thought of him a year ago), trading him straight up for Bedard would be a mistake.
Let’s not sell low on Bailey after one disappointing year.
By the way, a couple thoughts of mine on power pitchers:
1) I don’t care how hard they throw. I care about their K rate. THAT’S what makes someone a power pitcher — the ability to blow you away and not even need to use the defense.
2) Given the Reds small ballpark and porous defense (especially if there are plans to extend Dunn), I think it’s even MORE important that we accumulate as many power arms as we can.
3) The thing that excites me more than anything about the Hamilton trade is that Krivsky seems to have suddenly appreciated this. The K rates of Volquez and Herrera are impressive, at least in the minors.
4) I’m totally intrigued by Herrera. A 5-foot-7, left-handed, super-soft-tossing, screw-balling pitcher with impressive K rates? (He also seems to be a super-duper ground-baller.) I know he’s just a double-A reliever, but there is NOTHING typical about this guy, so anyway I just wanted to say that I’m highly intrigued to see what he can do at higher levels.
Dan, isn’t he very similar to Guevara, who the Reds just lost in the Rule 5 draft? They showed no confidence in him (leaving him at AA for two years despite excellent numbers), why believe they’ll feel any different about Herrera?
I don’t know why they didn’t like Guevara, but they did just trade for Herrera. That must mean they like SOMETHING about him.