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REDLEG NATION MINOR LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Reds starting pitcher prospect Robert Stephenson was chosen by the writers as the Redleg Nation Minor League Player of the Month for July. The 2011 1st round pick was promoted from Billings to the Dayton Dragons last month. In July, he started 5 games with a 1.25 ERA and 0.969 WHIP. His July pitching line was 21.2 IP, 13h, 8bb, 24 K.
Stephenson was the subject of a Reds.com article by Mark Clements earlier this week. Some snippets are below, but the full article is worth a read.
Stephenson has yet to record a loss in the Minors, holding a combined 3-0 record with a 2.30 ERA in 11 starts, and Reds assistant director of player development Jeff Graupe said the club has been extremely impressed with Stephenson’s velocity, which ranges from 93-99 mph, and has touched as high as 101.
“He’s an intelligent young man, and physically, his arm strength is top of the charts,” Graupe said. “For a starting pitcher to be able to carry that [velocity] for six or seven innings, that’s pretty impressive.”
The hard-throwing right-hander has chalked up 57 strikeouts with just 15 walks this season while recently working on adding a changeup to his arsenal — a pitch he didn’t throw in high school, when he resorted to a split-finger fastball instead.
“I mostly rely on the fastball to get ahead,” Stephenson said. “I try to back them on fastballs, and if I get ahead in the count, I go to offspeed. [The changeup] is something I just started throwing in the past year. I got a really good feel for it when I was in Billings, then I kind of lost feel for it, so I haven’t been throwing it quite as much recently.”
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“Amazingly, for a guy like Robert — who has the velocity he has — there isn’t a ton of effort in his delivery,” Graupe said. “So while we are monitoring his innings and his pitches at this point, he’ll be able to grow at a healthy rate over the next couple years to a point where I think he’s physically strong and durable enough to where he’ll take a pretty big workload.”
OTHER PLAYER RECEIVING VOTES
Didi Gregorius, 2007 non-drafted free agent, Louisville SS
.294/.315/.588 (.929 OPS)
125 PA, 7 doubles, 5 triple, 6 homerun, 1 SB/ 1 CS, 3 BB / 20 K
Seth Mejias-Brean, 2012 8th round pick, Billings 3B
.388/.454/.671 (1.124 OPS)
97 PA, 7 doubles, 1 triple, 5 homeruns, 3 SB/ 0 CS, 11 BB / 8 K
finished month in midst of 16-game hitting streak
CLOSING IT OUT
Justin Freeman, 2008 32nd round draft pick, Pensacola RP did not allow a run all month.
11 G, 7-for-7 saves, 0.00 ERA, 0.848 WHIP, 15.1 ip, 6h, 7bb, 18K
2012 Redleg Nation Players of the Month
July – Robert Stephenson
June – Tucker Barnhart
May – Tony Cingrani
April – Billy Hamilton
The Reds’ minor league system is simply stoked with very exciting pitching prospects. Alas, they are are all just prospects right now, but I have to believe there are 25 other ML teams who would relish having so many exciting pitching ‘just prospects’ in their minor league system.
It’ll be interesting to see if Stephenson starts next season in Dayton or Bakersfield. It seems like he could realistically finish next season in Pensacola, even though he’d only be 20. Fortunately it seems like they won’t have the same temptation to rush him as they had with Bailey.
With Tony Cingrani and Daniel Corcino in AA and Stephenson in single A I doubt the Reds will need to pursue a free agent starter when Bronson Arroyo’s contract is up.
@redsfanman: AND Redmond at AAA.
The difference between the Reds pitching this year and next is depth. Cingrani (1.81 ERA in 13 games at AA), Wirfin Obispo (2.22 ERA in 21 games at AA), Chad Rogers (2.95 ERA this year between A+/AA), and Corcino (3.25 ERA in 23 game at AA) will all likely get promoted to AAA. And likely, the rotation (barring injuring, trades, or acquisitions) will be the same. The key is that the Reds will have 5 honest to goodness top prospect pitchers in AAA for depth. No retreads or free agents with out clauses.
I don’t think they see Redmond as part of their future rotation, just another in a long line of fifth starters or long relief/mop-up and contingency plans… along with guys like Jeff Francis, Sam LeCure, Dontrelle Willis, Matt Maloney, and Micaho Owings. We see Redmond regularly promoted and demoted (as is likely to happen again this weekend), tossed around as the need arises without a concern for his schedule and development. I expect Chad Rogers to eventually find himself in a similar situation.
Stephenson, Corcino, and Cingrani are all guys who they’ll be careful not to rush in hopes that one day they’ll be ready to enter the Cincinnati Reds rotation, and be there for a long time. Redmond, if he wants a stable job in an organization that is concerned about him… I think he needs to hope for another trade.
I think Redmond is a good sign for the Reds organization – just a few years ago somebody with his ability would be an important part of a Cincinnati Reds rotation, now he can’t even get a chance to pitch a single game.
Another cool thing, Chad Rogers, like Cingrani, was converted from the bullpen to starting pitching. Since he was converted this year, he has been awesome. I can’t find him anywhere on any Reds top prospect lists in 2012. But I bet you a doughnut he will be there in 2013.
@redsfanman: They also don’t need to rush Stehpenson because Chapman should be in the starting rotation next year and he will presumably take Arroyo’s spot.
With that said I wouldn’t be surprised if the Reds dealt Stubbs, and Leake or Homer for a position player because the Reds have good depth at outfield and infield coming to the majors in about 2 years.
Ex: Ryan La Marre, Didi, Hamilton, Soto, Navarro, Lutz, Rodriguez etc…
On that side-note, will Chapman enter the rotation? I don’t know. You don’t know. I hope he doesn’t, that he stays in the bullpen. So far they don’t seem to see Stephenson, Corcino, or Cingrani as a future closer… but they seem to see all three as part of the rotation’s future.
It seems likely that Billy Hamilton will be converted to CF – if he is he immediately becomes their CF of the future. Trading for a CF with Hamilton blocked at 2b and shortstop seems unlikely. LF probably depends on whether or not Ludwick chooses to return, and on the role determined for Todd Frazier.
I don’t think Dioner Navarro and Neftali Soto, in particular, have much trade value. If any. I doubt Didi Gregorius and Henry Rodriguez are more than utility players, and Reds fans tend to hate utility players.
@L.A.Red: I don’t understand. They’ll be trading for a position player because they have good depth?
There is a terrific amount of talent on the farm! More than I can truly remember and we traded 3 studs to get Latos. If Stephenson, Tavieso, Cingrani, Corcino, Obispo, & Rogers progress- it might just be a golden age of Reds pitching. There seems to be a great number of young arms and now we need to coach them well in order to let their potential thrive. Remember that Cueto and Latos are signed for the next four years!
I don’t think it’s a matter of there being more talent in the farm system, just that this is the first time in over a decade where the farm system’s strength was in pitching. Currently it’s Billy Hamilton and a bunch of good pitchers. Previous top prospects were almost all hitters like Votto, Cozart, Frazier, Juan Francisco, Stubbs, Bruce, Mesoraco, Alonso, Grandal, Dunn, and Kearns… and whoever else. Over the years we’ve frequently seen Reds hitters traded to find pitchers for the roster, not the other way around.
Homer Bailey was the last Reds pitching prospect to ever get much attention (unless you consider Chapman). As a prospect Cueto rarely got the same attention or hype as Bailey and Mike Leake skipped the minors entirely. It seems like Nick Travieso is probably another year behind Stephenson but he is indeed another big pitching prospect to be very optimistic about.