Don’t overlook the power of CES at Louisville
Encarnacion-Strand, Cincinnati’s No. 7-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline, crushed a solo homer on Friday that had 107.1 mph exit velocity. It moved him right into a tie with the just lately promoted Matt McLain for the Bats’ crew lead with 12 homers.
In 30 video games coming into Sunday, the right-handed hitting Encarnacion-Strand is slashing .341/.376/.697 with 27 RBIs. Before he had a again harm throughout Spring Training, he batted .577 with a 1.748 OPS, 4 homers and 13 RBIs in 12 Cactus League video games.
“Not really a surprise, we saw a lot of this last year at Double-A,” said Shawn Pender, the Reds’ vice president of player development. “A very mature kid and very focused on what he wants to accomplish. He’s always had the power, but the thing we really like about him is he drives the ball to all fields. You can’t think you can pitch him away and that’s going to be a hole.”
Acquired on the Trade Deadline final yr from the Twins with infielder Spencer Steer and Steve Hajjar (since traded to the Guardians) for Tyler Mahle, Encarnacion-Strand has performed extra third base this season after he centered on first base throughout Spring Training in huge league camp. First base seems to be his future place, nevertheless.
Encarnacion-Strand, 23, continues to be strikeout susceptible. He’s drawn six walks in comparison with 38 strikeouts in 141 plate appearances.
“I think it’s going to come with the territory,” Pender said. “To me what I’m most pleased with what I’ve seen, he really wants to get runs in. As he matures and gets a little bit better at recognizing the strike zone, he’s going to be a run producer.”
Here is a have a look at others within the Reds’ Minor League system:
Triple-A Louisville
Left-handed pitcher Andrew Abbott (No. 6 Reds prospect, No. 96 total) is constant to make a case for a giant league promotion. During Wednesday’s 7-1 win at Syracuse, the left-handed Abbott allowed one earned run and two hits — together with a solo homer — over 6 1/3 innings with three walks and 9 strikeouts.
Abbott is 4-0 with a 2.49 ERA over 9 begins this season mixed at Louisville and Double-A Chattanooga.
Double-A Chattanooga
Shortstop/third baseman Noelvi Marte (No. 2 Reds prospect, No. 21 total) has put collectively a robust final month after a gradual begin. Marte is batting .321 with a .960 OPS and 7 homers over his previous 28 video games.
Marte has additionally performed a great job of slicing down on strikeouts, with 17 in comparison with 12 walks in that stretch of 126 plate appearances. Likely a future third baseman, Marte has performed extra at his pure shortstop place with Jose Torres out with an harm.
High-A Dayton
Starting pitcher Julian Aguiar allowed two runs (one earned) over 22 innings for a 0.41 ERA in May with 4 walks and 23 strikeouts. Overall this season, Aguiar leads the Midwest League with a 1.60 ERA and an opponents’ batting common of .147.
Low-A Daytona
The Reds’ 2022 first-round decide, third baseman Cam Collier (No. 4 Reds prospect, No. 53 total), hit a house run throughout Saturday’s 9-5 victory over Lakeland. Collier additionally hit a homer in Tuesday’s sport in opposition to Lakeland. Overall, he is batting .237 with a .745 OPS, 4 homers and 21 RBIs.
