Arizona Fall League: Week 5 Notes
It became a week of firsts for Cincinnati Reds' prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League.
Alex Blandino drove in his first RBI. Nick Travieso and Zack Weiss earned their first wins. Layne Somsen got his first save.
Meanwhile, the Peoria Javelinas have won four in a row and evened their record to 12-12 in the AFL West Division. Peoria downed Glendale, 4-3, Saturday and, 6-3, Friday. Peoria beat the Mesa Solar Sox, 1-0, Thursday and defeated the Salt River Rafters, 6-5, Wednesday after they fell, 2-1, to Salt River on Tuesday.
Blandino, who has been learning to play second base better this fall league season, hit a single to center that drove in fellow Reds' prospect catcher Chad Wallach in the fifth inning Friday against the Glendale Desert Dogs. In the sixth inning, the AFL Fall Star drove in two more runs, including Wallach again, on a triple to right field as Peoria won 6-3.
He is hitting .193 in 17 games and admitted AFL hurlers are tough. Outfielder Phillip Ervin has a .213 average and Wallach is at .133, after going 3-10 for Peoria during the week.
"The arms are good," said Blandino, the Reds' No. 7 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. "It's some of the best talent the Minor Leagues have to offer. You're not getting too many easy days at the plate where you can just roll it out and get hits. It's good mental practice to know you've got to be completely locked in every at-bat in order to have success."
Just how good are those arms?
Travieso, the Reds' first round pick in 2012, owns a 2.05 ERA in five games and 22 innings. Against Glendale Friday, the righty improved to 1-0, allowing one run on seven hits and he struck out three in five innings. Travieso has struck out 20 batters this AFL season, which is the fifth most in the league.
Weiss is now, 1-0, after pitching the ninth against Mesa Thursday. Weiss, who had a combined 30 saves this past season with Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos and High-A Daytona Tortugas, benefitted from catcher Chance Sisco (Baltimore Orioles) smashing a walk-off double.
Layne Somsen achieved his first save in the AFL by working out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth inning by striking out Gabby Guerrero (Arizona Diamondbacks). He threw 1.1 innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out two. Somsen has struck out 12 batters in eight appearances and has a 3.72 ERA.
However, the best Reds' best relief performer in the AFL, so far, is Stephen Johnson. He lowered his ERA to 0.79 - fifth best in the league - when he threw one scoreless inning and struck out two against Glendale Friday. Johnson, who came to the Reds through a trade this season for Marlon Byrd to the San Francisco Giants, has allowed just one run on four hits over 11.1 innings.