Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings June 2, 2017 THIS DAY in REDS HISTORY 1921-Pat Duncan Hits the First Home Run Over the Fence at Redland Field
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Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings June 2, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1921-Pat Duncan hits the first home run over the fence at Redland Field. The ball strikes a startled policeman standing on York Street MLB.COM Inbox: What should the Reds do with Cozart? Beat reporter Mark Sheldon answers fans' questions By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | June 1st, 2017 + 85 COMMENTS Do you think the Reds stick with the plan to trade Zack Cozart or do they attempt to re-sign him? -- @redsmccurdygal Cozart has been huge for the Reds this season, and I know they'd hate to lose him in the lineup and the clubhouse. But I think Cincinnati's front office will continue to explore moving him, if there's a deal out there. Few contending teams seem to need a shortstop right now, just like in the offseason. If the Reds don't trade Cozart, he will hit free agency after the season. I can't imagine him not wanting to see what his open-market value is. It would seem to be cost prohibitive for Cincinnati to make a qualifying offer that would approach $18 million for 2018. As for re-signing, the risk there is that Cozart is 31 years old, and locking him up too long would mean he'd be around during expectedly less productive years. If the Reds do trade Cozart, what is the possibility of Eugenio Suarez moving back to shortstop? I think he has a much better glove than Jose Peraza. -- @KYCoach25 If Cozart does get traded this year, I'd expect Suarez to remain at third base for the Reds for the rest of this season. Peraza would likely move to shortstop and it would be a chance for Cincinnati to see if he can play the position. At the moment, Scooter Gennett would be my choice to be the regular second baseman. For 2018, when third baseman and No. 1 prospect Nick Senzel would be close to being big league ready, I'd explore if Suarez can still play shortstop. Can you give an update on Dilson Herera and if his shoulder is OK from earlier this spring? -- Dan M., Tiffin, Ohio Herrera's shoulder appears to be OK, and I've heard nothing that says otherwise. The reason why he's not mentioned in the previous answer is because he entered Thursday batting .228/.285/.336 with three home runs at Triple-A Louisville. Have the Reds thought about stretching out Michael Lorenzen for the rotation because of their lack of depth? His bat would be a nice bonus every five days. -- James B., Dundee, Oregon I know Lorenzen would like to start, and he hasn't given up on it, nor have the Reds given their final answer about his pitching future. However, if Lorenzen were to be shifted into the rotation, it would likely mean he'd have to go to the Minors for a while to stretch out his arm for starting. Then there would be a void in two spots on the staff. Although Bronson Arroyo's comeback story has been nothing short of amazing, it seems like he is constantly digging the offense a sizeable hole to come back from. What do you think his future is? I can see him as a specialist reliever, but starting seems to be beyond his current capabilities. -- John J., Indianapolis, Ind. Arroyo realizes he has a short window for his performances to start turning a corner. When injured starting pitchers start coming off the disabled list, it will get harder to make the case that he is one of the Reds' best five starters available. I suppose the bullpen is an option if Arroyo can provide length, but his style of pitching and preparation could make that a square peg for a round hole. Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. CINCINNATI ENQUIRER Reds farm notes: Tortugas infielders raking C. Trent Rosecrans , [email protected] 4:42 p.m. ET June 1, 2017 When first baseman Gavin LaValley hit his 13th home run of the season for the Reds’ high-Class A affiliate in Daytona on Wednesday, second baseman Shed Long hit his ninth two innings later. “I was like, ‘yep, I couldn’t let you get too far away from me,’” Long said Thursday afternoon. “It’s all pushing each other to be the best we can be.” All four of the Tortugas’ infielders are hitting .283 or better entering Thursday’s game against St. Lucie. Long leads the Tortugas with a .321 batting average. LaValley’s 13 home runs are the second-most in the Florida State League, third baseman Nick Senzel leads the Tortugas and the league with 20 doubles and shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez hit .333 in May to improve his average to .283 overall. Senzel was the No. 2 overall pick last year and is hitting .298/.356/.455. He has three homers to go along with his 20 doubles, as well as eight stolen bases. Long was the organization’s Hitter of the Year in 2016 and he’s making a case at a repeat in 2017. He’s hitting .321/.380/.528. When the Reds signed Rodriguez out of Cuba last year, his glove was considered elite, but his bat was a concern. After a hot May, he entered June hitting .283/.327/.318. LaValley was drafted as a power-hitting third baseman out of an Oklahoma high school in 2014. A former offensive lineman, the 6- foot-3 LaValley weighed as much as 270 pounds in high school, was 235 when he was drafted and is now at 220. His 13 home runs, including home runs on both Tuesday and Wednesday, are more than he’d hit in a full season before this year. Last year at Daytona, he hit 11 homers. All of this comes in a league, the Florida State League, that is known as a pitcher’s league because of the ballparks and the climate. Weiss makes first appearance since 2015 Wednesday night, right-hander Zack Weiss pitched in a game for the first time since 2015. Weiss had elbow surgery (non-Tommy Jonn) last season, missing all of 2016. Weiss gave up two unearned runs in 2/3 of an inning. He allowed a hit and struck out two. A six-round pick out of UCLA in 2013, Weiss had 30 saves in 2015 between Daytona and Double-A Pensacola. He was invited to big-league camp in 2016 and pitched in two exhibition games before the elbow injury. Romano close to a return Sal Romano will pitch for Triple-A Louisville soon, posting on Twitter that he was back at 100 percent. Romano, 23, made his big-league debut on April 16, giving up three runs (two earned) in three innings against Milwaukee. Romano was optioned back to Triple-A after that start. He pitched two games for Louisville before going on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation on April 27. He will get a start for Louisville shortly. Finally pitching regularly, Reds prospect Moss excelling Zach Buchanan , [email protected] Published 3:21 p.m. ET June 1, 2017 | Updated 18 hours ago DAYTON – Scott Moss’ resume isn’t a very long one. Were the left-hander auditioning for a normal job instead of one as a baseball player, he’d probably have to hand prospective employers a list of his achievements on an index card. He spent three years at the University of Florida, but pitched only 23 innings. He made five starts, only one of which lasted longer than three innings. Last year, the Cincinnati Reds looked past Moss’ sparsely populated game log and selected him in the fourth round of the draft. He signed for $577,400, a bonus that came in slightly above the suggested draft slot value. “I didn’t think I would get picked up as early as I did,” Moss said. So far, it seems to have been a prudent investment. Last year, Moss turned in a 2.35 ERA in 10 starts at Rookie-Advanced Billings. This year, the 21-year-old has a 2.37 mark in 11 starts for Low-A Dayton. He’s struck out 75, fourth-most in the Midwest League. For a guy who has barely pitched in the last four years, Moss sure seems to know what he’s doing on the mound. “I think we’ve got a pretty good guy there,” said Dayton manager Luis Bolivar. For a college pitcher, Moss sure didn’t do much college pitching. He pitched throughout fall ball in his first year at Florida, but suffered a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament that required Tommy John surgery before the season started. The recovery process knocked out what would have been his sophomore season as well. His first action came as a redshirt sophomore in 2016, and he barely saw the field. He wasn’t one of Florida’s top weekend pitchers, and pitched only four times against Southeastern Conference opponents in the regular season. He logged a total of two-thirds of an inning and 19 pitches in those games. The rest of his action came in early-week games against nonconference opponents. Moss was called upon for four starts, all of which lasted three innings. The other 4 1/3 regular-season innings came across seven appearances.