Dragons Gameday Friday, Sept
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Dragons GameDay Friday, Sept. 3, 2021 ⚫ Game # 106 Day Air Ballpark ⚫ Dayton, Ohio ⚫ 7:05 p.m. Radio: 980 WONE Fox Sports Lansing Lugnuts (49-56) at Dayton Dragons (55-50) RH Reid Birlingmair (3-8, 4.60) vs. RH Bryce Bonnin (0-1, 13.50) Today’s Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Lansing Lugnuts (affiliate of the Oakland Athletics) in the fourth game of a six-game series. 2021 Season Series: Dayton 12, Lansing 9. (At Dayton: Dragons 5, Lugnuts 4). Current Series: Dragons 2, Lugnuts 1. Last Game: Thursday: Dayton 3, Lansing 2. Matt McLain had three hits and drove in all three Dragons runs. Jacob Hurtubise had two hits for Dayton. The first three Dayton pitchers, Christian Roa, Sam Hellinger, and JC Keys, combined to shutout Lansing over the first eight innings. Reliever Pedro Garcia allowed a two-run home run in the ninth and permitted the tying run to reach second with one out, but retired the next two batters to earn the save. Current Series with Lansing: The Dragons are 2-1. They are batting .326 as a team with 11 runs scored while posting an ERA of 3.13 and committing four errors. They have stolen eight bases. Last Series vs. Fort Wayne: The Dragons went 3-3. They batted .245 and scored 26 runs (4.3 per game) while posting an ERA of 5.71 and committing six errors. They had 15 stolen bases in the series, matching their highest total in a series this year. Their 20 extra base hits tied for third most in a series. August Recap: The Dragons went 12-14 in August. They batted .244 as a team. Juan Martinez and Eric Yang each batted .286 to lead the Dragons (among players who played in at least 10 games). Victor Ruiz led the team in home runs with four, while Jack Rogers had three. Martinez led in OPS at .829 with Yang at .820. On the mound, the team ERA was 4.18. Among pitchers with at least 10 innings, Jacque Pucheu led in ERA at 0.00 (10 IP) with Andy Fisher at 0.90 and Eduardo Salazar at 1.57. The Dragons roster includes eight players ranked among the top-20 prospects in the Reds organization. In the recently-updated MLB.com rankings, Matt McLain is the #4 prospect in the Reds system; Mat Nelson is #10, Michael Siani is #12, Lyon Richardson is #14, Christian Roa is #15, Bryce Bonnin is #16, Ivan Johnson is #17, and Allan Cerda is #18. In the mid-season update of Reds top-10 prospects by Baseball America, McLain is #4, Nelson is #11, Bonnin is #13, Roa is #14, and Johnson is #15. Siani was listed by Baseball America as the “Best Athlete” and “Best Defensive Outfielder” in the Reds organization entering the season. High-A Central League Playoffs: Major League Baseball has announced that leagues at three classifications, including the High-A Central League, will conduct playoffs in September. The top two teams in each league, regardless of division, will meet in a best-of-five series. Playoff Race: The Dragons are three games behind Cedar Rapids in the race for the #2 seed in the 2021 post-season with 15 games to play. Division Race: The Dragons are two games behind Great Lakes and Lake County in the East Division. The Mythical First Half Division Title: The Dragons were the winners of the “Mythical First Half” East Division title. Note that the league is not utilizing a split-season format in 2021. There is no First Half or Second Half, and no First Half championship race in 2021 in the High-A Central League. The Midwest League was split into two equal halves for every season from 1988-2019, and from 1956-1981. The league did not play a split season from 1982-87. First Round Fever: Matt McLain is the latest first round draft pick to play for the Dragons. Recent first round picks to play for the Dragons, with their draft year, have included Nick Lodolo (2019), Jonathan India (2018), Hunter Greene (2017), Nick Senzel (2016), Tyler Stephenson (2015), Nick Howard and Alex Blandino (2014), Phillip Ervin (2013), Nick Travieso (2012), and Robert Stephenson (2011). Every Reds “true” first round pick (selected within the first 30 picks of the draft) over the last 11 drafts has played for the Dragons except 2020 first rounder Austin Hendrick, who is currently at Low-A Daytona. Player Notes • Allan Cerda has gone 9 for 26 (.346) with 5 doubles, 1 triple, and 5 RBI in seven games with the Dragons since being promoted from Daytona. • Alex McGarry is batting .381 (8 for 21) with a home run and two doubles over his last six games. • Matt McLain and Quin Cotton are both 6 for 10 (.600) in the current series with Lansing. • Andy Fisher over his last eight relief appearances: 13 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 6 BB, 17 SO, 0.69 ERA, 1-0, 1 Sv. • Stevie Branche since joining the Dragons: 8 G, 13.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 8 BB, 20 SO, 1.35 ERA, 1-0. Team Notes • After stealing just 12 bases in four sets (25 games), the Dragons have stolen 23 bases in their last nine games. • Dragons pitchers are on pace to break the club record for most strikeouts per game. They have averaged 10.2 strikeouts per game this season (1069 SO in 105 G). The club record is 9.2 per game in 2011 (1,292 SO in 140 G). • Dragons pitchers are also on pace to break the club record for most walks per game. They have averaged 4.8 walks per game (499 BB in 105 G). The club record is 4.3 per game in 2005 (600 walks in 139 games). • Dayton has held at least a share of first place after 62 of the 105 games they have played this season. Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com) Sat., Sept. 4 (7:09 p.m.): Lansing RH Jeff Criswell (0-0, 0.00) at Dayton RH Carson Spiers (5-3, 4.14) TV: Dayton’s CW (26) Sun., Sept. 5 (2:09 p.m.): Lansing TBA at Dayton LH Evan Kravetz (0-0, 7.24) TV: Dayton’s CW (26) TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER BRYCE BONNIN Height: 6-2 Bats: R Birthdate: October 11, 1998 Acquired: Reds 3rd round selection, 2020 draft Weight: 190 Throws: R College: Texas Tech Resides: Mont Belvieu, Texas Notes: Ranked as Reds #16 prospect by MLB.com and #13 by Baseball America…Reds third round pick in 2020…Features three-pitch mix with fastball, slider, and change-up…Fastball reached 99 mph in 2021 with Daytona and averages 95-96…Spent 2019-20 seasons at Texas Tech after playing at Arkansas as a freshman in 2018…Played a key role as a sophomore in 2019 as Texas Tech went to the College World Series and finished #8 in the nation, serving as their Sunday starter…Went 7-1 with a 4.08 ERA…Beat Florida State in his only start in the CWS (June 19, 2019), tossing five innings and allowing one unearned run…Selected to Lubbock All-Regional Team…Drafted in the 26th round by the Cubs in 2017 but did not sign…Played at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas (about 35 miles east of downtown Houston). Bonnin in 2021: Opened the season on the injured list…Assigned to the Arizona Complex League Reds for a rehab assignment on June 29…Made one appearance with ACL Reds …Activated at Daytona on July 7 and made seven starts with the Tortugas…In his first start with Daytona on July 7, tossed five perfect innings and struck out 11 of the 15 batters he faced, featuring a fastball that averaged 96 mph and topped out at 98…Made four starts in July at Daytona, going 3-0 with a 0.90 ERA to earn the league’s Pitcher of the Month award…Went 1-0, 2.08 in three starts in August at Daytona…Promoted to Dragons on August 27. Longest Start of 2021: 5 innings (five times) Most Pitches in a Start in 2021: 82 (August 6 with Daytona) Bonnin’s Career Stats (prior to joining Dragons) Season Team W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO WHIP AVG 2021 ACL Reds 0 0 2.25 1 1 4 2 1 1 0 1 7 0.75 .143 2021 Daytona 4 0 1.41 7 7 32 18 9 5 0 8 44 0.81 .162 Career 4 0 1.50 8 8 36 20 10 6 0 9 51 0.81 .160 2021: Dayton (High-A Central League) Date Opp W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG NP-S 8/28/21 @FW 0 1 13.50 1 1 2.2 1 4 4 0 5 3 .125 58 - 28 Total A+ 0 1 13.50 1 1 2.2 1 4 4 0 5 3 .125 2021: Daytona (Low-A Southeast League) Date Opp W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG NP-S 7/7/2021 @JUP 1 0 0.00 1 1 5 0 0 0 0 0 11 .000 60 - 44 7/13/2021 BRD 0 0 2.00 1 1 4 3 2 2 0 1 3 .103 60 - 39 7/24/2021 @FTM 1 0 1.29 1 1 5 1 0 0 0 2 7 .089 61 - 44 7/30/2021 SLU 1 0 0.95 1 1 5 3 0 0 0 0 9 .111 71 - 51 July 3 0 0.95 4 4 19 7 2 2 0 3 30 .111 8/6/2021 @LAK 1 0 1.13 1 1 5 3 1 1 0 2 1 .127 82 - 53 8/12/2021 JUP 0 0 1.24 1 1 5 5 4 1 0 1 8 .152 74 - 51 8/22/2021 PMB 0 0 1.41 1 1 3 3 2 1 0 2 5 .162 56 - 37 August 1 0 2.08 3 3 13 11 7 3 0 5 14 .229 Total A 4 0 1.41 7 7 32 18 9 5 0 8 44 .162 DRAGONS BATTERS RECENT STREAKS/NOTES at FW 8/24-8/29 at FW 8/24-8/29 Hot/Cold HS H AB AVG 2B 3B HR H AB AVG 2B 3B HR Cerda 0 5 .000 9 21 .429 5 1 0-5 in series after 9-21 (.429), 6 XBH at FW 0 Cotton 6 10 .600 1 1 15 .067 6-10 in series; Hit .203 in Aug.; .293 in July 3 Free 1 3 .333 1 11 .091 L 7 G: 3-20 (.150) 1 Hurtubise 3 6 .500 1 12 .083 2-3 LN after 10 G: 2-28 3 Johnson DNP ### 4 12 .333 1 Sprained ankle on Sat., 8/28 5 Martinez 2 11 .182 7 23 .304 3 1 Led team in Aug in avg (.286), OPS (.869) 0 McGarry 2 7 .286 1 6 14 .429 2 L 6 G: 8-21 (.381), HR, 2 2B, 5 RBI 3 McLain 6 10 .600 2 3 20 .150 6-10 in series to snap 5-34 (.147) 3 Nelson IL ### 2 11 .182 1 On injured list with sprained thumb 0 Reyes 1 3 .333 DNP #### Returned to club on 8/31 1 Rogers 1 6 .167 4 12 .333 1 2nd on team in Aug.