Dragons GameDay Saturday, May 8, 2021 ⚫ Game # 5 Dow Diamond ⚫ Midland, Mich. ⚫ 6:05 p.m. Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE Dayton Dragons (3-1) at Great Lakes Loons (1-3) RH Ricky Salinas at Great Lakes RH Logan Boyer Today’s Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Great Lakes Loons (affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) in the fifth game of the 2021 season for both teams. This is the fifth game of a six-game series. 2021 Season Series: Dragons 3, Loons 1. The two clubs will meet 18 times in 2021 including 12 times in Dayton (June 8-13; July 13-18). Last Game: Friday: Dayton 9, Great Lakes 5. Brian Rey hit a home run and drove in four runs to lead a nine-hit Dragons attack. Michael Siani, Quincy McAfee, and Jose Tello each added two hits, while Jacob Hurtubise had a double, two runs, two stolen bases, and a walk. Dragons pitchers combined to strikeout 18 batters, their highest strikeout total since September 2, 2016, and just two short of the club record of 20. Team Notes • The Dragons have won three of their first four games to start a season for the first time since 2010, when they won their first five under manager Todd Benzinger. • The Dragons have outscored their opponents 22-10 this season while winning three of four games. They have trailed in only one game and have not trailed by more than one run at any time. • Dragons pitchers have allowed only 12 base hits in 32 innings this season, allowing an opponent batting average of .115. Dragons opponents have gone a combined 3 for 32 with runners in scoring position. • The Dragons are tied with Wisconsin for fewest runs allowed in the Central League. Dayton has allowed eight fewer hits than any other club. • The Dragons have committed only two errors on the year and have not allowed an unearned run. They are tied with Peoria for fewest errors in the High-A Central League. • The Dragons stole five bases last night and have nine in four games, putting them on a pace for 270 in a 120 game season. They stole 120 bases in 140 games in their last season (2019). The club record for steals in a season is 228 in 2011, when Billy Hamilton stole 103. • The Dragons lead the league in home runs (4). They rank second behind Cedar Rapids in both slugging percentage (.421) and OPS (.787). • Brian Rey is tied for the league lead in home runs (2), slugging percentage (1.000), and RBI (7). He ranks third in OPS (1.333) and tied for third in total bases (11) and extra base hits (3). • Quincy McAfee is seventh in the Central League in OPS (1.192), and ninth in slugging percentage (.692). • Jacob Hurtubise is tied for second in the league in on-base percentage (.571), walks (5), and stolen bases (4). • The Dragons roster is headlined by Reds top-10 prospect Michael Siani, a center fielder who spent the entire 2019 season with the Dragons when the club was classified as Low-A. Siani moves up a level on the Reds developmental ladder in 2021 (the 2020 season was canceled) and with the Dragons move up to the High-A classification, Siani returns to Dayton. Siani is listed by Baseball America as the “Best Athlete” and “Best Defensive Outfielder” in the Reds organization. He is ranked as the Reds 10th best prospect overall. • The Dragons roster includes three of the top 15 players in Baseball America’s ranking of top Reds prospects. Along with Siani at #10, the roster includes right-handed starting pitcher Lyon Richardson, the #13 prospect, and right-handed starter Noah Davis, ranked #15. • Other Dragons players listed by Baseball America in their rankings are RHP Graham Ashcraft (#28) and OF Jacob Hurtubise (#41). • The Dayton roster features 11 players who have previous experience with the Dragons (including Juan Martinez on the injured list). • The Dragons roster features two players who were signed out of Federal Service academies. Outfield prospect Jacob Hurtubise was signed out of West Point, where he was an All-American with Army in 2019, and pitcher Jake Gilbert, who played four seasons at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Notable Changes for 2021: Major League Baseball completed a restructuring of the Minor Leagues prior to the 2021 season. Those changes included the contraction of 42 affiliated teams since the last completed season in 2019, cutting the Cincinnati Reds player development system from seven stateside teams to five (Billings and Greeneville were contracted). Here are some of the most significant changes: • The league is now known as the High-A Central League after previously being referred to as the Midwest League. • The league has been reclassified to the High-A level of Minor League Baseball after being a “Low-A” league since the Dragons inception in 2000. • The league has been reduced from 16 teams to 12 (Burlington, Clinton, and Kane County were contracted; Bowling Green moved to new league). • Each team in the High-A Central League is scheduled to play 120-games (60 home games). This is down from 140 games in previous years. • League Opening Day in 2021 is May 4 for all teams, much later than the typical start date in recent years of April 3-9. The final date on the schedule this season is set for September 19 after teams closed the year on Labor Day (first Monday in September) in recent years. • All series in 2021 are scheduled for six games, Tuesday through Sunday. All teams will have Mondays off throughout the season. • Roster limits in 2021 have been set at 30 players after teams played for 25-player limits in recent years. • One significant rule change has been made in 2021 in the High-A Central League. Pitchers must now step back off the rubber before throwing to a base, a change that will have its greatest impact on left-handed pitchers. Both the snap throw to first and the “lift and hang” throw by a left- hander will now result in a balk call. Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com) Sun., May 9 (1:05 p.m.) Dayton RH Lyon Richardson (0-0, 0.00) at Great Lakes RH Bobby Miller (0-0, 0.00) Tue., May 11 (7:05 p.m.): Lansing RH Seth Shuman (0-0, 0.00) at Dayton RH Eduardo Salazar (1-0, 0.00) Wed., May 12 (7:05 p.m.): Lansing LH Brady Basso (0-1, 2.25) at Dayton RH Noah Davis (0-1, 1.80) Thu., May 13 (7:05 p.m.): Lansing RH Richard Guasch (0-0, 0.00) at Dayton RH Graham Ashcraft (0-0, 4.91) Fri., May 14 (7:05 p.m.): Lansing RH Reid Birlingmair at Dayton RH Ricky Salinas TV: Dayton’s CW (26) Sat., May 15 (7:05 p.m.): Lansing RH Jeff Cris at Dayton RH Lyon Richardson TV: Dayton’s CW (26) Sun., May 16 (2:05 p.m.): Lansing RH Stevie Emanuels at Dayton RH Eduardo Salazar TV: Dayton’s CW (26) TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER RICKY SALINAS (#26) Height: 6-1 Bats: R Birthdate: March 26, 1996 (25) Acquired: Reds #25, 2018 Weight: 232 Throws: R College: Rice Resides: Houston, TX Ricky Salinas opened the 2019 season in extended spring training before joining the Dragons on April 24…Placed on the injured list after his final start on July 14 and did not return to action…chosen as Cincinnati Reds Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June of 2019 when he made five starts and went 2-0 with a 1.03 ERA, allowing just four runs (three earned) in 26.1 innings…Spent the 2018 season at Billings…Enjoyed his best start in 2018 on August 23 at Idaho Falls when he pitched into the seventh inning, striking out nine with no walks and just two hits over six and two-thirds while allowing just one run on a solo homer…Played four seasons at Rice University (2015-18), but battled injuries over his final two seasons…Was 2nd Team All-Conference as a sophomore in 2016, going 9-2 with a 3.39 ERA…Co-leader in Conference USA in victories…Limited to total of 28.2 innings over his final two seasons at Rice…Played at Northshore High School in Houston, Texas…Two-time All-Greater Houston selection by the Houston Chronicle…Most Valuable Player of Texas District 21-5A as a senior…Posted career record in high school of 16-5 with a 1.88 ERA…Also hit eight career home runs as four-year starter.. SALINAS’ CAREER STATS (ENTERING 2021) Season Team W L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO WHIP AVG 2018 BILLINGS 2 2 4.53 14 14 55.2 64 32 28 15 59 1.42 .281 2019 DAYTON 4 3 4.13 15 15 72 70 39 33 28 67 1.36 .252 Career 6 5 4.30 29 29 127.2 134 71 61 43 126 1.39 .265 2019: Dayton (Midwest League) Date Opp W L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO WHIP AVG NP-S 4/26/2019 GL 0 0 6.75 1 1 4 6 3 3 1 5 1.75 .353 76 - 48 5/3/2019 @CR 0 0 4.50 1 1 4 3 1 1 2 8 1.50 .281 83 - 49 5/8/2019 CLI 1 0 4.85 1 1 5 8 3 3 2 10 1.69 .315 81 - 59 5/14/2019 @GL 0 0 3.63 1 1 4.1 2 2 0 2 4 1.50 .271 81 - 47 5/19/2019 @SB 0 1 4.79 1 1 3.1 6 5 4 3 2 1.69 .291 82 - 46 5/24/2019 @BG 0 1 6.20 1 1 4 9 8 6 3 2 1.91 .321 83 - 48 5/29/2019 LAN 0 1 5.93 1 1 5.2 4 3 3 2 5 1.75 .302 80 - 50 6/4/2019 @WM 1 0 4.95 1 1 6 5 1 0 0 4 1.60 .293 72 - 51 6/9/2019 FW 0 0 4.91 1 1 4 4 2 2 2 1 1.59 .290 73 - 47 6/14/2019 @GL 0 0 4.27 1 1 6 3 0 0 1 6 1.47 .273 74 - 52 6/22/2019 LAN 0 0 4.03 1 1 5 4 1 1 3 7 1.46 .269 87 - 57 6/28/2019 @WM 1 0 3.65 1 1 5.1 1 0 0 1 4 1.36 .250 80 - 47 7/3/2019 BG 1 0 3.50 1 1 5 3 1 1 4 4 1.36 .245 93 - 51 7/8/2019 SB 0 0 3.59 1 1 6 4 3 3 0 2 1.30 .239 79 - 59 7/14/2019 BEL 0 0 4.13 1 1 4.1 8 6 6 2 3 1.36 .252 82 - 47 Dragons Starting Rotation in Order of Use: RH Lyon Richardson RH Eduardo Salazar RH Noah Davis RH Graham Ashcraft RH Ricky Salinas Bios and Career Stats Mariel Bautista School: None Acquired: IFA, 2014 Home: San Cristobal, DR Joined Club: Start of Season Notes: 2019: Member of Dragons 2019 Opening Day roster.