We’re a little under a month away from the start of spring training and the words pitchers and catchers arrive in Goodyear can’t come soon enough for this particular writer. One of those pitchers is Hunter Greene. MLB.com’s David Adler wrote about how Greene is the young ace to watch for in the upcoming season.
There’s a lot of stuff in the article from Adler, so you should be sure to check it out, but a main focus is on how Hunter Greene’s fastball progressed over the course of the 2022 season. His usage changed on the pitch, as did the movement, showing the best velocity, spin, and rise in the last month of the year – which also coincided with dominance where he allowed just two earned runs in his final four starts while striking out 37 of the 90 batters he faced.
One thing that wasn’t really mentioned in the article was how the change up also took on a different look. But the difference in the change up was a lot more drastic than the one that the fastball took.
In April through July the change up averaged 89.8 MPH with 6.2 inches of horizontal movement and 6.7 inches of vertical movement. From August 1st through the end of the season it averaged 91.5 MPH with 7 inches of horizontal movement, 3.32 inches of vertical movement. The pitch was thrown harder, had a little more horizontal movement, and nearly 3.5 inches more “sink” to it. Greene still didn’t throw the pitch all that much, throwing it just 6% of the time, and of those change ups only one of them was thrown to a right-handed batter. That’s how many he threw to right-handed hitters from April through July, too (while throwing 89 to lefties).
Matt Reynolds clears waivers
Infielder Matt Reynolds was designated for assignment last week when the Reds signed pitcher Luke Weaver and needed to clear a spot on the 40-man. Today he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Louisville. He can choose to remain with the organization or he can opt to become a free agent and see if there’s a better situation out there for him.
Four Reds make the Top 100 Prospect List
The Cincinnati Reds have a pretty strong farm system. You can trust me on that one. But if you look at Baseball America’s Top 100 prospect list you’ll only see four Reds prospects, and only one of them – shortstop Elly De La Cruz – cracked the top 50. Eight organizations had more prospects make the top 100 list than Cincinnati did, and four teams – including the Cardinals and the Pirates within the division – had as many as the Reds did on the list. Infielders Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo, and Cam Collier also showed up on the list.
Having top end guys is usually what separates the top farm systems from the others. Cincinnati has some of that, but it’s the depth that really makes the farm system stand out behind the few teams at the very top. Fangraphs released their Reds prospect list last week, and the player that they rated #2 in the organization didn’t make the Baseball America Top 100 and was rated as the #7 guy in the organization by Baseball America. Opinions are going to vary on a prospect-to-prospect level, but the depth is strong no matter how you want to slice it.
Of course, the depth had better be strong given just how much big league talent that the Reds organization has traded away in the last 12 month.
