Final Report Card for Cincinnati Reds Prospects at the Arizona Fall League

The Cincinnati Reds sent nine prospects to the Surprise Saguaros for the 2014 Arizona Fall League. You can read the preview to the fall season here. The Surprise Saguaros are a team consisting of prospects from the Reds, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers. They finished the fall season at 16-15-1, which was good for second place in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) West.

Now that the fall season has concluded, it's time to hand out final report card grades to all the Reds prospects who participated.

1. Jesse Winker, OF

Jesse Winker demonstrated in a short amount of time that he's over the wrist injury that ended his 2014 campaign. This fall, Winker slashed an impressive .338/.440/.559. He totaled three home runs, four doubles and one triple while driving in 18 runs. His .559 slugging was the highest on the entire team, and his batting average was second best—but to a player who played half the games Winker did.

His plate discipline was notable, too. Winker struck out 17 times, but he walked 14 times. While 19 games is by no means indicative of how this young slugger will perform in the majors, he's doing everything possible right now to demonstrate his readiness.

Final Grade: A

2. Kyle Waldrop, 1B/OF

The young first baseman turned in a decent AFL season after playing in just 19 games as well. Waldrop slashed .300/.325/463 off of 24 hits, three doubles, two triples and two home runs. He drove in 14 RBI.

He managed just two walks compared to 14 strikeouts, so you'd like to see him working more counts. But ultimately, this was a pretty productive fall for the "Top Star" of last year's High-A California League All-Star Game.

Final Grade: B

3. Juan Perez, 2B

This left-handed-batting 23-year-old played in just eight games this fall, but he seemingly made the most of his playing time. Perez slashed .286/.333/.429. In eight games, he had eight hits, including a double and a home run. He drove in three runs.

Perez played behind the San Diego Padres' young second baseman Jace Peterson, who played in 27 games for the Padres last year, so it was unlikely Perez would get much time. Still, for the limited time he had, he performed at a level the Reds will probably be happy with.

Final Grade: B-

 4. Seth Mejias-Brean, 3B

It was a rough fall for Seth Mejias-Brean. Like teammates Winker and Waldrop, Mejias-Brean also played in 19 games. He slashed .194/.275/.264, a stark contrast to what he's done in his minor league career thus far. In three seasons of minor league experience, he's slashing an impressive .291/.376/.448.

Mejias-Brean tallied 14 hits, including two doubles and a home run. He drove in five runs.

It's likely this was just a setback, but he'll be looking to move on from a poor fall showing. He did have a slow finish to the end of 2014 while playing at the highest level he had played, Double-A Pensacola, where he finished hitting .235/.333/.323 after 65 games.

Final Grade: D

5. Ben Klimesh, RP

Ben Klimesh had a decent fall season for himself. He appeared in 11 games and finished 0-2 with an ERA of 2.77 in 13 innings pitched. In those 13 innings, he surrendered nine hits, including two home runs. He allowed just four earned runs.

Klimesh struck out an impressive 13 batters in 13 innings while allowing eight walks. His WHIP was 1.31, nothing special, but it was the sixth-best WHIP among the relievers on this team. He also recorded two saves.

Not a bad fall for the 15th-round 2012 amateur draft pick.

Final Grade: C+

 
6. Nick Howard, SP

The Reds have high expectations for this first-round 2014 amateur draft pick. The former University of Virginia closer recorded the second-most starts on the team behind Boston Red Sox prospect Keith Couch. In six starts, Howard went 2-1 with an ERA of 4.43.

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In 20.1 innings pitched, Howard surrendered 19 hits, good for 10 earned runs. He recorded 15 strike outs in that time while allowing nine walks, good for an OK WHIP of 1.31.

In this short span of time, Howard struggled against left-handers noticeably. His ERA against right-handers was just 0.65. Against lefties, it rockets to 11.05. Lefties hit .375 against him, while righties hit just .171.

Final Grade: C-

7. Carlos Gonzalez, RP

Another reliever prospect, Carlos Gonzalez totaled 13.2 innings pitched for the Saguaros this fall and finished 1-0 with a 4.61 ERA. In that body of work, Gonzalez allowed a whopping 16 hits, seven earned runs, including one home run. He walked eight batters compared to striking out just nine. His final WHIP was 1.76.

Like Howard, Gonzalez was simply mashed by left-handed hitters. Against lefties, Gonzalez had an ERA of 7.20 compared to a 3.12 ERA against righties. Left-handed hitters batted .409 against Gonzalez, while right-handers were held to just .226.

Near the end of the short fall season, Gonzalez had a brutal five-game stretch in which he allowed multiple hits in every one of them. And while not all of those runs scored, it was evident he wasn't fooling anyone.

Final Grade: D+

8. Ryan Dennick, RP

Dennick made the very most of limited playing time for the Saguaros. He appeared in just seven games, but turned in an impressive 1-0 record with an ERA of 1.08. He struck out six batters in those seven appearances and walked just one.

In 8.1 innings of work, Dennick surrendered only four hits. The one earned run he allowed came off of a solo home run. He finished with a very impressive WHIP of just 0.60.

In six minor league seasons, the 27-year-old left-hander is 27-31 with an ERA of 3.87 and a WHIP of 1.208.

Final Grade: B+

9. Raisel Iglesias, RP

The much-anticipated Raisel Iglesias only appeared in seven games. In those seven innings of work, Iglesias allowed only one hit. No earned runs, no doubles, no triples. That was it.

He struck out seven batters and walked just three, finishing with a very impressive WHIP of just 0.57.

While Dennick and Iglesias both only appeared in seven games, they finished consecutively leading their team in WHIP. Iglesias appears ready to join this Reds bullpen right now.

Final Grade: A+
 

Stats courtesy of MLB.com unless noted otherwise.