MLB Draft 2013: From the Draft to “The Bigs”
Reaching “The Bigs” is a long process that can take even the best prospects in baseball five years or more. For some, that process is much shorter. For most, it’s a process that ends before making it to the big club. Nevertheless, the minor leagues of professional baseball form a system unlike any other in professional sports that brings baseball to every corner of the United States. Here’s a look at all of the stops along the road that ultimately ends with a spot on the active roster of the Cincinnati Reds.
Once new draft picks sign their first professional contracts, their parent clubs send them to a variety of lower minor league levels. Fifth-ranked prospect Nick Travieso was Cincinnati’s top pick in the 2012 draft and pitched eight games for the AZL Reds in the Arizona Rookie League, a short-season league that features the same organizations that compete in MLB’s Cactus League in spring training. The schedule for the AZL Reds begins in late June and end in late August.
The next link in the Reds’ minor league chain is their upper-level rookie affiliate, the Billings Mustangs. They play a schedule similar to the AZL Reds that starts in mid-June and ends in the first week of September and are members of the Pioneer League. Billings is where 2011 first-rounder and second-ranked prospect Robert Stephenson started his minor league career and pitched in seven games in 2012. It’s also the birthplace of current Louisville Bat Tony Cingrani’s career. A draft classmate of Stephenson’s, Cingrani pitched all of 2011 with the Mustangs.
Dayton, Ohio is the next stop on the road to Cincinnati. The Dayton Dragons are the Class-A affiliate of the Reds, and where Stephenson and Travieso are currently working down on the farm. Bats center fielder and top prospect Billy Hamilton spent all of 2011 in Dayton where he stole 103 bases. The Dragons are currently 25–34 competing in the Eastern Division of the Midwest League.
Louisville fan favorites Cingrani and Hamilton met up on the minor league trail in California when they spent half of 2012 with the Advanced-A Bakersfield Blaze in 2012. The Blaze are home to the Reds’ top-ten prospects Kyle Lotzkar and Ryan Wright. Cincinnati’s western-most club, Bakersfield competes in the North Division of the California League. They’re currently 24–36.
After spending the first half of 2012 on the west coast, the Bats’ exciting duo would meet again on the gulf coast in Pensacola, Florida, home of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Members of the South Division of the Southern League, the Blue Wahoos are the Reds’ Double-A affiliate and are currently 22–37. While in Pensacola, Cingrani posted a 5–3 record with a 2.12 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 16 games. Hamilton stole 51 of his record-setting 155 bases with the Wahoos last season.
Finally, our personal favorite here on The Bats Signal. The Louisville Bats of the International League sit on the doorstep of the Major Leagues. Bats and Reds fans alike hope to see Cingrani and Hamilton as successful Louisville alumni in the near future with the big club. For Phillip Ervin and the rest of Cincinnati’s 2013 draft class, the journey is just beginning.
*All prospect rankings refer to MLB.com’s 2013 Prospect Watch, found here.
