In the last three days, four pitchers have been promoted by the Reds from Dayton to Sarasota, and a real good case could be made for only one of them, Matt Fairel, who had a 2.93 ERA with the Dragons. Curtis Partch, Lance Janke and Aguido Gonzalez each had ERAs north of 4.00, and obviously weren’t mastering the Class A Midwest League, but they’ve been promoted as well.
And how about catcher Jordan Wideman with his .178 batting average going to Sarasota instead of Kevin Coddington with his .294?
“The players know what’s going on,” Dragons manager Todd Benzinger said. “I don’t think anything has to be said to them.”
Coddington’s here because he’s having a terrific season, and maybe the Reds do want the Dragons to be a little successful. It was probably a factor in why Kevyn Feiner was promoted ahead of second baseman Cody Puckett or shortstop Miguel Rojas.
At least some of the starters are able to stay in Dayton and play every day instead of moving up and having to sit out half the games.
What the Reds need to do to really help the Dragons is draft better players, augmenting those they already have.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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