Your newest Bat: IF/OF Cody Puckett
Cody Puckett with the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
Cody Puckett was called up from Pensacola to the Bats yesterday to replace Denis Phipps, who was DL’ed with an ailing right shoulder. Tonight, he will be making his Triple-A debut, batting sixth and playing second base. In 37 games with the Blue Wahoos, he batted .268 with four doubles, seven home runs and 21 RBI. His seven home runs rank fourth in the Southern League. He has hit six home runs in 52 at-bats in May, including three in four games between 5/11 and 5/14.
The 24-year-old Victorville, CA native was taken by the Reds in the eighth round (239th overall) of the 2008 draft and played collegiately at California State, Dominguez Hills. During this past offseason, he played for the Phoenix Desert Dogs in the prestigious Arizona Fall League. He has spent his four professional seasons all over the Reds’ minor league system, making stops in Sarasota, Billings, Dayton, Lynchburg, Carolina, Goodyear, Pensacola and now finally in Louisville.
Best umpiring call of all-time?
Is this the best umpiring call of all-time?
Matt Andrews’ radio call of Corky Miller blocking the plate, 5/12/12
With the game tied in the tenth inning, Louisville Bats right fielder Danny Dorn throws out Lehigh Valley’s Cody Overbeck at home after a single as catcher Corky Miller blocks the plate perfectly.
Bats radio announcer Matt Andrews provides the call on Sports Radio 790.
5/15 at Rochester Notes & Lineup
The Bats hit the road for an eight-game road trip which starts in Rochester. They will close it out with four at Lehigh Valley.
- DOT, DIGGITY: Louisville’s .230 team avg and their 4.80 team era rank 13th in the IL…LOU is tied for 13th in the IL with a .206avg w/RISP, DUR ranks last with .205…The Bats are 8-7 when their starter records a quality start…The Bats are 8-15 against teams starting a RHP and 4-12 against LHP… The Bats are just 3-24 when their opponent scores first, and their opponent has scored first in 27 of 39 games… They are 5-20 when being outhit by their opponent…Louisville is the only team in the IL to not throw a shutout. IND leads the league lead with six… LHP Jeff Francis leads the IL in innings pitched (49.2) and is second in strikeouts with 47, just two off the league lead. IF Kristopher Negron is third in the IL in stolen bases with 11.
- ON THE MOUND: RHP Pedro Villarreal makes his second start of the year for the Bats and will be opposed by LHP Luke French. Villarreal earned the win in his Triple-A debut Wednesday with the Bats. He allowed just 2er in 5.2ip with 0bb and 7k while throwing 70% (61 of 87) of his pitches for strikes. While with Double-A Pensacola, he went 1-2 in 6 g with a 3.57era and just 6bb to 26k. Four of his seven starts between PEN and LOU have been quality starts. The Blue Wahoos were 3-3 in his six starts. Last season he made a combined 27 starts with Single-A Bakersfield and Double-A Carolina. At Bakersfield he was 4-3 with a 4.34era and at Carolina he was 7-4 with a 4.42 era. With a combined record of 11-7 he tied for second in wins among all Reds minor leaguers and he ranked ninth with a 4.39era.
- MAY STARTERS: Bats starters have gone 2-6 with a 4.40era (77.2ip, 38er) in the month of May. They have six quality starts and the Bats have gone just 2-4 in those starts. With the win in Sean Gallagher’s quality start yesterday, the Bats ended a three-game losing streak in games where their starter qualified for a quality start.
Louisville Bats (12-27)
1 Willie Harris (L) DH
9 Kristopher Negron 3B
21 Denis Phipps CF
11 Bill Rhinehart (L) RF
3 Chris Valaika 2B
27 Danny Dorn (L) 1B
15 Miguel Rojas SS
14 Felix Perez (L) LF
20 Brian Peacock C
23 Pedro Villarreal RHP
Rochester Red Wings (14-23)
2 Ben Revere (L) CF
11 Pedro Florimon (S) SS
19 Wilkin Ramirez LF
33 Clete Thomas (L) DH
16 Danny Valencia 3B
7 Matt Carson RF
20 Sean Burroughs (L) 1B
1 Tsuyoshi Nishioka (S) 2B
13 Rene Rivera C
48 Luke French LHP
Louisville Bats Manager David Bell Postgame 5/14/12
Louisville Bats manager David Bell speaks about splitting the doubleheader with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the performance of newly promoted pitcher Wirfin Obispo and the hot hitting of outfielder Bill Rhinehart.
5/12 vs. Lehigh Valley Game Notes
- DOT, DIGGITY: Louisville’s .230 team avg ranks last in the IL and their 4.88 team era ranks 13th…LOU is last in the IL with a .198avg w/RISP…The Bats are 7-6 when their starter records a quality start…The Bats are 7-14 against teams starting a RHP and 4-11 against LHP… The Bats are just 3-22 when their opponent scores first, and their opponent has scored first in 25 of 36 games… They are 5-18 when being outhit by their opponent…Louisville is the only team in the IL to not throw a shutout. GWN and IND are tied for the league lead with five… IF Chris Valaika is third in the IL in at-bats (136)… LHP Jeff Francis leads the IL in innings pitched (43.1) and is third in strikeouts with 43, just six off the league lead.
- ON THE MOUND: LHP Jeff Francis makes his eighth start of the season and will be opposed by RHP Dave Bush. He is 2-4 with a 4.15 era and is the only Bats starter to go at least 5.0ip in each of his starts. He leads the Bats with three quality starts and has struck out a team-high nine batters on three occasions. He ranks first in the IL with 43.1 IP and third in strikeouts with 43. In his last start on 5/7 vs. NOR he struggled early before setting in. He allowed four earned runs in 7.0 innings in the loss. The Bats are 3-4 in his seven starts. After being in the Colorado organization since 2002, Francis spent all of 2011 with Kansas City (31g, 6-16, 4.82) and was signed to a minor league deal with Cincinnati on 1/27/12. His 39bb were the fourth-fewest among ML pitchers with at least 180.0ip last season.
- MAY STARTERS: Bats starters have gone 1-6 with a 4.54 era (63.1ip, 33er) in the month of May. They have four quality starts and the Bats have gone just 1-3 in those starts. The Bats have thrown quality starts in each of their last two games but are 0-2 in those games.
- THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: C Dioner Navarro is batting .318 on the season with one home run and 11 RBI. At home the veteran catcher is batting .560 (14-25) with one home run and nine RBI. Away from The Slug he has yet to record a hit in 19 at-bats (0-19) with two RBI.
- VILLARREAL DEAL: RHP Pedro Villarreal earned the win in his Triple-A debut Wednesday with the Bats. He allowed just 2er in 5.2ip with 0bb and 7k while throwing 70% (61 of 87) of his pitches for strikes. While with Double-A Pensacola, he went 1-2 in 6g with a 3.57era and just 6bb to his 26k.
- 10.0 BACK, 14 UNDER: With yesterday’s loss and the Hens loss , the Bats remain 10.0 back in the IL West Division race. Last year the Bats fell a season-high 16.0 games back on 8/13, 9/3 and 9/4. They were not 10.0 games out of the race until they were 10.5 out 6/29. At 11-25 the Bats tie a season-high 14 games under .500. Louisville has not been 14 games under .500 since they were the RiverBats in 1999. That season they ended the year at 63-81. They first reached 14 under 6/25 at 31-45.
5/11 vs. Lehigh Valley Game Notes
- VS. THE PIGS: The Bats went 3-5 against the IronPigs in 2011 and were 2-2 at Louisville Slugger Field. This marks their first game of the season against an IL North opponent.
- DOT, DIGGITY: Louisville’s .232 team avg and 4.91 team era are both 13th in the IL…LOU is last in the IL with a .200avg w/RISP…The Bats are 7-5 when their starter records a quality start…The Bats are 7-13 against teams starting a RHP and 4-11 against LHP… The Bats are just 3-21 when their opponent scores first, and their opponent has scored first in 24 of 35 games… They are 5-17 when being outhit by their opponent…Louisville is the only team in the IL to not throw a shutout. GWN and IND are tied for the league lead with five… IF Chris Valaika is second in the IL in at-bats (134)… LHP Jeff Francis leads the IL in innings pitched (43.1) and is third in strikeouts with 43, just two off the league lead.
- ON THE MOUND: RHP Brett Tomko makes his seventh start of the season and will be opposed by RHP Scott Elarton. In his last start, he went 6.0 innings allowing four hits and two earned runs and picked up a loss in a 4-2 defeat at IND. With a 3.41 era Tomko leads all Bats starters, but the Bats are just 1-5 in his six starts as the offense is averaging just 2.5 runs per game when he pitches. After his first start of the season, Tomko was placed on the 7-day DL after suffering from a right abductor spasm. He was activated a week later. He was signed to a minor league deal with Cincinnati on 2/19/12. He debuted with CIN in 1997 and made 89 appearances (79 starts) in three seasons thru 1999 (29-26, 4.53era). Since 1999, he has appeared in ML games with nine other teams (SEA, SD, STL, SF, LAD, KC, OAK, NYY, TEX). In parts of ten seasons, Tomko has a 31-16 record with a 4.68era in Triple-A.
- DIONER IS YOURS, LOUISVILLE SLUGGER FIELD: C Dioner Navarro is batting .326 on the season with one home run and 11 RBI. At home the veteran catcher is batting .583 (14-24) with one home run and nine RBI. Away from The Slug he has yet to record a hit in 19 at-bats (0-19) with two RBI.
5/10 vs. Norfolk Game Notes and Lineup
• VS. THE TIDES: The Bats are 3-4 against the Tides this year (1-2 at Louisville Slugger Field) and the two clubs will play for the final time during the regular season tonight. In late April the two teams split a four game set at Harbor Park. The Bats went 3-5 against the Tides in 2011 and were 1-3 at Louisville Slugger Field.
• DOT, DIGGITY: Louisville’s .231 team avg and 4.94 team era are both 13th in the IL…LOU is last in the IL with a .200avg w/RISP…The Bats are 7-4 when their starter records a quality start…The Bats are 7-12 against teams starting a RHP and 4-11 against LHP… The Bats are just 3-20 when their opponent scores first, and their opponent has scored first in 23 of 34 games… They are 5-16 when being outhit by their opponent…Louisville is the only team in the IL to not throw a shutout. GWN and IND are tied for the league lead with five…The Bats win yesterday snapped a five-game losing streak, which tied their longest losing streak of the season (4/17-4/21)… IF Chris Valaika is second in the IL in at-bats (130)… LHP Jeff Francis leads the IL in innings pitched (43.1) and is third in strikeouts with 43, just two off the league lead.
• ON THE MOUND: RHP Chad Reineke makes his seventh start of the season for the Bats and will be opposed by RHP Brad Bergesen. He is 1-1 with a 4.13 era and on 4/29 at NOR he went two innings and allowed just two runs, both of which were unearned, in the no-decision as the Bats lost 7-4. In his last time out on 5/5 at IND, he took the loss, allowing 4er on 10h in 5.0ip with 1bb and 2k. Reineke went 9-7 with a 3.84 era in 25 games (22 starts) with the Bats last season. He appeared in two games last year with CIN, making one start (5/31 vs. MIL, L, 6.1ip, 5h, 6r-5er, 5bb-2k, 2hr).
• RAKING RHINEHART: After batting just .196 with 3 RBI in April, OF Bill Rhinehart is batting .379 with 2hr and 4rbi in May. Yesterday, he hit his first home run at LSF while also hitting in the clean-up spot for the first time. He went 3-for-3 on Monday night for his second three-hit game of the year. The Bats have eight three-hit games this season. The only other Bat with mulitple three-hit games is Neftali Soto who also has two. Zack Cozart led the team last year with nine three-hit games.
• VILLARREAL DEAL: RHP Pedro Villarreal earned the win in his Triple-A debut yesterday with the Bats. He allowed just 2er in 5.2ip with 0bb and 7k while throwing 70% (61 of 87) of his pitches for strikes. While with Double-A Pensacola, he went 1-2 in 6g with a 3.57era and just 6bb to his 26k.
• NEFTALI RISING: IF Neftali Soto saw his eight-game hitting streak come to a close on 5/4 but the first base prospect has hit safely in 12 of his last 14 games and is hitting .291 (16-55) during that stretch with six doubles, a home run and seven RBI. His average currently sits at .250. Last year he hit 31 home runs (Car-30, Lou-1) becoming the first Reds farmhand to hit 30+ home runs since Adam Dunn his 32 in 2001.
LINEUP
Kristopher Negron SS
Mike Costanzo 3B
Denis Phipps CF
Bill Rhinehart RF
Neftali Soto 1B
Danny Dorn DH
Chris Valaika 2B
Felix Perez LF
Dioner Navarro C
Chad Reineke RHP
5/9 vs. Norfolk Game Notes
- VILLARREAL MAKES HIS TRIPLE-A DEBUT: RHP Pedro Villarreal makes his first start of the season for the Bats and his Triple-A debut. He will be opposed by RHP Steve Johnson. He has made six appearances with Double-A Pensacola this year, all starts, and is 1-2 with a 3.57 era. Four of his six starts have been quality starts. Right handers are hitting just .206 against Villarreal and have yet to hit a home run.The Blue Wahoos were 3-3 in his six starts. Last season he made a combined 27 starts with Single-A Bakersfield and Double-A Carolina. At Bakersfield he was 4-3 with a 4.34 era and at Carolina he was 7-4 with a 4.42 era. With a combined record of 11-7 he tied for second in wins among all Reds minor leaguers and he ranked ninth with a 4.39 era.
- DOT, DIGGITY: Louisville’s .232 team avg and 5.03 team era are both 13th in the IL…LOU is last in the IL with a .193avg w/RISP…The Bats are 7-4 when their starter records a quality start…The Bats are 6-12 against teams starting a RHP and 4-11 against LHP… The Bats are 2-20 when their opponent scores first, meaning their opponent has scored first in 22 of 33 games …They are 4-16 when being outhit by their opponent…Louisville is the only team in the IL to not throw a shutout. GWN leads the league with five…The Bats are losers of five straight, which ties their longest losing streak of the season (4/17-4/21).
- NEFTALI RISING: Neftali Soto saw his eight-game hitting streak come to a close on 5/4 but the first base prospect has hit safely in 12 of his last 13 games and is hitting .308 (16-52) during that stretch with six doubles, a home run and seven RBI. His average currently sits at .256, which is the highest it has been all season long. Last year he hit 31 home runs (Car-30, Lou-1) becoming the first Reds farmhand to hit 30+ home runs since Adam Dunn his 32 in 2001.
- 10.5 BACK, 13 UNDER: With yesterday’s loss , the Bats are now 10.5 back in the IL West Division race. Last year the Bats fell a season-high 16.0 games back on 8/13, 9/3 and 9/4. They were not 10.5 games out of the race until 6/29. At 10-23 the Bats are 13 games under .500. They have not been 13 games under since 9/2/2005 when they were 64-77. That was a season-low in 2005. Louisville has not been 14 games under .500 since they were the RiverBats in 1999. That season they ended the year at 63-81. That season they first reached 13 under on 5/11 at 10-23, but did not reach 14 under until they were 31-45 on 6/25.
Your 2012 Louisville Bats
The Bats players and coaches gathered prior to tonight’s contest against the Norfolk Tides for their annual team photo. Here’s a look at one of the samples.
Also, here is the lineup for tonight’s 6:35 game:
Kristopher Negron CF
Felix Perez DH
Denis Phipps LF
Neftali Soto 1B
Bill Rhinehart RF
Chris Valaika 2B
Mike Costanzo 3B
Miguel Rojas SS
Corky Miller C
Sean Gallagher RHP
