Wahoos Lose in 13

Southpaw reliever Donnie Joseph was a top prospect in the Reds system before a disappointing 2011 season. He hasn't allowed a run in six 2012 appearances at AA Pensacola.

Jacksonville’s Jose Duarte scored on a wild pitch by Luis Atilano with two out in the top of the 13th inning to down Pensacola 5-4 last night. Henry Rodriguez had two RBI with two doubles and Mike Costanzo had two hits and two walks on the night. Both are now hitting .333. Atilano was the seventh Blue Wahoo pitcher in the extended affair and was charged with his first loss of the season. He replaced Donnie Joseph who pitched 1 1/3 scoreless inning and has yet to allow a run in six 2012 appearances.

The southpaw Joseph came into the Reds organization after they selected him in the third round of the 2009 draft; a high pick for a reliever. His start in the rookie leagues made it look like a good decision when he put up a sub-1 ERA before a quick promotion after eight appearances. He began 2010 at Dayton and shot up the ladder to AA before the end of the season. He had a combined ERA of 2.08 and WHIP of 1.046 in 57 appearances over three leagues. He left plenty of strikeout victims in his wake by punching out 103 in only 47 innings while walking 25. That performance earned his first invitation to the Reds spring training camp last season. After getting roughed up in five Cactus league innings he turned in a very forgettable 2011 campaign at Carolina. He had trouble with command as his K/BB ratio was nearly cut in half and he gave up more hits than innings pitched.

Joseph was very high profile within the Reds organization before ineffectiveness in AA level hurt his prospect status. The 6’3” Texan was on no one’s radar after his sophomore year at the University of Houston where earned ten letters three sports for the Cougars. Before his junior season he was moved to the bullpen where his velocity jumped and he became a dominant college closer. He now throws a low/mid 90’s fastball and a big key to his collegiate progress was scrapping his curveball in favor of what has since become a plus slider. The best thing for him now is put behind the 2011 season and start fresh in 2012. Thus far it appears Joseph has done just that.

Other news down on the farm:

Jeff Francis navigated around nine hits in six innings to hold Columbus to two runs and pick up his first win of the season for Louisville. The veteran left-hander helped himself by striking out nine while walking only one. Todd Frazier and Danny Dorn combined for four hits and four RBI in the 6-4 win at Louisville Slugger Field. J.J. Hoover closed the game with his fourth save for the Bats.

Daniel Renken (2-0) gave Bakersfied seven strong innings when the Blaze won 4-2 at Visalia. The 22 year-old righthander limited the Rawhide to two runs on four hits while striking out eight in seven innings. 6’7” outfielder Juan Duran got two hits in his first game of the season and Billy Hamilton added a couple more to raise his average to .385. Donald Lutz started Blaze scoring with his second home run.

Dayton cruised to a 9-3 win at South Bend behind Justice French (2-1). He held the TinCaps to two runs on four hits while walking three in six innings. Ryan Wright, Steve Selsky and Kyle Waldrop had two hits each in the Dragon attack which was capped off by a three run triple by outfielder Waldrop.