CNATI: Cincinnati OH Sports Journalism

Cincinnati Reds

Organization Q&A: Lynchburg

By C. Trent Rosecrans, CNATI.com Posted May 31, 2010 10:55 AM ET

Chris Lang covers the Lynchburg Hillcats for the Lynchburg (Va.) News & Advance. The Hillcats are in their first season as a Reds affiliate, playing in the High-A Carolina League. Lang recently took some time out to answer a few questions for CNati about the Hillcats and a couple of their players. (Editor's note, Lang answered these questions last week, so some of the stats may be outdated)

CNati: So, this is the first year of the affiliation between the Reds and Hillcats, have there been any major differences between the Reds and the Pirates?

Chris Lang: Cosmetically, not really. The franchise name remained the same, as did the uniforms and color schemes. Fans can't really tell the difference. On the field, there are some subtle differences. The Pirates were big on "priority relievers," where a guy knew exactly when he was going to pitch and how many pitches he was going to throw coming out of the bullpen. From talking to Pat Kelly, the Reds want their relievers to be able to pitch on consecutive days and for the situations to mimic what they'll see if they make it to the bigs.

CNati: This is the Reds' first year in the Carolina League, having previously had their High-A team in the Florida State League, have you heard any differences between the two leagues?

Lang: The biggest difference is in fan support. On opening night, there were more than 4,000 in attendance, and from talking to guys who played in Sarasota last season, 400 would have been a good crowd most nights. Other differences: The ball flies a bit truer in Central Virginia than it did in the humid, seaside air in Florida. Also, the Carolina League is a much smaller league than the FSL, so batters and pitchers get very familiar with each other quickly. Often, a pitcher will face the same team twice in a week, so he has to be able to learn how to adjust on the fly. The same goes for the hitters.

CNati: One of the biggest questions for the Reds' minor league system heading into this year was the development of former first-round Devin Mesoraco. He was placed back in High-A hoping he'd respond positively. As of Monday, he's got a 1.035 OPS -- seems to be a pretty good response. This may be a stupid question, but how's he looked?

Lang: The numbers don't lie. He's looked fantastic. Confident at the plate, aggressive, smart. He's strung together two solid months at the plate, so he's starting to gain the confidence that his hot start isn't a fluke. I know he had a couple of hand injuries last year that limited him, but he's hitting for power and average this season and coming up big in clutch situations batting fifth most days. I'm guessing the Reds want to keep him here a bit longer so he can sustain that confidence over a half season. Devin has done most of his work against righties, though, hitting eight of his nine homers and batting .373 against righthanders. He's only hitting .250 against lefties, so that's an area he can improve.

CNati: What about his defense?

Lang: It's been hit or miss, which is surprising since he spent so much time concentrating on defense last year in Sarasota. He's struggled a little bit with passed balls, though the numbers are a bit skewed since he had three in one game. Bad day, I suppose. He's throwing out more than 40 percent of potential base stealers, so Kelly has been happy with his arm.

CNati: Is Neftali Soto still catching?

Lang: From time to time, yes.

CNati: How is that going? How does he look?

Lang: Total work in progress. Teams have been able to run on Soto at will. He hasn't found a rhythm yet in terms of trying to throw out baserunners. But he's been good at keeping balls in front of him. He gets a lot of help still from pitching coach Rigo Beltran in calling games, and he'll often let the pitcher do much of the work in that regard. But he's gotten a little confidence in calling pitches in certain situations.

CNati: Another guy that I've been curious about is Josh Fellhauer, how's he looked?

Lang: When Dave Sappelt moved up to Carolina, Fellhauer took over as the everyday center fielder and leadoff hitter. He's got a lot of pressure on him defensively because of the current makeup of the outfield. Two infielders -- Kevyn Feiner and Cody Puckett -- are getting a lot of time out there, so Fellhauer has to cover a lot of territory. He doesn't really have the profile of a true leadoff guy to me. He's only walked 10 times, has an OBP of .333 and doesn't look to run a whole lot. But Kelly doesn't have a lot of other options. Fellhauer has Miley Cyrus' "Party In The USA" as his walkup music, so he's got that going for him. Or against him, depending on how you feel about the spawn of Billy Ray Cyrus.

CNati: In spring training, Barry Larkin told me Miguel Rojas' glove was "special" -- but the bat, the bat's still the question. How has his glove been (because, well, the bat's appeared to be as advertised)?

Lang: I joke around in the press box and call him "Showboat" because he makes so many outstanding defensive plays and makes them look easy. He doesn't actually showboat though. The hands are definitely as advertised. He's got tremendous range and great instincts on when to attack in the infield. But Barry's right. At some point, Miguel's going to have to learn to hit, because not many major league teams -- especially NL teams -- have a use for defensive specialists who hover around the Mendoza line.

CNati: Justin Reed signed to play football at Ole Miss and is supposed to be a special athlete -- but is he a baseball player?

Lang: He hasn't looked like it at the plate. For a while, he was an absolute strikeout machine -- 33 Ks in 76 at-bats. The Reds now have him on the Billings roster, so I'm guessing he's back in extended spring trying to work out some of the kinks. He showed a little pop at least. Of his 12 hits, five went for extra bases.

CNati: One of the Reds' first-round picks out of the Pac 10 last year was, of course, Mike Leake, the other was Bradley Boxberger -- he's apparently pitchign well. What kind of pitcher is he?

Lang: Brad's a power arm who is working on perfecting a couple of offspeed pitches. His slider has a chance to be a plus pitch, and Kelly sees a lot of potential in that pitch. Boxberger's trying to work on a spike curveball that can be an out pitch against lefthanders, but that's not as much of a priority as developing the slider. His fastball is sitting in the low 90s and his changeup -- which is a great out pitch against righties -- is about 10-12 mph slower. Teams have started to figure him out a bit, and he hasn't been great pitching out of the stretch. Of all of the guys on the roster, he's got the shortest leash since he didn't pitch at all last season after the draft. The Reds want him to be able to pitch into August, so I'd expect a lot of five- and six-inning outings, unless he can learn to keep his pitch count down early.

CNati: What other Hillcats pitcher has caught your eye and why?

Lang: Two of them, really. Mark Serrano's slider is as good as advertised. It's a dirty pitch, especially when he toys with batters. In one start against Myrtle Beach a few weeks back, he kept intentionally throwing it outside of the zone, playing a little bait-and-hook game. Then when he needed to dial it up and drop it in, he did just that, getting a couple of called third strikes. Big key for him is to work on the changeup. The other pitcher who has caught my eye is reliever Jordan Hotchkiss, who has been the one true reliable arm out of the bullpen. He had some pretty good numbers last year in Dayton and has continued that this year, as he's 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA in 16 appearances. His ERA was below 1.00 for much of the season before a rough outing the other day in Winston-Salem. He just attacks. His strikeout numbers are down from last year, but opponents are only hitting .175 against him.

Categories: Cincinnati Reds, Featured Stories

Tags: Brad Boxberger, Carolina League, Chris Lang, Cody Puckett, Dave Sappelt, Devin Mesoracco, Jordan Hotchkiss, Josh Fellhauer, Justin Reed, Kevyn Feiner, Lynchburg Hillcats, Mark Serrano, Miguel Rojas, Netali Soto, Pat Kelly, Reds minor leagues, Rigo Beltran