MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons 2016 Preview, Part 8: Bullpen

March 24, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton Dragons Pitcher Michael Sullivan
Dayton Dragons Pitcher Michael Sullivan
(Dayton Dragons)

This is the final installment of an eight-part series previewing the 2016 Dragons. Players listed here are candidates for positions on the 25-man Dragons season-opening roster.

This preview is an unofficial projection of possible roster candidates. Minor League rosters are not established until April 4. Spring training variables including performance, injuries, trades, and additional player acquisitions will impact the roster accordingly.

Candidates: Jeremy Kivel, Jake Ehret, Michael Sullivan, Ty Sterner, Sarkis Ohanian, Austin Orewiler, Juan Martinez, Soid Marquez (plus others mentioned in starting pitcher preview).

It would be difficult to debate the argument that the current strength of the Reds farm system is starting pitching. In recent years, pitchers like Robert Stephenson, Nick Travieso, Sal Romano, Amir Garrett, and Jackson Stephens, all former Dragons, have moved upward through the system toward the Double-A or Triple-A levels. When you add a significant group of trade acquisitions who were picked up in various deals to that already strong core, you have an avalanche of talent moving toward the Major Leagues. The fact that there are so many quality arms has also created a bit of a logjam of starting pitchers, with 2015 Dragons Tyler Mahle, Wyatt Strahan, Tejay Antone, and Jake Paulson taking their next steps up through the organization.

One side-effect of an overload of starting pitchers is that choices have to be made for the limited number of five spots in the rotation, and hurlers who have been starters in the past have to transition to the bullpen. When you add those starters-turned-relievers to the list of bullpen arms already competing for jobs, it creates an even bigger logjam. You simply have more arms than you have roster spots. The end result of the original surplus of starting pitchers is that it becomes more difficult for relievers to move up a level from season to season. Relievers who would have been promoted one level return to the same club that they played with the season before. That could easily become a theme with the 2016 Dragons bullpen. Promising pitchers who showed some ability in Dayton in 2015 may return to the Dragons in 2016 to fine tune their games.

Jeremy Kivel has been one of the hardest-throwing pitchers in the Reds organization since he was drafted out of Spring High School in Texas in the 10th round in 2012. Kivel, now 22 years old, spent the entire 2015 season with the Dragons. At times, he was a dominant pitcher with a fastball that could get into the high 90's and a curve ball that was a strikeout pitch. At other times, he was inconsistent. Depending on when you saw him, you could come away with wildly different impressions of his ability. His final numbers included 37 games out of the Dragons bullpen with a record of 0-1, two saves, and a 5.40 ERA. Let's take a closer look at how he got there.

Kivel's start to the season was a nightmare. In his first two games, he recorded a total of four outs and surrendered seven earned runs. His ERA stood at 47.25 after his second outing. From there, Kivel caught fire and put together a consistent stretch of eight consecutive scoreless outings, lowering his ERA by the middle of May to 5.40. After a brief rough patch, he got back in the groove and enjoyed another stretch of seven straight scoreless outings, gaining confidence and earning opportunities in more stressful game situations. On July 13, he got his first save situation of the year, working a scoreless ninth inning to preserve a one-run win, striking out two. One outing later, he again pitched a scoreless ninth with two strikeouts to earn a save as his ERA dropped to a season-low 4.25. But then on July 29, he gave up seven runs including three home runs in just one and one-third innings in Fort Wayne amid talk from Kivel himself that he may have been inadvertently tipping his pitches to the TinCaps hitters. He bounced back to have his best outing of the year on August 6 when he pitched four and one-third innings of scoreless ball out of the bullpen in Cedar Rapids. When you look at Kivel's season in 2015, you see a lot of peaks and valleys, but you also see the potential for improvement. With a return to Dayton in 2016 and more confidence, Kivel could become a dominant reliever.

Jake Ehret was a college teammate at UCLA of former Dragons Beau Amaral, Jeff Gelalich, and Zack Weiss. He was part of a national championship team in 2013. Ehret was drafted by the Reds in the 14th round in 2014. He spent the entire 2015 season with the Dragons, going 3-3 with a 3.71 ERA. Possessing a good fastball and sharp breaking pitch, there were times when professional scouts at Fifth Third Field raved about Ehret's potential. His outings late in the season included some nights when he struggled to throw strikes, possibly as a result of his first extended season as a pitcher (he threw only 23 innings during his three years at UCLA). Ehret, now 23, could take a big step forward in 2016 if he can find consistency. He will also be a candidate to make the Daytona club out of spring training.

Left-hander Michael Sullivan joined the Dragons midway through the 2015 season after beginning the year in extended spring training. He had been a junior college teammate of Dragons outfielder Narciso Crook at Gloucester County College in New Jersey, and had pitched his team to a JC national title. In his two seasons at GCC, his record was 15-0 and his ERA was 0.71. The Reds drafted Sullivan in the 29th round in 2014. Sullivan made 18 relief appearances with the Dragons last summer, going 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA. He improved as the season progressed, gaining a comfort level with the process of getting Midwest League hitters out. On August 13, he provided his peak performance of the year when he fired four perfect innings and struck out six of the 12 batters he faced. For the year, left-handed batters hit just .163 against Sullivan.

Ty Sterner appeared in 12 games for the Dragons in 2015 after being drafted in the 23rd round in 2014 out of the University of Rhode Island. With the Dragons, Sterner had some good outings but battled inconsistency and had some games when he struggled to throw strikes. He went 1-1 with a 7.45 ERA. In his two years as a professional, Sterner has struck out 66 batters in just 59 innings, and his velocity is outstanding for a left-hander (93-94 mph). His key to success in 2016 will be improving his command and eliminating the occasional rough outing that serves as an ERA killer.

Four other bullpen candidates spent the 2015 season at Billings and will try to move up to Dayton along with '15 Billings pitching coach Derrin Ebert.

Florida native Sarkis Ohanian spent four seasons at Duke University, graduating with a degree in sociology. He made huge improvements as a senior in the spring of 2015, appearing in 25 games out of the Blue Devils' bullpen and posting a 4-1 record with a 1.97 ERA. Amazingly, he did not allow a walk over his first 12 outings. For the year, he struck out 62 batters in 45.2 innings and walked only 11. The Reds drafted Ohanian in the ninth round and assigned him to Billings. With the Mustangs, Ohanian appeared in 18 games in relief and went 2-2 with a 4.10 ERA. As is often the case, it was one rough outing that spoiled an otherwise solid statistical season for Ohanian. If you delete the worst performance of the 18, his final ERA would have stood at 3.00. Ohanian struck out 54 in just 37.1 innings at Billings.

Like Ohanian, Austin Orewiler was an academic standout who played four seasons of college baseball. Orewiler was an outstanding catcher in high school who considered Dartmouth in the Ivy League and looked at attending the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He selected Rice University and developed into a First Team All-Conference USA pitcher in 2015, when he appeared in 23 games and went 6-2 with a 2.44 ERA. He was drafted in the 14th round by the Reds and spent the summer at Billings. Orewiler pitched in 19 games out of the Billings bullpen, going 0-1 with a 4.68 ERA. He had a strong second half, posting a 2.70 ERA over his final nine appearances, allowing just five hits in 13.1 innings.

Juan Martinez is a 23-year-old left-hander from the Dominican Republic who spent the entire 2015 season at Billings in his fourth year in the Reds organization. Martinez pitched in 24 games without a start, going 1-5 with a 3.51 ERA. He walked only seven batters in 33.1 innings.

Soid Marquez, 21, spent each of the last two seasons at Billings. The native of Venezuela had a better year in 2014, going 6-2 with a 4.03 ERA in 18 games including four starts. He returned to Billings in 2015 and had a good first half before some tough times later in the season. On July 26, Marquez fired five no-hit innings and struck out six to earn a win as his ERA stood at 3.24. But from that point forward, he made eight appearances and allowed 17 runs in 15.1 innings to give him a final record of 3-3 with a 5.80 ERA.

Three other pitchers from last season's Billings staff were profiled in the starting pitcher preview. Jimmy Herget led the Pioneer League in saves with 15 last season, going 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA. Jake Johnson was 4-1, 2.76 as a reliever at Billings. Jordan Ramsey had a big college season in the spring of 2015 but struggled at Billings, going 0-4, 7.20.

This concludes our 2016 Dragons preview series. Most of the players who will open the season with the Dragons have been profiled over the last four weeks, but there are usually a couple of surprises. Sometimes those surprises include a player that had been expected to move up a level and perhaps due to an overload of players at one position, ends up returning. And sometimes the surprise could include a player that jumps into the Dragons picture from totally off the radar, maybe a free agent signing or a player from the Goodyear roster in 2015 who is making an unexpected advancement to the Midwest League.

The Dragons will open their 17th season in the Midwest League on Thursday, April 7 in Bowling Green, Kentucky when they battle the Bowling Green Hot Rods at 7:35 p.m. (hear the game on WONE 980-AM and at DaytonDragons.com). The Dragons annual home "Opening Day" game is Saturday, April 9 at 4:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field, also against Bowling Green.

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Dayton Dragons Pitcher Michael Sullivan
Dayton Dragons Pitcher Michael Sullivan
   



Midwest League Stories from March 24, 2016


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