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MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons 2016 Team Preview, Part 6: Outfielders

March 17, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


This is part six 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: Narciso Crook, Aristides Aquino, Kevin Garcia, Ed Charlton, Reydel Medina, Zach Shields, Dalton Carter, Jonathan Martijn

There should be some good competition for jobs in the Dragons outfield in 2016 with six players hoping to move up from the Billings Mustangs along with the possibility of one or two returnees from last season's Dragons outfield.

Just like Gavin LaValley and Luis Gonzalez, Narciso Crook made the big jump to Dayton from the Goodyear Reds to start the 2015 season, skipping over the Billings club. Scouts raved about how impressive Crook was in the Reds fall instructional league program after the 2014 season, and the decision was made to start him in Dayton in 2015. He opened the year as the Dragons starting center fielder and eventually got significant time at all three outfield spots. He played 59 games in center, 28 games in right, and 16 games in left.

Crook (first name pronounced nar-SEE-so) has the kind of physical tools that stand out. He is big, fast, athletic, and strong. He does not have a lot of baseball experience, but he made a great impression on 2015 Dragons manager Jose Nieves, who noted early last season that Crook not only had excellent physical skills, but was also very "coachable." Crook was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to Trenton, New Jersey as a teenager. He did not take up the sport of baseball until age 11, much later than most players who go on to become professionals. After high school, he hooked on with a junior college program that was then known as Gloucester County College (now called Rowan University) and led the team as a freshman to the NJCAA Division III National Championship. His claim to fame was

hitting four home runs in one game. The Reds drafted Crook in the 23rd round in 2013 and he opened his professional career the next spring at Goodyear.

At 6'3", 220 lbs., with good speed and a good arm in the outfield, Crook showed potential with the Dragons in 2015. He endured a mid-season slump but rebounded and played his best baseball late in the year, demonstrating clear improvement from the player that came out of spring training in April. As late as August 14, with his average hovering around .220, Crook began to put things together. Over the remainder of the season, he batted .319 and connected on five of his nine home runs for the year in his final 27 games. The nine home runs led the team as he finished with a .236 batting average, and he also stole 13 bases. Scouts watching Crook could see that the potential was there for a breakout.

Following the 2015 season, Baseball America ranked Crook as the 28th best prospect in the Reds system, and the #1 center field prospect. The publication reported that "in the second half, Crook's impressive tools started to catch up to the league...he's an excellent athlete who posts above average run times...he'll head back to Dayton, but if he can build on a strong second half, he won't stay there for a full season again." Crook, still only 20 years old and one of the friendliest personalities in the organization, could be a fun player to watch at Fifth Third Field in 2016.

Aristides Aquino had a frustrating, injury-shortened 2015 season after beginning the year as a top-10 prospect in the Reds organization. Aquino had a dominant year with Billings in 2014, one of the finest seasons seen in recent years with the Mustangs when he led the league in extra base hits, runs batted in, and doubles while finishing second in home runs and stolen bases. He was expected to be the Dragons big bat in 2015 and jokingly referred to himself as "the punisher" at the club's "Meet the Team" event the day before the season opener. But on April 24, in his 16th game of the season, Aquino was hit by a fastball and suffered a broken wrist that caused him to miss nearly three months. When he returned, he struggled to catch up with the competition and finished the year at .234 with five home runs in 61 games. Those numbers did not even resemble the kind of production that was predicted for Aquino in Dayton in 2015.

After the 2015 season, Baseball America ranked Aquino as the #18 prospect in the Reds organization, so there is confidence that he can rebound from a difficult season. Based on the missed time in 2015, Aquino would seem to be a candidate to return to the Dragons to start 2016. He will turn 22 in April. On the other hand, the outfield picture at Advanced-A Daytona does not feature the high number of candidates that are visible at other positions, so it is possible that Aquino, or perhaps Crook, will move up a level. It is quite possible that either Crook or Aquino will return to Dayton, with the other starting in Daytona. Aquino's primary defensive position is right field, where he has one of the strongest arms in the Reds organization.

At least three and possibly four outfielders from the 2015 Billings team should move up to Dayton for 2016, progressing along with their manager, Dick Schofield. Corner outfielder Kevin Garcia and center fielder Ed Charlton might be the two most likely to receive promotions.

Kevin Garcia has quietly put together some outstanding seasons in the Reds organization since he signed as an 18-year-old from Venezuela in 2011. Garcia played at Goodyear in 2013 and led the Arizona League in base hits while finishing fifth in batting average at .328 with four home runs in 50 games. He posted a .399 on-base percentage to rank fourth in the league. Set to move up to Billings in 2014, he suffered an injury that caused him to miss the entire season.

Garcia returned from the injury in 2015 and spent the year at Billings, again putting up good numbers. He finished seventh in the Pioneer League in batting average at .317 with the Mustangs last summer and had more walks than strikeouts, primary hitting third in the lineup for Schofield. Beginning with the fifth day of the season, Garcia's average never dropped below .310 and while he hit only one home run, he posted an excellent .402 on-base percentage. He split his time almost equally between left field and right field.

Ed Charlton has gained a reputation as the kind of hustling, hard-nosed player that managers love. Charlton was a wide receiver on his high school football team in Richland, New Jersey, but as a baseball player, he led the team to the state championship and was chosen as his area's Player of the Year. He played four years of college baseball at New Jersey Tech, an NCAA Division I program. Charlton enjoyed his best season as a senior in the spring of 2015 when he batted .319 with nine home runs in 48 games, posting a .569 slugging percentage. He also stole 15 bases. When the Reds selected Charlton in the 23rd round in June, he became the first position player from NJIT ever drafted.

Charlton was assigned to Billings and played mostly center field for the Mustangs, though he did also see some time in right field and a few games in left. He appeared in 54 games and batted .267 with five home runs, a .455 slugging percentage, and an .804 OPS. His ability to play all three outfield spots would make him a valuable commodity for the 2016 Dragons.

Reydel Medina was signed by the Reds after he defected from Cuba in August of 2013. He opened his professional career at Goodyear in 2014 and advanced to Billings last summer, batting .241. Despite the modest batting average, Medina does bring one valuable element with his game as he has proven to be a home run threat. In his two seasons in the Reds organization, he has belted 19 homers in just 392 at-bats. In 2015 at Billings, he hit 13 home runs, eight more than anyone else on the team. On July 3, Medina hit three home runs in one game. In the Pioneer League's toughest hitter's park, he tied for second in the league in homers.

Medina split his time between right field and first base at Billings. The time in the infield was due to necessity and he is considered to be primarily an outfielder, but his experience at multiple positions could always prove valuable over a 140-game season.

Zach Shields is a pure center fielder who has become known for great catches. He made the ESPN Top 10 Plays of the Day in college in 2015, and then made an even better catch with Billings last summer.

Shields has followed the same path of former Reds outfielder Reggie Sanders. Both are natives of Florence, South Carolina and both went on to Spartanburg Methodist College (a junior college) after high school. Shields hit .353 and led Spartanburg Methodist to the NJCAA World Series in 2014 and then transferred on to a four-year Division I program, the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, where he helped his team to a huge season. Shields led UNCW to the Colonial Athletic Association title and a spot in the NCAA Regional, where they lost a tough elimination game to LSU.

Shields was selected first team all-conference at UNCW, batting .355 with three home runs and 17 stolen bases. He was selected by the Reds in the 10th round of the 2015 June draft and assigned to Billings, where he served as the team's primary center fielder.

Shields could never quite get on track as a hitter at Billings. In 55 games, he batted .220 without a home run. He did steal eight bases. Shields, 6'2", 160 lbs., is 22 years old. He bats from the left side.

Dalton Carter has spent three seasons in the Reds organization after being drafted out of high school in 2013. He played at Billings last season and batted .269 with three home runs in 93 at-bats. Carter, from Winder, Georgia, had planned to play college ball at Kennesaw State University before signing with the Reds as a 17th round pick in 2013. Another left-handed hitter, he saw most of his time in left field at Billings last season.

Jonathan Martijn is a native of Curacao, from the same hometown as former Dragons Didi Gregorius and Calten Daal. He was signed as an international free agent prior to the 2013 season and played at Billings last summer, batting .268 with a pair of home runs in 157 at-bats. He is a right-handed hitter who played left field when he was in the lineup for Dick Schofield last season.

Nine different players saw action in the Billings outfield in 2015. Charlton, Medina, Shields, and Garcia saw the most playing time, followed by Martijn and Carter.

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.

Next up: The Starting Pitchers

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