00:00The good news is Edwin Arroyo, one of the top prospects in the Reds organization, is on his way to
00:06the major leagues.
00:07Arroyo was one of the best performers in all of minor league baseball so far this year.
00:12We'll start with the Arroyo front. We'll wrap the segment on the Ellie front.
00:16But Edwin Arroyo in 53 games with AAA Louisville this year, a 945 OPS.
00:22He hit 323 with 11 homers, 34 driven in, and he was 9 for 9 in the stolen base department.
00:28This is the best that Edwin Arroyo has probably ever looked in the minor leagues.
00:33And this was a big piece of that Luis Castillo trade return.
00:37A hundred percent. And, you know, in the early going, you know, right after that trade at the lower levels,
00:42Arroyo was clearly a top 100 prospect because the defense was so good, a switch hitter that he could air
00:48pull.
00:48So I think you would see him kind of outslug those exit velocities.
00:51And then Arroyo, I think the shoulder injury that wiped out his 2024 season played a big part in that.
00:57And he just couldn't quite find the swing to the degree that he had had it at certain points in
01:01the lower levels
01:02to be able to generate that loft and produce a little bit more power than we've seen in the past.
01:06But also the mechanics, the setup kind of got a little bit funky.
01:09And I dove into that on Twitter and we talked about it a little bit more on the call up
01:14in the past.
01:15But he used to be super bowed out and like heavy on the front side with his leg, like very
01:19unusual stance.
01:20And as a result, I think it was very difficult for him to control his weight.
01:23He's a lot more vertical, kind of standing out, letting himself be an athlete in the box now.
01:27And I don't think it's a coincidence that the quality of contact is up, the contact rates are up,
01:32and the batted ball angles are better as well.
01:35And so all of a sudden now you have a guy that he's never going to hit 30 homers, I
01:40don't think.
01:40But when you have the good bat to ball, and now you can pair that with significantly improved batted ball
01:45angles
01:46and batting and exit velocities that are closer to average, now you can start to dream on the sum of
01:52his parts
01:52being an above-average regular.
01:53And remember, Arroyo is a fantastic defender, not only at shortstop, but all over the infield.
01:58So I know we have it right now for those that are watching on video.
02:01He was completely open and his front knee bowed out forward.
02:05I don't know how he hit like that.
02:07Usually you think about guys being like 60-40 towards the back leg, sometimes even more 70-30 towards the
02:12back leg.
02:12I've never really seen like 70-30 towards the front leg in a setup.
02:16And I imagine that had to be really difficult for Arroyo to control.
02:19I don't know how he got there, but I'm glad he got away from there.
02:22And I think as a result, we're seeing a much, much better Arroyo offensively,
02:26where you look at what he's been able to do.
02:29His career high is 14 homers.
02:30He had 11 in 53 games before the call-up at AAA.
02:34So obviously there's a little bit more thump there.
02:36Yeah, I was going to say, like a lot more pop in Edwin Arroyo's bat right now.
02:41And it makes a lot of sense when you're taking away like this sway,
02:43but you're also eliminating so much momentum that you can actually gather from that back leg,
02:48which is fascinating.
02:50Edwin Arroyo, also a guy that, if I'm not mistaken, can still play a high level of defensive shortstop, right?
02:55That should be kind of a net neutral at shortstop for them.
02:58A hundred percent.
02:59I think he can be a really solid defender there.
03:01I have him as above average.
03:03He's going to be a big riser.
03:05On to our top 100 list and then also, you know, moving up it pretty high there in this update
03:10that's coming out this week.
03:11But what I think makes Arroyo the perfect fit for this team and why he should have probably been called
03:15up before an L.A.
03:17Dela Cruz injury is that they – I know a lot of shortstops.
03:20You look at them and say, okay, those guys can play second base and third base as well.
03:22Sure.
03:23But not all of them are super comfortable maneuvering from those positions and going back and forth.
03:28But Arroyo is super comfortable at second base, super comfortable at third base to where I think he'd be grading
03:33out as potentially plus at those spots as well.
03:35And when you look at the Reds and their larger roster situation, those are two spots that they're not getting
03:41production from.
03:41And I understand that they don't want to fully, you know, just call it on Kibrian Hayes, who I know
03:46is like getting a little bit of an IL stint here.
03:48And we'll see if that's more of a phantom thing or what that is with the back that they alluded
03:53to.
03:53And then I know McLean has just struggled as well.
03:55You can plug in to both of those spots and cut into those guys' reps maybe two to three times
04:00a week each without fully kicking them from the lineup.
04:03And all of a sudden, you've got Arroyo playing, you know, four times a week when L.A.
04:08Dela Cruz comes back.
04:08But for now, it looks like he's going to be getting some pretty consistent run.
04:11And, again, I think he's going to be able to play it at a high level.
Comments