Baseball America on the Dragons

Dayton has one of the more prospect-laden rosters in the Midwest League, as it boasts six of the Reds top 30 prospects. The presence of prospects does not always lead to wins; however, as Dayton is currently 3-8. It is the worst record in the MWL and they sit in last place in the Eastern division. To open the season, they lost three of four to South Bend, a club that features none of the Diamondbacks' top 30 prospects.

It has not been the fault of the Dayton prospects; however, as outfielder Jay Bruce (No. 2) and shortstop Paul Janish (No. 14) are hitting .304/.347/.565 and .440/.423/.440. That is not a typo, by virtue of having no walks and one sacrifice fly, Janish has a lower on-base percentage than batting average.

Lefthanders Travis Wood (No. 3) and Philippe Valiquette (No. 20) and righthander Zach Ward (No. 13) have combined for a 2.27 ERA in 32 innings, with 26 strikeouts and 13 walks.

The outlier of the group has been outfielder B.J. Szymanski (No. 4), who is hitting .171/.227/.390 with 23 strikeouts in 41 at-bats. This is Szymanski's second time through the MWL as he hit .262/.332/.471 there last year in 191 at-bats before his season was cut short by a hand injury.

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