The Cincinnati Reds made a transaction in 2016 that led to more than a few jokes by those who were really paying attention. On May 30th of that year the Reds signed an infielder named Fidel Castro out of the Dominican Republic. Red. Fidel Castro. The jokes were there to be made.

After spending parts of two seasons since that day in the Dominican Summer League, the Reds have promoted Fidel Castro to the United States. He will join the Arizona League Reds. Castro, now playing the outfield, has had a strong season with the DSL Reds.

The 19-year-old has played in 35 games this season. He’s hit .262/.404/.516 in them with 25 walks and 42 strikeouts. That’s come along with 10 doubles, six triples, and three home runs. The walk rate is very high. So is the strikeout rate. It will be interesting to see how he makes the transition to the new level, particularly when it comes to making contact and controlling the strikezone – which tends to be a big adjustment when jumping from the Dominican Summer League to the United States.

Robert Stephenson named International League Pitcher of the Week

Louisville Bats pitcher Robert Stephenson was named the International League Pitcher of the Week for what he has done over the past 7 days. He made two starts in that span, and allowed just two earned runs in 14.0 innings (1.29 ERA) against Buffalo and Rochester.

Jose Siri robs Corey Ray of a home run

I wrote about Jose Siri for The Athletic based on some things that I saw and heard while in Chattanooga last week. It should be coming out later today. On Sunday the Blue Wahoos were back in Pensacola and the home crowd got to see the outfielder make some more highlights. Corey Ray, one of the Brewers top prospects has been on a roll lately. He’s slugging .679 in July and has already hit 11 home runs. It would have been 12 if Siri hadn’t climbed the wall to take one away.