9th Inning Rally Lifts Dragons

Though he has yet to get a decision, it was the second strong effort in as many starts for the 6’4” lefthander Tanner Robles. He turned in a 6IP/1R/3H effort against West Michigan in his first outing while striking out seven. He now has a 1.50 ERA and a 0.750 WHIP on the young season.

A ninth inning double by shortstop Juan Perez opened the scoring for a three run rally to lift the Dayton to a 6-4 win at South Bend last night. The victory ended a four game skid and evened up their first road series of the season at 1-1 with two more games pending this weekend. For the second game in a row the Dragons benefited from a strong outing from their rotation. Tanner Robles left the game with a 3-1 lead after limiting the Silver Hawks to three hits over six innings. He did issue his first three walks on the season bringing his K/BB ratio to 9/3.

Though he has yet to get a decision, it was the second strong effort in as many starts for the 6’4” lefthander out of Cottonwood H.S. in Murray, UT. He turned in a 6IP/1R/3H effort against West Michigan in his first outing while striking out seven. He now has a 1.50 ERA and a 0.750 WHIP on the young season.

After a 33-0 high school career Robles was originally selected by the Angels in the 14th round of the 2007 draft before he opted to go to Oregon St instead. After pitching three years for the Beavers the Reds selected him in the 9th round in 2010. In his first professional season he put up a 2.98 ERA in 14 starts at Billings. He finished the year strong, allowing only six earned runs in his last nine starts. Over that stretch he struck out 50 while walking only 12. That effort was rewarded with a spot on the Pioneer League All Star team.

Last year after a few appearances in the Arizona League an early season promotion brought him to Dayton where he experienced some growing pains. He finished his season with a 5.40 ERA for the Dragons. Issues with command led to 69 walks while striking out 85 in 87 innings. He also hit 13 batters and threw 19 wild pitches.

His fastball comes in around 90 mph before tailing off with a sinking movement. It has the radar in the mid-90’s in the past. He’s working on mixing it with a curveball in the mid-70’s. The 23 year-old has not made it into the Reds top 20 prospects yet but some services rate him on the fringe. Continued success should raise him into that list by the start of the 2013 season.