10/4/2014: Reno, NV – The Reno Tenpinners do not have much to look at when it comes to major league players.  As expected, the 2014 Tenpinners finished near the bottom in nearly every offensive and pitching category.  With the exception of rookie António Morales there isn’t much hope that anyone currently on the 25-man roster can provide the enough help to turn around the club’s losing ways.  It would be nice if the Tenpinners could manage to avoid losing over 100 games at some point in the future, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Of course, with all bad news, human nature kicks in and you look for the light at the end of the tunnel. That light just might be getting brighter. Reno has some solid looking prospects in their low minors that are winning ballgames.

If I were to lay out my blueprints for a great farm system, I would start with top-notch arms who can find the plate with consistency and keep the ball in the park.  Next, I would add contact hitters who can play above-average defense at key positions around the diamond.  That, my friends, appears to be exactly what Reno has done.

It certainly was a good year for the Reno farm system.  Like all teams, they had some health issues but overall, most of the draftees from the last two seasons have performed up to or above expectations. The Single-A Escondido Stone Brews won their first ever Free Trade Throwdown, and the Short Season-A Angoon Avalanche came within one game of bringing home the Pacific Pennant.

There were plenty of standout performers that brought about the minor league winnings ways. Leading the pack was Ricardo Encarnación, who posted an impressive 1.027 OPS in 249 AB.  He was drafted in the 13^th round of the 2014 draft.  The 22-year-old has been guaranteed a promotion to Single-A. The Reno front office is eager to see if he can maintain anything close to the pace he has set in his first year as a professional.

On the pitching side, we have many solid standouts to get excited about. Dale Lake, Steve Elwell and Jhong-shun Kong all had very good seasons with Angoon; they combined for an impressive 30-10 record.  Angoon starters also managed to post the league’s best ERA (2.67).  Reno’s first selection in the 2014 draft, Michael Johnson, was pitching extremely well before winding up on the disabled list due to a torn rotator cuff.  He is expected to be back in action before spring and will likely return to Angoon for a little more seasoning before getting a shot at Single-A hitters.

Reno has a few upper level prospects that are likely to get a shot at the big leagues in the near future.  Most of these lower level players are a little further off and have plenty of time to implode before ever seeing a big league pitch. But when you are a Reno fan, it is important to dream big because waking and seeing the real team is often the scariest nightmare.