Urbaez, a second baseman, is a model student for what Dragons manager Jose Moreno and hitting coach Daryle Ward teach as part of the Reds philosophy – always be aggressive.
“That’s what they’ve been preaching the whole season – be ready to hit when you step up to the plate,” Urbaez said. “Just be hunting for fastballs, basically.”
Moreno said his team lacked an aggressive approach in Tuesday’s 2-1 victory. But on Wednesday the Dragons scored their runs in the first three innings and held on for their third straight win, 6-5, over West Michigan at Day Air Ballpark.
“We had a better approach at the plate today and it showed,” Urbaez said.
The East Division-leading Dragons (32-23) are nine games over .500 for the first time this season and lead Great Lakes by one game.
Quin Cotton’s two-run double and Victor Ruiz’s RBI single put the Dragons up 3-0 in the first. Jacob Hurtubise added a two-run triple in the second and Jose Tello an RBI double in the third for a 6-1 lead.
Urbaez singled during the first-inning rally and is batting .314, good enough for second in the High-A Central League. Urbaez began the season slow, but he has hit .342 over his past 30 games and become a fixture in the No. 2 spot in the lineup.
“Just making the small adjustments and working with my hitting coaches,” he said. “They’ve just been preaching to stay ready, be ready to hit every time you go up there and hunt the fastball.”
Moreno and Ward remind their players often that they must become good fastball hitters to make it to the majors. Moreno has seen Urbaez take that advice and consistently have good at-bats.
“At the beginning he tried to do too much with his swing, and now he’s short to the ball and compact,” Moreno said. “If they throw outside, he tries to hit the ball to the other side. He understands his game and now he’s preparing and having a real good approach to what they try to do against him.”
West Michigan (25-29) rallied with back-to-back homers in the fourth and single runs in the fifth and sixth. Then relievers Matt Gill (1-0) and Ricky Karcher retired the final 10 Whitecaps. Karcher earned his first save in his second appearance with the Dragons.
However, the Dragons had only one hit after the third inning. Moreno said one of the messages before the next game will be to maintain an aggressive hitting approach for nine innings.
“Sometimes we get kind of selective at the plate, and that’s where our coaches are trying to get us away from,” Urbaez said. “Because sometimes you get one good pitch an at-bat so that’s the one you’ve got to be ready for.”
Roster change: Right-handed relievers traded spots Wednesday. Tyler Garbee was activated from the injured list, and Francis Peguero was placed on the seven-day injured list. Peguero is tied for the team lead with four saves but has seen has ERA recently rise to 6.32.
Peguero seemed like the likely choice to pitch the ninth in Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory, but Daniel Duarte pitched the ninth for his first save in his second appearance. Garbee allowed five earned runs in three innings before going on the injured list on May 22. The Reds drafted Garbee in the 19th round in 2019.
Reds connection: West Michigan manager Brayan Pena is a former Reds catcher. He played 12 seasons and was with the Reds in 2014 and 2015. He batted .263 with the Reds to go with five homers and 44 RBIs and played in over 100 games both years.
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