Stock Watch: Reds' Ervin healthy and hitting

The first time Phillip Ervin faced professional pitching, the 2013 first-rounder (27th overall) dominated in an effortless fashion. He's been trying regain that sense of ease ever since.

After hitting .331 with nine homers in 46 games split between Rookie-level Billings and Class A Dayton, Ervin's career hit a wall. Late in 2013, Ervin took a swing and felt pain in his left wrist. He rested for a couple weeks and then tried to come back, but it was a no-go. In the end, he had to undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments.

Ervin was laid up for most of the offseason. He was able to start swinging shortly before Spring Training and returned to full action about halfway through the spring. He never really got his swing back, though.

He returned to Dayton to begin 2014 and hit .207 without a home run in April. He improved some as the season went on, but his final line was underwhelming: a .237 average, seven home runs and a 19.6-percent strikeout rate in 561 plate appearances. Ervin was expected to perform much better in all those categories, especially as a college bat playing in the Midwest League.

Although Ervin prefers to downplay the wrist injury, the Reds are fairly certain the right-handed hitter was adversely affected by the surgery early in the season.

"As a hitter coming off wrist surgery, it's tough if you don't completely trust your hands and wrist," Daytona hitting coach Kevin Mahar said. "I'm not sure if he trusted it or not, but it can cause plenty of things to happen with your swing."

Ervin said the wrist mostly felt fine aside from a brief flare up midway through the season. For him, the larger issue was that he reacted poorly to his initial failings.

"I just struggled early trying to do too much," the Alabama native said. "I never got it together. … That was the first time I'd struggled."

The product of Alabama's Samford University got back to his roots this offseason to try and rediscover the swing and approach that catapulted him to the first round of the '13 Draft. He worked with the Samford baseball team in Birmingham all winter, adding more rotation-based and strength training while fine-tuning his swing.

In the first month of the Minor League season, Ervin has recaptured his 2013 form. In 25 games with Class A Advanced Daytona, he's hitting .303 with seven home runs -- already matching his 2014 power output. He's striking out less, walking more and keeping out of his own head when he's at the plate.

"He hasn't tried too hard," Mahar said. "He hasn't pressed. He's trusted his swing and is staying with what he's doing.

"I think with him, it's more his approach. He's nice and calm, has a good rhythm going. He's working on staying inside the ball and using the whole field. He gets in trouble when he gets big and tries to pull the ball. When he stays square and thinks center, left-center, he can still drive the ball, but he has a shorter swing."

In general, Ervin's early success is a matter of trusting in his own talents.

"Just confidence," Ervin said. "Last year, my confidence wasn't there. I came out struggling. Right now, I feel good. That's pretty much it."

Ervin has cut down on his strikeouts while hitting for notably more power this year, both of which are obviously positive developments. When he was drafted, Ervin was advertised as a natural hitter with some power potential. He projected as average or better with all five tools, making him a steal late in the first round if he put it all together.

After a disastrous first full season in pro ball, Ervin is trending back toward becoming the impact talent who dominated in 2013. He's making plenty of contact, hitting for power, stealing bases and improving as a defender in the outfield.

"He's gotten better every day defensively," Mahar said. "That's not surprising, but he's been a lot better than I thought, better than he was in center field, covering ground. He's made some plays the last couple of games. He's playing center field really well."

At the Major League level, Cincinnati is trying to toe the line between competing and investing in the future. Ervin's emergence as an impact talent would be a huge help in allowing the Reds to retool instead of rebuild over the next year or two.

That's a concern for Reds fans, though, and not Ervin. Right now, the 22-year-old is trying to keep things as simple and effortless as possible.

"I'm just trying to stay positive this year, no matter what happens," he said.

Two hot…

Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard, Triple-A Las Vegas: Thor's time might be here. After facing some ups and downs as a 21-year-old in the Pacific Coast League last year, Syndergaard has returned to the 51s and recently put together the two best outings of his pro career. On April 27, the 22-year-old found his fastball command and rode it to seven scoreless frames against Albuquerque, striking out nine along the way. He followed that with 10 strikeouts over seven more scoreless innings against Reno on May 2. Said 51s pitching coach Frank Viola after the latter performance:

"He continued what he started last time, and that's by establishing his fastball, going right after hitters, attacking in the strike zone, getting ahead in the count and putting them away with his curveball. His curveball was probably -- I'd say the last two games -- was the most consistent I've seen it since I've met the young man and seen what he possesses. He's been able to throw it over the plate in pretty much any count, and it just makes him totally dominating."

Twins OF Byron Buxton, Double-A Chattanooga: The 21-year-old admitted during Spring Training that his swing didn't feel right as he worked back from the rash of injuries that ruined his 2014 season. The rust showed early, as Buxton batted just .190 through his first 15 games. In the eight games that followed the slow start, he batted .455 with a homer, four triples and five stolen bases. He hit a walk-off homer Monday, lifting his average to .286 and OPS to .880. Join me in saying welcome back to the Buxton we all swooned for in 2013. Buxton won't hit over .400 the rest of the way, obviously, but all indications are that he's hitting his stride and getting on track for a potential late-season cameo in the Majors.

…And one not

Marlins OF Isael Soto, Class A Greensboro: By all accounts, the 18-year-old Dominican has a bright future with the Fish. A lousy start to 2015 won't change that, but so far, Soto has had a rough go in his full-season debut. Soto was jumped to Class A from the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and has a .125 average through 17 games -- his average is weighed down largely by his 27 strikeouts. He's walked just three times and is currently in an 0-for-23 slump. The hitless streak could last a while, as Soto landed on the disabled list last week with an undisclosed injury. Soto is the No. 9 prospect in Miami's system and has the upside to be a future Top 100 prospect, but he clearly has some work to do to get there.