Dragons Announce Numerous Roster Changes

Dayton, Ohio—Three players from the Dayton Dragons have been promoted to Double-A Chattanooga, while a top prospect will join the Dragons from Single-A Daytona.

The Dragons, in conjunction with the Cincinnati Reds, announced the following roster changes today:

Starting pitcher Connor Phillips, outfielder Allan Cerda, and infielder Nick Quintana have been promoted to Chattanooga. Catcher Michael Trautwein has been transferred from Dayton to Daytona. Starting pitcher James Proctor has been placed on the injured list (shoulder).

Infielder Tyler Callihan has been promoted to Dayton from Daytona. Outfielder Quin Cotton and infielder Jonathan Willems have been transferred to Dayton from Chattanooga.

A new roster is attached.

Phillips made 12 starts for the Dragons in 2022, going 4-3 with a 2.95 earned run average. He ranks second in the Midwest League in strikeouts, tied for third in ERA, and tied for first in lowest opponent’s batting average.

Cerda appeared in 62 games for the Dragons and is tied for the team lead in home runs with 13 (tied for fourth in the league). He is eighth in the league in slugging percentage at .488. He is batting .219 with 31 runs batted in.

Quintana is batting .257 with six home runs. He ranks second on the team in RBI with 32.

Proctor, a member of the Dragons starting pitching rotation throughout the 2022 season, left Saturday’s game in the first inning due to a shoulder injury. Trautwein moves to Daytona with the Dragons roster now featuring three other catchers.

Callihan, who joins the Dragons, has primarily been a second baseman in professional baseball. He was the Reds third round draft pick in 2019. MLB.com says Callihan “was thought of as one of the best pure high school hitters in the 2019 draft class.”

Callihan is currently rated by MLB.com as the ninth best prospect in the Reds organization, the second highest ranking among current Dayton players behind Elly De La Cruz. His progress has been slowed by a serious elbow injury in 2021 that shortened his season to just 23 games after the cancellation of the 2020 season.

This season at Daytona, Callihan got a late start after undergoing “Tommy John” surgery last summer, and started slowly, but had enjoyed a strong month of June to raise his batting average to .282 with three home runs and 13 RBI in 32 games. He has struck out just 19 times in 117 at-bats. Since June 8, Callihan is batting .328 with two home runs and 17 RBI in 17 games while going 6 for 6 as a base stealer.

Both Cotton and Willems, along with Callihan, will be in uniform for the Dragons tonight. Both Cotton and Willems have played for the Dragons in both 2021 and 2022. Cotton played in 38 games at Chattanooga this season, batting .213 with three home runs and five stolen bases. In 2021, he hit 10 home runs for the Dragons to lead the team while batting .231 with 24 stolen bases in 92 games. Willems has been a backup at both second base and third base.

The Dragons offense continues to feature De La Cruz, arguably the league’s best player in 2022, along with Reds 2020 first round draft pick Austin Hendrick, speedy outfielder Justice Thompson, 2021 supplemental first round pick Mat Nelson, infielder Jose Torres, and recently promoted prospects Ruben Ibarra and Daniel Vellojin, among others.

The Dragons open a six-game series at Great Lakes tonight at 7:05 p.m. They return home to Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District on Monday, July 4 to host West Michigan, with a post-game fireworks show scheduled that night. For tickets, go to daytondragons.com/tickets or call (937) 228-2287.

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