Four Bats Players in Fall League

LOUISVILLE, KY – Four players from the 2021 Louisville Bats team are continuing their development in the prestigious Arizona Fall League this offseason. Outfielder Drew Mount and pitchers Michael Byrne, Eddy Demurias and Jacques Pucheu will suit up with the Surprise Saguaros through the team’s month-plus schedule from Oct. 13 – Nov. 19.

Mount, 25, spent the majority of the 2021 season with Double-A Chattanooga, hitting .279 (55-for-197) with 11 homers, 33 runs scored, 24 RBIs and a .827 OPS in 53 games. He split time between corner outfield spots, appearing in 36 games in right field and 15 in left. Mount then earned a late-season promotion to Louisville and logged one hit in nine at-bats over four Triple-A outings with the Bats.

The Santa Clara, California native has registered a .304 OBP in four AFL contests with four hits, a walk and team-high two hit-by-pitches. Mount is also one of six players on the team with a stolen base through the early goings in the Fall League.

Mount was originally selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 16th round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Byrne, 24, pitched with the Lookouts for nearly the entirety of the 2021 regular season. Working primarily in relief, the right-hander logged a 3.24 ERA with 38 strikeouts and just two home runs allowed over 50.0 innings of work. Byrne joined Louisville for the final series of the campaign and recorded one out with one walk on Oct. 1 at Columbus.

The Santa Clara, California native has authored three scoreless appearances for the Saguaros this fall, combining for 4.0 innings with no runs or walks and four strikeouts. He shares the team lead with his two holds and has whiffed at least one batter in each of his three outings.

Byrne was originally selected by the Reds in the 14th round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Demurias, 24, made 30 appearances out of Double-A Chattanooga's bullpen, combining for a 2.43 ERA and .168 opponent average against in 40. 2 innings. He held opponents scoreless in six of his final seven appearances with the Lookouts before earning a promotion to the Bats in October. Demurias debuted with a scoreless inning in relief with Louisville on Oct. 1 at Columbus before surrendering two runs in 1.0 inning in his final appearance of the season on Oct. 2.

The Miami, Florida native has made three appearances for Surprise thus far this Fall. He blanked Salt River over 1.0 frames in his debut but was touched for two runs on two hits in just 0.2 frames of action his following outing. Overall, he owns a 7.71 ERA with two runs in 2.1 innings of work for the Saguaros.

Demurias was originally selected by the Reds in the 27th round of the 2018 MLB Draft.

Pucheu, 24, opened the 2021 campaign with High-A Dayton and notched a 3.45 ERA with an impressive .179 average against in 20 appearances (nine starts). The lefty, who was featured on Netflix’s Last Chance U as East Mississippi Community College’s punter, was promoted to Chattanooga in August and went 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA and 20 strikeouts to just four walks in five games (two starts) during his first career action at the Double-A level. Pucheau then reached the Bats for one turn in the rotation, being touched up for five runs in 1.0 inning of work in Louisville’s home finale on Sept. 26 vs. Toledo.

The Gulfport, Missouri native is one of only four southpaws on Surprise’s roster and is currently 1-0 with 2.2 scoreless innings over two outings. He punched out one batter for his lone out in his Fall League debut on Oct. 15 before working 2.1 hitless innings with just one walk and two strikeouts on Oct. 20. Pucheu faced just one over the minimum in that solid relief outing against Salt River.

Pucheu was originally signed by the Reds to a Minor League contract on June 22, 2019.