Ervin stays hot with pair of homers for Daytona
Reds' No. 9 prospect, 2013 first-round pick, hitting .343 with six homers through 19 games
Phil Ervin, Cincinnati's No. 9 prospect, led off Class A Advanced Daytona's 9-1 win over Dunedin on Monday night with a blast that landed in the left field bleachers. He then added another home run in the sixth.
Ervin finished 2-for-5 on the night and now has six homers on the season, along with a .343 batting average in 19 games.
The 22-year-old outfielder is only one home run shy of his 2014 total, which took him 132 games to reach. Ervin had a .237/.305/.376 slash line at Class A Dayton last season.
"I don't know if it's just that last year I was coming off wrist surgery and the strength wasn't there and now I'm getting it back," Ervin told MiLB.com. "I've always had power, it's just started to come back. I don't want to blame last year on the wrist surgery. It felt fine, I don't want to use that as an excuse for the year I had last year."
The Reds' 2013 first-round pick has displayed his power in 2015, evidenced by his .686 slugging percentage in the Florida State League.
"Everybody told me it's a pitchers' league, so the fact that I am doing well gives me confidence," Ervin told MiLB.com. "It feels good that I am doing good in a pitchers' league."