Hi Reds Fans!
Lately, I’ve had trouble pleasing everyone with my recap, so today, you get the recap you want. It’s CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE TIME.
The Reds were scheduled to play Cleveland tonight, the result was…
A bad loss that you don’t want to talk about – Proceed to Option 1
A rainout – There was no game here – Proceed to Option 2
A bad loss and you want to wallow – Proceed to Option 3
A bad loss and you want reason to hope – Proceed to Option 4
Option 1
Milton was unhappy with Cincinnati’s performance tonight.
Option 2
I don’t know why I keep drawing games that don’t come to fruition, but such is life. It does give one the opportunity to contemplate the meaning of existence. For instance, tonight, I had a Fig Newton and it occurred to me that it might be the perfect cookie because it is always enjoyable, but one cannot eat too many. This is what we want from cookies. A brief escape. A treat. Not a the wallowing decadence that comes with Oreos, for instance. The Fig Newton is the way my friends. The Fig Newton is the way.
As always, you are reminded, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains. Tonight it rained. Such is life.
Option 3
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (18-23) | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Cleveland Indians (18-23) | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| W: Carrasco (5-4) L: Leake (2-3) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
The Good
–Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier. That is all.
The Bad
–T.O.S.*
–Paging Mike Leake. Where are you? Because the Mike Leake we’ve seen the last two starts is not what we are used to seeing. Leake walked five a struck out nobody (not even Odysseus) in 4 very bad innings. This team has been snake bitten enough the last few years, that I found myself wondering if he was hurt. Probably not, but you know.
–The bullpen is an utter conflagration. Badenhop and Diaz both should be better than this. Relief pitchers. Who the monkey stink knows?
–Baserunning. Yuckers.
Not-So-Random Thoughts
–Six losses in a row. Man. It is not a real good time right now. I’ll admit to largely avoiding games this week because baseball just hasn’t been much fun.
–Votto is still not hitting like he should, and it’s really weird. Neither I nor anyone I’ve talked to thinks he seems hurt, but there is no power at all right now. If he is healthy, it’s the worst slump of his career. I hope that’s all it is, but given recent history, you have to wonder.
–Chad linked his piece about the potential problem that is the rotation last night, and I’m just going to leave that bad boy up for a night here.
–This seemed like a mediocre team at the beginning of year, but one with some upside. So much for that. At least, that’s how it feels right now.
*This offense stinks.
Option 4
| FINAL | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (18-23) | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Cleveland Indians (18-23) | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| W: Carrasco (5-4) L: Leake (2-3) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
Okay, okay. Let’s dispense with the normal recap. Tonight sucked. It’s sucked a lot lately. But here are five reasons I can think of to still watch the Reds:
1. Jay Bruce is heating up. 2 for 2 with a double and two walks tonight. He has a five-game hitting streak and has raised his OPS more than 100 points in that span.
2. Johnny Cueto still pitches every five days.
3. Joey Votto still plays for the Reds, and since nothing about him looks hurt, we should expect him to start whacking baseballs hard again, well, now.
4. Zack Cozart is having the season of his life right now. It’s fun when players do that. I hope he keeps it up. I’ll admit that I gave up on him last year, and I want to see him prove me wrong.
5. We’re getting to see the young pitchers more and it sounds like Marquis might be out of the rotation. If a team is going nowhere, I’d always rather watch young guys play badly and get better than old guys play badly and then retire. It’s not the playoffs, but there is something to be said for watching players come into their own.