The Cincinnati Reds 2015 season mercifully came to an end with a 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. The Reds finished the year with 98 losses, which is tied for the third most losses in franchise history.
The Reds pitching held the Pirates in check for the most part, but it wasn’t enough. The Pirates starter, J.A. Happ dominated the Reds lineup as many pitchers have done in the second half of the season. The win for the Pirates secured them home-field advantage in the wild-card game on Wednesday.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (64-98) | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates (98-64) | 4 | 13 | 0 |
| W: Happ (11-8) L: Smith (0-4) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Biggest Play of the Game
According to Fangraphs WPA statistic (winning percentage added), the most important play of the game was Josh Smith giving up a solo home run to Pedro Alvarez in the 4th inning to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. That play decreased the Reds chances of winning by 10.6% (from 30.4% to 19.9%).
Player of the Game
J.A. Happ: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K, 2.30 FIP
Positives
Joey Votto worked a 13-pitch walk off J.A. Happ in the sixth inning. Votto finished the season at .317/.459/.541 with a 172 wRC+. Votto finished .001 behind Bryce Harper for the MLB best OBP. If Votto would have finished ahead of Harper, it would have been the fifth time he lead the NL in OBP. Votto’s 172 wRC+ was the exact same number he posted in his MVP season in 2010.
Todd Frazier had two hits in the season finale.
Skip Schumaker made his final appearance ever in a Reds uniform (surely). Drink it in Reds fans, drink it in. Skip finished with -2.4 fWAR for the Redlegs. His veteran presence helped the Reds to a record of 140-184 in his two seasons.
Negatives
The Reds finish the season 36 games back in the NL Central. That is the furthest back the Reds have finished since 1945.
The Reds offense was terrible in the season finale. The Reds were shutout on six hits.
Eugenio Suarez had a really nice year for the Reds, but his finale was not great. Suarez was 0 for 4 with 3 K’s.
Josh Smith only gave up two runs in his start, but he only lasted 4.0 innings. Smith went 3.0, 5.0, 4.1, 4.0, 4.0, 5.0, 4.0 in his seven starts with the Reds.
Three ex- #reds just won a division with the Rangers: Choo, Stubbs and Josh Hamilton
— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) October 4, 2015
Not so random thoughts………….
It has been a brutal season in every possible way for our favorite baseball club, but thanks to the loyal readers for sticking with us this season. It has been a pleasure to bring these recaps and share thoughts and opinions about the ole’ Redlegs. Thanks to Steve Mancuso for all his hard work to make this site as great as it is. Thanks to Chad Dotson, Jason Linden, and Nick Doran for all of their recaps this season. Thanks to all the other great writers for their terrific content this season. Hopefully next season we will bring you some winning recaps and columns.
We will have lots of content coming over the off-season, so make sure you stick with us. There will surely be lots of changes coming around the Reds, and we will be here to break it all down for you. I’ll have the NL Central 2015 review tomorrow, an article about Joey Votto’s incredible season, and another article previewing the MLB postseason coming this week.
Up Next:
Phillies at Reds
Monday, April 4, 2016
Time: TBA