The Reds played poorly today and did not win. The pitched poorly and hit poorly. Some thoughts:
- Certainly, the result of the game is most heavily dependent on the players. However, when a team is struggling like this one, I have no patience for a manager not putting his best lineup on the field. Alex Blandino needs to start at third base every day and that’s all there is to it. It should be directed by the front office if need be.
- If things hadn’t been so bad lately, I probably wouldn’t be so bummed about Finnegan’s start. He wasn’t great today, but he was healthy and, considering last year, that’s a pretty big deal.
- How many players can get hurt at this point? I mean, come on. Winker, Schebler, Suarez. That’s 37.5% of the starting lineup. Really not good. And also no one’s fault.
- The Reds need a full bench.
- At some point, the Reds will play better. This is absolutely not a situation where you burn things down and start over. It takes a much larger sample to have that happen in baseball.
- That said, no one is having fun watching the Reds right now and the stadium is super empty. I’m sure this bothers management. As it should.
- We do need to do a little tip of the cap to Tucker Barnhart and Dylan Floro, who were the bright spots today.
- It can’t get worse, Reds fans. It will, eventually, have to get better.