The first game of the series between Arizona and Cincinnati was suspended in the top of the 8th inning right after the Diamondbacks took the lead. It was resumed on Wednesday prior to the regularly scheduled game. The bullpen coughed up both games against Arizona – one on Tuesday night in a monsoon of rain and sleet before the game came to a halt, and then in the 9th and 10th innings of the regularly scheduled game.
Game 1: Started on Tuesday and completed on Wednesday.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks (7-10) | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (9-7) | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| W: Bukauskas (1-0) L: Garrett (0-1) SV: Crichton (2) |
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| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
In the first two innings of the game there wasn’t a ton happening for the Reds on offense. Jesse Winker led off the game with a walk, and it wasn’t until the bottom of the 3rd inning that another Red reached base and that was when Luis Castillo doubled. Winker followed with a bloop single to put runners on the corners. Tyler Naquin drove in the first run of the game for Cincinnati with a ground out. In the next inning the Reds got another run with a 2-out rally started by a Jonathan India walk. Back-to-back singles by Tucker Barnhart and Kyle Farmer brought him around to bring the Reds within a run.
After a quiet 5th inning, the Cincinnati offense got back to work in the 6th. Trailing by a run, Tucker Barnhart drew an 8-pitch walk. Kyle Farmer followed up with a 405-foot go-ahead home run to center field as his big night at the plate continued. The Reds threatened in the 7th, but left two runners stranded as they held onto a 1-run lead as the rain began to pick up at Great American Ballpark.
After the game was suspended, it resumed on Wednesday in the 8th inning. When the Reds came to the plate in their half of the inning they went quickly in 1-2-3 fashion. Alex Blandino came off of the bench to pinch hit to lead off the bottom of the 9th and worked a good at-bat, but after a long foul ball he flew out to center. Jesse Winker, like Blandino, worked a good at-bat but he came through with a laser into right field for a single. Tyler Naquin popped out, leaving things up to Eugenio Suárez, who entered the at-bat zero for his last 14 with nine strikeouts. More of the same in that at-bat as he struck out on three pitches to end the game.
The Pitching
It was another tough start for Luis Castillo in the 1st inning, but the defense didn’t do much to help him, either. Jonathan India made a throwing error that helped extend the inning, leading to two unearned runs. Arizona got a third run that inning, too, and grabbed an early 3-0 lead. While things weren’t perfect from there moving forward, Castillo battled his way through three more shutout innings before a rising pitch count caught up to him and manager David Bell turned to the bullpen in the 5th inning.
José De León struck out the side with a walk sprinkled in during the 5th inning to keep Arizona’s lead at 3-2. Cionel Pérez took over in the 6th inning, and like De León before him – he tossed a hitless inning to keep the score at 3-2. Tejay Antone entered the game in the top of the 7th with the Reds holding the lead for the first time on the day. The bullpen ace began the inning with a walk, but got a ground out back to himself, a pop up to Joey Votto in foul territory, and struck out Nick Heath to strand the tying run at second base. Antone came back out for the 8th inning and he gave up a solo homer to the 1st batter of the inning to tie the game up.
That was all she wrote for Antone as the Reds turned things over to Amir Garrett. Things didn’t as well as hoped as the lefty walked the first batter he faced before giving up a double to Kole Calhoun to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with no one out. A line drive by Asdrubal Cabrera was caught by Eugenio Suárez for the 1st out of the inning, but that was it for Garrett as Lucas Sims entered the game. It didn’t get better from there as the rain and sleet really picked up. Sims hit the first batter he faced to load the bases and then walked in the go-ahead run in an absolute downpour.
At that point David Bell came out to ask the umpire, presumably, why the game was still being played. The umpire, though said play on. That’s when the comedy began as Lucas Sims tossed the ball he had to the dugout and asked for a new one. He then tossed that one to the dugout and asked for another one. Then he did it again. He essentially was refusing to continue pitching in these conditions. At that point the umpires met and they called on the grounds crew, but not to roll out the tarp, but to come work on the mound. The Reds players walked off of the field, and after about 1 minute of working on the mound, THEN the umpiring crew called for the tarp to be pulled.
The game was suspended after a short delay and it was resumed about 10 minutes after it stopped snowing on Wednesday at 5:30pm. Lucas Sims returned to the mound and he got a quick pop up and fly out to leave the bases loaded. Sean Doolittle came out to try and keep Arizona’s lead at 5-4 and give the home team a chance to tie things up or win it in the bottom of the 9th. He did just that, striking out the first two hitters of the inning before a fly out to center ended things.
Game 2
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks (8-10) | 8 | 5 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (9-8) | 5 | 9 | 2 |
| W: Clarke (1-0) L: Pérez (1-2) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
Cincinnati didn’t put up much of a threat until the bottom of the 4th inning. Eugenio Suárez broke out of an 0-15 slump with a line drive single off of the top of the left field wall. Joey Votto followed up with a walk to put two runners on with one out in a 0-0 game. Nick Senzel loaded the bases with a single of his own to set up Jonathan India with an opportunity to make something happen and he did just that with a sacrifice fly to put the Reds up 1-0. Kyle Farmer would pop up to end the inning, stranding runners on 1st and 2nd.
In the bottom of the 5th inning Tyler Stephenson led off with a single and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt by Tyler Mahle. Jesse Winker tripled him home and then he scored on Tyler Naquin’s sacrifice fly that extended the Reds lead to 3-0.
The Reds had a walk in both the 6th and 7th, but that was all they could get going. In the 8th inning they got a single from Tyler Naquin but he was thrown out on the bases to end the inning and send the game to the top of the 9th. After a 3-run homer tied the game up in the top half of the inning, the Cincinnati offense was called upon to try and get one more run. After Nick Senzel lined out to the warning track in left field Mark Payton came on to pinch hit for the pitchers spot and walked. Kyle Farmer flew out to shallow right field. Tyler Stephenson had a broken bat single that got by a diving right fielder, but Mark Payton was thrown out at home by several feet to end the inning and send the game into extras.
Alex Blandino led off the inning with an RBI double (what a weird sentence that is to type) to cut into the Arizona lead, making it 8-4 in the 10th. Tyler Naquin made it 8-5 with a 1-out single to bring in Blandino and get to the middle of the order. But it wasn’t meant to be as Eugenio Suárez grounded out to shortstop and Joey Votto flew out to left to end the game.
The Pitching
Tyler Mahle had things working early and often. He struck out the side in the 1st inning. He picked up two more in the 2nd inning. In the third inning he only had one strikeout, but he kept the game scoreless. By the time the 4th inning was over he had another strikeout to push his total to seven on the day and he had still allowed just one hit on the day. The same thing happened in the 5th as Mahle reached eight strikeouts on the night.
The 6th inning, one that Tyler Mahle had not recorded an out in yet during 2021, was not an easy one. He walked the first batter he faced and then hit the next one. After a mound visit he settled right back in as a chopper came right back to him and he started a double play and then induced a ground out to second base to end the inning and hold onto a 3-0 lead. Mahle returned for the 7th inning with 87 pitches under his belt. Asbrúbal Cabrera led off with a single, but the Reds righty rebounded with a strikeout of David Peralta and a fly out by Eduardo Escobar. Nick Ahmed worked an 8-pitch walk, though to put two on and two out. That led to a pitching change with Tejay Antone coming in to pitch against former teammate Josh VanMeter. Antone walked him on a full count to load the bases. He came back to strike out Nick Heath to end the inning and preserve the shutout and 3-0 lead.
Tejay Antone returned for the top of the 8th inning and started it out with two strikeouts. But a ground ball on the infield that should have been let go by Eugenio Suárez in order to let Alex Blandino field it wasn’t let go and Suárez had the ball ricochet off of his glove and into the outfield, resulting in a base runner and an error. Antone chose to take things into his own hands and struck out Asdrúbal Cabrera on a 96 MPH fastball to end the inning and whatever thread Arizona was thinking about making.
Amir Garrett was called on to close the game out with a 3-0 lead to start the 9th inning. The lefty walked the first batter of the inning. After falling behind 3-0 to Eduardo Escobar he battled back to get a fly out to right field. The struggles with the zone continued as he walked the next batter on four pitches. That brought Josh VanMeter to the plate and the former Red hit a baseball to Kentucky to tie the game up. Garrett struck out the next batter for the 2nd out of the inning before David Bell went to the bullpen to bring in Carson Fulmer who proceeded to hit the first batter he faced, but rebounded with a ground out on a fantastic diving play made by Alex Blandino at second base to end the top of the inning.
Cionel Pérez came out to begin the 10th inning. A fly ball into the left field corner from the first batter of the inning moved the starts-at-second-base runner over to third. Asbrúbal Cabrera was intentionally walked. A chopper on the infield that Alex Blandino attempted to bare hand didn’t work and brought the runner in, giving Arizona a 4-3 lead. Having faced three batters, José De León was called on from the bullpen to try and hold the game there. A 1st pitch single loaded the bases. The next batter was hit by a pitch to make it a 5-3 game. A wild pitch then made it 6-3 and the rout was on. Arizona got two more with a single to extend the lead to 8-3. A final strikeout stopped the bleeding, not that it mattered by this point.
— Redleg Nation (@redlegnation) April 22, 2021
Key Moment of the Game(s)
Game 1
It was quite obvious that forcing Lucas Sims to pitch in a monsoon of rain and sleet was the key moment of the game. It led to struggles with control and Arizona taking a 1-run lead before the game was suspended.
Game 2 – The Regularly Scheduled Version
Tough to figure out which play in the 9th inning went worse for the Reds, but we’ll go with Mark Payton forgetting how many outs there were, leading to him hesitating at second base despite there being two outs before then taking off for third and ultimately being thrown out at the plate to end the inning and send the game to extras where the game quickly got away from the Reds.
Notes Worth Noting
The 1st game was delayed by 20 minutes due to snow.
Tyler Mahle’s ERA dropped to 1.74 through four starts and he now has 31 strikeouts and just nine hits allowed in 21.0 innings pitched.
Tejay Antone lowered his ERA to 0.84 on the season in 10.2 innings with 17 strikeouts.
Amir Garrett’s ERA is 16.20 after his outing. He’s walked seven batters in 5.0 innings and given up three home runs.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Cincinnati Reds
Thursday April 22nd, 12:35pm ET
Taylor Widener (1-0, 1.59 ERA) vs Jeff Hoffman (2-1, 2.93 ERA)
This was not an easy game to watch. Amir Garrett is NOT a closer. He looks so discombomulated on the mound. All jerky and pitches the same way.
I could not agree more. Too many walks and too many long balls. Should have left Antone to close it out.
When everyone gets healthy again, they may want to trade some outfielders for a bona fide reliever and put some guys on a bus going south to Louisville.
Bell couldn’t manage his way out of a
sopping wet paper bag …… lacks any feel for game flow whatsoever. Just awful !
Arizona Diamondbacks, so far in 2021 –
4-1 vs. Reds
4-9 vs. all other MLB teams
10% of the season in the books now … and if the other 90% is like what we have seen to date … everyone here is going to have a couple of years taken off their life expectancy.
The division is there for the taking … there a lot of pieces.
But, it all has to go right, IMO … Bell … bullpen other than Sims/Antone …. Suarez (2 more Ks in 4 ABs tonight)
When all the warts show at once … tonight happens.
You listed 3 things as needing to go right, including just dropping the managers name whatever that means. I’m pretty sure you can easily pick at least 3 things that went right. I’ll start with the easiest just to get things going: Mahle continuing to deal. Its pretty easy to just turn the same narrative around and see a lot of good things about this club. If the Reds are this team for the next 90%, then it looks to me like that puts them right in the thick of things for the division, which I think youre saying is what you want.
The team played well tonight, unfortunately the bullpen imploded…again. We knew already this was a weakness on the team before the game and its for sure something that needs addressed. This was, for me, the last time I’d give Garrett a chance to close for a while, but we will have to see how that plays out. He needs to get right, the FO and coaches have invested a lot of confidence in him taking that next step and his team needs him to.
As a follow up – Hopefully Bell at least swaps Antone’s and Garrett’s roles since the Reds seem intent on not giving Antone a rotation spot.
Garrett needs to be sent to AAA. Romano needs released. Is it too early for the Reds to be trying to find bullpen help via the trade market?
He has no options so he can’t be sent down.
Add Perez to that list!
Bell’s management style reminds me so much of when Mr. Burns managed on the Simpsons. (For those who don’t know the reference: He explains to Darryl Strawberry that he’s having Homer Simpson pinch hit for him because the pitcher is left-handed. He explains to Strawberry, “if I send up a right-handed batter, it’s called playing the percentages. It’s what smart managers do to win ballgames.” Strawberry protests, “but I’ve got nine home runs today.” Burns responds, “you should be very proud of yourself. Sit down.”)
hahaha!!!
David Bell post game – “Garret will continue to pitch in important situations and be fine. “
Are we surprised?
No, we are not.
As Yoda said to Luke, “That is why you fail.”
I’m not masochistic enough to listen to Bell’s post game comments. They tend to be vacuous.
I try very hard not to read or listen to anything David Bell has to say. It makes my Reds life much more enjoyable. Just forgot to turn the TV off this time. My bad.
Imagine being in the Civil War times and following men like David Bell into battle. We’d all be shot for treason.
eurostep what are you talking about?
Reminds of when Dusty Baker said Zack Cozart is “just going to learn how to hit in the number 2 hole”
It isn’t Bell’s job to say pleasing things. Garrett can’t be sent down and has shown that, though streaky, he’s capable of pitching well. What choice does Bell have, realistically? If Garrett doesn’t return to form, the team has a problem, but he won’t return to form on the bench, in all probability. I’m also not sure that I see the problem with Dusty’s statement. New skills have to be learned.
“ What choice does Bell have, realistically?”
He certainly can realistically choose not to use Garrett right now when his team NEEDS the win.
He could not use Garrett, but he doesn’t have many options without over-using the few relief pitchers who are actually getting it done.
He doesn’t want his players to see him publicly throw them under the bus or publicly express lack of confidence. He knows it. Garrett knows it. Today was supposed to be the day to get his confidence back. It didn’t work that way. I don’t blame him. I still believe in Garrett, I think he is just playing with injury…remember when he did that his rookie year..He hid a hip injury from the team for half a season
Will the Reds be fine? Garrett should be used as a ‘longy’ and work himself up in the relief hierarchy. He should not become another entitled closer. For now, closing should be done by Sims and Antone. Trade(s) should be made to strengthen relief.
Agree!
What is his alternative? Garrett is pitching horridly but the bullpen is terrible. He can’t just use Antone and Sims. De Leon can pick up some additional innings but this bullpen was thin going into the season and that was assuming Garrett did his job well.
What do you want Bell to do? He’s not the one missing the broad side of a barn. Bell’s doing the best with what he’s got. These two games are on Bob C. for being cheap. Dumping your two best relievers and hoping it works out is not a plan.
The last 25 hours in Cincinnati Reds land have been heartbreaking. Salvage a win tomorrow afternoon and I will feel better.
Humiliating loss.
It looked so good in the 4th. inning and then….
Offense should be fine. Moose, castellanos, Aquino, and shogo will all be back soon. The only issue on that side right now is Suarez.
Instead of just trying to barrel the ball and improve at his new/old position, our good vibes only shortstop is worried more about hitting 50 home runs. How’s that working out for him? He’s on pace for under 20 home runs, well over 200 strike outs, and close to 40 errors.
Pitching is a different story and it’s because of the bullpen obviously. The decisions to move Iglesias and Bradley are proving to be as dumb as many of us knew they would be. You absolutely can’t remove solid arms from the pen to save money when you have a manager as bad as bell at managing a pitching staff!
With that said, even with the poor move to bring in Garrett tonight the reds should’ve won. Garrett has just been the biggest disappointment on the team so far this year. He didn’t earn the closer role, he was just handed it because the two best options were gotten rid of and a 3rd is hurt. It doesn’t matter though. Bell will continue throwing him out there in close games and I’m sure garrett’s going to continue rocking a baby (even after giving up a grand slam) as he piles up losses and blown saves
The Reds Reporters need to hold David Bell accountable, and ask him, “Why do you think Amir G will be fine, have you seen him the last couple games?” If Amir G needs to work on things, either send him down to the minors to work on things there, or let him practice during the game in the bullpen, but don’t bring him in! If you think he will be fine, how many games are you going to blow, before you hope he rights himself?? Also….you keep this up, and your ticket sales will go down! The Reds owner and general manager need to pull David Bell in their office and override him! Bell wants to keep the players happy, so he will continue to do that, doesn’t care about wins or losses. Reds owner and general manager should see the overall big picture, and ticket sales and chance for Reds to compete in their division currently, and override Bell!
David Bell cares more about the wins and losses than anyone posting on the internet about the Cincinnati Reds. He is also never going to throw one of his players under the bus for poor performance. He has never done it in Cincinnati.
Hit reply before I was finished!
With that said Bell does need to find other opportunities to pitch Garrett in until he shows he’s back to the guy he has been the previous few seasons.
Agreed
I agree, too.
Garret’s mound time must be limited to three batters, mostly lefties (DIDN’T work tonight be JVM), and NOT late in the game. He’s nowhere near his past self. This is a results-based business and it IS about what you’ve done lately. It’s not personal . It’s business. And the lack of results lately from the BP is embarrassing.
Miami has no money and yet they signed reliever Anthony Bass to a 2 yr contract for $5 mil guaranteed. He blew 2 saves early and guess what? Don Mattingly pulled him!
He hasn’t given up a run since. Garrett deserves no leeway? He’s not David Price! He’s not a struggling Craig Kimbrel that you’re paying a ton of money to with a track record of success. NO….just NO….Bell is wrong. Bell makes no sense and Bell gives away ballgames. Price seemed like a smart guy, but not on the baseball field. Same with Bell. Garrett has earned nothing. He’s been fairly good as a Red, but not to the point where he can blow 3-4 winnable games. If Joey doesn’t turn a prayer of a triple play then AG’s era is over 20. Let him fix it in an 8-2 game.
Let him be an opener for Castillo. 3 runs are coming either way
I don’t usually post but love the website and the Reds. At 67, I have seen much success and some down times but still watch or follow mostly every game. Can’t watch this year, no streaming available here in Moores Hill Indiana, so I listen on radio or do the gamecast on espn. This team has good possibilities to make the playoffs and more. Anything can happen when the playoffs start. The team have good pitching and a good offense at times. My issue is in game management. My opinion is that Bell, being a former player tries to make all the the players happy. This is not little league, every game is important. You cannot let a game get away like this one did tonight to try and build someone’s confidence. I like Amir but he needs to build innings and his confidence in non pressure situations. I have never been a fan of “tinker” Bell and never will be.. I will not attend a game will he is still manager. Sorry for the rant….
“You cannot let a game get away like this one did tonight to try and build someone’s confidence.”
Well said. Glad you posted tonight.
Agree. The Reds need Garrett to be performing to expectations in the longer term. However, in the immediate term, they needed to win a game in which they took a 3 run lead into the 9th.
The mistake wasn’t sending Garrett out to start the 9th. The mistake was not recognizing that given Garrett’s recent ongoing inconsistency they needed to have someone else prepped to be in as soon as the 4th hitter if that 4th hitter represented a tying or lead run.
I think “Tinker” Bell is gonna stick.
For now, Garrett should be used in the longy role and keep working with Coach Johnson to get in shape.
I don’t think Bell ‘tinkers’ just to make everyone feel good, I think, right or wrong, he’s playing the odds game as he was asked to do, and to do that ‘tinkering’ you need all your ‘tinker toys’ ready and able. Whereas in the past some of the toys weren’t really that good, they’re pretty good now…Stephenson, Farmer, Blandino, Naquin…not to mention Senzel, Winker, Castellanos, and Shogo. you gotta try to keep everyone sharp. I’m not sure I agree with playing the odds game daily…I grew up with the Big Red Machine and you just ran out the same machine game after game and they got it done.
I have begrudging respect for Bell showing some confidence in Garrett last night as painful as it was to watch. But as someone mentioned above, you can’t keep giving away games at this point hoping he’ll it together. It’s important for this team to win low scoring games.
I think it’s worth repeating something I said in the previous thread. The Reds added Warren to the roster specifically for second game. Despite all the pitching changes, they never used him. Clearly, he was serving no purpose unless the team needed a mop-up guy (but they already have plenty of those) or in the unlikely event the game happened to go WAY into extra innings. Given the fact that they were short a position player, and Bell’s management style virtually guarantees that all position players will be utilized in one way or another, what possible sense does it make to add a pitcher you almost certainly won’t need? Is there any potentially reasonable explanation for this, or is just more evidence of organizational ineptness?
Certainly a head-scratcher
It is a long held tenet of the Reds organization that when in doubt add a pitcher, any pitcher or anybody as long as they are a pitcher. 😉
He did serve a purpose…he was the mop up guy. There was nothing to mop up in this game.
The excitement from season’s start is slowly fading. The skyrocketing OPS is now landing and the pitching staff cracks are becoming more and more evident with every game. The offense, Suarez aside, has been good, the starting rotation has been competitive enough, but unless the bullpen is fixed this is going to be a train wreck. Cannot go a full season with only three or four good bullpen arms (Antone, Fulmer, Sims and Doolittle). Lorenzen shall return much later, so it means that the staff is in need of several new arms to remain in the race.
I’ll be the only one to say it – Man I wish we hadn’t given away Iglesias.
Jose or Raisel? Jose I agree with.
Iglesias(either one) might make the relief pitching better, but I remember many comments about Raisel, the gist of almost all of them being that he was a terrible spoiled brat and should be traded.
I do NOT miss R Iglesias and his 11 losses
Mike Sarbaugh to replace Bell immediately!
Sarbaugh should’ve been hired instead of Price. Reds would’ve been in a much better position in the mid-late 2010’s until now
Dear AG or Amir Garrett or whoever you are at this moment,
Don’t talk the talk until you can walk the walk.
The Pirates are all laughing…
Show of hands: How many of us knew that Garret was gonna groove one in there for a HR after seeing him struggle with the strikezone?
Room full of hands.
Garret is not a closer, he is all talk. This loss though is on the reds front office. Dumping Iglesias, Arnold and VanMeter for nothing. The cheapskates got what they deserve. At some point the reds will probably free fall down to the pirates unless the bull pen is repaired.
Garrett was trying to get anything in the zone. He didn’t care where. The saddening part is Bell knew this too. He’s got a 3 run lead and he’s watching a guy that wants to just get “a” pitch in the zone.
Part of this is the stupid rule that a pitcher must face at least 3 batters
@rojo > Van Meter was the 4th hitter. I checked to make sure b/c I was thinking the same as you initially.
@jim
And hence your above comment about not having anyone ready is so pointed and true. I just can’t understand why a manager can’t see these things. What you suggest—that he should have someone ready for batter #4 in case—is NOT hindsight or Monday Morning QB. It is a wise in-game strategy that a competent manager would have made
Is it too early for the donkey with braces to return?
Well, first place was nice while it lasted, gave us some hope in this projected to be hopeless season. We’ve got the Cardinals and another west coast trip coming up so we’ll either pull it together quickly or we’ll see give the Pirates some company at the bottom (as the Cards/Cubs have been doing this week).
Mahle has been awesome. Good to see him step up so far this season. The bullpen has been pretty bad. But honestly, kind of expected when you lose your best two backend guys and don’t invest in it other than reclamation projects. All winter it was discussed that the bullpen was downgraded from last season, and last season was fairly average as it was.
Inglesias caught the same flak last year for game losing HRs before he was able to right his ship…but even then I was always scared when he was brought in. Bradley seemed like a good fit…not sure why we just let him go…but he’s off to a rough start too. Van Meter rocked AAA but nothing for us…that’s why we got nothing for him. Great HR last night though.
Crushing losses yesterday, and no, that’s not an exaggeration for me. These games count exactly the same as the ones in September. But can we please stop bemoaning the departure of Raisel Iglesias? He was not a great closer and should I remind you he lost twelve (12!) games as a reliever in his most recent full season? Yes, he had incredible “stuff” but pitchers get paid to get batters out, and often he couldn’t do that job, and when he was off he was very prone to that same hime run to Kentucky problem. This bullpen is painful right now, and I’m worried that it will lead to Antone permanently in the pen. Not good. But I don’t miss Raisel.
Agreed.
“But can we please stop bemoaning the departure of Raisel Iglesias?”
Yes—please
Someone commented that Bell has no feeling for the flow of the game. That is spot on. He could have closed out the 2nd game with Antone and got a 3-0 win. TJ was at 26 pitches for an inning and a third. Garrett used 25 pitches to get 2 outs and give up 3 runs. Garrett needs to be used early in games where the Reds are behind until he can get it together. This is stupid simple. Tinker actually set up the Reds for failure with his mismanagement of the 1st game on Tuesday. If DeLeon is dealing, let him pitch extended innings. Bell needs to take a nap in the clubhouse and let the players play.
No feel for the game has been my criticism of him from the beginning. Couldn’t agree with you more.
Just remember you have backers for this when you get pushback for it from others here
Not the biggest Bell fan but I give him a pass on last night’s loss. This is all on AG. Maybe Bell should have sent Antone out to start the 9th but its April and AG is in the pen to be the guy. Closers have a history of ripping your heart out. Cordero, Iggy, and now AG. Totally different mindset being the 8th in set-up guy vs 9th in Closer.
I disagree. This is 100% on all Bell, from the double switch to allowing Garrett to fail again. Fullmer had to be pulled cause while the Reds are up 3-0, Bell thinks a double switch is a good move. Again, it isn’t. Why double switch when you are up 3-0. Keep your best players on the field. As much as I dislike the DH last year, it helped the Reds from not allowing Bell to make horrible decisions. If the plan was to use Antone for 1 to 2 innings then why not let Mahle finish the 7th inning and have Antone close. A tired Mahle is better than Garrett is right now. And, who besides Bell would not have had someone warmed up and ready to go as soon as Garrett’s three batters were done. By not allowing Antone to close, the best reliever hands the ball off not knowing the outcome of the game. Stupid. Now, Antone isn’t available today.
Don’s worry! Big Sal (Romano), another of Bell’s favorites, is available today!
Who other than Garrett himself has said that Garrett was the closer, or a closer?
I think it’s interesting how many people are begging for Iggy to have never left when pretty much the entire fan base also wanted him run out of town when he was blowing games left and right in ’19 and to start ’20.
Garrett has been given his chance and I’m disappointed it hasn’t worked out yet. Moving forward, another blown save in the near future is on Bell, but not last night. Players have to perform. Shame to ruin such a nice outing by Mahle.
Why is Antone not at the end of the bullpen? He is not going to be in the rotation, and I am sure he would be much happier, and the Reds would be better, if he was closing out games at this point
I believe that the tinkering that hurt the most was the decision to let Mikey biceps tinker with being a starter. That got him hurt and set in motion a chain of decisions that haven’t worked out.
Today is another day. Castellanos is back but I sure would like more news on Moustakis than “ non-covid related illness”. This is not looking good. Maybe starting a good rumor about what he does have would result in a refutation of useful information!!
There are three players who need to be performing and are not. Garrett, Castillo, and Suarez. Suarez, at least, made a really tough move in positions that has allowed the team to get the best players on the field. So, that helps the team even if his performance isn’t great right now. I also question if Suarez has bought into the offensive approach of the team to hit line drives. Or, maybe he’s struggling with the adjustment. I think for the time being, he needs to be dropped in the order and probably given another month to get things to start turning around.
Something is broken with Castillo and Garrett. I’m shifting in my thoughts about what’s needed for both. At first, it looked like reps would help the rust come off. But this needs more than rustoleum. Castillo and Garrett probably need bench and fix time. Garrett might need a trip to Louisville. Garrett really needs to stop focusing on being a great pitcher and focus on being a good pitcher — let great take care of itself.
Agreed on these three being the ‘weak links’ in the chain for the first part of the season.
Castillo has started in two very cold games. I’m wondering if that is a factor. OD was pretty miserable weather.
Getting Suarez out of the clean up spot and into 6 or 7 so that he doesn’t feel compelled to swing for the fences should help. As soon as Moose and Nick are back he’ll have the bats to make the move. No change today with Farmer manning the hot corner.
Nothing in Amir Garrett’s resume suggest that he qualifies for the closer role. He’s 29 years old. He has a lifetime ERA (that is career) of a whopping 5.15. For those of you that don’t look at ERA for relievers, his CAREER WHIP is 1.441. Atrocious. He isn’t even a has been. He’s a never was. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/garream01.shtml
Must be nice being Craig Counsel and mike shildt watching David Bell lose game after game with his bullpen. Can we just hire Larkin already. It’s completely doable.
This is going to be your only warning: Do not avoid the swear filter. Next time I’ll ban you from commenting.
Why would you bleep out the work chicanery?
🙂