The good vibes were flowing for the Cincinnati Reds. Fresh off a four-game broom cleaning of the St. Louis Cardinals, the Reds took a 1-0 lead into the fourth inning on a Shogo Akiyama RBI single. Sonny Gray looked as dominant as ever with five strikeouts.
Sonny Gray could not finish his warm up tosses before starting the fourth inning and had to leave.
The battered Reds bullpen had to cover seven innings. They were not completely terrible, allowing five runs over six innings, but the loss of Gray might have deflated the Reds offense. They could not get anything going for the rest of the night, and the Reds fell 5-1. The loss pushes the Reds deficit in the NL Central to 5.0 games.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers (34-26) | 5 | 7 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (28-30) | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Houser (4-5) L: Hendrix (0-3) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Statcast | 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 Sean Doolittle allowing a solo home run to Avisail Garcia with 0 outs in the 4th inning, tying the game at 1. That play decreased the Reds probability of winning by 12.2% (from 66.9% to 50.0%).
Positives
Shogo Akiyama got just his 7th start of the season and drove in a run. He was double-switched after two at-bats. It’s good to see Tyler Naquin was OK to do more than just pinch-hit. He left the game on Sunday with a hamstring injury.
The Reds played a fantastic game defensively. Eugenio Suarez had a pair of great plays. Brach and Farmer also had some nice plays as well.
Amir Garrett pitched a perfect 6th inning with 2 strikeouts. He did allow a leadoff single in the 7th inning before being lifted and that run scored. It was still nice to see Garrett put together a solid inning. The Reds desperately need him.
Joey Votto returned to the Reds lineup. Employee #19 walked twice in his return.
Jonathan India had a key walk tonight in the 7th inning with 2 outs. It brought Winker to the plate representing the tying run. It didn’t work out, but it was another great example of India’s impressive plate discipline (10.9 BB%). India does not look like a rookie on the field.
Negatives
Sonny Gray had to leave the game after three dominating innings with groin tightness. David Bell said in the postgame that he will get an MRI tomorrow. Doug Gray covered the injury earlier in a post. I have nothing else to add except sadness. I think the Reds are much better equipped that the Cardinals or Cubs to handle a key SP injury, but it is still a massive blow nonetheless if he has to miss any starts.
Sean Doolittle served up a game-tying bomb to the first batter he faced after replacing Gray. He hasn’t been the worst pitcher on the team by any means (4.35 ERA/4.45 FIP), but he also has not looked like the good $1 million lottery ticket the Reds were praying for.
By the time we got to the top of the 9th inning, the Reds chances of winning were very slim with two left-handed batters due up in the bottom of the 9th, down 2 runs, against Josh Hader. They didn’t end up having to face Hader because Ashton Goudeau allowed 2 runs in the top of the 9th. It might not seem like much, but the Brewers not having to pitch Hader is brutal for the Reds. Hader has only pitched in three straight days once in his career (2019 and it didn’t go well). This could obviously really hurt the Reds if each of the next two games are close.
Not so random thoughts…
Tonight felt like a gut punch after the Gray injury. It was very nice to have John Sadak, Barry Larkin, Tommy Thrall and Jeff Brantley on the calls between TV and radio. It is refreshing to hear their overall positivity during an overall brutal evening.
Up Next:
Brewers at Reds
Wednesday, 7:10 PM
TV: Bally Sports Ohio
Vladimir Gutierrez (2.70 ERA) vs Brett Anderson (4.42 ERA)
Nick wrote:
“The battered Reds bullpen had to cover seven innings. They were not completely terrible, allowing five runs over six innings, but the loss of Gray might have deflated the Reds offense.”
LOL. This isn’t the shallow end of the pool that is Reds Country. That’s Twitter.
Adults swim here … and I doubt many believe Castellanos, in a opt-out year, struck out 3 times because Sonny Gray tweaked a groin.
Or that “Mr. Negative WAR” Suarez whiffed again tonight because of Sad Feels.
And the bullpen was an embarrassment … felt like Brewers could have busted the game open a few times.
when your fist move of the night is to call for Doolittle I’m not sure what you are saying to the world
Ok, let’s play this out. You go to the guy with the 2nd best ERA in the bullpen and it’s a stupid move. You go to anyone else in the bullpen not named Antone or maybe Sims and it’s a stupid move because they’re all much worse than Doolittle. Go to Antone in the 4th inning and a lot of people say it’s a stupid move because why are you wasting Antone here? What if he needs to be used later when the game is more on the line or what if he got 2-3 innings and is unavailable for the next two days in games that matter and now you have to use the rest of the bullpen which as noted above, sucks. Go to Sims there and it’s kind of the same issue as with Antone, though he probably wouldn’t be asked to go as long as Antone would, at least potentially.
Here’s the truth:
David Bell can’t make a “smart” move with the bullpen because outside of going to Antone every move is one that has a bad outcome. Maybe you can argue that going to Sims isn’t a bad choice but he’s also been league average at at best this season so it’s not exactly like it’s an easy choice to go with him in the 4th inning there to pitch what, 1-2 innings? There might be some things to complain about with David Bell, but his bullpen choices aren’t it because the choices are pretty much all bad. Complaining that he chose to go with pig crap over horse crap instead of dog poop is complaining to complain. What is next? Are we going to complain that he didn’t choose Mark Payton over Scott Heineman to pinch hit as if either option was good to begin with? This roster isn’t deep and it’s destroyed by injuries right now.
My ranking of our relievers:
1. Horse Crap
2. Pig Poop
3. Dog Turds
@Billy
+100
+1 more for “pig crap over horse crap instead of dog poop”
Thank you, Mr. McNeil.
BILLY!!! Well reasoned and well said sir. I’m glad I wasn’t drinking my coffee when I read your comment about pig crap vs horse crap vs dog poop. Funny, but right on point.
The bullpen is a major weakness that has to be addressed. Some fans want the youngsters in the minors to remain in the rotation for their development. However, how many open spots are available next year in the rotation? Particularly if Lorenzen gets healthy. Keep Greene and Lodolo in the minors rotation and move Santillan and Vlad to the MLB bullpen after the rotation gets healthy. Find another bullpen arm before the trade deadline.
Well done Billy!
Text that I received from a former MLB player tonight “It’s amazing how deflated the team got after Sonny got hurt.” So ya, I stand by my comment the loss MIGHT have deflated the Reds offense.
As always, you are more than welcome to contact Doug and apply for a writing spot if you think that you can do better. There is nothing more fun than spending your time trying to share your love of the Cincinnati Reds with fellow fans to get the thinest critiques possible.
Go Reds.
it ain’t easy writing for this bunch. Don’t let it bother ya. Thanks. As always go Reds.
Dont let them get to you Nick. These are the greatest GM’s and coaches you’ll ever find. I’m not even sure they like themselves.
Eh, I don’t think anything sliotar said was wrong there. Its an online blog, things can be a little fiesty. You just have different opinions, thats cool.
Maybe poorly worded, but I do that all the time too and I don’t mean nothin by it
Yes. Thanks Nick and Doug and the other people who write for RLN.
Nick, thank you for all that you do. The offensive woes MIGHT have been a combination of deflation and players pressing/trying to do too much. The Reds had 11Ks on offense.
Keep up the good work. You guys are a welcome distraction from the day to day struggles of life.
You misspelled thinnest. Your writing on the game was excellent and these guys complaining know nothing.
Mr C promised a winner when he took over as majority owner. Last off season he decided to cut payroll. This is where we are and still no winner. Our pen is a mess. Votto is the hollowman who has rapidedly done less over the past 3 years and all Suarez can think about is his fixation with trying to hit the ball out of the park. Anyone thinking that this team can compete has badly under estimated the division
You are spot on! Our bullpen is terrible, Suarez just cannot hit and he might end up with a below .200 average for the entire year. Bell knows our bullpen is running on fumes but still pulls AG to play the odds? How about getting as many innings as possible out of AG ? He has struggled terribly but did strike out 2 batters.
It is time to call up some pitchers from the minors and throw them in the arena.
Agree with every thing you said. Bring a young pitcher or two up, send Suarez down to figure out his long, loopy swing and a bat that’s too big (JMHI). Of course then you have to find someone to play third for a while, Yeek.
This comment feels like the shallow end of Reds county. This comment feels like it was written by “Mr Negative”.
Oops this was supposed to be a reply to Sliotar. This post feels like it was written by an old tomato that should have been in bed an hour ago. Hope Gray is ok because this team is not good enough to deal with many more injuries.
We reds fans get the team we deserve.. We just swept the cards. We have 2 mvp caliber players playing at a high level. We are at full capacity.
Cheap tickets available. And a Wopping 12k show up.! I understand Bob Cs frustration and hesitancy to spend. We reds fans are a fickle bunch indeed
In my lifetime, The Cincinnati fans are among the best. You put a winner on the field and they will come. Cut payroll like Mr. C did last off season and have the worst bullpen in baseball and you get what you paid for… low turnout. Fans have nothing to prove to management, instead management has everything to prove to the fans.
Mr. C was the one that promised us a winner and even when one piece was all the Reds needed, he failed the fans. Today we are a lot more than one piece so it aint getting any better.
Whose responsible? Management thats who so dont go blaming the fans. Accepting mediocre isn’t a viable option. Cry about being small market, all I can say is find a different business. I never heard the Big Red Machine cry about small market, why? Because they were winners.
Attendance lags behind winning.
Teams with recent winning traditions get more leeway from fans.
The Reds haven’t given people any real reason to get excited and stay that way for awhile.
The owner and front office you mention are a part of it. Are fans as fickle as the front office that went all in! for 2020 then seemingly spent the winter trying to sell anything that wasn’t nailed down?
When I was stationed in Fort Worth back in the late 80s I went to Ranger games every chance when I was off. Thst team wasnt the greatest and they hardly had any winning seasons with that franchise. The stadium always had alot of fans. The Reds do not draw alot of fans and I dont get that. If I lived near there I would be there all the time. I was floored by how many fans showed up last night. 12k is putrid. Dayton pulled 5,000 fans in last night.
The weather was iffy last night, as it will be today and tomorrow.
Have you tried to drive in Cincy lately?? Freaking nightmare with all the construction on 75. Cincy traffic is as bad as Chicago right now…. With less than half the population. If anyone is to blame it’s the morons in charge of these rediculous 10 year projects that basically block of half the city.
Eric- I live in NY where the state flower is the orange construction barrel.
I’ll reserve judgement until the next two games are played.
If India sits when Moose returns I will be incensed, however.
my hope is that the Brewers are due to to loose 2 games…not optimistic
we caught the Cards in a melt down…they were stomped again tonight, the wheels have feel off their wagon
*fell off that wagon!
I’d read it as we created the meltdown, or knocked the wheels off of their cart.
For my money the position guys coming back from injuries pose a significant challenge for Bell. Just as the ownership/ front office has dealt him a poor hand in the bullpen, it has dealt him a poorly matched hand on the position side with too many corner IF guys and no shortstop leaving the manager stuck with depreciating his defense to get all the projected big offense corner pieces on the field at the same time.
Now, India has further complicated the situation by asserting himself as an effective offensive piece in compliment to his defense.
And just maybe the pieces work better together with Stephenson on the field as a regular; but how does that happen when it means sitting Votto or Barnhart to get Stephenson on the field?
All this is not even factoring in that one of the #2 overall draft pick gems was beaten out fairly and squarely for the CF position before being injured and won’t really have a position when he gets back from injury or that Aquino is looking like version 2.0 of The Punisher on his AAA rehab stint.
The situation calls all for a trade (or two) to fill the bullpen and SS voids while simultaneously rebalancing the roster. But what we get is PoBO/GM Nick Krall basically telling us the team we see is their team, love it or leave it.
Good observations and very good points!
All excellent points. We have too many first and third basemen. I think Moose and Suerez have got to go. Does Suerez have a option?
Suarez has to sit!
Plus 100000
!
You lost all credibility when you said it was “nice to have John Sadak on the calls”
Oh stop it. People are allowed to enjoy something that you may not.
Also, you need to start using a different user name. Using players names is not allowed.
I’m in agreement with Nick. All of the folks on TV and radio for the Reds this season have been great. I’m sure there are times when they fumble things, but in general they have all done well including Sadak. In the past, I felt Thom and Grande were less than ideal.
Corky let me be one to say to yourself comment, Amen.
Your Sadak not yourself
I’m not a Sadak fan either, but what are the odds that everyone enjoys the same broadcaster. He is professional, and well prepared. I just prefer my own dad jokes.
I think Sadak is overjoyed at his good fortune. he has not gotten past the excitement of landing one of the 60 or so TV and radio play-by-play jobs in a highly competitive atmosphere. His prep is such that he wants to include every scintilla of information he can. I think/hope he eventually calms down. I have taken some shots at him and have cringed a few times on some of his calls, but he is better than Thom.
@Daytonnati
ABT “anyone but THom”
????????????
Nothing has ever been truer in history.
The Reds maintain their MLB leading 1st place in pitches per inning. The game time was 3:49, even though the teams combined for a .206 AVG. The attendance was 28% of capacity even though there were no COVID limitations. Akiyama finally gets a chance to play and drives in the only run of the game but gets “double switched” out because David Bell ???
I love the game of baseball but upon return of the full season I see clearly what the MLB and the Reds have become. Attendance at tonight’s level is about what is deserved for this team in this division. I’ll stop by the Red’s HOF exhibit and maybe get a View seat if I don’t have to deal with the annoying MLB app. Glad we still have the Cowboy on the radio but the Reds should be doing so much better than this with the talent on hand.
Im not sure you can call our pen overlty talented. I see like blaming David Bell for any of this mess is a miss since it was management that decided to cut payroll. I love how Votto gets all the great attention when the only thing we should be paying attention to is the back of their baseball card and Joey hasnt earded his paycheck in well over 3 years. How do those long term contracts work out? Arnt they still paying Jr? Making better management decisions would be a good start but creating a winning atmosphere might be a new idea in Cincy.
If Naquin hadn’t played at all and the Reds had lost–probably what would have happened, given that the bullpen had to cover so many innings–some among us would have blasted Bell for not playing Naquin.
Another game, same story, 1-7 w/RIP and 5 runs allowed by the bullpen. As the injuries continue to pile up, and the post-season chances slim, it’s more and more likely Reds will be sellers by deadline.
Yup and then we’ll get the same ol poor mouthing about being a small market club. Funny how the Big Red Machine never said that. Being a small market club tells me that ownership has no desire to win. If you cant afford to be in MLB go buy a car dealership instead. With the markup on auto’s you will be much happier with the return.
Win the next two and we’ll be buyers again. LOl Up and down. Despite the injuries and a very weak bullpen this team is still capable of playing much better. It still has a lot of talent. In some ways it’s a big mess but those things can be fixed. The organization has the ability to do that. It’s just a big puzzle that has to be put together properly….if they’re willing to do so. Too much of one thing and not enough of another. Trades have to be made from the surplus to fill the needs of the weak spots. Short Stop can be fixed from within. Pitching can be helped from within as well but it will take some hard, think outside the box decisions to do so. Nothing against Farmer as he’s played admirably doing the best he can but I will say that if the Reds go the entire season with Suarez/Farmer playing there then that alone will make this year remembered as a joke. There may be some hard decisions that have to be made that include the DFA of several players but it can be fixed. Once it is fixed… it has to be managed properly. To quote the famous line from Angels In The Outfield, “IT could happen”. 🙂 Maybe we all need to stand up and slowly flap our arms a little bit. haha….Seriously, it COULD happen. Hope Big Bob understands that and is willing.
“1-7 RIP”
Gonna go out on a limb here and say that wasn’t the story the last 4 games. This team is frustrating sure, but let’s not go off the deep end.
Here here. The truth. Reds just ended a 6-1 streak. Still a lot of baseball to be played. Ownership needs to get in winning gear.
Can someone explain why garrett had an earned run. I was watching the game and I thought Brad brach threw Garrett’s runner out at 3rd of a chopper hit back at him.
its early and we are very close to first place in the division with a bunch of good players on the injured list. We will be getting some very good players back in 2-3 weeks and then another one in 6 weeks. We just need to patch the bullpen together for 2-3 more weeks and then see where we’re at near the trade deadline. Fans need to go to games. Its ridiculous to have so few fans when people have been starved for entertainment last 16 months. I’ll be heading up in July for a series. spend some $!
I am not sure what “very good” players you are referring to.
Counterpoint: The ownership needs to spend some $.
The Reds are about the league average when it comes to spending. The Rays, Indians, Brewers are behind them and they’re basically tied to the white Sox. The reds opened up the coffers last year and it got us another third basemen and a 5th OF. I guess what I’m saying is, how much money should the Reds be spending and at what point do we say they might be better at developing young players than acquiring free agents.
Spend more.
Also get better at developing players.
Do everything better.
Keep up the good work Nick! Being a Reds fan means being frustrated 90% of the time but we don’t need to be frustrated with you. Keep spinning out the positive story vibes and maybe some of them will eventually make it to our owner to open the purse strings and do what he promised he would do… bring us a winner!
Love the positivity you consistently bring here and on Twitter, Nick.
Santillan last pitched on Friday, so Wednesday would be regular rest. O’Brien pitched today, so Gray’s next day would be his regular day.
If I’m the Reds, here’s what I would do: Send down Goudeau and bring up Santillan. If he’s needed, he’ll pitch out of the pen. If he’s not used and Gray can’t go on Sunday, he starts. If he does get used and Gray can’t go, call up O’Brien to start.
If Gray is available, I’d have one of those two ready anyway, in case they need a long piece if he gets hurt again.
I’m also moving on from Brach. Give me Art Warren, Shane Carle, Phillip Diehl, or RJ Alaniz. Some kind of shake up.
Now you’re just making up names. lol
I think all those names are legit from Louisville box score pitching summaries I have seen in recent days
Haha, they’re real people playing in Louisville. The sporcle quiz in a few years “name the players who threw a pitch for the 2021 Reds” will be a wild ride.
The bullpen gave up 5 runs in 6 innings. Four different relievers gave up at least a run apiece. That’s a 7.5 ERA. In what baseball universe is that not completely bad? Slow pitch softball maybe? Certainly in major league baseball that was a completely bad performance unless your criteria is that every reliever has to give up at least one run for it to be completely bad.
It will only get worse. There are not enough quality relief pitchers to go around to stock every team in baseball with six to eight of them. As starters go fewer and fewer innings, relievers will pitch more often and more innings, and that is not a good thing. Whatever happened to a ‘quality start’ being 6 innings of 3 runs or fewer? You don’t even hear that one mentioned any more, starting pitching has gotten so bad. How many quality starts has each Reds pitcher thrown this year? If starters are only going to go five innings, then there needs to be a sea change in thinking about bullpens. A team will need at least three relievers who can each go 2-3 innings on 2-3 days rest. But there aren’t enough of those around either.
Doug commented yesterday in the pregame that Sonny Gray was an example of how a starting pitcher cannot be judged by wins and losses any more. I differ. The game is determined by wins and losses…nothing else. Every loss by a starter means that the starter left the game trailing, or had the go ahead runners on base when a reliever came in. A starting pitcher can certainly be judged by losses because he put the team in a losing position. Wins are maybe more fudge-able since the starter may have had the team ahead but the relievers blew it, eg game 4 against the Cardinals, but with a 7 run lead the starter could not even record a quality start.
Good relievers are not stocked on grocery shelves. It’s not as if Nick K or Bob C can just stroll into Kroger and pick up a couple of ripe, fresh relievers, and trading for them is not a cinch either. Teams don’t give them away. A prospect is lost forever and leaves a hole in the pipeline for a year or two of a relief pitcher who may not last a year.
As someone who attended his first game in the mid 50s at Crosley Field, I find that baseball has become less interesting, and that less interest is accelerating by leaps and bounds. In both professional golf and professional baseball, as players and technology have gotten better, the games have becoming boring.
The bullpen may not have been completely terrible, but they were mostly terrible.
They were and are terrible! They are the weakest link on this team. Our bullpen cannot throw strikes and they are constantly behind in the count. I have never seen so many 3-2 counts in my life. The walks are bad and so are the 3-1 fastballs that have to be grooved.
I get pitchers getting hurt with arm injuries due to the unnatural motion, but what is with all these injuries in MLB. This is baseball not some contact sport. It feels like the rate of injuries this year is rivaling contact sports. Is this a new trend due to lack of stretching or what? I don’t recall MLB having these many injuries until last few years. Any ideas?
To many weight lifters and power drinks. Players need to go back to drinking beer and smoking heaters in the dugout. Lol
Ha! I remember my Dad taking me to a Sunday double-header at Crosley when I was a kid, maybe 9 or 10. The Reds were playing the Phillies and we had pretty good seats a few rows behind the Reds dugout. We had a great view into the visiting dugout and I remember being shocked to see Richie Allen (later Dick) smoking cigarettes in the between innings.
One of my most vivid memories as kid was during a Reds vs St. Louis game, Maris was in right field. We would sneak down to the boxes after a few innings and I watched as Maris would come over to the bullpen right in front of us in between innings and light up. Even as a kid I swear you could just see the sadness in his face.
Three thoughts. As to Nicks point about players being discouraged. Sonny is a team leader, and someone of a barometer for this rebuild. I certainly felt deflated the moment I realized he was no longer pitching. I can’t imagine how the players coped.
Second, Interesting the Reds don’t have a ‘long reliever’ and it’s a third of the way into the season.
Lastly, I am done with Suarez sucking up productivity and being put in prime positions to do so by this manager. His play is based on trajectory. It’s a trend and not an anomaly. He is an 8 hole hitter and should be riding the pine and working on his swing when Moose returns.
Suarez has no business in the 3, 4, or 5 hole. He’s also not a leadoff hitter, I like him in the 6 or 7 right now. If all were healthy, and assuming Suarez is back at SS I’d have him 7th. JI, JW, NC,TN, TS, JV, ES, MM Naquin has pushed past Senzel and Shogo. The injuries obviously allowed him the opportunity, but he’s done a great job. He’s my everyday RF in 22
Goudeau has been a starter in Louisville. I was surprised he didn’t come into the game after Sonny’s injury. Granted, he gave up 2 runs on 4 walks later in the game, but he could have theoretically provided some length.
Will this team ever get 5 games over .500? Somehow, I doubt it. My 80 & 82 season record remains on track.
They have 12-13 more with Pittsburgh. They play Colorado for 3 after this series and they rarely win on the road. Its so hard to say with this team? I could see them competing in a mediocre NL Central with 86 wins or so if they were able to stablilize the bullpen on the fly, but usually they fix something and a leak pops up somewhere else?
I could also see them falling off and going into firesale mode. Sonny at 91 mph is an issue. Maybe he’s been less then 100% all along? The offense is normally strong, but if they end up 7-8 out by the deadline then Castellanos probably goes and they have no replacement. 80-82 is probably their ceiling in that scenario.
A major missed opportunity was all the losses to Arizona and Colorado.
However, if the Reds can stay within hailing distance until August, they appear to have an incredibly favorable schedule over the final ~1/3 (53 games) of the season:
Twins -2 games (Home)
Nats-3 games (Home)
Tigers-3games (Home)
Marlins-7games (4 Home)
Pirates-10 games (7 Home)
The tough news is that they have 3 with the Dodgers (home) and 2 versus the White Sox (road) within their last dozen games. There are also roadies in Atlanta in August which between the opposition and weather can be doubly brutal.
Bell scripts all games and it’s a pattern he will not change.B relievers pitch when we are behind and our best pitch when we are tied or ahead.It’s also scripted that starters are on pitch count and it’s a fact we don’t score unless we hit home runs.We also play players that aren’t performing because of their salary or past performance.Losing teams have a certain way they do things just as winning teams do and as long as ownership is happy it won’t change.Bob and his good old boy network don’t really care enough about winning to make any changes.Reds lost last night because offense never showed up after a 4 game sweep of the Cards on the road and an off day at home with their families.
I think management has made a strong effort in the last few years with Bauer, Castellanos, Moose, Sonny Gray, etc. I’m not saying everything worked, but they tried. They got Wade Miley & Shogo too. Look at the Cubs. They pack’em into Wrigley and basically have their own network, but they let us steal Castellanos. They let Darvish go too. I’d be infuriated if I was a Cubs fan. They have the same core that won a WS, but barely make any effort to add more talent.
The problem is the Reds just totally whiffed on the pen this year. Garrett was good last year so he’s our closer. Doolittle? Carson Fulmer and a bunch of retreads? I don’t know what they were thinking? They’re easily 33-25 or 32-26 now with even an average pen.
Very good point that Garrett being a complete no-show this season has hurt a lot. But even if he was pitching well, i don’t think it would shore up the bullpen
They were thinking do the pen as cheaply as possible.
On the position side, they have a number of guys who look like valuable pieces but together they don’t match, not to mention they do not have a legitimate shortstop on the 40 man roster north of AA
RG – “It’s a fact we don’t score unless we hit home runs”.
A day later they score 7 with no dingers. Hopefully they will continue to hit. Vlad might be a keeper and another arm for the pen.
Kyle Farmer and his .586 OPS has the 5th most at-bats on the team. He’s been given ample opportunity and has shown he’s not a ML caliber starter or bench piece. It’s time to move on and give Alfredo Rodriguez a chance while there’s still an opportunity to give him a proper look. I’d even take Jose Berrero if the bar is an OPS that low…..at least you’re investing in development.
One positive on this season with its injuries is that some young players are getting a long look. Jon India and Tyler Stephenson are proving they belong here. Vlad Gutierrez should get a long look and hopefully Tony Santillan now will get his look.
I’d like to see Aquino and Rodriguez get some quality playing time next. With a long road trip upcoming and the DH for 2 of those games, get some more youth on this roster. I’d rather keep Barrero, Greene, and Lodolo in the minors at least another 2 months to prioritize their development.
For the briefest moment I was starting to come around on Alf-Rod for a second, largely due to the complete inability of Farmer (etc) to hit at the SS position. Unfortunately, what most people cautioned came true and Rodriguez has completely come back down to earth. His OPS is currently .695. In the last 28 days (accounting for 78 of 103 PA on the season) his OPS is .593. His ultra hot start kept him afloat for a while, but he’s played to the back of baseball card for the last month. Which unfortunately is someone who doesn’t contribute anything more than what we’re currently getting from Farmer/Suarez at SS.
Good point brought up about how the team really hasn’t cultivated a long reliever. Is there nobody in the organization suited for this role? It is essential to have but even when a reliever does well, he almost always gets pulled after 1 inning or 20 pitches. The problem gets worse because David Bell apparently does not believe in the Quality Start metric. It’s simple, 6 innings with 3 runs or less. We only lead the mighty Pirates in this stat (yes, 31st in MLB with 13 QS). Trevor Bauer alone has 11 thus far with LA. Several other pitchers have 10.
Yes, the bullpen is challenging but if David Bell doesn’t give his starters a fair chance to get QS, doesn’t cultivate a long man reliever, and continues to parade out guys who can’t or won’t hit the plate, then little else will matter absent a really good trade or strategic move. Maybe Santillan or other farm hands can become that guy and remove some pressure from our stoppers.
Hey, at least Amir Garrett looked like he is trying to make adjustments with his approach. He also struck out two hitters without flipping everyone off and trying to fight the whole team.
Lmbo. Like George Costanza said,” Is that wrong”?
Reds need to win next 2 against the Brewers and then beat up on the historically awful Rockies this weekend, where they are 4-23 on the road this year.
Eugenio Suarez is also entering the land of the historically futile.
He leads the team in PA with 243. He has 35 total hits and 19 total walks. He has 9 singles all year. That puts him 9th on the team in singles. For the last 4+ years, Suarez has been a power bat, but he’s also been in the top 3 in singles on his team every year and had lots of hits that were non-home runs and lots of walks.
His singles and walks have vanished and his K%- while already high is now skyrocketing over 30%. He is destroying this offense for the simple reason he fails to give you a professional quality AB.
The ratio of his walks plus hits to total K’s is comfortably below 1. That’s rarefied air for everyday players and historically bad for this franchise.
For players over 300 PA in a full season who had a total hits plus walks/total K’s approaching 1 or less:
2018- Adam Duvall
2014 -Jay Bruce
2011- Drew Stubbs
2003-05- Wily Mo Pena. Pena was all HR and K’s and no walks or hits.
Suarez is approaching Wily Mo Pena status.
Some catchers in the 2000’s had some bad seasons -Bako,Ross, Larue but catching is different. Derek Dietrich’s 25 HBP in 2019 were counted since a uniquely huge number.
Suarez needs to change his approach and get back to working deep counts, taking walks, and hitting singles. The home runs will follow. The alternative is to continue a 2020 trend with a historically awful 2021 season.
15 singles(not 9) 7 doubles, 13 home runs=35 hits.
Nice stats, Old School, but I had to look up the 9 singles (that is waking up face down on the pavement bad) which you corrected. Not to pile on Geno but it appears his RBIs are about 7th or lower on the team when calculated rationally (per AB). Even India leads him. When Moose gets back, slide him over to 3B, India at 2B and Geno to the trade block. He could be a decent gamble for different management to straighten him out.
Excellent breakdown of his ‘badness’.
I’ve read plenty of posts about his HR total or RBI and not enough that really dissect his performance.
Duvall made us get rid of him with that performance, Stubbs was just painful to watch leading off for so long. These are historically bad memories as a Reds fan and Bell seems intent upon etching Suarez into that Mt Rushmore of shame.
Regarding PA: He’s been the only healthy IF all season. He’s was playing a position that didn’t offer a lot of opportunity for subs and also needed to get reps. All legitimate reasons. His lineup spot could be artificially high due to injuries as well. Senzel, Moose, Votto have all been banged up. The presumptive lead off candidate, Shogo lost his spot by default when he started the season on the IL. There are a lot of good reasons (excuses) here too.
However, if Suarez continues to get every day playing time when Moose returns then there is something inexcusable happening. Now he could return to SS and Farmer goes back to his utility role but even that should necessitate a decent amount of substitution for defensive reasons or rest.
For the record, I don’t think that happens. I think Bell views Farmer as his SS and therefore the odd man out will be India.
Yep India sets
Hopefully the forecast improves and they can get the games in today/tomorrow. If they get rained out, the Brewers only come back to town one more time, so they’d be playing 5 in 3 days right after the AS break, unless they can find a common off day to use.
Heading to the game tonight. Hoping for a win to even the series. Would love to be 500 when the Rockies series begins.
are we,as a city, a good fan base?
we just swept the cardinals for the first time since 1990
we have 2 mvp candidates playing at a high level
we are at full capacity again
cheap tickets available
only 12 k show UP! uggh
can you really blame ownership for not going all in when attendance is so low?
we get the team we deserve as fans
it frustrates me
Why should the fanbase blindly support the ownership group who has done very little winning in their time? There’s a reason I don’t buy Sam’s Club Cola – it’s not as good as Coke. If Sam’s Club Cola wants me to buy their product then they need to make their product better. It’s not up to me to give them my money to *maybe* improve their product.
i just think we fans are going to have to be the ” adult” in the room in this situation. if attendance remains low we are still going to be stuck with Kyle Farmer at ss and a terrible bullpen. it doesn’t solve the problem
After 16 years the fans absolutely do not need to be the adults in the room in this transaction. For 2006-2008? Sure, maybe. The ownership group may have deserved some support to get things moving. This group has been around for 16 years now. They don’t deserve blind faith.
The Cardinals drew 15,000+ last night with a temp of 78 and cloudy. No mention of rain. And that is a team with a much longer, and more recent history of winning things.
Lineup card posted. If someone wants to try to convince me that Kyle Farmer it’s not our de facto starting shortstop, then I am all ears.
The fact is, when Vato first went down with injury, farmer shifted to short. It’s been that way the whole time even with vottos return. I don’t think Bell sees anyone else capable defensively and will hamstring the team as much as ownership has.
Sorry, but I have to go with Bell on this one. Farmer is the only one capable at SS regardless of what place in the batting order Geno is put. So, we are stuck with Farmer because of his defense and ability to catch (maybe Barnhart gets in the trade talk). I’m also hoping for a transition to Moose taking over 3B when he comes back (but probably not until trade value is established). Bell has many good options in the field but his bullpen strategy seems more rigid in roles and pitch counts than creativity.
Jose Barrero is 5-12 with 2 walks in his last 3 games. He can’t be any worse then Farmer offensively and maybe alot better? They lost Blandino and really could use Farmer in the utility role. Why not try Barrero again?
Indy- I usually agree with you and always respect your takes. I disagree on this one. They tried tried Barrera last year and he was not competitive hitting the baseball. He missed a week for personal reasons and the minor league season didn’t start till may. I’d like him to play 100 games and get 400 at bats at AA/AAA and pass that test overwhelmingly so that when he is called up he plays every day at SS. The Brewers just sent down Keston Hiura and the Mariners just sent down super-phenom Jared Kalenic for awful hitting.
One GM in an Athletic article recently said there has never been a greater difference between MLB and AAA /AA than now. Give Barrera till the All star break and see where he is developmentally.
The Reds can bring up some possible SS players from the minors. Jose Barrero is hitting 0.290 at Chattanooga and Alejo Lopez is hitting 0.379 at Louisville. Bring them up and give them a try.
Only one of those guys is a shortstop.