Perhaps the biggest thing that we learned, though we knew it coming into the series, is that the Colorado Rockies are very bad on the road. Colorado, after being swept this weekend is now 5-27 on the road. Ouch.
Let’s focus a bit more on the Cincinnati Reds, though, shall we? The offense went off this weekend, scoring 27 runs over the three games. Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos continued to hit and are still sitting 1st (Winker) and 2nd (Castellanos) in the National League in OPS at a 1.056 and 1.051, respectively. Only Fernando Tatis Jr. (1.008) is over 1.000 among the rest of the league.
Wade Miley has been really good this year. He got lit up light a Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center on May 14th against the Rockies while out in Colorado. He allowed 11 hits and eight earned runs in just 3.0 innings. It’s his only true poor start of the year. On Friday night he took care of the Rockies in a bit of payback as he picked up his 6th win of the season by allowing just two earned in 7.0 innings and lowered his ERA to 2.92 on the season in the process.
Is Eugenio Suárez starting to show some life at the plate? Cincinnati’s current 3rd baseman has struggled at the plate all year. He’s struggled to hit and he’s struggled to make contact – the two things are almost assuredly related. But he went 4-9 with a double and a home run against the Rockies. Perhaps more importantly is that he didn’t strikeout during the series.
You’re never as good as you look when you’re going well and you’re never as bad as you appear to be when you aren’t – but right now the Reds are going and it’s been fun. They are 10-3 over their last 13 games and they’ve jumped the St. Louis Cardinals in the division and sit in 3rd place in the National League Central. They’ll get a chance to make some ground on the Brewers starting tonight as they open up a 3-game series in Milwaukee.
The Reds are like that old high school crush that strings you along and makes you think you have a shot, only to break your heart again and again….
And again they have hooked me
This upcoming road trip to Milwaukee , San Diego , and Minnesota may well break your heart again … Lets hope for the best
True and sad. But like the jilted lover, I can’t help but getting hooked again, hoping that this is the time it sticks.
About 10 years ago I spent a whole season trying to make myself and the world believe that I was an Astros fan. After a family intervention, I finally admitted one day that I can only be a REDS fan born of dark nights, listening to AM radio and the glowing orange ember of my dad’s cigars. It was a painful, dark time for my family and friends but they were happy when I found the courage to accept the things in my life that I can not change.
Miley and Mahle are the best starting pitchers to date in 2021
When Suarez swings slower he makes contact and hits the ball harder.
The team can hit a lot of HRs (Friday)
The team does not need to hit HRs to score a lot of runs (Saturday)
Votto and Suarez hitting 5 and 6 seems to be good for the team.
The offense is 2nd best in the NL behind only the Dodgers in Runs per Game
When the defense does not have errors (only 1 in the 3 games) the pitching may be able to survive.
Maybe I am wrong, but when he switched to the black and brown bat and then when that one broke, the all black one, he started making better contact and putting the ball in play instead of striking out or popping up. Reason being is that the black and brown one was definitely smaller, the all black one is too I beleive. JMHO, but that could have made a difference.
Larkin said something about him having a sore finger, and that it probably helped make him cut down on his swing.
On the radio Cowboy said after the HR, “he should have cut his finger a long time ago”
Larkin and Cowboy said he cut his finger in a cooking accident.
If their ups and downs keep them around .500 until they are at full strength again, then there is reason to be optimistic. Votto and Aquiño are now back. Akayama slowly picking up. Still have several regulars on the shelf. They are to be commended for being where they are given what they have had to work with.
It will be interesting to see how much MORE potent the offense might be with Moose and The Punisher back in the lineup!
Credit the starting pitching for sure. It’s impressive the team put up so many wins with the likes of Payton/Schrock/Freeman/Farmer getting so many reps.
It’s not who you play but when you play them. The Brewers are in the middle of a 16 game stretch and have opted for a 6 man rotation. Might be a chance to get them while they’re stretched thin. I really thought the Reds were the better team last week but couldn’t win the series.
Going to the game tonight, should see a lot of runs….and Tyler Stephenson back in the lineup!
“I really thought the Reds were the better team last week “
It was unbelievable to see how poorly as a team the Brewers are hitting (on paper) but still winning games. Is there a stat akin to BABPIP that would predict that the Brewers have just been really lucky and will regress? Is that what pythag does?
the Brewers know how to win
Pythag just takes your run differential and says, “if a team hits and pitches their average everyday, what is their record?”
The Brewers would be “expected” to be 34-31 and we would be “expected” to be 31-32.
So yeah, maybe they are getting a bit lucky, but they have won 14 of their last 16. They are just simply on fire.
I think we are the better team as well and there is no time like this series to prove it.Just have to score runs at a consistent pace.Joey back and now Aquino and later Moose makes our lineup better.Just has to show up on the score board and I believe it will.Jump out ahead early and keep the pressure on is the key.r
They’ll either be swept or win 1 vs mil. Suarez doesn’t have a single hit this yr against them. Only positive is mil can’t hit….their BA is abysmal. But they don’t need to with their pictching.
The next 3 weeks pretty much determine the season. The Reds have a horrible schedule. The Brewers not so much. I’d really like to see a move to get a SS this week. Not going to happen but the Reds aren’t winning the division with Farmer at SS. (I’d really like to see Castellini sell and the FO and field managers all fired, but alas I’m awake now and know I’m dreaming). If the next three weeks go poorly, the Reds are likely sellers at the trade deadline and the team once again fades into the rebuild.
There is so much talent moving through the Reds system right now that I would say the rebuild is here. It began with Winker and Mahle, then Senzel, and now India, Antoine, Stevenson, Gutierrez and Santillan. Greene just moved to AAA and Lodolo is right behind figuring out his blister issues. Hendrix is also battling and the punisher is back. I think Barrero moves soon to AAA which is why we will not trade for a SS, Barrero is in finishing school. That is 12 names that could all be on the roster by 2022. I am not sue what qualifies as a rebuild, but that seems close
The Reds only need to tread water over the run up to the AS break and on through to August because August and September look to be very favorable to them based on how teams have played to date this year
They have:
10 vs Pirates (7 home)
7 vs Marlins (4 home)
3 vs Tigers (home)
4 vs Nats (home)
2 vs Twins (home)
The tough spots (out of Division) are:
3 vs Braves (road)
3 vs Dodgers (home)
2 vs WhiteSox (home)
They do not see the Brew Crew after Aug 26 (following 3 roadies) and have 6 with the Cubs (3 home in August/ 3 road in Sept) and 6 with the Cards (3 each way).
The division is there for the winning if they can get to August in a position similar to what they are now in.
Good Take Jim; any chance Reds would give you a chance to speak to the team about that 🙂
A correction to the above I noticed is that the 2 vs W.Sox are road games for the Reds not home.
The remaining August/ September games not itemized are a road series vs the Phils, a (Sunday) game vs the Metz to wrap up a 3 game weekend set that runs into August and the rain makeup versus the Cleveland team in Cleveland.
That’s all true but it’s largely after the ownerships sell decision point. But if these 3 weeks go badly, the Reds fall maybe 10 games behind, my guess is Castellini has a fire sale. I’d like to see JV retire (not happening). I’d like to see Suarez traded (also unlikely). In other words free up payroll space, opening the opportunity for the younger guys and freeing payroll space for a shortstop.
Maybe they should address their biggest problem and find some pitching. A SS would be great and all, but farmer is not the main issue, trust me.
Agree, hard to understand how r RP is so poor. A number of teams r using openers or piggybacking SP w/ success. Seems like a reasonable option in Cincy w/ all the young SPs showing promise? Still it comes down to execution. Young guys aren’t always consistent; this is true of our hitters also. Reds r stuck w/ a lot of veterans and a few promising position players who need opportunity. When do the fish w/ what they have and when do the cut bait; that’s the 64 thousand $$$ question for the Reds.
Yeah…I think Farmer has been pretty solid.
I learned the Rockies are as bad of a road team as their record indicated; and more importantly as a Reds follower, the Reds could step up and taking advantage of the situation as opposed to playing to the level of the competition.
“the Reds could step up and taking advantage of the situation as opposed to playing to the level of the competition.”
Agreed, so much different than the eggs they laid against Arizona. Let’s all hope it’s the trend for the new Reds!
Shogo coming off the bench late in games has been a real positive. DO NOT TRADE THIS GUY! He can be so valuable in a playoff run
Shogo is valuable, but an expensive pinch hitter. I really like Naquin, but I do think he is the best trade piece we have to sure up our bullpen. Since it’s trading from a deep position, (Shogo, Aquino, and eventually Senzel) I don’t think it will have a negative impact losing him. The bullpen needs help more than we need 6 quality OF.
Naquin is exactly who I’d trade, also for bullpen help.
Really strange that Naquin auto-corrected on my phone to Aquino. Hmmm, smart phone technology?
That the Rockies aren’t any good and Sean Doolittle needs to be DFA. Hembree is on thin ice too. Shogo is hot. Find him some PT. That’s what we learned.
Our weaknesses remain relief pitching, shortstop and front office/ownership. Same as the offseason. Why is .500 such an “accomplishment”? Because we are accustomed to losing. That’s on ownership to change. Saw signs of that last year, hopefully they figure out roster inequities here soon.
I learned we can do what should be done with a reeling team like the Rockies. In the end, that sweep and the load of hits/runs helps overall. I also learned that a couple of our young pitchers have some solid potential. Given those still developing behind them, the rotation could look pretty solid for several years.
There are gaps and the next couple of series will expose them. Question is can we battle through it, or does this next road trip pretty much turn the tide backward again?
I am waiting to see who starts in CF tonight versus a LH pitcher. If Bell follows suit it will be Heineman or Aquino. I am hoping for AA. If AA could hold up his end on defense and get on a hot streak at the plate as a CF platoon partner with whichever LH hitter and maybe be a DH choice, that could fill some of the gaps.
It’s Aquino:
J India (R) 2B
J Winker (L) LF
N Castellanos (R) RF
T Stephenson (R) C
J Votto (L) 1B
E Suárez (R) 3B
A Aquino (R) CF
K Farmer (R) SS
V Gutierrez (R) P
Based on the ownership’s record, they won’t sell in July, hoping for late surge. Then, in October, after not making the playoffs, Nick C. will opt out and the Reds might get a compensatory pick.
Suarez IS capable of just hitting a single the other way with RISP and plated them.
What I learned was its fun to play teams that aren’t any good.I have never been worried about our starting pitching even with Sonny down right now and Castillo’s bad start.It is better as a whole then the rest of the division and we have depth in the minors and it has been needed.It will boil down to if we use the depth to fix the pen and if we score enough runs.Somebody has the numbers I am sure where we would rank without Wink and Casty and I would also imagine it would be staggering.The Dodgers broadcast team was discussing their offense and how inconsistent they had been in scoring 12 one night and 1 the next.Thats who we are in a nutshell.We beat up just bad pitching and we have done that before but until we can scratch out 3 or 4 against good pitching we will struggle.I would love to see us play a little more small ball early in games to get ahead.Right now the Cubs pen is dominating and the Brew Crew have that set up guy with the unhittable changeup and of course Hader so its a 6 or 7 inning game for the most part against them.As guys return our offense can get better but will it?We shall see.Would love to see Greene out of the pen soon.Dude is just electric and 100+ plays every where>