Jonathan India’s 3-run home run was enough offense behind a 6-shutout inning start by Sonny Gray as the Cincinnati Reds avoided being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers with a 5-1 win on Thursday afternoon.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (70-59) |
5 | 7 | 1 |
| Milwaukee Brewers (78-50) |
1 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Gray (6-6) L: Anderson (4-8) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
It didn’t take long for Cincinnati to get things rolling on offense. Jonathan India broke up Brett Anderson’s no-hitter with a single to lead off the game. Tyler Stephenson followed with a walk, and an out later India scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Joey Votto.
In the top of the 5th inning the Reds offense got back to work. Back-to-back singles by Eugenio Suárez and Tyler Naquin put two men on. Naquin’s single also seemed to lead to Brewers pitcher Brett Anderson exiting the game with an injury. He had to race off of the mound to field a ball on the first base line and after fielding the ball pulled up slowly. He would exit the game at that point and it would later be noted that he left the game with right hip tightness. Jose Barrero and Sonny Gray both followed with outs against new pitcher Hunter Strickland, but that turned the lineup over and Jonathan India continued to try and cement his name on the Rookie of the Year award as he crushed a 397-foot opposite field 3-run homer to make it 4-0.
Cincinnati native Brent Suter took over for Milwaukee in the 6th and he was greeted by Nick Castellanos with a 374-foot solo home run that extended the Reds lead to 5-0. The Reds went 1-2-3 after that in the inning and didn’t get much going offensively the rest of the game.
The Pitching
Sonny Gray hit Kolten Wong to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning. He would retire the next two batters before Wong was thrown out by Tyler Stephenson as he tried to steal second base to end the inning. Gray retired the next four batters before walking Jackie Bradley Jr. with one out in the 3rd inning.
On his final pitch to opposing pitcher Brett Anderson, a called strike, Gray seemed to feel something and was checked on by the training staff. He was sitting on the ground, stretching something out (it appeared to be his hamstring, but could have been something else). He would get up and make a few pitches with the staff looking on and declared himself good to go. He needed just two pitches – both curveballs – to retire Kolten Wong to complete the inning. Gray returned to mound for the 4th inning. He allowed the first hit of the game, a single by Avisaíl García, but that was all they’d get as he held onto a 1-0 lead.
After a quiet 5th and 6th inning, Sonny Gray ran into problems in the 6th inning with two outs. Omar Narváez doubled and Christian Yelich walked to put two men on for Avisaíl García. He came through with a single to left, but it was hard hit and Aristides Aquino’s arm led to the hold sign at third base for Narváez. Gray buckled down and got Rowdy Tellez to ground out softly to first base to strand all three runners and keep his shutout going. That would end his day as he was pinch hit for in the following half-inning.
Tony Santillan took over in the 7th and promptly served up a solo homer to Luis Urías to break up the shutout. A walk on four pitches followed and so did a phone call to get the bullpen up and moving. Santillan would get Jackie Bradley Jr. to strikeout, but walked Pablo Reyes to end his day. Justin Wilson came on to face Kolten Wong and got him to ground into an inning-ending double play to hold onto a 5-1 lead.
Michael Lorenzen came out for the 8th and after getting a ground out to begin the inning, Christian Yelich doubled into the right center gap. Lorenzen got a ground out to follow and then was helped out by an outstanding sliding grab down the line by Joey Votto who got up and flipped the ball to the bag to end the inning. Mychal Givens took over for the 9th inning. Jace Peterson would pick up a 1-out single and take second base on defensive indifference. But Jackie Bradley Jr. lined out to Jose Barrero at shortstop and as he dove to try and tag Peterson for a double play, Peterson was ruled out for running out of the baseline and thus the game ended.
Notes Worth Noting
In case you missed the mention of it earlier today, Tejay Antone will undergo Tommy John surgery on Friday. It will be his second Tommy John surgery in his career.
Sean Doolittle was claimed on waivers by the Seattle Mariners.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Miami Marlins
Friday August 27, 7:10pm ET
Wade Miley (10-4) vs Zach Thompson (2-5, 2.97 ERA)
Doug that was about as quick as it gets. Great win and great job by the pen.
Nice win. Salvaged something, at least. Good riddance Brewers — unless, possibly, perhaps, just maybe, we meet again sometime in October …..
Quick poll: How many here honestly thought that with 5 weeks left to go in the season, the Reds would already have 70 wins?
Certainly not I!
I think I predicted on here, earlier this spring, that the Reds would win 76 games total. So obviously, I don’t know what I am talking about.
I was in the same boat. I thought 76-78 on paper. Mainly based on the fact that I believe the team took a slight step back from the year before. A few things I believe changed the math a bit and I’m happy to be have been off in my estimations.
The rotation has been better than I expected. I didn’t think it would be bad, but trying to replace the production Bauer gave us in 2020 was a tall task. Castillo righted the ship after a rough start, Miley has been much better than I expected, and the arrival of Gutierrez provided the Reds with 5 above average starters.
The offense has been a bit better as well. Starting with Joey Votto’s renaissance at the plate, but also India has been a huge addition at the top of the lineup. Naquin stepping into the lineup and producing has been a boost in CF, and Stephenson has played to the upside of my expectations for him. Due to his red hot July, Farmer has been solid enough at the plate ensuring SS wasn’t a black hole. Those guy’s contributions outweigh the rough years from Suarez and Moose.
The bullpen has been about as expected, but the reinforcements have helped already. The defense improved dramatically when you have India/Farmer up the middle compared to Moose/Suarez.
I climbed onto my soapbox and proclaimed an 80 win season at best multiple times so you’ll probably have company Votto4life. Well, I’m optimistic they’ll win 10 more games.
Not many because all we were told by the prognosticators prior to the season was we wouldn’t play .500 ball.
Doug I am not saying this to be mean to Suarez, and I have always been a big fan… but how in the world does he continue to get starts? His OPS is literally 58 (not a typo), yet he is still allowed to bat in the 5/6 hole more often than not.
My question is whether or not there is anything that Suarez could do to get benched? He really cannot hit any worse, but there has to be some level of futility where even Bell says enough is enough. Lopez and Barrero are clearly far better options for third, and it just blows my mind that Bell won’t play them simply because it may hurt Suarez’s feelings. As I have said before this is not little league, and there is no requirement that he get to bat every game.
Very happy to at least pull out one win in the series, but with Winker hurt, and our bullpen potentially in trouble, I am just worried that placing feelings over results will cost the entire team down the road
Feelings has nothing to do with it. He plays Moose and Suarez at 3rd because they have had success at this level. Getting one of them back to playing like they have previously would be huge for the pennant drive. Throwing a young player into a pressure packed race is not a recipe for success. Barrera will get his shot but it will be next year. Right now he was brought up to be a utility player. If I’m him that is what I’m focusing on until by shot comes.
I have been frustrated with Suarez this year, too (as have many), but in all fairness, he did not play much at all this series. Today was his only start. And he did have a hit, a walk, and a run scored today.
Lopez and Barrero better based on what? Currently Barrero is hitting worse than Suarez and Lopez had 5 hits in his first 6 at bats, then essentially nothing thereafter. Where’s the engineer who likes to look at data when you need him?
The number of incorrect assumptions in your post is literally staggering. OPS is a 3 digit decimal value so you’re literally calling attention to some form of cognitive distortion malfunction. Saurez *is* benched, he played today due to platoon and early game rest a vet principles. Today’s results show noone batting after him produced a better individual stat line and have likewise earned Mr Alfred E Bellstein a well deserved MENSA invitation! lol
OPS+ is a fairly new stat, but trust me, it’s a very indicator of performance at the plate. 58 means that he is essentially 32% worse than league average. Look, I like him too, I just don’t think he can be starting in crucial games
Since you called attention to literalness, you literally didn’t use OPS+ … your cognitive distortion malfunction has been literally proven again
Not sure what mean by literalness- these stats are compiled by baseball reference? Statistics, for the most part, can’t be interpreted differently- they are what they are. Check out baseball reference.com
You didn’t type OPS+ in your original post. Do you understand the word ‘literal’ that you used? I doubt anyone here didn’t get that you meant OPS+
Beating dead horse played 2 out of last 10 according to broadcast. Agree need 1 of the 2 proven producers to work it out. The race is on which it will be.
Not a race but a marathon.
Have you ever gone to a theater only to find the movie is really bad? What do you do?
A. I paid for this, and I can’t get a refund. Therefore, I am staying until this ends.
B. They already have my money; they don’t have to get my time, too. I’m leaving to do something else.
Some people choose A. Some people choose B.
Best of luck to Sean Doolittle. I hope he performs well for the Mariners.
Seattle seems like it would be a good place for Doolittle. Wish him well.
The Reds close the season series with the Brewers at 9-10. Sort of mirrors the current strengthens of the two teams.
Here are the top 10 rays of hope for the Reds. Blown leads at seasons’s end:
#10 1938 – 7 game lead with 28 to play.
#9. 1951 – 6 game lead with 16 to play
#8. 1934 – 5.5 game lead with 14 to play
#7. 1987 – 3.5 game lead with 7 to play
#6. 2009 – 3 game lead with 4 to play
#5. 2011 – 7.5 game lead on September 1 (same team also had an 8.5 game lead for the wild card on September 1, and blew it.
#4. 2007 – 7 game lead with 17 to play
#3. 1995 – 11 game lead in early August; 6 game lead with 2 weeks left
#2. 1962 – 4 game lead with 7 to play
#1. 1964 – 6.5 game lead with 12 to play.
It ain’t over ’til it’s over! Keep the faith that the boys will keep playing hard.
Good to see those numbers. I remember 1964 well. Reds barely missed it
Two of many Reds events I’ll never forget: the 1964 pennant race and the trade of Frank Robinson in1966.
The Frank Robinson trade sticks out for me. Especially a year or so after the trade when Milt Pappas and the rest did nothing for the Reds and Frank Robinson set the American League on fire for years to come. Also, when they compare Votto’s all time Reds stats to Frank Robinson it should be realized that a ton of Robinson’s Oriole stats aren’t included. So you are comparing less than half of Robinson’s career to almost a full career of Votto. With that said, both are/were great players.
Picking up a win is a heck of a lot better than being swept. Good effort by Gray. India has added so much to this team.
India with the big hit,Wilson with a big pitch and Mikey and Givens bounce back and Reds win.Barrero looks like a major league short stop.Guy can field and run and his athleticism is just off the charts.I play him every day the rest of the way and Farmer at third or left.No way I have this rookie setting and watching older and slower players that are not helping or haven’t helped this year.Let the young guys play.Wink comes back in left,Barrero at short and Farmer at third with Ty Steve doing most of the catching makes this lineup deep and talented.Just my opinion of course.
Roger the catching platoon utilized by Bell has been tremendous. If it ain’t broke I’m not fixing it. While I agree with your assessment of Barrera’s physical capabilities but dropping him into a pennant race is not a good idea in my opinion. He was brought up this year to be a utility player I hope he buys into his role and gains valuable experience that will help the team and springboard him into a much bigger role next year the reds rushed him last year at the big league level and he has more AA at bats this year then AAA. From what he has shown so far he maybe pressing. I alsodon’t think at this time he will be a improvement over the platoon at third that Bell is now employing.
You know me I am all about the young guys playing.All he has to do to be improvement at third is hit around 200 cause his defense and speed is way better.Of course it won’t happen and we both know that.He was hot when he came up and set.Moose has what 5 hits since he came back off the IL in what 50 at bats and we know about Eugenio for the last 600 at bats.I love Tucker and he is better defensively but Ty Steve is to good of a hitter not to play most of the games.Next year is the year for sure but boy I would still love to see the young guys play the next 20 games or so.
Fwiw,…I agree with all you say, Roger. And I also agree that it ain’t happening. They are flat out going to play Suarez & Moose (& Tucker) whether we have better bats on the bench or not. It’s dumb, but that’s what Bell is all about,…i.e. making dumb moves.
Experience in a pennant race is useless when they are over the hill. Suarez and Moose (especially Suarez) have almost zero production over a very large sample size. The experience angle doesn’t wash with me. Lopez and Schrock would be of far more help at 3B or LF than what we are getting. Suarez and Moose are highly unlikely to turn it around at this late date in the season. You go with experience when two players are equal in ability or close to equal. If it has been two years since they produced and both are coming off injuries(Suarez the off season shoulder injury and hasn’t been the same since) and Moose with all the injuries he has had this season, it very likely ain’t happening. If you are trying to win as some say, why handicap almost 50% of the lineup with an automatic out? ( Suarez, Moose, AA, Akiyama and the pitcher.)
Lopez, Schrock and Barreo have had a tiny fraction of the sample size to produce as the others and yet they have produced. Some are calling them out already which is totally unfair.
We should look up the definition of trying to win in a pennant race. It doesn’t include playing friends or someone who is making a lot of money but not producing. It is putting the absolute best team possible on the field.
Givens is a FA at the end of the season. Reds should definitely look at bringing him back if the price is right.
I think a bullpen base of:
Lorenzen
Givens
Warren
Cessa
Sims
Garrett
Would be a good place to start for 2022. Hopefully they can find another solid lefty and a few more pieces to round it out, not just rejects from other teams. Too bad Antone can’t be part of that group.
And yes, I’m not ready to give up on Garrett just yet. He was dominant before this season, hopefully he’s just having a real down year and can be straightened out. Same goes for Sims.
Wilson is better than Garrett. Teams have figured Garrett out and wait on his fastball.
Agree. Garrett would not be on the roster for me next season. Also, I would include Santillan and attempt to acquire another solid left hander.
Lorenzen will be a FA too.
That’s what I thought as well. With Antone out next season, and Givens and Lorenzen potentially gone to FA, that takes away the best three options in the bullpen. It’s going to be a major area of attention over the offseason. They’ll need to find a couple guys that can be reliable and consistent at the back of the pen.
Otherwise I think you can pencil in Cessa, Sims, Warren, Hoffman, and Santillan being options. Probably Wilson as well since the will owe him money and he’s been solid since coming over in trade. Dauri Moreta will probably compete for a role in ST, and I wouldn’t count out Hendrix yet. Another guy having a solid season in AAA in a combo reliever/starter role is SanMartin.
Great win!!!! We need the old Gray and looks like he’s slowly coming around, back to back good starts.
Had we not gone and blown the game on Tuesday, I’d be feeling a lot better right now. Shoulda coulda woulda.
Barrero .167/.286/.250 so far. Worse than last year’s line. Yes, it’s a small sample size, but the Reds can’t afford that kind of line. No guarantee that a rookie off to a slow start will catch fire as the pressure of a pennant chase builds.
He’ll probably be the SS of the future, but he hasn’t earned the SS of the present inside track.
Agreed. Given Farmer’s play I never understood the calls to consistently get Barrero into the starting lineup. I’m fine with Farmer at short and just hope Moose/Suarez have an occasional big hit to win a game or 2.
Couldn’t agree more Doc!!!!
I’d say they need to start Barrero enough to determine if he’s next year’s starting SS or they need to score in the offseason FA market.
It’s important that Barrero gain experience facing what MLB pitchers will do to him with MLB level breaking balls and begin the process of anticipating and adjusting back applying MLB individual game daily scouting approach. I’ve been impressed by his plate discipline in many ABs already
Yep, I agree but that’s not happening with an occasional start. So it goes.
What do you mean? It will happen with every single AB he gets in MLB. It’s happening and yet you maintain it isnt. Cognitive dissonance is real lol
He is being used as a spot starter and pinch hitter right now and you can argue that logic. Really hard to settle in and have good AB’s when you don’t know when your next one will be, the tendency is to try and do too much, which IMO is what is happening w Jose. He will be just fine.
@beelicker You can’t actually believe getting consistent at bats on a daily basis off major league pitchers, and getting into a game late a couple times a week and getting 1 start a week are both equal indicators of future success, do you? If so, you have very little real world baseball knowledge or experience.
I didn’t say that and I don’t believe that. It happens with every occurrence of at bats such as yesterday and every scouting/evaluation meeting session on either side of those. So you have to resort to strawman tactics creating false arguments and disparaging your created falsehoods because you lack honest coherent logical abilities?
SMH
@beelicker That’s not a strawman. You specifically said that. You spoke in your first post about how he needed to gain experience facing MLB pitchers to make proper adjustments. LDS said that isn’t happening with occasional starts. You responded that it happens every AB. So quite clearly you are saying he is getting the ability to adjust at the plate every AB regardless of if it’s an occasional pinch hit, or regular starting. My comment was that you are incorrect in that. It’s nearly impossible to make adjustments or get meaningful experience in a couple sporadic ABs per week. That’s all.
“So you have to resort to strawman tactics creating false arguments and disparaging your created falsehoods because you lack honest coherent logical abilities?”
-Beelicker
Beelicker, you truly are god’s gift to earth. How lucky are we to have you as a poster here on Redlegnation? With your brain power and humbleness, you could be solving the world’s biggest problems, but instead, we are lucky enough to have you here, on this message board??? WOAH!!! You should not be a Reds fan, the Reds should all be fans of your own perceived brilliance!
OK, verbatim:
“It’s important that Barrero gain experience facing what MLB pitchers”
this experience will happen with *each and every* single pitch
“will do to him with MLB level breaking balls and begin the process of anticipating and adjusting back”
yep, beginning *this process * and *to continue* every single time he bats
“applying MLB individual game daily scouting approach”
coaches break down the opposing pitchers movements, arm motions, pitch trajectory tracks, etc and the players in the lineup and otherwise both on video and otherwise atttend strategy meetings before the series plus video/skull sessions both before and between each and after every game and the coaches also break down their specific at bats for them with tailored indeividual notes for them to take and further study on their own … each of these meeting and subsequent viewing/study minutes are singular *experiences in this process*
So that’s exactly what i wrote, everyone can still see it on the page, and your strawman is i said/believe [quote] getting consistent at bats on a daily basis off major league pitchers, and getting into a game late a couple times a week and getting 1 start a week are both equal indicators of future success [unquote] … i’m not seeing it, can you point out the truth of it to me?
thank you for posting the numbers. I agree tiny sample size but based on the two times he has been up in the majors thus far… Sorry he is just not that good of a hitter at the major league level…. Sure hoping this guy doesn’t turn out to be an AAAA type guy who kills AA and AAA but can’t cut it in the majors. Hoping that is not him.
12 at-bats so far this year. Try no sample size. Sunday Bell starts him against Alcantara throwing 100 mph. Wow thanks!
Its not really a debate. Bell is going to ride or die with Farmer and thats that. We’re going the West coast in these huge parks and play station to station baseball while trying to reach the seats. I’d try to diversify like a good financial advisor. Try to work on new ways to beat a good team between now and October
I look at it this way. The Reds are 2-12 vs SF/SD. If we’re going to make a playoff run then they have to improve. The pen is much better, but not great.
One way to “possibly” improve would be Barrero. If gives us more range up the middle and a potential big bat with foot speed too. Things Farmer doesn’t have. Farmer had 1 big month in July, but he’s a mediocre hitter overall and he doesn’t walk. Farmer has 2 walks/1 hbp total in August with 1 hr. Thats not an irreplaceable part of the lineup. In fact thats very replaceable and can be improved upon!
You could still move Farmer around and platoon him w/Schrock in LF too til Wink gets back.
SD has dropped 11 of 13 and their rotation has fallen apart. The Reds should win the 2nd WC going away so Bell will have some time to experiment on how to best improve this team by October. Stephenson homers 3 straight games and then Tucker starts 7 of the next 10? Why? Is TB everyones personal catcher? Swell guy…he’s from Indy like me, but Stephenson is more dangerous. Period. Let TS bat 2nd and stroke some balls into RF like he does so India can go 1st to 3rd.
Status quo will not get this team to the NLCS
I also don’t see Barrero choking under a pennant race. Not against a bunch of AAAA guys on the Cubs or Pirates. He’s already beaten that level of pitching to death
I agree Indy. Some of these posters must be either kin to the non producers or ownership/management. That is the only reason I can see for the blind loyalty.
With this series that part of the pennant race is essentially over. It’s a different internal dynamic now and different decisions on playing time and defining roles will be made now I expect. More rest/health days and experimenting to commence. Bitter complaint trolls will continue being bitter complaint trolls … I don’t see that changing lol
It is just the thought process some people have, and generally it was a lot of repetitive posts by the same people. The thinking is no different than the people who think trading proven NFL players for draft picks/letting the rookies takeover is a great idea. The opposite of the bird in hand philosophy. Either can be correct at any point in time, but no one can ever know when. Now what I never understood was the down on Farmer, he has been solid this year. I feel like maybe the town has been spoiled by Barry Larkin, and Dave Concepcion. Who would you rather have this year, Farmer or Gregorious? Slick fielding .290-.310 average shortstops/players don’t grow on trees, that is why they are Allstars….
The 3 main strengths on this team were on full display today.
1. Resiliancy
2 strong starting pitching
3. Good offensive production from the top of the lineup
This is a good foundation to build on
Barrero was absolutely killing the ball in AAA. He was on fire when he arrived in Cincinnati. Bell should have stuck him in the lineup right then and there to ride a player who was obviously locked in. Instead, Barrero was sent to the bench, and has cooled off and is probably pressing at the plate now to try to impress Bell and “earn” more playing time.
I will Bell would just let Barrero play for a few games in a row and see what he can do with consistent playing time. Especially given that Farmer has not been that great outside of morphing into Barry Bonds in July. Honestly, Barrero’s and Farmer’s roles should be reversed, Barrero should be starting, and Farmer should be the spot starter.
I agree with Doug when he wrote this:
No sanely run organization would, or should default to a 31-year-old who has had one good month at the plate in his entire career over a stud top rated 23-year-old prospect who has killed the ball in Triple-A – which we wrote about just a few days ago. This is where you hand the keys to Barrero and let him show you that he’s not the answer before you take them back from him.
I said it before, and I will say it again now.
Play Barrero at SS every inning of every game from now until the end of the season. That will free up Farmer to play 3B and 2B when India needs a break.
Do for Barrero what Tampa did for Wander Franco. By the end of the season, we will have a better idea of what our SS situation is moving forward. And, we will have plenty of awesome defensive plays to watch on a daily basis.
It’s interesting to note that Larkin seems to disagree about replacing Farmer with Barrero at this point.
Did he reason why? He would certainly understand winning team dynamics and psychology aspects
Barreo isn’t the one who necessarily needs to be playing. Personally, I would give him a larger sample size and put Farmer at 3B. Also, I would put Schrock at 3B or LF for the short term. Suarez, Moose, AA and Akiyama collectively are killing us on offense and it’s not going to change no matter how much we wish and hope it will.
Geno with a hit/walk today and Moose hit a hr on Sunday and had some big hits in the first game of this series. Idk? I think they could be atleast league average from here on out…..atleast against the weak schedule we play.
Indy, they weren’t league average against the Pirates, Cubs and Marlins other than Moose had a couple of good games against the Marlins(I think). But who knows . Anything can happen.
How many more at bats will Aquino get? The man is totally clueless at working a count and or at covering the plate. He is the easiest out in this line-up.
Why wasn’t Schrock given any AAA outfield reps? The management of the Reds have no urgency and no foresight. It’s sad to watch Aquino and his ridiculous “I have a bus to catch at bats,” it’s getting to be a broken record as he constantly falls behind 0-1, 0-2 as he flails cluelessly with his bat. Senzel and a gimpy knee would fair far better than this ridiculous circus show we are told to watch almost every game now.
Or 3B reps,
OK, OK! Anybody have access to MENSA, Inc. I need to recommend Bell for pulling a rabbit out of the hat today! Sonny was masterful and is STILL my favorite Reds pitcher even though he is an ex-Yankee! Finally, I need a good recipe for Crow! Asking for a friend!
PS – still do not like Bell’s RP Roulette but he made a quick & correct decision to get Tony S. out after the 2 walks!
+500
Won’t happen, but I wish Milw finished with the best record so we could play them if we won the WC game. They only scored 4 runs on Mahle, Luis C, and Sonny combined and 1 run on Luis should’ve been unearned. They’re beatable except you can come back on our pen and you can’t on theirs
Reds beat Hader twice a month ago.
Why do you feel the need to capitalize all of your sentences?
For the love of god please stop using exclamation points!!!!
Do you want to read this website and feel like you might have an apoplexy every time!!!!
Is that enjoyable!!!!
Dial. It. Down.
You’re connoting neither effect nor emphasis.
All of us, by the very nature of participating in this forum, love and have variously opinionated and hot taeks on the reds.
But please stop harshing my mellow with your untidy, untoward and wholly unwarranted periods of undue exclamation.
This site is a place of refuge and enjoyment for me.
Just dial it down a notch, my friend.
We’re all Reds fans. Some of us save exclamation points for things other than Suarez being a genial yet non-competitive 3rd-baseman.
Decorum and discretion are our friends.
Caught most of the game on one laptop while doing meetings on the other. A great benefit of working remotely and having a private office.
Glad we pulled out the win. RoY looked very good today. Off we go to Miami for what I can only hope is another round of Squish the Fish.
great Win by the reds. undecided if I want the Padres or the dodgers to win tonight. Either helps the reds.
We want the Dodgers to win. That’s the only outcome that helps us
Good game by Redlegs. Great game by Gray, India and the bullpen.
Brewers pitching is phenomenal. And they do it with later first round or later draft picks. They are a development machine. That fact alone could hurt our ability to dominate the division over next few years.
Suarez isn’t the black hole he was earlier. Aquino has replaced him in that regard. Need to play Stephenson more – put him in left field and hope for the best. Need to play Barrero some in the outfield. He will manage it fine with his athleticism. If the hammy is fine, I think its time to start getting Lorenzen some outfield reps and let him pitch in a double-switch. Need to get those 3 dudes more at-bats over the next 5 weeks.
Disagree on Lorenzen, Let him just be a pitcher with him just coming off injury not that long ago. Focus on pitching don’t worry about the outfield.
Hit the Over Pirates/Cards in the 3rd inning. Mitch Keller is garbage and Mikolas is not ready for primetime. Talent wise we should beat the Cards 4 of 6 atleast, but 3-3 won’t hurt us
The Cards also play Milwaukee 1o times. I’m counting on the Reds to tag team with them vs St Louis in fulfilling my prophecy of Philidelphia being the cream that eventually rises to the top of the curdled mass of WC also rans
The Crew will handle the cards, no worries.
Anybody else wonder why Counsell kept bringing in his bullpen lefties against the stacked RH lineup? Or why Suter just grooved 2 88mph 4 seamers to Castellanos like it was a batting practice gift? I got the impression Counsell was kinda thumbing his nose at the Reds
Because this Reds lineup is absolutely abysmal at hitting soft throwing lefties. Sometimes you have to consider other things than lefty/righty matchups. Are you David Bell in disguise?
This lineup that just beat Milwaukee 5-1?
Y’know it’s not that hard to actually not embarrass yourself and look into the splits to see actual production for reasons why handedness is extremely important. Winker for example hits .35o vs RHP vs .175 L ….Votto .3o2/.216 … even Castellanos against type is .325/.3oo vs LHP .. no surprise Saurez who should jack +.3oo to partly balance it out instead ‘hits’ around. .12o vs lefty and .19o vs R … and of course nothing is ever *all* about some thing or other. You do realize wasting people’s time with ‘arguments’ like that instantly signal cranial vacuum status? Do you even care about your credibility?
I didn’t say lefty/righty matchups don’t matter. I said there are other considerations as well. Maybe learn to read. The fact is, some lefties, the Reds lineup don’t hit well, specifically soft throwing lefties who rely on junkball pitches. You can post full season splits all you want. If you actually dig into the stats, you’d realize your splits are not accurate in those circumstances.
To further illustrate your ignorance, India hit his 3 run homer off right hander Hunter Strickland. So Counsell was bringing in lefties because the Reds destroyed his righty, but were not hitting is soft tossing lefties at all this series.
But hey, keep insulting my intelligence and questioning the professional manager because we all know you are the all-knowing around here. LOL Who lost credibility?
@beelicker You do realize that India’s homer was off a righty don’t you?
Yeah and i purposely listed some in that last post there. Anything else you want to tell me that i already said?
Generally, R vs R is not the same degreed of mismatch that is the typically more extreme L vs L for various logical and explainable reasons i’m sure you know
Want to guess which of India’s splits here are which? Neither one implies he still can’t hit/hit for power either side
.256/.377/.456
.337/.425/.49o
naw, craig only thumbs his nose at the cubbies
Great job Sonny Gray.
His dad died tragically today in 2004 in a car accident.
He referenced that in his post game pressor.
Aquino absolutely needs to play while WInker is out.
Answer the question now. It’s looking like he’s not a Reds major leaguer in a winning window. Give him 3 starts in Miami.
Barrero is the SS of the future. If hes not playing everyday now ok. Putting him somewhere else when SS is so crucial makes no sense. Indy is spot on with his 1 start against Alcantara Sunday. Bell threw him under the bus. He needs 1800 consecutive at bats like Suarez/Hamilton/Peraza did.
If he got hurt playing out of position at CF running into a wall or colliding with an infielder is absurd.
Barrero is a SS.
What can it hurt? You are not getting anything out of 3B or LF. The worst you can get is the same nothing out of the 2 posiitons.
If I were the Gm/manager of the Reds , Id be playing Aquino everyday in LF while WInker is out and Barrero at SS with Farmer a super sub playing 5 days a week.
Reds problem is they have Suarez and Moose at 3b and a like-able but just OK farmer at SS. That’s not a credible reason to play Barrero in a position hes never played. They have $7 million reasons to play Barrero at SS plus common sense .
Farmer against righties has an OPS of .695 and wRC+ Of 86. Thats better than Suarez but not a reason to play SS every day. Maybe a reason to play some 3b and every start against lefties somewhere.
Is farmer a better LF than Aquino against righties?
The chance that a late inning defensive CF replacement on a limited playoff roster could possibly make a difference in a play in game @LA is enough of a reason to at least experiment. It could mean no Shogo on that roster
Lorenzen played D1 college career primary in Cf. Plus way more MLB innings in CF than Barrero
Far more qualified than barrero
Barrero is a SS . We can all agree to disagree
I’d never play him anywhere else.
Farmer is a better hitter than AA. AA has the better arm and range but it doesn’t matter as much in LF. Instead, I would use Farmer at 3B with Schrock in LF for the near term with Barreo at SS. Net difference at the plate would be Schrock and Barreo for AA/Akiyama and Suarez/Moose. Give it a week and I bet the offense will be much better. At worst , it will be better than the almost nothing we are getting out of the two positions. When Winker gets back it takes some of the heat off. The OF would be set again.
Looks to me like they’ve made an organizational decision to protect Lorenzen’s hamstring by keeping him from even batting and exploding out of the box. They simply don’t want to risk losing him on the mound. That may change but it doesn’t change my point either way
You know you.could just accept the actual reality of the real situation. Barrero also has AA experience playing 2nd base: https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2021/08/22/cincinnati-reds-jose-barrero-filling-utility-role-not-just-shortstop/8234604002/
Why would you want to move India off 2B or out of the lineup when you have what you have at 3B and LF (right now). That is the reality that some can’t seem to come to grips with. Some folks that post on here seem to have no grasp of managing a baseball team at any level. I enjoy sharing thoughts and strategy with other baseball savvy fans. Those who appear to have jumped off the back of a turnip truck aren’t so much fun.
I’ve not seen folks sugggesting to move India off 2nd base for Barrero. Some are fans of moving India back to his original position at 3B and he’s not an optimal defensive 2B at this time. Bell in the linked article is the one talking about Barrero’s prior experience playing 2B making him comfortable to play him there in his current utility role. Does that make you think he has no grasp of managing a baseball team?
“He did a lot of work and got playing time at second base in Triple-A (i’m not sure he didn’t misspeak and mean A and/or AA here?), definitely trust the reports there,” Reds manager David Bell said. “I know Farm can move around too, but at this point he’s been playing shortstop for us very consistently and playing it extremely well. To me, it’s nice to be able to put Barrero at second base and feel good about it, even though he’s played a majority of shortstop in his career.”
Old-School and I agree much more than we disagree here which is a bit of a change since we often exchange views then agree to (mostly) disagree! l 😉
They’ve changed Aquino’s stance drastically over the last 2 weeks and he so much looks dangerous, like a guy on the very cusp but alas, it just isn’t happening.
As long as the team is beating on everybody but the Brewers, just send him out there every day and see if he eventually breaks through. He is rarely if ever chasing nowadays. Check the location charts on Gameday if you doubt. He is putting up some really long PAs, fouling off/ wasting some good pitcher’s pitches but in the end, he is either finally missing, losing a tough call, or popping out on the infield.
And if somebody was setting Barrero up to fail, they couldn’t do it any better than the way he has been misused since recalled.
Pirates drop an 8 spot on the cards.
Ouch.
Go pirates
Lol I think we both are scoreboard watching
Pirates put a big ol’ 8 spot on the board in the 7th inning. They now lead the Cardinals 11-7
Dodgers also up 3-0 over the Friars
Cards are just old
11 runs and 17 hits to the Pirates
Keep trading away Carson Kelly and Zac gallen to the dbacks and Alcantara to the marlins and signing extensions to sell tickets to old guys like Molina and Carpenter and Wainwright.
Cards and Cubs old with no young superstars.
Phillies lost. They suck too. The Reds should coast to the 2nd wildcard. Its just whether it will be SF or LA.
Hey, they put up a 5spot in the 9th and had the tying run on base, they’re not giving up! lol Their remaining schedule is easier than the Reds #2 easiest
I prefer SF with the memories of 2012 not far away.
Cards blew a 7-1 lead after the 3rd inning! Looks a lot like the Reds BP from earlier in this season!
I’d like to see Barrero get the starts for no other reason than to see if the Reds should be shopping for FA SS’s in the offseason. I’ve enjoyed the competitive team this year as much as anyone, but my realistic take is that this bullpen cannot carry the team deep into October. Might as well start getting the other issues sorted out while the opportunity is there.
Everyone remembers that opening series versus the Cards when Castellanos was plunked, came around to score and reacted the way we remember guys like Pete acting which showed us the fire we want in team leadership.
Many people have felt all season that Nick is one of, if not the, unquestioned leaders of the team.
He’s also going to get paid a ton of money next year to play in a major market.
Put yourself in his shoes for a minute: what would make him strongly consider sticking with this organization if the money was in the ballpark but not the best offer?
In my opinion, it would be seeing the organization move away from conventional old school thinking and use common sense when it comes to playing these young call-ups.
Earlier posts have clearly laid out the cases against Suarez, Moose, Aquinas, and Akiyama. Farmer was just like them and India is a rookie and look what they have done with their opportunities.
I think if Bell inserts Barrerro and Lopez and even Schrock for the upcoming homestretch, Castellanos sees something unique about the Reds and it greatly improves our chances of re-signing him.
As far as postseason bullpen goes, with travel days most teams reduce to 3 starters and maybe a spot starter. With this expanded pitch repertoire of Gray’s he likely assumes the Tejay Antone role
Gray tends to come out firing which would be good out of the pen but that would also work well as the wildcard starter since it is all or nothing with no room for a bad first inning. It might work well to use him as the WC starter for a planned short stint (4 innings max) then drop him back into the bullpen if the Reds move on. Perhaps also carry Gutierrez to use as the second man in the WC.
The Reds pen has been so bad and overall the starting pitching strong, it would seem to make sense to carry all 5 of the starters into the postseason and adjust their roles as opposed to carrying say Garrett and perhaps even Sims.
How about the 5 starters plus Givens, Lorenzen, a lefty (presumably Wilson), Cessa, and Santillan then as a cherry on top, a surprise from Louisville (most likely Moreta) if they can manipulate the roster eligibility to make it happen,
Whichever 3 starters and the other 2 candidates for augmenting the bullpen best is my point in rebuttal to poor mouthing the chances of the regular season bullpen making hay deep into the playoffs … Gray to me seems to have the best bullpen adaptability. Teams routinely drop 4th or 5th starters for extra position players
@Bee, My point was that beyond Lorenzen and Givens, it makes more sense to me to drop bullpen guys and include all the starters versus the B and C team bullpenners because the #4 and #5 starters would be better bullpen options in a short series.
Also, keep in mind the Wildcard game is considered the same round as the Divisional Series (best of 5 round); so the WC winner cannot make roster changes other than for injuries for the best of 5 series. This is why I think the Reds carry 4 starters for sure and given their personnel, carrying the 5th just makes sense.
If I counted correctly I had 11 pitchers which allows for 15 position guys. I am counting Senzel as out and even if Winker is available, which I have seen being questioned of late, I am not sure the Reds have enough viable position bodies to go any deeper than 7 bench guys. The 2 guys I see coming on if Winker is back are Schrock and Lopez. Anybody else is going to get into 40 man juggling and/ or using DH spots as cutouts to get them eligible.
Some decisions would be opponent specific and guys could get hurt between now and then and as big a fan of roster minutiae as I am was still only speaking in general theoretical vagaries. DH considerations wouldn’t come for 3 series. Low reliever choice for a 3rd catcher from the 4o I think I make that move easily, we’ll see
I have more confidence in Gray than I do Cessa. Same for Gutierrez.
Reds win, Padres lose.
Anybody saying anything about how Barrero has not hit well since being called up is ignorant. The dudes started what, 3 games in 2 weeks? He was the hottest bat in the minors and Bell/ someone didn’t want to ride that. In no way can you blame him for cooling off on the bench.
I should have said.. Anybody saying Barrero is bad after not hitting well is ignorant*
At times it has seemed like Bell and Krall were being passive aggressive with each other. Krall> You want another position guy? Here’s our best guy in minors Barrero). Bell> He doesn’t fit for me. I don’t need a shortstop.
And let’s not even try to go there in figuring out why Moustakis is activated and playing regularly despite a .382 OPS in 15 days on a leg and half and clearly not in game condition.
Moose is an ownership call. The same principle that said $11mil plays is the same one that now says $18mil plays over $11mil
@Luke> you took the thoughts right off my keyboard! 😉
Aside from last year’s wild card series flop, at quick glance, Moose (KC & Brewers), Farmer (Dodgers) and Naquin (Cleveland) appear to be the only position players who have had post season appearances in the last 5 years. Castellanos and Suarez saw some action with Detroit in 2014 and of course Votto in 2010,12, and 13 with the Reds.
On the pitching side, Gray (NYY/ A’s), Wilson (Pirates/ Cubs/ NYY), Miley (Brewers/Astros) and Cessa have been around the playoff block recently.
I’d say the Reds are satisfied with what Barrero has proven to them in the minors. That was stated in the Q article I posted elsewhere in this thread. Now that this series is in the books and the realistic possibility for capturing NLC1 has changed, the playtime parameters likely change also. Rookies don’t get handed anything at critical points in the season. Deference to veterans who have been through it and proven themselves before have earned that deference
LOL, what veterans on the Reds have “been through it”? That’s what I don’t get about people constantly talking about a pennant race where experience matters. None of the Reds have hardly any experience in pennant races and WS runs. In fact, the youngsters who don’t realize just how tough it is to get into this position are less likely to buckle under the pressure than the vets who’ve battled their whole careers just to get here once in a while.
@luke I think when they say they have proven it or been through it, I think they mean the MLB grind itself, not just postseason. And if they do mean postseason, it’s usually defending why Moose is still getting play time. Could also say it about Doolittle while he was here.
Part of “having gone through it” certainly refers to seeing a lot of major league pitching. If the Reds weren’t contenders, it would make a lot of sense to play young guys called up from AAA, and it still might. But it’s not even a bit unreasonable to conclude that experimentation and OJT are risky in a pennant race. Suarez and Moose have been abysmal, but it’s very possible that the team’s postseason chances rest upon one or both of them regaining some of what’s on the backs of their respective baseball cards.
Yes of course it’s the seasonal grind. Bell also happens to have been through a playoff pursuit ans beyond with most of these players so he has a feel for what to expect from them under pressure.. Barrero some too, for that matter
Somebody else here was preaching about narcissism the other day. An excessive preoccupation with blame, punishment and control are 3 key indicators
Wanna be the pot or the kettle ? Barrero actually has 79 ab’s with a lofty .190 ba.I suspect this is why they got Cabrera today
Wow!!! After reading through some of these comments Wow is all that I can say.
A big win for the Reds combined with losses for Padres and Cards.
Seems to be a lot of fascination/support for Aquino here at RLN. Reality is, in 11 years of pro baseball he’s never been very good aside from one year in MiLB and one month in MLB.
Career MiLB: .248/.310/.455
Career MLB: .223/.307/.494
A guy with those MiLB numbers is not a guy I’m giving a lot of MLB chances to. He’s missing the hit tool, at every level.
I’ve noticed, though, that our great wisdom on the subject of Aquino (the Reds are so stupid to not play him all of time) has changed. We seem to take small sample sizes as more important than they usually are. Maybe we shouldn’t manage the Reds, after all.
Barrero’s impressive hot streak in the minors is nowhere close to duplicating AA’s actual MLB blaze of glory . What did he hit, .3o5 in AAA? Who was characterizing that as absolutely tearing up the minors?
That would be Doug Gray -who said he was killing it in the minors.
He makes a strong supportive argument and I tend to agree.
https://www.redlegnation.com/2021/08/16/cincinnati-reds-call-up-jose-barrero-place-jesse-winker-on-the-il/
.3o3 in 314 AB … I’m finding guys with 22os or more AB hitting. 34os and .36os but with pay walls and registrations I can’t get a complete picture. I think some of the pacific coasts leagues may inflate offensive stats… maybe Doug can provide some context as to whether . 3o3 is really all that comparatively murdelizin’… Arthur was the guy I was referring to though
Barrero had a .973 ops at Louisville. Thats tearing up AAA in my book
It is the same as the fascination and hope around Senzel that with just one more try the latent potential might snap in.
What often gets lost in the talk about Aquino is that he has made himself a more than competent defensive OF at all three spots. Defensively, he saved the Reds bacon several times in the recent Reds 3-1 series win vs the Cubs at Wrigley with clutch catches that directly saved at least 5 runs across 2 games. He has the best OF arm on the team now (excluding Lorenzen but counting Senzel). He also gets around the bases well. Add those qualities to the offensive potential and that makes him a reasonable choice for the last man on the bench if no more. With Winker out why not just play him and see what happens as long as the team continues to win?
Even with the horrendous August that Aquino is having, his 2021 OPS is nearly 100 points higher than Senzel’s 2021 OPS was when he went down (.730/.638). So if a guy with a career OPS of .604 in 616 plate appearances can be viewed as a potential savior (Senzel) if he could ever stay on the field, why shouldn’t a guy with a career OPS of .840 over 437 PAs be afforded similar opportunities?
We also could be seeing the after effects of Aquino’s own injury, the fractured hamate bone which kept him out for 2+ months earlier in the season. Hand injuries can be strange animals. Some power hitters need a longer time to fully recover previous strength from hamate injuries. Some guys never come all the way back to what they were previously. Whether with the Reds or some other team, only time will eventually tell with Aquino,
Except Senzel was drafted 2nd overall, and had college and then MiLB continued success. Aquino had none of that. So nothing of the same with those two.
@Hype> And I could just as reasonably say the one glorious month Aquino had at the MLB level where he did things Senzel has never approached doing at the MLB level more than offsets the glowing projections of Senzel’s potential based on college level achievements and earned him the benefit of the doubt.
Senzel had 7 straight years of elite performance beginning @ Tennessee. If you want to say Aquino’s one great month out of 11 years of pro ball makes him an equal to Senzel, go ahead.
In 2018 at AAA before being called up Senzel compiled a .887 OPS in 193 PAs which clearly is very good.
In 2019 at AAA before being called up Aquino compiled a .992 OPS in 323 PAs which was even better and over a longer period.
2019 was the first AAA level work for Aquino as was Senzel’s 2018 AAA stint for him.
When the career OPS stats of each guy at the 2 highest professional levels are compared Aquino comes out better at both levels. Coincidence?
You’re putting an awful lot of weight on Aquino’s one and only good year out of 11. Again, if you want to highlight that one year and ignore the other 10 where he has been mostly dreadful and has not displayed a hit tool of any reasonable semblance, go ahead.
Actually, I was thinking about what a ruckus it would have caused if an agent/ advisor/ family had gotten Aquino stateside ala the path Pujols followed and he would have turned the world on its ear hitting laser shots with aluminum/ composite bats against high school pitching and the mix of pitching he would have seen even at a high level college program. But would we know about him than we do now either way?
He’s had plenty of opportunity in 11 years of pro ball. Any other path wouldn’t have changed the result. He just hasn’t performed well consistently as a pro.
Maybe been discussed already but who is our starter for the one game playoff? Sonny Gray?
Getting a little ahead of ourselves, ay? If the Reds make it, it’d more than likely be a road game and I’m giving the ball to Mahle.
So many of our starters have been good lately. Infact very few poor performances from our starters. Maybe in the one-game playoff, assuming we make it, we use a couple of them at least to get through 7 innings. Then go to Lorenzen and Givens
Assuming that the Game is away, in LA, The starter is Miley. If not Miley then Vlad. Then Grey. I am not putting a starter that cannot on the regular get through 6 innings. As for Castillo, I want him for one of the Home games in the DS.
The answer for a one and done road game is always Mahle.
We can all agree on one thing. We need a healthy Winker back. Then you have an Outfield that is the best in the majors . The weak spot remains 3B Just have to hope for one of Suarez or Moose to get hot. One of them will be a DH next year
I think there’s hope for Moose. He seems to be coming out of it, slowly.
If Moose could DH. He is a real liability defensively right now. He can’t turn or pivot sharply. His range is limited and his throwing (which starts with the legs) is erratic.
Yes and we need his bat but he just can’t move in the field or on the bases.So unless he does hit he doesn’t help in fact one could say his defense could hurt.
Interestingly, the Reds are scoring almost 1 more run per game vs last year.
In 2021 they are scoring 5.02 runs per game.
In 2020 they scored 4.05 runs per game.
Although the pitching is giving up 0.68 more runs per game.
2021 they gave up 4.73 runs per game (4.39 era)
2020 they gave up 4.05 runs per game (3.84 era)
In all, their run differential was 0 last year, and is 37 this year (0.29/game).
As for last year’s pitching being a little better than this year’s, perhaps Mr. Bauer had something to do with that? I seem to recall that he wasn’t a half-bad starter. Not to cast any shade on Vlad, who has certainly exceeded all expectations, but….. he ain’t Trevor Bauer.
And in a number of ways, may I interject it is a very good thing to not be like Trevor Bauer.
I don’t remember hearing any of this but it came our of the Cali proxeedings that a previous Ohio incident surfaced last season I guess it was kept quiet? https://www.si.com/mlb/2021/08/14/ohio-woman-filed-previous-protection-order-against-trevor-bauer
Vlad can play right now. Bauer cannot. Therefore Vlad is better then Bauer by default
Seems like the Cardinals have been playing Pittsburg for the past month. Padres playing the Twinkees this weekend. Reds can’t take their foot off the gas.
Reds will play the pirates 9 times in the last 2 1/2 weeks, it’ll be ok. The padres playing the angels this weekend I believe.
2o2o Reds were dead last in NL team BA and 14th in runs I think … 2o21 currently #1 NL OPS #2 runs scored and at least top 3 pretty much across the board … spin decline has had some FX upward on both
I will bite one more time on the lineup.Bell is going to use his entire roster,its just what he does.He will play Moose and Eugenio at third the rest of the way,its what he has been told to do.Barrero will not start much if at all barring injury to Farmer.Tucker and TySteve will continue to play as they have played.None of this has anything to do with performance before or now or next week for any of these players.Most fans look and say but we are 11 games over 500 and the year has been good and it has been.The reason is we have beat up on the teams in our division with the exception of a 9-10 record against the Brewers and I didn’t go back to see the record.We should continue to do that even playing the guys I listed above cause of games left with the Cubs,Bucs and Cards.The issue is we are no where near to being able to compete with the better teams unless we put our best lineup on the field.I am good with it for this year cause it will not change and only hope that the off season will take care of this as we go forward.
First, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and convict him based on newspaper articles.
Second, even if it true that he has off-the-field problems which might actually rise to the level of criminal conduct, it doesn’t change the fact that he is pretty good at throwing a baseball.
I wasn’t bashing the team for not re-signing him – simply pointing out that his presence last year, and absence this year, goes a long way to explaining the difference in team ERA and other pitching metrics.
And yes, in some ways, I suppose it is good to not be like Mr Bauer – assuming that there is some veracity to the allegations made against him.
Starting pitching for Marlins and Cards sets up with a run of lefties starting Sunday with Luzardo/Lester and Happ.
Barnhart will catch tonight.
Stephenson Sunday and 2/3 against Cards.
looks like a straight platoon at 3b based on Bell’s pattern with Moose against righties and Suarez against lefties. The interesting question will be if Shogo starts over Aquino in the OF tonight and tomorrow with (2) righties including Alcantara tomorrow.
Perhaps Barrero gets a start Sunday.
Young players have faster bats than old players. Neither Suarez nor Moose can catch up with Alacantera, so the smart move would be to play Barrero at third on Saturday.
Not that I actually expect that.
Schrock in left field tonight.
several people here were recently crying saying Barrerro vs Alcantara was Bell intentionally unfairly making Barrrero look bad in his stats
If they are trying to trade Moustakas in the off-season, they don’t want any video footage of Moose trying to hit Alcantera. Barrero has the bat speed to catch up to him, but Alacantera is elite.
The beauty of it is that that the Cardinals traded Alcantera.
I said after 2019 trade Suarez, thought they could get good return now I wonder if they could get a baseball with the cover off for him. Call me crazy but after the season is over package Winker with a starting pitcher and get at least 2 MLB players.