Kyle Farmer was the only Cincinnati Reds player to pick up a hit – and he had two of them – as Jon Lester dominated the Reds in a 3-1 win for the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. The Cardinals moved a game closer to the Reds in the standings with the victory and are now 2.5 games behind Cincinnati.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals (67-63) |
3 | 8 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (71-62) |
1 | 2 | 0 |
| W: Lester (5-6) L: Castillo (7-14) SV: Gallegos (3) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
The Reds got on the board in the bottom of the second inning with a Kyle Farmer leadoff home run – his 12th of the season. That was the last baserunner that the Cincinnati Reds had until Joey Votto walked with one out in the 7th inning. Kyle Farmer was up next, but the Cardinals went to their bullpen to bring in lefty T.J. McFarland. Farmer came through with a ground rule double to put two men on with one out. But the Reds put on the contact play and Eugenio Suárez hit a grounder to third base and Joey Votto was out at the plate by 15 feet. That brought Tyler Naquin to the plate and the lefty-on-lefty match up went as you’d expect it to for a guy who had a .609 OPS against lefties on the season would go. He struck out to end the inning and the Cardinals held onto their 3-1 lead as the game went to the 8th.
The Cardinals stuck with the lefty McFarland to begin the inning and he got Aristides Aquino to fly out to the front of the warning track. With the pitchers spot due up the Reds turned to Mike Moustakas as a pinch hitter, but he grounded out to first. Jonathan India kept the inning alive with a little help from Paul Goldschmidt who was charged with an error as India reached first. Tyler Stephenson would fly out to center and end the inning as Cincinnati’s offense continued to search for another hit.
Down by two runs to begin the bottom of the 9th the Cardinals turned the game over to Giovanny Gellegos to face the heart of the Reds order. Nick Castellanos grounded out to shortstop to begin the inning. Joey Votto struck out on five pitches, leaving the game up to the only Red with a hit on the night – Kyle Farmer. After several foul balls he would pop up to end the game.
The Pitching
Walks will haunt. That’s the old saying, and Monday night it was confirmed with a quickness as Tommy Edman walked to lead off the game and then scored when Paul Goldschmidt hit a 2-run homer to follow. Luis Castillo settled in from there, with only a walk by Goldschmidt in the first four innings after that. But in the 5th inning Harrison Bader had a 1-out double to pick up the Cardinals second hit of the game. Castillo took care of business with back-to-back ground outs to strand the runner and keep the St. Louis lead at 2-1.
The next inning it was another 1-out double, this time by Dylan Carlson, that put the Cardinals back in threatening mode. A ground out advanced the runner to third base and a soft chopper that stopped before reaching the infield dirt went as an RBI infield single to extend the St. Louis lead to 3-1. That was all Castillo allowed for the inning, but it would also be his last as he picked up eight strikeouts in 6-innings of 3-run baseball.
Luis Cessa took over in the 7th inning. He allowed a single to Jon Lester, but worked around it for a shutout frame. Jeff Hoffman entered for the 8th inning and after recording the first two outs rather easily he allowed back-to-back singles. But he struck out future Hall of Famer Yadier Molina to end the threat. Justin Wilson came through with a perfect 9th inning to hold the score at 3-1 and give the Reds offense one more chance to do some damage.
Notes Worth Noting
The Cincinnati Reds have completed their trade with the New York Yankees from July. On Monday evening they sent minor league pitcher Jason Parker to the Yankees as the player to be named later. We wrote about Parker and the trade here if you would like more information.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday August 31st, 6:40pm ET
Miles Mikolas (0-1, 2.70 ERA) vs Sonny Gray (6-6, 3.91 ERA)
Jon Lester dominated the Reds isn’t a joke.
Lester had more hits then our entire team except Farmer.Not a joke either.
Our hitters just look helpless. I think some are burned out. Some shouldn’t be on the field but the bench players are no better.
This team really needs a veteran who can play first and third and hit well against lefties, or they’re going to be in serious trouble. It’s too bad they don’t know where to find a guy like that.
Next season they need one for every LH except maybe Winker. Senzel might be the one for CF when we face a lefty. You are right, we need one for Votto and if Moose DHs one there also.
Oh good grief … i’ve been exposing Winker’s & this team’s handedness discrepancy issue here on this page for the last 5 weeks … “Bell’s clueless obsession with L/R matchup baseball is insane” is the consensus opinion around here lol
v RHP .349/.43o/.64 21 HR .. King Kong
v LHP .176/.288/.284 3 HR … Judy the Chimp
.648 slugging v RHP
Bell continues to assert that the Reds will hit lefties. According to him, they just need to face MORE of them.
Bell (after tonight’s game): “…I wouldn’t change my answer from what we talked about earlier. You know, we haven’t faced a lot of left-handers and I remain confident that the more we face uh the better we’re going to get. And um we will…we’re going to face a lot of them so, um, you know I remain confident that we’re going to get better as we face more starters, some more left-handed starters.”
My question to Bell is this: What are you going to do differently to improve your team’s chance for success?
He won’t answer
So what else is he gonna say? That they’re totally screwed? He doesn’t control the personnel strings and he and his coaches have been trying to scrounge up a potential extra RH OF bat by coaching up Barrero on the side … which gets him called insane by this group
poor guy
lol well, that doesn’t make him the Lone Ranger by any stretch
He’s a complete buffoon
I’m pretty certain that I heard Chris Welch say that the Reds are playing .500 (or better) against left-handers. They don’t hit them particularly well, but the last two games might not be perfectly indicative of anything except that the Reds have a hard time hitting when the opposing pitcher is pitching really well. Of course, this is true of every other team, too. It also seems possible that a lot of the players are gassed right now.
Suarez and Aquino should be bench players from here on out. Neither one can hit. Even Larkin talked about how lost Aquino is at the plate. He’s reaching. Doesn’t have a plan.
the LH Shrock is probably not going to hit LHP any too much better … Stephenson can only play but one position on the field at a time and he really should at least catch vs every LHP that the Reds will face, which is about 3o% of the time on average. Barnhart can’t catch all the games
Psychologically it is very important the Reds win this home series with the Cardinals. I know Barnhart can not catch every game and I’m not asking for that to happen. But for the next two games, both he and Stephenson should be in the lineup. Votto needs a rest until Detroit comes in on Friday. Change, period, is needed at third base; why was Cabrera brought in? Take a chance with Schrock; Aquino is not getting it done offensive wise.
I see what you’re saying now. It might work. Righty today could make the point moot but then there’s back to back lefties again
Steven Ross, you are absolutely correct! Both are RH hitters and both of them suck right now. This is a big reason why we struggle against LH pitching. Two of our big RH bats have struggled so much that they both should be on the bench.
JB at shortstop and Farmer at 3RD. Senzel in CF when he returns. I have seen enough from Suarez, Aquino, Shogo and even Moose to a certain degree.
Senzel against lefties. Naquin has been quite good against RHs.
An offensive shakeup is needed to take this series against St.L. with Barnhart catching, Stephenson at first base, Cabrera at third, and Schrock in left field. Good pitching is being wasted.
+1
The comp here is Barnhart vs Votto against LH pitching. And actually, Barnhart’s OPS on that split is better but his sample size is so much smaller, I’m not sure how to weigh the value of it.
Shrock vs Aquino against LH pitching looks like a wash. Maybe the change does the team good but is Schrock really a capable LF? Don’t know myself but that could be an issue
I think I remember TB was down around .23os earlier in the season but then 2 of his Miley starts came up against LHP and he multihit both?
Bravo! And I’ll add one more – lorenzen in one of the outfield positions. It’s time he starts playing a position against left handlers.
Lorenzen may have more value in the bullpen than he would in the outfield. We don’t know what his value in the outfield would be, either. Very small sample size against MLB pitching, and he really has looked more like a good-hitting pitcher than a good-hitting position player.
Probably hasn’t been taking much BP either
I am feeling like this Reds team may have come to the point where entropy is setting in. Instead of seeking new energy, they are doubling down on the old energy which is likely to leave them short of where they need to be if they hope to reach the postseason.
Where is the old energy coming from and where would you find the new energy that may be helpful?
Sorry I wasn’t clear. “Old energy” is continuing to do what used to work but isn’t working now in hopes that it starts working again.
Votto is in a rut and why not. He has played too much, especially for somebody his age. Despite getting the 2 hits tonight, Farmer has also been overused. Suarez and Aquino are both crashed (for whatever reason(s). Does Moustakas have any business being on the field given the shape he is in? Even Castellanos is looking a little worn around the edges; how does India take such a licking but keep on ticking?
Bell’s posture in his bullpen usage tonight was telling. By using Hoffman and Wilson in the 8th and 9th down 2 runs he was basically acknowledging he thinks he only needs 1 win in this series and was holding his top relief guns for a better shot at it. That’s good from the “new energy” side because they held. On the other hand, it was an acknowledgment he had little confidence they were going to get anything done on their last six outs.
As far as positional fresh energy, start by getting Cabrera and Schrock more involved. They also need to get Lopez and Barrero up and involved. Perhaps they even go so far as bringing up TJ Freidl. Involved doesn’t mean people are benched indefinitely. It means the new guys play more and the other guys get some rest then hopefully bounce back in their effectiveness. But all the way down the stretch, they have to use the full resources available as opposed to running guys clear down.
+1
What? That the non-closing bullpen came in and did its job and held the line is a GOOD thing. This is a LHP issue just like it’s been all season and beyond for the recent incarnation lefty-centric batting Cincinnati Reds
That they’re overall still 16-13 vs LHP this season (although we do need to find out if that’s against games lefties started or whether it’s the pitcher of record it refers to, to be sure) is still a reason not to go all doom & gloom full dirge mode … yet
@Bee> I said it was a good thing Hoffman and Wilson did their job but the fact they were used in those situations meant Bell had already all but written this game off despite being only 2 down against a team with a bullpen almost as bad as the Reds have been at times holding leads.
He’s basically acknowledging he expects all his relievers to be successful when they work and the guys he put in successfully tonight signal that he’s still got his A side closing committee securely locked & loaded for successful use tomorrow. I don’t think he’s got any relievers that can pitch the opposition’s score backwards?
Not joking, Jim Walker for manager. Who do you want for your coaches
Well, yes and no…maybe. While his bullpen use may have signaled his lack of confidence winning this game, and surely it was possible that the Cards lead would increase…IF the Reds tied or went ahead in those last two innings, then he has his better guns to shut it down. It was probably a risk he was willing to take.
“As far as positional fresh energy, start by getting Cabrera and Schrock more involved. They also need to get Lopez and Barrero up and involved. Perhaps they even go so far as bringing up TJ Freidl. Involved doesn’t mean people are benched indefinitely. It means the new guys play more and the other guys get some rest then hopefully bounce back in their effectiveness. But all the way down the stretch, they have to use the full resources available as opposed to running guys clear down.”
Bingo!
totally agree
I can’t believe we lost three games in row we barely score. It’s sad only point of whole game was 2nd inning by farmer homerun then Suarez reach base on fielder choice which could give us another point had he hit into play. Players look exhausted banged up for sure. Moose is day to day which sucks since he was click a lil better. Cardinals closing in sadly. Marlins help Cardinals smell blood in the water coming into this game for them since reds lost two in a row so now three with tonight game. Things need to change quickly if we wanna prove we belong this playoff race
The reds need to bring up Barrios TODAY so that he qualifies for the potential play in game. We need that extra youth and energy. Besides, he’s a much better shortstop than anyone else on the team.
Unless somebody’s injured or special circumstances lists he has to wait 1o days on the option. He’s eligible anyway being on the 4o already
Good to hear. I didn’t know that he’s already eligible for the postseason.
This team looks old, tired, slow, poorly managed, banged up, and any other words to describe a team getting two hit in back to back games. I am glad college football starts soon because I am losing some faith in this team. Another major way I have to describe them is boring. I do think the pitching looks good though, but they do need to get out of the first inning without giving up a run to take some pressure off an offense that is in panic mode.
This is why i named LHP as “Reds’ Kryptonite” many moons ago, as Red Kryptonite radically alters a Kryptonian’s personality: https://www.cbr.com/superman-kryptonite-types-effects/
The infield defense has been interesting in a positive way to watch most of the time. They can turn GIDPs with the best when someone other than Moustakas is at 3B. Farmer and India both make a lot of good individual plays too. However the team can be boring when the offense is doing little to nothing; but, what team isn’t that way.
What bores me the most is so many long plate appearances by the opposition, especially when the Reds start them out so often at 0-2 or at least 1-2. Reds pitchers (and catchers) need to learn how to close out PAs more efficiently.
I said 3 months ago the Reds needed to get CJ Cron as a righty bat and Gregory Soto as a lefty bullpen arm.
Cron will likely be NL player of the month for the Rockies and easily could have been had,
Soto is becoming one of the best bullpen arms in baseball
Castellini and Krall weren’t committed to winning this year or making bold decisions to make the team better for next year at the same time.
I said 3 months ago the Reds needed to get CJ Cron as a righty bat and Gregory Soto as a lefty bullpen arm.
Cron will likely be NL player of the month for the Rockies and easily could have been had,
Soto is becoming one of the best bullpen arms in baseball
Castellini and Krall weren’t committed to winning this year or making bold decisions to make the team better for next year at the same time.
I am with you Old School, been saying for months they needed a solid right hand out field bat, but the great front office has decided to go with Aquino, what a joke. In reality with this front office and Bell it is hard to believe they are 9 over, even though fading fast, on the last day of August. The sad part is the pieces, with a few good moves, were there, Oh well that the way it is for fans of this team. I think the crowd of a whopping 10,000 tonight is proof that the fans don’t believe.
LHP = Reds Kryptonite:
http://redscontentplus.com/2021/08/why-left-handed-pitching-is-the-reds-kryptonite/
The word is out.
Your move, Reds.
http://redscontentplus.com/2021/08/why-left-handed-pitching-is-the-reds-kryptonite/
Analytics absolutely informing Farmer’s placement and performance batting 5th vs LHP … a sabermetric style top of the order 1-4 RH with Votto breaking them up at #4
Reporters need to start challenging Bell with his comments, by questioning the fact his team cannot hit left handed pitching! Not that they will the more they see them. It’s the end of the season. Fact is they are not hitting them….all this season! Why would that change! Also a big spot for Suarez tonight with runners on second and third, and if course he failed to deliver!
The Reds will have to win a wild card all hands on deck play in game. Fortunately a favorable schedule has them well positioned to reach that goal. All it can be done from here on out is to give the manager every weapon to get to and succeed in the postseason. To that end it’s a must that they call up Hunter Greene so he’s postseason eligible. Pitch himfrom the bullpen tomorrow night for two innings if you must and then have him pack his bags. This organization has quite often let players learn new roles with little to no preparation, so any pearl clutching over experience or health will ring hollow with me.
Don’t think they have to have Greene or anybody actually on the 26 man roster anymore to get them eligible. They only have to be on the 40 man at midnight tonight (31 Aug). They wouldn’t even have to call him up, just file the required paperwork to do it. There are 2 or 3 open spots on the 40 man, surely the Reds will fill them. But then this is the Reds.
There is one other avenue to get someone playoff eligible who was not on the 40 man roster or 60 day MLB IL at midnight Aug 31 but was in the organization. At the end of the regular season, the team can declare an eligible person who is on an MLB IL as out for the season then replace that person with anyone in the organization by midnight 31 August.
Greene is scheduled to start tonight for Louisville. I don’t think that is happening. I suppose it could, but not likely.
The Reds will have to work really hard to NOT secure the 2nd wild card. Take a measured look at the remaining schedules for the Padres and Cardinals. Sure, I guess the Phillies and Braves could find a way to secure that final wild card but even they have a much harder road left than the Reds.
The problem that all of us have talked about is how meaningless the 2nd wild card looks if you lose the 1-game playoff. And, while not impossible, it is highly likely we will be heading west to face a lefty in that single elimination game versus either LA or SF. If we don’t change the look of the lineup by then, we all know how it will go.
I’m not going to pretend to understand what all feeds into fangraphs playoff odds simulator, but as of this morning, the Reds still hold a 54% chance of securing the 2nd wild card there (SDP 30%, PHI 7%, STL 6%). I imagine remaining SOS has a lot to do with that. Padres and Cardinals have the 1st and 3rd most difficult SOS from here on out. The Reds? 29th most difficult.
The problem with extrapolating strength of schedule to future results is that we actually have to play an opponent on the field (as opposed to playing their current W/L percentage). It presumes that losing teams will continue to lose (at least at the same rate as they have previously), which can be a fallacy, a fool’s bet, false gold. It ignores changes that a team has made to improve their play, which is sometimes achieved through roster moves (addition by subtraction). It doesn’t seem logical that teams (like the Pirates) can play better by trading away some of their better players but it can happen. It also ignores the stress that is applied to the team that is under pressure to win. The Reds are under pressure to win, whereas teams with losing records (like the Pirates) can go out and just play baseball.
The offense is struggling because the lack of desire to upgrade the offense (and defense) when given the opportunity. The reds lost one of their best hitters and had the opportunity to upgrade another position to compensate but instead chose to waste away Barrero just like they did Lopez. The blind loyalty to any veteran (and $$) is why the Reds ceiling is simply making the playoffs. Barrero should have been inserted at SS with Farmer moving to 3B. Lopez should have been called up to play LF as soon as Winker went down. Stephenson should be getting more starts at C. The Reds lineup would have a lot better chance to be competent with a daily lineup of:
1. India
2. Lopez
3. Castellanos
4. Votto
5. Stephenson
6. Barrero
7. Farmer
8. Naquin
I totally agree that Suarez should be benched and Moustakis used as a LH pinch hitter . Farmer should be moved to third and Barrero brought up to play SS Lopez should be brought up to play LF until Winker returns and Inciarte or Friedl brought up to play CF against lefties. Drop Garret and bring up Moreta.
You cannot continue to roll out players hitting below .180 Suarez and Aquino have had over a year to show something and have not. How Moustakis was allowed to gain so much weight is also on the training staff. He must have gained 30 lbs while on the DL and that has destroyed his ability to move on defense
Inciarte was released over the weekend. To my knowledge, nothing about why was publicly stated on the record. My guess would be there was an out in his contract to give him an opportunity to hook on with another organization in time to have playoff eligibility with them because the Reda would not commit to that.
Outside of a hot 3-game stretch when he had just joined the Bats, Inciarte went 0.174 / 0.255 / 0.174 in 46 ABs. I fully acknowledge the small sample size, but it wasn’t pretty. I attended his 3 of his last 4 games in a Bats jersey and he looked lost.
That being said, behind Friedl and Crook, our OF depth chart in Louisville is slim. A couple guys who were recently playing indy ball, and some infielders who can but probably shouldn’t be covering the outfield. With ABs available, I wouldn’t have hated to see Inciarte stay on a bit longer to see how much he has left in the tank over a larger sample size. But if I’m being honest, I think I’d rather see one of our Chattanooga OFs get a promotion.
Totally agree. Lopez is at AAA and Barreo is not on the roster.
Jim,
As usual with your comments you are spot on.
Starting pitching (not Miley) consistently takes 0-2 and 1-2 counts to full counts and then either has multiple pitches fouled off and the give up a hit or a walk.
Castillo vs lead off hitter last night was a perfect example.
The Reds offense does look tired and seems to have reverted to Reds 2020 where every swing seems to be for a HR and they are striking out a significant amount of time.
It looks like now when the Reds get down a run or two every AB is attempting to hit a 5 run HR as the players kind of know they will never string together 4 or 5 hits/walks in a inning again.
This team has been one or two guys at a time are smoking hot and they carry the team for a week or two or three. If a player is not hot they seem to not be able to get on base ever.
The entire team has cooled off in the last week.
Hopefully the offensive slump does not last much longer.
The comments about very hot or very cold and nobody hot right now ring very true with me.
It’s starting to feel like our boys may be starting to run outta gas.
I think even making the 2nd wild card is becoming a long shot, no matter the schedule. They are playing themselves right out of it and Bell is really hurting them as he has all season. The only positive I can think of is if they fall on their face Bell may be gone, but I doubt it.
I am now convinced this team will not win another game all season.
If I didn’t feel that way before I read the comments, I do now. Just kidding. I’m more inclined to think that the Reds are in a temporary slump–late season doldrums. No good team manages to get through the whole season without a few rough patches, and I expect that these guys will start hitting (and winning) again.
Some of them need to take a day or two off to rest up.
I agree, Alan.
Is it just me or is Suarez having one of the worst offensive years in MLB history? Bell threw him extra BP with the tarp still on the field before last nights game. Why is he allowed to pick up a bat? Aquino is pretty terrible too.
If they could get him to keep his head on the ball and not try to pull everything it would help. He has been doing it all season and it appears to have been no effort to fix it. India does it also but far less often. It is easy to see it on TV with the camera angle coming almost straight in on the hitter.
Relax everyone. Teams go through slumps. This is same offense that scores 5 runs a game for stretches. This team will be fine. On a more positive note. Pitching seems to have jelled.
I am curious what the gm thinks now since Aquino and Shogo aren’t the answer. Hopefully Senzel is back sooner rather than later. Winker too.
In regards to Bell. While I questioned his line up. The Reds are in playoff race for 2nd year under Bell’s leadership. That suggest to me he knows a thing or 2.
+1. This is a good team with a favorable schedule. They’ll be fine. But yes, I don’t see the harm in giving Senzel another go. Aquino and Shogo both laid an egg.
Bell is a good long haul manager in much the same way as Dusty Baker; but, the team may be in a position just now where his strengths play as weaknesses. His inclination is to ride this tough spell out; but with the season winding to the end, a more proactive stance may be in order.
Speaking of Senzel, what’s the timeline for his return??
Cardinals are to the Reds what the Stealers are to the Bengals. Ugh…….
This year the Reds do lead the series,as of now anyway.
For the Bell apologist, you are correct that the team has been in the playoff chase the last two years, but lets not over do it they are 9 games over .500 the last two years combined. Well that is better than 2014 – 2019 it isn’t that good and many of managers have been let go with better records. Especially ones that make strange moves, see Suarez.
The Reds this year and last, and many years before, have had significant weaknesses and major injury issues. It would be hard (I would say impossible) to find a manager who could overcome the bullpen the Reds had earlier this year. It still isn’t going to set the world on fire, but it’s better. If you check the winning percentage of good managers when they have bad teams, you’ll find, I’m pretty sure, that a manager can’t overcome ineffective players.
The Reds don’t have a lot of good options vs left handers. Neither Votto (.654 OPS), Winker (.572 OPS), or Naquin (.580 OPS) hit them very well this season. Two of the Reds best options as RH batters are rookies. Castellanos isn’t exactly on fire either. His August OPS is more than 100 pointes lower than his season OPS. Over the past 5 games he’s 4 for his last 19 with one walk. The bench last night featured 4 LH hitters in Barnhart, Akiyama, Moose, and Shrock, and the switch hitting Cabrera. The only reasonable option to improve the offense was to insert Cabrera for Suarez. And when your best hitters don’t contribute that probably doesn’t make much of a difference.
It is what it is. There aren’t good options and sometimes a team has kryptonite. This is the Red’s for this season. This team has been a lot of fun, but it has always been flawed in the way it was constructed. Hopefully they can bounce back tonight and keep the Cards off our heels.
@Hotto, The option is to take a breath and get Lopez and Barrero onto the active roster and actually use them in games so the other guys can regroup physically and mentally from the stretch of 30 games in 31 days including 20 straight.
The fact the run is over doesn’t mean the wear and tear are gone overnight. Who among us has never been involved in an encompassing project at work or a family situation where we were focused on getting through it to a degree we wore ourselves to a frazzle and collapsed in exhaustion when it ended having never realized along the way how used up we were becoming? I suspect that is where the Reds collectively find themselves right now,
I agree 100%, but who goes away to do that? They are afraid of losing AA for some reason, and they sure are not going to DFA Shogo..They are way too concerned about options and feelings, IMO..they cannot put all underperformers on the IL
Jim, I completely agree with the fact that many of our players appear worn down. Votto needed a day off in the worst way, especially against the recent string of lefties. It’s a shame that didn’t happen, especially with Cabrera capable of playing 1B. Castellanos and Farmer probably need a break as well. I believe India had one recently, but it wouldn’t be the worst idea to get him another.
You’re probably correct that calling up Lopez and Barrero (and actually playing them regularly) is the answer. I wish I was hopeful that would happen.
@Chris> As of midnight tonight (31st), the calendar grants them 2 more spots. If they want to bring a pitcher up there certainly must be someone on the staff who would qualify for an IL trip.
Doug noted yesterday in a post, the AAA season is going to continue through September this year. Among the optionable group, they can shuffle guys back and forth during the month plus also have rehab opportunities.
As others have noted here, this is a time to expand their horizons and use all the resources available, not to hunker down.
Its been the same all year long its our top 4 or 5 guys batting to beat the other team and with a contribution every once in awhile from other players.Now the top guys are tired and hurt or out.Unless we get Wink and Senzel back and on the field and make Ty Steve the top guy behind the plate,bring up Barrero and put him at short and put anybody at third not named Suarez,expect a big time meltdown.Last year was what it was but these guys are running on fumes.We step on the field every night out gunned.Look at what our top 4 guys have done.They may be the best in baseball.I won’t even get into Bob and his I will win my way or Bell no you won’t I am going to win my way