The Cincinnati Reds have lost six series in a row. And on Tuesday night they lost the opener to of another series to one of the worst teams in baseball, falling 6-4 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. That loss, combined with an extra-innings win by the St. Louis Cardinals put the Reds in 3rd place in the National League Central and a half-game back of the Cardinals in the second wild card spot.
“A little bit, yes,” said Mike Moustakas when asked if it was hard for frustration not to be seeping in right now. “Obviously we’ve got some games we need to win. But the one thing this team’s been great at all year is coming out the next day ready to paly baseball. We’re very good at putting tonight’s loss behind us and coming out tomorrow ready to go. We’re going to go ahead and go to sleep and wake up tomorrow ready to go, ready to get after it.”
“We know what we need to do,” Moustakas said after the loss on Tuesday. “As baseball players, as professionals, we know what we have to do to go out there and find ways to win. Maybe tomorrow someone’s got to drop down a sacrifice bunt, get a guy over. Every game right now we’ve got to go out there and start winning baseball games at all costs. The great thing, though, is tomorrow is a new day. Go out there, find a way to win tomorrow and see what happens.”
Time is running out to do what is needed. The Reds are 4-10 in the last two weeks. They’ve had an opportunity to put distance between themselves and the rest of the wild card teams but have instead fallen flat on their faces – saved only by the fact that the Mets, Phillies, and Padres have also gone through their own brutal stretches, all the while the St. Louis Cardinals have gone 6-1 in the last week to overtake the 2nd spot in the race.
“We absolutely know this is going to turn,” said manager David Bell after the loss. “We came back in that game tonight. I have no doubt because I know our players, I know our team. Not to say it’s easy, we have to turn this around and we know that. I’m completely confident and feel it turning and it’s going to happen.”
There are 17 games remaining. Many of those games are against very bad teams, but the Reds haven’t exactly been beating anyone lately, much less the teams that they should. If it doesn’t turn around immediately, it’s going to be too late.
If there was any doubt as to how valuable Jesse Winker is to our offense it’s pretty evident now as him going out was really the start of our skid. Skip the minor league starts, straight back to the majors for Jesse when he’s cleared. Otherwise, might as well hold him out till 2023 when we start playing games again.
If we are to miss the playoffs I don’t mind it being the long suffering Padres but to allow the hated Cards really burns me!
Cant lay this all at the feet of the Winker injury. This team played admirably through many injuries this year. That’s just a lame excuse, imo. Guys just have not stepped up during this one, particularly Mike Moustakas. Everyone else has stepped up during injuries through the year. When we needed a LH bat to step up after Winker went down, it was Moose’s turn to contribute. He hasn’t.
They weren’t as physically and mentally as worn down then.
Farmer has 472 PAs. the last time he was close to 400 was 2018 when he had 389 combined MiLB/MLB PAs. His previous MLB high was 197 in 2019.
India is at 557 PAs his previous high was 512 at A+/AA in 2019.
Naquin has 454PAs. His previous high in the last 5 years was MiLB/MLB combined 370 in 2017. His previous MLB high was 360 in 2016.
Winker, even with the injury, 481 PAs, his highest at any level since 2017 (484 combined MiLB/MLB).
Barrero (or someone) should have been in a rotation with the middle infielders from the All Star break forward. If they weren’t going to use Akiyama or Aquino as a true 4th OF, somebody should have been brought in for that role.
The math often gets missed here. If 3 guys are sharing 2 spots and it works out equally, everybody plays 2/3 of the time. That’s what the 3rd middle infielder and 4th OF would have brought them (with the OF rotating among Winker and Naquin regularly). If somebody is on a roll, ride the hot hand until it starts to cool then fall back into the rotation.
Instead, the front office chased sugar plums that Senzel and Moose would be back sooner vs later, fit and somehow fit into these roles.
Adrenalin can only hold up for a limited amount of time.
Yes, this has merit. About a month ago I mentioned on a couple of threads here that it seemed like the team was showing signs of running out of gas and it looks like that is definitely the case. Is that a result of having a green manager or GM? Possibly. I mean everyone plays 162. The Cards and Brewers dont seem to be running on empty.
I also think that teams find their median over 162. The Reds roster is not as good as the Cardinals or Brewers, imo, and it’s showing.
@Jim
The personnel management this year has been especially frustrating, i agree
Reds broadcasting crew just said the same thing that the slide started at almost exactly when Winker went out. He was our cog that connected India to Casto and Votto.
What’s lame is you not being about to recognize it and blaming it on everything else.
Winker is no help in the woes against LHP, and will only make that part worse since Bell will insert him 2nd in the lineup against LHP when he returns.
Moose: talk it cheap, execution is not
Us fans are waiting on the Moose to show the Reds how to win.
Blah, blah, blah. Oh lookie there, the Redbirds are in front of the Reds today. That was a heck of a shortstop they put in centerfield last night. This team looks like they will finish under .500 for the season.
So much talk going into this last month about how easy our schedule ranked to finish the season, particularly when compared to the others in playoff contention. That makes this face-plant even more abysmal.
Bell says the same things, basically nothing, whether it is a loss or a win, those after game comments are a waste of everyone’s time. We know what he is gong to say. On another subject, I bet Moose will not be the one laying down any bunt..
Bally Sports should see if John Tortorella is available to mentor Bell on post game comments 😉
For those not familiar, Torts is the recently departed coach of the NHL BlueJackets. His post game comments were one of the highest rated segments of their hockey telecasts. They held them to the very end of the post game show because doing inflated the commercial rates for the entire 30 minutes. And Torts seldom disappointed those who waited up to hear his vivid no holds barred descriptions of the action.
I have never had any desire to listen to Bell’s post-game comments.
None of us should, because a manager’s post-game comments are probably the least important part of his/her job, and only a foolish manager would reveal much.
Ill give Moose credit for acknowledging the obvious- Reds arent playing well and they need a sense of urgency if they want to make the post-season. Bell rarely, if ever, acknowledges the details of losing or poor play or urgency to change course publicly and after awhile it begins to compromise his credibility. He speaks from 30000 feet with vague platitudes as if the game and losses and missed plays and opportunities and details that just happened are irrelevant to why other are losing and just random happen-stance and not worthy of talking about. Get’ em tomorrrow.
In late May, during Joey Votto’s famous play by play game at Wrigley when he was in Cincy calling the game, paraphrasing he said:” we have to play better and players need to make plays to win games. It’s time we start doing that. It’s getting late early.” Well, its getting late late but the Reds have 12 games in 12 days to make plays to win baseball games.
Glad Moose and Votto have stepped up at the season’s 2 low points to answer to the media and fans. That’s leadership.
Woo for more sacrifice bunts! That’ll show them. Get after em’ Moose.
I kinda wonder if Moose is taking a veiled shot at Bell for being so passive when it comes to offensive philosophy.
Maybe. But, unless it’s a pitcher batting, I never wanna trade outs for a base. Just a bad philosophy.
I wondered if this wasn’t a sly needle at Votto for not just punching the ball through the open left side to keep the game alive last night in the 9th.
Maybe. But I have always considered that flawed thinking. I would think Moose would understand as a lefty just how difficult of an ask that is. In general I think people don’t understand how hard it is to direct the ball in a desired direction or place on the field. If it was easy then hitters would be a lot better. Additionally, it would take an entirely different swing, which is asking a lot to change from AB to AB.
Votto has been a master bat/ swing manipulator for much of his career. He can’t waste pitches like he used to; but, he certainly knows how to inside out a swing and put the ball to the left side of the field.
And hardly a game goes by we don’t see someone victimize the Reds shift, including last night. The hit which brought in the Pirates 4th and 5th runs was through an open SS slot. Apparently, Farmer was set high to the middle and Saurez was in a nearly normal 3B position guarding the line,
Votto may have (had) more ability than most, but do you really think if he could do it regularly, that he wouldn’t? He’s faced a dramatic shift for years, yet he hasn’t ever really attempted to shoot the ball to the left side. Even during his exaggerated contact heavy crouch swing he didn’t shoot the ball to the left side of the infield. Votto’s all about making the adjustments and tinkering with his hitting approach. Yet this is something he’s not attempted even after years of playing against the shift. Isn’t it more likely that’s it’s not something he’s going to do well rather than something he refuses to attempt?
Agree Votto. For those who believe that it’s that easy to beat the switch, then I’d say you have NEVER played baseball at a very high level. By the way Votto has NEVER been able to consistently beat the switch which has caused a huge impact on his career in the latter half of it. The idea that you can delay your swing intentionally on a 98 MPH fastball, and keep the ball on the ground is pretty much laughable. The reality is, baseball better eliminate the switch, or they will see the game further damaged in the long run.
This team is back to looking disjointed like they did all last year, struggling to put together a solid game in all aspects. For me, the blame goes to:
1. Underperforming veterans. Moose, Geno, Brach, Farmer (yes, him too), Cabrera, and to a lesser extent Gray.
2. Bell, for continually running these guys out there in key situations. He literally has nothing to show for his obsession with handedness in batting matchups. Worse, he doesn’t apply that logic evenly throughout the game, robbing better players of multiple at-bats because he burns thru them in the middle innings. His one inning per outing usage of relievers is equally confounding. He paints himself into a corner quite often with this strategy.
3. The team bought into the easy schedule narrative and took their foot off the gas. You can see it in the way they’ve played the last month—dispassionate, easy to embrace the ‘there’s another game tomorrow’ mantra.
Lastly, the broadcast team needs to stop insulting my intelligence by selling false hope. Not to say they can’t be positive, but we’re in mid-September for goodness sakes, so PLEASE stop telling me that when Geno gets a hit or Garrett has a clean inning they’ve turned the corner and good things await. You’d think they learned their lesson puffing up Shogo for so long, but alas.
Rant over! lol
This => “He literally has nothing to show for his obsession with handedness in batting matchups. Worse, he doesn’t apply that logic evenly throughout the game”
And, he doesn’t apply it evenly to players either.
Case in point….with Bell, Winker ALWAYS bats 2nd against LHP, yet he will move Naquin way down in the lineup against LHP. Naquin has better OPS against LHP than Winker, who is abysmal against LHP and shouldn’t even be playing against them really, if there were better options (Krall?!!). Certainly Winker should NEVER be batting 2nd or anywhere in the top of the lineup against LHP, EVER!!
Bell has no clue how to optimize his lineup to win. He makes assumptions on handedness, but exempts certain players from those assumptions for some unknown reason. I don’t think he really uses analytics at all. He just uses his pre-conceived biases regarding handedness and that is the extent of his lineup strategy.
Yes, Tyler Stephenson is the biggest victim of the handedness logic. If Bell was consistent, Barnhart would get pulled when the opposing team yanks their starter.
Optimizing a lineup to win is probably pretty easy(and effective) for a manager with strong roster. Complaints about the lineups need to acknowledge the options Bell has. I continue to be surprised by how many people here assign so much more importance to the manager than they do to the players.
With Miley having already allowed 3 runs, I would have called time on the “personal catcher” gig and sent Stephenson up to hit for Barnhart with 2 on and 2 out in the 2nd inning.
Stephenson is 1 for his last 11 and .226 over his last 30.Plus Barnhardt had had 2 rbi in that inning but you fail to mention that.You don’t bother to mention Barnhardt is batting .293 over his last 30 but again you fail to mention that
Armchair managers think they know it all but when facts are shown they don’t know much at all
One of the issues is our bench is so incredibly weak right now with Winker/Senzel/Naquin all hurt. I have zero confidence in our bench besides whichever catcher is sitting that day and Schrock and maybe Barrero. And Schrock starts most games right now.
Barnhart made an out in the PA I was referring to from the 2nd inning against an LH pitcher. He later got a bloop hit versus the RH reliever.
How many of TB’s .293 average hits came versus LH pitchers?
@Jim
One of the reassuring things about Stephenson and his mature plate approach is I looked up his splits. They are identical. Reds need more complete hitters who dont have handedness splits and arent all or nothing guys.
Ill take Stephenson’s non-strikeouts and walks and solid singles to RF all day long with a solid avg, solid OBP and decent power.
No Stephenson again..sigh.
@OS> exactly on TS and the splits. And his OPS vs RHP is actually higher than Barnhart’s vs RHP.
Teams get fired up by gutsy plays and execution in unexpected situations. A well placed bunt, hit and run, squeeze play, steal of third, taking an extra base, etc. as the Moose hinted. When is the last time that has happened? Does David Bell’s playbook even allow such things and/or has Nick Krall provided capability for these type of plays? Looks like the B&K cookie jar is coming up empty.
Maybe when Barrero came on over to 3rd base on his double (or triple) in StLouis which is also the last game the Reds won?
While Moustakas hasn’t exactly set the world ablaze since joining the Reds, his comments were more substantive than Bell’s usual pablum. He’s right they have to go out and play. And recognize they have to play well enough to overcome Bell’s lineup decisions. As for Winker, it’s easy to forget that he doesn’t hit LH’ers either, so I’m not sure that he would necessarily have made a difference last night. He just hits RH’ers so well that no one notices.
The Reds did the big damage against the RH reliever last night. Winker or Naquin either one might have made the difference. Aquino made an out early in the inning. One of those 2 would most likely have taken that PA
Agreed. Against the RH reliever. But the mistake, IMO, was stacking the lineup with RH’ers who can’t hit lefties, e.g., Votto, Suarez (though he had a surprisingly good night for him), et. al. and getting into the hole in the first place. No team that has the capacity to do so is going to use a RH’er against the Reds when they don’t have to. Other than maybe to get Bell to blow through his bench.
Probably just an oversight, but Votto bats LH and shouldn’t be included in the RH who can’t hit lefties.
FWIW, according to OPS splits India, Farmer, Aquino (especially so with the latter two) hit LHP better than RHP. Castellanos, Suarez, Stephenson, and DeShields have opposite splits, where they hit RHP better than LHP. Stephenson and Castellanos still sport viable bats though, just a little weaker vs. LHP. There is some validity to the Red’s RH don’t hit lefties particularly well.
So the question becomes do you start Suarez (.607), Shrock (.500), or Moose (.316) at 3B vs a LH starter? Or start Farmer (.812) at 3B with Barrero at SS? DeShields (.445), Akiyama (.692), or Naquin (.562) in CF vs a LH starter?
At least someone realizes the house is seriously on fire. I said here several weeks back I respected Moose’s efforts to get rehabbed and back in the game but questioned why someone on the team (management) hadn’t realized Moose wasn’t physically up to the task yet and sat him back down.
I second that thought again here; and, thank him for speaking up when no one else even cares enough to do so.
I agree, and he definitely hasn’t been the same since coming back from injury. Hoping a successful offseason brings back a productive defender and hitter to begin next year.
I don’t see the need for moderation. No names mentioned, no cuss words just plain common sense.
These guys are hard to watch right now. Baseball is a long season, and they are playing like it. Votto, and, or Castellanos needs to put this team on their back.
While I love to see Barrero get playing time, for the umpteenth time the Reds have played a guy with zero experience at a position in a major league game. Let’s all remember this when the front office tries to tell us a prospect can’t play a certain position.
Only half jesting…. Depending what happens in the off season (with Senzel and others) Barrero may be converted to the everyday CF for 2022
Yes, I can see that happening.
Wouldn’t that be dumb….and yet so typical of player personnel management of the Reds.
8 Things the Reds Must Do to Turn It Around:
Find a way to get on base and drive in more runs.
Insert the proper player at shortstop.
Revisit what was working earlier in the season offensively.
Eugenio may have turned a corner! .381 in Sept.
Believe in yourselves and get it done on the field.
Expect the unexpected, but expect to win!
Let Dauri Moreta make the jump.
Lorenzen is our closer.
Many of the comments here – fatigue, struggles against LHP, roster management, lineup construction, in game strategy, and leadership – all have some merit. The Reds have absolutely squandered a huge opportunity and should have WC2 all but locked up. But let me offer this as well:
The preseason consensus was that the 2021 Reds were likely a .500-ish team or anywhere from a bit worse to a lot worse than that. But you’ve been AWOL and are just now checking the standings, seeing that there are 17 games left. The Reds have (arguably) three of the 10 best hitters in the league. They have the likely NL ROY. They have a budding star catcher. And they have three impact prospects lining up to upgrade the 2022 team – Greene, Lodolo and Barrero. And all that adds up to 5 games over .500 with a weak schedule to the end of the year, and a wildcard playoff spot is well within reach if they play well. That’s exciting. I have heard enough gloom and doom and intend to enjoy these last 2 1/2 weeks. I’ll be rooting hard. I can barely remember the last full season with meaningful Reds games stretching to the end of the season. I can’t wait for first pitch tonight. I hope some of you Reds fanatics still feel the same. It’s okay if you don’t, but I’m ready. Go Reds!
I agree with you. I just believe the front office was shall we say, less than proactive. When they had lightning in the bottle at mid season, the FO should have made relatively minor tweaks to reinforce their situation and move it forward.
They did so minimally on the bullpen side aided by more lightning that Lorenzen has been effective and stayed on the field. However, they did nothing on the position side till the options were limited to none (Cabrera, DeSheilds).
I also agree. I wish they’d added more help mid-season, but I also wonder whether the cost in prospects to get real difference-makers would have been too high. What would it have taken, realistically, to make the current roster, injuries and all, a serious WS contender?
We view the games as single events, but the season overall, accurately reflects the talent a team has, or doesn’t have.
Every team is tired at this point. Making excuses such as “they’re tired”, etc, just doesn’t wash.
The Reds are who they are. Losses at this point are hard to take, when there is so obviously a prize as a Wild Card team into the playoffs. But the final Win-Loss record shows what this team really is.
Maybe they will rally and win 12 out of their last 17, but I frankly doubt it.
They just aren’t as good as they looked in the “hot” stretch this season. They have regressed to the team that they actually are.
I truly don’t know where the Red’s offense will come from next year. I mean the starting OF is likely going to be Winker, Naquin and Senzel.
That outfield is pretty weak offensively even if those three stay healthy all year which we know they won’t. So, we will likely see DeShields, Shogo and AA getting a lot of at bats.
Next season could end up being a complete unmitigated disaster. I’m talking 100 losses.
No chance. The pitching is going to be solid and the budding young core will keep the team competitive. No doubt some additions (by subtraction) will be necessary, but they’re not going to be bad.
This is crazy. 100 losses! We are beyond set at starting pitching. I have confidence that Winker (LF), Naquin (RF or CF), Senzel (CF or 3B – likely CF), Votto (1B), India (2B), Barrero (SS), and Stephenson (C) can all be above average hitters next year. That’s seven out of eight starting position players. I’d start Moose at 3B vs righty starters. Just need an well-above average 4th outfielder (in case / when Senzel gets hurt). Fortifying the bullpen is a must for next year. Spend all extra money on the highest OPS hitter vs lefties you can get for the DH spot.
That’s assuming India, Stephenson, Votto etc. all produce as well as they have this year.
I think it’s more likely, either through injuries and/or regression that is unlikely to be the case.
The team is already God awful against Left Handers, I suspect that isn’t going to improve when they lose their best Right Handed hitter who is currently a MVP candidate.
All it will take is for one of Miley, Gray or Mahle to get hurt or suck and the starting rotation could unravel pretty quickly.
I believe Greene and Lodolo will be terrific but is going to take a little time.
The bullpen is what it is at this point. Their two best relievers likely will be leaving for free agency.
I think the long term prospects for this team is pretty positive, but I think there is going to be some difficult days ahead in the short term.
I’m just more optimistic. Besides Votto, every one of these players are young. There’s no reason to believe most will regress (besides Votto). And we have more than our fair shares of injuries this year. I can easily see C, 2B, SS, 3B, LF, and CF all equaling or improving on production from this year. 1B and RF will likely have a decrease in production.
That’s funny, because Winker is one of the best hitters in the game. Senzel has potential to be a star if he’s healthy (and one of the few who can hit lefties really well on this team), and Naquin is mediocre. So I can hardly call that “pretty weak” offensively. In fact, that’s a pretty strong outfield offensively. Of course, I don’t even think that is the best outfield the Reds will have next year, so I think you are selling it short out of the gate.
I like the OF but when Castellanos leaves, I’d like to see the Reds commit to finding a super defensive CF with speed. That would help Winker hide in LF and do what he does- .300/.400/.500. Naquin and a righty can man RF and I still think Senzel is best on the dirt but if healthy he would be the perfect player to flex from CF to 3b or give India day off. Senzel has a lot of versatility and injuries always happen. Just ask Nick. Likely a DH next year so that adds a lot.
OS> And you are describing none other than Jose Siri who has just reemerged with the Astros at age 26 and looks like he has made progress on the offensive side…..
If I ‘m not wrong Mr Kirby wrote yesterday that was unlikely the Reds sweep the 9 games against Pirates remaining but honestly I expect last night a solid win from the Reds because it was very needed in order to project a possible 3-game sweep at least so it would permit create some momentum before to face the LAD but on the other hand it was a very ugly and embarrassing loss in a poor quality game… Let’s hope that tonight can be the beginning of a saving wake-up call to get us on the road to victory.
Lineup for tonight is out. We have a Shogo sighting! But no Barrero once again (sigh):
J India (R) 2B
M Schrock (L) LF
N Castellanos (R) RF
J Votto (L) 1B
M Moustakas (L) 3B
K Farmer (R) SS
T Barnhart (L) C
S Akiyama (L) CF
V Gutierrez (R) P
That hurts starting Shogo, which means Naquin isn’t ready.
At some point, we fans have to admit that the Reds aren’t interested in winning and will not field their best lineup. It’s just the Bell way. He probably doesn’t want to face the parents if little Johnny doesn’t get to play.
“Aren’t interested in winning” What are you even talking about? 99% of your posts are whining about Bell. Would you ever post if the Reds were in first place all year?
Yes, at this point in the season, Bell is trying to win every game. Besides Stephenson vs Barnhart (offense vs defense), what changes would you make? Clearly Naquin isn’t ready.
I’d like to see Barrero more, but now may not be the time to turn over the reigns to him. He’s an unproven rookie who’s played at best shaky defense so far. Farmer makes every single play.
Actually, he isn’t. I look at the numbers. Starting Suarez against LH’ers is not statistically supported. Nor is starting Votto for that matter. Leaving his young players on the sidelines in favor of failing veterans is poor development. His preference for running out middle aged castoffs like Doolittle, Brach, Hernandez, et. al. is another clear example. His bullpen management and lineup selection has been demonstrably below average. His lack of attention to fundamental baseball practices, baserunning, etc. is also clearly demonstrated and has been commented on by many folks here. As for being in first place, they should be much closer than they are. The FO sat on their hands while Milwaukee dealt with their deficiencies. So yes I’m consistent. I expect managers to perform. And when they don’t, I fire them as I did in corporate America where results matter unlike professional baseball, apparently.
That’s funny, LDS. Illogical, but funny.
There would have been no Big Red Machine with Bell as manager. And that is saying something.
Baloney. Sparky didn’t have good records when he managed weak teams. He would have been the first to tell that it was the players who won all those games.
No manager has ever had a good record with a weak team….that makes no sense.
Larkin as Manager and Cowboy as pitching coach be good start on recovery.
Shogo hasn’t played in forever, I would rather stick Barrero in center field and see what he can do, Shogo is an automatic out. Bottom line, this team is cooked, to many injuries, playing without Winker is bad now no Naquin. I am not sure .500 is possible, with Dodgers and 3 losses coming up the goal should be .500 at best. I am now rooting for the Padres and Phillies, but Cardinals seem to be the hot team. To be honest I wouldn’t want to play them in game 163.
Apparently, the offense is going so well they can afford to give up a little run production for Shogo’s defense.
In all seriousness, if the choice is between Shogo and the coach’s son, I’ll go with Shogo.
When Bell said that Naquin was “OK just a little sore”, We all knew he was lying. Just like he lied about Senzel and Castellanos. I wish he would just come out and say “we really don’t know” instead of carrying an injured player for a week before finally putting him on the IL.
Bell is a liar now. You all are ridiculous.
And there is NO WAY they should put Naquin on the IL right now unless he’s expected out through end of the regular season.
Does anybody know? Is Tyler Naquin day to day on his injury or what?
Crickets from the Reds unless Bell has said something this afternoon I haven’t seen yet which is possible because I have been out and about in the last hour.
If the Reds cannot go out and find ways to win at PNC, the chances are slim it will happen in GABP this weekend with the LAD’s.