The Colorado Rockies scored nine runs over the first two innings to leave no doubt as to who would win their game against the Cincinnati Reds today at Coors Field.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (3-19) | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| Colorado RockiesĀ (13-9) |
10 | 12 | 0 |
| W: Freeland (1-3) L: Sanmartin (0-4) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Today’s loss is the 17th in the last 18 games for the Reds, their 10th consecutive loss on the road, and a three-game sweep by Colorado. For a bit more perspective:
The Cincinnati #Reds are on the verge of having 1 win over their last 6 series. Not 1 series win. 1 winning game.
It's truly been something to behold.
— Doug Gray (@dougdirt24) May 1, 2022
As I was trying to come up with what to write for this game wrapup, particularly after the first two innings, I was at a loss (no pun intended). There is nothing that I can tell all of you who are Reds lifers that you’re not already seeing yourself.
It feels like the entire team is in a funk, and not from a lack of desire or effort. Like us, I believe the members of this team can’t believe what is happening to them, and they are all pressing to an extreme degree to try to turn things around.
But that doesn’t change what is true about this team. It was literally gutted by the front office during the off-season. What you’re watching now is the equivalent of an expansion team roster.
Clearly the front office’s objective is to go to a build-from-within model like the Tampa Bay Rays have mastered to notable success (and limited expenditures). The Reds have a substantial number of pitching prospects in Class A and AA from the trades that gutted the team. But there are very few, if any, legit position player prospects at the upper levels, so any chance to build a total team from within is still a couple of years away at least.
All of this hurts because if you’re reading this, it’s probably because Reds baseball is a way of life for you. After a couple of seasons where we got to experience contention, it’s back to the dregs of the standings. I try to be as positive as possible, but the chances of this team turning this season around significantly are about as likely as the chance they would win after falling behind 6-0 in the first inning today.
The Offense
Cincinnati’s only run of the day came on this fifth-inning solo blast:
4??th homer of the season for Brandon Drury pic.twitter.com/6M3ZWRFIFb
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 1, 2022
It was one of his team-leading two hits.
The Pitching
Rookie lefty Reiver Sanmartin again wasn’t fooling anybody. In his last start, the final eight batters he faced reached base. Today, the first five Rockies batters reached as the home team scored six in the bottom of the first inning.
Six relievers followed Sanmartin into the game, with Hunter Strickland, Luis Cessa, Alexis Diaz and Tony Santillan pitching scoreless ball.
News and Notes
Major-league rosters will be reduced from 28 to 26 by Tuesday, meaning the Reds will be removing two players before Tuesday night’s game at Milwaukee.
And about 45 minutes after the game ended the Reds have made those two moves, optioning Reiver Sanmartin and Alejo Lopez to Triple-A Louisville.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds at Milwaukee Brewers
Tuesday, May 3, 7:40 p.m. ET
Vladimir Gutierrez (0-4, 7.41 ERA) vs. Brandon Woodruff (2-1, 5.30 ERA)
I don’t think it will but this should be the end of the David Bell era. Let’s face it the Bell experiment has been a miserable failure and it has to end. Monday should be a dark day as many coaches should join Bell on a different plane to Cincinnati while what’s left of the team goes to play the Brewers along with a new manager and several new coaches. The team needs to start from scratch under new management. They will not get back into the race but let’s forget everything and start over on May 3rd.
That was rough! Time to watch Phillies / Mets with Scherzer on the mound over on ESPN for some real baseball!
This should be the end of the Bob Castellini era. Nothing will change until heās run out of town
+1000
Be careful what you wish for. I think someone said that. But on TV and radio I could wish for watching and listening to a winning Montreal Reds. š
Move them to Burlington, VT. I could go to games without a passport.
New managers on the field wonāt be able to change anything until office managers at the top are willing to give the managers on the field a team they can compete with.
That’s exactly right. You cant blame Bell for the excuse of a team he is given by ownership. Bob told us way back when, he would bring winning baseball back to Cincy. Ummm has anyone looked at the standings lately? I’ve been a Reds fan for 55 years and I have seen high school teams that could beat the team we have. Phil and his mouth is the one that should be run out of town. Reds fans arn’t stupid. Mostly they are very smart, and if you do not put a product on the field, your seats will remain empty. Watching their off season activity, I thought, well they will probably lose 100 games, Ha they are on pace to lose 130 games.
Which MLB manager do you think could do a better job with this joke of a roster? I don’t love DB, but putting the blame on him is very misplaced IMO.
Of course it’s not all on David Bell. It’s top to bottom. Nevertheless he has to be the first to go. As far as the criticism for David Bell, Big Bob and Son set him up for it. When your dad is very close to the owner and you don’t win that’s what happens. Any manager gets criticism of course but not as much as in this situation. Add on the fact that the Reds haven’t won in a very long time puts the manager under the microscope even more. Fans are watching very closely and naturally very hard. If you’re David Bell and you’re put in that kind of situation you’d better be not just average at best. You’d better be VERY GOOD. He just doesn’t qualify. I wish him the best. I know other managers like Sparky and Lou lost a lot of games in a season but they also had championships in their pocket. When it comes right down to it David Bell does not have a history of winning. Another manager may not produce many more wins under the current circumstances but a change would at least have the potential to put a little oxygen in the air for the players. They are on LIFE SUPPORT. They need help in some way. No one is playing well. I don’t know that’s it’s right to judge any players performance under the current conditions.
Yeah, but I don’t want this regime picking the next head coach. I would rather Bob sell and replace Bell after. This team doesn’t have a chance.
The end of everyone associated with this debacle era. Itās historically pathetic and if they all donāt run and find excuses then they are born losers who got lucky in life.
Really appreciate you guys doing these game recaps. I don’t watch/listen anymore, so I appreciate being able to come here and get the summary/notes/commentary.
This ownership,FO,managers,players deserve this record. Aquino lost his job. Who’s next? Time to start moving up the ladder.
āI try to be as positive as possibleā. I would ask why? Tell the story as itās unfolding without muting it in any way. This is a complete and total disaster. Saying the Reds are trying to be like Tampa Bay in its approach is ridiculous. This franchise is clueless except for still making money by working the system. Trying to paint this mess as some sort of approach that will result in a winning team a couple years down the road is akin to putting lipstick on a pig.
Good point on the comparison to Tampa. First there’s absolutely no evidence this ownership/management could pull it off if that were the plan, and second the trade for Minor screams there is no plan.
When referring to being positive, I was referring to my approach as an observer of the team. It is not ridiculous to say the Reds are trying to be like Tampa Bay. There can be no other direction when you trade established major leaguers away for Class A and AA pitching prospects. There is absolutely no guarantee they will be successful in this attempt, though.
Looking at Mooses contract today, I found something very amusing. If Moose wins a gold glove he gets $100,000. After watching him the past 2 years I’m pretty sure he has no chance collecting on that clause.
Thank you Doug.
I am just happy this website exists. Otherwise I wouldnāt have anyone to commiserate with.
I appreciate what you and the other writer do. I also appreciate all of the people who comment here. I know they are care about the Reds like I do.
I will keep coming back to this page until the Reds are back on top again.
Shakes head. This team is just terrible The End!
Major changes need to be made across the board starting with the top. It’s time for the rest of Reds ownership to call a meeting to remove Bob as the leading force that runs this team. Nick Krall needs to go immediately, and as for David Bell he probably should go with his ho hum attitude about how this team is playing.
As for the players they need to relax stop trying to do everything every at bat. Take a few pitches if need be. Someone needs to light a fire under the team and after watching Votto again flailing at pitches the dude needs to be benched again to wake him up.
David Bell should have not in any way been put in a managerial position. His old man in the front office, I said this when they did it, itās gonna be a train wreck.
Not to sure there are any Sparky Anderson’s left now days. Today’s million dollar baby players are on the DL as much as the active roster. We have AA players making major league money. I love our young talent but they’d still be honing their skills at AA / AAA on most real baseball teams. Looking at the hodge podge of players picked up during the off season which amount to players nobody else wanted, this team is exactly where they should be. The Winker trade was pretty dumb, while we are paying Giffey Jr how much still. The amount of money the Reds are putting out is fair enough but the talent they are able to draw seems to be dismal. For a few years we were right there minus a couple pieces, yet Bob wouldn’t go out and get those pieces. Now with Phil’s mouth running, you have a lot of resent of fans and a team that should be no higher than high school level. Votto is washed up. Moose was probably the wrong choice and giving away all the pitching we have had the past few years was just stupid. This team is lucky to score a single run per game while, yep they lead the league in ERA.
I doubt that there are any Sparkys around. But it’s worth noting that when he had a bad team, they lost lots of games. That’s how it goes for managers.
I was hoping Tom would be doing the recap tonight. He feels our pain š
I am not sold on the Reds trying to pattern themselves after the Rays. It is basically the cultural difference of Cincinnati and Tampa. Cincinnati is a population that is rooted in family and tradition. The Reds become part of the family. Performance aside, guys like Winker and Suarez becomes something more than mere “employees.” Tampa is a city of transplants and retirees. The Rays are not part of the fabric of that city. They can churn players they’ve developed over the years because the fans never bond with them. Most of the baseball fans are from somewhere else. It is different here. We love the current team and wait for the new guys. I remember the buzz around Homer and Bruce and Billy and Winker. They are “our” guys. When they leave, it hurts. I am not sure how the front office deals with that? Yes, it is a business, but here, something more.
One more thing I’ve been thinking – is a face-saving way out for the organization firing Krall and elevating Bell to GM? I know people will say it is shuffling the deck chairs, but Bell does have front office experience and I think he can’t be enjoying life these days? Krall does not have that “family” link or origin story which might make it a little easier.
Then again, as a fan of the French philosopher, Montaigne, “what do I know?”
Thanks for the kind words. I think those of us who are still following things every day are people to whom following the Reds is truly a way of life. We’ve been through more disappointing than successful seasons in the past 30-plus years. But we love the Reds and love baseball, and we’re used to spending our Spring and Summer months with the Reds. I’m curious how many others here think of their relationship with the Reds like this?
I’m with you, Tom. I’m still following them, but, until today, hadn’t watched much. Actually, I didn’t watch much today, either; at 9-0, I looked up from my book, laughed morosely, and turned the tv off. Thanks to you and Doug for the good writing and for providing this forum.
I appreciate these recaps as another person commented, as I hardly ever listen to the Reds or watch anymore (mostly because I don’t have cable), but I still am a fan. I love stats, so as bad as the Reds are, it is somewhat interesting to look at the stats so far and see what kind of stats make up a historically bad team so far. It’s hard to believe they could have a worse team than those teams several years ago that all won about 67 games every season, but they might top it. I think if they were healthy they’d be at least somewhat competitive so I think that’s all you can hope for right now. It’d be nice seeing India, Stevenson in the lineup every day for a month or so, Senzel staying healthy, see what Jose Garcia could do. I’m concerned that Greene and Lodolo aren’t going to be as good as advertised. I’m surprised Derek Johnson hasn’t been able to make more of an impact on the pitchers. It is early for the young guys still.
Well I do. Followed the Reds for 55 years, but I can think of better things to do with my time than watch this sub-par performance. I predicted 100 loss season, I’m seeing it look more like 130 now
I want an organization that is a pride to the city and conducts itself in a competent way. If that takes the rays model, I’ll take it. Trading Jesse winker hurts, but I can like new, good players. A plan is all I’d like for them to show. This latest India debacle shows once again it’s a day to day panic with spaghetti all over the floor. Oh guys, India is totally fine and he’s back. Oh he’s fine, just sitting for two days. He’s totally fine guys, just back in the IL. *16 days from now… Guys, everything is fine, prosthetic technology is leaps ahead of where it was….. This team also costs around $113 million as compared to last year’s team that cost $122. They suck, at absolutely everything they attempt. Ppl who actually think this issue would be solved by the reds having the same money to spend as the dodgers are in a wonderland.
Big Red Machine competed in the same market the Reds are in today. They however, created a winning atmosphere from the top. This top wants to tell the fans, we’ll move the team. They make totally ignorant moves and then blame the fans. The true blame for the worst team in baseball is “OWNERSHIP”
Marinara or white sauce?
The players have quit!!! This is what the owners wanted when they traded or released players at the cost of a nearly 40 mil. And this is the best that ownership can field.
I don’t believe they have quit. I believe they are just significantly less talented than the teams of the past few seasons.
When is Derek Johnson going to be questioned? The pitchers that leave the Reds have been going on to better success with other teams. Gausman and Disco last year pitched great. Lorenzen pitched 8 scoreless today before getting touched up in the 9th. (Yes, starting pitchers are allowed to pitch 8 or more innings). Amir Garrett hasn’t allowed a run in 6 games this year.
I don’t know enough about his pitching philosophy to warrant a guess. But pitchers on this team seem to nibble and run their pitch count up. They get some strikeouts, but, seem to walk a lot of batters. They seem to promote high spin rates, which causes arm stress. Antone…Sims…Gray. INJURIES.
DJ shouldn’t be immune to what’s going on IMO.
Sam Lecure called out DJ in his post game recap–and Zinter
Be careful for what you ask for
Ownership is desperate for scapegoats
Dont give them a lifeline.
Ill focus on the field and Which players are potential solutions for growth and which players are yesterdayās ashes and no potential for either future wood or todays current fire . Todays current fire has been doused- 2022 is over.
Votto and Moose are ashes.
Stephenson is tomorrowās wood to burn a bright fire at first base and be back up catcher for years to come
This is an opportunity to look forward
I agree. He has yielded no results.
I went to the south side of Chicago this afternoon and saw Lorenzen go 8 and a third 3 runs…unscored on through 8…then I saw Iglesias come in and have a really rough day…lol.
Poor Lopez. Dude keeps getting yanked around. I hope he ends up getting a real shot and succeeding at some point, even if not with theReds.
Drury has beaten out Lopez for backup infielder role, IMO.
I donāt disagree there Tom. I believe Drury had more ability than him to start with, he had a decent run in Arizona.
Find a place for both of them .
To be honest, this team should be swept one more time at Milwaukee. Just a miracle can overturn this trend as we will now see the Brewers’ high quality pitching facing the very weak Reds offense….
We need to stand up and slowly flap our arms. – Angels In The Outfield š
I thought that is what the Angels fans were doing, thought that’s why they are in first place in their division.
Yeah – see? š
No words
**Inserts paper bag over head**
I grew up in Southern Indiana in the 1980’s, (Columbus). Reds games were rarely on TV but you always had the Braves and Cubs. The Cubs and Braves were both awful then but it was your only viewing option. A televised Reds game was a treat. I would take any of those teams over this Reds team.
It could be worse the Reds could play in the NL west where they are 0-10. They might not win a single game against the NL west this year. They also play the AL East. The Pirates and Cubs might be a place to pick a few wins and the Baltimore series. Has anyone brought up the fact that Votto is struggling so bad maybe because Winker and Castellanos are gone? There is no one to protect him in the lineup.
āAnalyticsā contends that having āprotectionā as a batter, doesnāt provide better results. Iām not sure I believe it though.
I do believe Joey Votto felt like what he did mattered last year. Iām not saying he is intentionally shutting down. But it has to have an effect on him. It would have to have an effect on anyone
Votto is a notorious slow starter. And yes, he doesn’t have Nick Castellanos hitting behind him this year. Right now, I think that the team’s and his own bad start is getting to his head. He probably needs to sit down for a couple of days.
I was wondering that too about Votto. What if that is somewhat the case for India too? I think India is a pretty good player, but what if the reason those guys were really good last year was really about Casetelanos and Winker being around them?
I also wonder if it would benefit the Reds for Votto to retire after this season? I think Stephenson maybe at First would make sense if you think he is a really good hitter, to transition him there and have a longer career.
Think that accounts for all his K’s? I dont. Fact is with the exception of last year Votto has been going downhill for the past 4-5 season. I expect last year was a fluke.
MLB has to come up with a better way of paying its player on what their performance is… not what it use to be. Look at Griffey Jr, was awesome in Seattle, came to Cincy and never earned his pay yet we are still paying him.
Living in Central Florida since 1986 I don’t get a lot of opportunities to see the Reds on TV! Given the current state of affairs that may be a blessing this year! Based upon the atrocious start to the 2022 season changes need to be made NOW, especially in the FO. Despite my dislike of Mr. Bell he is not entirely to blame! The FO told him to go fight a war without any weapons!
I hear ya! Cancled all my sports subscription so at least now I cant see the slaughter taking place.
Losing Castellanos was a blow to the team. Winker against RH’ers. But today was another lefty – Winker had a .177 average against LH’ers last year. Suarez didn’t hit anyone other than his occasional home runs., He hit .172 last year against lefties with 6 HRs. Votto hit .215 against LH’ers last year. This year .200 and far, far less against RH’ers (4-45, marginally better than Aquino). Bottom line, except for Castellanos, the others aren’t the issue. It’s a Reds system problem led by Bell and his cronies. There’s no one in management from the field on up to the owners that should still have jobs tomorrow. They will but they shouldn’t. They aren’t emulating Tampa Bay or trying to. They are simply a dysfunctional, inept organization. But hey, they have a new record to their name.
Hey Tom, in 1969 as a Senior at Beavercreek High School, I gave away all of my baseball cards when I got serious with my High School sweetheart. Somewhere, up your way, there is a Seagrams liquor box floating around with about 10,000 baseball and football cards from the mid-50’s thru the 60’s. Let me know if you run across it š
Hey! Always great to come across a fellow Beavercreek grad! Class of 80 here. š I no longer live in the place I call home, unfortunately, so I don’t have any word on your card collection. It might be somewhere with mine from the 70s and early 80s, which I lost and no longer have. š
Park Hills HS grad here from 1975. Knew some Beavercreek folks but a few years too young for you to know!
I went to Xenia class of 2000, Beavercreek somewhat our rivals! But always enjoyed and got along with folks from Beavercreek and my current job takes me to Beavercreek High School occasionally. Great school district, just a nice area Beavercreek is.
McClain with another 2 HR’s today and Abbott striking out 10 again in six shutout innings. McClain needs to go to Louisville and maybe Abbott as well.
The Reds want to emulate the Tampa Bay Rays but they don’t have any of the brains to operate that way. You can’t just try and copy someone else’s style without bringing in smart people to run it.
“The Reds want to emulate the Tampa Bay Rays but they donāt have any of the brains to operate that way. You canāt just try and copy someone elseās style without bringing in smart people to run it.”
Nice insight! The Rays have a strong record of seeing their smart front office people move to other teams to lead their organizations.
@Tom. First off I greatly enjoying reading your articles and your comments on here. Second I like that you are typically positive, which is tough to do on a Reds blog lately.
With that said, you consistently defend Bell and his staff when they are criticized. While they have been dealt a short stick with this roster, at some point someone has to be held responsible for this train wreck. While Big Bob should take the blame, he clearly wonāt. So who do you think should be held responsible and what path should be taken to turn this around somewhat?
I don’t share the opinion that many do that Bell is a bad manager. When they were floundering in the COVID year, he somehow managed to keep them together and they had a tremendous winning streak in September to make the (expanded) playoffs. I think they went 13-4, but I’m not 100 percent sure. Last year he had no bullpen to work with at all, and they still managed to finish over .500. I understand that some people think if a team is bad, the manager must go. But it’s not his fault that he lost nearly all of his offensive run producers and two of his best starting pitchers.
They made the playoffs in 2020 because more than half the teams in the league were invited in ā it shouldn’t have taken a sprint in the homestretch to get them there … and his managing against the Braves in that playoff sweep was an embarrassment. His comment today about “believing so much in what we’re doing as a team and organization” proves what I’ve always thought about Bell: he’s satisfied with anything between mediocrity and terribleness.
As far as who should be held responsible, well, the owners are not going to fire themselves.
So we just keep going about this lifeless losing streak for the year? While I agree the owner is responsible, something has to change before the Reds are 5-40 at the end of May. Zinter at the minimum should be let go. Something has to change.
Thanks for your reply Tom.
The person responsible not being willing to take the blame makes no difference: the blame is still his. Accountability is the wrong word for punishing a person who didn’t cause the problem. The correct word for that is “smokescreen.”
I follow the Reds and probably always will but these are not the Reds, they are the Cincinnati Castellini’s
How about the Castellini Reds?
I would like to see one of our writers do a deeper dive into Votto’s performance this season. I can take the low-hanging fruit like the lockout preventing certain types of training, the shortened spring training season, etc. But this is a veteran and other players in the league are doing okay who were under the same circumstances.
How long will Bell leave Votto batting 4th in the lineup? We all love Joey but doesn’t this begin to be an insult added to injury sort of thing?
An earlier post suggested that the absence of good hitters on either side of Joey could be a factor and that makes sense as well. I have not seen the team play this year. Does it really seem that the team is trying? Even if I was watching, I would not be able to make an educated assessment of that beyond body language that I might sense from the team.
It would make sense to move Votto out of the cleanup spot, but is there a Reds’ hitter not on IR who could do the job? And more to the point, does it really matter this season when watching Reds games is like picking the same scab over and over again?
After the game:
05/02/22 Cincinnati Reds optioned LHP Reiver Sanmartin to Louisville Bats.
05/02/22 Cincinnati Reds optioned 2B Alejo Lopez to Louisville Bats.
On a team that can’t hit, they send down a guy that can. SMH.
I agree.
…I don’t recall seeing a visit to the mound from the pitching coach in the first inning.
…. The pop-up that fell in front of buck farmer.
…moose’s inability to track a routine pop up.
So lifeless it’s comical. This falls on every single member of the coaching staff and manager. You literally have nothing to lose by cleaning house and ridding yourself of ALL of them. There’s no pitching or hitting philosophy or in-game strategy that’s worth holding on to. But as we know the Reds way is half measures, so expect the hitting coach to get fired, a press conference where krall chalks it up to injuries, and the players to use the ‘we have to dig deep and take ownership’ cliches. That’s about the most we can expect.
Johnson made a mound visit after the 1st inning homer, or maybe after the next guy. Not that it helped.
Sanmartin needs to rebuild his confidence in AAA. He may never be able to do that. I’ve never heard of a guy allowing 13 guys in a row to get on and score, not even in slow-pitch softball.
This is absolutely sad. Season over on May 1. Bell needs to go period. Someone has to be held accountable for this mess. An absolute embarrassment and disgrace. Do something with Votto. Give him many more days off or move him in the order. If he does figure it out itās too late anyway. Bell refuses to do anything different! Every player with any semblance of leadership or intensity was traded away or gone. This team has zero veteran leadership. Absolutely pathetic team right now. Been following for decades as well. Worst Iāve seen by far.
David Bell has faith the Team will turn this around.
What else can he say? ā We are the worst team in the history of the gameā ?
https://twitter.com/nightengalejr/status/1520916279976210432?s=21&t=07KWjRXfuRuj5vtCufrvCw
How many equally vacuous statements has Bell made in his tenure as manager? Remember on Saturday, he told everyone that India out of the lineup was a planned recovery day, which most of us knew that meant he was headed back to the IL. How many times last year did he say such things about Suarez, Doolittle, and so forth? Bell should have been gone two years ago. If āleadingā the Reds to their worst start in history isnāt sufficient, what is?
Bell should have been fired when he ran across the field in the Pirates melee. Lack of leadership,
It starts with accountability
Mike moustakis stinks . He couldn’t even get within 3 feet of 2 popups that a decent 12 yo would catch . Moose has a combined fWAR of -0.8 in 2021/22
Thats the good news
Joey votto is hitting .130
Joey votto has 1 extra base hit the entire year.
Joey votto has an fWAR of -0.9
No one does that
Joey votto and mike moustakis are being paid $43 million. If they keep playing, they will be the worst players in the history of baseball
There is absolutely no excuse for Moustakas’ defense (or lack of it) at first base. He’s a major league infielder, but you would never know that based on today.
I really don’t know what to say about Votto’s performance. There are those who will defend him by saying he has a history of starting slowly. But why is that? I loved his brilliant performance last year, but I believe at his age that there’s a chance that what we’re seeing now is what we’ll get. I don’t understand why a player with his credentials can wave so weakly at pitches at times.
Who can we trade to get better? We donāt have Lee May, Tommy Helms, and Jimmy Stewart to send to the Astros for Joe Morgan, Ed Armbrister, Denis Menke, and Cesar Geronimo. Besides Castillo, Mahle, Greene and Lodolo who would be valuable to another team?
India and Stephenson, and probably guys like Ashcraft, McClain, de la Cruz, etc. But those are exactly the guys who might make the team better. Not this year, though. Nobody the Reds could get will make much difference this year.
Iām sorry but the Alejo Lopez move today is a microcosm of what is wrong on this team
No rational reason for him to not play 2b everyday India is on IL. Any rational person would see this so it tells me there is something more
Is Krall trying to showcas Drury to flip him to a competitor for prospects or something else? Is he keeping Drury because the reds paid him $700k and Lopez is optionable (hence prorated to days played)
Either way the only reason is dumb short sightedness in the value of a 30+ middle infield or so broke 700k actually matters to the bottom line
Either way holy – – – – we are in trouble!
Agreed. They kept Reynolds, which makes no sense. Until Barrero is ready, they could use Lopez as emergency backup shortstop.
Pham is the only motivated hitter on the team, because he knows that he will get traded to a contender in early July if he produces.
Exactly correct. Alejo goes down because he makes no money. Even though he is the best infielder in this org right now (india included). but everyone else is getting paid so bobby cant send them down
How horrendous is this start? If the Reds play .500 ball the rest of the year (highly doubtful) they will end up with a 73-89 record. Good chance they break the 1982 franchise worse record with more than 101 losses
At this point I canāt see them winning even 50 more times this year. This team is not in a slump. They are just bad. The FO and owners are just simply stupid. They gutted the team to save 7 million dollars. Yikes!! They will lose more than that by running off their fans.
This start is tough for an optimist.
Tough for a pessimist, too.
Brandon Drury has 4 HR and Joey Votto has 3 RBI.
I would fire Bell and Zinter tomorrow. I don’t know who the manager would be — Benavides, I suppose. Pick a guy at random shopping at Target to replace Zinter, and it would be an improvement. I would also DFA Moustakas, Moran and Reynolds, and replace all of them with players in their mid-20s.
I don’t know what to do with Marvelous Marv Votto. He hits one line drive a day, but looks like late-stage Eddie Taubensee in every other AB. It is unfortunate, but his short-term legacy is going to be the $25 million albatross, which is not fair to him.
While I absolutely believe that Bell is a horrible manager, no one can win with this team as it is currently constructed. The team is full of either young, inexperienced players who need proper coaching, or old has-beens/never-weres. There is literally not a single legit “star” on this team in their prime, unless you count Castillo and Mahle.
I have a sinking feeling that the Reds are going to ruin Barrero, India, Stephenson, Greene, and Lodolo. The franchise as a whole has the opposite of the Midas Touch when it comes to developing their young players.
RE: Greene> If the organization felt Hunter Greene needed a 2 seam fastball to complete his arsenal for MLB, he should have been sent back to AAA to learn and integrate it versus trying to teach him while he worked out of the MLB rotation as a 22 year old rookie.
DJ is the “pitching coordinator” for the organization, so; I don’t want to hear that he didn’t realize the need for Greene to have to the 2 seamer or wasn’t able to get anyone to work on it with Greene at the minor league levels.
Now, unless the whole 2 seam fastball talk is a smokescreen to cover an injury, something in the process of learning it has apparently altered Greene’s trademark easy gas 100mph 4 seam fastball. It has morphed into a garden variety 96-98MPH fastball that Greene is having trouble controlling when he “reaches” back for that little extra to use it as a finishing pitch.
For the record, I’ll add that as I watched Greene via MiLB TV last year and saw him not be as dominant when he got to AAA, the thought occurred to me that maybe he could benefit from mixing in some 2 seam fastballs.
So, this isn’t about me not liking the goal. It is the slipshod way they are going about trying to reach it. Welcome to the Reds way.
I will make sure I am at Target today!
Lol!!
Wow ole Phil really ate it in the shorts with his comments…
Does he come out and say anything? He has to at some point right? Him or Bob? Or will it be scapegoating until there is no one left?
Price, Riggleman, and Bell have been three of the worst managers in baseball in recent memory ā all hired by this organization.
How can anyone take seriously a manager who looks at this historical mess every day and says, “I believe so much in what we’re doing as a team and organization … we’ve made so much progress.” Whhaaaaaaat???????!!!!!!!!
Yeah I just saw that too. What a joke the leadership is of this team.
He may well have been talking about the young players. He could have said that the owners are stupidly pinching pennies and have no other direction or plan. That would please many of us, but it would probably get him fired and wouldn’t add any good players to the roster.
Dear Elon Musk,
We have a proposition for you.
The proposal is to strap himself to one of his rockets Wile E Coyote style and launch it into space.
As others have said, thanks for the summaries and news on both the major league (sort of) and minor league teams. I do sincerely appreciate it.
I am 58 years old. Since I received an AM radio at age 11, I have listened, watched, or attended nearly every Reds game every season until this season. I look forward to attending a few games with my wife, sons and friends this summer and will always root for the Reds, but aside from your sites, I no longer follow the Reds.
CIN should take a first small step in the right direction. First, get rid of the stupid mustache mascot. We have been terrible since it made its first appearance.
Bring back the go-go Reds logo and mascot from now on.
We can do at least this much. š
McLain 2 Hrs/4 rbi today
Wonder if he’ll play for the Reds next year? They have to hold them back etc
If McCain and Barrero pan out, you would at least have a decent core. They would still need to find 3 or 4 outfielders/DH and decide on a catcher if you move Stephenson to 1B.
But you infield would consist of
1B Stephenson
2B India
SS Barrero
3B. McClain
Then of course you have to build a rotation. Even if Greene and Lodolo pan out and are not injured, they will need at least 3 other starters and of course the bullpen remains a mess.
The last re-build took what 5 years? I think this one will take a bit longer, just because they truly gutted the major league team this time.
I honestly think it will be at least until the end of this decade and possibly well into the early 2030s before the Reds will finish over .500 again.
Of course they can bet those projects by hiring a good baseball man and giving him dictatorial powers. Leave him alone to hire baseball professionals throughout the organization. Still that will take awhile to show dividends.
If they donāt do some version of the above, then the real question will be what happens first, the Reds win a play-off series or a man lands on Mars?
CIN is dead last in pitching BB/9 and its not even close. We need someone who can get these guys to throw strikes.
the reds struggles reflect the struggles of mlb. it is becoming similar to the nba where you have a few “super teams” and a bunch of bad teams. we aren’t the only team struggling this year. Look at the tigers, orioels, Nationals. they are right behind us in the loss column. I think there will be multiple teams this year that could break the 1962 mets loss records.
i think the lack of talented position players in mlb is really coming to a head this year. As it did in the early 2000’s in the nba. there just aren’t enough young talented position players to go around for 30 teams to fill a roster. Maybe the league needs to contract to 20 teams or something. but the quality of these games are really bad
The Reds are 4.5 games behind the next worst team in baseball after 22 games. That is a significant gap, they are not “right behind us”. That is not to say I disagree with what you are getting at. There are some really bad teams in MLB and right now the Reds are by far the worst of the lot. I actually think the Reds will improve as the year goes on and will not end the year at the bottom of the heap. There are a lot young good arms on the team that just need some seasoning. They can put a credible lineup on the field but they have shed so much talent there is zero depth. As they get healthy and get Stephenson and India, etc., back on the field, they will win some more games. But it is still going to be a painful year.
1. ban the shift entirely,
2. move back the pitcherās mound,
3. enlarge the bases
4. Any runner who stills a base will be awarded two bases. For example, if the runner steals second, he will automatically advance to 3B.
5. I would extend it to sacrifice hunts as well. If a sacrifice is successful then an additional base should be awarded.
6. Create the Designated Runner position. Start every inning with the designated runner on first base. Teams will sign players like Billy Hamilton and every inning will start with a duel between the base runner and the pitcher. It will be exciting
The game is broken. Itās barely watchable. I believe these steps would add excitement to the game.
yeah, and get rid of pitchers, just let the batters hit of a tee
I like the idea of sacrifice Hunts, that could be interesting.
Yeah…if it was an unsuccessful steal…the player has to be removed from the game…Like Squid Game
Tom Watson was once asked what he thought of enlarging the golf hole to 5ā or so. He replied that the bad putters would still be bad and the good putters would be even better.
I think the same applies to all the changes in baseball. Move the mound back and the best hitters will be even better. The worst hitters wonāt improve as much. It wonāt change the balance of power amongst the teams. Only changing the balance of money amongst the teams will help.
Something got to give, this is just too embarrasing to continue without a shake up. Either Krall or Bell (or both) must be replaced, Votto shall be sent to IL with an undisclosed condition and Moustakas cannot take the field anymore.
Krall has been in the job a short time. He is not the one who assembled the cache from which this team is assembled. When it comes to replacements for injuries, he had even less to do with them. Krall is not the problem, as Castellanos hinted in his bitch session.
I agree, Doc.
Shawn Calhoun has been sent to the minors and is now requesting the Rangers trade him. He would be a good target for the Reds. He is a good outfielder with decent power and is only 27. This is something Nick Krall should be following up on. I just donāt see Krall as being a very aggressive GM.
I heard he was Bull in a China shop
Bob and Phil sure put a curse on this team so far. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the locker room. I’m sure the atmosphere in the dugout and locker room sucks!!!!!
I am trying to maintain a sense of sympathetic empathy for the players, manager, coaches, trainers and everybody else involved in the day to day process of putting the team on the field and running the game.
The team is their workplace; and, they have 5 more months of coming into this work environment every day. I can’t imagine what it must feel like about now.
I’ll keep pointing out boneheaded plays and wondering why certain guys on being used (or not) in certain ways and situations because these things have even happened in an MLB situation speaks to the lack of quality in mid to upper management and ownership.
However, I am going to try my best to remember this mess was created by the bosses for the purpose of making more money, not winning more games. And in the end, the players, managers and coaches are in many ways as much, even more, victims as we fans.
I am right there with you, Jim. My heart breaks for these players – especially Joey Votto, who has been so loyal to the Reds – as they seem to be trying their best – but just can’t get out of the quagmire this season is becoming due to the ownership’s ineptitude. I have a crazy hope that after Joey retires, he becomes part owner of the team and brings it back to greatness. š
I had a similar fantasy over the weekend. Forbes values the Reds at just north of $1B.
Castellini supposedly owns about 15% equity, plus there would likely be a premium added on for the managing partner rights which are part of the Castellini stake.
This said, how ācashā would Joey V. need to raise to close the deal if he walked into the corner suite and said give me your share of the team for a write off of the future value of my remaining contract.
Iām thinking JV is still due about $20m or this year plus $25m for 2023 and another $7m for the buyout on his 2024 option. So, he could have as much as a 40% dow payment on Castelliniās stake right there. š
the only chance we have is to play 700 or more in the division.
it really makes it hard to see this going down and remain a loyal fan! not interested in winning seems to be at the top of the grievance ladder to the fans. In a professional
sports town that is ludicrous. Time to sell the team. the top of my wish list would be Nick Lachey and someone who is a HUGE reds fan with a lot of wealthy friends. someone should ask him if he would be interested. even money says yes
Heads need to roll this week, especially after we’re swept by the Brewers in Milwaukee. One tiny positive–three of the four worst performers on the team so far this year are gone: Aquino (DFA), Sanmartin (minors), Fraley (IL). And then of course there’s Votto, for some inexplicable reason still batting cleanup.
This not all on Bell but at the same time, rolling Votto out as our Cleanup hitter is inexcusable. Bell is always tardy making obvious changes. Move Votto DOWN the order!
He doesn’t have runners on base ahead of him when he bats cleanup, so what difference does it make where he hits? Micromanaging players who can’t play might pass the time, but until the team has guys who can play, it will make little difference.
@ Steven….Who do you suggest? Nobody is hitting, or deserves to bat 4th.
Well, Mark, you don’t “have to” unless you’re too lazy to do the hard work of actually fixing the problem. I understand that this often the case for MLB front offices when their team is struggling, but it doesn’t make a sound strategy out of a desperate, empty gesture.
Sometimes you just have to let the manager go whether he is to blame or not. You have to at least act like you care and the manger is usually the fall guy like it or not. Having said all that I don’t see that as the case her, Bell is a poor manager and has accomplished next to nothing. He constantly wants to make it look like he is the smartest guy in the room, far from the truth. Will he go at 3 and 19, 3 and 22 or worse. I have seen enough of him. Why has he avoided the post game show the last two games?
Moose and Votto are done. The pirates knew Moran was done. The Brewers knew Stickland was done. And the Royals knew for sure that MInor was done.
Then the Reds trade for a player who may never pitch again in the Major Leagues?
And none of the trades resulted in a cannot miss hitting prospect ?
So best to allow the younger players to play as if it was September and the team was already eliminated. Bring up McClain and Hopkins and Gilliam and Almora and Solomon. Sit Naquin, Senzel, Farmer, and Votto. DFA Moustakis and Moran and Strickland and Wilson.
I would let Senzel have the bulk of the playing time to prove what he can do if healthy. If he goes down again, then I put a youngster in and pray for another Lou Gehrig replaces Wally Pipp scenario.
Better in a weird way.
Sell the team Bob.
This is what happens when a team is demoralized. The players were already feeling like the team was torn apart and sold out from under them before the season started with the trades(supposed) and the salary dumps, then the injuries happened and we have this as it is now. I feel bad for them as I have seen this happen when coaching kids long ago. The difference is these guys are getting paid, but it still hurts I’m sure. I would bet most of them feel like they are wearing lead shoes when they take the field. In my opinion it’s going to take someone very differnt than DBell to shake them out of this funk and for that reason alone he should go. They need motivation and a kick in the butt to wake them up. Sit Joey, fire Bell, fire Krall and SELL THE TEAM BOB
Been a reds fan since 1959. Seen the good and bad of our franchise. I most certainly wish we were more competitive but you have those years. Iāll always be a fan. Itās more then just a baseball game to me. Itās memories with my Dad , my brother and life long friends. Hopefully management can get it turned around and better days will be here.
Doc I too think we should see some of the youngsters but I donāt want to ruin their careers by rushing them to the big leagues and not letting them have the time to develope properly.
“I believe so much in what we’re doing as a team [and] as an organization, like we’ve made so much progress. This is a tough, tough spot and I really have a lot of faith in our staff and our team to turn this around. That’s a huge challenge. But I know it’s going happen. That’s the only focus I have. I haven’t thought of anything else.”
That was the post game statement of David Bell. Does this sound like a leader and realist? Sure, the ownership and GM have a lot to account for, but Bell was given a huge salary outlay from the horrible Bryan Price teams that subsisted on 90-93 mil. This was raised to about 150 (prorated in 2020) and still stands at 117 in an era when MLB salaries have declined by 7% since 2017. He has been given a free hand to replace all the top line coaches and minor league development positions. All vestiges of Dick William’s tenure have been erased along with coaches loyal to him being pushed out or resigned. It is apparent that there is no leadership or fundamental improvement in any significant way. The pitchers still don’t throw strikes and the batters still lack plate discipline. Now that the home runs don’t come as often, there is nothing to fall back on. As for the highly touted starting pitching staff, I’m starting to have doubts in that development. I also don’t understand all the soft tissue injuries that always seem to linger on this team. Tactical skills and game management? I’ve quit that discussion.
So, fire David Bell, you say? I advocated that many times over the last few years but now there is little point. Hopefully, the ownership will quietly launch a search committee for a GM/manager combo with perhaps an ownership stake. How all that works out within the Reds ownership structure is well beyond me but seems the only way out of this mess for next year. Krall, Bell and the owners can just sit in the uncomfortably warm stew the rest of this year and see what is is like to be a fan of this woeful franchise.
Man, the defiance in that quote. It either stems from too much ego or a complete failure to comprehend how bad things are. No matter, whichever one it is should disqualify him from ever holding a leadership position.
Those are good points, but this is the team that the Castellini Family has built. This is what they wanted.
They collect earnings from the team, and we, the fans, get this terrible team. And it is terrible. It will be historically terrible. This will be the worst Reds team in history, and not by a little. By a lot.
David Bell is a larger symptom of the problem. We may all recall WHY Bell was chosen over others. The family “connection”; Gus Bell, Buddy Bell, now David Bell. It wasn’t merit, brains, insight or a host of other considerations. Excellence, winning attitude, etc. Bell had a family connection to the Reds. It was, of course, the “easy” choice. Bell would not rock the boat with the ownership group, because he was “familia”.
I have to say, if Phil Castellini was not family to the managing owner, and said what he said on the occasion of the home opener, he would have been fired by most organizations, baseball or steel – making or whatever.
As fans of the Reds, we are now seeing the long – term death of what we have followed for years. I don’t really see a way out. Bell will NOT be fired. He is saying the right things and showing loyalty to the “family”. That’s all he really can do.
Votto will continue to languish at his present batting average. At some point, the team management will have to acknowledge this, but who knows what they will do?
It’s really bad, and will not get better. This kind of masochism about being a baseball fan is not fun at all.
And I don’t disagree with anything you have said. I am trying to suggest (hope, really) that aging Bob, his discredited son, and their incompetent “manager” get enough pressure from other owners wanting to sell that a big change happens. Unlikely, but this team is now contesting for the worst of all time team records (61-101).
Do you actually know that he was chosen only because of his family connection, or are you simply surmising this? The situation could be read differently: you have a candidate who grew up surrounded by multi-generational baseball excellence and knowledge, a candidate who has spent his entire life immersed in the game. Looks like a good candidate for the job, so far. And we have no real idea of his judgment or intelligence. What we have is disgruntlement that Bell, with access to far more information and far more experience than we do, doesn’t deploy his players the way we think he should based on our observations of their performance in games that we mostly see on television. I get it: It’s what fans do and this season is not fun to watch.
If I could cite one example of a player who outperformed what was expected of them I’d be far less inclined to call for the wholesale replacement of the entire coaching staff and manager, but I can’t. I mean, you can’t even give them credit for India because it took an injury for him to get playing time.
The hitting and pitching philosophies don’t work. No one gets better under their tutelage.
The manager can be generously described as an average in-game manager, but has once again failed to properly prepare the team in spring training which resulted in another abysmal April record. But the biggest sin by far is that his players don’t play hard and he doesn’t demand that they do. The chummy collegial atmosphere only works after you know how to win. This losing streak has presented Bell with multiple opportunities to call out lack of effort and clearly state what the culture of the team should be. It shows an utter lack of imagination (or too much ego?) to not be disruptive in how you approach your job. But this is the consequence of the nepotistic culture the Castellini’s have created. They reward conformists…..anyone who challenges the status quo (Williams, Boddy, etc.) get ousted. This leaves the organization with no one capable of pulling out of this nosedive because the solution wasn’t printed in the employee handbook.
Nice post. One name you did not mention is Donnie Ecker. Remember him?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donnie_Ecker
He was credited, rightfully so, with rescuing the flailing career of Aristides Aquino in 2019:
https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/mlb/reds/2019/08/05/how-new-swing-changed-aristides-aquinos-career-cincinnati-reds-donnie-ecker-louisville-bats-mlb/1915757001/
Interesting thing is the SF Giants hired Ecker to be their hitting instructor prior to the 2020 campaign. Whom did he replace? Alan Zinter. The 2019 Giants were 14th out the 15 NL teams in OPS. By the end of last season, they were #1. In a roundabout way Ecker replaced Zinter and Zinter replaced Ecker.
Apparently the Texas Rangers were impressed enough with Young Donnie (36 years old) to make him their bench coach/offensive coordinator for this year’s squad. The Rangers were dead last in AL OPS in 2021. They are currently ranked 9th.
Neither SF or Texas had/have exactly a Murder’s Row for a batting order. Wonder if Texas has any interest in Aquino.
I believe Ecker might make an interesting choice for the eventual replacement for David Bell. Certainly would be thinking outside the box but what do the Reds have to lose?
The 2021 team outperformed what was expected of them. Individually, Naquin and Farmer did, Votto did, Miley did. Castellanos and Winker both had career years. India and Stephenson probably exceeded realistic expectations for rookies, and I don’t agree that India doesn’t count because he replaced an injured starter: that scenario is and always has been commonplace in MLB, and it doesn’t diminish his accomplishments.
Bingo!
At this point, let Votto and other veteran players go to another team. They obviously are costing Castellini a lot of $$$ and its possible they actually might play better there and make a difference for another team. Because its obvious — Castellini isn’t really rich enough to own a professional team. Maybe a long time ago – he could. But he cannot compete with groups like LA Dodgers, NY Yankees and their $$$. HE needs to be honest with Reds fans and do the right thing — sell the team.
Reds need a group to own them that have deep pockets and CAN put the $$ into the team. That may not be what baseball was supposed to be about – that is how it is NOW. I am not saying you have to have a lot of highly paid players on a team but if you can’t hang on to them after drafts or negotiate with them and just going to let them go because you CAN’T pay them — then its a bigger problem. Simply put – you’ll never be able to rebuild.
I am almost afraid to post this and see the Reds leadership actually execute some of these, but with all the player releases today I thought an article titled “All the Reds move that might be made today, but definitely shouldn’t be made” would be a good story. For instance, since the Mets DFA Robinson Cano, maybe the Reds trade for him and eat half his ~37 million dollar salary and move India to 3B when he returns. Any other ideas out there of Krall/Castellini type moves that might happen from the waiver wire moves made today?
Wow, executing management or players for not performing? That’s harsh. š
Anyways, there are a plethora of “ideas” out there, but a few easy ones are to be made. I think Luis Castillo is probably about ready to return from the DL. As is Tyler Stevenson.
Bench Votto, or bat him 7th or 8th. They will come home from this road trip. There has to be a consideration of what to do with the field management. We are stuck with the Castellini’s and company for the forseeable future. Look for some “puff” piece in the Cincinnati papers about how “disappointed and heartsick” or some such malarkey from Bob Castellini about the Reds’ losing.
But this team will likely lose 120 games. It’s almost unavoidable now. I feel sorriest for the young guys, who probably would like to get out, but can’t.
I DO NOT feel sorry for Votto. He has gotten a + $200 million dollar contract to “play baseball”, and now it’s a lodestone around the organization’s neck. He is a rich man (or should be) and if he really felt bad about playing, he could retire.
David you are simply and historically wrong about votto. Dude way outperformed his contract years ago. And the castellinis waisted Joeyās best years by not surrounding him with talent.
Picking on Joey now misses the point. The C family regime has utterly failed at roster building for 16 years. They have earned the current fiasco and deserve all the humiliation and disparagement that comes with it.
And things wonāt change much until Bob and Phil get out of the way, hire legit baseball people that are proven winners, and support that with a decent budget.
Of course cows will fly before that happens.
Votto needs to retire, pay him the remainder for this year the 20/25 million he is owed and call it a career and a mutual decision by management and Votto.
I know the union will hate this, but if Joey Votto really cared about this team, that’s what should be done.
As for HOF, just look how Fred McGriff’s numbers dwarf Joey Votto’s and tell me how Votto belongs in the HOF and McGriff doesn’t.
McGriff also has numerous post season wins and a world series ring. Thanks for all the walks and those two playoff wins Mr.Votto.
Aren’t we glad the strike is over? I’m starting to walk that one back a bit….
There wasn’t a strike. There was a lockout. Big difference.
You’re right. But not really to my point.
True it was a lockout and I almost always favor the players associations in these disputes. But what is disappointing to me is that competitive balance was not seriously address. Now we will have to wait another five years at least before something is done.
I get the Castellinis could spend more money if they want to, but I do also think larger markets have a distinct advantage.
Maybe Revenue Sharing is working and there needs to be some rules that require recipients of revenue sharing to reinvest a large portion of it back into the payroll.
I donāt know what the answer is, but the current system isnāt working and MLB just missed an opportunity to address it.
Teams are required to invest ALL of the revenue sharing back into the team. The problem is they can do so in ways that don’t actually do it. Let’s say you get $25M in revenue sharing. You can show that you put that $25M into the team somewhere with regards to players/development/signings – whatever.
But you then just don’t spend $25M that you made from your broadcast deal/ticket sales/merch/parking/whatever other revenue. And that’s exactly how the owners want it to be.
The players tried to cut back on revenue sharing to put more emphasis on winning baseball games. Their idea was that you shouldn’t be rewarded simply for existing and teams should be forced to sell tickets to make money again. And the way teams do that is by consistently winning, or at least giving fans the perception that the team is going to be winning (until proven otherwise). The owners said that they would not negotiate on revenue sharing and shut it down from the very beginning.
Don’t expect it to change. The owners don’t want it to and the players don’t have any chips to offer to get them to even consider it.
Thanks for the explanation Doug.
The thing most concerning to me is that ownership will fire Bell to get the heat off themselves. Also it will be sold to the fans as them trying to right the ship. This is not Bellās mess. Sparky couldnāt win with this group and neither will Bell. There are AAA teams with better rosters. Bell is also not going to come out publicly and criticize management. He is under contract and will play the part. He is not walking away. The overhaul starts at the top not in the dugout.
No, seriously, there are not AAA teams with “Better” rosters. There is some real ML talent on this team, but not enough, and their “young” pitching is going through the pains of pitching in the Major Leagues.
Some of this could be sorted out, if Management was willing, but this team is going to lose a lot of games this year, no way around it. If they were totally committed to getting younger, ate the Moustakis and Votto contracts, hadn’t gotten Mark Minor and Tommy Pham, this might make more sense.
They won’t do these things, because they want to continue the pretense that they are “Trying to win”. Well, trying to tick off all the fans, that’s working.
Ok. Start at the top but whose going to fire Big Bob and Phil C.? Until the movers and shakers of the Cincinnati business community get through to Big Bob Castellini, nothing will be changed at the top for the Reds and their fanbase.
CIN is tied for last with 4 SB. That needs addressed. Not running and still losing is the first thing to address. The 1990 World Champs were 4th in SB. Different times for sure, but different times for all.
You cannot have one of the slowest teams in baseball – ever.
Most of the top teams in the league are in the top tier in SB.
Dawson and Cedrola are both running at AAA. Time for some DL trips and call-ups to install some athleticism and energy?
Either that or green light Pham and Senzel every time they are on 1B. Naquin too. If you have an ailment preventing you from running, then hit the DL.
Not only did we use to run a lot, we had high success rates. Guaranteed Deshields, Davis and Larkin have instructed players on reads, jumps and accelaration.
Time to quit playing it safe – it does not work.
Maybe starting the runners more often would help prevent all these double plays we are CONSTANTLY hitting into! It’s almost laughable how often when we do (infrequently) get a runner on base the next guy immediately raps into a double play.
This is a poor suggestion. The Reds are last in the MLB in OBP and in SLG and this will just make things worse, particularly given the roster construction. If we had Barry and Eric on the team, it would be a different story. Of course, we also wouldn’t be 3-19.
It makes me think of this scene from the Simpsons:
Lisa: “Nuke The Whales”? You don’t really believe that, do you?”
Nelson: “I don’t know. Gotta nuke something.”
I stopped watching, and the Reds lost 17 of 18. My apologies. Iāll try to watch the rest of the way. Go Reds! Or, Go Bob. Somebody, please Go!
The Front Office has some ‘Splainin’ to do.. What do we get? Silence.
Krall interview with Bobby Nightengale, (paraphrased) “Stuff happens, we have to get better”
Yep, empty rhetoric from an empty suit. About 3:00 in Cincinnati and not a single tangible effort to right the ship. We’re stuck with Bell and his coaching staff which will ultimately destroy any of the young players the Reds have that may be good. Bell has his apologists here, but the results are clear – he isn’t getting them. His comments after the game, posted by someone above, are as vacuous as they come. Just like last year when he assured the fans every day that Suarez would hit himself out of the slump. How did that work out?
As he predicted: Suarez did, indeed, hit himself out of the slump.
Hard to fault that statement. Stuff does happen, and they do need to get better. Perhaps the use of the passive in the first clause weakened it, though….
He did? And when exactly did that happen?
He was the best hitter on the team for most or all of the last month of the season, as I recall.
One month of the season ? Yeah, thatās a successful rehab if ever I saw one. Rode that strategy straight into the post season.
You’re a hard guy to please, LDS. A month is clearly long enough to qualify as the end of the slump, which was the point I was responding to.
Except you forget he also finished strong the year before and it was a harbinger of Suarez’s return. He started strong in Seattle this year but has drifted down to .207 and only .111 in the last week and a strike out rate not quite approaching Aquino. So trading him was actually the right move by this organization. And Winker is actually not doing as well. Sonny Gray is on the IL. Wade Miley is on the IL. Garrett, Barnhart & Lorenzen are doing well at the moment though one should expect them to revert more to their averages. It’s not the players the Reds dumped, it’s how they dumped them. Gave Miley away for nothing. Traded Barnhart and Garrett for a meaningless return. Minor and Dunn still haven’t played for the team, acquired injured. Brilliant front office. And all of the castoffs they signed this year and last haven’t been game changers. In truth, they could DFA everyone on the team and call up Dayton and that team would probably have a better record than 3-19, particularly if they also called up the coach. Results matter. Excuses don’t.
I absolutely agree that it was time to trade Suarez, and I also am puzzled by the returns on some of the deals–or non-returns, in the case of Miley. Of course, we don’t know what was on offer for the other guys, and will have to wait to see how Williamson, in particular, pans out to properly evaluate everything. It’s clear that they weren’t trying to put together a serious contender this year, and I’m okay with that if they actually capitalize on their young guys and seriously go for it in, say, 2024.
I think they may be beyond ‘Splainin’ and approaching, Oh, Cisco! Oh Pancho! proportions.
Or maybe “Book’em Dano, impersonating an MLB team.”
Had to laugh at that–references to two Tv heroes of my youth š
I missed the first two “pivotal” innings of last night’s game so I watched it just now. How pathetic was that? First batter, the Moose abandons 1B to miss a ball just a yard or two from his position, whoever was playing 2B shovels the ball to the pitcher about 5 feet wide. Did not know Moose could play 1B, well he can’t. Who didn’t look good on 2B either. The Pitcher/Catcher combo was out of sync the whole inning, with a little balk and WP action for variety. Is somebody training these rookies? Then, there was the 3 Pop-Out AB. Two misses for the Reds with decent attempts then the Moose just lets it drop on the third. I played 1B, that is his ball, probably learned that when I was 12. The manager should just video the first 2 innings of that game to the club in 3/4 motion to both chew them out/set a different tone or find somebody who can. A game like this with a day off is what’s needed to hit bottom. The team trails the league in DRS, so I guess they are 3 for 3 now in offense, defense and fielding.
Winning 2/3 from the Brewers with players scheduled to return might plug some holes in the ship temporarily if the “attitude” changes.
I thought the situation on the popup in front of the mound offered the perfect situation for Bell to send a message that such boneheadedness would not be tolerated no matter who it came from. I’m OK with him waiting for the end of the inning to bench Moose because the score was still “only” -5 when the play happened but was -9 at the end of the inning in large part due to that play.
With the personnel available they could have worked around using Votto at 1B and losing the DH. Farmer has played 1B as recently as last season. Garcia already has a 1B appearance this year (and at 1B would have still been available to catch if Kolozsvary got hurt). And they had players to backfill if Farmer went to 1B. In fact that might have even made it apparent to the public that Moose was benched for poor performance.
I did the same and watched it yesterday. I don’t blame that whole debacle of an inning on San Martin. Cowboy pointed it out. He needs to pitch in a rythm and he and Kolsvary were never on the same page. I believe that contributed to the balk, and then the rest of it. It happens, one bad thing leads to another and then boom, you are down by 5 runs. Just my thoughts.
Just curious – what is Nick Krallās plan to make the Reds better????
What GM in baseball announces his plans for improvement?
One who start the season 3-19 or at least he should.
He said this off-season that the team was not rebuilding.
Thinking out loud, but our complaining about the Castellinis is not going to do any good. He is, at least metaphorically, laughing at us all the way to the bank. The only way to get our point across is to hit him where it hurts, living in Florida, I can’t do anything but those living in the greater Cincinnati area need to stop buying his produce until he sells the team. Boycott the stores that use his produce and let them know why.
I donāt think Reds fans have the stomachs to be like Tampa. We get way too attached to players. We love players who also fall in love with Cincinnati and want to stay. Frankly, we love it that so many ex Reds and Bengals still live part or full time in the greater Cincinnati area.
Weāll watch and listen to our favorite players. About the only thing we wonāt do is pay for seats to watch our favorite players on teams that arenāt playoff caliber. And, that, is kinda the problem.
+1000. i wish more fans would go to games. it would put a lot more pressure on reds ownership to make better decisions.
C Tyler Stephenson – solid; let him grow
1B Joey Votto – let him ride out his contract and retire a Red; consider a platoon
2B Jonathan India – solid; let him grow (Drury as a solid fill-in)
SS Kyle Farmer – trade him at deadline; hand keys to Barrero
3B Vacany – DFA/trade Moose; Use Drury and AAA to cover until McClain is ready
LF Tommy Pham – see if he can build deadline trade value; Sign solid veteran in winter
CF Nick Senzel – see if he can break-out; Siani to push him next year; Invest in solid Plan B due to extreme inability to stay on the field
RF Tyler Naquin – use strictly in a platoon role; find a major league quality platoon partner similar to how TAM and other success teams do it. Don’t use players that strike out 40% of the time
DH Platoon Moose with a sold RHB (like Drury) until you can trade Moose; DFA Moran
SP1 Luis Castillo – Almost back; See if he can anchor staff
SP2 Tyler Mahle – Excellent #2
SP3 We don’t have one; We traded Gray and Miley for nothing (address in off-season); Plug in Minor when he is healthy and hope for the best (pin the results to Krall)
SP4 Hunter Greene – Let him grow
SP5 Nick Lodolo – Let him grow
CL We don’t have one; Sign or trade for in the off-season; Get someone with a proven track record; Avoid high FB% candidates at all costs; Do not hand the job to anyone with a BB/9 over 4.00
RP2 Luis Cessa – Let him grow
RP3 Dauriel Moreta – Let him grow
RP4 Art Warren – See if he can throw strikes and avoid walking poeple
RP5 Justin Wilson – Get him healthy and trade at deadline; See if Diehl is the real deal
RP6 Lucas Sims – Trade him at deadline if healthy
RP7 Jeff Hoffman – Trade him at deadline if healthy
RP8 Tony Santillan – Let him grow; Quit calling pitches nibbling on edges of plate
Diaz may actually be a closer but what do I know?
Everyone forgets my boy Schrock! I was wrong on VanMeter, but I think Schrock has a chance to be a solid Tommy LaStella type. Utility and solid platoon hitter. If they’d trade Farmer then he could platoon with Drury at 3B and maybe a little OF/DH too
Moose is even worse then Shogo. Nobody wants a weak hitter with the defensive range of a manatee with a glove on his flipper. Even if he started hitting nobody is picking up 16 mil or whatever it is
Donāt forget Antone next year. Maybe.
Could Moose be traded to the Fukiyama River Guppies?
The notion the Reds can go all in on young pitching is folly. We learned that in 2017. Greene and Lodolo obviously are candidates to follow in the footsteps of other Uber prospects like cueto and bailey and Castillo.
But, Reds are going to need 2-3 veteran SP on the next winning team. Castillo would be the guy if he comes back that I would look at. I like Mahle but his GABP splits are awful.
Jackson Stephens, Finnegan,Stephenson,Romano, Garrett, Reed? How did the starting pitching sorting go on those non- Uber prospects. Going to need to spend money on legit SP. Not this year.
Well, Castillo was actively shopped and they let go of Disco, Gausman, Wood and Casali (as the battery) to SF that showed us up last year. Also, looks like Stephenson, who failed big time here, is having a good time for the Rockies. Maybe the big problem is development and management. Might have seemed like we could have spared a good pitcher to get some help elsewhere in trades but both ends of those transactions failed and we have neither unless Mike Minor saves the day.
Iād hold onto Pham and Farmer, as they wouldnāt bring back much in return. This team will be bad enough next year, so why make them worse by getting rid of 2 solid bats. Votto and Moustakasās bats has fallen off, and Naquin will be a FA. Senzel and Barrero have to 1st be healthy, and 2nd be productive before you can consider them as a viable option. We got fringy guys all over, like Schrock, Friedl, Fraley, Lopez, Cedrola, etc. but the vast majority of offensive help is 2 years away at best. Unfortunately there is only 1 MLB quality bat likely to be ready next year, and thatās McLain.
it is so weird in 2020 and 2021 my blood pressure did not allow me to watch those close competitive games. way too stressful for me. I usually “Cleted out” by the second inning. this year i have been watching and listening more just because i know the reds will lose. maybe that is ownership’s plan. more old guys with hypertension and anxiety can attend games now because they will be low stress blow outs. also more visiting fans will come to gabp because they know their team will win.
That’s plausible, in a weird way.
Don’t despair, fellas!
We have 7 games against the Buckos and 4 against the Cubbies in the month of May.
We just might put a dent in that projected 22-140 record.
Remember last September we had all of those games with the Pirates and were hopeful??? How’d that turn out for us š
I thought the Reds were fire someone today. I was wrong.
*would
You’re not wrong. All teams, including the Reds, when in a deep valley like this, always fired somebody either the manager and/or the GM. As an old guy , I remember like yesterday the firing of Birdie Tebbetts, Tony Perez, and Davy Johnson (I believe he was fired). Bell will probably not be fired due to nepotism.
The isn’t over but when Krall made his comments, it pretty much sealed the deal. “Insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result”.
I haven’t read all of the comments above, so I don’t know if anyone else pointed this out, but I went to the MLB stats page, and the Reds are dead last in both pitching and hitting. Dead last in all of MLB. I don’t know if I have ever seen one team accomplish that before this far into the season. Again, the Reds are dead last in both hitting and pitching, by almost any stat you want to look at. Amazing.
There are many to blame, and most deserve it. I think one is being missed. When almost half of the 40-man is on the IL at any given moment, something is very very wrong. I don’t know what is it. 1) Is the training staff that inept? 2) Is management too quick to IL someone? 3) Are players wimping out with least provocation? 4) Did the Reds assemble a roster of unreliable players? Select as many as you like.
After a PATHETIC first month, with a day off, nothing happens. If in the same situation, do you think the Cardinals would wait this long to make changes? Of course not. That’s the difference between winners and losers. To me, with the silence today, it’s Big Bob & Son giving the finger to the fans…..again.
“So what if we’re 3-19. Where ya gonna go?”
If Krall were fired, the optics would be ridiculous on the Castelliniās. They told him to do this and cut payroll. He did. Firing Krall would feel good for 3 hours and then what?
Firing Bell would feel good for30 minutes and then what? 2 monthsfrom now when they are still a 95 loss team with holes everywhereā¦.you gonna fire Benavides in July?
Fire Johnson! Really? Then what.
Fire the hitting coach. Maybeā¦except this is the guy who talks about hitting line drives and the opposite field . I want that hitting philosophy. Turner Ward was the problem. No good healthy hitters is the problem now.
This is a poor team with zero margin as constructed for adversity and injuries and they sure got both. Miley and Gray and Barnhart and Suarez would have netted no more wins, just $40 million in payroll.
Akiyama got $8 mil to be Cut-Thatās Dick Williams- no thanks.
Joey Votto has 1 extra base hit in a month. Moose is giving Eric Milton breathing room. Back to the future 1982.
Firing Bell, Benavides, Johnson, Zinter would feel good for far longer than 30 minutes. Zinter may have talked about opposite field line drives but we sure donāt see many examples
It would certainly make YOU feel better for more than 30 minutes, LDS: I expect the rosy glow of those firings would sustain you for weeks. Until it became clear that the players aren’t good enough now. But then, of course, it would be the fault of whoever replaced Bell, Krall, et al.
@Greenmtred, if you choose to ignore the horrible job that Bell & co have done since he took over, that’s okay. They should have been in the playoffs last year – they collapsed. Is the roster lousy? Yes, but not this lousy. Managers matter, whether the team is hitting a baseball, or writing software. Their performance, regardless of whether they are the “best”, is directly affected by the quality of the management. Period.
Not many people predicted that last year’s Reds would be playoff contenders, but they were, despite a late-season slump; they were really undone by a historic Cardinal’s winning streak. They were a team with significant weakness that outperformed expectations. You may not think that this year’s roster is that bad, but thousands disagree. It is that bad, though it may improve as the injured return. Managers matter, but the single attribute of good managers is that they have good players. Managers who have been “good” when they managed strong teams have been “bad” when their teams were weak. I don’t know whether Bell is a good or bad manager, but I know that your template–that he doesn’t do things the way you would–has no validity, not because it’s your opinion, LDS, but because fans see so little of the players and know so little of the situation. And because we have the luxury of evaluating decisions after the fact when, in baseball, strategic decisions–what ever they are–often fail.
I’ll make it easy for you. Justify leaving Sanmartin in to be shelled and pulling Overton. Those are recent simple examples. With that we’ll close the thread because it’s obvious we aren’t going to agree. BTW, have you ever worked for a manager that made you dread going to work? Have you ever managed a team of high performing professionals in any domain?
I think you miss my point. We don’t know why individual decisions were made. Maybe Overton said, “Skip, I’m gassed.” Maybe they wanted to see if Sanmartin could get out of the jam. We don’t know. This is far from the only team that has left pitchers in to get shelled or pulled a guy who was going well. There was no-hitter pitched by 4 guys the other night. What’s different this year is that the few good players are either hurt or slumping and the replacements are not playing well.
I think itās unlikely the owners twisted Krallās arm to waste money on Mike Minor or Tommy Pham or Colin Moran etc.
Of course firing Krall or Bell wonāt result in this team winning the pennant this year. But generally when a team is last in hitting, last in pitching, has the worst record in baseball and is in pace to win 25 games General Managers, Field Managers and yes even the great Derek Johnson lose their jobs.
I want a job where I can be totally inept, fail in everything I do and still keep my job.
…and don’t forget still getting paid the full amount, millions of dollars in most cases, whether I keep it or not. We don’t have to feel so sorry for these guys if they get canned. They will be okay.
Buy a ML baseball franchise and youāll get your wish.
Couldnāt agree more Old School.
Watching Blue Jays-Yankees on MLBTV.com tonight (free game of the day). Nice to see real, competitive baseball with real, competitive teams. Refreshing.
I am wondering if the Reds ownership and managers are just a good ole boy network at this time. None of them are getting the job done. Bell seems to have connections with the owners through his family. Maybe it is just how he got that job. Hey, you do not go 3 and 19 in Major League Baseball and not fire anyone. Disappointed. The Owners are weak, weak, weak.
That’s for sure buddy. The Reds are 3-19 with 140 games to go. They basically can’t hit, they can’t field, and they can’t pitch. The players are basically in baseball depression. Status quo is not acceptable.
I guess this is what “aligning resources to payroll” looks like.
Plus 100000
I have a good work history, but one time I was not getting the job done despite my best efforts. What happened? I got fired! It was good for me. I went forward knowing I needed more than talk, I needed to get the job done for my employer. Owners: It is time to show that winning matters. Fire someone. What is happening is not acceptable. You are promoting a losing culture by not taking some action at this time. You have already lost over half my big Reds family for the year. They are not coming down there to watch a Reds team lose, so you can make money off them. You are making a joke out of a team with a proud history.
Owners: Please sell this team to someone else. I cannot stand what you are doing to the Reds.
you know if Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa and Mcguire hit 62 homeruns, nobody would have batted an eye. when they started hitting 72-73 homeruns that is when the league started to investigate. i really hope the reds do only win a handful of games this year. no reason to think they can win more than 20 or 30. that would probably trigger some type of action from the commissioner’s office. At least a warning to get our act together. It would be a black eye on the sport if the reds only have 10 wins going into the nationally televised field of dreams game
honestly I am not real upset about ownership or management or Bell. the reds have just not done well in this current 21st century era of baseball with the shifts, advanced stats, 3 outcomes. And we are not alone.
I have been a reds fan for as long as i can remember, going back to the 1950’s. In my mind i break down baseball (as i know it) into 3 separate eras. you have the Yankee era of the 50’s/60s where it was all about the homerun. then you have the astroturf era of the 1970’s, 80’s and 90’s. this was my favorite era by far. you had different styles of play during these years. you still had the power teams in the AL With the yankees and redsox who did have their fair share of success but you also had the speed teams in The NL with the reds, pirates, cardinals that had really good teams as well. in other words, there were alternate ways of winning. And now you have this new 21st century sabermetric era.
this 21st century era is so similar to the yankee era and i don’t think it is by accident. once again it is all about the home run. we are told it is far too risky to try to steal a base or even lay down a sac bunt. you must hit home runs to be successful. But guess what, home runs don’t come cheap these days. and only teams like the Yankees and Dodgers can afford them. so what are we to do? the reds tried to buy enough homeruns last year with Castellanos, winker etc but didn’t have enough money left over to buy a good bullpen, so they turned out to be a .500 team at the end. I don’t blame ownership at all for what they did.
i do hope this sabermetric/3 outcome era is coming to an end. AND IF the reds having a ridiculous loss total helps bring about this end, I am all for it. the banning of the shift, oversized bases, maybe even moving the bases in some would help tremendously. I am not sure the dodgers and Yankees would sign off on it however. they have rally prospered in this era and i doubt they have any interest in changing the game from how it is now so i do think it will be a battle to make changes. the last thing they need is the recreation of the 1985 cardinals, 1979 pirates or 1990 reds reeking havoc on their perfect situations
It is what it is. An off day of silence. Unless there are resignations, it’s your move Mr. Castellini.
A think a great example of the Reds incompetence is the handling of the Lopez situation. Lopez is a nice player, he will never be a star or even a regular on a good team, but he would make a nice utility man and these fools keep sending him down. With India hurt, at 26, Lopez has much greater value now and in the future than a 32 year old Reynolds. Would someone please explain this ignorance to me. I can’t find one reason that would make any sense.
+1000