The Cincinnati Reds fell behind by three runs early for a second straight day. For a second straight day, the Reds had a big comeback victory.
Mike Minor had his best start of his brief Reds career and kept the Reds in the game despite the early deficit. Brandon Drury got the Reds back in the game with one big swing in the fifth inning. Drury continues his remarkable start to the season with his 12th home run of the season, a 3-run bomb at a distance of 404 feet to tie the game at 4.
Mike Moustakas drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in the 6th.
The Reds bullpen, which has struggled to say the least of late, gave one of their best efforts of the season. Tony Santillan, Reiever Sanmartin, Art Warren and Hunter Strickland shut down the Diamondbacks over the final 2.2 innings to preserve a 5-4 victory.
The Reds are now 19-17 since May 7th.
| Final | R | H | E |
| Arizona Diamondbacks (29-34) | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (22-39) | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| W: Minor (1-2) L: Kelly (5-4) S: Strickland (2) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Biggest Play of the Game
According to Fangraphs WPA statistic (winning percentage added), the biggest play of the game was a 3-run home run by Brandon Drury with 1 out in the 5th inning, tying the game 4.That play increased the Reds probability of winning by 26.0% (from 21.9% to 46.9%).
Positives
Brandon Drury just keeps on raking. He hit a massive 3-run home run in the 5th inning to tie the game. Drury now has a team best 134 wRC+ on the season. I would love for the Reds to be exploring a short extension for him right now, but you’d have to think he is going to be drawing some serious inquiries at the trade deadline.
Brandon Drury: Third homer in Reds history that was a tying or go-ahead 3- or 4-run shot in the 5th or later at Chase Field. Ken Griffey Jr and Adam Dunn hit the others in consecutive games on Jul 8-9 2005.https://t.co/uWCPRQXhuP
— Doug Kern (@dakern74) June 14, 2022
Mike Minor gave the Reds his best effort to date. His final line might not look spectacular (6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K), but two of his earned run were fairly suspect. Matt Reynolds misplayed a weak ground ball that should have been the second out of the inning in the 4th (it was somehow scored a hit). Two runs would end up scoring that inning. All in all, it was a positive start for Minor. I don’t think anyone is expecting him to be spectacular, but it would just be nice if he could give the Reds somewhat quality deep starts like tonight all season.
Nick Senzel reached base three times in what will likely be his last regular day in the leadoff spot with Jonathan India returning. Senzel has had a pretty rough season offensively to this point, but it was nice to see him have a solid night. I would really like to see David Bell move him to #9 in the order. I think he would be a good second time through the order leadoff hitter, and hitting in front of Jonathan India certainly would not hurt.
Reiver Sanmartin made his return to the Reds in a new role, and looked really good. Sanmartin came in relief in the 8th inning with the Reds down a run with 3 straight lefties due up. He got a weak fly-out, strikeout and then gave up a very cheap single before being pulled for Art Warren with a switch-hitter due up. Last year between AA/AAA/MLB, left-handed batters only hit .188/.235/.250 vs Sanmartin. It would be nice to see him be able to nail down a left-handed reliever role for the Reds, something they desperately need. He has a difficult arm slot that could make him effective in short spurts.
Chris Okey recorded his first MLB hit. Those hits will NEVER get old.
Negatives
Matt Reynolds, as mentioned above, misplayed a ball in the 4th inning that lead to two runs. He did however make a spectacular play later in the game. It’s maybe equally surprising how good he has been at the plate as bad as he has been in the field. I would have thought he would have been much more “sure-handed” with the glove than he has shown so far.
Not so random thoughts…………
It was nice to see Tejay Antone able to join the team this week as he is rehabbing in Arizona, as he was interviewed on the Bally Sports Ohio broadcast. I will be the first to admit that I have often forgot about him. He was so incredible in his role last season that you just have to hope he can be fully healthy for the start of next season. He can completely change the look of an entire bullpen.
Up Next:
Reds at Diamondbacks
Tuesday, 9:40 PM
TV: Bally Sports Ohio
Tyler Mahle (5.07 ERA/3.68 FIP) vs Zach Davies (4.21 ERA/4.31 FIP)
Brandon Drury ‘s .861 OPS is now NL 8th best and 2nd best among 3rd basemen to Machado’s .921
Reds lone all-star participant.?
Reds with the chance to jump into 3rd place this week.
Get out? Really?
I know it doesn’t matter, because all 3 of us are so bad this year, but I’d love to see it. We only have small victories this year. At 22 – 39 , we have 101 games remaining. We’d need to win at a 60% clip to just get over 500. It’s a stretch but at least it’s a goal. Smaller goal, get the win loss record down to single digits.
Was at the game. The comment in the game thread about a lot of line drives (both lineups) finding gloves was spot on.
Nick Castellanos: .254/.312/.408 – OPS .720
Eugenio Suarez: .231/.325/.443 – OPS .769
Jesse Winker: .208/.319/.303 – OPS .622
Brandon Drury: .276/.340/.521 – OPS .860
WOW!
Amazing! Drury is definitely a keeper. He needs to play at third base over Moose.
GABP effect
That’s why wRC+ is a much better start compared to ops.
where is the effect on Moose then? extend Drury for a couple of years and see how he goes with the young core, he could make a very good addition with India and Stephenson and the pitchers
Great observation.What I thought of first was the effect it had on Wink.Came up as a good hitter that then started swinging so hard he fell down.Same with Eugenio and his all or nothing swing.Drury is a better all round player then either one,r
Weirdly better?
I think the front office to not get in bidding war for Nick C. He was leveraging one great season into a long term, blockbuster deal and the Reds had no business taking that risk. That Nick was ungrateful (in his later comments) to the Reds for giving him an awesome deal based on a great half season with the Cubs sealed it for me.
I also think the Reds were right to move Winker, Suarez, Barnhart. A lot will depend on how well Brandon Williamson (#4 prospect) develops.
I’m less convinced moving Miley and picking up Minor was a great idea but hope to he proved wrong. Maybe Derek Johnson can rehabilitate another one of his college players.
The Sonny Gray trade will come down to how well Chase Petty develops so we’re a ways off from evaluating that trade.
There’s no reason for the Reds to move prospects to add bullpen talent this year unless that talent will contribute to 2023 or beyond. This year needs to be about getting young talent ready for a significant run over the next few years. The Reds really need Senzel to develop to his potential. To me, that’s a critical path for the future of this team.
The Reds will have a ton of money coming off the books in 23, that’s when they need to sign a closer, and Diaz’s big bro will be available. If Antone and Sims are back and healthy that would be an experienced solid core for the pen. It would also take the pressure of the young group of A. Diaz, Santillan, Warren, and Moreta.
I’m not sure what’s more impressive. That Minor lowered his ERA to 7.36 or that the bullpen held a lead. Regardless, it’s nice to see they can compete against a team in the NL West.
Nice to see the bull pen get the job done.
Yes, 0 walks and just 2 hits in 2.2 IP. Nicely done. More of this please.
A positive morning in a tough season regarding a late game on the west coast.
Is what Drury is doing any different than what Scooter did in 2017 and 2018 before returning to earth? I’d trade him now to maximize value to take advantage of his hot steak.
Hope David Bell gets plenty of props today for pulling all the right bullpen strings for all the times he’s blamed for getting it wrong.
Once you give the dude credit goes to his head and you realize he just isn’t the right fit for us with talent we have
You can’t keep trading players when they are doing good. That achives nothing but always rebuilding. Drury should be signed to a extension of maybe 2 yrs.
In the bullpen, Eddie? Which talent is that?
I tapped out a little after 10 PM EDT. Happy to see we battled back and won. Good to see Minor had a better outing. Great to see the BP buckle down and do their job well.
Onward and upward, right?
Minor is your 5th Starter who goes 10 & 10 with an ERA over 4+. You know what you’re getting and that’s okay for now. I say sign Drury. All we do is trade pieces away. Needs some stability. Nice to see India coming back.
LOL. An ERA over 4 is sort of vague. Try and ERA over 7. He is horrible, and has no business being on this team when Lodolo is back. As someone mentioned in the game thread last night; it’s like watching Arroyo in his final season.
I had hoped that Mike Minor would be a league average starter capable of holding the 5th spot until Lodolo (or someone else) was ready to step back in. And just based on body count I’m sure he will. But when 8 hits and 2 walks in 6.1 innings is his best outing of the year that’s rough. Walker’s home run and the hit preceding it were crushed, and earlier in the game Marte hit a double that Sadak and Welsh both agreed would have been way out if it had any air under it. Mike Minor was passable last night. That’s not good if that’s his best. A nice comeback win for the Reds, but Get well soon Nick Lodolo!
Brandon Drury is becoming the latest iteration of Scooter Gennett and Derek Dietrich. Guys picked up late who took their opportunity and ran with it for a minute.
I had no idea who Brandon Drury was prior to this season but he can hit little bit with some pop and has positional flexibility.
Any one definitively know his contract status in 2023? IT impacts things a lot. I saw he was a year 4 arbitration guy on Cots but others have mentioned he is a FA. If the reds control his 2023 year, then he’s a piece on the roster equation for sure. If he’s a FA, then trade him for a AA bullpen arm and see what he costs in the off-season.
+500
I think Drury is a FA, but either way I’d try to sigh him to a 3 year deal. He’d sign a pretty cheap deal, and I’m guessing we’re going to need him at 3B or OF next year. The need for a 3B or OF will depend a lot on how they use Barrero, and if McLain will be ready. At the very least, he could be a nice bench player.
I think Drury is more like Tyler Naquin, because both put up some solid numbers as young players, then took a step back because of injuries or other setbacks. Given a chance by the Reds, both produced.
Drury has played a lot of corner outfield, too, although not yet this year. He could fit very well for the Reds going forward. He had 5.001 years of service time going into the year, so he will be a free agent in the offseason. The Reds should explore locking him up now. If he ends up with 28 HRs and a .278 average, he isn’t likely to come back to Cincinnati, because he would be kind of a latter-day Justin Turner.
GABP is a cheap RF homer, and much less so for left field. His homer last night in Phoenix was no cheapy.
I think the Reds will continue their roster purge of veterans by allowing contracts to run out and trading assets to acquire more young players.
I dont see them spending money/extending players in 2022. Maybe in 2023.
Mahle and Castillo will be traded for some highly ranked prospects.
Any veteran with a salary and any market value will be traded to off-load the last 2 months of 2022 salary- Farmer will definitely have some value and Pham might.
Solano, Cessa, and Minor likely will have no value unless something unexpected happens in the next 6 weeks.
Moose is the gift that keeps on giving and will be back in 2023.
Reds will go into the off-season looking for short term veteran contracts again at bargain prices and point to Naquin and Pham and Drury and say come here on a 1 year deal and prove yourself.
I say cut Moose loose. Like I’ve said that one of the huge differences between small markets and large markets, eating bad contracts and letting more productive players play. Drury should play everyday with maybe a 2 or 3 year extension. By then one of our minor league studs comes up and plays 3rd or move India to 3rd. Thinking Moose will catch lightning in a bottle is idiotic. Let him go and see if anyone picks him up, if not he can go relax and eat all the pizzas he wants.
I second the idea of giving Drury a short extension. If you go inside the numbers you can see he’s not a fluke. Even if McClain comes up Drury could play DH/1b/2b, while giving you that bench depth all good teams need. Even as trade bait other teams would like the cost certainty.
The sell high candidates imo are Farmer and Reynolds. It’s not hard to see we have too many infielders. IF development in a lost season is the priority, you have to remove them so Bell has to play Barrero.
I know you have to give Senzel another couple hundred at-bats to prove he’s not a starter, but to me the hit tool isn’t developing (especially the power) and he’s badly miscast as a center fielder….getting by on athleticism with no real feel for the position. He’s a change of scenery candidate imo.
If you sell high on Farmer and Reynolds, you’re left with no one with MLB SS experience. Pick one as your back up infielder/spot starter and trade the other. Play Barrero every day at SS once he works out the kinks in the minors. The hamate injury is a tough one to quickly overcome
Ozzie Albies fractured his foot and will be out for an extended absence.
Braves need a long fill in. Trade Kyle Farmer -the Georgia native- to the Braves now. Braves on a 12 game win streak and let Farmer get a chance to chase a ring.
Get back a good pitching prospect from the Braves farm system and save more than half of that $3.4 mil 2022 salary.
Barrero 0-4 with 4 Ks the other night. Idk man? Farmer is playing with alot of confidence and has that nice short swing. That ball Farmer hit in the 1st inning was a 3 run HR in Gabp. I saw the reliever Duran throwing 101 for the Twins. I’d say if we could get a guy like that then go for it. Could be another Edwin Diaz
Farmer will get $5-6 mil in arbitration next year? If he stays the Reds will non-tender him and get nothing, just like they non-tendered Archie Bradley after 2020 rather than pay his estimated $4.3-5.5 mil salary. Reds have a history of non-tendering players when they get north of the $5 million price point.
Billy Hamilton and Jose Peraza Tucker left unceremoniously after being non-tendered at similar arbitration price points. Reds weren’t picking up Barnhart’s $7 million either.
Drury is making 900K, 2 years younger with a good righty bat and multi-positional. Can he play SS? I don’t know. Bell said after ST he could and the Cowboy said he could as well the other day. he looks more like a 3b/2b/1b/DH/ maybe LF guy.
Decisions decisions? It would be alot easier if Barrero was hitting like a Triple A ARod like his time in AAA last year. I don’t think I want our young stud pitchers with their limited years as Reds with Brandon Drury at SS. Or Matt Reynolds or whoever.
I guess if the Reds could narrow it down to a promising reliever (preferably lefty) then I might deal Farmer, but then get the scalpel ready because its the Reds so he’d need an immediate TJS.
When analytics and reality don’t line up.
Believe what you see, not what an algorithm spits out.
Drury continues his remarkable start to the season with his 12th home run of the season, a 3-run bomb at a distance of 404 feet to tie the game….
In the video clip the ball lands in the 1st row, just over the 374 sign.
Well, it was about 10 feet to the right of the 374 sign, where Chase Field deepens sharply toward 413 feet in deep left-center. Plus, it was a line drive at 106 mph or so, and caught by a guy in the first row high above his head.
It likely would have landed pretty close to 400 feet at ground level, which is what they are purporting to measure.
Scooter vs Drury? For one Scooter had a huge looping swing for such a smaller guy.
Great for power if he connected, but also ripe for slumps. Drury has a much shorter swing and won’t have slumps like that if he’ll take a walk. He’s on pace for a career high in walks and seems to be making progress in that direction. He also drives the ball to right which is key for oppo HRs at Gabp (.991 ops at home).
I definitely wouldn’t move him, but just see how his season plays out. He’s never had 500+ at-bats before
I read that the Cubs have to trade Clint Frazier or attempt to send him down which he can refuse. I doubt they’d trade him to the Reds, but I’d love to have him. He still has the bat speed and the Reds dumpster divers love former #1s that fell on hard times.
5 for last 14 with Cubs with 4 walks