It’s been nearly two entire months since the Cincinnati Reds saw Nick Lodolo on the mound in a Reds jersey. A lower back strain has kept the lefty off of the mound since his last start on April 24th – just his third start of the season. Last week he began a rehab assignment. His first game came out in Arizona at the team’s complex with the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Reds. But after that warm up he was sent to continue his progress with Triple-A Louisvlle and on Saturday.
If you only looked at the box score for that start in Louisville you might not have understood just how well Nick Lodolo pitched. He allowed two runs on four hits – all in the first inning – and threw just 2.0 innings. He did walk a batter and he struck out six.
Let’s talk about the four hits he allowed. Two of them were infield hits. One of them was a seeing-eye ground ball that bounced 20 times before getting into the outfield grass. The other hit was a check swing blooper into shallow centerfield. There was nothing remotely close to hard contact made against him in the game, but whenever contact was made somehow the ball went to the perfect spot.
Let’s take a look at some of his outing, with video.
According to Patrick Kinas, the Durham Bulls broadcaster, Lodolo was sitting around 95-96 and he topped out at 97 MPH. That’s certainly a good sign that his back was feeling good at time time. Lodolo threw 49 pitches in the outing with 32 of them going for strikes. He did face one batter in the 3rd inning to reach that pitch count. That batter would walk and then Lodolo exited the game having reached his pitch limit for the day.
Elly De La Cruz is crushing it
Down in the minor leagues the Cincinnati Reds have one of the hottest players in all of minor league baseball. Elly De La Cruz burst onto the scene less than a year ago. In fact, a year ago today he still had not even made his debut in the United States.
Cincinnati has pushed Elly De La Cruz since he started playing last summer. In less than one calendar year he’s played at three different levels. This season he began the year in High-A Dayton and he had some struggles in April. Over the 16 games played during the month he hit .254/.288/.476. He showed all of the tools, and he hit for some power, too, but he didn’t hit for a high average and he drew just three walks while striking out 24 times.
When it began to warm up and the calendar flipped to May, everything seemed to change. Since May 1st De La Cruz has played in 39 games for Dayton and he’s hit .325/.381/.643. His walk rate is up, his strikeout rate is down, the power is off the charts, oh yeah – he’s also stolen 18 bases in 22 attempts on the season.
Over the weekend he hit a home run in Cedar Rapids to the opposite field. Listen to the announcer and what he says on contact
Oppo ?
No. 2 @Reds prospect Elly De La Cruz muscles out his 13th homer of the year for @DragonsBaseball. pic.twitter.com/F1vYXsic2N
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 19, 2022
“This ball poked into the air out towards left field.”
That ball that was poked into the air went 335 feet. If you only looked at the swing you would have believed the ball was going to be caught by a left fielder running in towards the infield, not a ball that left the left fielder wondering where it went and then landing in the stands.
As things stand on Monday, Elly De La Cruz is hitting .304/.355/.594 on the season. He leads the league in OPS, is second in slugging, second in batting average, second in RBI, third in runs scored, fourth in home runs, and fifth in stolen bases.
The De La Cruz vs. Barrero debate will be interesting over the next year and a half. Assuming De La Cruz continues pushing at this pace, he will be the Reds Opening Day SS in 2024. As of right now though, it is Barrero’s job to lose. Barrero needs to figure it out again and earn his call back up from AAA. If both can hit, will one be the future CF?
I’m wishing SS was Barrero’s job to lose.
I can’t see Bell playing him over Farmer.
Ever.
Wham bam thank you Pham. Pham will be traded shortly. Farmer to 3B, Drury to LF, Barrero to SS.
I hope they make Barrero earn the job.So far he’s been awful in the majors albeit only around 190 ab’s plus he’s been terrible so far this year in aaa
I drove out to cedar rapids friday to catch the dragons. DeLaCruz is every bit of 6’4″, maybe taller. You’d have to think he’ll weigh at least 220 when he fills out. With his speed, CF seems like an obvious fit if he’s not as reactive at SS with a bigger body. Plenty of time to figure it out. What is certain is the tools are electric.
Thinking the same about body type and DeLaCruz eventually being an OF. That would still leave (at least) McLain in the queue at SS if Barrero doesn’t come to fruition there.
Visions of Eric Davis dance in my head.
Nice to get some good news for a change.
or Mike Cameron
That wouldn’t hurt.
What will the Reds do mess up his development?
It seems to come naturally to this organization.
Wow, Johnny, now there’s the power of positive thinking!
Eric Davis was the best Reds player I ever saw and that includes the BRM. I was lucky enough to be in SF area on business in 84 and drove up to Candlestick for the Reds game. It was colder than I expected (short sleeves for a night game on the bay, brilliant move). Davis hit a couple of HRs that night. I’ve been following the Reds since about 1968. If Davis had not been struck down by injuries and cancer, he would likely have been a HOF’er. If EDLC can bring 60-70% of Davis to the Reds, that will be something.
I agree with you lds. I go back to the frank Robinson days and he was the best pure hitter I ever saw but Eric Davis was the best overall red I have ever seen.
I have seen DeLaCruz multiple times at Dayton. Idk he looks kind of raw to me but if he turns out to be half the player Davis was I would be happy
Better than Perez? Morgan? Interesting LDS
Kevin H, yep, IMO there wouldn’t have been a BRM without Morgan. The overall roster was great, but Morgan added the spark. And I saw them play a good number of times. I still think in terms of talent etc, that Davis was still better.
@ LDS. I love Eric the Red and 44 magnum.
But joe Morgan was 2 time MVP. His 1975 year with fWAR of 11 followed is one of the top 5 seasons in MLB history and he followed it with 9.5 in 1976.
Bench is the greatest Red. Joe had the greatest 5 year concentration. Votto is up there over the long term.
Morgan’s 11 came with about as good a lineup as one can have. Davis didn’t have that. And Davis’ streak from June 86-July 87 was one of the best ever – .308/.406/.622, 47 HRs, 149 runs, 123 RBIs, and 98-110 on steals. But in all honesty, someone comparable to either Davis or Morgan would be a big improvement.
I know Josh Hamilton had substance issues, but he’s the most talented hitter I’ve ever seen in a Reds uniform. He hit one on Waveland in Wrigley as a lefty. I don’t know that I’ve seen that before or since.
I’d say Josh and Eric Davis had some of the best bat speed I’ve ever seen in all of mlb.
The Reds missed out by not trading Eric Davis for Ken Griffey, Jr., when Junior was in his early twenties.
We agree again, LDS.
@LDS The trade to bring Morgan to Cincy completed the building of the BRM. Like Eric he was the total package. Speed, power, average and fielded. I rate him a year above Eric for being able to stay on the field a bit better.
My favorite Red was Frank Robinson. His battles with Bob Gibson were classic.
Eric Davis was certainly the most talented baseball player I’ve ever seen. The injuries and cancer never let him reach his full potential over a sustained period. But, man, was he amazing in bursts. And that doesn’t even mention his huge heart or the way his teammates still respect him.
I think OPS+ is a good stat for comparing one player to another. Using that, Frank Robinson is #1. Eric Davis #8. Only Joe Morgan and George Foster from BRM are ahead of ED.
Reds all-time Top 25 are:
Adjusted OPS+
1. Frank Robinson 150
2. Charley Jones 149
3. Joe Morgan 147
4. Joey Votto 146
5. Sam Crawford 142
Cy Seymour 142
7. George Foster 140
8. Eric Davis 137
9. Edd Roush 135
10. John Reilly 132
11. Adam Dunn 130
Heinie Groh 130
13. Jake Beckley 128
Ted Kluszewski 128
Jesse Winker 128
16. Ernie Lombardi 127
Tony Perez 127
18. Johnny Bates 126
Johnny Bench 126
Bug Holliday 126
21. Chick Hafey 125
22. Pete Rose 124
23. Ken Griffey 123
Lee May 123
25. Ken Griffey Jr. 122
I think DeLaCruz will end up as a 1B/3B with Barrero at SS and India at 2B although India could play 3B, his natural position.
3B will be open soon as the Reds will trade Castillo or Mahle to someone like SF along with Moose’s contract. The return will be a new pair of designer sunglasses for Phil C and a high A pitcher with arm issues. Anyone that thinks the Reds are getting a top 100 player back with this ownership group is delusional.
Reds would have to pass on Drury FA for 3rd to fully open up.
Think they’ll try to keep him?
As concerned as I am about Bull Krall’s trading prowess, I can’t see another salary dump as part of this summer’s purge.
Suarez was a better bet for a return to form.
Moose has actually been hitting a tiny bit better the last week +.
Not enough to make him or his contract enticing, though.
I don’t think Reds management will go to the salary dump well again.
Pride, reputation, fan blowback would take another giant hit.
Some mistakes you just can’t fix.
Only one more of Moose season, but I bet we’ll see him wrangle his BA up into the .230s, end up with 12 hrs and clog up the infield and lineup for another year.
Drury is certainly not up to the pre-slump Suarez, but he is adequate at third base.
De La Cruz is way too fast to be a corner infielder, where his speed would be wasted. If he doesn’t stick at SS, then the logical place would be CF or RF. First base would also waste his very strong arm.
I believe that the Reds will soon eat the bulk of the Moustakas contract, by trading it and agreeing to pay 85% or so of the amounts due. Both Schrock and Drury, and even Farmer, are better 3B options than Moustakas, who is simply in the way. It is more embarrassing for ownership to keep trotting out Moustakas than it would be for him to be traded away for a couple of sandwiches. The Blue Jays (for example) have a use for him, if the number is right.
There isn’t going to be any fan blowback for discarding Moustakas. Anybody paying attention knows that the Reds have to become much younger, much faster, and much better defensively.
I agree….
My point was about burning up some of the trade value for a Castillo or Mahle with the attachment of a Moose contract.
Trading Moose and eating some of his salary?
That would be a bold move and one I would support!
And feel good about the front office for having the cojones to do so.
To come to this situation that Moose could be traded away for a couple of sandwiches.
Spot on.
The Bluejays have already set the precedent, moving Guerrero to 1B. LA, with Bellinger. Why can’t 1B be athletic? That’s right, they can. I’m in the school of thought that this 6’5″ SS may indeed become a 1B. Why not, one? And he’s 19- 20 so he’s gonna still grow a lot. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of athletes in the system for SS/2B. We have plenty
I went back and watched Lodolo’s 2 innings. I have to agree completely with what Doug saw. He seemed to get sharper and stronger as he neared his pitch count. The seeing eye stuff in the first inning definitely didn’t help, but that does happen. I think he’ll be fine in the end and am looking forward to his return to The Show.
With his daily yoga regimen intact.
If De La Cruz, Barrero, and McLain were all MLB ready today, I’d put Barrero at SS, Da La Cruz at CF, and McLain at 2B, sliding India over to his natural 3B. This, I think, is the best defensive team we could create with those 3+ India.
Unfortuantly, only Barrero is MLB ready today. So the question is, do you move forward with wreckless abandoment, and kick guys like Farmer out of the way, or do you fill the most pressing needs that the team has at the moment when each player becomes MLB ready. I can see both sides of the arguement, i tend to lean to the latter, but wouldn’t be very upset with the other approach.
Farmer seems like a guy that helps keep the team “glued” together. I would not underestimate that right now.
Barrero seems like a very talented player, but has not proven himself above the AAA level yet. Some guys fail in the transition. Some guys excel.
He (Barrero) needs to prove himself on the field before the job is handed to him. And he needs a real opportunity to do so; hundreds of at-bats, not two weeks and then “he’s no good”. Kyle Farmer can play second, short, 3rd, left field, and probably 1st base too. He can still be a valuable player if Barrero is on the field as Short-stop.
He was the Reds’ backup catcher for a few years.
And you need to have a mix of a couple of older guys in with the younger guys (an older guy who has leadership qualities). Votto is older, but has never really been comfortable with the role of a team leader. Farmer certainly isn’t a Votto, but the younger players seem to look up to him. I would hang on to him at this juncture
I agree about the value of Farmer’s versatility. The decision on whether to trade or extend him could well be a barometer of how quickly the Reds think they can contend for a playoff spot, 2023 versus some vague date down the line.
Keeping Farmer around will only delay the development of Barrero.
Bell will never play him over Farmer.
In an ideal world, with a sensible manager a ‘super sub’ idea of Farmer would make sense, but we won’t see that from Bell.
How does a player “prove it on the field” unless he gets on the field?
Barrero tore it up in AAA last year and Bell let him ride the pine.
That’s not about to change.
200 abs? That would require the job to be handed to him at some level to prove himself.
I may be a pessimist, but barring a catastrophic injury to Farmer, Barrero will never be given the opportunity to prove himself.
Not as long as Bell is manager.
He’ll stick with Farmer, Reynolds and Solano.
Reds will play him now and then, never enough to let him establish a rhythm and burn through his options.
@johnnyTV, everybody has a boss. It is up to Bell’s boss to make a strategic decision such as playing a young guy to see what he brings ahead of a veteran is part of the team’s plan then hold Bell to the plan if required.
It remains to be seen whether Bell would play Farmer over Barrero. He did last year, but the situation was different from this year and–probably–next year. The Reds were in contention and Farmer was evidently an integral part of the team, albeit not hitting consistently. Many managers would have resisted changing horses in that situation, and Barrero did not hit well enough in his limited opportunities to force the issue. Remember also that MLB teams see much more of their players than we do: The Reds might have recognized that Barrero still had work to do to avoid being over-matched, though this is clearly conjecture.
Farmer will end up on a WS champion team if the Reds let him go. He has that sort of makeup.
I like to idea of simply giving the young guys the majority of the playing time after trade deadline. Although I appreciate a few of the current players, they are making the Reds irrelevant with their lack of passion and talent. The Pirates and Cubs are more watchable because they have some fire. As much as I dislike it, Votto, Farmer, Drury, Pham, Reynolds and Almora are playing like they are sleep-walking.
I say call up Barerro, Santana, Friedl, Fairchild, Lopez and Aquino (when healthy). Trade or DFA anyone else to make room. If we have to keep someone, make them the DH and bench players. This would make the team more interesting, and therefore more watchable. Sure they will make mistakes – but they will also dazzle us with their speed, effort and passion to play. Keep in mind, the current guys are making plenty of mistakes while sleep walking thru their at bats and errors. I doubt the difference in losses will be significant. A loss is a loss. At least the losses might come with some development with these changes.
If we need some glue, have Farmer be a super utility bench player and Votto as the DH. The rest need to go. The pitching staff is infinitely more entertaining with Greene, Ashcraft and Lodolo pitching the rest of the year than struggling thru 5 innings of Mike Minor. Lets do the same with the position players. If Bell won’t play them, then replace him and let Benavides or Barry Larkin manage the rest of the year.
With the right size, skills, and timing, I can see EDLC taking over at 1st before too long. I know it’s a popular idea here and elsewhere that that’s where TS should end up, but I think it could be a possibility. You can also see a strong OFer in him too I think.
As I said above, EDLC has elite speed and a very good arm. Why relegate him to first base, which uses neither of those skills?
That’s like using Randy Moss (who has a similar build) solely as a holder for place kicks.
Hey, we are talking about the Reds now. Have they progressed beyond believing the tallest guy who can do a reasonably good job at picking and blocking errant throws should be the 1B? 😉
I see Cruz as a RF which would be just fine. Another Dave Parker would be just fine with me.
Lodolo and Barrero played in the MLB Futures game last year.
You have to think EDLC will make the roster this year when that is announced at the end of the month. Exciting player for sure.
Reds need “weapons” positionally and his speed and arm and power and athleticism have to be showcased at CF if Barrero can make that jump this year and next year at SS. India,barrero,EDLC and Stephenson would be a great up the middle combo( for the record, I’m in the Stephenson to first base crowd and just be an elite hitter for the next 10 years ala Paul Goldschmidt) and use Castillo to get an elite young catcher to finish the infield.
Okey your catcher until Nelson is ready? Catcher they drafted from Florida state I believe.. I think Stephenson would be good at 1st.
Stephenson is on the IL again with a catching related injury again. Reds dont have a primary catcher in the organization other than Stephenson so would need to use Castillo to trade for 1.
Mets, Dodgers, and Blue Jays all have a guy that would fit if a trade for Castillo materialized.
Any roster moves yet?
They are probably not going to do anything until Tuesday (famous last words). Hot money is on Solano being activated for Tuesday’s game. That may require a move for a 40 man roster spot. Ironically, the 26 man roster appears to have an open slot because they optioned Friedl and put Alexis Diaz on the 15 day list but added only 1 guy, Dauri Moreta.
The limit of 13 roster spots for pitchers on the 26 man roster kicked in today; so, if they make a move to add a pitcher on the 26 man, a pitcher will also have to be involved in a corresponding move.
Jeter Downs called up by Red Sox. So Trammell and Gray and now Downs. Reds have no one left from those trades. Oh wait Farmer is still left.
I just looked at his stats this year in AAA. Ouch. He is hitting .180. He has to be the last player on the 40 man roster available.
I don’t think that is completely true. When Trevor Bauer signed with the Dodgers, the Reds got a compensatory draft pick, with I think was Jay Allen.
De La Cruz is 6’5″ with speed and power. Absolutely belongs in the outfield, especially with Barrero and McLain ahead of him in the SS pipeline. And we need young outfielders something fierce, especially once we unload Pham.
“Young outfielders something fierce”
Hell yeah
Sign me up!!!!
What would it take to get William Contreras from Atlanta? Wilson’s little brother can swing it, but they have listed at OF on Espn? Is he not a catcher anymore? They have Travis Arnaud under contract for a few more years at C and he’s raking. Conteras to C and Stephenson to 1B or a mixture with Contreras in LF and Stephenson behind the plate.
Finish my thoughts…..Atlanta is the reigning champ and drawing big crowds. They’ll make moves and Castillo or Mahle could really help their rotation. Seems like something could work?
I have more faith in EDLC than I have for any Reds position player In the minors. He is probably the best athlete in the system. Still, he is a very long way from the major leagues. I have less confidence in guys like McClain.
The Reds best prospects it seems are pitchers. Which means they will need to buy or trade for offensive talent.
I think it’s less likely the Reds will buy the talent, since one, they are cheap and two, it’s going to be hard to attract talent here. Sure, they will sign free agents who are still unemployed at the end of Spring training, but that will be players no one else wants.
That leads the trade route. The Red’s biggest and maybe only real trading chip right now is Luis Castillo.
I wish that someone other than Nick Krall was GM right now. But that apparently isn’t going to change, at least not before the trading deadline. I really hope Krall will surprise and get real value in return for Castillo. Otherwise, there will be no end in sight to the Red’s current difficulties.
If Nick Krall blows the Luis Castillo trade, he will could very well be wasting the Cincinnati careers of Tyler Stephenson, Jonathon India and possible Hunter Greene.
Get it right Nick!
I agree about EDLC, but I feel like McLain will be an India type.
If the Reds don’t sign any FA’s over the next 2 years they will be in great financial shape. That would leave a lot of money for Nick to spend. If I added it up correctly that’s 94.9M coming off the books. The lowest payroll this year is the Orioles, at 43.7M, and that includes 20M to their 4 highest paid players. We’d probably be under that number, because Farmer will likely be the only player remaining ng with a salary north of 5M.
If we assume that Bob is comfortable at the current 115M salary. We also assume we will have 40M in commitments going into 2024, that would give Krall 75M to spend on FA’s. Roughly half the money falls off the books in 23, and the other half will fall off in 24. So we don’t have to have a horrible team next year. We could spend 30M to 40M on FA in 23, and again another 30M to 40M in 24. I think he will sign 1, 2 and 3 year contracts, so we don’t get bogged down by bad contracts.
Maybe I’m too optimistic, and Krall will mess things up, but I am excited for the next era in Reds baseball.
MBS, I think when they decide to spend again they may find it hard attracting free agents. I think most athletes are competitive by nature. If they have a choice, they will want to play for an organization committed to winning and that has a track record of adding talent, rather than trading it away. I think overcoming the damage Bob Castelinni has done to this organization will take a long time.
I do agree with you that, with this rotation, if the Reds were willing to spend money and they could attract the right free agents, they could be competitive as soon as next season.
With the Reds track record and the things they have been saying publicity, I just don’t see things changing anytime soon.
The money will be there, but you’re not getting top notch difference makers on short term deals. Maybe something like the Castellanos deal where the player can opt out early? I’m not sure Stephenson will show enough power to be a top notch 1B, but I think I agree on picking up a decent hitting catcher to be able to move Stephenson around. They do that and also add another good hitter and fix the pen then who knows?
It does feel like even .500 would be a lofty goal for next year. Too many young/old and not enough guys in their prime. Pirates are really showing some young talent too. 2024 would be more realistic, but nothing is a given.
Just not happening. I don’t think this regime could figure out how to win even if they wanted to win.
I don’t think the Reds will target the top FA’s. Instead of going after E. Diaz, they might target Chapman, Jansen, W. Smith or Kimbrel as their closer. They will all be FA in 23. They have all been paid well in their career. They will all be in their mid 30’s.
This might be a bad example, because I really want the Diaz brothers at the back of my pen, but the more practical move is Jansen. It’s a lot tougher to get a 29/30 year old to sign a 2 or 3 year deal, unless they have something to prove. Diaz has nothing to prove, and he will probably get a 5 year deal next year.
I could see an OF like Benintendi. Good AVG, and OBP, but HR’s way down (2 this year so far). He could sign a 2 year deal here, bump up his HR total, and still have time to sign 1 big contract elsewhere. I’m not expecting the Reds to sign T Turner or A Judge.
I’m feeling good about 2023 if they extend Mahle—Greene/Ashcraft/Mahle/Lodolo. Williamson and Abbott should be with the team next year and Overton showed promise….so the starting pitching would be in a good place. The bullpen should improve with the return of Antone and Sims to go with Diaz….maybe you fast track Boyle as a reliever.
What has me concerned is the lack of results under Derek Johnson and why his pitching philosophies hasn’t borne fruit during his tenure. The Reds are 2nd in walks, 4th in HRs, and 29th in ERA. His philosophy of trying to strike everyone informs the pitch sequencing, player development, and advance scouting choices. I’m concerned we’re stunting a very talented core of pitching prospects. You only have to look at the majority of starting pitchers for the Brewers and Cardinals to see that they’re having a lot of success without the Ks. Most of their starters have fewer strikeouts than innings pitched, which almost seems unheard of in today’s game. To pull this off they have to be very good at pitch sequencing and scouting…..analytics. To me it seems obvious the Reds are getting badly beaten in this area and big changes will need to be made to maximize this impressive group of pitchers.
Pitch to contact. That is what Connor Overton did while pitching for the Reds. Connor Overton was also something of a career minor leaguer (he will be 29 in July). This was kind of a breakthrough year for him, and I don’t know if he can sustain this, even after he heals up.
The key is to throw strikes, control where in the Zone you are pitching. Never try to make the same pitch twice in a row (although if you have a great fastball, pitchers will rely on that). Keep the hitter guessing, don’t let him get comfortable in the batter’s box. This is all pretty simple to write up as a comment on this blog, and probably harder for guys to actually execute all day long. Pitchers are human beings, not robots.
Pitching to contact is kind of a enigma to most of these guys. MLB scouts draft the big arms and guys throwing 99 like Hunter Greene aren’t easy to make contact with in the first place. So you end up with guys that are used to missing bats. Its like NFL scouts drooling over guys with big arms and then drafting one and asking him to run a precision short passing attack.
Overton gets it, but it remains to be seen if he will be even halfway successful? Ashcraft seems to get it! I think a big part of it is attacking the strike zone and getting the hitter in swing mode. Mahle will get a guy down 1-2 and then throw 2 non-competitive put away pitches and now its 3-2 and here comes 2-3 foul balls before the result of the at-bat. He should be throwing the same pitches on 1-2 that got him to 1-2 in the first place. You’re not going to K the world.
Sadly, pitching is a lost art.
“Don’t try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring! Besides that, they’re fascist. Throw some ground balls, it’s more democratic.” – Crash Davis
I know small market teams are opposed to a salary floor, but MLB should make revenue sharing eligibility based on payroll.
For example,
let’s say the Dodgers are have the highest payroll and it is $200,000,000.
To be eligible for revenue sharing a team must have a payroll of 40% of the team with the highest payroll, in our example it’s the Dodgers.
So to be eligible, a team would have to have a payroll of at least $80,000,000. If not, they don’t reap the rewards of revenue sharing.
This is just a simple example. You could make eligibility based on say 70% of the league average. Hopefully, I plan like this would discourage tanking.
Name the Reds pitcher who in one year lead the league in shutouts 5, games started 38 and hits allowed. His W-L record was 18-17 with N ERA of 3.39.
I guessed Bucky Walters or Jim Maloney. Both wrong. Idk?
Indy, you may be to young to remember. The answer is Ken Raffensberger in 1949. He pitched for the Reds from 1947 until 1954.
Doug, I recently attempted to make two posts about hunter greene exploring new secondary pitches. These posts initially were highlighted saying that they were awaiting moderator review. Thereafter my posts simply disappeared- or more accurately, were never posted.
I was hoping to find out why my posts were not accepted, as this has happened before. I certainly did not use profanity or harmful language. I do not think anything I stated was inappropriate, and I still believe that unique third offering would greatly benifit Hunter.
I have supported this website since you were gracious enough to take it over, and have been on reds minor league for even longer.
It’s unlikely you will notice this comment buried here on this thread, so I will attempt to post it on a new thread before all of our fanatic comments subdue my inquiry lol.
Anyways, thanks as always for what you do, and I look forward to figuring out what my error was and correcting it!
You used a different email address than you used for this post. That email address had never had an “approved” message before, so the software marked it as needing approval as a first time poster.
Gotcha, when I use my wife’s laptop I just use the auto-fill options for email address, as I do not need notifications for when a response is posted. Thanks!
I am following this Lodolo thing and it might get interesting. Since he pitched only 50 innings in 2021, one of the primary 2022 objectives was to get him toward 100+ innings, so that he could go as a full time starter in 2023. Given we are about halfway into the season, I don’t know how the Reds are going to handl him in the second half. Throw him out there for 6+ innings every 5th day? That will get you close to 100 innings. And maybe 2/3 of a year next year. Concede that a year has been lost and revamp 2023 plans? Certainly Mahle and Castillo resignings would have to be part of this plan. Or the heck with trying to win some games in 2023 and just count on Overton, Minor, and Sanmartin.