The Reds started off their road trip with an impressive series victory in San Francisco. They won the first game in Chicago against the Cubs on Tuesday, but they had to settle with a .500 road trip after losing the final two games at Wrigley Field.
Graham Ashcraft struggled tonight for the Reds, but his defense did him no favors behind him. Ashcraft could not make it out of the third inning, finishing the night with 7 earned runs allowed. The bright spot for the Reds on this evening was Joey Votto hitting his furthest home run of the season in the 6th inning.
The Reds bullpen outside of Reiver Sanmartin struggled yet again, and the Reds brought in Max Schrock to pitch in the 8th to really let the floodgates open at Wrigley.
| Final | R | H | E |
| Chicago Cubs (30-46) | 15 | 23 | 2 |
| Cincinnati Reds (26-49) | 7 | 12 | 1 |
| W: Hendricks (4-6) L: Ashcraft (4-2) | |||
| 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 Graham Ashcraft allowing a 3-run home run to Patrick Wisdom with 2 outs in the 2nd inning, giving the Reds a 5-0 lead. That play decreased the Reds probability of winning by 17.9% (from 23.8% to 5.9%).
Positives
Joey Votto hit his furthest ball of the season, a 418 foot blast of Kyle Hendricks. Votto’s previous high was 403 feet against Zac Gallen. It was also his second hardest hit ball of the season at 109.0 EV (his furthest was 111.9 EV against Walker Buehler). Votto has 5 extra-base hits over the last 3 games, so hopefully this is the start of a really good stretch for him.
Reiver Sanmartin pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, including getting a double play to get out of Ashcraft’s jam in the third inning. Sanmartin continues to pitch well in the bullpen – as a reliever this year, he now has a 1.48 ERA in 12.2 innings (3 BB, 9 K).
Mike Papierski had 2 hits in his first start with the Reds (he is the Reds new backup to the backup catcher in case you didn’t know).
Tommy Pham had a 3 hit night, including a 3-run home run in the 9th inning to make the final score a little more respectable.
Negatives
Graham Ashcraft had a rough night at Wrigley. He wasn’t as bad as his final line score (2.2 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR) might indicate, as he did give up some fairly weak hits and his defense did not help him. Ashcraft’s next start should come against the Pirates, so hopefully he can get back to his previous dominance.
Dauri Moreta and Ross Detwiler each got hit hard. The Reds just have so many relievers right now that really have no business being at this level.
Brandon Drury and Nick Senzel each had their modest hit streaks snapped. Drury’s streak was at 8 games, while Senzel’s was at 6 games.
Not so random thoughts………..
Better days ahead.
Pretty in pink (batting gloves)!
Top @Reds position prospect Elly De La Cruz cranks his 15th of the season for @DragonsBaseball.
The offense continues: https://t.co/aKtGFgWBY3 pic.twitter.com/muG1ohhZgy
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 1, 2022
Up Next:
Braves at Reds
Friday, 6:40 PM
TV: Bally Sports Ohio / MLB Network (out-of-market only)
Mike Minor (7.71 ERA/5.47 xFIP) vs Max Fried (2.77 ERA/2.84 xFIP)
On to Atlanta. We face Max Fried tomorrow and are putting Mike Minor out there. I do not like that matchup.
A very uneven match up, Minor shall pitch with a helmet on.
On to Atlanta at GABP with Mike Minor on the mound. I’ll watch as long as there’s a possibility of a Red’s win. We’re all aware of the economic effect of the pandemic on less wealthy teams like the Reds. But, as a life fan for a very long time, I’ve given up hope that managerial change will occur this season or whenever. The current manager seems to be entrenched with the front office. Low points happen to all teams and the usual reaction is to change managers in order to energize a team, but not with this current Red’s front office. So the second half of the season begins.
July 1st and the Reds with 26 wins. Wow.
Craziest part of 26 wins on 1 July may be the team played a game over .500 (14-13) in the month of May.
Bell just can’t say it enough.” We are better in a weird way.” No David you’re not.
Surely he didn’t say that again .
I believe it was “We’re weird, in a better way.” or something to that effect.
Yeah, yeah. But his job is to try and keep the team afloat, reinforce that this is a learning experience year for the youngsters. Harranging the team in public will do no good. He can bench non-performers all he wants…there’s no one to fill in behind.
Ugly game. “The Reds just have so many relievers right now that really have no business being at this level” … How could be figured this problem out this season ? Apparently just Alexis Díaz can come back in next days but there’s no update about the relievers that could coming healthy from the IL neither pitchers that can be called from the minors in short term so the bullpen improves…
There’re so many relievers injured now that it’s really hard to find a short term solution, only one of those (Antone) was known to miss the season all along. No clear path for a reliable bullpen.
Went to the game. Ashcraft was hit hard early and often. Wisdom’s hit a rope onto Waveland Avenue off him.
Disappointments in the game:
1. Votto pops it up and does not hustle it out, to make matters worse when Morel drops it Votto turns on the juice and makes the mistake of trying to get to second. Two mistakes and he is out at second when he should have been there standing or if he only makes one mistake he ends up at first. No excuse for not hustling down the line.
2. Hard hit ground ball to Votto and Ashcraft stands on the mound watching. By the time he starts heading to 1B Morel beats him to the bag. Several batters later Wisdom hits a 2 out Grand Slam.
i turned the game off after the Votto baserunning blunder. I like Joey but his baserunning is just such a disappointing thing to me.
I was at the game too and agree with both of those points.
My disgust with the pitch sequencing is at an all-time high. The two singles and the Grand slam were all off of fastballs. Moreta’s hits allowed we’re on fastballs as well. Other teams are squaring us up like they know what’s coming and they do. Kyle Body says the offspeed stuff protects the fastball–our guys aren’t throwing enough. The Brewers throw almost all soft stuff when men get on base.
You have to have command of your pitches. If you can’t throw the off-speed pitch for a strike, all you gots is the fast ball…and if you can’t move the fastball in and out, up and down…you don’t even have that either. Not sure how you teach control.
You were at the game, I was watching on TV from CA but you’re correct on both. Let’s be honest, Votto runs like he’s pushing a refrigerator but he did not hustle on the play at all.
Maybe Ashcraft needed Garcia behind the dish? That’s all I can think of. Ground balls to Votto are always an adventure but you’re right, GA did not cover 1st fast enough. Good post Stock.
Hey, July 1st and we’re only two months away from football.
in a safety first league where a player may have to miss 2 weeks for possibly having covid, I am quite shocked the league allows position players to pitch. at least put them behind a batting practice cage for gosh sakes. somebody is going to get really hurt out there.
For me as a Reds fan of course .
It has been pretty discouraging and scary to see Greene and Ashcraft a couple of our good pitching prospects get hammered within the division .
Out of division they pitch well . In the division they have been very bad.
If you haven’t noticed as a Reds fan .
Not very incouraging at all.
The sample sizes are far too small to start drawing conclusions about in-division vs. out-of-division games. Not sure it’s anything to be discouraged about right now. Rookie starting pitchers are going to have lots of ups and downs.
Position players pitching is something that happens, this year, when your winning 14-2, not when you’re losing by a hefty margin. It’s not a practice that I appreciate anyway. If it’s a travesty happening out there, it happens legitimately, it doesn’t need position players on the mound.
Maybe the better idea is to borrow from hockey’s emergency goalie concept and have an emergency pitcher available to either team in extreme situations.
For those not familiar, in the NHL, the home team is required to have an emergency goalie on site for games to be used in the event both dressed goalies for either team become incapacitated during a game.
Typically these guys have recent prior professional experience or were college goalies at a high level program. They are usually still active with weekend teams and often workout with the local NHL team to reduce the practice workload on the team’s 2 goalkeepers. I’d think baseball would have no problem maintaining a corps of these guys in each city.
It seems the Reds have may have already built an entire bullpen out of emergency goalies.
@Hotto> +1000
The Cubs wanted it more. Its one thing to lack talent, but the Reds weren’t ready to play and thats on them and thats on Bell! Senzel didn’t play the ball aggressively and therefore was surprised when Contreras kept going to 3rd. When is the last time the Reds had men on 2nd/3rd on 2 singles? Feels like back when Larkin and Eric Davis played. Say Senzel or Pham or India was on 1st and there was a hit to Yelich who can’t throw. They might make 3rd, but no way in hades is the hitter hustling up to 2nd base! Actually its unlikely anyone would remember a scouting report and attack an opponents weakness in the first place because thats what winners do and the Reds are not winners. Make no mistake the Cubs stink, but we don’t have anyone that has that spirit of taking it to the opponent. We’re reactive and not proactive. Then theres Votto? $23 mil/year isn’t enough to insure hustle so he lollygags to 1st then compounds the error by trying to reach 2nd base when Morel dropped the ball.
23 hits? I’ve had enough for a long while. I feel for competitors like Jeff Brantley and Barry Larkin and Sam LeCure that have to watch this garbage every night. I don’t. Of course I’m interested in what happens on the trade front, but if we can’t compete as hard as the Cubs, then how do you beat more talented teams that play the right way?
So does that mean Reds are better than the giants? Wanted it more than San Fran?
Lol +1
This is a classic example of being imprisoned by the moment. The Reds were bad last night and the Cubs made some hustle plays and you come to the conclusion the Reds have no players who have the spirit of taking it to the opponent. It’s recency bias. Go back a few games when the Reds poured it on their opponent and you’d see several examples that fit your view of the Cubs that Reds players did. And we’d be cheering the killer instinct of India or someone else. I think you are just discouraged and it’s clouding your outlook. The Reds might not be the best TEAM this year, and the roster as constructed just can’t compete with elite competition, but there are lots of true professional players on the team, all with a passion to win.
The Cubbies were doing a pretty good Bozo impersonation themselves again last night for the 2nd night in a row once again the Reds failed to capitalize.
Yeah, the most recent things tend to be in our active memory cache but over time, this Reds team is a chart topper at playing poorly and looking dispirited in the process versus playing well and looking inspired.
Also, a team doesn’t always win when it plays well and sometimes plays poorly but wins because it has the other team totally outgunned in talent or the other team played even worse.
The last 2 nights in Chicago, both teams played very loosely. Both kicked the ball around, made poor choices, and made poor throws. But by and large, only one team capitalized on the presented opportunities.
I think the outcomes had more to do with preparation and focus down the lineups than talent differences.
i guess if the “moment” is nearly a quarter of a century, then I guess you are right Luke. i know we had some success in 2012 but other than that i really have not felt the reds team was worth the price of admission since the 1999 team. it is only natural for long time reds fans to feel disappointed for poor play. because it has been going on for so long without any positive results
Pray for the #1 pick and they strike gold.
Didn’t follow the game lastnight, however looks rough. My first thought though why allow Schrock to pitch the 8th?
I do wonder if Bell had a legit bullpen to count on if outcomes would be different. Case in point, reds down 7-1 end up scoring 7 runs themselves.. Ashcraft and Greene are gonna have games like they had back to back. Same as Lodolo.. this is why to me you Keep either Castillo or Mahle.
Remember how Reds started season 2-2 against the braves. No reason they can’t this weekend. Votto had 3 hits and a 418 ft homerun.
On a another note was exposed to covid at work. Joy
Well, Schrock is not an effective major league reliever, so send him back to AAA!
Wait, he’s a position player. Well, they need a reason to send him back to AAA when Naquin gets activated in a few days.
He’s currently hitting under .200. That might do it.
Little to say about this game that falls anywhere near the positive side. I did my Clete after the Wisdom HR. Watched the video of Joey’s bomb. Other than that, it was a short night for watching baseball.
As for Ashcraft, it will happen. He’s 24. And the team didn’t do much to support him either.
Have to think we’ll start seeing some trades happen. Let’s just hope we get something of value and/or jettison some dead wood.
Reading Nick’s review reminds me of what Dizzy Dean said while listening to Harry Cary broadcast a Cards game, “is he watching the same game I am?”.
“The Reds just have so many relievers right now that really have no business being at this level.” I agree, but do they even have one reliever on the active roster who does have business being in the big leagues? There is not a single guy in that bullpen who I even remotely trust. What a time to be a Reds fan. Geez.
+100. And who among the injured (aside from Antone) has ever consistently demonstrated themself as a reliable MLB reliever in recent years?
I am not a pitching guru but in looking around at MLB bullpens, common sense suggests that having an entire bullpen crew as bad as the Reds, there is some sort of ingrained systemic issue. The Reds either aren’t developing these guys correctly or in the literally dozens of arms that pass through their scouting and minor leagues, they are picking too many wrong guys and letting keepers slip away from them.
I think Lucas Sims is a decent middle innings guy, but that’s not enough. I agree, whether the issue is with scouting or development, the apparent lack of talent and production in the bullpen is extremely concerning and does not make me optimistic for the future. It also calls into question the effectiveness of Derek Johnson. I know he was considered a huge steal and is highly regarded, but this pitching staff as a whole is a complete train wreck. I admittedly don’t know where exactly the blame should fall.
Lucas Sims pitched 91 games (4 starts 20 games finished) from 2019-2021 with ERA+ of 102, 201, 108 respectively.
Justin Wilson has strung together several reliable seasons, even recently. His stint with the Reds in 2021 covering 21 games with a 2.81 ERA (171 ERA+). Was also positive for the Cubs/Mets 2018-2020 seasons with ERA+ well above 100 and ERA’s between .254-.366 in those seasons.
Luis Cessa was also very reliable 2019-2021 with 112 games 167.1 IP and an average ERA of 3.39 and ERA+ of 131 during that span.
Add those three guys to Antone and Diaz and you have the start of a really tough bullpen. Santillan, and Warren were good last season out of the pen. Hoffman was solid in the bullpen last season and this season overall. Guys like Moreta, Hendrix, and SanMartin have dominated AAA in a bullpen role, just haven’t translated to MLB.
To me this suggests the Reds do decently in targeting good relief pitching in trades (Sims, Cessa, Wilson, Hoffman, Givens last season) but develop few good options (Diaz, Antone, ?) internally. The ones they have developed they have yet to keep them healthy and pitching well at the ML level. Got to figure out how to translate AAA success to ML. They also have created no depth by letting several good options go in recent years.
@Jim Walker. It is a systemic organizational philosophy to have their pitchers throw it as hard as they can, and spin it with as much torque as they can muster. Results are….
No command, no control…thus a lot of walks.
And the biggest negative is numerous injuries from that philosophy.
Guys are excited to get so many swing/misses at 1st, then they come back down to earth as fatigue sets in. Trying to throw had when fatigued, leads to injuries.
Even when he gets back, Antone alone can’t atone for this bullpen. I think Diaz is a great find, and Sims and Wilson also offer hope. We have to find one or two usable relievers from this rooster, or trade for a few like we did last year. This year is a dumpster fire and 2023 and 2024 will be too if we don’t get an excellent return for Castillo. We need two power hitters to add to this bunch.
Not too long ago, there was a sentiment on this page that relief pitchers were basically a dime a dozen and it did not make sense to pay big bucks for a star reliever who was likely to go bust in a year or two. Clearly, the dime a dozen part of that is NOT correct. Good relievers one year, bust the next is true. You don’t have to look much farther than Sam LeCure. In fact back in 2013-2014 time frame, the Reds had a lights out relief squad, and the next year, with same crew, stunk!
I’m going to piggyback on @ VAReds because he is targeting the problem with Derek Johnson and Bell and the Reds and for that matter modern pitching. Pitchers are so focused on spin and torque to create their pitches in a pitching lab, its destroying not only their command but their shoulders and elbows. The reason Bell never pitches anyone more than an inning is because they are trained to come out with max effort max intensity and spin it and torque and throw it 100% on every pitch and so the trade off is max effort guys for 1 inning and then shut it down and then hand it off to the next guy for max effort/max intensity.
Unfortunately, the max effort, max intensity on every pitch is the best way to meet the task handed to them by Derek Johnson- which is strike everyone out and miss bats. If the task was simply get guys out and slow down bat speed for soft contact, we would see more efficient pitching and healthier arms.
Greg Maddox had the greatest 2 seamer in history with easy effort and durability and soft contact and backwards K’s with location and movement. He threw mayBe 92?
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera had the best cutter of all time. Easy effort with mid 90’s.
Trevor hoffman one of the best change ups of all time and #1 focus was to disrupt timing. Low effort, easy on the arm , lots of weak contact and chase.
All 3 hall of famers, none of them threw 95+ and all of 3 easy effort guys, even though Rivera was a “power pitcher” throwing a mid 90’s cutter with perfect location and great movement 85% of the time.
The miss bats, max effort train ain’t working. The Sims’ and Antones’ who have overpowering stuff cant stay healthy. The guys who dont have overpowering stuff cant sustain effectiveness outing to outing.
And here we are 2 years in a row with a horrific bullpen. Whatever happened to that sinker ball ground ball reliever who got you out of the 8th with the 6-4-3 dp?
“The Reds just have so many relievers right now that really have no business being at this level.” Yep. Thanks front office for the second season in a row of having a dumpster fire for a bullpen.
For those of us who want to see the young players given a chance in a lost season, and small sample size notwithstanding, I believe we can conclude that Schrock is not the answer to the bullpen woes!
Perhaps it would have been better had a true pitcher been given the chance to find something in the 8th inning, you know, something like home plate. Send a reliever out there who has a tendency to walk hitters and tell him to throw strikes and that every ball comes with a $100 fine.
“100.00 fine” lol this isn’t little league where you make them run when a mistake is made. This is plain silly
Reds were not ready to play period.Joey does what he wants to period.Good leaders hold themselves and others accountable.Reds lack talent leadership and lack of fundamentals taught and expected in little league.Its on ownership to fix it by making changes.Moose has to go not because he is awful but because he physically looks awful.Overweight and just drawing a pay check.Bucs with back to back games having players hit 3 homers.Playing hard much better then us and planning to lose and will 95 or more yet hustle try hard with no old guys showing them how not to be pros.Done with this team.
Frustration. It’s in our comments and on the faces of the players. I’ve noticed it alot on the players faces the last 2 games. When a error is made or a reliever walks the first batter and etc. The players are feeling it. The snowball effect of “here it comes again.” Players and fans hate losing. Fans have been on losing teams at some point in their lives. It’s gut wrenching. We aren’t born to love losing. Sometimes unfortunately your team is just not good enough. As a player and a fan you expect your front office to fix the holes to make it better and more competitive. To give you a chance to win. That is where the problem is. We can blame Bell with his decisions, but seriously the guy has no bullpen. Front office is forcing him to play guys that are trade bait. This is a business. Manager do not run a team. Front office tells him who to play. Profits are made off of success but this Front office doesn’t see it that way. They think profits are made off of their mistakes. Successful businesses eliminate the mistakes that are made and make a note not to repeat them. Not this Front office. You don’t fix a Akiyama or Moose mistake with a Minor or even a Moran. You take that 11 million they gave Moran and Minor and buy out Moose with it. Heck throw in the 7.5 mil for what they gave Pham and Mooses contract is gone. Rebuild is not giving 19 million to has beens. Incompetence always leads to frustration.
good post JB. THE frustration is in the fact that we have been so bad for so long and the future really doesn’t look that bright for the reds. we reds fans are stuck in abyss of losing and there appears to be no end in site
They weren’t bad in 20 and 21..
Well said…. I still believe with a better bullpen Reds would have at least 35 wins. Still nothing to write home about but bullpen is worse than last year. If that is even possible
Before we hear about Pham and Joey with 3 hits and Farmer with 2 and Moose with a hit after punching out 3 times please go back and look at the score when most of this took place.They got cookies to hit after the game was over.Should have pulled them all after the 5th inning.Good thing is only have a couple more years to see 3 of them play.Enjoy
I was beating the drum for outfielder Stuart Fairchild (Reds AAA team) a couple of days ago, and, last night he gave reason to do it some more with a double and home run in 4 AB. In a dozen games (45 PAs) since returning to the Reds org in mid June, Fairchild’s OPS is now 1.054. His wRC+ (a metric FanGraphs prefers to the similar OPS+) is 168.
His composite 2022 AAA OPS (130PAs) is now 115 and wRC+ 129.
His career (2021-22; 318PAs) AAA OPS is .933 and wRC+130.
Fairchild has a consistent K rate in the 25% range at AAA. He is in his age 26 season.
What does a guy have to do to get a look on a team going nowhere fast?
Oops, this above “His composite 2022 AAA OPS (130PAs) is now 115 and wRC+ 129.” was supposed to read “His composite 2022 AAA OPS (130PAs) is now 915 and wRC+ 129.”
Well, for one thing, he doesn’t offer “veteran presence”.
And another, does he “know how to win” at the ML level?
Does he have that key “winning attitude” that is so important and prevalent now in in the Reds’ clubhouse?
You can’t just bring up some guy without know those intangibles. 🙂
Trade Pham and Solano for a bag of wet baseballs and towels, or whatever modest prospect they might fetch. Let go of Moustakas (they will NOT do that, of course).
And Fairchild? Yeah, I would give him a couple more weeks at AAA, then bring him up..AND PLAY HIM! Don’t bring him up to rust on the bench, then be surprised that after sitting on the bench for a month, he doesn’t hit well. The Bell Way. The Reds’ Way.
Jim i was shocked that the Reds actually got him back for nothing. There are alot of worse players than Fairchild. I hope the guy becomes a star and the Reds get the rewards. Like I said before, after the showcasing of players for the deadline these guys, like Fairchild, should be up.
@JB What I see as an important factor with Fairchild is his AAA consistency; 2 seasons, 4 organizations, 2 leagues, and very little variance.
He’s beyond 2019 Aquino AAA hot since his return to the Reds. This rate surely won’t continue; but, he could have AAA seasonal and AAA career numbers bordering on 2019 Aquino AAA hot by the All Star Break.
As far as his journey back to the Reds I’ve not really read or researched it in any depth. All reports are Arizona had jerked him around but I do not know the details other than he got 17PAs with them at MLB in 2021.
The long short is he had bounced from the DBacks to Mariners (cash deal) in late April of this year in what looks like a change of scenery dump. A month later the Mariners dealt him to the Giants who apparently needed an OF.
Three weeks later, the Giants needed a 40 man slot; and, he was DFA with the Reds claiming him. No mystery there. The Reds would have had 1st pick at him within the NL before he was exposed to interleague waivers.
Hopefully the Reds can trade Pham (and maybe Naquin) and that should open up playing time for Fairchild.
Everybody excused Barrero’s miserable AAA stTs using the “small sample size” and “it’s his spring training” excuses. Therefore, the small sample size asterisk should apply to Fairchild.
Given that, I would rather Fairchild be called up than Barrero at this point in time.
-I don’t see any way Fairchild stays as hot as he has been in the 2+ weeks since he returned to the Reds. However, over 2 seasons in 2 leagues with 4 organizations, his AAA OPS is >900 and wRC+ in the 130 neighborhood with 318 PAs. That’s more than a small sample size.
By way of comparison, Senzel was called up to MLB and handed the keys to the kingdom after 193PAs at AAA in a single season yielded a .887 OPS and 149 wRC+. That’s an OPS about .030 lower than Fairchild’s AAA OPS but Senzel’s AAA wRC+ was 149, about 20 points higher than Fairchild’s current career AAA wRC+.
As for Barrero, it is extremely disappointing to see that he is striking out currently at a rate which approaches what Aquino was with the Reds in his first stint with the Reds this year.
@ Jim
I really liked Fairchild when they drafted him out of. Wake Forest I believe. Reds desperately need left handed hitting outfielders and he can play all 3 spots. Fraley and Freidl dont look like every day major leaguers with the bat and Naquin while coming up soon isnt in the long range plans. Reds got rid of Winker and at times this year the OF defense has been good.
Phillies DFA’d Oscar Mercado- finished top 8 ROY in 2019 and elite defensive CF and OF. Claim him and with Harper out, see if the Phillies would take Tommy Pham in a trade. They are awful defensively and Pham would be a defensive upgrade and also give them a credible mlb bat with Harper out Reds unload his salary and go with Fairchild, Mercado, Senzel, Almora, and Naquin – until he can establish his health and be traded.
Playing guys who are FA in 2023 makes zero sense.
Are we having fun yet!? The Reds appeared to lack any motivation or energy in the limited time (two innings) that I watched the game. The Cubs appeared to be engaged, taking the extra base, stealing bases, upbeat attitude, etc. After Ashcraft gave up the slam, I turned it off.
Thats my point exactly. The Reds not only have a low baseball IQ, but they generally don’t play hard. Pham stands out in that regard because its 1 guy doing something different then most everyone else. I doubt his effort stood out that much in St. Louis or Tampa.
Granted a big part of looking lethargic is that they’ve been a slow station to station team, but they’re just not mentally on top of it either. Wilson Contreras is no speed demon! Suarez last year? Didn’t go to 3rd on a wild pitch when there was a play at the plate? Cost us a 1 run loss in Wrigley. No discipline no nothing. No expectations to be alert and play aggressively?
Business as usual
Almora on Tuesday night. CFer turns his back to the plate to play Senzel’s drive off the wall and Almora is running back to 1st base? He played in Wrigley? India homered so everyone scored, but just stupid deer in the headlights baseball.
Reds are a losing franchise that expects to lose and acts like it.I am an old man but I doubt if lack of hustle or being just in the game is allowed in most dugouts.Talent aside those should be givens that should never be accepted.Best thing for all was to pull Votto last night but he’s Joey right
The Bell problem is really roaring it’s ugly head as of late. Of course, the players love playing for him they have no accountability, don’t have to play hard, and are always being told how good they are. The fans deserve so much more. I would have pulled Votto for that stunt last night but I am sure Bell said nothing. You would think with the year Votto is having the least he could do for 25 million is play hard. Hell even the T.V. announcers were trying to cover for him, saying you don’t run hard on that type of contact, what a load of crap. This entire organization, except for a few, is a joke.
Lost in all this the Reds went 3-3 on the road trip