Cincinnati Reds hitters woke from a protracted slumber, leading the team to an 8-5 win over the Chicago Cubs before 23,959 at Great American Ball Park.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs (47-66) | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (45-68) |
8 | 13 | 1 |
| W: Kuhnel (2-1) L: Espinoza (0-2) Sv: Diaz (5) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Alexis Diaz pitched around a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the eighth inning and two-on and two-out in the ninth to earn a five-out save, his fifth.
Six different Reds hitters had two hits. The bottom three in the order — Aristides Aquino, Jose Barrero and Austin Romine — combined for five hits, three runs scored and six RBI.
Cincinnati broke a five-game losing streak.
The Offense
Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning, Cincinnati’s offense awakened from its recent slumber. Donovan Solano and Albert Almora drew leadoff walks against starter Keegan Thompson. On a 3-2 pitch, the third batter did some damage:
Sometimes you gotta flex on 'em. ?@Aristide_Aquino pic.twitter.com/j5keNY5wg0
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 14, 2022
Two outs later, Jake Fraley doubled, Nick Senzel walked, and Kyle Farmer continued his hot hitting in clutch situations since moving to third base on an everyday basis. He lined an RBI single to left, scoring Fraley, to put the Reds up 4-2 after two innings.
After the Cubs scored three in the top of the fourth to take a 5-4 lead, Cincinnati tied it in the bottom of the inning on an RBI groundout by Alejo Lopez, pinch-hitting for Senzel. (The reason for Senzel being removed was not revealed on the telecast.)
With two outs and two on in the bottom of the fifth, Cubs reliever Michael Rucker made a mistake while pitching to Barrero. It was a mistake because Barrero, who has struck out in more than 50 percent of his MLB plate appearances this season, frequently swings and misses at low-and-away sliders with two strikes. Rucker instead came with a fastball which Barrero didn’t miss as he lined a 2-run double into left.
Catcher Romine (given the creative nickname “The Lettuce Guy” by Redleg Nation regular Mark Moore) batted next and drove in both the runners on second and third with a double to the right-center-field gap. It gave the Reds an 8-5 lead after five full innings, and that held up as the final score.
Fraley, Lopez, Farmer, Solano, Barrero and Romine all were members of the two-hit club today.
The Pitching
Starter Justin Dunn surrendered a two-run homer to Patrick Wisdom in the top of the second to give the Cubs a brief lead. Then in the third, his defense helped him pitch a scoreless frame:
.@albertalmora ? José Barrero ? Austin Romine.
The excellent defense from the @Reds gets the runner at the plate! pic.twitter.com/hP3DlfsW8p
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) August 14, 2022
In the fourth inning with two outs, Dunn surrendered a double to Zach McKinstry, a two-run blast by Yan Gomes and a solo homer by Christopher Morel which put Chicago back ahead 5-4. Dunn had looked impressive in striking out the first two batters of the inning, but the wheels fell off thereafter. Dunn pitched 3 2/3 innings, giving up five runs. It raised his ERA to 8.64.
Reiver Sanmartin got the final out of the fourth, thanks to another fine defensive play. With runners on the corners and two outs, Farmer charged a high hopper by Seiya Suzuki, barehanded it, and threw him out by a half-step at first to keep the Cubs from scoring again.
Joel Kuhnel pitched two scoreless innings for the victory, and Buck Farmer did the same in the seventh. Hunter Strickland came on in the top of the eighth, and allowed three of the first four batters to reach. Alexis Diaz showed the ability of a late-inning stopper by striking out Nelson Velasquez and the omnipotent Ian Happ to end the inning, leave the bases loaded and preserve a three-run lead. Two of his three outs in the ninth were also on strikeouts.
For the game, Cincinnati’s bullpen pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings on five hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.
Alexis Diaz says that he was looking to throw pitches that would cause the batters to hit grounders instead of striking them out. The rookie goes on to talk about his confidence and says that his time in the majors so far has been everything he thought is would be.#ATOBTTR pic.twitter.com/n8IYQYXwVe
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) August 14, 2022
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Philadelphia Phillies at Cincinnati Reds
Monday, August 15, 6:40 p.m. ET
Noah Syndergaard (6-8, 3.96 ERA vs. Mike Minor (1-9, 6.24 ERA)
Baltimore Orioles have been the worst team in mlb for awhile. They have shocked everyone in 2022 being in the wildcard race in mlb august playing an AL East schedule. They have the best bullpen in baseball. They dont give up Home runs and they dont walk guys.
Diaz is a legit anchor. Cheapest way to relevancy is get a dominant bullpen. Reds need to acquire controlled bullpen pieces and spend some money for 2023-25. Dominant bullpen shortening the gameworked out ok in 1990 and worked out today.
1961 Reds had a good bullpen. Brosnan, Henry, and Maloney.
1970 Reds had a good bullpen. Granger, Carroll, and Gullett.
1972 Reds had a good bullpen. Carroll, Borbon, and Hall.
1975 Reds had a good bullpen. Eastwick, McEnaney, Borbon, and Carroll.
1976 Reds had a good bullpen. Eastwick, McEnaney, and Borbon.
1990 Reds had a good bullpen. The Nasty Boys.
I get Oldtimer and Old- school mixed up all the time.
This is like one of those Double-mint twins commercials. 🙂
But yes, the quickest way to make the Reds better, without spending $50 million on some guy’s multiyear contract is to get a lot better bullpen pitchers. They don’t grow on trees.
O-S. Yeah I agree, instead of investing money in players like Mike Minor and Tommy Pham, use that money on the bullpen. A solid bullpen can win games, even if the rest of the team is a mess.
Barring injuries, the Reds should have a solid rotation in 2023. Add two or three solid relievers and you give your team a chance to win.
Of course, the tough part is finding the right relievers to invest in. Regardless, the Reds should be aggressive on that front.
If the Reds approach this off-season is “ hopingSims, Antone etc. are healthy in 2023” then we can expect more of the same.
If you acquire two or three solid relievers and Sims, Antone and the like return healthy next season, then great you are in even better shape.
But sitting around hoping those players are going to be healthy enough to contribute next year is not a good plan.
A good bullpen by itself in 2023, probably won’t get the Reds to .500, but it could lead to a substantial improvement over this season and give them something to build on.
If the Reds spend any money at all this winter, I hope it is on the bull pen.
I’m conflicted. On one hand yeah, I want to know my bullpen is solid
On the other, there are lots of talented arms who won’t pan out as starters that can become talented, affordable, relievers
Sanmartin, Gutierrez, Overton, Williamson, Zeuch, Phillips, Abbott…only 5 spots in the starting rotation. How else does everyone else help the club kinda thing
Huh, I didn’t know you had a problem with the Minor and Pham transactions …
You didn’t mention the Brandon Drury, Matt Reynolds, Albert Almora, or Donnie Barrels transactions (and Pham was flipped just like we expected). Why is that?
Bang the anti-Krall drum if you like, but from my vantage point he’s done a great job. Yes, he whiffed on Minor, but the early returns on most of his transactions have been good. And what GM has a perfect record? Considering who he’s working for, and his apparent (lack of) budget, he’s exceeded expectations handily.
That said, given the wild swings in reliever effectiveness, 2023 would not be the year that I would invest in the bullpen. It would appear that a number of relievers are starting to assert themselves in the BP. And the Reds have approx. TEN pitchers on the IL. Diaz by all accounts is the real deal. Hoffman and Sanmartin have performed well as relievers. That’s a decent start:
Diaz
Hoffman
Sanmartin
Add injured pitchers who’ve performed well before:
Antone
Sims
Santillan
Cessa
Rookies that are on the doorstep:
Connor Phillips
Andrew Abbott
Guys who may step up:
Joe Boyle
Dauri Moreta
Jared Solomon
Someone that I’ve forgotten/comes out of the blue
Guys that should be long gone:
Hunter Strickland
Justin Wilson (TJ surgery has him back mid ’23 at best)
Max Schrock (needs to develop a 2nd pitch, lol)
By all means, take a flyer on a low cost reliever or two in free agency. That will fillout a decent looking bullpen.
However, this offseason is not the time to invest in the BP. Relievers are not typically signed for long term deals. Invest in the bullpen when you are realistically expecting to compete for the playoffs. In the Reds case, that would be 2024 at the earliest, and that’s when an investment should be made.
Ermbrister, Minor and Pham were a waste of money. Perhaps you should pay more attention to the National League Standings. If you haven’t notice under Nick Krall’s leadership the Reds are 23 below .500.
You say the Reds were able to flip Tommy Pham. Who did they get for him again?
@Votto, we are in complete agreement that they need to invest in the pen. If they are willing to spend up to recent levels that would leave a big budget for other needs to. This is my order of FA priorities.
Closer: Jansen, Chapman, Diaz (Spend Real Money)
Setup: Hand
LF: Benintendi, Drury
Back up C: Barnhart or other Defensive C
Utility: Solano would be great to bring back
SP: Any Durable 5th starter we can get
To me those are spots we don’t have, and don’t have a prospect ready to grab in the next 2 seasons.
The Mariners just DFA’d Ken Giles..may be worth taking a flyer on.
earmbrister, the reason there is a problem with Pham and Minor is they were relatively large dollar amounts after being told the club traded away everyone in order to reduce payroll. Salano could also be included in these questionable moves. Those three contracts were more than Winker and Suarez. Drury, Reynolds, etc. aren’t mentioned because they were small or minor league contracts, which is in line with the payroll reduction and rebuild.
You can’t trade away fan favorites to “align resources” then sign worse players for the same amount of money. If you make the decision to tank and save money, actually save money
…and a bullpen needs a veteran catcher in Austin Romine that will also hit given the regular ABs . In 2019 he hit .281 When you see the coaching staff, let them know Romine should be our #1 catcher
From Mark Sheldon via Twitter in the last several minutes>> Senzel left the game with right hamstring tightness. Day to Day for now.
https://twitter.com/m_sheldon/status/1558934772533051394
Senzel has been struggling at the plate. Seize an opportunity to get him some free rehab PAs at AAA by putting him on the IL and bringing up Friedl or Fairchild for 10 days to 2 weeks.
Friedl, yes. Fairchild, no.
Although Friedl is still on the active list, he hasn’t played the last couple of games after leaving Friday night’s game early following an HBP.
I’d try someone else. I’m not optimistic about either. Small sample size but Fairchild’s SO rate make AA and Barrero look like contact hitters.
Agree, Would like to see Friedl get some time with the big club. His power #’s have been way up the last 6 weeks in Louisville. Yes, its Louisville, but he wasn’t hitting for power in Louisville before.
Fairchild has gone ice cold since traded to Reds (who hasn’t) so he needs to work on some things in AAA. Senzel better be careful about going down for a rehab assignment, Reds may just leave him down there. Centerfield is no place to play with a tight hamstring.
@BK, I thought I had seen Friedl on a pregame lineup tweet for today but you are correct. Per the box score, he did not play again today.
Unfortunate timing for him.
OS>> Senzel has up to 3 option years remaining and does not have enough service time to refuse being optioned. He is also under team control for 3 more seasons (he was a Super2 this past offseason) unless he is exposed to waivers or nontendered in an off season.
Almora must remain on the active roster, IL, or be exposed to waivers to be outrighted. I believe he has enough service time to decline an outright and become a free agent. Next year would be Almora’s final season of team control if he remains on the 40 roster through the off season and is tendered a MLB contract for 2023.
Friedl is a 40 man roster player on option to AAA. He can be called up and sent down with no 40 man move required.
That makes sense considering Almora…a great defender… is hitting 2-18(.111) the last 7 games and 6-46(.130) the last 15 games.
.162/.245/.303/548 the last month.
Friedl had a .539 OPS in 90 at bats at the MLB level. Not a big sample size but got some time and didnt do much. Hes not a power guy in any way shape or form so hes got to hit for avg and get on base.
Friedl’s AAA OPS since he got sent back in May is .379/.513/.892. His BA is .305. wRC+ is 137. KRate is 19.2%. This is in 177PAs
Friedl isnt a corner outfielder. He’s a center fielder with no power. Reds already have 2 of those in Senzel and Almora. Playing friedl over those 2 would make the Reds DFA one or both. They aren’t doing that yet for a guy who has never done anything in MLB
Thanks for this update, Jim.
Is Díaz on the ROY race?
Strickland just should be used in trailing games don’t be used in leads…
Votto’s bat is cold right now
The game ended up fun to watch, especially due to this forum. We all have a passion for the game and our Reds. Today it paid off a little bit.
I know the Phils have struggled, but I’m sure they are looking to waltz in to Cincy and sweep us. Here’s to reversing that thought and sending them out of town on the losing end of the stick.
Can anyone explain to me the usage of Sanmartin in this game?
He is easily your second best reliever behind Diaz and as a former starter can pitch multiple innings
And in a game when the bullpen is going to have to go 5+ innings…he faces 3 batters
I think Bell is trying to use him in shorter higher leverage outings and more frequently.
I agree. The trend has been to use SanMartin for short stings only and more frequently.
On the positive side, Bell did use Kuhnel and Diaz for multiple innings. I have no idea why they continue to use Strickland in tight games. He can’t pitch a full inning anymore without giving up multiple walks and runs.
@BK that makes sense. I’m definitely on board with “best relievers in highest leverage situations.”
@Redsvol I was also livid to hear his name announced, but I’ll give Bell credit that 1) they were up 3 runs when he came in and 2) Bell yanked his butt after waking two
To me that’s a clear message of “this is now your role” and “this will not be tolerated”
Per current stats, Ross Detwiler is the second-best reliever. Sanmartin has had a great last few weeks, for sure.
Sanmartin has a 1.03 ERA as a reliever. He’s been lights out for 2+ months. Detwiler has been very consistent, too.
Cubs broadcast when Barrero was down 0-2 in that at-bat when it was 5-5. Other guy says “What would you throw him here?”. Sutcliffe smugly says “Anything”. Turns out a fastball right down broadway wasn’t it. That was funny! Barrero has a nice swing IF he can develop a little pitch recognition.
Barerro growing up. We need to be super patient with him, Fraley and Aquino the rest of the season. Barerro has special defensive talent.
Patient with Aquino? No….isn’t he 28? A little patient with Barrero, but if he’s whiffing half the time next year then he shouldn’t make it past May
@Indy I agree on Aquino. His ceiling is a “Class AAAA” outfielder. Terrific defensively, but for his MLB career over parts of FIVE seasons, he’s struck out more than one-third of the time. He’s clearly not going to fix that if he hasn’t already. His career on-base percentage is .289, which is in Billy Hamilton range.
Willie Mays was 1-25 when first brought up. Not comparing Barrero to Willie, but what we have seen out of Barrero, so far, is a very small sample size.
Aquino, though, may be what he is. Jeez, we’ve DFA’d him once already.
Aquino and Almora are both 28. Per the birthdates on Fangraphs, Aquino is just 6 days the elder of the 2. Senzel is just 14 months younger than them. The similarity in the ages and performance stats for these 3 is why I have often been discussing them together here.
Friedl is a month younger than Senzel. Fairchild is 9 months younger than Senzel.
The whole crew is behind the typical age/ development curve.
Additionally, Almora and Senzel were both top 10 overall draft choices in their respective drafts. Almora was #6 in 2012 out of high school; and, Senzel #2 overall out of college in 2016. FWIW that has largely not been worth in either case
Jim i Think all these guys ARE the same; Almora, Senzel, Aquino, Friedl. Probably Barrero too.
they are products of a league with too much pitching and not enough talented position players to go around for 30 teams.
They are what i call 3 and D players. (a term i stole from the nba, referring to players that just shoot 3’s and play pretty good defense). in terms of mlb the 3 and D player will give you 3 homeruns and 3 stolen bases a year. play really good defense. float between AAA where he “really tears the cover off the ball” BUT when he gets called back up can’t hit the broad side of a barn.
if the league contracted (which i am a big advocate of) these guys would be selling insurance or playing overseas somewhere. But instead they play for the reds, pirates and royals because we cannot compete with the wealthier teams to keep guys like Naquin and Castelannos .
Career mlb at bats for them;
Almora -1475
Senzel – 840
Aquino-548
Fraley- 357
Barerro – 148
Most young players will need 800-1000 at bats to figure out the league. I think we know what we have in Almora and Senzel. Getting close in Aquino but what’s the downside for giving him another 300 at bats? Fraley and barerro are very inexperienced.
Jose Barrero is younger and deserves more patience. The others like Aquino, Almora Jr. Fairchild, are who they are, at this point. All have been released at least one. We have an entire outfield of 4th outfielders.
I have been slow to give up on Nick Senzel, but I think he is also in the category of a fourth outfielder at this point. Maybe they can convert Marte and Elly to the outfield. That still leaves Barrero, Arroyo and Acosta to fight it out for the SS position.
On the Aquino HR plate appearance, I couldn’t believe they didn’t try bouncing another slider/ curve at 2/2 or even 3/2. 3rd base was open so a wild pitch wasn’t going to score a run; and Barrero was next man up.
I think it’s time to cut Strickland and activate Art Warren. Really no reason to give him innings at this point. He’s not in future plans and just doesn’t have it this year.
Was looking at the ERA’s of our pitchers who pitched today and it made me very sad. Everyone but Diaz had an ERA over 5. Happy they won even though I’ve stopped watching games this year for the Reds.
i have been pleasantly surprised at the crowds at gabp this year. the sunday afternoon crowds have been very good. much better than last year i believe. the weather has been better and I think the later start time helps as well. ( wish they would move the weekday game times back as well).
the reds didn’t look bad today. Got me thinking do you go full “Rays way” and trade Stephenson and India over the offseason? I am sure you could at least get a couple pitching prospects and maybe an outfielder to boot. with all the young infielders in the minors I doubt they will sign India to a long term deal. And unless you think Stephenson can be a long term solution as catcher( which doesn’t seem to be in the cards) his only value would be as a first basemen for which they have younger options as well. i think our competitive window starts when guys like DLC, Matre and Collier have a couple of years in the majors under their belt which won’t be until the latter stages of this decade. I am not sure we could resign India and Stephenson at that point
stop it!
Exactly why should he “stop it”? You apparently haven’t been paying attention.
It is certainly the pattern of Reds ownership to trade players, no matter how talented, just as soon as they become expensive. That time is fast approaching for Stephenson and India. Perhaps, not this year, but maybe in 2023 and most certainly in 2024.
V4L: I have been paying attention, I don’t want to see India, Stevenson, Greene, Ashcraft or Lodolo traded in 2222. 2223 or 2224. They are the core of what the next reds great team in 2024-2025. We also have several other prospects that could be part of that team. HAVE YOU beenpaying attention?
West Larry we are in complete agreement there. I don’t want to see them traded either. My point is such moves would be consistent with this organization. Sorry, my comments may have come off more snarky than I intended.
No problem V4L. Some of the other guys bother me with trade all your best players talk. Let’s have the reds back into contention soon!
The Cub Effect. Take away the blue shirts and what do you have?
Man you sure have a lot of patience. You really want to keep trading off every player who starts to show something? What about at least fielding a average team for a few years? The reds could be around .500 next year if they at least fill a few holes. That would be more entertaining than 90-100 losses, right?
J Fraley
A Aquino
A Almora
N Senzel
A Lopez
S Fairchild
TJ Frield
M Schrock
They are all 26.3 ~ 28.3 years old.
Over the past few seasons, only Fraley has an OPS above 77, and 3 of them are hitting below 0.200
As a group, their weighted average OPS is 62
And their weighted slash line is 279 / 328 / 607
Compare that to Jose Barrero. Over the past couple years he has a very similar 59 OPS and a slash line of 258 / 356 / 614
The difference, of course, is that Barrero is 3 years younger than that group. And he plays elite defense at the premium defensive position.
It may turn out that Barrero is no better than that group. But he is so much younger than the rest of them, so there is hope he can emerge. But we really won’t know that until he has enough PA’s that we can fairly evaluate.
Amdg- Fraleyhas 357 career at bats and Barerro has 148. Not nearly enough to form a conclusion on a career.
I would include Fairchild along with Fraley in this grouping. He is 8 months younger than Fraley and has had only 50 MLB plate appearances. However, his AAA OPS is hovering right at .900 with between 380-400 AAA PAs.
Is there any reason to keep Strickland on the roster? I can’t think of any. Time he’s DFA. It only took Bell two months to figure out Diaz over Strickland to close out games. Once gain, tardy to make an obvious move. Another move long overdue is to get Votto out of Cleanup. It’s August 15th! It’s not going to get better.
Not sure patience applies to Aquino. He’s had plenty of opportunities. I can be patient with Barreo though. I’d also like to see Lopez get more PT. At least he puts the ball in play.
+10000
My usual optimism about Votto is starting to droop, I’m sorry to say. When he was miked at the Field of Dreams game, talking to Smoltz, he discussed how, when he faced Smoltz in the early days, he had to deal with his mid-90s, well placed fast ball and how now, he’s got to deal with high-90s-100 fast balls. But looking at his swings and misses, especially yesterday, he’s missing mid- to low-90s fastballs, some in the center of the plate. The season is running out on him. Make me sad.
Votto is in a 2-28 slump. Because of that he is now down to .297 Career average. Not sure what he needs to do to get back to .300 lifetime but I don’t think he has it in him anymore. Just like watching Aaron and Mays, in my youth, become old over night. The more Joey plays the more that average will go down. Joey might think he can play a few more years but no team will be signing a 40 year old that can’t hit anymore.
I was with you right up until that last sentence. The Reds might offer him $10 million to provide veteran leadership and/or because a scout thinks he’s got potential to turn things around. Then he’ll hit in the middle of the order almost every day no matter what. Just watch.
One of the best moves the Reds could make this off season is finding a way to send Joey off into the rest of his life with proper respect, appreciation, and dignity.
The money is a sunken cost. By any measure, he’s more than earned it on the field already. Just pay him without making him or the fans endure another season of what we are seeing now.
Of course, JV has to be at that spot where he is ready to move on. What’s happening now on the field is probably part of that process.
And what I’d really love to see happen in my heart of hearts is for an opening chapter of the rest of Joey Votto’s life to be is he pulling a Jeter and putting together a syndicate to buy the Reds.
Imagine JV putting that ring on his finger at the home plate of GABP as managing partner of the Cincinnati Reds!
Hey J W, not a bad idea. From listening to Joey over the years, he’s a lot smarter than our current ownership. Put him in a group that include at least one very rich individual and buy that team!
Votto is one of the few players I can imagine voluntarily retiring even if it means giving up the money. He’s already made a ton, he can continue making good money as a coach or an analyst if he wants to (maybe they can find a new job for Larkin…), and I’m sure he doesn’t want to end his career on a terrible note. I can also imagine he offers the Reds some sort of buyout deal so both parties can walk away with something. (But I can also imagine that he figures out a way to hit .280 with 25 HRs next season, and the Reds really do bring him back for another year.)
Never being a person to shy away from ideas (some) folks like to take to task, how about this plan?
The Reds carry Votto on the 40 man roster over the winter. The worst possible outcome is the guy who would have been the 40th man gets picked away in the Rule 5 draft.
As early as possible in Spring Training, Votto is moved to the 60 day IL. Surely at age 40 and after the wear and tear of 15+ years playing in MLB, a doc can honestly justify this, probably on multiple counts. Thus, Votto is not costing them a 40 man or active roster (26 man) spot.
The Reds and Votto jointly announce that this Votto’s “last season”. Appropriate send offs can be arranged at GABP and around MLB when the Reds visit. Votto can appear in uniform on the field to receive kudos.
Come September, if Votto desires, he can be activated and make a few cameo appearances as the position player on the expanded roster.
Given the likely situation of the Reds in 2023 i.e. cheaper than cheap with young players, paying out the last $25m in salary to JV plus the option buyout against 2024 due at the end of the 2023 season will have very little additional impact on the Reds’ salary payout and budgeting since he is a sunken cost regardless.
@Jim, you’re even more hardcore than I am. I was thinking Votto starts the year as 1B, with McGarry or possible Strand coming up after a couple of months. Once up the rookie, and Votto would platoon starts, with Votto’s appearances gradually tapering off.
My Favorite version is Votto comes out swinging and makes all of us regret writing him off again, and making his case for a 1st ballet HOFer.
Maybe he could pull something of Ken Griffey Jr. and ask to be traded to Toronto and ride out his career there…may even get a chance at WS ring. We’d have to still pay his salary or a large part of it, Toronto won’t just take him. Of course, we should get some properly valued prospects too.
I’m in favor of inviting both Joey and Moose to receive an invitation from the Reds to announce they are retiring at the end of this year, and be paid 75% of all monies owed them to not show up next year.
Neither needs all the money. Both should want to avoid further embarrassment.
If either says no he should DFA’d.
For those who think Votto is the best Reds hitter ever, I disagree. He has 2 or 3 years better than Pete’s best year, but Pete wins because of longevity.
Votto still does not have have half as many career hits as Pete.
It would be interesting to see how a player like Pete Rose would be received today. Would he have an opportunity to be a star today? He never hit for much power. The game has changed so much, it’s just hard to tell. It would seem unlikely Rose be able to stick at first base today. I suppose his best bet would be at second base.
If I was starting a team of all time Reds (without doing any research) I think my top ten would be something like
1. Bench
2. Frank Robinson
3. Morgan
4. Larkin
5. Rose
6. Lombardi
7. Perez
8. Votto
9. E. Davis
10. Pinson
This is just off the top of my head. I’m sure there are a lot of good players I overlooked.
So great to see guys working the count yesterday, and it paid off hitting, as well. Especially Barrero, who got absolutely screwed out of a walk. Loved seeing Almora take two free passes, too. He’s a guy we should bring back. Hopefully Aquino turning a corner, too
How about taking a chance on one or two of these soon to be free agents Borderline Cases: Mitch Haniger (Mariners), J.D. Martinez (Red Sox), Jurickson Profar (Padres), Anthony Rizzo (Yankees) and Brandon Drury (30 Padres) for next year in a small stadium?
I think Drury coming back to the Reds would be a good thing. I don’t like Rizzo as a fit for the Reds. I feel like he’d sign a big contract, and not try, just suck up resources. It’s not because he was a Cub. I’d love to have Schwarber, Bryant, or even Baez.
From what i picked up from national chatter, Rizzo and Profar likely resign b/c their GMs love them. Mariners likely keep Haniger b/c they love his clubhouse presence and Kyle Lewis (who would have replaced him) is broken.
I like your train of thought though, need to sign some veterans on 1yr prove it deals.
If Haniger can handle it physically, he could serve as the CIN RF next year.
great to see that India is ack in the lineup
Wow, I saw a headline on Yahoo saying an MLB team had fired its manager and for a brief, stupid moment I thought it could be the Reds. Alas, it was Texas – an organization that places a higher value on winning than does the Reds organization.
They even fired him after a win yesterday.
i for one hope Joey sticks around. although i don’t think he needs to be cleanup batter every day for gosh sake. I like the person Joey has become and enjoy watching him. I HOPE Bell starts using him like Pete used Concepcion at the end of his career. mainly as a top pinch hitter. Davey had some really big hits in the mid and late 80’s as I recall. it would be nice if bell would give Joey some chances to create some lasting memories for his last year
but for this year and next Joey will be really the only reason i follow the reds
Concepcion hit .319 in his 39 year old year and .260 the year before. Votto is hitting .210. He needs to simply hang up his batting glove and move on.