T.J. Zeuch gave up six runs before the 3rd inning was over and the Cincinnati Reds had to try and come back from a big deficit. They made an effort and had the tying runs on base in the top of the 9th but couldn’t quite complete the rally as they dropped their third game in a row to the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night by a score of 7-5.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (48-74) |
5 | 10 | 1 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (69-55) |
7 | 15 | 1 |
| W: Sanchez (2-1) L: Zeuch (0-3) SV: Robertson (18) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
Cincinnati grabbed an early lead in the top of the 2nd inning when Stuart Fairchild crushed a 410-foot solo home run to center. The Phillies scored six runs over the next two innings to take the lead. In the 4th inning Kyle Farmer pulled the game a little closer with a solo homer of his own. In the 5th inning Chuckie Robinson picked up a 1-out single, which was the first hit of his career. He came around to score on the next play with Jonathan India double to center to make it 6-3. India, though, followed up by running himself into an out on a ground ball to third base where he was tagged out by Alec Bohm after he fielded the ball.
The Reds offense didn’t score in the 6th, but they got on the board in the 7th inning when Jose Barrero singled and came around to score after a Jake Fraley doubled moved him to third and a sacrifice fly from TJ Friedl – who was pinch hitting for Jonathan India – brought Barrero in to score to make it 6-4. After Philadelphia got that run back in the bottom of the inning, Cincinnati went back to work. Donovan Solano singled to start the inning, but he was erased on a fielders choice that put Aristides Aquino on first. Aquino would score on an Alejo Lopez double to make it a 7-5 game.
The Reds got some help from the Phillies in the 9th. Jake Fraley hit a routine fly ball into left field, but Yairo Munoz watched the ball pop out of his glove and Fraley wound up at second base. He moved up to third base on a wild pitch. Nick Senzel would draw a 1-out walk to put runners on the corners, but Kyle Farmer hit the second pitch of his at-bat right to Alec Bohm at third who fired to second before Jean Segura turned and threw over to first to complete a game ending double play.
The Pitching
T.J. Zeuch was given another opportunity to make a good impression after being hit around in his first two starts this season in the big leagues. A good impression it wasn’t. Zeuch loaded the the bases in each of the first three innings and couldn’t get out of the 3rd inning before exiting the game. He wound up being charged with six earned runs in 2.2 innings on seven hits, a hit batter, and four walks. His ERA through three starts this year is 15.19.
The bullpen did all that they could to hold the Phillies down from there. Art Warren and Joel Kuhnel each tossed 1.1 shutout innings to follow. Reiver Sanmartin ran into some trouble in the 7th inning and he gave up a run that made it 7-4, but it would have been worse if not for the arm of Aristides Aquino, who fired a bullet from the warning track to the plate to nail Rhys Hoskins at the plate to end the inning.
10 outfield assists for @Aristide_Aquino! pic.twitter.com/FvbAs81Ycy
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 25, 2022
That wouldn’t be the last nice defensive play from Aristides Aquino, either, as he made a nice sliding catch to end the 8th inning, too, giving Ross Detwiler a shutout inning and keeping the score at 7-5 and giving the offense one more shot to try and make a comeback. They would make an attempt but come up short as the Phillies grabbed their third win in as many days over the Reds.
Notes Worth Noting
ARISTIDES AQUINO
99.0 mph assist!
That's the Reds' 4th-fastest tracked OF assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015), trailing only…3 OTHER ASSISTS BY AQUINO *THIS YEAR*
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 25, 2022
Updated at 11pm
Jonathan India left the game with a leg injury. The hit by pitch from the Field of Dreams game is still affecting him at times, David Bell said.
— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) August 25, 2022
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies
Thursday August 25th, 7:05pm ET
Justin Dunn (1-1, 6.08 ERA) vs Aaron Nola (8-10, 3.25 ERA)
The Reds could have had a rotation of Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, Tyler Mahle, Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene. So depressing.
Mahle was throwing 89 the other day and got removed. Sonny is getting by on wits, but you don’t see 5’9 guys lasting long like Wainwright. Luis is going to get $20+ mil/year. I get what you’re saying, but thats life in a small market
I agree, but my thinking is they were close in 2021 if not for their bullpen, and Cardinals going on a unrealistic winning streak. In my thinking why not bring everyone back, add a few bullpen pitchers like I dunno a set up man and closer or just solid front end bullpen pitchers. See what happens, and yet we will never know. I hear and read about what the former players are doing now and hindsight is always 20/20.
Just getting hard to watch
They were not close in 2021. They were close to being a wild card team. If that’s your goal, then I guess. They were a complete rebuild away from being a legit contender.
Agree Luke. I could not care less about a wild card. I want the Reds to win a World Series. They where nowhere near close to that.
Luke, that’s just not correct. They were very close. If they would have upgraded their bullpen, this team could have easily won the league in 2021. The bullpen was clearly the difference, and killed them early in the season.
Instead, they have another stack of prospects. You know, like Senzel, Barrero, etc. Even India, after winning ROY last year, has been a disappointment in 2022.
It takes more than prospects to build a winning team. Look at the Phillies’ lineup…Castellanos, Harper, Segura, Schwarber, Realmuto all were free agents signed by the team. Even the Brewers, who many want the Reds to operate like, have an offense mainly composed via trades and free agent signings.
Did you forget Moose, Bauer, Nick C., Shogo, Sonny, Miley, etc? I want the C’s to sell as bad as most, but they did spend some money. It just didn’t work. They didn’t hit
Correct, to truly compete you have to supplement your prospects with free agents. But there is a timing to it. Doing that now would be a complete waste. Only when they are in that window to compete should they hit the free agent market for SHORT contracts.
And the Phillies are in the race for what? A wild card spot. The Reds are disparaged for challenging for a wild card spot; the Phillies are held up as a model for challenging for a wild card spot.
Yep. And they could be a mediocre 0.500 team again, like the past 2 seasons with Gray, Castillo & Mahle.
Granted, 0.500 is better than being 20 games under.
But would we rather be a middling 0.500 team sitting outside the playoffs, with a lot of pending FA’s about to depart for nothing?
Or would we rather take approach that if we aren’t making the playoffs, we might as well get as many quality prospects as possible, and ‘hope’ to be better down the road?
Notes Worth Noting
ARISTIDES AQUINO
99.0 mph assist!
That’s the Reds’ 4th-fastest tracked OF assist tracked by Statcast (since 2015), trailing only…3 OTHER ASSISTS BY AQUINO *THIS YEAR*
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 25, 2022
I don’t know about anyone else but I’m enjoying seeing Aquino throw people out more than I would a home run. It’s A LOT harder.
Hope that Aquino can get a fresh start somewhere and learn to readjust his hitting approach. He would only need to be an average hitter war-wise for his defense to make him worth it. Sort of Jeff Franceour like
But it is clear that will not be in Cincinnati
I would have Aristedes Aquino bunt more often to move baserunners over rather than have him swinging away. He’s got some decent speed.
I hope he gets consideration for a gold glove award.
GMs on several playoff bound teams are likely checking every morning to see if Aquino pops up on the waiver wire. He is the ideal 26th man on the roster for a playoff contender or team looking to make a deep run. He can make a game defining play with either his arm or legs; and, as he showed Tuesday, when slotted against a reliever with nothing but a heater to work with, he can do serious damage with his bat.
Like to see the Reds get aggressive with some roster moves, like DFA Zeuch. And pull a San Diego and fire Zinter at the end of the month. Just do something to pretend to care. It’s good to see some of the young guys playing but too few BBs, too many SOs, and too few hits, especially when it matters.
They’re competing. We knew it was going to be ugly with the young guys on innings limits and losing Castillo/Mahle.
Pros: Fraley, Lopez, and Senzel with a hit and 2 walks. I just don’t know what you do with Lopez and Senzel? They don’t have enough power to play regularly as utility men. Not on a good team atleast
Cons: India is starting to hit, but his fielding and durability are really making me wonder if he’s a big part of the future? Its not like they don’t have strong infield bats in the pipeline.
As for starters, I’d dig around like Seattle did when they got Chris Flexen out of Korean baseball. Maybe there is a reliever on a team that could be picked up and stretched out?
People don’t like to hear that India is not a good defensive 2B. It’s completely true, but they don’t like to hear it. I am a big proponent of moving (in 23) India back to his natural position of 3B. He was only taken off 3B to accommodate Suarez, and last I looked Suarez players for Seattle. We also have a glut of middles infielder coming up over the next few years.
Attendance tonight: over 24,000. On a Wednesday.
One observation I made over the past three games is that the Phillies do a far better job than the Reds of attracting the younger adult crowd to games. I’m sure much of this is attributable to their run of success from 2001 to 2012 or so, including their WS championship. The Reds lost that generation of fans, and they’re well on their way of losing the current generation of kids if things don’t improve rapidly. “If you build it, they will come.”
i think it is more of a demographic issue. the smaller midwest cities just have an older population than the larger east and west coast cities. I have actually been presently surprised by the attendance at gabp this year. the average this year so far has been the same as last although it may start dwindling a bit
Never let the facts get in the way of a good narrative 🙂
Actually Philly has a larger % of people over 65
While Cincy has a larger % of people age 18~34
The “problem” is that Philly is 5x larger than Cincy.
The demographic splits are in Cincy’s favor, but she just doesn’t have enough of them.
As a % of population, the Reds actually draw well compared to Philly. But when you are starting with only 1/5 of the population, it’s difficult to match up in terms of total fan attendance.
The City of Philadelphia has a population of 1,500,000. The City of Cincinnati has a population of 300,000. Based on local population figures and the fact the Red’s do not have super wealthy ownership, they do pretty well in attendance.
i got a feeling Senzel, India and Stephenson’s time with the reds are coming to an end. Do you try to trade them during the offseason maybe for a solid starting pitcher to anchor the young rotation? I just don’t see these guys as core players anymore.
also, this Solano guy can hit. This means by law the reds must not resign him ala Felipe Lopez and Jose Iglesias. We reds fans are not allow to have good things
Stephenson is too good of a hitter to give up on, but I also think he’s too big to be a catcher. How many good catchers are 6’4? Its like tall RBs in the NFL. There are a few here and there, but its a position for quick hands and quick reflexes. The guy hurts something every other week he plays! How many more injuries will it take before they figure it out?
Senzel…absolutely. I wrote last night the Reds should move him to 3B everyday and give him one final chance there.
India is absolutely frustrating this year, but hopefully it’s just a “sophomore slump” and not a sign of what’s to come.
Stephenson needs to be 1B next year for the reasons mentioned above. Of course, that would mean the Reds would have to sign Contreras or pull off a blockbuster to get another hitting catcher. Obviously won’t happen under current ownership.
Why do you need a hitting catcher? How about a solid defense Catcher who calls a good game and has a great glove behind the plate and throws half the runners out who trys to steal.
Stephenson can do all of the things you mention … few MLB catchers have his across-the-board skill set. It’s an opportunity to do something well that others can’t do. That’s how you gain an advantage. Multiple advantages make for good competitive teams.
Stephenson has been injured this year (nasty collision at home plate and two foul balls that broke bones). His pre-2022 history is clean. None of these indicate he’s fragile or injury prone. Players get injured. A position change to 1B negates many of the advantages he brings. The solution is to bring in a quality backup, so Stephenson can play every day. But 60 to70 percent of his starts should be at catcher.
Yeah, we need an improvement at the C position. As we have no viable candidates in the minors, a trade for a guy with 2-3 contract years remaining seems like a reasonable approach. I don’t really care whether we go offensive or defensive here. Just some guy who can productively play the position 2-3 games per week. Tucker would be suitable in my view. But we also can strive for something better because we need some offense. I would take the Cubs guy in a heartbeat. Bob – it is OK to spend money to put some energy and optimism around your rebuild. You don’t need AA players at every position.
If they aren’t good enough to be everyday players for the Reds what makes you think you are getting a controllable starting pitcher for any of them? Senzel will end up getting non tendered when his salary becomes too high. India has been hurt all year and makes league minimum. Stephenson was the best hitter on the team, but had some terrible luck with injuries.
Whats the difference between being hurt all year and terrible luck with injuries? Just curious as it seems Stephenson gets a free pass and players like India and Senzel get thrown to the wolves for not staying healthy.
Not alluding to you Bill, just a question since you mentioned Stephenson
Kevin, probably poorly worded on my end. The point I was trying to make is I don’t consider Stephenson to be injury prone, his injuries have been a home plate collision, HBP, and a strange foul tip injury. With India I feel like he has just been injured all year, which may explain the decline in production. So essentially both have been injured all year. Senzel gets a lot of undeserved hate, but he has years of injury/illness keeping him on the IL for significant amounts of time. India and Stephenson don’t really have that history, not that they won’t in the future. If they do I am sure they will get the same love Senzel does
The play Senzel made in the 8th inning as a 2B reminded me he is an infielder playing out of position in the OF. He can only do what he can do if told to play CF. However, this is MLB; and, unfortunately, the player often takes the hit instead of the organization that sends him into battle ill trained and prepared. As far as his high rate of TOOTBLANs, that is totally on him though.
But those injuries are of the sort that catchers are routinely exposed to, and concussions don’t just go away: they may make you more prone to future concussions.
If they are normal injuries for a catcher then anyone playing catcher will have the same injuries, so trading him for a starting pitcher wouldn’t solve any problems. Yes concussions are probably common for a catcher, and yes multiple concussions will end a career, but I don’t think you can call Stephenson injury prone because of that. The broken collarbone from a foul ball is not common, getting hit by a pitch isn’t any more common for a catcher than any other batter.
I don’t see why any of that makes him not a part of the core and means he should be traded. If his concussions are a problem move him to DH.
Havent been watching much lately, but I’ve liked what I’ve been seeing from Aquino at the plate lately. The results are not all their yet, but I can see that he’s been working hard at it. Hope it all comes together for him. I like guys who really work at it.
Maybe we can make Aquino our Closer?
I really want him to succeed at the plate. It’s painful watching him bat but a joy to watch him in the OF.
There is a Designated Hitter, why not a Designated Fielder? Bring back Billy Hamilton!
Aquino pitching from RF would probably walk fewer than the current BP walks.
You know, you’re probably right.
I’ve thought India didn’t seem to be running at full speed. I hope just a little rest will help. But with 3M still hobbled, that’s a bench minus 2 infielders tonight and heading to DC. I guess Lopez will play tonight, right?
MLB really needs to come up with a way to have replacements for guys with injuries. Some sort of list you can place the injured players on. Then you can bring another guy onto the roster while they recover so you aren’t playing with less people. Maybe call it the injured list?
Yep. Trying to avoid a 10-day hit means playing short … often for a full week anyway. It’s almost September. An IL stint won’t make any difference one way or another.
In the NHL, the “active roster” can be 23 but only dress 20 can dress (18 skaters and 2 goalies) for any given game.
This allows the teams to carry 21 skaters for the 18 game active slots. Seems to me something similar would be a good step in MLB for an interim between the active roster and full IL for guys who are dinged.
How about 28 players with a limit of 13 pitchers with 26 players dressing for any given game in MLB? Most teams would use their 2 “healthy scratches” for starting pitchers until they were needed for lightly dinged position guys but so be it as long as the total number of pitchers was limited to 13.
The Red’s need a new hitting coach. Specifically, one who has the technic to change Aquino into a .250, at least, hitter. Defensively the guy is a phenom.
That may require a hitting coach that’s a leprechaun or genie.
Funny, but true.
As September looms, it’s time to start speculating with 2023 opening roster – position players: Stephenson, backup C, Votto, India, Barrero, Steer, Farmer, Moustakas, Lopez, Senzel, Fraley, Friedl, Aquino or FA.
No it isn’t. You don’t even know who will be Reds on opening day. Did you have Winker and Suarez on your 2022 opening day roster in September 2021? I suspect you did.
Should you do!
Aquino is a very unique player with so much talent. He is also tied for 2nd on the team with a 1.1 WAR, only trailing Stephenson at 1.5 WAR.
Aquino’s has a 1.8 DWAR, which is double the next Red on the list.
I’m not saying his defense makes Aquino a good enough player to hold onto a position, but his arm is stupendous, and we should use every remaining game this year to give him regular AB’s.
In the 2-3 weeks between being recalled from Louisville in May and being injured in June, Aquino had a .798 OPS which translated to a wRC+ of 113 in 47 plate appearances. The full AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS slash was .283/ .298/ .500/ .798.
That’s the guy they are hoping to rediscover. Very Adam Duvall-like with a superior arm and faster around the bases.
I THink Aquino and Barrero are harbingers of things to come for small market teams like the reds. I call them “3 and D” players. they give you 3 homers, 3 stolen Bases and great defense. they hit just just good enough in the minors to peak your interest but are pretty much over matched when they get to the big leagues. But their defense is good enough to hang around on the weaker teams in the league. i Have a feeling that most of the players we acquired from these trades will fit this category. the question is can you win with a roster full of these type of players. I think with superb pitching it actually can be done
Even more incredible is that Aquino has gotten those WAR figures despite being in the minors for 3 weeks and subsequently on the IL for another 6 weeks or so. I guess the other side of the coin would be whether he would have accumulated a greater negative oWAR in those 9 weeks that would have offset his dWAR during that time.
@Jim, Fair counterpoint. I am well past being a “Stan” for Aquino, but he still intrigues me, and since we are not going anywhere this year, it seems prudent to explore what he can do with regular playing time. I feel like we did that with Senzel, and we have a better idea of what he’s going to give us.
@RedNat, I agree with you. Unless we become masters of player acquisition, and development, we will have those 3 and D’s as our roster.
Of course a new owner that’s willing to push the payroll up to at least 150M – 170M could help. Maybe they’d be losing money in the short term, if you believe that budget is too much (I don’t). In the long run, the extra money spent (wisely) should increase W’s, attendance, and make it a more valuable company to sell in the future.
STL is worth 2.48B because they have created a winning team decade after decade. The CIN market is not very different, but we are worth 1.19B. I’d say losing 20M to 30M a year is worth the extra 1.3B windfall you’d get replicating STL’s success.
fWAR is 0.1
Hes hitting a home run every 39 at bats and only 4 all year.
Hes played virtually everyday in August
2022 hitting stats :
.178/.221/.295/.515 42% K rate wRC + 38
7 days: .160/.222./.200/.422
15 days: .173/.246/.250/.496
30 days .208/.255/.281/.546
I m squinting and cant see any metric Aquino is hitting well or turning it around. he has an electric arm for sure.
@OS. For what it is worth or not worth versus offensive stats, Aquino leads MLB in Defensive Runs Saves with 18 in a relatively low number of innings played relative to most every body else near the top of the list.
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=of&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=100&type=1&season=2022&month=0&season1=2022&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2022-01-01&enddate=2022-12-31&sort=13,d
Phillies announcers were in awe of that Aquino play and its worth a listen. He has a cannon and exciting to watch. But, call me old school if you wish. RF is a mandatory big bat position. Gotta have a hit tool and if you cant hit, you arent an MLB right fielder. you can hide catchers and SS and maybe center fielders without the hit tool, but you gotta have big bats at the corner outfield and corner infield positions. Aquino doesnt possess the #1 rule for hitting and thats plate discipline and pitch recognition.
Krall’s job is to piece all that together in roster construction and moving Senzel off CF every day and into a super utility role is a great move too.
@ Old-school
Maybe if we get a good hitting powerful CF it will make up for what’s lacking in RF don’t you think? Whether you love Aquino or hate him, he has a reputation for doing very unusual things when you consider what he accomplished a couple of years ago with his bat (still does from time to time) and then recently what he’s doing with his arm. We know his potential. One way or another he’s a game changer. Sometimes he even changes games with his speed.
A lot more fundamental foibles on the defensive side even though Aquino scored big (yet again). But, isn’t it rather obvious that Senzel is not a good defensive CF (and not a very good hitter either), Stephenson needs at least some respite from the catcher position, and India is either getting really lackadaisical or is really not a very good defensive 2B?
Somehow, I think the field managers are having none of this observation. Maybe the problem is more with the strategy or lack thereof, poor development or clubhouse attitude. Our 3 best “core” field players are not exactly thriving and below that Lopez, Barrero, Friedl, Schrock, etc. are either floundering or have not gotten enough continuity to make an impact. Its hard to believe that lightly regarded and paid vets like Solano and Fraley are leading the offensive charge as much as anybody.
If this team is to be largely reliant on the “grow our own” strategy, then a better soil, water and fertilizer routine has to be applied to the good quality seed recently acquired. I’m not confident at all that this management regime can make that happen.
India is hurting and has been most of the year. Guessing if the Reds injuries weren’t so deep he wouldn’t be trying to play now.
I am not sure the Reds have a position player at AAA on the 40 a roster spot except the 2 catchers at Louisville, Papierski and Kolozsvary, who isn’t already on the MLB roster or the MLB or MiLB Injured list. Maybe Moran per the Bats website but not per the Reds website; go figure. At AA Chattanooga, Outfielder Allan Cerda is also on the 40 man. That’s it.
The last two nights Spencer Steer (Mahle trade return), a middle IF/3B, at Louisville, has made his first ever professional appearances as an OF and at 1B. So, he could well be the next man up.
The upkeep of the roster page on the Reds website doesn’t seem to be up to date or accurate enough to figure out if they would need to open a 40 man spot to promote Steer.
Sure, Jim, your points are all valid, especially with India. I guess I wasn’t expecting that the Reds AAA contingent would be so void of quality except for the pitchers and/or the coaching is poor. The number of injuries is ridiculous and probably well exceeds “bad luck”, just like last year.
I agree on the level of injuries seemingly every year. They need a top down evaluation of their training program, especially what goes on in there off season.
So, what is going on with high fly balls to the outfield and infield popups there in Phillie? Both sides look uncertain and are staggering around like drunken sailors underneath them and the home side has drops on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
Is there some kind of localized climate that creates swirling winds or a night sky glare that makes balls hard to track?
Lets petition MLB to allow Aquino to just catch the ball and throw it instead of hitting. Maybe he can catch a curveball better than hit it. Otherwise he’s just another Billie Hamilton (defense only).
He is in no way another Billy, and I loved the guy. He has an arm like a cannon, and is capable of doing damage with the bat. The bat was never ever a factor with Billy.
Robert Stephenson DFA’d by the Rockies.
Amazing the course of what was supposed to be great Reds pitching in 2017
Stephenson, Garrett, Cody Reed, Sal Romano, Brandon Finnegan.
I will never forget the game Stephenson walked the pitcher with the bases loaded and threw all sliders and no fastballs.
So what is the over/ under the Reds put in a claim on him? 😉
Looks like he would cost just north of $400K for the remainder of the season then could be nontendered or held for 1 more year of team control subject to arbitration.
I have no idea if RS ever pitched to his ultimate ceiling but the way he was (mis)handled by the Reds in the process puts him on the list of guys who shortfall was at least as much on the team as on them.
Not necessarily with Stephenson specifically but with all the DFA activity since the trade deadline, I am wondering if there are some wink and nod de facto trades happening. For instance:
Team A makes Team B aware they would claim player Joe Blow if he showed up on waivers and if awarded Blow, would facilitate a minor league trade (allowed if the guys are not 40 man) of Bob Doe to Team B on very favorable terms for Team B.
Or Plan 1A: Team A makes Team B aware if they can get Joe Blow through waivers and outrighted of their 40 man, then Team A would send Team B a minor leaguer, Bob Dow for Blow in return.
It sounds like Colorado still had a spot on the 40 man so they are parting ways. Per mlb traderumors, his 4 seam FB averages 97 but is getting pummeled of late. He always had the good slider. He was good last year for them. Relievers getting DFA ‘d by a team that plays half their games at Coors field is probably a relief.
Maybe Aquino can be made into a pitcher with his 99 mile per hour arm! He cannot be a consistent hitter but could be a late inning fielding replacement as well as a BP pitcher If his OF throw is 99 mph then from 60 feet he could likely bring it at 104 mph ?
Major news on nick Senzel.
Bobby Nightengale says the Reds are planning on using him in a super-utility role next season and we will start getting easing into that transition some this year. Bell is quoted as well as Senzel and Senzel is agreeable to it. He says third and 2b are natural positions but he will play CF and may be even LF/RF depending on what’s best for the team.
Bell says Senzel sees it as a positive for his career and definitely help the team.
That is interesting. Now everyone can speculate on which prospect is moving to CF
yep. My guess is EDLC is going to be spending a lot of time in Arizona after the AA season ends. Probably individual work at the complex then a spot in the Fall League out there. Friedl is playing right now to nail down the fall aback position.
I love this idea. He has never hit good enough to be a starting 3B. He has hit good enough to be a starting CF, IF he was a great defensive CF, which he’s not.
I like the thought of him as super utility a lot, but man we have holes in the outfield next year.
It is a positive for Senzel’s career, as long as his career is, as a Major League Baseball player. Sadly, he just hasn’t lived up to his draft status.
Being a utility player (I’m not convinced of the adjective “super” in his case) may now be his ceiling.
i would define a utility player as a bench player who doesnt play regularly but can fill in at many positions.
Super-utility would be a core player who plays regularly but starts at multiple positions and versatility allows manager to maximize matchups
If he could migrate into a Ben Zobrist-type, that could be extremely valuable to plug/play into the injury holes that always happen. Assuming, of course that he stays healthy.
Nick is listed as 3rd baseman tonight with TJ in center.
Interesting article on Milwaukee’s dropping attendance numbers. The article also look at other small market teams.
The biggest decline in attendance since 2019 has been the Oakland A’s at a whopping 54%. The second largest drop has been Arizona at a decline of 25.2%. The Reds are listed of seeing the 3rd steepest decline since 2019 at 17.8%. It’s hard to imagine those numbers turning around anytime soon.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/brewers-attendance-drop-among-steepest-120016954.html
If they fired Phil Castillini, I’m guessing that would provide a bump. Also, progressing into the rebuild phase and out of the teardown phase would as well. Comparing 2022 to 2019 isn’t a great comp IMO as they were still a “contending level” team and weren’t turning out 3/9 of a major league lineup nightly as they have been the large part of this year.
I haven’t went to a single game this year and haven’t watched them much either. I took Phil’s challenge quite literally. I’m guessing I’m not alone and will come back depending on ownership.
Redgoogles. The same with me. I normally go to about 25 games each year. This season I have went to 3 games. If they have a Joey Votto night next season, I’ll probably attend that game, but I won’t likely attend any games other than that one.
interesting article. i have been following the attendance numbers pretty closely though and I believe this years attendance and last years are nearly the same at gabp.
I do think the “enhanced fan experience” is one way smaller markets are trying to increase attendance. But IDK, getting the crap beat out of us by the dodgers and mets isn’t to much of an enhanced experience to me. I would rather play in a parking lot and be good than have a cool stadium and lose 100 games a year
Oh, pity Milwaukee! The smallest market team ONLY draws 12,000 more per game than our smallish market team. Of course, a decline can be expected since companies are not going to sponsor group outings for their employees when seemingly most of them don’t even want to return to the office.
I would be more concerned about the other teams mentioned that have significant drops like Oakland, Arizona, Kansas City and the Reds. It’s pretty obvious what the problem is here although the Red’s drop is not as much as I expected probably due to marketing of travel packages for fans of the opposing team. That business niche is one where the organization is apparently very competitive.
+500. When the Reds drew 2m+ a year, it was not only because the team was very good but also because they were a regional team.
People from outside the I275 loop didn’t just come on weekends and special family outings in the summer. They got in their cars and drove to the games on week nights too just to be coming to the game.
I75 from Dayton south was a train of Reds fans heading to Riverfront You could see it from the dress of people in the cars or pennants on old fashion radio antennas or being waved out of windows. The rest area just south Monroe/ OH63 was packed with these people. After the games, the restaurants at exits along this stretch were packed with them. Why else was Frisch’s a minority holder in the Reds for going on 40 years until they sold to the Castellini ownership when it was taking over???
Mariners vs Guardians on youtube. Man I miss Winker, Suarez, and Castillo lol
@Bill,
Thank you for your insight and answer. I agree Stephenson has had some tough luck behind the plate. I think India is playing hurt right now. You guys who watch would know more than I as far as India’s mobility and range. Hopefully Bailey sports gets a contract with Youtube Tv… next season. So I can watch the Reds more even though they frustrate me lol