The Cincinnati Reds didn’t get much going for the first eight innings of the night, but they scored four runs in the top of the 9th inning to complete a come from behind win over the hottest team in spring training, defeating the Kansas City Royals 5-3 on Tuesday night.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (9-10-1) | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| Kansas City Royals (14-3) | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Kuhnel L: Willeman SV: Farmer |
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| Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Highlights
Kansas City got on the board in the top of the 1st inning after Hunter Dozier reached on an error by Spencer Steer and then scored when Michael Massey followed up with an RBI double. The Reds got that run back immediately in the top of the 2nd when Tyler Stephenson led off with his first home run of the spring.
Not a whole lot of hitting happened after that for either team until Samad Taylor hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 5th inning to put Kansas City ahead 2-1. That would be the final inning for Greene, who finished with seven strikeouts and no walks, while giving up just two hits and one earned run in 5.0 innings on the day.
Alex Young took over in the 6th inning and he got help from Jose Barrero on the first play of the frame as he fielded a ball and made a throw while still on the ground to record the out at first base.
Jose Barrero made this play look so casual ??? pic.twitter.com/Od2TRGtrCH
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 15, 2023
Young would get through the inning without giving up a run, and he turned the game over to Hunter Strickland in the 7th. Strickland then gave up a solo homer to Gavin Cross that extended the Royals lead to 3-1 and sent the reliever’s ERA to 10.80 on the spring. Joel Kuhnel came out of the bullpen to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning. He had a 1-pitch out against the first batter he faced, but the next batter made him work for it before a come backer at 106 MPH was snagged out of the air for the second out.
106 mph off the bat? No sweat. pic.twitter.com/8DxhLrnTd1
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 15, 2023
He walked the next batter, but buckled down and struck out Cayden Wallace to end the inning and give the offense one final shot to tie the game up or take the lead in the 9th.
The Reds weren’t ready to just head home. Jason Vosler walked to lead off the inning and then 19-year-old Carlos Jorge came off of the bench and beat out an infield single to put two men on with no outs. Catching prospect Daniel Vellojin then came through with an RBI double to make it a 3-2 ballgame and place the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. After a strikeout, Jack Rogers came to the plate and singled in two runs to give the Reds a 4-3 lead. Edwin Arroyo followed up with a single of his own. Back-to-back walks from Brian Rey and then Jose Torres brought another run in as Cincinnati extended their lead to 5-3.
With their first lead of the game, the Reds turned the game over to Buck Farmer to try and hand the Royals just their third loss of the spring. He needed just six pitches to retire the side in order on three ground outs and pick up the save.
Wednesday’s Game
The Reds will return home as they play hosts to the Chicago Cubs in another night game. Connor Overton is set to get the start for the 9:05pm ET contest.
I guess I’ll have to wait another day to see the follow up to “shellacking”.
Cheer up, LDS: This too shall pass.
I see Strickland gave up his customary homerun
Mid season form. 🙂
Bell: “Strick is getting close. Real close.”
It was Strickland’s day. Everyday is Strickland’s day. The question is will he be the closer, the set-up man, or the go-to guy in crucial mid-game situations?
Catch the fevah!
And it’s amazing the Reds were able to sign him just hours before spring training started. I can’t believe all the other teams missed out on him. ?
But it lowered his ERA to 10.5 since 1 run per inning is 9.0
The highlight was definitely Barrero throwing the runner out at 1B from SS at a seated position. That takes a really strong arm.
With his defensive abilities, like Sam LeCure said–just hit .240. If he does that he would be a 2-3 WAR player at least. Javy Baez had a 93 OPS+ with 17 home runs and still generated 2.6 WAR. I think we’d take that.
Arroyo looked pretty smooth at SS and at bat. I can understand the excitement
The kids were intimidated at all
we’re NOT
Anybody concerned with Steer’s play in the field?
Yes and No.
Yes, he seems to have had a tough spring defensively and Cowboy made some critical comments a few days back. Offensively, hes been ok.
No, Reds had him all over the place last year, even playing OF in AAA and 3b/2b/1b in MLB. It takes a special player to be able to do that and usually someone who’s been a major leaguer for quite awhile.
I like my utility infielders who move from 2b to SS to 3b to be bench guys with elite gloves who have been around the block ( Juan Castro, Paul Janish, Mariano Duncan).
Let the young guys play everyday at one position and learn it and practice and if Steer is hitting ok but doing his best Alec Bohm impersonation with the glove at the AS break, well..Krall has acquired a pipeline of good gloves ready to play. I like Marte at 3b in AA playing every day learning the position. Id also like Senzel to come back and see if he can be that utility guy who can play 3b or 2b when Steer or India need a recovery day.
I will not stand for this Mariano Duncan blasphemy.
You are 100% correct but thats not what Bell has shown he will do.He will bring in guys out of the pen until he finds the one that doesn’t have it and we all know on defense the ball always will find the guy who is not playing his best position.All managers do the same thing just to be fair but the difference is we haven’t had and may never have the roster to do the little league shuffle.
@ AC. I will always remember Duncan for changing the course of the NLCS series with that 3 run bomb against the Pirates. He was an important cog in that WS run in 1990. More referring to his later years but point well taken.
Yes, he is not a major league quality third baseman at this point. This is a problem with the guy who played everywhere coming up. He did not learn to play any position well. Can Newman play third because if Steer is the starter there is going to be a need for a late inning defensive replacement, unless Strickland is pitching and then it won’t matter.
Lots of roster moves made yesterday. I’m sure Doug will be reporting on them soon.
I’ll take that kind of outing from Greene. I’m with the rest of you about Strickland.
Sweet play from his butt by Barrero!
I wonder if Bell meant Strickland was getting real close to being gone?
When do we start getting our WBc pitchers back? That alone should help the BP.
Among all the youngsters at the end of the game, Arroyo and Jorge looked very good, future SS and 2B, respectively.
I stopped watching after Greene pitched the 4th. I was pleasantly surprised he went 5. He looks to be nearly ready to start the year. I know absolutely zero people like Pinder, but you gotta admit that was a nice snag he had.
I’m sure that Jacob Pinder is a nice guy, and plays the game…the right way. I mean, he has been a major leaguer for a while. Played for Oakland last year, who also finished last.
In a different world, where the Reds have a great lineup, lots of talent on the field, keeping Pinder as some kind of “ute” guy would be fine.
But the Reds lost 100 games last year. Mostly because of bad pitching, but their team OPS was nothing to get excited about.
So my particular problem with Jacob Pinder is not that he is a bum, which he’s not. But that he doesn’t really add anything to a team that is trying to climb out of the cellar of the NL Central.
Just saying it was a nice play.
Same with Vosler.
Some things never change! H. Strickland, one (1) inning pitched, one (1) HR allowed!
Gotta keep that ERA in double digits!
From what I have seen thus far Steer is not a very good 3B. The problem is the Reds have Fraley, Benson, Friedl and Myers in the OF and Votto at 3B. Since he needs AB to see if his bat plays every day in the majors the Reds have no choice but to play him at 3B this year.
Likewise, they need to know if Barrero’s bat will provide him everyday AB on a good team. He needs to play every day this year too.
Next year will be interesting. EDLC, McLain and CES will need every day AB. Fraley, India and Stephenson are everyday players in my mind. That leaves three offensive starting jobs for whomever proves themselves this year or does so well in the minors that they need to be placed in the same group as EDLC, McLain and CES.
Benson and Friedl look pretty good this spring as do Steer and Barrero. These four bring the count up to 10 players for 9 spots. What about Senzel and Fairchild. My thought is Senzel is a utility player now and Fairchild is a 5th OF.
But there are also other minor league players to consider. Siani should be ready at some point this year. Will McGarry develop and be ready to replace Votto in 2024? Will Marte finally show he is a prospect? What about Arroyo? The future of the Reds is bright offensively:
Position/2024///2025///2026
C/Stephenson///Stephenson, Vellojin///Stephenson, Vellojin
1B/CES///CES (McGarry)///CES (McGarry)
2B/McLain/McLain/McLain
3B/Barrero///Barrero, Marte///Barrero, Marte, Arroyo
SS/EDLC///EDLC///EDLC
LF/Fraley///Fraley///Fraley
CF/Benson, Siani///Benson, Siani///Benson, Siani
RF/Friedl, Siani, Cerda///Friedl, Siani, Cerda, Hendrick, Allen///Friedl, Siani, Cerda, Hendrick, Allen
This list excludes the Daytona 9 and several others I probably forgot. The offensive future looks really bright.
I forgot India at 3B and Steer at DH. The combination of these two probably move Barrero to Utility IF and Senzel a FA.
Hi Stock,
Where is Jonathan India in your projections for 2024 and beyond?
The Reds could move Nick Senzel to 3B when he is healthy. That way Steer would only have to play 158 games there this season.
Haha That’s kinda funny. Poor Senzel. Wish him the best.