In his final start of the spring, Connor Overton struggled as the Chicago White Sox scored nine runs against him as they topped the Cincinnati Reds 9-2 on Saturday night.
| Final |
R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox (12-12-2) | 9 | 14 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (14-13-1) | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Lynn L: Overton |
|||
| Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Highlights
The White Sox looked to be threatening with two outs after back-to-back singles, but Yasmani Grandal was thrown out as he tried to stretch his hit into a double. Cincinnati took advantage of that and grabbed a 1-0 lead after Jake Fraley doubled and scored on Tyler Stephenson’s 2-out single.
It was the 2nd inning when the White Sox got on the board. Hanser Alberto doubled and then scored on a Zach Remillard 2-run homer that gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. Erik Gonzalez followed with a home run of his own. Cincinnati got one of those runs back when Curt Casali walked and later scored on a Jose Barrero single.
In the top of the 3rd the White Sox offense went right back to it. The first five batters reached base and it was 6-2 before the Reds could blink. Connor Overton exited the game only to see both of the runners he had left on the bases score off of reliever Michael Byrne, who eventually got out of the inning – but it was 8-2 at that point. With spring training rules in place, Overton was allowed to return to the mound in the top of the 4th inning, and he did. He retired Chicago in order in both the 4th and 5th innings, but gave up a second homer of the day to Zach Remillard to begin the 6th. Overton would get the next two batters out before exiting the game with the Reds trailing 9-2.
The Reds only had two hits the rest of the game. In the bottom of the 9th inning Daniel Vellojin and Jason Vosler put together back-to-back 2-out singles, but they were stranded there to end the game.
Reiver Sanmartin threw 1.2 shutout innings with two strikeouts before giving way to Alex Young in the 8th with two outs. Young came out of the bullpen and tossed 1.1 perfect innings while picking up a strikeout.
Connor Overton’s spring ended with an ERA of 15.43 and a WHIP of 2.49. He is currently the team’s #4 starter. Reiver Sanmartin dropped his ERA on the spring to 2.35. Alex Young’s ERA was lowered to 1.74. Jonathan India picked up two hits on the day, raising his line to .320/.426/.480 with twice as many walks as strikeouts through 18 games.
Sunday’s Game
The final day of the spring for the Reds before heading back to Cincinnati, the Reds will play a split squad set of games. At 4:05pm ET they’ll be in Goodyear as the road team taking on Cleveland with Nick Lodolo on the mound. At 4:10pm ET they will take on the Colorado Rockies. No starter has been announced for that game yet.
I’m starting to think possibly that Williamson should be in the rotation and learn on the fly. At least he has the “stuff” to be very good. He should get better and better. Hard to say considering tonight’s game.
Hit the waiver wire. That’s all I’ve got at this point.
Yeah. Slim pickins as to what to do. Greene, Lodolo, Ashcraft….and two days of rain. 🙂
Pinder and strickland get cut and RLN goes silent lol
Won’t be for long. haha
There were 80 comments in the game thread on a Saturday night 9pm ET start. That’s pretty strong for spring training. The recap wasn’t live until like 12:30am.
I know, I’m just trollin’
With the first two Fridays of the season being off days, is there any chance the Reds roll with 4 starting pitchers until they need the fifth guy on April 12 or 13? Maybe by then, Luke Weaver is getting closer (Charlie G said he threw in a minor league game last night). It just seems like it would be in the team’s best interest to do everything possible to limit the number of games started by Connor Overton.
I don’t understand why they didn’t give chase Anderson a better chance. After his first 2 rushed starts last year (due to numerous injuries) , he was very effective test of the way.
I don’t think he’s head and shoulders above Overton but Overton was pitching to the white Sox B team and got lit up. That will destroy a bullpen early in the seasons if it happens 2 or 3 times in a row.
Williamson was sent down when he got pounded. Strickland was sent out when he got pounded. Overton must have a really impressive set of pictures!
So what would you have them do @Doc?
you stole my line Doc! You forgot about the telescopic lens!
Honestly, If Overton was “just getting his work in” and trying to hone a pitch type blah blah blah…it really doesn’t matter too much that he got lit up. Nevertheless, it can’t be too good for his confidence. I think it might be time for Nick Krall to slightly overpay for another starter. Without having any knowledge of how other teams’ roster crunching is going, somebody might have something better they could unload at the right price. Frankly, its hard to imagine that opening the season with Cessa and Overton in the rotation is the best of all possible options…outside the Reds organization. Inside, perhaps they are…which is kind of alarming.
I said Two weeks ago to sign Dylan Bundy. Now it’s to late for that. Reds need starting bodies. What they are rolling with is not good.
Why was Kevin Herget not given an opportunity he seems like a better option?
The Enquirer reported on 3/11 that the Reds moved him to the bullpen and he was no longer in contention for the rotation.
Years from now none of us will recall April 2023 when Anibal Sanchez or Kyle Crick started a half dozen games for Cincinnati.
I’ll remember. Old timers remember everybody.
Larry Luebbers was the next Andy McGaffigan.
Overton’s performances remind me a great deal of Bronson Arroyo. Bronson is a guy who is remembered as much more consistent in retirement than he really was. There were times he couldn’t get an out and other when he just ate up quality innings. Overton is the same. As the #5 starter if he is good 60% of the time the team should be successful. If #5 has a 10-10 record that means 1-4 should be better meaning your team is well above .500.
From 2006-2013 Arroyo averaged 211 innings pitched. Only one season was under 200, in 2011 when he pitched 199. He also averaged 33 starts per season which comes in for an average of slightly over 6IP per start. His ERA+ was at 100 or over 6 of those 8 seasons, and every season had a WHIP lower than 1.43.
I’d probably argue the opposite, that Arroyo was a lot more consistent than we recall, but tend to remember the absolute clunkers that he threw a few times a season more vividly than the 6IP 3ER games.
And I hop Overton does as well, but there were times during his seasons when he just got blasted and those at this sight were were ready to nail up the casket. If he was off a little he got bombed and Overton is the same. My point in this post was to not give up on Overton due to an awful outing. hopfully he has the same Reds career as Bronson.
Spring training stats being what they are…I can’t believe the Reds are going to reward Overton with a starting spot after such a disastrous spring. He was bad to start and bad to finish.
There’s got to be a better option out there somewhere. Better hit the waiver wire or place phone calls to other teams to get a trade working. It’d be an insult to the fans to have someone in the rotation that has been this bad.
Overton has been a disappointment after the feel good story before his injury last season.
Given that the Reds SP 1-4 appear fairly solid, I hope they avoid making a last minute trade and overpaying for pitching, given how much talent is in the pipeline.
Struggling along with Overton might be the default plan if nothing turns up on from waivers.
As insults go, at least he isn’t a $10M insult.
What sort of pitching talent is in the pipeline? Both Williamson and Stoudt are coming off years in which they struggled and they’re the prospects in AAA. Williamson didn’t exactly earn the job in ST. Phillips, Petty, Abbott etc are still a ways away needing to perform in AA before we start thinking anything more. Who’s Overton place holding for?
The pipeline H4V, not the gas pump hose.
I’d recommend think through my complete response, not lock on one sentence.
I wrote to express my hope that the Reds didn’t make an expensive trade for a pitcher at this time…when there are pitchers in the pipeline, at whatever level you are comfortable acknowledging.
I noted that I preferred a short term solution via a waiver pickup instead.
Overton could be holding a place until such an arrangement is made.
Overton could be holding a place for himself for a few more starts to see if he can regain his 2022 form.
Overton could be a placeholder for Weaver’s return as well.
Hopefully that might clarify things for you.
You can still pop off with a quick response, though, if that’s your game.
Dude you can save your snarky response. I asked a question to clarify a part of your response. You can answer that or not. But you seem to be the one who likes to pop off around here.
Dude…you seem to come on here looking for a fight much of the time.
All I asked was for you to do a little “reading for comprehension” before blasting your reply from your hip.
You want to get into an argument?
Take it elsewhere, okay?
Seriously?! Who do I try to start stuff with? Post receipts. I guarantee you can’t. YOU replied to ME.
All I did was ask a follow up question to the part of your response to my post. You got snarky and accused me of popping off and not reading through your post. I did. I understood everything except the “pipeline” that’s why I asked a follow up.
If you can’t have an adult conversation that goes back and forth, then don’t reply to me anymore.
As of today I suspect Overton is competing with Wily Peralta and Tyler Chatwood for the 5th spot in the rotation. Also suspect 4 to 6 other names will be added to the list by tomorrow afternoon.
I suspect Overton is about to get Pinder’d by RLN lol.
Personally, I’d bring back Williamson or Stoudt and give them a shot until Weaver and/or Anderson is ready. The 5th spot is going to be a revolving door all year anyway, let’s get the party started!
I don’t see Overton taking Chad-like heat here.
I think that’s too facile of a comparison and misses what was behind the anti-Chad sentiment here.
At least for myself, Pinder became a lightening rod for frustrations with Bell and his preference for 30 something mediocre utility men or bullpen meat.
And that better performing players got shelved while Chad was hanging around.
I’m sure Pinder is a good fellow and I wish him well.
Giving Overton an extended look isn’t blocking anyone else’s opportunity at the moment.
Overton may become a poster child for the tight fistedness of the ownership and not signing a decent starter during the winter.
But I don’t see that happening.
Yep – and this may not be all that bad. Let’s have 5 or 6 5th starters thru April and May, and see which ones are worthwhile. That will give Weaver, Anderson and Overton 2 or 3 starts each, and 1 or 2 for Stoudt, Williamson, and a waived swing man they claim this week. They’ll need 7 or 8 starters for the season, and another few bullpen arms, given the current and future injuries. Best to expect it now and plan to avoid another 3-22 start.