Thursday’s matchup between the Cincinnati Reds and the Philadelphia Phillies has been postponed. The Phillies were going to be hosting the Reds Thursday afternoon at 3:05pm ET in their home opener. But just over 21 hours before the game was scheduled to begin it was announced that the game wasn’t going to be happening. Instead the game is now scheduled for Friday afternoon, which was an off day for both teams, at 3:05pm ET.
That means that on Wednesday the Cincinnati Reds had two different games postponed within a span of about three-and-a-half hours, over two days, in two different cities. You have to wonder if that’s ever happened before in Major League Baseball history.
With it being the home opener for Philadelphia you can understand making the call sooner than you would on a normal game day. But making the call 21 hours beforehand seems like a real rush to judgment. There’s no real harm in waiting to see what things look like on the forecast at 9:00am on the day of the game and then making the call. Sure, some people will have already called off of work or maybe even kept the kids home from school, but there’s also a chance that the weather doesn’t happen the way they expected it to as of 5:50pm on Wednesday.
With regards to what this all means for the Cincinnati Reds…. well, Hunter Greene is going to have plenty of rest between his starts. He was expected to pitch in Wednesday’s game against the Cubs, but now he’ll go on Friday in Philadelphia, a full week after he last pitched on Opening Day.
The other thing that could be on the board for the Reds is a potential return of Joey Votto. While the Louisville Bats were also postponed on Wednesday due to storms that rolled through the area, they are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Thursday. Manager David Bell said on Tuesday that Votto wasn’t likely to return to the Reds on Thursday, which is the first day that he would be eligible to come off of the injured list. With two more games, potentially at least, under his belt, perhaps Friday’s game in Philadelphia could be on the table.
Wow … that’s pretty unexpected to do it this far in advance. The opening on Friday now looks very fortuitous. I hope Greene takes advantage of the time. Heaven knows our bullpen could use the extra rest … 😀
“Heaven knows our bullpen could use the extra rest … ?”
Yeah. For sure. Now if this would have worked out so that it was after Ashcraft had just finished his turn pitching it would have been perfect. Big Three and two days of rain. 🙂
+5,000
Votto doesn’t look quite ready. I’m hoping he’ll start his season Monday in Atlanta. Either way I’ll be there as always.
I actually think mlb needs to go to a flex schedule based on the weather forecast. We can predict the weather weeks in advance. Maybe a double header could have been scheduled weeks in advance for yesterday
Agree – pirates are off tomorrow and play in Pittsburgh on Friday. Could’ve made up today’s game tomorrow
“We can predict the weather weeks in advance”???
Where do you live?
And you should become a weather forecaster, cause mine is wrong seemingly half the time …
And yet they keep their jobs 😀
Nah. The forecast is right like 90% of the time. You just don’t notice it when they are right. (this doesn’t apply to WEEKS in advance, but 3-4 days out, they’re pretty good at it)
Well Doug, I did say “seemingly”, but the truth probably is somewhere in between.
I have a bigger issue with people that won’t hike, camp, bike, ski, etc. based on a 35% or 45% chance of rain. If my math is correct, that means that there’s a 55% to 65% chance of it doing squat. And rain only melts the Wicked Witch of the West.
Didn’t see a Wizard of Oz reference coming this eve …
Doug: Where I live, the extended forecast is only “right” because the continually change it as the week progresses. A foot of snow on Tuesday becomes 4 inches, then 8 inches, and so on. Inasmuch as my work was weather dependent, I’ve always paid very close attention. Probably forecasts differ in their reliability in different parts of the country.
Predict the weather weeks in advance???? People do, certainly, but a prediction isn’t always accurate.
Like someone else said, the only reason the extended is right is because they keep changing it. Supposed to rain all day yesterday here, didnt get a drop til last night late, but it rained out the game in town 30 miles away. And different forecasters have different forecasts at times. Go figure, look out the window.
You certainly don’t live in the northwest.
If anyone recalls the forecast this winter that called for ice / snow in Cincinnati of 4-6″, nearly every school district called off the day before.
The result, just some a.m. rain and a gray sky. No, we don’t need to make decisions 24+ hours in advance because we have good radar. 12 hours is plenty of lead time for anyone that has made planes to catch a ball game, and I highly doubt 60k people do that on a Thur in April.
Hopefully the Reds BP got their arsonist tendencies out of their system yesterday!
Looking forward to a better game from Hunter Greene next time out!
Can’t wait for Votto to return!
Who goes down when Votto returns?
Fairchild , who has all of 5 AB’s and one hit, a HR?
Benson , who is 0-12, with a bucket of Strikeouts?
Or do they get rid of a catcher? 8- ball says…. “unlikely”
Benson is the logical choice! I’ll take Votto at 50% over Benson!
While I think Benson is definitely higher in the pecking order than Fairchild, I tend to agree Benson will be the one to go down when JV returns. Fairchild gets a bit longer until Senzel is ready. It’s mostly because I think the Reds will want Benson to get everyday AB’s, and confidence in AAA.
Fairchild has managed to parlay 7PAs into an OBP/SLG/OPS line of .429/.800/1.229 which skewed or not by his hit being a HR, comes out to an OPS+ of 211 so far in this young season.
For his MLB career (134PAs) the same line as above is .328/.444/.773 for an OPS+ of 109. (but hey, in Lake Woebegone Reds all the players are above (MLB) average (100), right? So what of a guy 9% above in his first 134 MLB PAs?)
Or since MLB is game about what anyone has done lately, how about Fairchilds 2022 MLB season in which he was rookie status? Same line as before, this time on 110 PAs, .336/.464.800; OPS+ of 117.
Know what Jonathan India’s OPS+ was in his RoY winning 1921 season? 116. We can’t make a direct comparison because India had 6x more PAs; but then again, neither can we say Fairchild would not have maintained because he wasn’t availed the opportunity.
To the extent Fairchild has a recognition issue, I think it is that he doesn’t do anything that really jumps out to grab folks’ attention. But when the smoke clears, his offensive numbers are solid, he is regarded as a plus defender at all 3 OF spots and quick around the bases. Maybe he really is above average?
” he is regarded as a plus defender at all 3 OF spots and quick around the bases.”
According to statcast 2022 numbers Fairchild is the fastest on the team at 29 (ft/sec).
@Jim, I know you’re a fan of Fairchild, and could very well be right about his potential. I see it with the stats, I just don’t see it with my eyes. I think with enough playing time, his numbers would be below average. I don’t sense that the team values Fairchild as anything more than a filler piece.
@Melvin, Benson is faster, you’d have to pull the Guardians stats but it’s true. Plus he makes nifty plays in foul ground while climbing walls.
MBS – You are correct. Benson 29.2 – Fairchild 29.0 – Average 27.0
Benson just needs to settle down. Fairchild needs a chance.
@MBS>> Fairchild’s AAA career OPB/SLG/OPS line (409 PAs) is .367/.523/.889. BBRef does not assign OPS+ for minor league stats. Fangraphs does assess comparative ranking for MiLB but uses wRC+ instead of OPs+. They rate Fairchild’s AAA .889 OPS at 127 wRC+ with 100 being class level average.
These numbers were posted in the 2021-22 seasons, so maybe they don’t address the issue of how he’d stand up to the wear and tear of a full MLB season with 500+ PAs. But they indicate that it’s worth finding out given what he has done to date at MLB.
Reds have and some fans have tagged him as a bench player and on most teams he would be but not on our team.Based on his numbers alone he should be given a chance and by that I mean 400 or so at bats in the big leagues at a minimum but he has zero chance for that happening.
Fairchild also excelled with less than regular playing time. I expect Benson to be optioned when Votto returns.
The “weakness” in Fairchild’s game has been K-rate, right at 30 percent at the MLB level. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is about 4 to 1 as well. That said, I can’t recall a player being as productive as Fairchild over 100 MLB PAs getting so few opportunities in the past.
Bottom-line: I want to be your VP in the Fairchild “booster” club.
That was the smart thing to do, if you know the rain is coming or most likely raining for this Thursday, just postpone the game! For today’s game, Wednesday. You had both teams there on a getaway day…and they waited two hours to finally call the game and postpone it! They knew there was rain, odds were game would be called, yet they waited 2 hours to call it. They wasted both teams time. I am surprised the players didn’t bring that up as a point during the new collective bargaining agreement last year. The players should have really stuck to their guns, and told the owners that they need to work with the umpires to get a better procedure on games where they know rain is coming!
According to “Weather Underground” (is there really weather….underground?), the weather in Philly today is
Occasional showers this afternoon, 50% probability of rain. High of 80F
Heavy rains tonight, 98% chance of rain.
Tomorrow, cooler, high of 60 and overcast, but not much chance of rain. High of 60F.
Chance of Stuart Fairchild getting a fair chance to play in the ML for the Reds, less than 10%. Bring on Senzel!!
Fairchild was, after all, a fairly high draft choice for the Reds a few years ago.
Senzel will not approach Fairchild’s numbers. I won’t root against any Reds player but I don’t think Senzel will suddenly turn into a good player. Maybe too many injuries. This is likely his last year with the Reds and I wish him success whether he stays or goes.
There is indeed a Weather Underground and it is not, as far as I can tell, a subversive organization. Nor is it accurate at long-range forecasting where I live. As a former miner, I can also say that the weather underground isn’t changeable.
You don’t need a Weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
Fairchild was the #38 overall pick in the June 2017 draft. That draft had very few sandwich and compensation picks which led to the #38 pick being pushed back to the 2nd pick of the 2nd round. For at least 2 years before and after the 2017 draft, the #38 pick was officially a 1st round pick.
For example, Nick Lodolo was originally drafted out of high school by the Pirates at #41 overall as the final 1st round pick of 2016. Thankfully for the Reds, he chose to attend college instead and rose to the 7 overall pick when the Reds drafted and signed him in 2019. Also, Jesse Winker who was technically a 1st round pick was the #49 overall pick in the 2012 draft.
Here is a link to BBRef’s draft tracker tool set to the 2nd round of 2017 showing Fairchild as the #38 overall pick. It might make for an interesting rain day diversion to go there and navigate among years and drafts. The drop down controls are at the top of the page above the list.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?year_ID=2017&draft_round=2&draft_type=junreg&query_type=year_round&from_type_jc=0&from_type_hs=0&from_type_4y=0&from_type_unk=0
Jim, I think Fairchild is actually a very good outfielder. Runs very well.
Nick Senzel was an elite 3rd baseman in college, and should have played 3rd base for the Reds, but Eugenio was there at the time, so because he could run pretty good, they tried him to plug the hole in CF. It’s been tough sledding for Nick, and wish it would have turned out better.
But this is the real world, and unless Nick somehow miraculously turns it around, I don’t think he has much to contribute anymore. A real shame for a talented young guy and things should have turned out better.
Stuart Fairchild is not Nick Senzel, was not a top 1st round draft pick, but was not a slouch pick, either. I would LIKE to see the Reds give him a good number of AB’s to see what he has. He hit well in AAA, as you have indicated, and has not been a slouch when he has had an opportunity to play. I don’t see him as some fifth wheel in the outfield. I actually think he could become a standout player…..if he just got the chance. They gave AA all kinds of opportunities, and he finally proved he could not consistently hit ML pitching.
I don’t know where he fits in now with the Reds. Myers is actually not hitting all that great and there is likely ZERO chance he gets the bench if he doesn’t start hitting.
So when Senzel, getting $2 Mil a year now, is ready…HE WILL PLAY. I am sure Top Management has told David Bell to play him.
I believe I’ve heard that Senzel will play some at third base.
2 games postponed gives plenty of empty time for bandwagoners to hail RLN Hall of Famer Stuart Fairchild. He has 1 hit on the season and 3 k’s in 7 PA. There’s no news here. A homerun at the end of a game the Reds bullpen surrendered 10 runs and blew 3 innings before while the opposing pitcher is throwing “cookies” to get the game over is meaningless. Two Strikeouts in his only meaningful start against a lefty just amplifies his biggest issue- K% rate.
I hope he does well and cuts his K rate but late year stats on 100 loss teams playing out the string dont mean much nor do stats acquired when the score is 12-3 in the 8th inning.
I dont see where Fairchild plays when Votto comes back and when Senzel comes back. They arent sending Lou Gehrig down. Gehrig, Votto, and Stephenson will get a lot of DH /1b time so Fraley to DH isnt going to happen much. Same for Myers not going to 1b much. That means the OF is suddenly crowded with fraley/friedl/Myers. Senzel is on the verge of health and he’s not staying in AAA at $2.3 million and has positional flexibility as well.
Time will tell. We need some actual baseball to watch.
For me, Fairchild’s fate isn’t even about him per se. He is a poster person for how the dysfunctional Reds organization operates.
He had an AAA .889 OPS in 409PAs. He arrived at MLB in his age 26 season and posted an .800/109 OPS/OPS+ in his first 134 MLB PAs, including an .897/142 OPS/OPS+ in 99PAs after coming up with Reds.
He does not suffer from extreme handedness splits at the plate. And to boot, the player is a plus defender at all 3 OF spots and one of the fastest runners on the team.
Yet the Reds, who are in rebuilding mode from being one of the worst teams in MLB can’t seem to find a way to just put this player on the field to see if what he has done thus far in MLB is real and sustainable.
Instead, the Reds chose to incur a sunken cost of $7.5m (counting the buyout of a mutual option) on a 32 year old corner OF/ corner IF player eligible to be a free agent for 2024 once he exercises his side of the option. The back of this guy’s baseball card suggests he and Fairchild are likely to be similar offensive players this season.
The team also elected to retain the services of a one time #2 overall draft pick who in 4 MLB seasons has had no better than a .742/87 OPS/OPS+ which came 4 years ago in his rookie season. His career OPS/OPS+ is .663/74. This player represents a sunken cost of $1.95M (per Cot’s and BBRef) for 2023. And this guy who will cost even more in his final 2 years of arbitration doesn’t even have a position for which he is considered the #1 choice in 2023.
So not playing Fairchild regularly is costing the Reds $9.45m for probably no more and possibly less production than they would get from Fairchild in addition to not learning how good he might turn out to be. That money could have instead been spent on a starter or reliever to help make this year of transition more palatable and productive as a building block season.
I like the Myers signing and his first base ability and status as a proven MLB hitter was a good move and still is with the Votto uncertainty. Myers can slide to first if needed or stay in right if not needed. Votto vosler and stephenson at DH and 1b suggests he wont 5 games into season, but myers flexibility gives Bell and Krall options when the $32 million question of 2023 is does Joey V return to health or not? Myers is a sensible insurance plan as a hitter/RF/ and 1b. Fraley is an elite lefty hitter and I dont know what to make of Friedl other than I want to see more.
This has been fun Fairchild talk. I’d love it if any of our guys step up, so I’m definitely not rooting against any of them. We need to have a RH bat in the OF going forward, and Myers is likely only going to be here for half a season, like Pham was.
Senzel, been a bust to this point
Fairchild, has promise, but hasn’t been given a real shot yet
Hopkins, Showing some power, but not a “top prospect”
Cerda, lots of potential
Hinds, Power, but can’t stay healthy
Hendricks, not living up to 1st round selection
Allen, has the tools
McLain, possible position change to get him into the lineup
Marte, less of a possible position change to get him into the lineup
I don’t think I missed anyone of note, I probably did. The best bats are people who would need to be converted to a new position, and the best defenders haven’t developed near to their hit potential. Hopefully something shakes loose this season.
Was going to comment on that 90% accuracy somebody said about weather forecasts but “its not about if it is going to rain that day but when and how much.” The latter half being mostly unpredictable almost until the hour.
BTW, the 1:52 p.m. (current) forecast for today’s 3:05 game from the Weather channel;
Marginal risk for severe weather today. 79 deg, 10mph wind WSW, and possible rain after 7 p.m. Seems a perfect day for attending or even watching on MLB.TV.
Sorry, Charlie
My thought on Fairchild is that 3 other organizations have had the opportunity to recognize his upside but let him go. Seems strange to me that somewhere along those stops someone would have seen it if it existed.
It’s 82 with no precip in Philly right now–at what would have been gametime.
I still think it was a wise call.
Unfortunately a waste of an lovely april day despite the clouds. Some blue sky was peaking through.
A good reminder of the pitfalls of predictions. After all, “it’s only a model.”