The Cincinnati Reds came up short in their come from behind efforts on Tuesday night. Jose Barrero’s 455-foot, 2-run home run in the 8th inning brought Cincinnati within a run, but that was as close as they would get as Atlanta held on to win 7-6.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (4-6) | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Atlanta Braves (8-4) |
7 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Tonkin (1-1) L: Cessa (0-1 SV: Anderson (1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Cincinnati’s offense threatened in the top of the 1st with some help from starting pitcher Kyle Wright as he walked Jake Fraley with two outs and then hit Tyler Stephenson to put two men on base. That brought up Wil Myers but his struggles to start the season continued as he struck out swinging to end the threat. In the bottom of the inning Matt Olson hit a 448-foot solo home run to put Atlanta on top.
The Reds were threatening again in the top of the 3rd inning. Jonathan India singled to lead off the inning and then moved to third when TJ Friedl doubled into right field. Kyle Wright then walked Jake Fraley on four pitches to load the bases for Tyler Stephenson. Wright followed up by hitting Stephenson to tie the game up.
After Wil Myers and Jason Vosler both struck out it was up to Spencer Steer to make something happen before the inning was completed. Steer grounded one towards second base and busted it down the line, beating the throw for an RBI single. TJ Friedl scored from third, but Jake Fraley came racing around the bases and slid into home plate as the throw from Matt Olson arrived as the Reds grabbed a 3-1 lead. The control for Wright came back to fail him again as he walked Curt Casali to load the bases and then walked Jose Barrero to bring in the 4th run of the inning.
Atlanta wasted no time in getting back one of those runs. Sam Hilliard doubled to lead the bottom of the inning off and he scored on a Ronald Acuna Jr. single that followed. The next inning they would get the other two runs back on a 2-run homer by Ozzie Albies. They weren’t finished, though, as Marcell Ozuna singled and then came around to score on a Sam Hilliard double as the Braves grabbed a 5-4 lead. Luis Cessa would walk Ronald Acuna Jr. to follow, including throwing a wild pitch on ball four that moved Hilliard up to third base. It was the final pitch of his outing.
Alex Young came on to face Matt Olson and try to put the inning to an end and he did just that. Young returned for the 5th inning and he gave up two singles while recording just one out. Fernando Cruz was called out of the bullpen to take over. He would get Ozzie Albies to ground out, but both runners moved up a base. Orlando Arcia followed up with an RBI single that made it 6-4 before a fly out to the wall ended the inning. Cruz returned to the mound for the 6th and fired off a 1-2-3 frame.
Kevin Herget took over in the bottom of the 7th and ran into trouble with back-to-back walks to begin the inning before the Reds potentially caught a break when Eddie Rosario drove one off of the wall in right field but Austin Riley read the ball incorrectly and could only advance to third base, leaving Rosario with a single and for the time, no runs. Ozzie Albies followed with a grounder to first base that Jason Vosler fielded and fired home for a force out. Orlando Arcia grounded a ball to third and Spencer Steer to the bag for a force out at third then fired across the field to try and turn a double play but the throw was late and a run scored, making it 7-4. The inning ended on a pop up caught by Jose Barrero as he collided with Jake Fraley in the outfield.
The Reds weren’t going to roll over. Spencer Steer led off the 8th with a double and Jose Barrero crushed his 1st homer of the year 455 feet to make it 7-6. Jonathan India would walk and then steal second base to put himself in scoring position. David Bell then called on Kevin Newman to pinch hit for Jake Fraley with Atlanta having a lefty on the mound. The move paid no dividends as Newman struck out on six pitches.
Derek Law took over in the bottom of the 8th and walked the first two batters he faced. He buckled down, getting Matt Olson to strike out and then saw Austin Riley line out to Jonathan India for the second out of the inning. Law battled Sean Murphy but came out on top with a strikeout to strand two runners and send the game to the 9th.
Needing a run to tie the game up, the Reds sent up the middle of the order to the plate. Tyler Stephenson lined out to begin the inning before Wil Myers struck out and Jason Vosler popped out to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
Ozzie Albies 2-run home run in the 4th inning that put Atlanta ahead. The Braves never trailed again.
Notes Worth Noting
Jake Fraley went 2-2 with two walks but was pinch hit for late in the game in order to get a platoon match up.
Spencer Steer is hitting .314/.400/.600 with six extra-base hits, five walks, and just seven strikeouts in 10 games to start the year.
Jose Barrero picked up his first walk and home run in the game. He’s only struck out four times in 22 plate appearances so far this season (18%).
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Atlanta Braves
Wednesday April 12th, 7:20pm ET
Hunter Greene (0-0, 5.63 ERA) vs Spencer Strider (1-0, 2.45)
You dont pinch hit Kevin newman for jake fraley who is your best hitter and got on base4x.
Fire David bell
you are taking a guy our of the batter box that is hitting .370 for a guy hitting .167. I don’t care what analytics say that makes no sense to me.
Not to mention the fact that Fraley has been looking great at the plate and Newman has been looking the opposite of great. Bell seems to be completely detached from reality at this point.
Fraley is the Reds best hitter…against right-handed pitching. Against LHP, he might very well be the Reds absolute worst hitter.
To the extent batting average matters, Fraley is a career .150 hitter versus LHP, and Newman is a career .283 hitter. In 2023, Fraley is hitting 0.200 versus LHP and Newman is hitting 0.400 versus LHP (both in a SSS obviously).
What’s left out of analytics is who is actually “seeing the ball well”. Fraley obviously was tonight. That makes all the difference a lot of the time.
Sometimes you’ve got to ignore the overall stats (especially the ones that are based on five at-bats) and pay attention to what’s been happening lately. In the past three games, Fraley is 5-10 with 4 walks. Newman has 4 hits all season, and 2 of them came on opening day. He’s had one hit since April 3. That’s a situation where you just see what the lefty can do.
I sure would love to hear the explanation for why Casali hit for himself in that inning. Maybe he has a .285 lifetime average against right-handed pitchers in 8th innings of games where his team is down by 3 runs and there’s a runner on 2nd, or something like that.
J – “Maybe he has a .285 lifetime average against right-handed pitchers in 8th innings of games where his team is down by 3 runs and there’s a runner on 2nd, or something like that.”
…and on a Tuesday. Don’t forget that. 😉
On Tuesdays in April, perhaps.
Yep
Fire Bell!
Why carry 3 right-handed hitting catchers?
Almost a catcher hit right handed. There are few exceptions
I won’t let anyone lose sight of the fact that Casali hit for himself, with everyone on the bench still available, while Friedl and Fraley were lifted in the same inning for pinch hitters. Sometimes it’s hard to believe this is a major league team.
I have never understood the fascination with Curt Casali. He has never hit a lick and aging, back up catchers are a dime a dozen.
I know some here have advocated Casali as the next Red’s manager, which really boggles my mind. You would think another inexperienced manager, would be the last thing Red fans would want to see.
Casali’s career OPS+ is 91. That’s not bad for a defensive 1st catcher who is a good handler of pitchers. By comparison, old Friend Tucker Barnhart’s career OPS+ is 82; and, he is the same type of guy.
This said Casali’s age is really at a danger point for catchers. You never know when the tank has gone dry.
It’s a major league team, currently being managed by an ‘everybody must play’ little league mentality, it appears.
Gotta keep ’em fresh…..lol…smh
It’s time to move Steer up the lineup a bit. I’d like to see him flip with Myers for the 5 hole.
Good signs for Barrero, not there yet, but he’s looking much better in 23. Maybe a couple more well struck ball will get his confidence, and production up.
Myers has no business being in any line-up,..in the majors or minors. He is a strike out KING!!!! 3 pitches is all it takes, and he’s done. Can you send someone back to Little League?
Myers = Moustakas at this point, and that says a lot about how this organization evaluates talent in a free agent setting.
Hey bug. Must admit I am surprised at how lost at the plate he seems. Pitchers pitching him away almost every pitch and he swings and misses most of them. He stands far away from the plate so move in an inch or two. Not sure why now this late in his career he seems to be having such a problem with this issue. Is it just his age? Anyway Reds can ill afford to have him bomb out and or leave him in the lineup too long at the expense of younger players who need the reps.
The Reds scored 6 runs.
That should have been enough. Bad pitching kind of lost this game, and it was mainly Cessa.
Players that are not hitting well: Myers, Newman, Vosler (who was hot once!) and Casali (but he’s a catcher, Mom!). Well, and Benson, too.
Newman and Myers will continue to get AB’s.
And frankly, the situation at 1st base is kind of weird.
Stephenson can play first, but then he can’t catch, and Maile or Casali have to catch. And they can’t hit well at all.
Or Myers, who isn’t hitting, plays first.
Or Vosler, who isn’t hitting now, plays first.
And then Joey Votto, who is not hitting in AAA comes up, and plays first.
Typically, 1st base is supposed to be a strong offensive position.
Gosh, if only the Reds had a player who played first base who was also hitting the cover off the ball in Spring Training….
Yep, it sure would be nice if they had a player like that.
He is currently on the MiLB IL with back issues. Doug’s prospect list says it is a herniated disc.
Scroll down the linked page to the Reds Prospects run down list then to #7 on the list.
https://www.redsminorleagues.com/2023/04/09/cincinnati-reds-minor-league-game-review-april-9-2023/
Oh, I thought I had read that he had come back. Guess not.
Here’s why I thought he was back. I saw he a EDLC had “resumed baseball activities”, but guess they aren’t playing in actual games yet:
https://www.mlb.com/news/elly-de-la-cruz-christian-encarnacion-strand-injury-update
The Reds have been more competitive so far this season. They are just not going to be able to make significant strides, though until they have a couple more solid starting pitchers and more competent arms in the bullpen. I think the offense will be OK, but the pitching is just not very good.
As someone who lives in Pittsburgh – Kevin Newman should never pinch hit for ANYONE.
Casali hit .203 last year and .210 the previous year. He was 1 for 8 this season heading into the 8th inning. He was permitted to make an out, but Fraley and Friedl had to be removed.
While it’s not good for Doug’s business model, sometimes it’s easier to just read the box score, play by play, and whoever is on RLN than suffer the live action. Send Vosler and Benson to Louisville. Give Hopkins a shot. When CES has had a few swings, bring him up. The Reds aren’t winning anytime soon. At least, let’s have some fun. And where is that ST strategy of being aggressive on the base paths, stealing a base here or there etc. For that matter, where are the pitchers that were throwing strikes in ST? I guess now that it’s the regular season, Bell has told them to quit taking chances and go for another 100.
To pinch hit for the team’s offensive leader, who has been on base 4 of 4 times with one of his hits from a lefthander, makes zero sense. Krall has assembled a team that has the potential to provide the fanbase with exciting baseball, but it’s not going to happen without managerial change. The central question remains who is going to make that necessary change? That will have to come from top management who are dedicated to winning and the fanbase.
DB would have pinch hit for Pete Rose if he were 4 for 4 and the next at bat was a chance to break Cobb’s record.
He would not. Pete Rose was a switch-hitter. However, he would certainly pinch hit for Morgan (unless Morgan were old and way past his prime, in which case he’d hit for himself.)
“Jake Fraley went 2-2 with two walks but was pinch hit for late in the game in order to get a platoon match up.”
hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!
Fraley hitting .370 and Newman on the interstate (I??). SMH
What a shock that Newman Kd. SMH
But don’t forget. The players like David Bell. A real winner.
Unsaid is that Bell may have led with Fairchild for Friedl trying to bait the Braves into pulling the LH so he could leave Fraley in. Braves didn’t bite and almost paid the price again vs Fairchild as he got an 0-2 mistake pitch to hit and put pretty good wood to it but just missed really driving it (90.6 EV but too much elevation, 47 degrees).
I think most of us would have liked to leave Friedl and Fraley in and possibly use Fairchild for Casali or Myers. If the lefty righty thing and other analytics is all that matters then we might as well us AI to manage the team. It would do a lot better than any human. There comes a point that you just have to let players play who are doing well and NOT mess with them.
It’s amazing to me how Wil Myers has lasted ten years in the majors with that stance so far from the plate. At age 32 he’s almost a guaranteed out with the outside corner pitch. At least he’s on a one year contract. He has no future with the Reds. Play Fairchild or Benson in right field. Use Myers and Newman only when needed. If the Reds are going to challenge .500 this season, the manager needs to arrive at a consistent starting eight without injuries.
Got a guy in Chatanooga named Andy Fisher, left handed reliever. Obviously super small sample size on the year but his stuff looks good. 1.2 innings with 4 K’s. Short career minor league era of 3.20. 137.2 innings, 181 K, 63 BB, 1.26 WHIP. Already 27 years old so wouldn’t be that unrealistic if he skipped Louisville and came straight up. Something needs to be done. Couldn’t hurt to try.
Side note.
Someone tell Myers to scoot up in the box. Dude coudln’t even sniff anything outside if he wanted to.
We got a guy named Young who has been lights out. He got in the game today and got a big strikeout to get out of a jam. That was his only batter. In the last few games, when the Reds needed strong bullpen pitching, he never played and the bullpen lost the games. It’s not that decent pitchers don’t exist in the organization, it’s that Bell sucks at using them.
I’m well aware of Young. I asked if he was dead the other day when we went to Sanmartin over him. Doesn’t hurt to try to get.. you know.. more than one ok arm, you know?
Young pitched to 4 batters last night
Myers did more to lose this game than David Bell, and I am not a fan of Bell. He is not only so far off the plate that he can’t reach an outside pitch, he is taking long loopy swings at everything and to top it off, is not even striding towards the pitcher when he swings. It’s sort of in that direction but to me he’s stepping in the bucket. Never, ever going to hit a baseball that way if it’s anywhere near the outer half. Benson to Louisville, who should share a seat with Myers on the way, only I don’t think Louisville will help him. Yes, we had 6 runs, but could have had more if Myers had made some kind of contact when it counted. He is now Moose #2
Looking at NL team stats, the Reds are around 8th-9th in batting, 10th-11th in pitching, and maybe 8th-9th in fielding. So, incredibly average, if not a tad below. For the talent the Reds currently have, is that under performing or over performing?
Six teams from each league make the playoff now. Being 8th-9th in hitting and fielding if it is maintained would indicate that incredibly if the Reds had traded or spent even marginally for a couple of bullpen arms, they would likely be a playoff contender.
Lost in the late inning 1 run losses are some pretty impressive offensive numbers from some Reds.
Jake Fraley is 4th in the NL in OBP, 6th in BA and 8th in OPS. He has as many walks as K’s
Spencer Steer is 13th in the NL in OPS at a nifty 1.000
Jon India is everywhere .316/.422/.474/.896 tied with a bunch for 2nd in runs scored and similar to fraley walks even with K’s.
Friedl OPS is up there as well and Stephenson has been solid, a bit light on the power so far, but still a good hitter who gives a quality AB.
Solid start for those 5 players.
Let Barrero get a good run of games in and some continuity and see what he does.
Barrero over the last 7 games you ask?
.294/.333/.471/.804
Now just need something from the RF/1b/2nd catcher slot.
All reasons why I don’t give a crap about Fraley’s “cArEeR .130 aVg aGaInsT LHP”
He’s had 138 PAs across 5 seasons. I put zero stock into that sample when he is objectively the Reds best hitter.
THANK YOU! Heck, there was a time in there when he didn’t hit righties OR lefties! Obviously, the dude is a different player now than he was earlier in those five seasons! I can’t believe David Bell pinch hit for him! I mean geez, Ken Griffey would have been a platoon player on a David Bell managed team!
If you look at the stats for the year, 1B (Vosler) has been more productive than C (Stephenson). However, I don’t think Vosler can maintain his current above .800 OPS, and Stephenson’s power numbers will show up soon.
On offense, RF (Myers) has me worried the most, but two good games in a row can remedy that.
It’s always tough to lose a 1 run game. I’m encouraged the team is competitive and refuses to go quietly – like they did so often last year.
Starting pitching and bullpen have to improve. We’re scoring enough to win if the pitching was average.
Vosler and will myers are black holes in offense. Tyler needs to get more extra base hits if he is going to take up first base at bats. Barerro is looking better and better.
Manager Jerry Narron once PH for Juan Castro for Josh Hamilton. 2007 season vs the A’s. History repeats itself.
Thank Gawd for Jeff Brantley who tells it like it is. Case in point: Myers stands too far off the plate & can’t hit breaking pitches away plus Barrero needs to make those backhanded plays. Back to back nights he hasn’t. Exactly what I was thinking too.
Yep, yep, yep on Brantley telling it like it is. Refreshing.
Anyone else think the defensive decision that Steer made in the 7th inning was a key play? Steer attempted to turn a double play on the bases loaded, 1 out situation. In a close game you are taught the the corners (first/third) come home and second/short try to turn 2, especially on the type of ball that was hit to him.
He had to go at least 10 feet to get to the bag and then throw across his body. If he throws home the score remains 6-4 and there are now 2 outs with the bases loaded. Sometimes the lack of fundamentals kills this team, winning teams make the right play.
I thought the same thing!
It could be possible the runner on third had a massive lead and steer made the best decision in preventing one runner is scoring positon. Albies is very fast so it would make sense he didn’t go to second. It seems odd, but you could say another key moment was when volsler dropped a groundball and only could step on first.
It was overall a good game for most guys. Its hard to come back when your starter gives up 5 runs in less than 5 innings, I think there is a lot to like offensively and Steer, Barrero have both shown they can hit.
Barrero esspecially, I mean he has a 18% strikeout rate, hard hit balls for outs, good sign.
Brantley said there was no way he was getting the guy at the plate.
Correct
Something happens defensively in nearly every game which underscores Steer is learning 3B on the job at MLB. That he is in this situation is not on him. He just plays on defense where he is assigned to play it.
The situation however should be a huge caution flag for the Reds organization since they literally have half a dozen highly rated prospects to repurpose from SS to other defensive spots.
No doubt about it…often, those plays are the difference in one run games. It’s why I’m not a big fan of the moving guys all around the diamond defensively. We better get used to it I guess, we have 7,000 SS in the organization.
@Slicc50, Steer will figure out these situations where he looks indecisive as he fields the ball. However, I am concerned he seems to be late on a number of balls to his backhand side. That could be a physical lack of enough quick twitch response versus mental indecision. Time will tell.
Do you think Bell pinch hits for Votto last night in the same situation? Pinch hits for Myers? Never a veteran. Bell is not the manager to bring along these young guys. Contract is up after this year. Time to move on.
At least until he is extended….again.
With Buddy Bell still being an advisor in the Reds front office, I don’t suspect Bell is going anywhere other than driving the better young players on this team to psycho therapy.
DB believes every young player cannot hit the opposite throwing pitcher. if that is the case maybe they should do something different as they come up through the minors. There are analytics and then there is the eye test, and gut reaction, I doubt that Francona or one of the other quality managers always goes by the numbers. The young guys will never get it without given the opportunity to fail.
Fire David Bell today
I see some on this site must not agree when I said any coach should be able to see what’s wrong with a certain hitter that can’t reach the outside of the plate. The word silly must be banned also because my truthful comment was taken down without any bad words being used, only true words. If I can’t make honest comments on this site I won’t be back.
I forget the name of the coach, but he has been appearing all over socials, maybe myers needs to listen to him.
Overall offense is good so far, I think if our bullpen was slightly better we be 6-4
Who would think this is the record of when our starters start
Hunter Greene 0-2
Nick Lodolo 1-1
Graham Ashcraft 1-1
Connor Overton 2-0
Luis Cessa 0-2
According to the Reds site Overton doesn’t have a win. Cruz and Herget have the other two.
There were mixed results on the rehab front Tuesday with AAA Louisville.
Tony Santillan had a bad inning out of the bullpen
Nick Senzel was 1/5 but at least the 1 hit was a HR. He now has a .273 BA and .907 OPS in 27PAs. If he stays healthy, he might be close.
Joey V went 0/4 with an RBI (sac fly) and 3 more Ks. Votto now has 20Ks in 36PAs (55.55% K rate). Watching JV is very hard right now. I find myself wondering what he is thinking as his situation unfolds. Is he still looking for and working on tweaks or adjustments to turn things around? Or has he perhaps concluded he has done all he can do; and, now it is a matter of playing out the hand to see whether this is the end of his career?
I saw Joey play in spring training this year. Before going to the plate for his at bats, he would throw the weighted bat over each shoulder to stretch. This in itself led me to believe the shoulder/ bicep must be strong enough that he had little concern for re-injury.
I think father time has finally said “that’s it Joey, time to move on with your life” THANKS for the memories.
From the limited views on MiLB TV, Joey seems very relaxed and looks like his old self, enjoying just being on the field. Then he gets up to bat and just can’t put effectively put his bat on the ball with any regularity.
Despite the last two games and the recent Lodolo game which were winnable, there are encouraging signs in Redsland. Barrero’s 8th. inning homerun and his decrease in strikeouts are among them.
Excited about how this team battles but we have to accept that Bell is just a terrible in game manager.Players may love him and he is much smarter then I am for sure but he can’t be watching the same game as the rest of us are watching.Every manger can be questioned on almost every move they make but Bell is in a league of his own and continues to prove it.It appears he has written his own book on how to manage a major league team by scripting everything in advance to the point where he doesn’t even have to show up at the game.Just give a copy to his bench coach or text each time he wants to make a move.I felt once the DH happened and Krall purged the dead weight from this roster that Bell would have to manage less and just let guys play.I should have known better
A micromanager is going to find something to micromanage in every situation.
True, he is indeed a micromanager. Watching Newman come up to pinch hit made my stomach turn over.