Wil Myers’ two-homer, four-hit, five-RBI performance led the Cincinnati Reds to a 13-0 victory over the Philadelphia Philllies before 25,860 at Great American Ball Park.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies (5-10) | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (6-8) |
13 | 14 | 1 |
| W: Ashcraft (2-0) L: Strahm (1-1) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Myers hit two homers in the first three innings, setting the tone for a relentless Reds offense in what was Cincinnati’s largest shutout win in more than 2,100 games vs. the Phillies.
The Offense
Myers led off the bottom of the second inning with a 406-foot bomb into the left field upper deck to give the home team the early lead.
First homer as a Red ??
First viking appearance ?? pic.twitter.com/pGVBxrcImf— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 15, 2023
Phillies Manager Robbie Thomson removed starting lefty Matt Strahm after 67 pitches over 2 2/3 innings. With Myers up next, it appeared Thompson wanted to avoid the Strahm-vs.-Myers matchup again. Myers crossed up that strategy with a three-run blast to left field off righty reliever Andrew Bellatti, putting the Reds up 4-0.
Oh, and Myers also contributed on defense:
Wil, Wil, Wil, Wil, Wil, Wil, Wil Mye The Baseball Guy. pic.twitter.com/eu7dEihB7r
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 15, 2023
That two-out play on a sizzler hit by Kyle Schwarber ended the top of the third.
Then in the fifth with two out, Jose Barrero first bobbled and then threw away a Trey Turner grounder at first base. But Myers hustled after the errant throw, retrieved it, and then fired to second, where Jonathan India was waiting to put the tag on Turner for the final out.
But wait, there’s more! With runners on first and second and nobody out in the bottom of the fifth, Phillies rookie reliever McKinley Moore splintered one of Myers’ bats, but on this day, that meant Myers looped one down the left field line for his third run-scoring extra-base hit in five innings. Cincinnati led 8-0 after five full innings.
Myers’ impressive box-score line: 5 at-bats, 4 runs scored, 4 hits, 5 RBI. For the first three games of this series, Myers is 7-for-12 with seven RBI. Over his past 15 games, he’s 10-for-28 with a 1.062 OPS.
India and Jason Vosler had two hits each batting in the leadoff spot. Barrero and T.J. Friedl knocked in two runs each.
Nick Senzel got his first hit of the year in a five-run eighth-inning onslaught against position player Josh Harrison on the mound for Philly.
The Pitching
Starter Graham Ashcraft continued his string of eye-popping appearances to start the season. In 89 pitches over six innings today, he held the Phillies scoreless on four hits and four walks, dropping his ERA to 1.42. He was followed by Buck Farmer and newcomer Casey Legumina.
Righthander Legumina, who came to the Reds in the Kyle Farmer trade with Minnesota, pitched the final two innings in his major league debut. He allowed a walk while inducing two groundouts and striking out Brandon Marsh for his first big-league K. In the ninth, he followed with two more swinging strikeouts. Legumina is expected to become a contributor at the big-league level either now or in the near future. My best guess: right now he has much more to offer than several of the marginal arms on the current bullpen roster.
What’s news
Joey Votto was back in the Reds dugout, having returned from his rehab in Louisville. According to the television broadcast, Votto will continue his rehab program while with the big-league team.
Jose Barrero was walked in four of his past five games, helping to frame this interesting comparison:
Jose Barrero w/#Reds
2022 9 BB in 174 PA
2023: 4 BB on 18 PA since Tuesday— LanceMcAlister (@LanceMcAlister) April 15, 2023
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Philadelphia Phillies at Cincinnati Reds
Sunday, April 16, 1:40 p.m. ET
Aaron Nola (0-2, 7.04 ERA) vs. Luis Cessa (0-1, 7.00 ERA)
Wil Myer day. 🙂
Legumina looks legit!!!
So far so good. (thumbs up)
I expect Barrera to continue to improve with regular time at short. Don’t split his focus by sending him to CF
Hopefully won’t have to worry about it with Senzel back. I know it’s not easy to go back and forth between SS and other positions.
Not easy at all, but plenty of guys can do it. Barrero is that kind of athlete, but I’d still expect him to be at SS a lot moving forward.
Barrero needs play everyday to perform better , he looks like gaining confidence at the dish. Newman should be on the bench a long time unless play another position but the SS…
Sort of like Bell. Trying to win games while balancing getting the young players acclimated and the older vets playing time. Doesn’t seem like a easy task.
I’m really throwing this out there. But, only inquiring. No need for hatefulness. . .
Our big 3 starters are obviously Greene, Lodolo, and Ashcraft. Our bullpen obviously sucks. My query. . .
What about a rotation of Greene, #4, Lodolo, #5, and Ashcraft, or however you want the starters? Not that I would do this at all. Only considering. For, my consideration here is. . .
The “normal way” (again, which I can understand why to do it), the bullpen may get taxes having to pick up for the #4 and #5 guys on consecutive days. But, if you split the #4 and #5 guys up, then more likely, there would be a better starter between them and, thus, potentially give the bullpen a rest.
Any input? It wouldn’t even need to be Greene, Lodolo, and Ashcraft, but any #1, #2, #3. Split the #4 and #5 up in the rotation.
Think they did that last time if I’m not mistaken.
Maybe that is why Bell flipped Ashcraft and Overton for the last game in philly/ first in atl.
That’s been my take, not a 1st but the 2nd time Overton pitched, I was like, “at least we’ll have Ashcraft tomorrow, OH wait a minute, is that why Bell…”
Maybe we don’t give Bell enough credit?
Myers was on the post game interview. Really a likeable guy, and apparently is the clubhouse DJ.
Maybe he made adjustments and kept at it.
Weather it’s true or not remains to be seen.
I do hope they keep throwing him middle-in fastballs.
He also made a couple of nice defensive plays, that Joey usually doesn’t make. Keep him at 1st and let the 4 OF’ers play outfield.
Thursday was fun
Yesterday was frustrating
Today was fun
Tomorrow……,,, rain
Good for Wil Myers and Ashcraft
This 2023 year is interesting for sure
Got to listen a bunch and watch some. Felt bad for Harrison in the 8th. He did what the club needed. Tough assignment. I was telling my wife about it during dinner.
Win felt great.
This lineup is getting longer, Myers has jumped onto the scene in a big way, and Barrero is getting on. The usual suspects keep hitting, India, Stephenson, Friedl, Fraley, and Steer.
Not sure why some are surprised with Myer. As I mentioned last week, he will be alright
We caught that, hombre.
You’re cred is noted.
I don’t think you’re hearing the sound of “surprise”.
It’s more like the sound of relief.
We all expected Myers to hit.
When he wasn’t……
I hope he makes GASP home.
Same here +1. Lot of people choosing to just look at a small sample and make big predictions around these parts
Excellent write-up, Tom. I hoped the title would be “Reds impose Wil on Phillies.”
you sir/madam win the Reds internet today.
Reds win through sheer Wil-power
Scoring a lot of runs against a really, not very good team (the Phillies), can make Reds fans happy.
Don’t know what will happen tomorrow; rain, Cessa, whatever.
Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the Reds are playing Tampa Bay, which might be the best team in baseball at this moment in time.
and they have lost 2 in a row to the Jays…Because baseball! (Sorry Jayson Stark)….
A game with a bunch of runs is usually followed by one where the Reds struggle to score one or two runs. But a split against the Phillies will be good against a team that has an attitude they’re better than they actually are. The high-flying Rays are due for a bit of a letdown as they come into Cincy. Then on to the Reds current division rivals in Pitt. for a big four game series.
I don’t think I would describe the Phillies as a “really, not very good team”. They are the defending NL champions and have only played 15 games so far. The Phillies have a lot of really good players. Either way, 13-0 is a win to celebrate.
The big IF for at least 8-10 years has been 5 guys in the bullpen with average analytic stats. Between the injuries and the not to be named (insert over-the-hill reliever) washouts they’ve persistently been 2 or 3 arms short. They’ve done well with closers, but the rest have been good for a year or two only to fizzle, or flat out arsonists. They SEEM closer this year to finding passable talent, and simply trying Legumina this early is a very good sign. Need to keep moving AA and AAA talent into the pen to see who can stick next season.
Three times through the big 3 in the rotation and Ashcraft is clearly playing the part of the ace, with Lodolo a close second. I hope Greene is taking notes.
It’s fun watching them and highly unusual to have three “sophomores” as potential aces. If/when Abbott joins in it will be even more awesome.
These “owners” just don’t know how good they have it. Sooo stupid. If they would only help by giving Krall some money to work with this could be a potentially awesome team in a relatively short time.
Greene needs to learn to trust his changeup.
That’s the big difference. Lodolo and Ashcraft have a repitore of pitches which keep hitters off-balance, while Greene tries to get by mostly throwing just fastballs. That may have worked in the minors, but most MLB hitters can catch up to a 100mph fastball after they’ve seen it a few times and can time it. Mixing in a changeup throws that timing off and makes it much harder to square up a clean hit.
Greene reminds me a bit of Homer Bailey, a hotshot pitcher who at first had a hard time adapting to MLB because he tried to stick with what worked in the minors. Homer eventually figured out he needed to change if he wanted to have success at the MLB level, and I hope Greene figures it out soon too.
One thing to keep in mind is Lodolo and Ashcraft pitched at the college level and Greene didn’t. Plus Greene lost half a year I believe as he had arm injury. So he is behind the other to to be expected. I noticed though people seem to hold Greene to a higher standard on rln than the other too.
Good points, but Greene has no ceiling, his potential is HOF. I guess we’re saying “hurry up and get there”.
Excellent points, Kevin and JB.
They’re both 25 and Greene is 23. When he’s 25, he’ll be better than both of them – and they’re both really good. Greene is that talented.
1.I actually enjoyed the 8th inning with Harrison pitching. the ball was in play. there was good defense and speed on display. It was fun and kept my attention! I am not saying totally get rid of all pitchers but I don’t think pitchers throwing 105mph fastballs and 99 mph sinkers is the best thing for baseball. I like when the ball is in play. not in the catchers mitt?
2. also i notice now when a runner is attempting to steal the batter doesn’t swing anymore to try to distract the catcher. that is another thing that has gone away it seems in baseball.
Jose Barrero over the past week:
.286 AVG, .400 OBP, .476 SLG, .876 OPS
Long may it continue. I’m still waiting for him to unleash that power he showed in the minors in 2021 and start clubbing more HRs and 2Bs. I’d also like to see him start stealing more bases.
I thought Barrero had the potential to be a 20-20 player, and I’m looking forward to seeing if he can live up to that. He has a big, athletic frame, so as long as he can keep making contact, the power should start showing up.
All I can say is, I’m glad Bell (was forced to?) finally gave him a chance. SS should be his this season with no questions asked now.
After recovering from his Hamate injury didn’t he play SS last year?
A few players got a hit against a position player pitching in the 8th. Not sure why pointing out that Senzel got his first hit “against a position player” was necessary
Because he’s not very good. And has not been good. Ever.
Over 1000 MLB PA and OPS in the low 6’s. Yuck.
Actually, I’m surprised he’s stayed “healthy” as long as he has this year.
He was good his rookie season. Then injuries happend. He was a good college player to, so to suggest he hasn’t been good ever is false. Also last time I looked a player playing at the mlb level is good. Doesn’t matter what we the fans think.
@kevin, of course all MLB players are good when compared to someone off the street. However, good in comparison to other MLB players is what matters.
Ashcroft has just been on fire to start the season. It’s great to see the big 3 take strides early in the season. It’s good to see India get out to such a good start after a sophomore slide. Nice to see Barrero, Steer, and Friedl step up into regular roles and show a lot of promise.
The bullpen and back end of the rotation is still a concern, but a lot of positive signs to start the season. The young guys are competing out there.
Remember that India was injured for a significant amount of last year. I don’t think he had a sophomore slump, I think he was hampered by injuries, which have nothing to do with what year you are playing at the MLB level. Ask JV
Is India Ok? He was replaced at mid-game by Vosler. Just giving some rest to him due to a open score maybe?
He fouled a ball off his left foot- direct hit at the base of the great toe. He wanted to stay in but Bell took him out wisely with a huge lead. I am sure he will be sore today
As for the bullpen, Lucas Sims threw a scoreless inning yesterday after pitching on Thursday as well I believe, so you have to think he is headed up for the Rays series. Legumina is an interesting piece. As Doug pointed out, his stats took off last August when the Twins moved him to the bullpen and he’s been solid ever since. Looking like a nice pickup for K. Farmer. Bullpen depth chart as it stands once Sims gets the call with (1) needing to go to AAA or DFA’d( not happening in april)
Tier 1 high leverage use:
Diaz
Young
Sims
Everyone else:
San Martin( 2nd lefty)-staying
Legumina ( GM traded for him)
Cruz -at risk
Farmer(guaranteed contract $1.7 mil and no options)
Law (No options)
Gibault (no options)
Herget ( at risk)
SP: Greene/Lodolo/Ashcraft/Cessa/Weaver
At least the bullpen should be fresh with everyone available x for Farmer and Legumina today.
Looks like it is getting crowded with a lot of mediocre options. I would guess Hergert and Legumina will get optioned as it is to early in season to start DFA even mediocre bullpen arms (which makes letting Sousa go to waiver even more odd to me).
Very small sample size with those too, however keeps them see what happens. Or is this me having hopes off 1 or 2 outings lol
Would you keep those two up? I like your thoughts though about being to early to start dfa pitchers
@Kevin, personally I like Leguminas stuff and Herget would be fine for a long relief role(which i think is an undervalued role in a bullpen.)
However, injuries will definitely happen, so if I was Krall, I would use the options and send them down. I doubt that Sims/Santillan stay healthy too long unfortunately, so both would be back sooner rather than later.
I think Gibaut is a little better than he’s getting credit for here. Otherwise, I agree.
I agree. I think he could be a good 6th inning guy or guy who pitches when behind a run or two and keeps it close. Maybe even a 7th inning guy when he is going well. Far from a mop up guy that a lot of people see him as.
Gibaut’ s numbers actually look ok until you see he’s allowed 4 of 5 inherited runners to score. If our bullpen was decent he’d at best be the bottom man in the pecking order, but we have a very mediocre pen, so he’s floating around the middle of the pack.
I got a weird feeling that one of our bullpen arms are going to the IL when Sims is ready. Fill in the blank fatigue seems likely.
Mid April assessment. I think this team may surprise people barring no big injuries to key players.
Thoughts?
Kevin still short 2 starters in the rotation and still trying to figure out the bullpen. Th pen will also be worked hard with the 4 and 5 starters very week. There are some good players in the lineup but they are in large part unproven.
Agree Jim..
Yep
Whats neat to see is the baseball stats in the sunday paper for each league. India is leading the NL in runs scored,
Lodolo is leading/tied for the league in K’s with Strider while Green 3rd and BOTH lodolo and Ash craft in the top 5-6 in ERA. Young players getting good reps and developing. Votto is disappointing as it now appears hes out at least till mid May. Vosler is hitting 4 th today . Thats a tough ask for him the next month.
Get Fraley up to speed at 1B or bring Myers in from RF to 1B. Some combination of Fairchild or Senzel playing every day has to be better than Vosler.
Hope Ramos or gets his spring mojo back at AAA and get him into the mix. possibly at 1B.
Trade for a LH bat.
And avoid making Stephenson the full time 1B because that means either Casali or Maile are playing every day which offensively would be worse than Vosler.
I don’t think I want to mess with Fraley at 1B. Myers is the obvious call to play there. If Votto isn’t returning any day, then Siani is an option to take Vosler’s spot. His bat isn’t hot right now, but he’d be the last man off the bench, a good defensive replacement, and pitch running option.
Imagine where they’d be if they still had some of the pitchers they dumped over the last couple of years: Castillo, Gray, Gausman, and DeScalfani are all ahead of the Reds current pitchers when rated by ERA or WHIP. Imagine if Castillo and Gray were filling out the rotation instead of Cessa and Overton/Weaver. BTW, Castillo and Gray combined are making about $23million this year. Subtract Weaver and several other salaries that would no longer be necessary and the Reds would be much better for less than $20million added payroll. And the lineup is out today with Newman starting against a RH’er with Barrero (hitting .304 with an .863 OPS vs RH’ers) back to the bench along with Fairchild (only 3 abs vs RH’ers with 2 hits, seems like he should be getting more opportunities.). Senzel is starting. Vosler is starting. Newman is starting. Hard to see the bright side of Bell’s management style, regardless of the numerous justifications put forth by RLN fans.
That would be an awesome rotation. If we had an owner who wanted to win they would have extended at least one of Castillo or Gray, maybe both.
I really do hope we sign a few pitchers in the offseason. My eyes are always looking at the top guys, but this team would benefit greatly with some quality veteran pitchers to add to the back of the bullpen, and rotation.
Cessa pitching.
Bell loading the lineup with sub Mendoza hittters.
Sunday afternoon game.
Pete Rose wouldn’t be betting on the Reds today.
Truly I don’t see justification that you mention.
This season has been fun although a small sample size. No number 4 or 5 starter yet and bullpen as usual is consistently inconsistent.
Harry – What are you complaining about? We just won last night. Time for a break. 🙂
Any news on EDLC or CES starring back up? It would be nice to see Boyle bounce back to form today for Chattanooga.
Vosler, Senzel, Newman, AND Maile all starting in the same lineup?
Yikes!
Hope India, Friedl, Fraley, Myers, and Steer can carry that weight.
That Reds lineup is sort of like sending a punt team out on 1st and 10 in football or a grinder line and 3rd pair against a top line in hockey.