Here’s hoping everyone slept quick for the matinee today between the Cincinnati Reds and Tampa Bay Rays in the rubber game of their 3 game Series at Great American Ball Park. Right-hander Levi Stoudt makes his MLB debut for the Reds. Righty Drew Rasmussen gets the call on the for mound for the Rays. With today’s game billed as a Businessman’s Special, let’s hope the Reds take care of business versus the Rays.
Starting Lineups
|
RAYS SP: Drew Rasmussen |
REDS SP: Levi Stoudt |
| 1. Yandy Diaz (1B) 2. Brandon Lowe (2B) 3. Randy Arozarena (DH) 4. Luke Raley (LF) 5. Isaac Paredes (3B) 6. Josh Lowe (RF) 7. Manuel Margot (CF) 8. Taylor Walls (SS) 9. Christian Bethancourt (C) |
1. Jonathan India (2B) 2. T.J. Friedl (CF) 3. Jake Fraley (RF) 4. Tyler Stephenson (DH) 5. Kevin Newman (3B) 6. Jason Vosler (1B) 7. Stuart Fairchild (LF) 8. Jose Barrero (SS) 9. Luke Maile (C) |
David Bell critics take note that perhaps the most interesting things about Rays starter Drew Rasmussen’s handedness splits this season are that he has recorded ~58% of his strike outs versus left-handed hitters in their 46% of his total batters faced and also held them to a .022 lower OBP than right-handed hitters.
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB% | K% |
| Levi Stoudt (AAA) | 11.0 | 4.09 | 1.55 | 20.0% | 18.0% |
| Drews Rasmussen | 17.1 | 2.60 | 0.180 | 6.2% | 29.2% |
| Links: Levi Stoudt’s Stats| Drew Rasmussen’s Stats |
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Levi Stoudt
Levi Stoudt makes his MLB debut today, The 25 year old right hander came to the Reds last summer as part of the return in the Luis Castillo trade with Seattle. He was picked by the Mariners with the 97th overall pick (19th in round 3) of 2019 June draft. After Stoudt was announced as the Reds starter for today, Redleg Nation took a deep dive into Stoudt’s repertoire and experience here
In essence, Stoudt has been a 4 pitch pitcher at AAA Louisville this year. His fastball and slider are seen as potentially above average, his curve projects as average and his change up as inconsistent. And indeed Stoudt has struggled overall with consistency at Louisville this season in his 3 starts as reflected by his 18% BB rate and borderline high WHIP.
Stoudt needs a very strong performance today if he hopes to extend his current MLB stay beyond this start as the Reds have indicated this is a spot start to push back the entire rotation by a day.
Splits (2023 AAA)
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 28 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | .227 | .393 | .409 |
| LHH | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | .167 | .318 | .556 |
Pitch Usage (2023 AAA)
| 4-Seam | Change | Curve | Slider | |
| Velo | 94.9 | 83.4 | 79.5 | 85.1 |
| Usage | 48.6% | 11.7% | 6.7% | 33.0% |
Drew Rasmussen
Drew Rasmussen makes his 4th start of the season for the Rays today. And yes, let’s say start versus opening since he has completed 17.1 innings in his three prior appearances of 2023. The 27 year old was drafted (6th round/ 2018) and signed by the Brewer. He came to the Rays in 2021 in the trade which sent Willy Adames to the Brew Crew. 2023 marks Rasmussen’s second season in the Rays rotation.
Rasmussen’s 2023 stats feature a miniscule 0.180 WHIP driven by a 29%K rate versus 6%BB rate, and .180 batting average against. However, take heart Reds fans. Albeit his ERA is 2.60 he has been charged with a loss this season.
In Rasmussen’s most recent start, Toronto roughed him up for 5 earned runs on 8 hits in 4.1 innings. Uncharacteristically, he issued 4 walks after walking no one in his first 2 appearances of the season. Given that Rasmussen’s 2023 BB rate almost exactly matches his career BB rate, it may be asking too much for a repeat of his Toronto effort today though.
Rasmussen goes about his work by featuring almost equal quantities of a 95mph 4 seam fastball and a cutter almost 8mph slower. Just when batters think they have him figured out, he will toss them a sinker off the 4 seamer or a slider off the cutter. For a true change of pace, he hauls out a slow curve from time to time.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 35 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 8 | .188 | .257 | .344 |
| LHH | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | .172 | .200 | .172 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Curve | |
| Velo | 95.9 | 95.2 | 88.5 | 85.0 | 79.4 |
| Usage | 37.2% | 11.2% | 35.1% | 9.9% | 6.2% |
Bullpens
Reds
Nick Lodolo saved the Reds bullpen on Tuesday by sticking around for 4.2 innings (101 pitches) despite taking a beating. Casey Legumina also stepped up with 2.1 innings in the lost cause and was predictably optioned to AAA this morning to open the roster spot for Levi Stoudt. Legumina should be back at some future date as part of the option shuttle to keep the Reds pen as fresh as possible. Otherwise all remaining hands should be good to go.
Rays
Count out Yonny Chirinos who threw 46 pitches in 2.1 innings of work Tuesday. Everyone else should be good to go.
News and Notes
The paperwork has been shuffled to make Levi Stoudt officially a Reds player
The #Reds today activated RHP Levi Stoudt from the taxi squad and optioned RHP Casey Legumina to Triple-A Louisville. pic.twitter.com/PRoS4IMhSc
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 19, 2023
— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) April 19, 2023
In case you missed the big news Tuesday, the Reds and Hunter Greene have agreed to a 6 year contract extension through 2028 with a club option for 2029. The guaranteed money is $53M; but, the value could grow to over $90M based on incentives. Read the full details here
Twiddling your thumbs waiting for the game? Catch up on Tuesday in the Reds farm system here at our companion site, Reds Minor Leagues. Also on RML we have a positive breaking update on Elly De La Cruz and some other injured minor leaguers
Standings
How about a change of pace here? Where were the Reds in the standings on April 19 of some past seasons that became memorable?? As the Yogi said, “It is never over till is is over” (and the 2023 season still has 90% to unfold).
| Year | Won/ Lost | Place | Games Back |
| 2012 | 5/8 | 4 | 4 |
| 1990 | 8/0 | 1 | —– |
| 1976 | 5/3 | 1 | Tied |
| 1975 | 6/6 | 3 | 1.5 |
| 1961 | 4/2 | 1 | —– |
Thanks to Baseball Reference for these numbers
When and Where
- Game time: 12:35pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 64°, mostly sunny, 0% chance of rain
Good writeup Jim! Salvaging this game would go a long way toward building momentum as the schedule eases up for a time.
Thank you. I gave myself 5 stars for not once referring to Levi Stoudt as Levi Stroud 😉
Good write up Jim. Loved the standings in history section.
“David Bell critics take note that perhaps the most interesting thing about Rays starter Drew Rasmussen’s handedness splits this season are that he has recorded ~58% of his strike outs versus left-handed hitters in their 46% of his total batters faced and also held them to a .022 lower OBP than right-handed hitters.”
Guess that explains this lineup? Vosler over Myers at first because he is LHH. No Steer still, so Newman over Senzel (understanable with Nick coming back from injury.) I don’t understand Steer not hitting the DL if he is hurt enough to miss an entire series, it is only a week more for the now 10 day IL for hitters. I would rather not play a man down with an already extremely weak bench. It is nearly impossible to guess what David Bell’s lineup will be each day. Do other teams have this much variance with their daily lineups?
When did Steer get injured? And I would be in favor of trading Newman. He has no future on the team. Play the young guys. I listened to a Jim Day Podcast with Eric Davis and Barry Larkin….Davis commented that Rose played the young guys ahead of the veterans and believed in his players. It seems that the Reds could use that type of leadership now.
They are coming up on the breakpoint of backdating a move to the IL to minimize time on the IL. I believe backdating is limited to 4 days. They will be there tomorrow or Friday depending on exactly how the process counts days.
To be clear, they can always backdate up to 4 days; but, once a guy has been out more than 4 days, a stay on the IL will extend past the mandatory 10 day minimum.
Thanks Jim. I guess that makes sense to see how it heals since you can back date the IL. I still dislike playing a guy short with our weak bench and David Bell’s propensity to make mass substitutions.
Not a fan of this lineup. Volser and Mallie shouldn play little as possible. I feel like Myers and Senzel should be playing today. Steer if he is able?
Great write up Jim as others have said. Enjoy your insights, and knowledge
Thank you
Ah, the old Baseball Reference. What an incomparable source! With the recent Reds knockdown of the Phillies and subsequent beatdown going the other way, the Reds outscored them 16-14 in those two games.
Reminded me of a similar situation watching a most memorable game in my youth on TV (which wasn’t that common on August 3, 1969.) The fight and counterattack in this one game had the Reds top the Phillies 19-17. The amazing box score is there to be savored on Baseball Reference. Bench got 5 hits as did former Red Deron Johnson but UP Woody Woodward’s 3 hits seems the most unlikely to me.
BBRef is subtly moving some stuff behind their paywall aka Stathead. However everything I used today throughout the post was available in the open. I do subscribe to Stathead though because I use the BBRef site so much and want to support it.
To be honest, as a one time long time database person, I don’t use Stathead until I have to because I prefer knowing a schema and writing my own queries versus their dropdowns which often I find confusing. Guess that’s sign of my age 😉
Happy the Reds signed Greene to a 6-year, $53M contract extension. Looking at the SP stats for this season only, Nick Lodaolo has made 4 starts, a W-L record of 2-1 with an ERA of 4.98. NOTE: Lodolo had 8 of his 12 earned runs in 4.2 innings of yeserday’s disasterous start. Graham Ashcraft has started 3 games with a 2-0 W-L record and an ERA of 1.42. Comparing these against Greene’s 4 starts, a W-L record of 0-0 and an ERA of 4.24 suggests that the Reds FO may now want to seriously consider signing both Lodolo AND Ashcraft to contract extensions! These 3 young SPs are the future of the Reds! Just sayin”!
Leadoff homer….welcome to the Big Leagues Mr Stoudt. It can only get better from here. Lifetime slugging percentage allowed of 4.000.
Maybe it could get worse.
And…..it did.
At least Stoudt has that 1st pitch strike baseball for his mantle.
Looked like a lazy slider that got hammered for the HR. Live and learn young man.
Not a stout start for Stoudt.
Stoudt looks NERVOUS! He is having trouble locating any off speed pitches. That is bad combo verse the Rays.
Look like Levi might need a Crash Davis conversation pronto!
Looks
Rays getting some good licks in early. Hopefully Levi will settle down. Or get a chance to settle down at least.
Stoudt is obviously NOT fooling any of the TB hitters so far!
Throwing grapefruits
UGLY start
You can almost smell the wood burning.
Maile did not do any favors for Stoudt with his tag on the throw from Fraley. It looked to be there in time but Maile appeared to have a lapse of situational awareness and hesitated to look around before before diving at the guy.
But I think that would have saved only that 1 run (they were coming so fast and furious I was having trouble keeping track).
So who is the long man today? Is Weaver active? Can Cessa Pitch today?
Drawing straws among everybody but rotation guys, Sims and Diaz. 😉
LOL
Newman didn’t have the arm to play shortstop yesterday, so why don’t we move him to third. :CRY:
Will be interesting to see how long Bell leaves Stoudt out there!
Well what does Bell do now guys? I say pull him now.
Well, at least he’s not walking a whole lot of people. 🙂
Good point! Instead, the batters are RUNNING! Running around the bases that is!
Haha Yep
I didn’t have a issue yesterday with leaving Lodolo out there. Today I have a issue with leaving a rookie out there this long and Rays now batted around.
The Rays have batted around in the first inning! Second ABs by the Ray’s hitters should be interesting!
Stoudt’s ERA after one (1) inning looks like my credit score after I got out of college!
Not sure if I should laugh or not Dennis LOL
Intended as humor! The facts may have been altered as I have no clue what my credit score was back in 1978!
@Dennis, hahaha your humor is excellent in my opinion. Even in typing I think its funny LOL
I am curious to know if the tv has zoomed into Reds dugout and if anyone pitcher or playing is talking to Stoudt
My first game in over a year. I picked a good one.
At least the weather seems nice.
Yes especially in the shade. Beautiful day. It’s my British wife’s first baseball game so that part is fun.
Maybe you will see a come back for the ages V4L. lol. A beautiful day for a ballgame at least.
Yes it’s a lovely day
I’d never attend a game this year not started by one of the big 3. Sure they can get hammered.
But you know odds are whoever is starting in the 4 and 5 spots will.
In fairness Stoudt is a rookie making his major league debut ( spelling?) We don’t yet know what kind of pitcher he will become.
Gonna be a long season fellas
Just one game with a rookie pitcher! With the “Big 3” of Greene, Lodoldo & Ashcraft, don’t anticipate any long losing streaks such as what happened last year!
Go Bengals 🙂
Much better inning for Stoudt. Did I hear them correct in pregame that his Stoudt’s slider was his best pitch? If so, he has no control of that today, and it is very tough to make your debut with out your best pitch.
A much better second, even with a hard hit ball or two.
Great Bounce back inning for Stoudt. I would of pulled him after first inning. This is why I don’t manage a mlb team LOL
Stoudt with 2 Ks in one inning.
Progress.
Interesting Stat if LDS is out there.
Barrero is batting 077 against left handed pitchers. Interesting splits
Posted similar a couple of days ago, I think he’s 1-12 at that point. However, against RH’ers he was over .300 and .800 OPS. Will he ever hit LH’ers or will he be like Fraley or Winker? Who knows. It’s too soon to tell.
Not to be rude but I have no idea what folks see in Fairchild.
I agree. I understand the numbers argument that Jim makes, but when I watch him, I just don’t believe he is a major leaguer, similar to Alejo Lopez. Conversely, I root for both of them to succeed and overcome the odds stacked against them.
Granted Fairchild is scuffing right now; but his career OPS was still 103 as of this morning.
His OF defense playing balls off and at the wall cleanly and quickly delayed 3 of the 6 Tampa runs in the 1st inning.
Doesn’t get noticed and counts for naught because they scored anyway. However if Stoudt gets an out on the following guys the complexion of the inning and game could have been changed.
Aside from probably Friedl, the Reds don’t have anyone who would have played that sequence of locations and rebounds off the wall that well.
Jim, I understand your argument completely. Compared to the rest of our OF options, he should play. But I don’t see him (pure eye test and opinion) as a long term option such as Friedl. I was high on Friedl last spring, and had to get made fun of by my friends for that most of last year.
I like Nick Senzel and well… LOL
Deep, early hole and the offense hasn’t shown up just yet. Going to make it more than a little challenging.
Please someone tell me that Abbott has far better stuff than Stoudt does.
How is stoudt even considered a prospect at all with his middling at best stuff?
His stuff isn’t middling. He just can’t locate it today. Probably nerves.
It is definitely middling to my eyes.
Stoudt has potential, but needs to catch the next bus back to AAA. I do think his nerves are a factor today. He is just not ready for MLB baseball, yet.
He’s got really good movement on his pitches that froze Tampa Bay hitters a few times and had them swinging out of their shoes at pitches that dropped out of the zone. He just can’t consistently locate it.
Hit fastball is mid-90’s, which is good for a pitcher whose primary pitch it a slider. But since he can’t use the slider well, he has to try to get by on his secondary stuff.
His stuff looks good. His location does not.
He will be 26 in December. Kind of a now or never situation.
The guys has pitched just over a full year in minors. 26 is hardly now or never.
Luke Maile was the catcher on monday when received 9 runs in the 1st inning. Today is the catcher too and he was punished with 6 runs in the 1st inning again. Fiftheen runs just in the 1st inning on back-to-back games maybe could be a record for a catcher…
Fraley looks to be another streaky hitter. When he is on he is really good. But going to have long droughts it seems.
Probably a 4th OFer type on a good offence.
By June, four new Reds should be, EDLC, CES, Mclain and Abbott. The problem is where do they play? Those 3 along with Steer, Stephenson, India, Friedl, Myers and Fraley make up a nice team. The problem will be finding positions for them. Stephenson = cathcher, CES = 1st base, India = 2nd base, EDLC= short, Steer = 3rd, outfield = Fraley, Friedl, Myers, and Mclain dh. That is not an awful team with Lodolo, Greene, Ashcraft, Abbott and ? as the starters. There is hope but not today Stoudt is not the answer, hope I am wrong.
hindsight is always 20/20 Stoudt has given up 1 run on 2 hits in three innings now. First inning obviously not included. That shows me he belongs up here. Today is a spot start however and he will go back down. I do think he can help the Reds
I like the him as a depth piece. Similar to Legumina and Hergert.
That could be a good lineup in time. I doubt we see EDLC make a huge impact till 25. Look at Wander Franco. He looks to be coming into his own in year 3.
TySteve seems be striking out looking a lot lately. Maybe it is time for him to be a bit more aggressive.
Baseball sure is a mental game more so than physical. Man these guys seem to be slumping at same time. UGH
This offense is not good.
You just can’t continue to take in water with the likes of Fairchild, Vosler, Maile, Newman, Senzel and maybe even Barrero. The fans that are showing up, what few there are, will quit coming. You will be looking at crowds of 7k daily, at least bringing up the young players will give people hope.
What if the young players struggle then what? I agree though Mallie, Newman, and Volser should not be playing. I am half and half on Fairchild, and Senzel and Barrero should play everyday along with Steer when healthy. This team bench is the problem as you don’t have a strong one.
Fans would rather watch young players struggle with hope for the future than some of the guys they are playing now struggle especially Maile, Newman, Vosler and Fairchild and maybe Senzel.
Bullpen obviously can’t continue to cover 5-6 innings 2-3 times a week. Going to be a lot of bullpen guys on the IL
In other not suprising news, Strickland just blew the save for Louisville.
surprising*
That is good news for Reds fans who don’t want to see him back here.
Hopefully that’s good news. Maybe it keeps him away from Cincinnati.
My question is why is he their closer? There are definitely better options who are younger that would benefit from the experience of closing out games.
Ryan Nuthof is usually the closer for Louisville this season. Not sure why Strickland was put in. Haven’t seen the box score.
Nuthof has been pitching pretty well. Maybe he needed a day off.
Pehaps Bell called them and told them to use Strickland as the closer. 🙂
You learn something every day.
That means he will be called up to the big club shortly!
And got the Win!!!!
I see the Reds are where I expected them to be today. Stoudt failed to seize the opportunity. Will anyone step to the plate and show they can pitch? Lineup construction is an issue as usual. But, so are injuries. Who goes to the IL first, Steer or Greene? And regarding Newman and Barrero, if Bell wants to play someone out of position to increase their “utility”, make it Newman. Barrero is the SHORTSTOP. Quit trying to change him into something else.
Who can’t hit left handed pitching
🙂
Barrero is one of only 3 Reds players with a hit today.
Ci3j, against a right handed pitcher. Before that hit he was batting 214. Also not the SS that is being presented by some on here. As Brantley has made clear from time to time
Neither can Fraley who has failed to hit LH’ers for a very long time. Give Barrero the chance before deciding he can’t. Guys like Newman, Maile, Vosler, Senzel, should never be starting unless someone is injured. Go with the 3F’s and Myers @1B, Stephenson catching, Barrero at SS, India @2nd, and Steer at 3rd. Play that lineup for a while and see how they do. DH whomever, based on their splits not their handedness. The daily Bell shuffling isn’t going to let the team develop. In fact, it prevents it as it has in past years. Regardless, let him keep being a little league coach, lose another 100 games, and hopefully we’re free of him before guys like EDLC and CES are on the ML 26.
Brantley is paid to jabber. Who cares. Do you take C Trent’s puff piece on Castellini today as the gospel? How about Nighengale? Or any of the rest of the writers? Be skeptical of all media.
Steer, Friedl, and India are hitting around .300. Other than those three the rest of the team isn’t exactly tearing it up a whole lot more than Barrero.
Brantley played the game. I take his view over yours any day of the week. Guys who played the game know more than you and I or anyone. They have played the game.
@KevinH, that’s doesn’t discredit my comments. His job isn’t scouting. It’s to engage the audience, stir up emotions, etc. No different than the talking heads on FoxNews, CNN, or MSNBC. I don’t get overly excited by any of their opinions.
I heard the David Bell pregame today… which was a recording from yesterday??? Nonetheless he spent a segment on kevin newman. We know hes a good player and that will show. “ I need to get him consistent at bats “
Paraphrasing.
It would appear newman and Barrero will split reps at SS.
Bell is poison to this team, particularly to the young guys. He has to go and soon.
Nice stroke by Barrero on that single.
And then a catcher-DP special
Question and anyone feel free to chime in. What not have two catchers and you can still play Stepheson at First or DH. Robinson right is killing triple A pitching, could he be your back up and get rid of the current two back up catchers, and bring up Mclain or Hopkins, or Siani?
This 3 catcher thing is hampering Bell’s bench. Okay so that wasn’t a question as much as commenting LOL
as much David Bell likes to tinker, you would think pinch hitting Maile there would have been a good move.
Kevin H – Was kind of thinking the same thing. If they are going to carry three catchers at least have one of the backups that can hit/pinch hit.
The Reds have not scored a run in their last 14 innings! Can’t win if you can’t score!
That is either very profound or a very clear grasp of the obvious. 🙂
Maybe both.
Coming up: Pittsburgh at Cincy for four. They are scoring runs, but their starting pitching has been a bit dodgy. Their bullpen has actually be pretty good.
As much as we would like, some things never change! Cruz comes in and promptly walks the leadoff batter AND the next batter as well!
Before the series started I would have taken 1 out of 3, but it’s the way theses last two have played out that is upsetting. 7 and 11 heading to Pittsburgh, would love to take 3 of 4 but might need to settle for a split, at best, Pirates are playing well 11 and 7 heading into today. I am afraid the Reds are destined for the basement.
Some of these guys starting to separate a little. Been impressed with Friedl this year. Fraley is showing that he’s a 4th or 5th OF on a good team. Fairchild probably a 5th/6th OF. Reds really need to make some decisions about position changes for guys in the minors and figure out who can be a regular/high-level starting OF.
Fraley 1 for his last 22. Still playing. Time to get rid of him, send him down. Like people were suggesting with Volser
Vosler is a 29 year old that has produced negative WAR in his career. Fraley is two years younger and has two years of positive WAR. As I said above, I don’t think he is a full-time player, but comparing him to Vosler makes no sense.
Volser was like 1 for 18 at one point and people were saying get rid of him earlier this season. I was being sarcastic in terms of saying well Fraley is 1 for his last 21. Etc. And War means nothing to me.
I was comparing the two slump and how people react
Yes, shocking that people would have different opinions on guys they can be productive and those that have shown they cannot.
Only 4 hits yesterday and just 3 hits so far this afternoon! Does not bode well for the upcoming road trip to the Steel City to face the Pie-Rats! Feel kinda sorry for our starting pitchers who must feel like they have to throw a shutout to win!
Our starting pitchers have felt that way for years now. When was the last time Cincinnati had at least a couple of bonafide PWR / AVG hitters? I’m not talking about guys who can hit the ball a long way but barely make contact, or guys who touch everything and can’t sniff the wall.
Not sure why Wil Meyers is not hitting for Vosler there against a left handed pitcher. Let me guess…scheduled off day.
or for maile with 2 on and no out. Bell just likes to keep us guessing.
One final thought. 7-11 after today and I gotta believe the Reds will win at least 2 in pittsburgh. Pitching will respond with Ashcraft and Lodolo and Greene. I do believe Steer either goes on DL or starts playing soon.
As I mentioned earlier today the Bench is not good however Newman, and Volser as well as two catcher’s should be riding the bench most of the Week!! This team will be fine I believe.
I’d say I’m aligned with that, Kevin. I think we’re “better” than the last time we faced the Pie-Rats and that should help.
Tough luck for Barrero, just missed getting his second hit by literally half a second.
If that. Glad DTBell challenged it.
In the olden days in Chicago, Harry would have been completely wasted by this time. Just saying … 😀
Waite Hoyt was my 1st voice of the Reds and I could sit and listen to him around the clock.
This said, I recall adults sometimes saying Waite was drinking too much of his sponsor’s product (Burger Beer) on a given day.
I was far to young to judge this but as I got older and learned Waite and The Babe (Ruth) had been best buddies in their Yankee days of the 1920’s, I always thought back and wondered about some of Waite’s more days boisterous days on the air.
Now that PA/ K by Fairchild is something that concerns me about him. Just by my memory count that is 4 straight Ks for him vs LH pitching. At least 3 of them have been off speed and 2 in location of this one.
It looks like someone has found the hole in his swing (all batters have at least one at any given time); and now, everyone is pounding him in that spot with off speed stuff.
This is where we learn if he has the necessary skills to adapt and survive at MLB.
He wont get that nor Barrero .
Not a Bryan Price fan by any means but Scott Schebler won the AAA IL player of the month in May of ‘16 or ‘17 and the Reds called him up and put him in RF every day .
Price said he will play with confidence knowing hes in the lineup tomorrow even if he goes 0-4. Only way to play young guys.
Reds gave schebler hamilton peraza suarez every day reps to see what they could do.
Young Players need that and Bell wont do it.
I guess I’m one of the few who liked Bryan Price. He didn’t have a chance with no pitching but was improving and getting better as a manager all the time.
Before this past 13 game stretch several of us offered our predictions on what the record would be with 7 v. PHI, 3 v. ATL and 3 v. TB. The most often guess (mine too) was 4-9 which is what the record will be if we lose today’s game. No big point in this statemen other than to say “they are who we thought they were.”
Hmmmm, “would of, could of, should of..
They should of swept the braves and beat Philly twice in Philadelphia. I realize they didn’t, however I do think they are better than we think at this point..
Nice work by Barrero NOT to throw it there and just run at him.
Can we just pass on our shot at batting in the 9th?
Nice track and catch by Fairchild.
I think 3x having a position player pitch in 4 games is not a good thing even if it is saving the pen to pitch another day 😉
I’m out of here. Thanks for reading and putting up with my commentary today.
David Bell actually showing passion? Is it Opposite Day?
Yeah. Glad I was a little slow at actually getting out the door 😉
Not playing the bench guys today? Oh, okay cool.. Shrugs lol
And there was no one on the bench to hit that is better than Maile. I don’t know like Myers? Based loaded and sub .200 hitter? Sorry, but I see no upside to Bell. Two straight shut outs. Six games out after 18 games. This team needs new blood. Start with the manager and his staff. Then dump a number of the players.
I’d settle for a manager who can just put out a consistent lineup card each day. Bell really drives me crazy with his constant tinkering, especially because it doesn’t seem to serve any purpose other than to say “I’m the manager, and I get to decide who hits where, because I said so.”
agree 1000% A solid 8 with dh for whoever. You notice other teams seem to have that same lineup game after game when they play reds or whom ever
We’ve all worked for guys like Bell. Some of us progressed to a role that allowed us to fire managers like Bell. But I’m old and retired. Results no longer matter in the modern world. Everything has become a game.
I think you’ve got it! He’s Tinker Bell
When the starting eight were injury-free and not needing a days rest, Sparky Anderson usually went with a set lineup. That is not the Bell way. He always seems to be looking for the diamond in the rough.
Well, we almost scored in the bottom of the 9th! Does that count? Do we get a Participation Trophy!
Again, Bell is either stubborn or doesn’t care! The situation called for a pinch hitter! But NO! You let Maile hit?