It was an offensive struggle for the Cincinnati Reds as they managed just three hits in a 5-4, 11-inning loss to the Milwaukee Brewers in front of a record crowd at Great American Ball Park on Friday night.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milwaukee Brewers (30-27) |
5 | 7 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (26-31) |
4 | 3 | 2 |
| W: Wilson (2-0) L: Cruz (1-1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Milwaukee got the scoring started in the 2nd inning when Joey Weimer crushed a 432-foot 2-run homer in the 2nd inning. The Reds would get a run back in the bottom of the inning after Jake Fraley walked, stole second, moved up to third on a ground out, and then scored on a play at the plate when Nick Senzel grounded to second base and Fraley slid in at the plate ahead of the tag.
An inning later would see Cincinnati take the lead. Luke Maile walked to lead off the inning and would come around to score on a Jonathan India 2-run homer. It was the first hit of the game for the Reds and it was a big one.
Brandon Williamson and the Reds found themselves in trouble in the top of the 4th. Christian Yelich led off with a walk. After a strikeout, Williamson induced what looked like a perfect ground ball double play, but Matt McLain threw the ball by Jonathan India at second, and it led to runners on second and third with one out. A walk would load the bases before a ground out brought in the tying run. A strikeout would end the inning.
From there, Williamson would cruise through the next two innings. Pitching in the 7th for the first time in his big league career, he would get Victor Caratini to ground out to begin the inning, but then hit Mike Mrosseau with a pitch. The lefty would get Rowdy Tellez to fly out for the second out of the inning, but that was all he’d get as David Bell came out to call on Buck Farmer to try and finish out the inning. He needed six pitches to get Owen Miller to fly out and end the inning.
Lucas Sims took over to start the 8th inning and he tossed a perfect inning with two strikeouts. In the bottom of the inning Jonathan India was hit by a pitch and stole second base, but the Reds went 1-2-3 from there and left him stranded.
Alexis Diaz took over in the top of the 9th inning and walked the first batter of the inning. Diaz was unphased, getting back-to-back pop ups before a shallow fly out to left field to put the Reds in position to walk things off in the bottom of the frame. Will Benson would reach on a 1-out error on a short-hopper that ate up third baseman Owen Miller. Cincinnati then brought Spencer Steer in to pinch hit for Luke Maile. Benson would steal second base during the at-bat to put the winning run in scoring position. Steer would pop up, leaving things up to Kevin Newman. He grounded out to third base and the game headed to extras.
Alex Young began the 10th inning for the Reds. He struck out fellow lefty Rowdy Tellez to start the inning, but Owen Miller singled. The free runner, Brice Turang, had to hold up to see if the soft line drive would be caught and only advanced to third. Young followed up by striking out William Contreras, but he walked Christian Yelich on four pitches to load the bases. That led to a pitching change with Cincinnati calling on Fernando Cruz to try and keep the Brewers off of the board and he got the job done, getting a pop up in foul territory to Curt Casali to send the game to the bottom of the 10th.
Kevin Newman would begin the 10th inning as the Reds free runner on second base. Matt McLain hit an absolute laser to lead off the inning, but his 110 MPH line drive was right at Joey Wiemer in center for the first out of the inning. Jonathan India battled before being hit by the 7th pitch of his plate appearance. Jake Fraley flew out for the second out of the inning. Both Newman and India would steal a base, but it mattered none as Tyler Stephenson struck out to end the inning.
Fernando Cruz returned to the mound and Brian Anderson began the inning as the Brewers free runner. Andruw Monasterio singled to lead off the inning but Anderson was held at third base to put runners on the corners. A walk would follow and so would a mound visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson. Cruz got a ground ball, but the Reds were only able to get the out at second on the play as the Brewers scored a run to take a 4-3 lead. Another ground out followed and the Reds failed to turn two once again, with another run scoring to make it 5-3. A strikeout would end the top of the inning.
Cincinnati would need a big inning to keep the game going or to end it in a favorable manner. Tyler Stephenson began the inning on second as the team’s free runner. He would move up on a ground out by Stuart Fairchild, but that was the second out of the inning. Curt Casali came through with an RBI double to make it a 5-4 game. Jose Barrero then entered the game to pinch run for Casali and the game was left up to Spencer Steer. He would work a full count before grounding out to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
When Fernando Cruz tried to turn a double play on a comebacker instead of going to the plate. The Reds failed to turn two, a run scored, and the Brewers took a 5-3 lead. That 5th run turned out to be the difference in the game.
Notes Worth Noting
Brandon Williamson matched his carer high with six strikeouts. He had his longest outing of his career at 6.2 innings.
Spencer Steer was named National League Rookie of the Month for May. He hit .318/.372/.573 with eight doubles, a triple, six home runs, and 19 RBI during May.
Matt McLain’s 10 game hitting streak came to an end.
44,073 people showed up for the game. That’s a new regular season record for Great American Ball Park.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Milwaukee Brewers vs Cincinnati Reds
Saturday June 3rd, 4:10pm ET
Colin Rea (2-3, 4.89 ERA) vs Graham Ashcraft (3-3, 5.55 ERA)
Reds offense great in May
3-38 against their nl central rivals
Fairchild 0-5 with 3k
NL mvp favorite newman 0 fer against cy Young
Nice job by Williamson
Cruz needs to go
Benson is a joke
Fairchild is Aquino who is Ervin
Bad players who get elevated only because the Reds primary options are bad. It’s different in 2023
Reds have better options
Fraley, Stephenson, and Senzel all had 2 K’s in the game also. The best 2023 OPS of that group plus Fairchild and Benson is Fraley at just .725. Stephenson at .669 OPS is better than only Benson. The difference in 2023 OPS from Fraley to Fairchild is .035 with Senzel between the two.
Looking at 2023 seasonal bWAR to date Senzel has 0.6 (176PA); Fairchild 0.5 (143PA), Stephenson -0.1 (226PA); and Fraley -0.2(182PA).
The Career bWAR for the same guys are Stephenson 3.7 (831 PA); Fraley 1.3 (764PA); Fairchild 1.0 (270PA); Senzel -1.2 (1212PA).
Let’s just agree all these guys had a poor game on Saturday and none of them are performing offensively at league average levels to date in 2023 and hope they do better soon.
The one thing that bothers me the most about Bell is where Stephenson is batting. He should be hitting 7th at the most. He’s killing us with runners in scoring position and seldom delivering. What’s worse is his tendency to strike out. Unfortunately he’s become a rally killer.
Wait til Votto comes back and we have them both in the middle.
Unpopular opinion. I am a bit torn. I want the Reds to give a crap and invest in winning this year by bringing people up and making trades. But I also want the Reds to stick to a planned rebuild rather than going astray due to a couple week hot streak.
I still have seen enough of Cruz for a while. He has given up a run or more in 10 of 14 appearances this year. Kuhnel also needs to be removed from the 40 man. Stephenson needs to not DH again unless he suddenly returns to 2021 Stephenson. Benson and Fairchild and their crazy strikeouts can’t both be in a game at the same time.
+5,000 all the way around, LP.
There’s no reason they can’t bring up Elly, CES, Abbott, and Hopkins. DFA Maile, trade Newman for whatever you can get, option or DFA Fairchild, option Benson, option Barrero, move Weaver to the bullpen for Abbott and option or DFA Herget or Salazar…plenty of dead weight on this otherwise talented team…
They either need to build up Cruz’s confidence or demote him. Low leverage situations only, or AAA.
Have to wonder if Cruz is 100%. Guys like him, who take a decade to come to the Majors have a tendency to not want to let someone get a head of them for any reason. That usually has the opposite result.
The 1-run Reds strike again … the wrong way.
12-man position roster doesn’t help, but we didn’t convert when we could/should have.
Wipe this off the books and try again tomorrow.
“Spencer Steer was named National League Rookie of the Month for May.”
Pretty cool. Two good ones in Steer and McLain. Keepers.
I am afraid that the Bell supporters may be singing a different tune after the next 9 games. With 3 against the Brewers, Dodgers and Cardinals coming up if they don’t bring up EDLS, CES and maybe even Hopkins there lack of offense may really hurt. There are just to many easy outs right now. Stephenson, Fairchild, Benson and a few others. I would settle for 5 and 4 the next 9 which would put them at 31 and 35 and still in the race most likely.
Think the best you will get is Votto.
Maybe. Maybe not. Baseball is a funny game, and sometimes teams get hot and beat teams they aren’t supposed to beat.
But one thing is for certain, the Reds’ hot streak of this past week was never going to last (and I got absolutely lambasted for daring to say that). That’s simply the nature of a long baseball season. They will have other hot streaks. They will also have losing streaks. That’s just the way things work. I don’t know why saying that is controversial to some.
This Reds team, as currently constructed, is capable of putting up about a .500 record. With a good manager, they could be slightly over .500. With David Bell, they will end up slightly below .500. They are going to end up winning somewhere between 72-78 games. Coming off a 100 loss season, maybe people will be satisfied with that. But I really wish we could see how this team would look if they were managed by someone better than David Bell.
Tough upcoming schedule and it may well make sense to bring up some of the high-performers at AAA. It’s worth noting, though, that the Reds so far have had excellent offensive production, even while having fewer homers than anybody else. Good pitchers are tough for any team: lots of o’fers from Reds who had been hitting.
The lineup wasn’t a great opener. With Friedl out, Newman leading off against LH’ers is ok. But against RH’ers, not so much. Sitting Steer in an important series is rather mind numbing. Fairchild is having a rough spot, no question. Still think there’s potential there. Stephenson, like Barrero, and shortly Votto are comebacks from injuries. They will take time to be their old selves, if ever. And the older you are, the longer it takes and the less likely you are to make it all the way back. We’ve seen these streaks more than once, this year as well as previous years. There’s a reason the Reds playoff chances are still as low as they are. At least, Williamson was effective.
Yep. Barrero has a higher OPS against right-handed pitchers than Newman. (.663 vs .607). Even if Newman had to play because there was no one else to play 1st base, that doesn’t mean he has to lead off.
Yesterday when I asked why Newman was leading off, I was told it was because he crushes left-handed pitching. Ok, fine, that’s true. But what the heck is the explanation for Newman leading off against a right-handed pitcher?
Also, has anyone noticed how much worse India’s stats are hitting 3rd as opposed to leading off? His OBP while leading off is .376, while hitting 3rd it’s been .267(!). I know, I know, small sample size, but that’s definitely a worrying trend. It may be a coincidence that India has cooled off considerably since Bell moved him to the 3-hole. Then again, maybe it isn’t.
I think you have a good point. India’s enthusiasm and leadership qualities are best expressed when he bats in the leadoff position.
best expressed? huh? I really have no idea what that means.
Batting spots really dont matter. Maaaybe slightly mentally to a player, but for the most part far too much is made over them by fans. CBJ said it already, small sample size is the culprit here.
But sure, lead him off. As long as he’s getting ABs I’m happy.
@2020, batting position absolutely matters. That they don’t is one of the biggest myths to come out of the ‘analytics’ era. And even if it’s only psychological to the player, it matters. As does the position they play, whether they play defense or DH, etc. Baseball seems to be discarding everything that has been taught in management for decades. And if the batting slot doesn’t matter, even to the player, why did Votto always start at 1B and bat 4th despite the fact that the numbers didn’t support that decision?
Tyler Stephenson hurting the Reds. He cannot hit this year. Now, he cannot hit and also striking out too much, especially with runners in scoring position!
I feel Stephenson has come back before he has been completely recovered from injury. He is a natural contact hitter and I think he needs more time to fully recover.
Cruz had that runner hung out to dry off 3rd and instead let him waltz in with their 5th run. He’s been around long enough to know the lead run isn’t necessarily a killer there, but the 2nd run probably is. He’s gotta go
Of course I couldn’t hear what was going on but the catcher is the QB in that situation yelling out where to go.
That runner communication has to come from an infielder. The catcher has enough responsibilities to take on that too.
The reason it’s the catcher’s call is because he see’s the whole field from his position. Like I said he’s the QB/General. Maybe he did call it. I don’t know.
Catcher should 100% be calling where to throw there. The infield should be too.
I thought it looked like Casali was calling for the ball. Steer (at 1B) should have been unambiguously pointing to the plate also.
Lopez just got another hit. He’s tied for the team lead in doubles and has 4 HRs hitting .280. He could be a switch hitting backup that doesn’t need as many ABs as some.
vs. left .271/.283/.356
vs. right .276/.367/.441
That doesn’t quite add up but that’s what the Bats site says. lol
Great as depth. If he could play SS, he’d have been a mainstay in the bigs a while ago.
He’s played SS several times this year in AAA. He’s a backup there and several other positions.
This is a “Manager’s Loss”. Bottom of the 10th, McLain should have been bunting to move Newman to third. The next two batters are India and Fraley two of the hottest hitters in the lineup. The Reds will never win consistently when it counts with David Bell as the manager. Remember Analytics are based upon a very large sample sized and are never closer than 90 – 95% predictable. This is one of those cases in hte 5% where you go against the analytics.
2 losses in 2 winnable games. This team needs more firepower, on both sides of the ball. The thunder over Louisville crew, needs to be brought up to light up GABP. Bring up that Abbott guy too, and make some trades for more pitching.
Disagree about trading for pitching. I don’t want them to give up any of the young guns for pitching help this year. Despite the poor division, this is not the Reds’ year. If they can win it by going with basically what is in the system, then great…. bonus.
There will be money to spend this winter. Enough money to sign a starter and two relievers and maybe an outfield bat. That is the expectation we, as fans, should all have going forward.
For those who think the Reds will have to overpay to get anyone to sign here, I disagree. Players want the money and to maximize their career earnings. But, they also want to win. The Reds are in position to win, and win big, starting in 2024. Guys will sign here.
Winning should never be a “wait till next year” goal. I’m not calling you out specifically, but in general this fanbase has been conditioned to think that we must lose now to win in the future. This rebuild stuff is not baseball, it’s business. We don’t have to tank, bob doesn’t know how to build a winning franchise. We do need another owner, or we’ll just keep going through this same cycle.
Winning has to matter every year, every game, every AB, or why else do we watch?
+1000 Teams can target windows for when they hope to peak; but, they don’t get to choose when the best opportunities to advance to the postseason will happen because that also depends on what is going on with the other teams.
The master plan should allow for adjustments to reach for opportunities without throwing the plan out of kilter. The Reds appear to be in a situation where they need to and can do this.
While I admit to being full on in favor of the rebuild as the plan is being carried out, I have no problem with the Reds doing what they can to win the division this year. It appears to be there for the taking.
What I am not in favor of is trading any future building block that the Reds have worked so hard to accumulate to win the division this year. If they can win it by adding to it on the edges, great. But I don’t want to see Marte, Arroyo, Collier, Abbott, Phillips, Petty, Acosta, Jorge, Aguiar, Hector or any other real prospect traded away for a bullpen rental.
The opportunity is staring them right between the eyes to add everything they need to win it all starting in 24 and moving forward. That is the standard we as fans need to hold them (ownership) to. If they don’t add what is needed this off season, there is no reason for any of us, as fans, to care going forward.
We’ve waited through a lot of poor decision making, a terribly botched rebuild, and losing seasons to get to this point. However, the past year they have hit pretty much every nail on the head to build a real winner.
There are plenty of examples of Red’s thunder in Louisville being promoted just to disappoint. Aquino, Van Meter, early version of Barrero, probably others I’m forgetting. That’s not to say you don’t bring ELDC or CES up, but they may not bring that thunder with them right away. Of course, I guess, the counterpoint to that is India and McLain.
Williamson has proven to this point he can hold down that back of the rotation spot. Lively and Weaver have done their jobs as well.
Williamson, Lively and Weaver along with the improved bullpen have kept the Reds in the hunt for a playoff berth in the NLC. It has made for a fascinating first third of the season. Offensive help will be coming to accompany Steer and Mclain as we go toward the All Star break.
Fact: This team has been better than expected.
Fiction: While this team may be exceeding expectations so far, there’s no way they can realistically win this division.
Fact: The Reds have the best prospect in baseball according to most experts.
Fiction: That top prospect stills has things to work on and can’t be promoted just based on minor league stats. (Note: Matt McLain seems to be doing just fine at the major league level)
Fact: The Reds front office has refused to invest in building a stronger bullpen.
Fiction: Derek Johnson can turn mediocre (and cheap) arms into solid relievers. (Note: No knock on DJ intended)
Fact: The Reds have given playing time to Will Benson (.139), Stuart Fairchild (.231) and Wil Myers (.189)
Fiction: There’s no way De La Cruz and CES could give the Reds better production than those guys.
Fact: The Reds will draw big crowds when they have free concerts and bobbleheads. Or when the fans of opposing teams come to support their teams.
Fiction: Real Reds fans will come to games regardless if they’re winning or not.
I’M TIRED OF EXCUSES. I WOULD LIKE SOME RESULTS.
Quite a crowd. There’s still plenty of Reds fans out there.
Batting average….blech
OBP measures the ability to avoid making outs better than just BA. Slugging % attempts to measure the quality of the avoided outs. So, OPS is the better overall measure IMO.
I get the frustration, Ron, but how do you know it’s a fiction that EDLC still has things to work on? McClain has certainly done well in his first few weeks, but he and EDLC aren’t the same guy. We don’t really know why EDLC, CES, Abbot and maybe Hopkins haven’t been called up and it’s certainly possible that it’s due to some consideration other than their readiness, but I’m not sure what that would be. As for winning the division this year, it certainly seems possible–if not likely–to me. The issue is pitching, of course, and my understanding is that it’s in short supply with most teams looking for it and unwilling to part with it. If true, this means that the pitchers the Reds have will need to consistently and quickly improve.
Bunt in the 10th by McClain would have been game over. No small ball from bell for some reason?
I agree, but other than Friedl, is there anyone else on this team that can lay one down? I can’t really remember anyone else this year?
Exactly. The Reds demonstrated they still don’t understand the ghost runner system. It works basically like College Football overtime.
As home team, the top priority on defense is to allow no more than 1 run (i.e. FG in football). The secondary priority is to allow no runs (i,e, no points in football). Then if you come to the plate with the score tied, the ONLY priority is to end the game by scoring the guy from 2B (i.e. kick the field goal the starting position allows you).
I agree with you, Jim. For all his blind reliance in analytics David Bell does not seem to understand the importance of “small ball” in extra innings. It is statistically much easier to score from third (even with 1 out) than it is from second. Yet he continues to ignore this.
I will say it once again…the Reds need a new manager from OUTSIDE the organization who manages based on what is happening on the field instead of what is on a spreadsheet. Analytics is useful information, but not gospel. And, as an aside…isn’t it interesting that the first four letters in analytics spells…? A truer statement was never made, IMO.
Small ball in this case being to bunt the runner over to third? Ignoring for a moment that a sac bunt is statistically less likely to result in a run than is hitting away, it also requires skilled execution. Somebody pointed out that Friedl has that skill, but who else does? Same with hit and run; who can be relied upon to hit behind the runner?
guys, we have a starting rotation that is being held together right now by bubble gum and chicken wire. We are already burning out our bullpen, we were 1-17 with runners in scoring position tonight ( and that is not abnormal for us), we strikeout way more than we walk and we don’t hit any homeruns to speak of. Bringing up one player is not going to be the magic sauce.
That’s why we should bring up several players. 1 for 17. Too many chokers,…weaksticks. Stephenson should be benched, sent down,..or at least dropped to batting 9th. Barrero, Fairchild, & Benson should be sent down immediately and replaced by De La Cruz, CES & Lopez for a start. Then we need left-handed relief,..i.e. Abbott. Not to mention, a new manager,..but looks like we are stuck with Bell. The Reds have the talent, but they are determined to keep it in the Minors while they play weaksticks. It’s almost like they don’t want to compete,…… like they want to lose. Oh well.
Baby steps my friend. They’re relentlessly mediocre and that’s an improvement. They just scored 9,8,8, and 9 on the road with the same guys. Idk? They have no power and they don’t execute small ball that great either. I was at the game tonight and they squared up about 3-4 balls all night and that’s not good. Freidl and the young guys could help, but this team is still far away
Bell is also hamstrung by having 3-4 guys pitching high leverage that shouldn’t be, but every game is high leverage because they’re so average. Win/lose by 1 run 4-5x a week
I think this is important. We have a couple guys in rotation that should be relievers and relievers on the mlb team that should be in AAA.
On top of that2 of our best hitters aren’t available – I’m sure steer is nursing something- and that is probably difference in last nights game.
Also, I agree with others on here , Stephenson doesn’t deserve DH at bats when you have EDLC in AAA available to take those. I don’t know what’s wrong with Tyler this year. A broken collarbone 12 months ago no longer explains it.
The Reds are 7th out of 25 teams (didn’t find data for the rest) in BA with RISP. They’ve been bad the past few games, but must have been above average much of the season.
i hate the extra inning ghost runner on 2nd rule. gives a huge advantage to the visiting team IMO. I say get rid of it. or at least modify it.
i propose that if the game is tied going into the bottom of the ninth it should be automatically extended to 10 innings and allow the ghost runner in the bottom of the ninth. Something to give the home team more of an advantage.
I like the ghost runner rule, because it greatly reduces the chance of a long extra-inning game. I don’t want to see teams burn through their whole bullpen and having position players start pitching in a 4 hour game.
I don’t really see where the ghost runner gives an advantage to the visiting team. Both teams get a chance to bat with a runner on second. Are you implying that if the visiting team scores their runner, then will then bring in their closer in the bottom of the 10th? Well, then just stop them from scoring. What’s to stop the home team from bringing in their closer at the top of the 10th to prevent the run from scoring? Then the visiting team has to decide if they want to counter with their closer in the bottom of the 10th, or let some other pitcher try to hold it down.
There’s a lot of strategic decisions that can go into it. I personally like it a lot.
I’ve warmed to it myself, but would like to see the Reds take a more creative approach to it, like NFL teams deploy inside the red zone. Or a set piece in soccer. Practice it over and over till you have it. Bunt to 3rd/ pinch runner steal third, sac fly, suicide squeeze. Something. Absolutely no Ks. Work on it as a team. Quit hoping for that one fortunate walkoff hit. McLain was 0-4 last night before Bell let him swing away.
Of course we all love McLain. I wish some of Bell’s micromanaging instincts would translate into manufacturing runs with a light hitting team.
There should be plenty of data available now that this has been used for more than a full season, as well as multiple years of minor league use. What percentage of the time do the visitors win versus what what percentage of the time does the home team win? Data trump opinions, if the data are valid.
The NFL looked at their overtime scheme after many seasons and saw that the data were really skewed toward the team that won the toss winning the game, so they modified the overtime rule to give both teams a better chance. I expect MLB will also be analyzing the results and if there is a huge discrepancy, modifications will be made.
Personally, I would prefer a modification:
-Start the 10th inning with the ghost runner on first, rather than second. If still tied, start him on second base in the 11th, and second or third base any innings after 11. I would like to see it take more than a single to score the ghost runner in the 10th, but if statistics show it is currently an even chance for either team winning, then what they have is working.
When a reliever is only brought to throw 6 pitches in a tied game, knowing that the game could go to extras, then I think the manager bears some fault. I don’t fault the manager when players fail to do their jobs, nobody is perfect every outing, but being replaced after throwing only 6, or fewer pitches, is not a player who didn’t do his job but is a manager who made a decision to pull him. If later in the game the BP is stretched, manager early decision contributed to that.
In extra innings, the advantage lies with the home team… always has. When the home team comes to the plate, it knows exactly what it has to do to at least extend the game. The visitor does not have that advantage. Additionally, the visitor has no idea how many runs they need and should play for a big inning if they have a chance. The home team comes to the plate knowing if it needs a big inning or just whether it needs to scratch out one run to win.
The ghost runner has nothing to do with those facts.
I think the issue is that, with the current iteration of the rule, the home team may need to score two runs to win. I like Doc’s solution.
I think you better check the numbers. I always thought instinctively that the new rule favored the road team and I think it has. Just found an article from 9/1/21 that showed road teams were 384-407 in extras from 2016-19, but with the new rules road teams were 143-124 from 2020-2021 (to 9/1/21 date of article). I doubt its changed since then. Road team scores first and it increases pressure on the home team hitters
True
Fernando Cruz was a nice feel good story while it lasted…
From The Enquirer–this says it all:
In a game where the Reds only had three hits, top prospect Elly De La Cruz continued to provide highlight after highlight in Triple-A. Right as the 11th inning started, De La Cruz hit a high fly ball that looked like an out, but the top prospect’s power carried it over the fence for a home run. The Reds entered this weekend’s series against the Brewers with a chance to jump up to first place in the division. The Reds are waiting for the right timing to call De La Cruz up, but his power, speed and defense could have helped the Reds on Friday.
Agreed. The Reds management obviously do not want the Reds to compete. Either that,..or they don’t have a clue. Makes no sense at all. Sad. I’ve been a Reds fan for more than 6 decades and have noticed that the Reds almost always wait way too long to bring players up from AAA to the Majors. Oh well. Never changes. It goes without saying that the Reds need new management, from top to bottom. They’ve made some nice trades, but it’s all in vain if they don’t bring them up to the Bigs.
Brandon Williamson is getting some nice development experience in 2023 and that should nt be overlooked. He was pretty much written off a month ago. Hes been ok.
This is a crucial development year for Greene,Ashcraft, Williamson, and hopefully Abbott soon. Hopefully Lodolo can be back for august and September and develop.
By August, when the Myers regime is over, Id like to see Steer get a shot in RF. Steer leads all rookies in hits and extra base hit. Hes a gamer and the Reds need a big bat in the OF to add to Friedl and Fraley.
august 1 lineup:
Friedl CF
India 2b/DH
McClain 2b/SS
EDLC SS/3b
Fraley LF
Senzel 3b/LF
CES 1b/DH
Stephenson C/DH
Steer RF
Votto 1b/DH
OD 2023
Friedl CF
McLain 2b
EDLC SS
India LF
Fraley DH/occasional LF
Steer RF
CES 1b/DH
Stephenson C/DH
Marte 3b
Senzel super sub
FA bat
FA Catcher
SP Greene,Lodolo,mid rotation FA, Lodolo, Williamson, Abbott,
BP 2 good FA arms including lefty to add to current mix
Lodolo is going to be pretty tired pitching on a single day’s rest.
He’ll be coming off 4-6 weeks of rest, so should be raring to go!
Good thing that he’s young.
er…..ashcraft
Another huge crowd, bolstering earlier contention that people will come out to see exciting, enthusiastic, hungry, hustling players, win or lose, especially over the alternative of old, placid, going through the motions, never have beens, who don’t appear to care whether they win or lose.
In the old days, the Reds would be on a path to a decade of dominance. Free agency squashed that, shortening it to a window of opportunity.
Huge crowd due to concert. Let’s see how many they draw tonight, tomorrow, and Monday.
Recent five game winning streak and sweep and series wins at Wrigley and Fenway had nothing to do with the large crowd?
MBS +1000. Win now, win tomorrow. It’s the only thing that really matters in baseball. Put your best team on the field every day that you can to give the fans something to get excited about. When players are ready you give them a shot. Service time considerations are real, but super 2 shenanigans are ridiculous. If young players struggle in the Bigs, you send them down to work on their weaknesses. Investing in pitching is very tricky. For the most part free agency pitching acquisitions have not fared that well for the Reds. I would be very hesitant to give up any of our young talent for pitching lottery tickets.
Think its time to go back to East and West divisions only or else we are going to have some sub 500 team make the playoffs by winning one of the central divisions.Don’t want to see MLB become like NFL where a team that doesn’t deserve a playoff spot gets one.Move Cinc. and Pitt. to east and St L and Chi and Milw to the west the wildcard is still in play for all teams.
As a 65 year old fan of well over 50 years I am tired of the Reds organization. They just don’t care about winning, if they did EDLC and others would be playing instead of guys like Fairchild and Benson.
The bloom has left the rose?
Yes, Mark. I concur.
Anyone else seeing an increase in the CAPTCHA challenge to get on this forum?
I just went through it multiple times on my phone browser. Answered correctly but still didn’t get in.
I don’t see it at all (never say never) on my Windows 11 PC with Edge or sometimes Chrome. I think I saw it maybe once on my current factory Android (i.e. Pixel) phone and maybe a time or 2 on a Motorola version Android phone I had previously.
Forgot to ask, are you using VPN when you get CAPTCHA? The trigger could be you are coming on a nondomestic IP address.
Not using a VPN on the phone.
You triggered a thought, though. I turned off the WiFi connection and didn’t get the screening site. Very odd since that’s the connection I’m using right now on this laptop.
Oh well … first world fan problems, right? 😛
Sounds like maybe the phone OS or hardware is sending something that triggers CAPTCHA (or not adding something to verify non robot status) and the cell network knows about this and cleans things up before the access request gets to RLN but your home internet provider doesn’t do the same.
That’s a 30K foot view guess. Wireless was just coming into vogue when I retired. Other than home and some certification exams, I never had to deal with it other than to make sure the wired access points I installed could talk to the guys and gals who configured the actual wireless network 😉
Good late morning all. Yesterday is gone and today is a new day. Reds are playing well and baseball is fun.
Still don’t understand why De La Cruz isn’t up as well as CES.
+1000
Super two status.Bob and Phil don’t care about winning just lining their pockets.Probably went through the stadium last night looking for loose pocket change.
One would think that at the very least, if nothing more than from a marketing standpoint, they should’ve called him up yesterday. They could’ve had Elly De La Cruz City Connect jerseys all ready to sell for $150 or whatever. And maybe he helps them win the series.
On the flip side, maybe you don’t want to risk him potentially struggling in such an important series. I dunno. I say get him out there, so “The Manager to be (Un)Named Later™” can slot him into the t-ball rotation. Maybe after all this random position swapping, he’ll start “inventing” an entirely new positions. “4th base” or the “long-gosman.” He already had Wil Myers playing “Designated Strikeout.”
I think it may be true that the arrival of EDLC will bring more fans to the games–for awhile, at least. So if it really is just about Big Bob lining his pockets, it’s hard to understand why EDLC isn’t with the Reds now. Maybe it is super two. Or maybe it actually is a developmental issue they want to work further on. Fielding? Some batting issue that MLB pitchers will exploit and AAA pitchers aren’t?
Another disappointing loss. Was never a big fan of Cruz. I tend to hold my breath when he’s on the mound.
We really need more reliable bullpen help. Sims should be groomed as an 8th inning setup man for Diaz. Assign him that task, and let him develop into that specific role.
What do you guys think they’ll do when Lodolo comes back and Abbott gets called up? Assuming everyone continues to perform, they probably should keep Williamson to have another lefty, but do you keep Weaver or Lively? Does one go to the bullpen?
Need bullpen reinforcements ASAP, hope Legumina and Law can return soon. Other than that, recent results match with Myers going out and McLain coming in.
Kevin H +1000. I am very frustrated that, for whatever reason, management has chosen to not put our best possible lineup on the field. The team is competing well and playing with good synergy, but I just can’t help to think that the last two losses could have very easily been won if we had just a little more thump in the lineup. If they truly want to win now, there is absolutely no logical reason to not have EDLC and CES in the lineup. Put EDLC as ss or 3rd and CES at DH and occasionally 1st. End the madness!!! Please!!!
Yes!
GRLF, the Reds need bullpen help asap. Not a lot of good options out there. Even though Williamson has looked good as a starter, I might consider bringing up Abbott as a starter and maybe transition Williamson to the pen. We desperately need a good left-hand arm in the pen.
Abbot was interviewed recently and said he pitched out of the pen before becoming a starter. He could be a bullpen piece this season.
I don’t know all the ends and outs of things. I do know Abbot, De La Cruz, and CES make the reds better
Yes, Kevin. I concur.