The Colorado Rockies took an early lead on Tuesday night in front of 28,291 fans at Great American Ball Park. That didn’t deter the Cincinnati Reds, who thanks to a 3-run home run in the 2nd inning from TJ Friedl, pulled off another come from behind win and extended their winning streak to 10 games.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Rockies (29-47) |
6 | 8 | 3 |
| Cincinnati Reds (39-35) |
8 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Young (2-0) L: Davis (0-2) SV: Diaz (20) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
It didn’t take long before the Cincinnati Reds were going to need a come from behind win to keep their winning streak going. Nolan Jones hit a 1-out solo home run in the top of the 1st inning to put the Rockies ahead. The Reds tried to get a rally going in the bottom of the inning with a TJ Friedl single to lead things off and a 1-out walk from Jonathan India, but Cincinnati couldn’t cash in on that opportunity.
In the 2nd inning the Reds tried it again and this time TJ Friedl cashed that check by following up 2-out walks from Will Benson and Curt Casali with a 3-run homer to put Cincinnati on top. Colorado tried to do a little something with back-to-back 2-out walks in the top of the 3rd, but Ben Lively was able to strike out Elias Diaz to shut that down and hold onto a 2-run lead.
The Reds went back to work in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Elly De La Cruz hit an opposite field solo home run to extend the Reds lead to 4-1. Jake Fraley would follow with a walk and he’d score from first base on a 2-out double into right-center by Spencer Steer. Colorado got one of those runs back in the next inning when Harold Castro hit a 2-out solo home run to make it a 5-2 ballgame.
Ben Lively only got through four innings on the day as he struggled to find consistency with the strikezone as he walked a career high four batters in the game. Alex Young took over for Cincinnati to begin the 5th inning. He gave up a single to lead off the inning but picked up a grounder that turned into a double play and followed up with a strikeout to get through the inning unscathed.
Elly De La Cruz got things started for the Reds in the bottom of the 5th with a hard comebacker off of pitcher Peter Lambert’s leg that he beat out for an infield single, but the throw got by the first baseman and De La Cruz took second. An attempted pick off throw followed and went to center and De La Cruz took third. Jake Fraley then doubled down the line to make it 6-2. Another pick off attempt went into the outfield and Fraley scored from second base on the play as Cincinnati extended the lead to 7-2.
Fernando Cruz pitched a shutout 6th inning for the Reds to keep their 5-run lead. Will Benson gave the team more breathing room when he led off the bottom of the inning with his second homer of the season. Daniel Duarte then took over on the mound for Cincinnati in the 7th and he needed just nine pitches – all strikes – to retire the Rockies in order.
Casey Legumina entered the game in the 8th inning and he ran into trouble immediately. He gave up a double to start the inning and then a 1-out walk to Elias Diaz before a 3-run homer with two outs by Jorge Alfaro pulled the Rockies to within three runs. He then walked Harold Castro on four pitches and that led to a visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson. Whatever he said got the job done as he got Brenton Doyle out on the softest of liners you’ll ever see (39.8 MPH exit velo).
Still holding an 8-5 lead, the Cincinnati Reds sent Alexis Diaz to the mound to try and pick up the save. Things got a bit shaky after a bloop single with one out was followed up by a double from Nolan Jones made it an 8-6 game. Diaz then walked Ryan McMahon before getting a visit from Derek Johnson. A strikeout of Elias Diaz followed. After getting ahead of Mike Moustakas 0-2, Diaz walked him to load the bases. Jorge Alfaro, who homered earlier in the night, came up empty on three pitches and struck out to end the game. 10 wins in a row for the Reds as they escaped with yet another victory.
Key Moment of the Game
Alexis Diaz stranding the bases (that he) loaded in the top of the 9th in a 2-run game.
Notes Worth Noting
TJ Friedl picked up four hits – including a homer. He’s now hitting .322/.379/.492 on the season through 51 games.
Elly De La Cruz had three hits on the night – including a homer. He’s now hitting .308/.379/.519 on the season.
It wasn’t an easy one, but Alexis Diaz picked up his 20th save in 20 opportunities.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies vs Cincinnati Reds
Wednesday June 21st, 12:35pm ET
Connor Seabold (1-3, 5.88 ERA) vs Andrew Abbott (3-0, 0.00 ERA)
This is why I can’t fully get behind David Bell yet.
You have taxed the top 4 in your bullpen so understandably you’d like to give them all a day off
The reds jump out to a 5-1 lead. Shrinks to 5-2 after 4 and with their 2-3-4 coming up I guess it made some sense to bring Young in for Lively in the 5th even though Lively was only at 80 pitches.
Young has a good inning only throwing 13 pitches. With 2 left handed hitters due up the following inning does he come back out for the 6th? Nope!
Cruz comes in for the 6th and has a dominant inning only throwing 13 pitches. Does he come back out for the 7th? Nope!
Duarte in for the 7th. Only needs 9 pitches to get through his inning. He just had a 2 inning appearance a few days ago so he’s definitely capable of doing it again. Does he come back out? Nope!
Legumina comes out for the 8th. Has only been used 1 time since coming off the IL so understandably he’s not on top of his game.
Now you’re in a pickle where you have to throw one of your big 4 and in his mind since the top of the order is coming up in a save situation he had to go with Diaz who looked gassed!
I really don’t understand with a day off Thursday why one of the 5th-7th inning guys couldn’t have thrown a 2nd inning and then just had tomorrow off. It’s not even a hindsight thing.
+5,000
They obviously wanted to get Casey into a game, but the 3 spot hurt. Stuff happens
But why not run him the inning earlier against the bottom of the order?
Strange choices happen.
Holy cow yes
No reason Diaz should have had to come into this game.
Really hoping we just clobber the Rockies tomorrow so Diaz and some of the bullpen can get 2 days rest.
Was Diaz velocity down today as well? Given the Reds history, I wouldn’t be surprised by an IL stint soon. But, 10 in a row is fun. Maybe Abbott can shut them out for 7 or so tomorrow. The longest Reds winning streak is 14. Somehow I’m not that confident that they’ll sweep Atlanta.
Well Said BDH
Maybe if Bell manages the Reds for another 20 years or so, someone will get to the bottom of his one-inning-per-pitcher theory. Maybe someone will even ask him if his theory is based on any real-world evidence, and, if so, what that evidence is.
Can’t agree more. It should have never gotten this close. Duarte or Cruz could have closed that game out. Now your bullpen is really in a precarious position tomorrow if the starter gets beat up. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to bring up a reliever from Louisville tomorrow just to be safe. And then send someone down that shouldn’t have had to go down. Sheesh.
Agree it was terrible bullpen management, but I suspect everyone in the bullpen is available to pitch their usual one inning tomorrow except Legumina and Diaz.
How is it terrible bullpen mgmt if everyone is available today (the day before an off day) besides two bullpen pitchers)?
I just don’t understand your all’s complaints. Our bullpen was suppose to be horrible again this year. It’s been a strength of the team instead. Maybe Bell is doing something right??
I don’t think it’s hard to see his theory of bullpen usage. That it differs from the theories of people who have never managed a bullpen is not surprising. As for running his pitching staff into the ground, pitching staffs all over baseball are being run into the ground: pitchers constitute over half of the players on the IL MLB-wide. Last night’s game featured a big Reds’ lead and a starting pitcher who only went four innings. Managing the pen to keep as many as possible guys available for today’s game makes sense under these circumstances. The score tightened up late in the game. Home runs happen. The Reds won.
100%
+10,000 And that’s why I haven’t joined the Bell fan club!
I’ll never join the Bell fan club. Guy always runs his pitching staff into the ground. So many times, he has pulled a starting pitcher that was either doing very well or only had pitched like 80 pitches or so. Just drives me crazy.
Bell can justify everything he does or doesn’t do just like every other manager can and does.I don’t know how or what he looks at.I would expect it to be how many days in a row has a pitcher thrown and pitch count has to figure in some where also.Could simply be the guy in the 8th needed some work and up 8-2 thats not a bad idea.For me he held back Buck and Sims and again he has his reasons and can justify that I am sure but Diaz has to be protected.Heck he sent WILD THING out in a pressure cooker and well we know how that turned out.
Yes, how many times do we not understand another person’s actions and then hear their reasoning and subsequently understand or agree with them?
I’ve read countless complaints in the past about why Sims doesn’t pitch more than an inning. He is a max effort guy (the anti Hunter) who missed the entire 22 season with back problems and surgery. Yet that doesn’t enter the critics’ reasoning.
And then there are the critics that just randomly say that the Reds record would be X games better if they had another manager. That’s always worth a good laugh.
Bell’s obviously trying to maximize outcomes and win games with his bullpen usage, while also protecting guys like Sims. Thursday is an off day, and Sims and Farmer (and who else) didn’t pitch last night. Plus you have Abbott going today.
I also wondered why a couple of those pitchers
didn’t pitch a second inning. However, I gotta believe that Bell knows a thing or two (or 500) more than I do.
This was Young’s third straight game, and also keep in mind he throws about 18 pitches each of those nights just warming up in the pen. So no way he was available for another inning tonight.
Guys here get on Bell for not letting guys go another inning but they also don’t consider that limiting to 1 keeps them available potentially for the next game, whereas going 2 probably means they’re not available the next night.
I agree! The problem is with the starting pitchers not being able to go 6 or 7 innings! We need help if anybody in the Reds FO is paying attention!
Problem is, every contending team around the league is looking for starters. The price will be sky high, in terms of prospects. I’m not sure I want them to trade any of our valuable chips right now.
Reds may need to consider expediting Phillips to Cincy if he continues to excel. We’re can’t expect to win many games that Weaver and whoever replaces Hunter start.
Exactly. Casey is on the team so he has to pitch sometime? They just weren’t counting on a 3 spot. Diaz will get atleast Wednesday-Thursday off.
My only gripe was a game like the day where it’s a big drop off from Sims to Gibalt and we really should’ve lost the game because of it
Limiting them to one means they may be available the next day, but then you quickly run into situations where you’ve used a guy two or three days in a row, and then you’re going to want him to have a couple days off. If a guy is sailing along, let him pitch two (or three!) innings, and save the other guys for tomorrow. Maybe I’m imagining it, but I think this used to be the norm for everyone other than closers and perhaps 8th inning guys.
J – Not necessarily, because you don’t normally expect a tight game every night. You hope for that semi-blow out like tonight was supposed to be. I bet Legumina was supposed to go 2 to close it, because you don’t care if you burn him for the next day. But he couldn’t keep the spread, and then Diaz had to clean it up.
So much to not understand here – let’s try another angle. With Young, he’s a bit older, and he’s their only lefty RP. OK, so you want to save spots for him, but – 3 days in a row, single innings. But, he’s got 25 career starts, but were they as openers? He doesn’t have that many innings in his career, and his stats are OK to good. Are the underlying analytics worse? Is he more of a soft tosser, location and command guy? Do they think he’s liable to blow up and they’re just trying to ride him as long as possible?
I dunno, and he’s just one – you could come up with the same questions up and down the pen.
Still, I guess it’s Farmer, Gibaut, Sims tomorrow so Diaz gets 2 days off. That helps.
Plus, it took Diaz 30 pitches to survive the 9th! He’s gassed!
Agree – especially for Duarte since he’s not been in the majors for long and could use the experience.
I 100% agree. A couple on here trying to defend Bell. There’s just no defense for Bell’s bullpen management.
I think he uses “The Force”.
I mean, I’ve seen Bell bring one guy in to get the third out and throw like 3 pitches. Then, the next guy, Bell keeps him out there for 2 innings? What not just keep the initial guy out there for another two innings? Why not bring the 2 inning guy in early to get the third out? It was just 3 pitches. They probably strain harder on the toilet.
Tonight, Young and Cruz, 13 pitches each, DD 9 pitches. Then, like you said, brings in Casey, a relatively minor leaguer, to face the top of the order. Ummm, I wonder what could happen. Why not bring Casey in earlier? Why not let Young, Cruz, and DD cover 4 innings? Shoot, those three possibly wouldn’t have had a problem taking care of all 5 innings.
It’s the reason personified “win in spite of the manager”, not “win because of the manager”.
My only hope is Bell doesn’t kill the bullpen the rest of the season. I mean, if the key pieces are this taxed, and we aren’t even to the halfway point yet?
Steve, I’ll repeat my comment from above: Our bullpen was suppose to be horrible again this year. It’s been a strength of the team instead. Maybe Bell is doing something right??
Our starting pitching situation is quite sad right now. Yes that has led to an overuse of the bullpen. Despite that, take a look at the standings.
wkuchad, Bell is using exactly the same strategy this season that he’s used in seasons when the bullpen was absolutely horrible. The fact that he’s got a few relievers who happen to be pitching well this season is not a product of Bell’s brilliant strategy suddenly working. Do you blame Bell for all the problems the bullpen had in previous years? Was it his strategy that caused so many of those guys to have ERAs of over 5.0?
J – “Was it his strategy that caused so many of those guys to have ERAs of over 5.0?”
Of course it was Bell’s fault. You established long ago that anything negative is Bell’s fault and anything positive is in spite of him. How can your scientific facts even be questioned?
Fernando Cruz is capable of going two innings, too. That’s what middle relievers are born and trained to do. It’s in their DNA.
EDLC in the spotlight with Jim Day. Loving every moment of it.
Telling Day “We keep grinding”
Not a pretty finish, but mission accomplished. I really hope they can atleast get Diaz/Sims some more help. This division could be ours
Aroldis. His stuff was nasty when the Reds played in KC
Yes, get Chapman back in Cincy.
I’d like to get Chapman too.
He did walk the bases loaded in the 8th last night.
2 Walks, a hit, and a run on Sunday.
He’s in bad form right now.
If you add him to the Reds he might just “perk up” and pitch better knowing who and what he’s playing for. In my view he’s still the addition that could make the Reds the favorite to win the division. He’s still got the talent.
He’s certainly battle-tested. Could be a good compliment to Diaz, and a guy who could close if necessary. For a cheaper and longer-term fix, though, I’d like to see the Reds get Crochet from the White Sox, who might be open to such a trade, being that their season is getting away from them. In the 2020 draft, the White Sox took Crochet one slot ahead of the Reds, who apparently wanted him but had to resort to selecting Hendrick. I’d trade one for the other in a heartbeat, though the Sox would probably want a better prospect.
10 wins in a row. Who gets their head shaved? 🙂
Giesenschlag? 🙂
haha That’s too easy.
I got a haircut today, does that count? haha…
And take nothing away from TJ Friedl just pumping it out like a machine today.
He’s officially now back from the IL.
OK, time for me to shut it down. Watching TJ in the locker room and then that’s over for me as well.
Back at it tomorrow afternoon. Great fun. HUGE fun.
I think assuming diaz makes the all star game, I hope he does not pitch to give him extra rest. I agree, seems tired and was missing his spots. glad to see eldc get some xbh’s again. Benson just keeps raking against right handers….. I love it.
The 10 wins ties the 2023 Reds for the 9th longest winning steak in Reds history. The longest winning streak is 14 games by the 1899 Reds. 4 of the 8 Reds teams that have had longer winning streaks were playing before 1900. 66 years ago the 1957 Reds won 12 in a row. The 1939 Reds also won 12 in a row and the 1940 Reds won 11 straight. The current winning streak is getting to be historic. Remember just a few weeks ago when the Pirates were flying high and leading the Division? They have no lost 8 straight and have dropped 4 games behind Cincy and are now in fourth place in the Division.
Good post! But we’re going for bigger fish. The 1916 Giants have the all-time record: 26 games. (They had a 17-game streak earlier that year too!) Yes, I know–baby steps. Break the all-time Reds record first. Either mark would be amazing, considering the current Reds rotation, and a bullpen full of castaways. Shows how strong the offense is. The Big Red Machine is certainly back!
Reds win 10 in a row.
Buzz-Kill RLN: Bell sucks!
Never change y’all!
To me, the biggest buzzkills on RLN are the folks who think everyone should mindlessly celebrate and be completely satisfied every time the Reds have had any kind of success. It’s as if nobody is entitled to have any expectations beyond whatever good thing has recently occurred, and any sort of critical remark or expressions of concern will be met with scorn. Every victory, according to these people, should be treated as if the team has won the World Series, and every Reds fan should just be thankful for all the joy we’ve experienced in the David Bell Era. I prefer the commenters who are able to appreciate the fact that winning a game (or even 10 games) doesn’t necessarily mean everything is perfect.
Agree with J – if we want to complain about the manager, we’re allowed to complain about the manager.
Laura, J:
Like I said….never change. Like everyone else, I’m here for the entertainment!
Couldn’t agree more @J. Ten in a row is great for any team. But, numerous structural problems remain. Winning doesn’t make them go away.
Enjoy the winning while it lasts. Losing will happen. Winning series are a better indicator of a solid team with baseball’s long season.
Yes…message boards are a place where people can vent and let off some steam in addition to celebrating, philosophizing, or just sharing random thoughts or concerns. Folks express themselves and it is not always positive and it should not be. We don’t live life in the lollipop guild. You don’t have to like what is posted but I think you should respect folks right to express that opinion as they should respect you in the same way. However one thing that should be avoided is attacking other posters. If you don’t like what they say then either move on or post a differing opinion. In this case you can post why David Bell is a great manager and all the brilliant moves he made during the game. Just don’t attack the people offering the opposite opinion
Of course you’re allowed to complain about the manager. Other people are equally allowed to complain about the complaining. A harmless diversion. And are we “mindlessly celebrating” or just enjoying an unexpectedly fun season?
Reds win 10 in a row.
Bell worshippers on RLN: none of you are ever allowed to criticize even the slightest thing about the greatest manager in MLB history, David Bell.
Never change, y’all!
+1
The Reds are currently winning, and that is great.
But they are not perfect. They have some flaws which are currently not being exploited.
Good teams will look for those flaws, acknowledge them, and attempt to fix them.
And, despite what Tampa Red thinks, fans are still good fans if they recognize and acknowledge those areas for improvement.
Lol “None of you are ever allowed to criticize” is a thing that was not and has not ever been said. But do go on, I’m here for it!
They do have flaws, the biggest of which is starting pitching which, I think, is being exploited.
+2 CIJ3 – Those folks were absent earlier in the season when the team was struggling as Bell road the Myers train to 8-10 games under .500. Not a peep of how great Bell was.
They were the ones applauding every time Bell used Doolittle and Strickland in high leverage despite EVERY other guy in the bullpen being a better option.
@TampaRed
Yep, I’m just here for the entertainment you provide. 🙂
I know, you would think we had lost ten in a row. Unbelievable. WE ARE WINNING. Be happy!
Agreed. The couch-potato-managers make all the right moves, apparently. Of course, they aren’t actually in the position to make the decisions and so don’t have anything to lose, anything to win, any responsibility in the matter whatsoever. (By the way, if they’re betting on the games, and so have something to win or lose, that’s none of Bell’s affair, of course.) Ten in a row is great! It’s been over a decade since a Reds team did it and they went to the playoffs that season.
So, is it just me or has Alexis Diaz been channeling Don “Full Pack” Stanhouse from the 1970’s-80’s for the last week???
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stanhdo01.shtml
Earl Weaver, Orioles manager when Stanhouse was with the O’s, tagged Stanhouse with the Full Pack nickname. Weaver said it seemed like every time Stanhouse was in a game, he needed to smoke a full pack of cigarettes to make it through Stanhouse’s stint on the mound. (and yes, managers were known to sneak smokes in the obscured nooks and crannies of the dugout).
And to be clear, it has been 30 years since I smoked a cigarette. But I may be a pound heavy in the morning from nibbling snacks 😉
Loved Earl Weaver’s management style! He was prone to say “Give me 2 bloops and a blast (HR)”!
I was thinking Coco Cordero, Jim.
Funny that I see more whining than praising after a W. I guess the Reds must be winning big, yep 10 straight wins will spoil fans. Let’s go for 11
By the end of the year Diaz arm is going to fall off…..the problem I see is him having to come into close out games that should be “blow-out” games….I can remember now 3 times in this win streak where Reds were up 7-1, 7-0 and tonight 8-2……your closer should never have to even warm-up in games like that.
Agree, Legumina allows “only” 1 in the 8th instead of 3 and Diaz gets the night off.
The pen was expected to be terrible coming in so what did you expect? Plus it’s GABP. 8-2 into 8-5. 7-1 into 7-5. It’s going to happen too often because our starters suck and our pen is overworked
I expect a bullpen to get 6 outs before giving up 6 runs
Pretty simple
I agree. I thought it was interesting that they led with Diaz in the 9th instead of Gibaut or Farmer. I’d guess they figured with a 3 run lead, Diaz would be up and throwing anyway; and, with the matinee Wednesday, even warming up alone could knock him out, so they might as well just go with him from the get go in the 9th.
In 2019 (the last time they had a group of decent relievers and played a full season)
Lorenzen pitched 83 IP and Igelsias pitched 67 IP.
In 2023 Diaz is on pace for 68 IP.
That seems more on par of what you expect from your top reliever, and not necessarily an “arm fall out” workload?
I guess there’s a rule that when EDLC hits a HR so does Big Ben. Great win, hopefully tomorrow is a laugher and the pen gets an easy day going into the off day.
even if the Reds would have lost today, it would have been a good day because they sent Myers packing….He was the biggest waste of a contract since…..since, well that Moose guy
Mike Minor says hold my beer
Eric Milton, can you speak it? 😉
You know, it’s easy to trash some guy playing Major League baseball, but I am sure Myers WANTED to do better. It’s just that his hitting reflexes are probably shot. It leaves every player some day. Myers is just 32 and he’s likely done.
With Wil Myers batting stance and the years adding up, it gets increasingly difficult to reach a pitch that’s over the lower outside corner of the plate.
Between Moose, Myers, Cessa, Griffery, etc…
the Reds are likely paying as much for players to NOT play for them, as they are paying players to play for them.
I know Krall has made some good trades of late, but that’s a huge waste of financial resources for a team who complains they are too cash strapped to pay for good players.
I have to think that wasted $30M could have brought a decent SP?
Krall was only responsible for Myers, and that was only for 1 year, and for only about 7.5 Million.
Krall was also reponsible for dumping the salaries of Moose, Akiyama, and now Myers. Kudos to him for cutting bait on non-performers.
I think most of us thought Myers was a decent signing for the price. It just didn’t work out. Bait cut. No future sunken cost.
Like anyone Krall is not without blemish but there is no other general manager in Major League Baseball that I rather have running my team.
The parent club is certainly exciting and very good, but the minor-league system is equally so. Unless something catastrophic happens, we are set to go on a long run of winning baseball! We can thank one man for that.
Nothing to be gained by trashing Wil Myers. He certainly wanted to do much better and I had my fingers crossed he would have another all star season for us. MIght not be his reflexes. 32 is not too old for hitters as they’re plenty of them in MLB.
Bell was a genius with his with a six run lead, let’s get these relievers some pt, one inning each, idea with until Legumina came in and dished up. Bell has no crystal ball, and unfortunately, the idea almost backfired. No way Diaz goes manana. No way Legumina is ready for prime time. It’s very easy to second guess the manager. Bell either learns from the experience or he doesn’t. Some of you guys seem to think he never learns. Doesn’t he? Hard to imagine.
He’s managed the same way since he got here and never learned. It’s obviously intentional.
What is it, exactly, that he’s supposed to learn?
How to manage a bullpen.
He’s managing one of the best bullpens in baseball?
We want him win and then spend all of our time stating why he’s not good enough by our standards…
For Tom,
The relievers as a squad are one of the best in baseball. Their performance is showing that.
Bell still has no idea how to manage them. That’s more than obvious. Just too many examples.
Like tonight, most simply, why bring in Casey, a relative minor leaguer, for the top of the order? Why not one of the earlier innings, where he would go up against the lower of the order?
There are two RPs who are probably burned for tomorrow, Young (3 days straight) and Diaz, who was not supposed to pitch today. However, Legumina did not do his job with a 6 run lead in the 8th. If he gives up just one run in the 8th, then he probably pitches the 9th too and we save Diaz.
With a 6 run lead in the 8th and a bullpen that’s tired, you put in your worst guy and let him dog it out if he can to save the pen for tomorrow.
Don’t see how this is bullpen mismanagement.
Agree, Hype.
Quite easy.
Why bring in Casey, a relative minor leaguer, for the top of the order? Why not one of the earlier innings, where he would be going against worse hitters?
Young and Cruz 13 pitches, DD 9 pitches only. It would be quite plausible that each of these could have easily pitched one more out each, possibly 2, saving another reliever or 2 from having to pitch today.
@Steve, Bringing in Legumina in the 6th, for example, is a much higher leverage situation with 12 outs to get and a 7-2 lead. If he gives up 3 there, it’s 7-5 going into the bottom.
Regardless of the order he’s facing in the 8th, with a 6 run lead and 6 outs to go, you try not to burn your good relievers for the next day in an already-taxed bullpen.
As for Young, it was his 3rd straight game. He’s not coming back out in the 6th after 13 pitches in the game, 11 the previous two nights, and 18-20 warming up the last 3 days.
Bottom line, you hope Legumina can go two innings to close the game with a 6 run lead so you don’t have to burn Diaz. But he didn’t do his job.
If it had worked out, only Young would have been burned for today. Nothing at all wrong with those decisions from the manager.
For those talking about concern with the pitching, I’m right there with you. I mean, many of us haven’t heard anything about some of our pitchers for over a season (has anyone heard about Tejay? Vlad? Tony? Others?).
And, not many teams out there were all of the starting 5 from the beginning of the season are literally not on the active roster.
I won’t hold this against Bell (at least nowhere hear as much as his clueless bullpen management). Maybe a bit with Johnson and his staff. I’m looking at more the medical staff, the trainers, etc. I mean, we can get Fraley back pretty quick. Freidl didn’t take too long. What about pitchers? Is the medical/training staff clueless what to do with them?
Which even calls for Bell to be even smarter with his bullpen management. For example, last night, Young and Cruz 13 pitches, DD 9 pitches. Then, he brings in Casey, a relative minor leaguer, to go against the other team’s leadoff hitters. “Nothing can go wrong, can it?”
Why couldn’t Young, Cruz, or DD have pitched 2 innings? Or, even each of them just 5 more pitches to get one more out each? Then, we can save a reliever and still pretty much have those 3 still available for tomorrow.
Or, reorder how you bring in the relievers so that the experienced reliever. Cruz and Young would be the veterans last night. One of them, which was Young, comes in when he did, to face the leadoff hitters, but then bring Cruz in for the 8th, when those hitters come back up. Casey and DD take the 6th and 7th, with weaker hitters.
Bell really has to play smart with the relievers. Or, we are going to burn them out. I mean, I always consider the bullpen a crapshoot. But, this year, bottom line, we got a good thing going. Don’t blow it.
Steve: they were six runs ahead. Top of the order, yes, for one of the worst teams in baseball. Help available if things go wrong. Things went wrong. Help arrived. Reds won game.
Absolutely agree. Starting pitchers nowdays rarely go beyone 6 innings. The bullpen is going to be used every single night. Giving the ball to Leguima with a big lead was the thing to do. Unfortunately we had to bring in Diaz. Just the way it goes.
Running DD for a 2nd inning was the missed opportunity. Casey should have been out in the top of the 9th with a 6 run lead facing the bottom of the order. He could have stretched DD or Cruz – that was the only mismanagement I take issue with.
Not a huge deal, I just hope it doesn’t re-occur
Legumina has been solid. It was the right call at the time.
I don’t blame bell as much as Legumina
A bullpen should be able to get 6 outs before 6 runs and save the closer – that’s not on the manager
I can agree.
But, again, like you said. . .
Young and Cruz, 13 pitches, DD 9 pitches. They couldn’t have gotten 1 more out each, saving another reliever? Possibly 2 more outs each, saving 2 relievers for this game? I mean, something like what you said, if they can throw 13 pitches, can’t they throw, say, 5 more to get one more out?
If you aren’t going to pitch Legumina in a 6 run game, when are going to use him. He’s been solid. 1 bad pitch.
Yeah, Legumia’s numbers are looking pretty bad right about now. He’s been pretty good, as someone said, but he’s also had an outing here and there that’s really hurt. They need a lefty to take his place in the pen.
Man…. This is amazing! I have to give credit to ownership also! It appears they are learning lessons here and allowing their baseball people run the team. They are eating money on players with no place on the team. I don’t know how this season will end but I know this! The Cincinnati Reds are a joke no longer! This is just the beginning! We were supposed to be terrible this year!
Agreed Slicc50. We were supposed to be terrible WITH Green, Lodol and Ashcraft. All three are now on the IL and certainly not pitched up to what we expected of them at the beginning of the year and yet we find ourselves in first place amidst a 10 game win streak. We are lucky that all the rookies called up are playing so well and playing well together to cover for our well documented pitching woes. It is management’s job to bring in reinforcements. There are merits to make no trades, stay with what we have and wait till next year to get free agent help. We just need to be ready for probably missing the playoffs, finishing third or whatever and being happy with whatever good times we had this year.
This team is so much fun but I also thought I was going to have a heart attack in the 9th inning! I’ve been around long before there was Must See TV in the 90s but right now the Reds are bringing that back into my life. I do not want to leave the room when the game is on because anyone on this team could do something exciting at any point.
Anti-consolation with an ugly bullpen night through the farm teams. Only Daytona won, and won big. Meltdowns elsewhere.
Abbot goes six, sims 2 and Farmer 1 tomorrow. Everyone gets a day off to reset Thursday. Unfortunately we had to use Diaz tonight but win the ones you can. He needs rest though.
More likely Farmer would pitch two innings, and Sims only one. Sims has been held to one inning in his appearances. I think he still has lingering body core strength issues with his back. Ian Gibaut is probably also available.
Yep – Gibaut or Farmer are going 2 if needed. Duarte and Young in an emergency. No more Diaz until Friday at the earliest.
Interestingly enough, there are a lot of long streaks going on in MLB right now:
Reds: W 10
Giants: W 9
Braves: W 7
Red Sox: W 6
Cards: W 4
Nats: L 5
A’s: L 6
Rockies: L 7
Pirates: L 8
That’s a 3rd of all the teams in MLB currently in either a long winning streak or losing streak. Quite a coincidence.
Guys something we might want to consider concerning bull pen handling. Our rotation is very limited. The pen is throwing 3 to 4 innings a night. Sometimes more. Starters are held to 100 pitches a night even if they are throwing well. Also this pitch count is standard now around the league. Hitters understand this as well and are doing everything they can to drive up the starters pitch count especially if he is a good pitcher. Look around the league and see how many starters go 7 innings on any given night. Bull pens are now 13 pitchers because of this. Holding relievers to 1 inning is not by choice it is out of necessity. Especially when your starters routinely only last 5 innings.
Yep, exactly
Jim, it’s possible to have 2 good pitchers cover 4 innings today and 2 different good pitchers cover 4 innings tomorrow. It’s also possible to have 4 good pitchers pitch an inning in back-to-back games and then none of them is available for the third game of the series, and you then find yourself having to use 2 bad pitchers in spots when you’d prefer to have 2 good ones. This is part of the logic of allowing a guy to pitch 2 innings whenever he seems to be sailing along and is pitching efficiently. You can save another guy for tomorrow AND win today’s game.
I am really concerned about the pitching. This business of the starters never going more than 4 or 5 innings is going to bite us, particularly against better teams. It’s going to take some REAL good fortune to hold down the Braves and Orioles lineups with the starting rotation we are currently running out there. Hopefully the offense can score 6-8 runs each game.
I am thrilled with the winning streak and more importantly, the overall direction of the franchise. This team is electric and this season has been a blast. Easily surpassed my hopes and expectations. I just think at a certain point, this starting rotation is going to be a real problem. Hopefully, Greene is back sooner than later, Ashcraft can regain something close to his old form, and Krall can find a way to help at the deadline. But that’s a lot of uncertainty.
@reddawg2012 I think your right. We will go as far as our pitching takes us. I’m looking through the box scores this morning and the longest outing I saw from a starting pitcher was 7.1 innings. Most were 6. They all were replaced very close to 100 pitches with most being just under 100. This is the norm now in handling starters. I also didn’t see many relief pitchers throw 2 innings. Most were 1 with a few going 1.1. Closing 3 innings a night with your pen is now the norm and it looks like most managers are using guys for 1 inning. Most pens our used for at least 3 innings a night.
I would be very happy if the Reds bullpen was being asked to cover 3 innings a night, but it’s almost always 4+ innings with the current starting pitching.
You’re correct Jim T on how pitchers are being used these days.
My question is why? There are more injuries than ever with innings limits and pitch counting. Guys are throwing harder, but ERA’s are through the roof. So maybe max effort isn’t the way to go. Maybe 1 inning per pitcher is not the way to go. Maybe 100 max effort pitches is not the way to go. The current way is not working. (based on injuries and ERA’s).
Sooner or later some team is going to break away from the norm, and figure out a better way.
Another exciting win. The dilemma with Diaz in the 9th was once Legumina didnt have it, are you going to lose the game or go extras and not use use Diaz? I think once it got to 3 runs, you had to use him to win it and now you have certainty for today. You also cant warm up guys and not use them. Diaz is unavailable today plus he has the off day tomorrow and I d give him Friday as well. This offense plus GABP plus weak SP is going to make for a lot of 8-6 games.
Here is where Krall could help. Why not be proactive and fortify the pitching now? Im not asking for Lucas Giolito or Shane Bieber but one good bullpen rental arm and one rental SP could help the reds get to AS break until Greene is back and Lodolo could be the “deadline addition” to the SP.
Santillan isnt looking good in AAA and I dont see Antone going on a rehab stint anytime soon.
Lorenzen went 6 innings and gave up 1 last night. Chapman walked 3 but pitched a shutout inning. There’s a boatload of other relievers out there. Reds need some help now to get to the AS break with this lead intact.
The problem with getting “rental” arms is either:
a. If they are worth it, the Reds would have to give up some really good prospects to get them, which seems silly if they are only “rentals”
b. If they don’t require good prospects, then they likely aren’t much better than what the Reds already have in-house
If the Reds make any trades for pitching mid-season, it had better be for a young, controllable arm who will be here for many years. No rentals. The problem is, all the contenders are looking for pitching, so the price is going to be extremely inflated.
That’s why it’s probably better for the Reds to play it cool and try to fix the pitching in the offseason, when the heat is turned down a bit. Plus, there will also be FA available then as well.
The devil is in the details.
I cant imagine anyone is giving the Tigers a top 15 prospect for 3 months of Lorenzen. You may be correct on a high profile guy like Chapman but I think krall can find a bullpen arm somewhere for a high upside A prospect in the Reds 15-25 area or a toolsy low A prospect
Agreed with your post CI3J. We still have our big three coming back at some point and the looming question is will they be back to what we expect, giving quality starts through at least six innings on most nights? If not we Reds fans have to be ready mentally for the probable fall out of contention this year. Management had better dig deep into their wallets next year so that we are FAVORED to make the playoffs.
Practically every contender is looking for pitching. See it every day on mlbtraderumors. Price is gonna be sky high for a dependable starter. Gotta be willing to give upsome from the group of Marte, Arroyo, Hector Rodriguez, Petty, Lyon Richardson, Cabrera, Jorge, etc. I’m not doing that for a rental, but if the pitcher has a couple years of control, maybe.
Diaz showing some serious arm fatigue. He may need a short stint on the IL unless he can hold out till the AS game. Guessing he is not available today to give him at least 2 days rest. Too bad Legumina stunk it up otherwise he could have gotten more days rest.
I’d hate to take away a wonderful opportunity for the young guy, but I’d prefer he not pitch in the all-star game.
Anybody notice that over his last 10 games McClain has 10 hits in 45 ABs, a .222 average?
Yes, I have.
The guy just needs a day off. Looks tired.
I too noticed his average is down, although it’s still the best for a rookie with his limited at bats in MLB. His bat speed seems to be down a little as he is swinging through fastballs in the zone he was hitting earlier. He got every Monday off in Louisville. Has he missed a game since his call up?
I’ve never been an advocate of Bell but the vitriol directed at him now is unwarranted. We’ve won 10 in a row and he still gets acrimony on handling the bullpen. What’s he supposed to do? Sims has been lights out. Farmer has been solid and so has Young but they can’t pitch everyday. I’d be incredulous if Diaz was even considered today.
Give Bell some praise on getting us into first place. Not one person thought this was possible a month ago.
You pretty much summed it up. What about DD? Cruz? Casey? Farmer? There are other arms out there that can be taking the heat. Yet, we have 4 relievers in the top 14 in the NL in most games pitched. Our next one shows up at #50. Next one that shows up is #83. There are other relievers Bell can be using.
Or like last night, Young came into a situation he should, a veteran to take on the leadoff hitters; that’s fine. The other veteran out there who could have been used? Cruz. But, Bell used him against lower hitters. So, we had no one else but Casey, a relative minor leaguer, to put out there against the leadoff hitter.
Bell went : Young, Cruz, DD, Casey. It would have been just as easy to have gone : Young, DD, Casey, the Cruz.
Or, Young and Cruz 13 pitches each, DD 9 pitches. They each couldn’t have thrown 5 more pitches, to just get one more out each, to save another reliever?
The players have been stepping up. So do the coaches, especially when our bullpen is so taxed.
(sorry, should have been a separate post. my bad)
For those talking about concern with the pitching, I’m right there with you. I mean, many of us haven’t heard anything about some of our pitchers for over a season (has anyone heard about Tejay? Vlad? Tony? Others?).
And, not many teams out there were all of the starting 5 from the beginning of the season are literally not on the active roster.
I won’t hold this against Bell (at least nowhere hear as much as his clueless bullpen management). Maybe a bit with Johnson and his staff. I’m looking at more the medical staff, the trainers, etc. I mean, we can get Fraley back pretty quick. Freidl didn’t take too long. What about pitchers? Is the medical/training staff clueless what to do with them?
Which even calls for Bell to be even smarter with his bullpen management. For example, last night, Young and Cruz 13 pitches, DD 9 pitches. Then, he brings in Casey, a relative minor leaguer, to go against the other team’s leadoff hitters. “Nothing can go wrong, can it?”
Why couldn’t Young, Cruz, or DD have pitched 2 innings? Or, even each of them just 5 more pitches to get one more out each? Then, we can save a reliever and still pretty much have those 3 still available for tomorrow.
Or, reorder how you bring in the relievers so that the experienced reliever. Cruz and Young would be the veterans last night. One of them, which was Young, comes in when he did, to face the leadoff hitters, but then bring Cruz in for the 8th, when those hitters come back up. Casey and DD take the 6th and 7th, with weaker hitters.
Bell really has to play smart with the relievers. Or, we are going to burn them out. I mean, I always consider the bullpen a crapshoot. But, this year, bottom line, we got a good thing going. Don’t blow it.
Bringing in Legumina in the 6th, for example, is a much higher leverage situation with 12 outs to get and a 7-2 lead. If he gives up 3 there, it’s 7-5 going into the bottom.
Regardless of the order he’s facing in the 8th, with a 6 run lead and 6 outs to go, you try not to burn your good relievers for the next day in an already-taxed bullpen.
As for Young, it was his 3rd straight game. He’s not coming back out in the 6th after 13 pitches in the game, 11 the previous two nights, and 18-20 warming up the last 3 days.
Bottom line, you hope Legumina can go two innings to close the game with a 6 run lead so you don’t have to burn Diaz. But he didn’t do his job.
If it had worked out, only Young would have been burned for today. Nothing at all wrong with those decisions from the manager.
“Bringing in Legumina in the 6th, for example, is a much higher leverage situation”
The Rockies had lower hitters coming up in the 6th, the leadoff hitters coming up in the 8th. Which ones do you think Casey would be more successful against?
Bell used: Young, Cruz, DD, Casey.
He could have easily used: Young, Casey/DD, DD/Casey, and then Cruz. No extra relievers burned. Put your better relievers against your better hitters. Bell failed in that respect.
Or, Young and Cruz went 13 pitches each, DD 9. They couldn’t have each made 5 more pitches, just one more out each, to save a reliever, exactly what we need to be doing, what you even refer to, and they would still be available for today?
Yes, opposing team’s position in the batting order is one leverage component, but 12 outs to go with a 5 run lead is a higher leverage situation than 6 outs to go with a 6 run lead.
Bell’s relievers did the job in the 6th and 7th and reduced the leverage, and in the 8th, Bell is just trying not to burn Diaz and hope Legumina can finish the game. If it works out, Bell only has Young burned for the next game and Diaz available.
Legumina had not pitched in 8 days! And actually, he is higher up on the totem pole than DD and possibly Cruz. But every time the bullpen gives it up, we bash the second tier reliever and skirt the obvious issue. Lack of inning by the starting pitchers. Our bullpen has fatigue issues beyond Diaz and it is most likely only going to get worse. If we are going to try to contend in August, we are going to need 1-2 starting pitching pieces who can regularly give us 6-7 innings. I am fairly confident Greene and Ashcraft can provide this but also just as confident that Weaver and Lively will not. And we have this next 15-30 days to get through before that. I think we need to add starting pitching today ……if we wish to contend in August. It is right there before our own eyes that we have burned up a solid bullpen. Waiting until late July to get some starting pitching innings will be too late.
Steven I am an advocate of winning baseball.
I try to temper that with my evaluation of the talent on the team. We currently have some high quality young position players that are performing very well. Bell has us in first place in spite of a very thin starting pitching group that is also saddled with injuries. Can the team keep winning without better starting pitching remains to be seen. This ownership has done very little to give any manager a fighting chance with the talent they have been given to work with. They have an opportunity to correct that with the players they have obtained in the sell off. Right now Bell has the team playing very well in spite of some serious issues regarding our starting pitching. Bell and the team are exceeding my expectations. Until that changes I will support him and the team.
“Bell has us in first place in spite of a very thin starting pitching group that is also saddled with injuries.”
And, this will simply be a difference of our opinions, which is fine.
My opinion is “The players have us in first place despite Bell not knowing how to manage a bullpen”.
The players have stepped up. I will agree that the FO needs to step up. But, the coaches need to step up, also, their bullpen management.
Last night, quite easy to consider, their leadoff hitters coming in the 5th and 8th. Who were the veterans you want to go to? Young and Cruz. Young came in, fine. But, then, Cruz came in with worse hitters, leaving Casey, a relative minor leaguer, facing their leadoff hitters.
In short, Bell did: Young, Cruz, DD, Casey.
He should have planned for: Young, DD/Casey, Casey/DD, then Cruz.
Or, Young and Cruz 13 pitches each, DD 9 pitches. No one can tell me they couldn’t have tried to make 5 more pitches to get one more out each, saving a reliever, exactly what we need to be doing, and still be potentially available for today.
@steve LOL. Yes we have a difference of opinion. Have a nice day.
“Or, reorder how you bring in the relievers so that the experienced reliever. Cruz and Young would be the veterans last night. One of them, which was Young, comes in when he did, to face the leadoff hitters, but then bring Cruz in for the 8th, when those hitters come back up. Casey and DD take the 6th and 7th, with weaker hitters.”
This was my critique of Bell’s BP handling last night.
He’s demonstrated his plan has been to try to align his relievers’s strengths against the hitters they will face.
That went out the window with Duarte and Leguimina last night to disasterous results, which wound up requiring Diaz to again finish up.
For the Bell apologists:
_Bell didn’t toss the tater to Alfaro
_Nothing is completely predictable…but of course Bell likes to play the odds
_Yes, the Reds won
_Yes, the winning streak is 10 games now
Bell can do a better job even within his own system. His inconsistencies and flawed situational thinking can be what holds the team back once they get into the playoffs or face better teams than the Rockies or the Alvarez-less Astros.
It’s an example personified of “winning in spite of the manager”, not “winning because of the manager”.
The players have been stepping up. The coaches need to, also, especially with how taxed our pen is.
Do you think it’s possible that he planned to use his best-rested reliever, Legumina, for two innings before Legumina gave up the 3-run HR? Does the fact that I can see a valid reason for the bullpen line-up make me a “Bell apologist?”
While HDTBell’s bullpen use is puzzling to me at times, I realize options are limited and it takes more than a little fairy dust to engineer a 10-game streak. Some of the challenges are of the pitchers’ own making by not being as efficient and not getting some outs when needed. And the trade market will still be tight because the bigger money teams still in the mix can spend more cash when necessary. That’s just the state of the game.
We ride the streak while we can. Abbott won’t be perfect through all of 2023, but it’s fun to watch. The limit on starters is what it is and while guys like me can pine for the days of Seaver and Carlton throwing 150 pitches a game and almost 300 innings per year, that’s not gonna happen anymore.
Game will be on a screen and on-and-off mute during a couple meetings. Win or lose today, this streak has been magical for me. I’ll double down on the Hope regardless of how dangerous it might be.
well said Mark
and it takes more than a little fairy dust to engineer a 10-game streak.
To be fair, the Reds have gotten lucky in some of those wins. Half of those 10 wins have been by 1 run. We could just as easily be looking at a 5-5 record, but the ball is bouncing the Reds’ way at the moment.
Lots of criticism of Bell’s bullpen management. I’m sure he’d look like a bullpen guru if his starters were getting 6 or 7 innings every night instead of 4 or 5. I’m not even a big fan of Bell, but come on, he’s not responsible for every poor performance.
If we can’t trade for a SP, we need to add length to the pen. KC wants to trade Chapman and Barlow as a package, or that was the rumor a week ago.
Diaz, Chapman, Barlow, Sims, Young, Farmer, Duarte, Gibaut
We’d have 3 closers, so when Diaz isn’t good to go, we have 2 others with closing experience to call on. Nasty Boys like!
1. Your starter gets a big lead and still only stumbles thru 4 innings. Happens way too often
2. Call up CES and field your most relentless lineup. The Braves didn’t beat the Rox 8-6. It was more like 14-6
Bell has always made questionable decisions at times, but I’m sure they all do. You think Cards fans like Marmol? If they called up these kids a month earlier we’d be 4 games ahead right now. Abbott was schooling AA kids when he was obviously better then what we had. Same is probably true with Connor Phillips. Bell is doing the best he can with what he has
I agree. Much of the bullpen criticism is bunk, trying to disect moves within a game while ignoring larger context. Bell’s bullpen usage is a byproduct of poor starting pitching.
Starting pitching is at a premium across MLB, and will extract surplus value in trades just like the Reds were able to do last year. Lengthening the bullpen would be a solid strategy. Besides, very good odds our Big Three are available for the August/September push.
What’s the larger context of switching the order of Legumina and Duarte, so that the less experienced…just off the IL…pitcher faces the weaker part of the Rockies lineup instead of sending him up against Jones who was having a monster night?
Folks blow off any criticism of Bell as if somehow they aren’t “true Reds fans”. RFINOs.
That is bunk.
Beating up on sub .500 teams is one thing.
Beating shorthanded teams (Astros) is one thing.
Talking playoffs is another, and its the small decisions that matter.
This is where some of these criticism of Bell is directed.
Sure, if the SP goes deeper into the games things could play out differently.
But it isn’t going to for the foreseeable future.
These criticisms of Bell aren’t existential…they address specific strategic choices that could (at least theoretically…or in hindsight ;-)) improve the team.
The team is doing well…they were doing well a couple weeks ago before they ran into the Brewers.
Every little bit helps and Bell can tighten up his game the same way EDLC seems to be tracking changeups better…or at least he was last night.
Wow Harry … seems I struck a nerve, even though I was really thinking of you when I posted.
But since you brought it up, what’s up with calling others “Bell apologists.” If you feel the need to resort to pejorative labeling of fellow posters perhaps your arguments aren’t as strong as you think they are.
The players have obviously stepped up. The FO obviously needs to step up. Why shouldn’t Bell need to step up with his bullpen management? Too many examples out there to show this.
I think you missed the point. The more decisions that have to be made, the more likely you are to make a bad one. It’s not Bells fault that he needs to call on so many relievers in a game. Everyone knows bullpen arms can be fickle.
Lol, I’m not even a Bell fan, but there is a crazy amount of criticism on him.
Reds are still about -20 run differential on the season and middle of pack in the division. The whole division only has about a 50 run spread (the other two NL divisions have 150 run spreads)
Braves are the scariest team in the NL. Need to be well rested.
We get Thursday off, and thankfully the Braves don’t.
Interesting? We had that advantage with Houston too
-16
What’s the old saying? “With friends like these, who needs enemies?”
After reading the comments above, there must be a baseball fan version of that. 🙂
I’m kidding, mostly.
Bell and the bullpen have outperformed to date, no doubt about it.
If you look at our bullpen like an annual budget, Bell is overspending his dollars early in the fiscal year and he is going to run out of money later. Yes he looks good now, but the bills are still gonna need to be paid in the late part of the season. The FO is going to need to add to his budget for him to keep winning. I think they will.
Not a fan of Bell’s management of the Bullpen day to day BUT who would have bet on opening day the Reds would be in First riding a 10 game winning streak with all three of the big three on the IL? They have NONE of the 5 starters the broke ST with currently in their rotation and are 4 games over 500. That’s impressive. This team plays hard. They are a cohesive unit. If they weren’t that way, we would blame Bell. Since they are that way he should be getting credit for the style and success of this team so far.
The bullpen? Yes. Bell? No, not really.
There have been over 100,000 instances in the modern era where an MLB team had both fewer total hits, and fewer total walks than its opponents over a 10 game span.
Only 1 of those teams won all 10 games.
Our Cincinnati Reds!!
We are indeed a unicorn.
Looking at numbers:
Of the Reds’ current 26 man roster, let’s look at every hitter that has at least 100 at bats, which make up nine total hitters.
7 of the 9 have an OPS over .700. Only Senzel (.690) and Stephenson (.681) are below.
4 of the 9 have an OPS over .800. And India is 5th with a .789 OPS.
5 of the 9 have 7 or more stolen bases.
Only 1 of the 9 has more than 60 strikeouts on the season (Stephenson). I really hate strikeouts.
All 9 of these hitters are under 30 and (besides Newman) could be around several more years.
We have two starters with less than 100 at bats: Votto with 1.089 OPS and De La Cruz with a .898 OPS. (small sample sizes for each).
We have a pretty impressive group of young men (and Votto) we get to watch play.
Lively’s command was not there last night. He walked 4 batters. With good command he would have been around 60 pitches after 4 innings, not 80. In addition, it was taking him 4.2 pitches to dispose of a hitter. I like my pitchers to be under 4 pitches per batter.
Also, when the exit velocities and launch angle of the balls hit off of him over those 4 innings are correlated with the humidity index, wind speed and direction at the time he would have come out to pitch the 5th inning you would find that he would have been rocked that inning.
Ah, I feel like a subject matter expert too.
Let us just enjoy this team, as imperfect as it is.
Lineup out. This is NOT a getaway game lineup. Going for the sweep!!
And as many has noted, McLain getting a needed day off.
1Friedl CF
2Steer 3B
3India 2B
4De La Cruz SS
5Fraley RF
6Votto 1B
7Stephenson, TDH
8Benson LF
9Maile C
Nice to see enough depth in the roster that the Reds can sit McLain and still post a solid lineup for today.
Would love to see another strong outing from Abbott and another game like Elly pulled off yesterday.
And of course a better game for JV.
Find a way to work around Jones….
I am truly, truly shocked that Newman isn’t playing.
Newman never cost anyone playing time except Barrero. We didn’t have another true starter. But with Votto up, I think Newman’s playing time versus righties will be way down.
Agreed. Plenty of depth behind the starting line-up today. Add in the off day tomorrow and you know the team will do what it can. Temps look pretty good according to TWC.
Rocks are posting up Jones, McMahon and Grichuck at 2, 3, 4. Everything else looks more like a getaway line-up to me. No 4M to be found. Interesting test for Abbott.
Almost time to Kick This Pig and go for the SWEEP!!
Fairchild sent down, Legumina to the DL with shoulder soreness.
Pitchers Busenitz and Bracho called up.
Busenitz, last time I looked at the stats is pitching well for the bats.
Kinda shocked they sent Fairchild down.
Hope it’s temporary. Fairchild makes for an excellent 4th outfielder.
Reds face a lefty Friday. Can Fairchild be sent down but actually not go down and be re-activated for Friday night? This looks like a short term bullpen emergency.
I think it was Jim who was saying MLB should have a travel or active roster and then a game day roster that can flex each day. NFL does there active 53 on game day and Im not a hockey guy but I think Jim said they have that flexibility. Player health would be better and roster durability as well.
Chapman maybe at the right price but please no to Lorenzen. I know it was years ago but seemed like every time when he pitched for for us it was a crapshoot if he would be good or bad. Maybe the stats don’t bear me out but all I can remember is Afib every time he went out to pitch. Same with Iglesias. 😛