Day two of Taylor Swift day in Cincinnati is upon us. If today is anything like yesterday, then we’re all in for a treat. The Reds and Padres needed a few extra innings to find a winner, but that worked out for Cincinnati as Spencer Steer crushed a walk-off homer in the 11th for the first place Reds. There’s a chance for rain and storms in the afternoon forecast, but if they stay away, first pitch is set for 1:40pm ET today.
Starting Lineups
San Diego Padres
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Cincinnati Reds
|
| Ha-Seong Kim – 2B | TJ Friedl – CF |
| Fernando Tatis Jr. – RF | Matt McLain – 2B |
| Juan Soto – LF | Jonathan India – DH |
| Manny Machado – 3B | Elly De La Cruz – SS |
| Xander Bogaerts – SS | Jake Fraley – RF |
| Nelson Cruz – DH | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Brandon Dixon – 1B | Spencer Steer – 3B |
| Trent Grisham – CF | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Austin Nola – C | Will Benson – LF |
| Michael Wacha – RHP | Brandon Williamson – LHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Brandon Williamson | 38.2 | 5.82 | 1.47 | 17 | 29 |
| Michael Wacha | 80.2 | 2.90 | 1.05 | 23 | 69 |
| Links: Brandon Williamson’s Stats | Michael Wacha’s Stats |
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Brandon Williamson
The last time out, Brandon Williamson ran into problems with a downpour in Baltimore and his outing was cut short as he threw just 2.0 innings. With the possibility of rain in the forecast today in Cincinnati he’s hoping to avoid that this afternoon, at least while he’s on the mound.
Left-handed hitters aren’t getting many opportunities to face Williamson in the big leagues so far in his career. The ones who do get that chance had hit .310 against him, but it’s about as empty of a .310 as you’re going to see as they’ve walked just twice in 32 plate appearances and have yet to have an extra-base hit against him. Right-handed hitters are hitting just .252, but they walk at a good rate and they’ve hit for a bunch of power against him.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 139 | 31 | 8 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 22 | .252 | .338 | .529 |
| LHH | 32 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | .310 | .344 | .310 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 92.4 | 88.1 | 73.1 | 81.5 | 84.3 |
| Usage | 34% | 26% | 8% | 17% | 15% |
Michael Wacha
April was tough for Michael Wacha as he posted a 6.75 ERA on the back of two horrendous starts in a row. He’s been dominant since the start of May, making nine starts and allowing just seven runs in 55.1 innings (1.14 ERA). Hitters have a .461 OPS against him in that span.
This season his splits aren’t all that big. Neither lefties or righties have hit for much average against him, or walked all that much. Right-handed hitters are hitting for a little more power than lefties, though neither has hit for a good amount of power. Not shown below is that he’s pitched worse on the road – his ERA away from San Diego is 3.44 (2.51 at home).
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 177 | 32 | 13 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 37 | .195 | .254 | .366 |
| LHH | 145 | 30 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 32 | .226 | .290 | .353 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | 2-seam | Cutter | Curve | Change | |
| Velo | 92.1 | 91.7 | 87.3 | 74.5 | 82.0 |
| Usage | 33% | 10% | 14% | 11% | 32% |
When and Where
- Game time: 1:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 80°, cloudy, 35% chance of rain
News and Notes
TJ Friedl’s been quite good
TJ Friedl's ranks among NL CF (min 200 PA)
AVG – .313 (1st)
OBP – .379 (1st)
SLG – .486 (1st)
OPS – .865 (1st)#FriedlForAllStar— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) July 1, 2023
Standings
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Reds | 44 | 38 | 0.0 | 25.0% |
| Brewers | 43 | 39 | 1.0 | 50.9% |
| Pirates | 39 | 42 | 4.5 | 6.7% |
| Cubs | 38 | 42 | 5.0 | 15.6% |
| Cardinals | 33 | 47 | 10.0 | 9.4% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
Those playoff odds reflect the Reds negative run differential for the season, but the team that got out scored early in the season is not the same team that’s been playing so well lately. I’d say the Reds postseason chances are approximately 113%, but I could be a little biased. My predictions for today are: Williamson keeps the Reds in the game, EDLC makes a difference with his bat, his glove and his speed, Votto contributes with the bat, and McLain extends his on base streak. And the Reds win. But again I might be a little biased!
I’ll see you bias and raise you my optimism.
Nice lineup with some options in reserve.
It’s baffling that they have the Brewers as twice as likely to make the playoffs. The Brewers may be favored, but twice as likely?
Weather looks a bit iffy, but if the radar projections are right, they should be able to get this in.
There was a real buzz yesterday around the stadium. The Swifties were out in force and a very diverse crowd. The game was awesome to watch 3 rows back in section 128. Great experience visiting the Reds HOF.
Yep, definite rain. But, should be some afternoon time to get something in.
I’m here at the park.
Tarp is off the field.
Sun is trying to poke thru.
There might be a small delay.
In 2011 the reds went 79-83 and finished 3rd in the NL Central. But with a lineup already featuring Prime Votto, Dat Dude, Jay Bruce, and Scott Rolen, the Reds knew 2012 was going to be a year to go for it with Devon Mesoraco, Todd Frazier, and Zach Cozart ready to break out
Before the 2012 season, they went out and used blocked top prospects Yonder Alonso and Yasmani Grandal to acquire a 24 yr old SP who only won 9 games in 2011
Mat Latos then started 33 games in 2012 and won 14 with a sub-3.5 ERA as the reds won the NL Central
We know who the Grandals and Alonsos are now in 2023…who’s the Mat Latos out there??
Logan Webb or George Kirby.
Julio Urias might also qualify, and he will be a FA this offseason. If the Reds are willing to pay, they could get him without giving up any prospects.
Granted I had to look both those names up so questions are based entirely on 30 secs of googling:
– I doubt the giants would want to give up Webb. They’re competing and looks like they signed him to an extension?
– who knows what SEA would ever be willing to do, but are they also still “in it?” Would they look at Kirby the same way we’re looking at him here? Valuable, young, cheap SP. If they strip it down though and fire sale…I’ll call Dipoto myself
Urias will be WAY too expensive for the Reds. He is also young so will want a LT contract. Guessing he gets $25M+ a year for 8-10 years minimum.
The Reds will have the money to get Urias once the Griffey, Votto, and Moose money comes off the books.
Now, if you want to question if they SHOULD pay that much for him, then that’s another debate.
There is NO way the Reds Ownership will pay that kind of money for Urias for that long. Zero chance sorry
I’d target Sonny Gray next year as a FA but fear he may already be too expensive. We know he wants to be in Cincy as it’s the closest MLB city to his home in Nashville and his coach DJ is here.
The Reds will have the money to get Urias once the Griffey, Votto, and Moose money comes off the books.
Now, if you want to question if they SHOULD pay that much for him, then that’s another debate.
That trade also included Volquez and Boxberger to SD.
Reds lost in 1st round of playoffs to Giants.
Latos pitched another good season for Reds had knee problems and the Reds were incredibly fortunate to get Desclafani for him, who pitched well around multiple trips to the IL.
Then the Reds let him go for nothing.
All the folks the Reds traded went on to productive careers. Even Volquez turned it around.
Mesoraco (the catcher ‘blocking’ Grandal) had one good season and crashed and burned.
The Reds spent very large for Latos.
Would I do the same for 1 (losing) trip to 1st round of playoffs?
I hope Bull Krall is thinking long and hard about it.
Yep, Reds lost that trade. They paid way too much and I thought it when they made it and it just looked worse and worse over time.
Saying “cause the reds still lost” is a bit of hindsight GM’ing and no one could’ve predicted Mesoraco’s career completely derailed by injuries like it was
And yes, the players the reds gave up did have very good careers. Careers they would not have had in Cincinnati.
Point being you gotta give to get and Latos was a very big reason the reds were competitive in 12 and 13.
Not every move is going to work out, but you gotta go for it at some point. At this point the Reds have shown me that their scouting department is very good at finding their guy, and I’d give any move made in this vein benefit of the doubt
I have often wondered whether it was the Reds or the Padres who chose which catcher went into that deal.
Meso had 53 MLB PAs at the time of the deal (.586 MLB OPS off an .855 AAA OPS prior to September call up.)
Grandal, a switch hitter had an .901 combined AA/ AAA OPS the same year with just 4 AAA appearances at the end of the season,
Never thought about that Jim
Might very well have been
Bell has shown he can trade assets for prospects.
He hasn’t demonstrated he can trade for assets yet.
I’m not writing Krall off at all, but I wouldn’t use the Lagos deal as a model …
Reds can and should do better than that. Way overpaid.
I meant Krall…not Bell.
National press taking notice. The Washington Post today:
https://wapo.st/3CWjwq7
Great article!
I’m glad that people are noticing. I got one of those Elly Gildan T-shirts with his face and glasses, #, vertical Cincinnati spelled out beside his face. Cool comfortable shirt.
Thanks for sharing
Ty Steve back to back days catching. Good sign on that front.
And his swing mechanics & pitch recognition seems better.
With all the positive news Stephenson has been slow to recover from last year’s injuries. If he’s turning a corner now it will surely be welcomed and add a big bat down in the order.
Absolutely.
I have strong WV. ties btw if that’s what I’m assuming.
You’re assuming correctly Rick.
That’s a tough lineup, perhaps the strongest they can field. IIRC analytics shows that lineup placement generally doesn’t matter, though of course the #1 and 2 spots get extra PAs over the course of a season.
Regarding all the discussion of India and #1 or 3, I wonder if anyone has done the analysis of HBPs in those spots. IOW, is India protected a bit more lower done in the lineup? Vital to keep him healthy, particularly with the aggressive style producing so well. That said, he’s still leading the league in HBPs.
Got hit in the stomach the other day. That was weird
Decent lineup if JV starts hitting. If he doesn’t, Bell/Krall have some hard decisions: JV’s feelings or the team’s future. Hopefully, he goes off today, but with each passing day, his hitting becomes a greater cause for concern. This isn’t just coming out of ST and starting slow. As someone pointed out last night, he wasn’t hitting in Louisville. And if he was anyone other than JV, half of this board would be calling for him to be DFA’d.
Well, good thing he is Votto then.
I think it’s clear the strategy all the above agreed to including Votto himself is he will play/DH against rights or if he has good career stats vs a Lefty
Perhaps, but he isn’t hitting RH’ers currently. Maybe he goes 4-4 today and turns it around. Otherwise, he’s just eroding his legacy.
Steer should be hitting fifth or sixth.
The .167 Votto should be seventh or eighth. Yes, he had a big first game back and a two-homer game, but not much else. If this continues, Bell cannot keep hitting him sixth just because he’s Joey Votto.
Agreed however I’d argue Steer is the best 3 hole hitter we have at this point and also one of the 3 hitters we need to get the most at bats. Also using Steer to hit before or after ELDC would give him some needed protection and whichever side he isn’t McClain should bookend that.
Votto should be benched, at worst. He’s awful. He has no prayer of hitting the ball hard, much less getting an actual hit. Rally killer. He’s the glaring hole in the line-up. We need CES in Votto’s spot. They made a brave but good move with Myers,..letting him go. Votto is awful. He was good in his younger days, but not anymore.
An interesting stat about TJ – I commented the other day that he’s getting penalized since he doesn’t show on the leaderboards since he is short of qualifying PAs. Hence, the fans, and disinterested media, may not realize he’s having an AS level season. More interesting is that he should show, and even with the penalty (they can add 0-for ABs to get to minimum qualified number) he’s in the top 10 in average. I expect it’s similar for the other % categories.
I thought he was close, but he’s 17 PAs short of the number, so he’s still a week or two away with 4 or 5 PAs per game.
It’s early, but Williamson looks pretty good.
Good play Matt
Scouting reports confirmed – he can throw a little
I like him owning that inner portion. Crowd them.
Williamson pitched great!!! He deserved a win.
Reds rotation could sure use some competitiveness among the starters. If that start by Ashcraft yesterday gets the guys trying to out-pitch each other, I’m all for it.
Stealing 3rd with 2 outs?
Come on, Jake.
I noticed the change in Williamson in his last three times out excluding the downpour in Baltimore. He’s got a little more juice on his fastball and he’s throwing it more and it’s setting up his other pitches better. The first few times he started I didn’t think his stuff was anything other than okay, but the more I’m watching him now it seems the fastball is getting better with a little more velocity at 94 regularly, pitching inside more with better control. I’m starting to think he might have a long term future in this rotation beyond the injured guys coming back if he keeps using the fastball more effectively like he has been versus relying on too much off speed stuff which I think he was doing in his first five or six starts.
As I’m typing this Fraley leads off with nice double, but Votto pops up the left center, which you just can’t do. I want Joey to be better but we can’t have those kind of at bats. And sure enough Steer followed with a deep drive to center field that easily would have scored the runner on 3rd but they don’t get anything out of it because Votto had a terrible at-bat. When Joey came up he said he has to perform to keep up with this group then other than the first four games he has not. And he is blocking CES from coming up. I’m guessing David Bell will probably give this through the All-Star break and then maybe a week after and if things don’t change then I would assume Votto will be mostly a bench player going forward, which it was is what it should be if he can’t start hitting better.
Fraley should have already been on third base.
Yes
If you try to steal third base, you need to succeed.
Second time in two games they blocked the bag. Would have been safe otherwise. Have to go in with the cleats.
Jake already in scoring position at 2nd with 2 outs.
I said cleats last night
I think he made two baserunning errors. That said….I like Fraley. He is a good ballplayer.
Yes, missed a tag up. And the caught stealing.
I like Jake alot too.
Nice pitch, cutter at the top of the zone, to strike out Nola.
I can’t understand all the throws from Stephenson that are on the third base side of second base. You literally have no chance to throw them out if you’re going to throw on that side of the bag, so if you’re going to miss you have to miss to the first base side. That last Runner was out by 3 ft with a decent throw
I think Maile does a better job with the run game.
Yep, without a doubt Maile is the better catcher defensively. And his offense has been pretty decent. I’ve always liked Casali defensively but he’s definitely slipped this year… he’s starting to look older. I’m ready for them to go to two catchers, let Casali go and bring up CES to start being the full-time DH and play a little first or third when the situation presents itself.
He does.
That should’ve been corrected by this point. Footwork issue most likely.
Got away with one there, 92 four seamer right down Broadway. Kim just missed it.
We’re watching dumb and dumber. Why would you try to steal 3rd when your best power hitter is at the plate?
Time to bring up CES. He can get plenty of playing time, especially at DH.
At first for Votto!!!
McLain…again. 🙂
I really like Matty McClain’s game.
I really believe he will end up being the best overall player when we’re looking back on this in 10 years between himself, Steer and Elly… although I think they’re all three going to do really great things.
Agreed Ted
I’d be interested in seeing the Reds’ numbers against change-ups lately. Seems like a lot of our big hits these days are off those pitches.
MM does not hit single anymore, only double or HR. Incredible. Different player steps up in different game but MM is the stabilizer, shows up every game.
He has very easy, very consistentpower on any type of pitch, from the left power alley to the right power alley…when he gets the ball up he l hardly ever pulls it hard or pushes the ball from the outfield wall left & right numbers to the lines. The other thing about him is when he gets the ball up he hardly ever hits just normal outfield flyouts… it’s almost always to the warning track + or close to it.
To add to your point.
With the game on the line who do you want up there bat…for me it’s McClain every time.
No argument from me
Wow, Votto swinging at a 3-2 pitch in the dirt…yikes. Should have been first and second nobody out with Steer up to bat and a potentual huge inning. I hate to say it but Joey is a negative to the team the way he’s playing. I hope Bell starts to adjust the line-ups. Maybe give him two or three days off to kind of let him let him mentally reset because he’s starting to look like he’s feeling the pressure to produce just watching him in the batter’s box.
I said Votto was a nice story to begin with, but has reverted back to the Votto of last year and AAA. He can’t even hit righthanders. Anyone else would be sent down or DFAd. Even Meyers was hitting better and he’s gone. At least move him to the 8 spot.
Yes!!!
I think his OPS is still better than Senzel and Newman. RLN cuts no slack. Votto must be 2021 Votto or fair weathers want him cut. I didn’t like him swinging at ball 4, that says he’s pressing.
Brandon Dixon at 1B for SD.
I thought he might be a sleeper in the big LA trade.
Hit a ton on MiLB, never really translated it to the bigs.
Nasty stuff from Williamson there!
Those last two batters are what I’m seeing in Williamson now that gives me hope that he is really developing into a better P with a future in the rotation with his best buddy from his TCU college days Lodolo. He’s much more reliant on the fastball now, he’s got better control of it with a little more juice on it and now the hitters are having to protect against the fastball and then that big curveball can get a lot of funky looking swings…well done.
His last 4 seamer was 94 Mph. Around 91 or 92 up to that point. Surprising.
Let’s give Williamson a few runs here. He deserves it
Wacha always has been a hard pitcher to face by the Reds… Incredibly….
Yeah. Conversely we always beat Wainwright
He was floating between 91-94 all game which was probably intentional…plenty of 4 seamer fastballs at 93- 94 throughout the game.
I’ll take 5 Innings of 1 run ball from Williamson.
Particularly if Farmer keeps it that way!
Farmer has not been very good over the last few outings.
We have em right where we want them up 3.
What about up 9?
Nice big fat tater of a changeup right over the heart of the plate.
Yeah. Farmer is not locating his pitches well right now
Make that 4..
Can Bell put Williamson back in? 😉
Farmer shouldn’t use his meatball changeup anymore… I don’t know how many homers has received in that poor pitch
He is just starting to really pitch poorly lately, I don’t know if it’s fatigue or he’s just hit a slump or whatever, but he hasn’t been very good for a while.
Still have time to rally. But it needs to start now.
the genius comes through for us again
Once again I don’t really understand pulling Williamson just because the leadoff hitter got on. He was throwing the ball well..his K’s vs the last two batters of the fourth inning were really good and he had only thrown 86 pitches… 51 of them strikes… just don’t get it. Its not like Farmer has been good lately, so why make that pitching change then?
Anyone have an explanation that makes sense?
AMEN
I’m at the game. Williamson looked tired his last few batters. He wasn’t following thru on his pitches. Farmer made Bell’s decision to pull Williamson look bad, but I think it was a good call.
Thanks for the update. I didn’t like him getting pulled but didn’t notice any difference in him.
Cowboy saying it was likely planned for the 3rd time through the order.
Neither do I.
Analytics 3rd time thru the order imo.
Bell always seems to get antsy from the camera shots with a few stellar exceptions.
Buck has looked to have a tired arm for the last 3 series.
Williamson should’ve gotten one more batter.
Bell panics 3rd time thru the order.
Williamson was throwing the ball very well and was only at 86 pitches so I just don’t understand it. Especially going to Farmer there in a tie ball game when Farmers been average at best to pretty terrible more often than not his last 5-6 outings. To me Farmer is the the last guy in the bullpen at this point, so I’m not sure why he’s going into a tie game in the 6th inning with a guy on 1st and nobody out. I’m trying to think of anybody I would put behind Farmer right now in the BP in that type of situation and I can’t think of anybody. As I type this Mills has come in and looks rusty, but I’m not counting him in this since they just added him to the team. Probably wanted to get him some work since he hasn’t pitched in a MLB game in a long time since we awere down 4 runs.
You can see the fatigue on some of the bullpen arms. Bell is going to have force these starters to stay at least 6 innings if possible. However this Padres team is a lot better than their record.
For sure. Including Diaz, Gibaut and of course Farmer
Not a bad hard hit by Fraley against a lefty.
Fraley looks like he can handle himself against LHP.
Votto looks completely overmatched.
Votto pressing BIG TIME.
It’s unfortunate but it just looks like Father time has caught up to Joey and on top of that he’s I’m sure he’s really pressing to try to justify his position on this team of young studs that have been playing so well. He doesn’t want to be the anchor dragging them down. I feel bad for him… was hopeful after the first four games he wouldn’t struggle like this.
However, there may be a silver lining because his struggles may lead the Reds bringing up CES to DH sooner rsther than later, which will let Joey sit more…just DFA Casali.
I concur. I hate it,..but it’s the case. He doesn’t even get a walk anymore. Automatic out,..weak stick.
Looks like Mills fits right in.
No clue why Williamson was taken out.Maybe somebody will ask Bell after the game.He just waved the white flag by hitting Joey against a lefty and bringing in Mills.He will save Newman and Senzel for another time I guess.
86 pitches for Williamson. Thats an average mlb start now.
I think Abbott was around 108 pitches or so his last time out against the Orioles through six innings.
According to Chris Welsh during the game’s broadcast, that was Abbott’s highest pitch total as a professional.
Sad thing is that Williamson pitched very well, gave up a single and was pulled, and will now be tagged with the loss, barring another huge comeback. The two so far, Farmer and Mills, who have been pounded and are really responsible for the loss, get an ERA bump but no other blemish to hurt their income prospects.
In my opinion, a runner on first base should be the responsibility of the person whose pitching allowed him to score. He was not in scoring position at first base so he should be the responsibility of the hurler who put him in scoring position.
I think Farmer’s era was over 5 coming into the year. I never thought he was suddenly a high leverage guy. Oh well. Tomorrow is a big one because you can’t assume 3 of 4 in Washington without Abbott. The Reds need to win almost all of Abbott’s starts because winning all of Weaver’s starts is going to dry up.
I don’t want to pile on Joey and India, but there is atleast 3 guys going better then India that could help in that 3 hole. Fraley has been killing righties all year long and Benson is a beast too
You are dead on about India, he should not be hitting 3. That change is way overdue. Either drop him down to 6 or 7 or put him back at leadoff and drop Friedl and McClain down to 2 and 3…and gotta move Steer up to at least 5. And if you don’t like that idea then just switch India and Steer…Steer to 3 and India down to 7.
Votto needs to be cheering from the bench going forward more often than not…his time is mostly past and they need to bring up CES now as the preferred designated hitter.
Maybe these fielding errors are a sign that Bell should stop having position players play musical chairs around the field
Not our day. Need to finish and wipe this off the books
Yep… luckily we have Abbott
the stopper going tomorrow and hopefully he’ll get things back on track.
Well this got away in a hurry, however the Reds are still in it.
Farmer back to back games of giving up 3 runs. Some days you have it, other days you don’t.
Great job today by Williamson
you think managerial decisions can change a game?
Things snowballed quickly. Something got give today, I guess. Padres are on a 6 game losing streak. Bb god has not been on their side
Sometimes crap happens.
Today was that day.
We’ve been asking for pitching help and ..we got Mills. Be careful what you ask for proves so true 🙂
Technically, people have been asking for starting pitching help. Starters gave up 3 runs, 2 earned, in 12 innings in the past two games. Pretty good.
Relievers gave up 14 runs in those two games.
maybe mills gets dfa after this wonderful outing
Hoping Mills gets cut after this–he has nothing. Bring up Santillan.
IF Steer doesn’t commit the error Mills would be out of the inning, however doesn’t appear Mills has it today.
What else could Bell do today? He had to use his pen in the 10th & 11th yesterday because Diaz threw a 1 hopper and Joey couldn’t scoop it. It was going to be Farmer and the B team today
He could have left Williamson longer, the dude was throwing the ball great and had only thrown 86 pitches. What do you mean “what else could Bella done today” what kind of a question is that?
Maybe Williamson was on fumes? We don’t know.
I would’ve gone another batter atleast & played by ear. Williamson didn’t looked gassed. Even if he gives a couple of runs get some length from a guy whom pitches every 5th day.
I’m starting to think that Mills isn’t a good candidate to be in the starting rotation
Blandino, with the knuckler, is available.
Alec Mills will be the 3rd straight relief pitcher to make his Reds debut and get DF’D after the game.
Lol. Law is getting activated tomorrow supposedly. He should open for Weaver
Yes, great idea. And assuming it helps Weaver pitch better, which it might, that should be the plan going forward when Weaver starts. Law can be the designated opener for him every 5th day.
Farmer has been awful his last 2 outings, yet, Bell keeps calling his number!
And, Mills followed up by throwing BP to a team that had lost 6 in a row!
Oh well, worst case scenario we will still be tied for 1st at the end of the day!
Indeed.
I wrote this in another thread, but the reason I’m not optimistic about the second half of the season is I think there’s a very good chance the bullpen falls to pieces due to the way they’ve been mis-managed to this point. Diaz has already been shaky for awhile now, and Farmer also seems like he’s not doing too well.
I hope I’m wrong, but if this is a sign of a larger bullpen collapse, it’s going to be very hard for this team to keep winning going forward.
A legit question here, Why do you think they have been mis-managed to this point?
I do believe the bullpen has been used alot yes, however I am not sure what is suppose to happen when the starting staff isn’t giving innings. Yes sometimes Bell does pull starters early, however most of the time the starters themselves struggle and force Bell’s hand.
I think the bullpen is showing the initial sign of fatigue. And I do not fault Bells magic at all. The burnout is strictly a result of starter injuries and 3-4 inning outings. I too worry about a second half collapse. But then I read about some of us not wanting to acquire a couple additional starters. OK, let’s ride it out and not get any rotation help. That is fair. So we hold onto Stoudt, Guiterez, Allen, Barerro, Dunn, Arroyo, etc. and see where we are when Lodolo and Greene are expected to return. If we are 5 games out and the bullpen is failing us, no fair complaining about Bell or the bullpen. We had our chance to try to correct the foreseeable problem.
David Hernandez syndrome.
Buck hasn’t snapped his pitches off since the Braves series.
Hopefully we get Santillan, Law and an import or two.
3 FGs to tie the game up. It’s just football, we can do it. We need McPherson though 🙂
Steer 7th and Benson 9th is like having Led Zeppelin open for Big Al Yankovic
Weird Al rather
Votto 6th doesn’t help.
A TD and a FG will win it but we can’t afford Burrow
India with a Grand Slam!!!
Yep in a game that’s completely out of reach so it doesn’t change anything for me. He still needs to be dropped from 3 in the order, either put him back at leadoff or drop him down to 6-7…one of the other
Oh wow, we just need 2 FGs to win it
They don’t quit.
India cashed my ticket….thanks buddy! Hopefully that will get him going again! Had McLain 2+ bases, Benson 1+ hit, and both teams 3+ runs
Bensons avarage is up to .292..OBA is .387…OPS .856.
Really an incredibly amazing turnaround when you consider he started the year something like 1 hit in his first 21 AB’s.
To legit to quit
When I was talking about Farmer being at the bottom of the bullpen for me lately I’d totally forgot about Salazar. Salazar is definitely the last option in the bullpen and I’m kind of surprised he’s still with the Reds…he is not good.
David Bell threw in the towel after Buck gave up the lead.He did not pinch hit for Joey against a lefty which he has done and did last night in a tie game and then he brings in Mills to finish this game.
Watching Salazar pitch you get the feeling he literally could hit any batter on any pitch. He doesn’t really appear to know where the ball is going most of the time
Law for Mills or Salazar & they’ll most likely callup big Tony during the Nats for the other one. So they’ll both get some work before Milw
Stoudt tonight for Lville. Not sure how he fits in? Maybe Lively replaces Weaver
Bringing up Law and Santillion to replace Mills and Salazar will be a pretty huge upgrade to the bullpen.
I’ve enjoyed Alec Mills’s tenure with the Reds. He’s been with this club for a truly remarkable stretch of games. Unfortunately, I think it’s time for the two sides to part ways. It was never a great fit, if we’re being honest. The Reds needed a major league relief pitcher, and he’s Alec Mills.
I like Benson a lot. That said, he has struggled with confidence, even contemplating quitting the game 2 years ago. Maybe hes in a nice slot lower in the order and feeling in a confident rhythm with no pressure. Id be inclined to keep him there another few weeks and build his confidence and continue to settle in his comfort zone.
He looks to me to have all the confidence in the world right now. Benson has been fighting just to stay in the majors, which seems like a lot more pressure than where he hits in the order. When he rejoined the team every at-bat must have felt like a do-or-die situation no matter what the circumstances were, and he thrived. The other day he hit a huge triple on the road in extra innings against a lefty. How many different ways does he need to prove he can handle pressure before he’s allowed to hit higher in the order?
I dont know. I like where is he is right now , in a groove and doing his job but if the Reds feel he can move up, so be it. I do like his obp and speed as a turn the order over guy with Friedl and Mclain hitting “2nd” and “3rd”. Hes doing really well and having a great year. If you add him to the CES and Steer haul for Mahle( Hajjar from Mahle trade was added with 2nd rd pick Boyd to Guardians for Benson) Krall needs to be indicted for theft.
At the present midpoint of the Red’s season, Krall should be indicted as GM of the year.
2 runs on 1 hit. Salazar needs to go.
Win 2 of 3 and that’ll be ?
2 of 3 will be fine.
Better than what we’re used to 🙂
When Benson is eventually leading the league in hitting, I’m hoping he can move up a notch or two in the order.
Benson is coming into his own.
Benson is coming into his own.
It’s absolutely unbelievable that, after the start he had, Will Benson is hitting almost .300 with a .400 OBP.
Until he proves he can’t handle it, I’d like to see a lineup against righties that begins Benson-Friedl-McLain-Elly-Fraley.
It sure is C13J. And the power frequency will eventually come without trying to force/expedite it. I’m liking his maturation process after the Louisville send down stint, and the relaxed arm tweak.
Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I believe Bell chose to use Mills because he knows Mills is about to be gone, and Bell wanted to “get something” out of him before he departs. Perhaps the Reds were destined to lose this game anyway, but I would have preferred to see real major league pitchers pitch for the Reds until the game was clearly out of hand.
That’s been his MO for sure prior to Krall dfa’ing players.
I would have ridden with Williamson a while longer even if he gave up a couple more runs and try and win a winnable game at that juncture. Plus he only pitched 2 innings the last start. Also, avoid a tired over taxed bullpen, and avoid the bottom rung relievers until the last possible minute. 3rd time thru the order doesn’t always spell doom, there are outliers. I would have let him go another batter and potentially get thru 6 & 100 or so pitches. It was going to be a tightrope act after yesterday’s extra innings anyway.
Some signs already of tired bullpen arms. Wonder what the bullpen ERA is over the last 2-3 weeks? The last 2 nights we have had very good starts but a leaky bullpen. Krall knows signs of bullpen fatigue than I do and he is showing no signs of interest in acquiring additional starter arms. OK. But I do believe once you have tired arms, that it is a difficult fix. This starting rotation isn’t getting any injury returns until August. Too late is too late.
It’s overdue: CES up, Votto to the bench, he’s pressing and is clearly overpowered. Mills DFA. Bell’s pitching strategy decision making flawed—he simply does not have a feel for the real-time game in front of him.