Andrew Abbott was dominant, throwing eight shutout innings with six strikeouts on the afternoon. Cincinnati’s offense got the job done, too, scoring five runs on the day as the Reds defeated the San Francisco Giants 5-1. The victory helped Cincinnati split the series after losing the first two games.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Giants (54-43) |
1 | 2 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (52-46) | 5 | 12 | 0 |
| W: Abbott (5-2) L: Cobb (6-3) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Neither team’s offense could get much going early on in the game besides a few walks. In the bottom of the 3rd inning Will Benson led off with one of those walks. Two pitches later he was trotting home after Luke Maile hit a 423-foot home run to put the Reds on top 2-0.
San Francisco wasn’t going to just roll over. Wilmer Flores led off with a walk of his own in the top of the 4th. After two outs he was still standing at first base, but Luis Matos came through with a double to the wall in left-center. Flores, seemingly hobbled a bit, was sent to the plate and Will Benson fired the ball to Elly De La Cruz, who then fired the ball to the plate and Luke Maile easily tagged Flores out to end the inning.
Cincinnati decided to play add on in their half of the 4th inning. Jonathan India doubled to lead off the inning and moved to third base on a ground out. Christian Encarnacion-Strand then singled into left and India scored. Will Benson followed up with an RBI double and the Reds had doubled their lead, making it 4-0.
The offense wasn’t finished for the day. In the next inning Jake Fraley lined a 1-out double into right field and came around to score when Jonathan India singled into left. After a walk to Joey Votto, the Giants made a pitching change. Jakob Junis was able to stop the Reds rally and keep it a 5-0 game.
Andrew Abbott just kept on rolling. He would toss a perfect 6th inning and then follow it up with a perfect 7th inning on just seven pitches. With 96 pitches, the lefty returned for the 8th inning and he once again made quick work of San Francisco’s offense – throwing 10 pitches in a 1-2-3 frame.
He wouldn’t get a chance to complete the game, finishing an 8-inning, 1-hit shutout performance with six strikeouts and 106 pitches thrown. Derek Law would take over on the mound for Cincinnati in the 9th. He would give up a 2-out solo home run to Wilmer Flores, but seal the win and give the Reds a 2-game winning streak.
Key Moment of the Game
Luke Maile’s 2-run home run in the 3rd inning that put Cincinnati on top for good.
Notes Worth Noting
Andrew Abbott is the first Reds pitcher to throw at least eight shutout innings since Wade Miley’s no-hitter in May of 2021. His ERA dropped to 2.10 on the season. Over his nine starts he’s thrown 55.2 innings and now has 57 strikeouts and just 18 walks.
Will Benson just keeps on crushing the ball. Since being recalled on May 26th, Benson is hitting .345/.450/.636 in 41 games played. And he’s stolen nine bases in 10 attempts.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday July 21st, 7:10pm ET
Tommy Henry (5-2, 3.89 ERA) vs Ben Lively (4-5, 3.72 ERA)
I will keep beating the drum about how Benson needs to be moved up in the lineup. I guess he did get moved up today all the way to number 8. Wow, that’s some slick managing. I wonder how if Bell was worried that it would shatter Benson’s ego if he were out of the 9th spot. 😐
Happy that the Redlegs won. And how about this pitching lately? Pretty good SP’n.
At this point, I would not mess with success.
This also adds a lot of pop to the lower part of the line up.
Nice relay by Elly
Fans finally have a lot to look forward to.
Not sure what you mean by success. Today’s game? Small sample size, for I could just as easily go to 2 of the previous 3 games and all 6 of the Brewer’s games.
We all talked about how the team needs a shakeup. Changing the batting order is one common way. Not to leave out, Benson deserves it.
I mean, even most simply, it comes to contract time, and he talks to another team who would bat him higher in the order, “Why should I stay here and bat 9th?” Player accountability. Reward players for good play, discipline players for bad play. Not saying to bench players just for a strikeout or one bad game batting at all. But, for all Reds who have more than 4 starts with the big club, Benson leads the Reds in all important offensive categories. No competent manager would leave this batter at the bottom of the order.
Oh, that’s right, competent manager.
Good points Steve
It doesn’t take long for you to come up with another ridiculous line of (non) thinking.
Now it’s “Contract time! I’ll leave a winning team because I’m not hitting #X in the lineup! Wah! I’m so disrespected!”
Do you think ball players make the same kinds of feeble arguments as you do?
How long is Benson under contract / control with the Reds?
A lot of time for the young man’s hitting and career ….and his place in the lineup…to evolve.
The same guy who last week was twisting his knickers all up opposing bringing up CES now has another non-topic to demonstrate his stubborn, inflexible thinking about.
Give yourself, and us, a break and think a little bit, even just a little bit, before you jerk your knee and post your next round of lame commentary.
For Harry
“Do you think ball players make the same kinds of feeble arguments as you do?”
You’re making a feeble argument right now. So, I guess so.
Agreed – here’s my comment from yesterday’s summary –
“I’ve liked him at 8 or 9 from the start. It’s natural to put a new bat there, and good if they have power to act as the second cleanup hitter in the order.
The fact that he has an excellent eye/OBP also means that if there’s any action ahead of him they often get thru the order in 2 innings. That really plays info the difficulty of opposing pitchers facing the order the 3rd time.
Analytics shows that order of the lineup doesn’t make too much difference, especially when you have enough talent to fill it in top to bottom, which is what makes him very valuable where he is.”
It’s more than just don’t mess with success – it’s a part of success.
Steve – you’re future negotiation comment in impressively and fantastically far sighted – doubt it will ever happen in this case, and have to think it’s rare in any case – Lorenzen wanting to start being a good exception to the rule.
Also, aside from Steer, and India, and of course Joey, all these guys are very much within extremely small sample sizes – sit them to regroup, perhaps sit for mistakes, but have a bias the simply letting them get on with it – other than Joey I suspect most of them don’t really care one way or another – just thrilled to be playing, and playing well.
Steve,
Look at the status, and Benson has had a lot of success.
Bell, tweaked the lineup, and we started losing.
Sense being recalled his ops is over 900. That is really good.
Pontification, and wasting space, does not help.
For Colorado
Not sure what you mean by Bell tweeked the lineup and we started losing. If this recent stretch, where Elly is leading off, we were losing, then Bell tweeked the lineup, and we still lost the next 2 games.
As well as, we have a batter at leadoff with a 290 OBP and a batter in the 9 hole with an OBP over 400 for the last 30 days. No competent manager would set that up, win or loss. Baseball 101, give your best bats the most AB’s.
SS, you’re being selective in citing small sample size in re: to success…Benson’s been batting 8 or 9 all along including during the 12 game win streak. And its not like he was getting on base during the team’s slump.
100% agreement.
Nah.
Half the Reds’ hits today came from 7-8-9 in the order.
As did half the runs scored.
I love having that secret weapon at that place in the lineup instead of the typical loading of your worst hitters in a row.
See 2022 lineups of a long string of SubMendozas.
Having Benson on base for EDLC will prove itself valuable over time as well.
Benson is happy, productive, modest and a great team player.
Doug called him “the best #9 hitter on the planet”.
Some Reds’ players may be slumping, but there’s no ‘weak innings’ as the lineup is constructed.
I’m a relentless critic of many of Bell’s nonsensical moves, but this one is working and Benson is delivering.
Let the man keep rolling.
No “weak innings” pertaining to batting order? Alright. . .
No reasoning at all to have the batter leading the team in every important offensive category to be your 9th hitter.
Well Steve, you have been championing to put India back at leadoff, where he hit well. So Benson is hitting well batting 9th, and you want to move him?
Which is it?
For VA
I’ve also said if you aren’t going to move India up (where he’s had his most success), then move him down since he’s slumping, or DFA/trade him.
Poor attempt at not fully using my statements.
Does Benson deserve to be moved up? To get him more ABs?
He’s the best number 8 hitter, too.
Benson’s ego seems pretty in tact to me.
Agreed.
At AAA earlier this season, after his demotion, they had Benson leading off daily and his woes at the plate continued. Then, at some point, they moved him down the lineup to 6th, hitting between CES and Hopkins, I think. That’s when his season turned around.
Benson had an OPS of 1007 when batting first. It was by far the most productive spot in the lineup for him while he played with Louisville.
https://www.milb.com/player/will-benson-666181?stats=splits-r-hitting-mlb&year=2023
One of the strengths of this team is that we can now field a one through nine lineup that doesn’t have a hole. We have nine players with a wRC+ of 98 or better, so I argue that the batting order is not making much difference on this team.
Many are hoping they can maneuver the lineup to take advantage of the hot hand. Benson is currently on fire, for example. However, others have been on fire earlier in the season. Many players value consistency, and Bell gives them that while occasionally adjusting. While it’s an interesting discussion, I don’t know that juggling the lineup like can be done in fantasy leagues makes sense in the real world.
I will say, if you look back, that Sparky even juggled the “Great Eight” at times depending on how they were hitting. Sparky didn’t have the advantage of the DH. He hated it by the way. 🙂 It’s great to have such a good lineup top to bottom. I remember reading a quote by Concepcion (I think hitting .280 at the time) when he had to bat 9th int he World Series in 76 the first time the DH was used. He asked, “Why do I have to hit ninth”? Someone replied, “I’ll give you eight reasons. Rose, Griffey, Morgan,….” haha Bench hit 7th in that World Series by the way. He had a tough regular season. As we know he was the MVP of the series. 🙂 Moving players up and down doesn’t bother me if they’re struggling especially when the lineup is so strong.
@Melvin, Bell juggled the lineup coming out of the All-star break. He’s made several adjustments this year.
What I’m pushing back on is a daily call to adjust to the hot hand. The same ones who advocate for this also bemoan India being moved to third as if it put him in a slump–there’s no proof that one caused the other by the way. After all, India was hitting like a #3 hitter when he was moved and it allowed the Reds to put their highest OBP player at the time, Friedl, into the leadoff spot. This line of thinking is logically contradictory.
One more point, in April everyone complained as Bell changed the lineups almost daily trying to squeeze what he could out of a roster without much talent. Now that the roster is better, he has gone with a lot more stability. Several players have commented that they appreciate the stability. Especially with a young team, leaning towards more stability is a good call.
In reference to Benson specifically, he looked totally lost at the start of the season. He really wanted to fit in a put a lot of pressure on himself. The 8/9 hole may have played a role in helping feel less pressure. I know I’m speculating a bit, but the results have been outstanding. Benson deserves a ton of credit as does the coaching staff (both Reds and Bats) for helping him harness his immense talent.
BK – Yes. I’m not for changing the batting order on a daily basis either. If a pattern is developing over a couple of weeks that’s different. What I don’t like though is benching a guy who had a very good day the game before especially when our lineup was a lot weaker than it is now. Momentum and streaks are important in baseball. When a guy is hot keep him in there and keep that momentum going. In a slump? Sit him for a game or two to break that negative slide up. As far as Benson goes he’s been hitting well for awhile now. I wouldn’t mind trying him at the top again. I think too much is made of guys moving down in the order. I believe these players know how good this lineup is and enjoy hitting in it no matter where they are at. The only thing they need to be concerned about, if they are moved up, is just keep on doing what that have been doing to get there and not add more mental pressure on themselves. Maybe Benson has enough confidence now and has settled down enough to hit at the top again. I do strongly believe that the best hitters should be at the top. I don’t think that’s old school or new school. I think that’s just SMART/WISE SCHOOL. 🙂
Absolutely Melvin … you know I’d put the top hitters at the top to max their PAs! We both have seen each other make out a number of lineups!!!
For BK
The only juggle out of the break Bell did was switch India and Fraley. Hardly a juggle.
Yep BK. Good ol Strato season. 😀
It’s a good thing to have a guy at the bottom that can flip the top, never want to have a weak hitter there…I always thought batting a pitcher 8th was a great idea, some teams did with regularity just because of ability to move to top of batting order!
Great point Tom … I don’t think too many pitchers look forward to facing our lineup, regardless of the order.
Abbott making his case for best Reds rookie this year and that’s saying A LOT. Where would we be without him? 🙂
Buried.
My vote for rookie MVP”
All of the above.
Yes, thank heavens for Ashcroft and Abbott! Those two + Benson are the standouts of this series with SF!
Awesome job by Abbot. He’s been a godsend. Do we have any more like him lurking on the farm?
No chance. I think Connor Phillips can come up and be a better pitcher than Weaver but not a 2.10 ERA kind of guy.
Rhett Lowder 🙂
Anybody can be a better pitcher than Weaver. He’s the worst I’ve ever seen. He’s so bad, he’s dangerous to himself and to the infielders. It’s just a matter of time. Someone is going to get hurt.
Yes, the key to the game was Andrew Abbott, and he was awesome.
Yes, he had a couple sub-par games. And these guys are not robots, they’re human beings.
The farm is deep in starters (Phillips, Petty, Richardson, Aguira, Acuna), but that does not necessarily mean anyone is ready to move up. Phillips is supposed to be called up later in the season if some starter reaches his innings limit. Seems they’re limiting his outings to 4 innings presently, so he’ll still have some to throw in September.
DOMINATES!!!
That’s an appropriate word. He even held down Flores.
Very happy with the split given how the week started.
AA, personifies my statements about how I believe we bring up players to slowly. Don’t get me wrong, you can make a mistake bringing them up too quickly, also.
As well as, many other factors can come into play. Such as, are they blocked on the big club. If so, then you have tradebait, either the starter or the prospect.
You are the Saudi Arabia, the West Texas of gaslighting.
“You can bring them up too slow.
Or too fast.
Or other factors that may not be fast or slow.
See?
I know what I’m talking about!
Fast. Slow. Or neither fast or slow. Or both fast and slow!
I’ve got it well understood.”
The important thing is that you’re emitting gas, right?
Boy, I live in your head rent free, don’t I?
That’s what happens when the game is chess but you’re still playing checkers.
I have noticed a tad bit of resentment between Harry and Steve. It also seems that Harry is usually the antagonist. There is nothing wrong with constructive arguments/criticism, but not slinging insults just because you disagree with a comment. Mostly, I like both Harry and Steve’s comments but there seems to be some loose baggage between you guys. I usually say some stupid things so I am not exempt from criticism. Let’s resolve this before it gets uglier.
For Jason
Agreed.
No, he meant to type “Slowly,” bring them up to Slowly. You know, that place called Slowly, don’t you?
Nah, you’re just a picnic ant, dude.
Like your posts, completely forgettable.
Well, Flores fought the Law but the Law didn’t win! Nice win despite losing the shutout against a very good Giants team!
Apparently, Abbott has recovered from that debacle a couple of games ago!
For all you parents out there, see Time Outs work! A Time Out is what I’m imagining Abbott’s dad did to his son! It worked!
Again, I think Abbott is a combination of Tom Browning and Norm Charlton with a little of Freddie Norman thrown in!
Nice.
Well, Fred Norman was kind of little for a Major League ball player. I think he was all of 5 ft 6 inches tall.
Gullett?
Nah, on Gullet. He was skinny. Also before his injury could throw so fast he could throw the ball through a carwash and it would be as dry when it came out as when it went in. 😉
Jim, that sounds like something from “Bull Durham”. 😉
But yeah, Gullett did throw hard. He had a very lively, moving fastball that was hard to square up on.
Willie Stargell callled it “wall to wall heat”.
Jim – Don Gullett was hardky skinny. He was a 3-sport D-1 recruit, and probably best as a HS football player.
@Optimist>> Fangraphs says 6’0″ and 190. That sounds skinny to me 😉
Gullett BMI for 6’0”, 190# is 25.8, hardly skinny considering the supposed upper limit of normal BMI is 25.0
Gullett was a football player in HS and definitely NOT skinny.
Maybe a little greg maddox. The professor of baseball.
What a steal have been the trades for Benson, Steer and CES…
Yes. They gave up Hajjar (who came with Steer and CES for Maile) in the Benson deal, which seems odd at the time, but the Reds do have several good prospects at all levels of the farm who can start. Took Benson a bit to adjust to the majors, but he’s adjusted and is starting to hit more extra-base hits.
meant Mahle, not Maile
Think about trading Mahle last year to the Twins and in essence getting those three guys in the return. It’ll likely go down as one the greatest trades in the history of Reds baseball
You watch some of these teams and you wonder how they win so often? SF has 1 slugger it seems, but Flores is so slow I could outrun him. Yaz stinks. Their lineup is really weak. The Reds definitely aren’t overmatched on paper.
Giants are a smart team, don’t beat themselves, get the most out of their players. IMO they are like the patriots of baseball.
Agreed.
We have a good offense that has been in a lull for two weeks. It happens to all good teams. Now our starting pitching is showing up every night and we are getting Greene and Lodolo back in Aug.
We ARE the favorites to win this division in my mind, and we will.
Agreed Red Man. Have often thought that the Giants at least for a few years now never looked good on paper. They always seem to find a way to stay competitive.
Simply put, the Giants and Brewers are well coached and have good leadership. They aren’t a collection of talent. They are a team.
Maile is making me a believer. with Robinson performing well in the minors is Stephenson expendable/tradeable at this point?
I wouldn’t. A), we have enough C’s up here as it is. B) we have enough young players up here as it is. C) we need to be concentrating on getting these players to make their adjustments. D) Robinson is the main C in Louisville. Those pitchers need an experienced C to throw with. E) Robinson’s current success doesn’t show his track record. Strand has hit at every level; Robinson hasn’t. Robinson is simply hot. All players get hot. AAA pitching is not major league pitching. F) Tyler is hitting fine right now, actually 5th on the team in OPS for all Reds with more than 5 starts in the last 30 days.
If Robinson did learn something down there this year, he will be coming back next year and probably competing for a position. Keep up the hitting, then he will be here next year. With the decimation of our pitching staff, we probably aren’t going anywhere anyhow, lucky to make the playoffs.
Here is the simple solution: Kick Casali off the team and replace him with Robinson who is deserving. Yes, you still have the 3 headed catcher hydra, but that seems to be the way it is with Mr. Bell.
Casali has had 6 PAs in July. Does it change much to jettison Casali and let CR have those 6 PAs?
IIRC, Casali was catching Hunter Greene. If Hunter has a comfort level with him, I’m ok letting him have 15 PAs a month to cater to HG and letting CR play every day.
Easy to say “he’s ready”
Easy to find a way for him to get up here (dump Casali)
Not easy to get him playing time that doesn’t unfairly take away from others. Not right to take away playing time from major leaguers who never did anything to lose playing time (Tyler and Maile) simply because a minor leaguer is finally getting hot.
Then, another move is already going to have to be done once Newman is back from gastritis, if we don’t DFA him.
No, Stephenson is finally rounding into form. A stud catcher is an advantage over many teams. That said, Maile is clearly the #2 catcher, so Casali is expendable knowing that Robinson is just a couple of hours away at AAA.
Yeah. You can’t bring up Robinson if you’re going down to two catchers. It would be nice to see how his bat would hold up in the majors this season. Probably not going to happen without injuries though. Too bad Robinson is not considered fast. He could be used as a pinch runner too and we’d have it made with three catchers. :)….We DO need someone in place of Casali who can pinch run. Senzel is so so and he’s the best we got off the bench. Fairchild would be good to have.
Melvin, I agree. Siani is the best defensive outfielder at AAA and has outstanding speed–he has also hit quite well after an abysmal start to the 2023 season. Fairchild is solid all around. Either would give the Reds an additional late-inning weapon.
Yes. Siani has really been coming on lately. I haven’t looked up the speed of Siani compared to Fairchild but I assume it’s pretty good being a CF.
Don’t look now but Barrero has a 13 game hitting streak and has more versatility than Fairchild or Siani being able to play both infield and outfield. He’d also be an upgrade in speed. All three are already on the 40 man roster.
@Melvin, I don’t know how well Barrero plays the OF. I know when he was here he made some bad plays in the OF, lost balls, etc. Maybe the Bats could play him exclusively in the OF to get more experience.
If we’re talking defensive replacement, and we probably should with Steer in the OF, and even Benson, then Siani is the best option to call up right now like @BK was saying. I don’t know how much his bat will help, but we really don’t need that from him.
Kind of crazy, but not lunacy, what about just bringing Blake Dunn up? We really could use a RHB in the OF mix, and he’s a CF with some great stolen base numbers. He’s murdering AA, it’s a big leap but could be fun.
@Melvin, I’ve noticed Barrero seems to be hitting a good stride at AAA. If he’s not moved, he’ll have to make the team next year.
@MBS, while Dunn is on fire, I don’t think I would go with him over Fairchild, Hopkins, Siani, or Marte. After all, he has limited exposure at AA, no time at AAA, is not on the 40-man roster, and needs to play daily to continue developing. I look forward to seeing how Doug rates him and to seeing an actual scouting report on him next time Doug updates his prospect list. As with Marte, I’d keep playing Dunn every day.
@BK, Yes the Dunn move is outside the box, but everyone’s favorite team did a similar move last year. Michael Harris II got called up with only 43 games at the AA level. Dunn is at 33 games, and 3 years older than Harris was. Frankly Dunn’s numbers are superior to Harris’s.
Harris AA OPS .878 11 of 14 SB’s
Dunn AA OPS .991 18 of 19 SB’s
I know it’s crazy, and just because it worked for ATL, doesn’t mean it will work for us. If we go with the smart/safe move then the move is Fairchild, but no one has ever claimed I was smart.
@MBS, Harris was a Top 50 prospect heading into 2022. Dunn was known to his family, teammates, and those of us who are highly addicted RML junkies. So, Harris wasn’t super out of the box. Like you, I’m super excited to see how Dunn works out. His game looks really solid.
P.S. even if your post is crazy, it was excellent!
Glad to see Wilmer “Roy Hobbs Incarnate” Flores leave his town
Lorenzen 6 shutout innings today.
Would be a cheap pickup. At best he is a #3 type pitcher in a rotation. What would you give up for him? Reece Hinds? Someone like that?
Reece Hinds is way WAY too much for a little more than 2 months of Lorenzen.
Rece Hinds, granted has been hurt and Covid year, has basically had 3 good months of professional baseball
I’d take that gamble
Great game, Abbott. Good overall hitting with the bottom of the line-up superb. Does Elly know how to use the brakes? Lol
P.S. Definition of armchair coach from Dictionary.com: Someone who theorizes without practical experience. There’s a much more pointed definition on Urban Dictionary.
I personally like having a lineup that functions from 1-5 and repeats the strategy at 6-9. Get guys on and then bring them in. 6 is similar to 1, and 9 is similar to 4 or five. The only thing that I would like to see is more caution as to where we place batters who have a higher HIDP percentage. We need to move those guys to bat first or sixth after guys like McLain and Steer or Benson, who have high multiple-base percentages, clear out first base.
Great win
Abbott looks great. Bullpen gets a rest.
Benson fraley maile india doing the heavy lifting
Elly will be fine. A year ago today he was promoted from high A Dayton to AA. Just needs to clean up the stuff he got away with at A/AA but cant at MLB. Selective aggression.
The Joey Votto handedness monster is back again, as it has been since 2018. Against lefties, his OPS is in the .600’s. Against righties, his Ops is > .900. He needs to sit against the lefty tomorrow.
But he’s a future hall of famer. You can’t sit them. It may hurt his ego. Just kidding. Votto seems like he is at the point of his career where he would be cool with being a platoon/pinch hitter type. Makes a ton of sense. Also gives CES another slot to play in.
Thinking if they literally have the bats and position flexibility to sit JV, Fraley, and Benson all 3? I guess they could go with the following:
MMcL comes back at SS and bumps EDLC to 3B. CES plays 1B, Stephenson DH, Steer LF, Senzel RF. Maile or Casali C.
Not to lob you a softball Jim, but if they had Fairchild instead of Casali……..
India 2b
Elly 3b
McLain SS
Steer DH/1b
CES 1b/DH
Stephenson C
Senzel LF
Fairchild RF
Friedl CF
Totally ok with that. 39 year old players need more time off whether Joey will admit it or not. Someone else commented on his low batting average overall when his OPS is .885 – higher than Goldschmidt or Arenado although smaller sample size
Kevin Newman bats very well against the southpaws. Better than average defense too.
2/4 vs a good Giants team playing well is acceptable. We actually played well enough to sweep them. B
So that’s good. 2/4 ain’t bad.
Can’t agree….not at home with our best 2 starters. We’re trying to gain on people, but atleast we got the split
True. We must try for series wins from this point out. A split is not acceptable but it is a positive after the funk this young team was just in. That funk is called the Brewfunk.
That left side of the infield the Reds are throwing out there is pretty respectable to the eye. I thought I saw Fraley make a couple of nice plays today…and he had a couple of hits. But doesn’t the day really belong to…Maile?! In post game comments he said something about Abbott not even having his best stuff today. From best I can understand, Maile has caught all Abbott’s starts. There is no way Maile will leave before Casali unless the Angels demand Maile for Ohtani…so…I guess we will see more of Maile. Doesn’t bother me at all.
The experienced catcher/young pitcher combo is working well, except IIRC Casali was assigned to Greene and Lodolo, so not much left there. Maile seems a better and much cheaper version of Tucker, and likely to return next season. Casali, alas, has seemed to hit the age-limit for catchers.
Age is an oversimplification in my coaching book. Look at production first. The catcher is known as the oldest position regularly averaging 29-30 anyway. Plenty of really good producers over 30. Grandal, Realmuto, Perez, Bethancourt, etc. It’s a long list…
Agreed.
It was his day.
Despite the accolades on EDLC’s cannon throw to the plate, it was up the line a bit and Maile made a super clean pick and pivot for the tag.
It looked like an NBA move taking a Bird or Johnson assist and going to the hoop.
De La Cruz may have an arm better than Aquino’s. That’s really saying something.
2/4 vs a good Giants team playing well is acceptable. We actually played well enough to sweep them. So that’s good. 2/4 ain’t bad.
Benson is intriguing at the 3 spot, but I’m afraid he might get the Indiaitas. That being said, he’s deserving of a shot at one of the 1st 3 spots. Maybe when Friedl gets his next off day, let Benson hit in the 2 hole, and see how he does. Less pressure on the rookie that way.
Good point although I must tell you that Benson is not a rookie.
The value of Abbott’s outing today is twofold. He wins the game tossing a really gem and gives a huge rest to the BP at the same time.
I wonder when Friedl grounded in the 4th inning, if EDLC really forgot slides at 2B and continued running as he went from home to first base… Incredible…
Pretty awesome to not only get the win but also give a full day of rest to almost the entire bullpen. Andrew Abbott is an absolute stud.
Unless Abbott gave some indication that 8 innings were enough, I would have let him pitch the ninth to wrap up his fantastic performance.
I like the idea of picking up Lorenzen. If I remember correctly, he could also serve as a decent late inning pinch hitter/runner. Not sure if that’s still part of his game but it does make him slightly more valuable.
Fear the Samson hair
Lorenzen dropped his era to 3.49 and now has 10 starts with 1 er or less! He’s also got 6 starts with atleast 5 er, but we’re talking about a Weaver replacement here. Ashcraft has got pounded a bunch of times too
I like the idea of trading for Lorenzen…though I’d like to see Kennedy up again for a couple starts before pulling a trade trigger for a MOR pitcher.
Why not see if we’ve got someone first?
If Krall wants to go big that question is moot.
But I’d be surprised if he did this summer.
Selling off pitching is one thing, but the Benson deal is one I truly give Bell props for.
Buying pitching takes a different kind of horse trader.
I mean give Krall props for.
Sheesh….
How are we ever going to score a lot of runs again if we drop Weaver? 🙂
The Weaver phenmenon is a thing with the Reds. Get into a hitting slump, just put Weaver on the mound… After the 10-11 loss the Reds have returned to themselves. I’m expecting good things going forward. Yeah, what will we do without Weaver ? Just make sure the bullpen is ready !
Hey Soto. Yes he was fast but I was always worried about using a pitcher for such things. They are too valuable IMO to use like that. I am one of the minority (I think minority) that likes the DH. More offense aside, I never liked having pitchers hit and run during a game. They are far too fragile and hard to replace. It is a full time job just to concentrate on pitching. I know they did it for a long time but still glad that’s in the past. Othani is a freak of nature but even so I am not sure how much longer his body and mind can keep it up.
See where the Cy Young version of Corbin Burnes showed up again today against the Fightin’ Phillies! Need some help from the Braves this weekend! Bring on the Snakes!
I sounds silly to say you’d look past a playoff caliber team, but it’s a possibility with the Brewers due up after those snakes. We’re lined up with the back half of our rotation, so our offense will need to participate.
Hey Dennis I saw that as well. I was amazed at how he kept the Reds hitters guessing and mostly guessing wrong all game. He’s for real.
Like I said earlier, many were trashing India and his production. I agreed. But what has Votto brought to the table lately. Barely over the Mendoza line and as my college coach said appears to have a slow bat. ECS is better defensively and can hit both lefties and righties. And unless everyone has their heads in the sand EDLC doesn’t seem to have a strategy for any at bat. That’s why MLB scouts are eating him up. With his natural talent he’s sometimes gonna run into one every now and then. And those that say he’s young, remember how most you’re anointing him the chosen one. Small sample size. If your claim to fame is you hit a 105 mph routine groundout, that speaks volumes.
Votto has an OPS of 884, that second only to Benson. He has hit for good power. I have seen nothing to think that he won’t finish the year with an OPS around 900. That’s middle of the lineup production on almost any team. I do agree that I would probably rest him against top of the line lefties but every other day he is my 1st baseman or DH.
Soto have you seen his last at bats ? Votto has a higher OPS than Vada Pinson, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Johnny Bench, Barry Larkin etc. Who would you rather have at bat? Stats are wonderful but not always the end all. Even on this team. Guess Votto is a shoo in for the HOF.
Yes, I think Votto will make the HOF and a lot of my faith in Votto is based on his stellar career. For most of it, he tends to start slow and lock in later in the year. If he stays healthy I expect the same. I can also think of 25 million other reasons that he is going to be in the lineup on most days.
Agreed. Just if he gets the India-itis, which I could understand (just like India has shown he’s not a 3 or 5 hole hitter but a leadoff hitter), then after a week or 2, you move him back down. Don’t leave him there for 2 months slumping like Bell did India.
Dude give it a rest. Everyday with the Votto slander.
I want em to take it easy at the coming trade deadline. Dont trade away valuable rookies / prospects for a few months of (hopefully) good pitching. Play the long game and open that championship window for as long as possible.
Anybody got a take on why Senzel has been subbed in at 3B in the two last games?
It made some baseball sense Wednesday night in a 1 run game but absolutely none I can think of in a 5 run game today. In fact, time was back in the day, a player might take umbrage at being subbed in to play a couple of innings of defense when his team had a 5 run lead.
My guess is that Bell is just trying to give him a role and keep him engaged. His playing time has been severely cut lately.
This thought has crossed my mind. Also that small though it is, that they are trying to showcase him as a viable 3B guy to pump some trade value into him.
It also has crossed my mind that perhaps there are those within the organization who are suggesting that roster spot could be better used in a different way and Bell is in Senzel’s corner.
The better way would be a true backup OF, especially for CF; and, there is no lack of candidates right now. Fairchild is the most obvious; however, Barrero should not be written off. He has bumped his AAA OPS to over .900. Barrero would also obviously be another guy at SS and 2B as well as CF (and presumably corner OF spots); but I do not think he has ever played 3B.
Not positive Jim but I think I’ve seen him play 3B a couple of times. No doubt he could. In my view if Barrero stays hot and does not get traded will be up sooner or later. He as too much raw talent not to be as LDS pointed out previously.
And I just brought up the Bats on MiLBTV and none other than Jose Barrero is in CF tonight. Believe this is his 1st CF appearance since prior to the All Star break.
Folks better not blink if they want to see Senzel as 3B trade opportunity given the brief late inning appearances.
A fair amount of redundancy between Senzel, Fairchild and Barrero.
Add Newman.
Hard not to think Barerro’s recent AAA success is due to consistent playing time coupled with minor league sliders which were killing him in MLB as they are EDLC.
I don’t share the fascination with Fairchild but in some ways what he brings is the clearest. OF sub and spot starter.
That Senzel can play IF and OF no doubt tickles Bell, but isn’t Steer doing that as well?
How do figure out what to do with Newman, Senzel and Barrero all on the squad at once?
Add Fairchild and there’s some MOR depth the team hasn’t had in awhile.
If Barerro really is hitting he still seems like the best possible trade chip of the lot.
Senzel, Fairchild or Newman would be a toss-in, at best.
I’d sure like to see EDLC start hitting consistently again before shipping Jose out, though.
Yeah Jim. Siani not playing. I doubt he’s a call up though. I think David Bell would want a righty batter. Who know’s though? Lopez playing SS again. He’s a sleeper backup being a switch hitter and able to play the outfield too if others get traded or injured in my view.
Fairchild was hustling as hard Wednesday night as I have ever seen him hustle even at MLB. I’ve never seen him slack at AAA but I have seen him kick in a burst gear at MLB I had not seen prior at MiLB until Wednesday.
He was in one of the corner OF spots; so, there wasn’t much to see of him on defense. However, he was absolutely flying all night on offense. 2/4 plus 2 walks on the night. I just had a feeling he was playing to get out of Dodge because he was certain somebody (Reds or otherwise) was watching.
Best choice for OF callup is Henry Ramos. His OPS is .956, batting average is .331 and he 2 for 5 last night but the Bats pitching was clobbered for 11 runs. Santillan did look good with his brief outing.
India 6-13 in this series with 2 doubles and a HR. Like it or not I think the order is what it is at this point. Elly 4th to leadoff is obviously a big change and they dropped India down to 5th. I think McLain is a keeper batting 3rd since he hits well with risp and goes to RF well if they want to hit-n-run with him. He’s also got solid power. CES and Benson will move up in time, but they’re doing well now so if it ain’t broke. The one switch I would consider would be Freidl and Benson
Steer hitting ,250 over his last 30 games, .200 over the last 15.
OPs way off.
Even though he’s flexible and dependable, he seems to have hit better in a consistent position and place in the lineup.
Lots of varying opinions on how these Bell switcheroos effect performance or not.
I hope he can get back on track.
He’s been a big contributor, less so of late.
Of course the Reds want to win the Central, but we’re just as close to the wildcard. Philly, Arizona, SF, and SD all losing made it a solid day for us. I give SD by far the best chance of the rest to make a big run, but Idk how many times they play the first two?
Arizona 54-43 –
SF 54-43 –
Philly 52-44 1.5
Miami 53-45 1.5
Reds 52-46 2.5
SD 46-51 8
Yep. Winning the division is much easier with only one team to overcome.
Keep an eye on the Cardinals!!
Conventional wisdom has been beat the Brewers or else. Thats no longer the case. Reds need to figure out survival mode here against the Dbacks, Dodgers, Brewers and then another brutal West Coast Road trip in august. Get to the first of September 7 or 8 over .500 and I think they make a run and the playoffs if they have the best 26 man roster they can be.
It sure is fun to see a reds team that is the thick of the playoff race going into August. No matter what we think anout lineups and management decisions I think we can all agree that this team is a lot of fun. I choose to believe they can do it. My prediction is that they make the playoffs and win a series before bowing out to the Braves. I believe!
How are the Reds going to manage how many innings Abbott pitches this season? What an amazing and quick rise he has had and best start yet in his short time so far. I worry he is going to get capped at some point in September and be unavailable at the end.
Awesome performance by AA.Could not have come at a better time for the team.Who bats where has been debated over and over.Used to be fastest guy hits lead off,best hitter at 3 and the best rbi guy in the clean up spot.Of course there are egos involved with veteran plays and there is also the thought that players can better prepare if they know where they hit in the order.On this team there should not be any egos nor should it matter cause they are mostly players trying to make it at the big league level.IMO who ever has a hot bat should get more at bats so they should be at least bat 1-4.One could argue Benson at 8 or 9 is just a joke and CES at 6 or 7 is a bigger joke so for me you want them near the top where they can do more damage.AA was truly the story of this game.Eight innings and one hit.Come on thats big time from a rookie or anybody else at this level.
Great game by AA (wahoowa!) and Will Benson.
If you haven’t listened to the Jim Day podcast recent interviews with these two young men you should make time. They are both incredibly impressive. Proud to have them in our lineup – hopefully for many years to come.
Roger – using your critieria, it would be 1. Elly 2. McLain 3. Friedl 4. Steer/CES?
Elly will eventually turn the corner, but in the meantime, swap him with Benson?
Steer hitting .250 over last 30 games, .200 over the last 15. Even worse the last week.
EDLC hasn’t locked in at leadoff at all.
Yikes…moving the phenom to 8 or 9?
Does Bell have the huevos for that?
There’s enough good hitters for a change that spreading them out seems to be a strategy.
The Reds are going to need 5-7 runs a game minimum from here on out, the last two games notwithstanding.
If they can do that, it’s playoff time, even with the current SP.
I realize this is a terrible post, but I’m just as mixed up about the lineup as anyone.
I do love Benson hitting 8 or 9 though.
So tired of lame bottom of the order lineups giving away a couple innings a game.
Barrero with a double. Hitting streak continues to 14 games.
His numbers are on the rise. Before today’s game .258/.356/.539
Who know’s what’s going to happen.
Barrero with another hit. hahahaha Crazy
Now 3-3 with a sac fly. Hilarious.
Mariot – 1.1 innings – 6 hits – 5 ER – 3 BB – 2 HR
Not exactly his best start.
Contingency planning.
Is there really anyone who thinks the Reds can win the division and make the playoffs without Greene and Lodolo returning in august/early September? Weaver hopefully has pitched his last game. Ashcraft has found his second wind and Abbott has been Hercules. Lively has been good. Williamson might be filler. He was ok. The Reds just need a rental SP to fill in the gaps the next 2 months until Greene and Lodolo get back. If Greene and Lodolo dont get back, it doesnt matter. Abbott needs to go on a 6 day program to stretch out his innings and get to September. Trade for bullpen help and a rental SP. Lorenzen would be my choice. Get a good lefty bullpen guy who is controlled.
Run with the young guys but add some pitching depth.
“Is there really anyone who thinks the Reds can win the division and make the playoffs without Greene and Lodolo returning in august/early September?”
Yes if we get a Giolito type, someone that can fit at the front end of a rotation. We’d also need continued success from Williamson, and Lively.
Giolito, Abbott, and Ashcraft would seem to be a solid top 3 to go against any team in the playoffs.
Even if Greene and Lodolo do come back, there’s no guarantee they are going to be anywhere near what we have now. Can’t expect that. Can only expect them right now to be additional arms. Maybe better than normal additional arms, but additional arms.
Because of the decimation of our pitching staff, I’m just hoping we can get to the playoffs. I just don’t see how we do much in the playoffs. Not with this manager, so many rookies, this pitching decimated pitching staff. Sure, they could all get hot at the right time, but that could happen to all the teams. So, you can’t plan for that.
Above and beyond, I’m just glad to see winning baseball in Cincinnati again. This club was picked to be at/near the bottom, again. But, Krall brought on good players, and they are performing. No one thought of this team as anywhere near a playoff team at the beginning of the season.
What I like most about this W is the fact that Reds had 12 hits. Getting back to being contact hitting and stringing hits together will serve this team well. Will take the HR when they come but let’s not swing for the fence. I liked th?t India has a double and a single. I said it a few times now but I feel that India hitting in 3-5 spot has changed his hitting approach for the worse because he’s under pressure to hit for power.
Even the first inning they were stinging balls today. CES impresses me too. He’s not just up there hacking and hes atleast average speed wise.
I did like that, also. I still want to see the next game do the same thing, and the next, etc. For me, one game doesn’t mean good hitting. But, a trend has to start with one game.
Agree on India
Also, the ability to keep adding to the score…very important. Altho SF bull-pen was able to shut them down pretty effectively.
Finally a lefty tomorrow for the bad guys. Feels like its been a while. I don’t like a corner OF of Steer & Senzel. Especially in bigger OFs on the road. I don’t know how Senzel caught that ball in Washington, but it won the game. I also don’t like Votto (3-18 vs lhp) in there at all, but they don’t ask me.
Stephenson is at .286 (.724 ops) vs lhp and Jim Walker & I’s favorite Stuey had a .785 ops vs lhp with a .385 obp. Stuey would help the defense as well by moving Senzel or India to DH. Even Benson over Joey vs lhp makes sense to me. Make Benson prove he’s a platoon guy
I was also surprised Ramos cleared waivers. SF is in a playoff race and put 2 guys out there well under .200. I think Ramos, Stuey, Barrero, and Hopkins could all start somewhere. Or atleast a bench piece we could trade.
I am most looking forward to see how CES handles LHP. And obviously how Lively pitches. His last outing was cut short I think. He’s been pitching well. Hope he’s all good and continues to pitch well.
It was just cramps.
Tag Team Warning!!! 😉 >>> Adding CES to the mix vs LH pitching projects to offset the advantage of Senzel, Stephenson, or Newman ahead of Stuey as Fraley’s platoon partner in the configuration IRM suggested above. So, go with the better all around guy who is league average vs RH pitching and hold Fraley for a leverage situation instead of blindly plugging him in the 1st time the lineup spot of his platoon comes up to face a RH pitcher.
Just saw Marte hit a 464 ft homer ( they said). Saw him in Spring Training but now the dude seems to be even bigger I think he has 3rd base written all over him. Good future problem to have.
Marte is a big guy. Doesn’t look like a SS. Honestly, with the current roster being the way it is, I can see him in RF. I don’t know what’s going to happen but I can say this. CES has the arm to play RF. It’s very good.
With the history of this team making OFers out of IFers, I wouldn’t do it.
Agree on Marte. He is a 3B, 1B, corner OF, or DH. That profile is starting to catch up with SS in the Reds position player prospect portfolio
Barrero 3-3 tonight with OPS at 935.Hope this kid gets a chance with another team at age 25.Hard to imagine he isn’t in the plans.
Man he must be on some kind of heater. Seems like he was hitting .145 in AAA a few weeks ago. Maybe he’ll come back for September?
Who knows what’s going to happen after the trade deadline.
Ok had to look it up.
Since July 2, Barrero has a 14 game hitting streak (.420 avg 21-50) with 6 doubles, triple, and 4 HRs. Walked 5 times and 7 steals. Thats an insane heater! I wouldn’t have thought he was capable of that vs low A pitching.
Ok cut Casali and make Barrero flavor of the week. Our lineup is not that scary vs lefties
Hey Indy. Seems like you like to look things up. Why don’t you see how fast Barrero, Fairchild, and Siani are? 🙂 Just curious.
Ok my man. I’m on it..lol
haha Thanks buddy. I’m an Indy man too. 🙂
Ok Stuey & Barrero #s are this year. Siani was 2022
Stuey is 29.2 feet per second. 38th in MLB
Barrero is 27.6 which is behind India and Wil Myers. Surely Jose is faster then India. He’s slow
Siani only rated 24.8 feet per second, but he barely played last year and maybe popped up or hit clear singles, etc. and didn’t hit full speed
Wow. Thanks Indy. At least part of that doesn’t make too much sense does it? Clearly though, according to those stats, Fairchild, when it comes to pinch running, is the obvious choice. I would have thought Barrero and Siani faster than that and closer to Fairchild.
mlb.com has Siani as a “60” level runner. So, probably behind Fairchild, but he’s fast … 50+ Stolen Bases last year.
That makes more sense BK. It would make more sense that Barrero is faster than India and Myers too as Indy said.
After tonight’s game Barrero at .280/.367/.559 3-4 and a sac fly
Yep, tonight was Jose’s night. Stuey ended up at 0/3 with a BB plus HBP and his AAA OPS slipped back under .900 due to fewer PAs making it more volatile. In his last 2 PAs, SF worked counts and then got jammed for popups. One did make the OF; the other was on the infield. The usually very cool SF showed some agitation both times.
Both of these guys look very serious about getting out of Dodge aka AAA one way or the other or another.
Andrew Abbott, with an incredible pitched game today. Got the Reds the win to at least split the series, and save the bullpen. His fastball must have a lot of movement on it, and his other pitches are successful as well. Nobody can hit this dude when he pitches…
I think his heater is extremely straight, but he doesn’t give scrubs more credit then they’re due. They said today 6th thru 9th in the lineup is hitting .125 or something off Abbott. Throw it over the plate and 3 things happen of which 2 are good.
Same theory with defense in football. Stop the run and you have a chance because 3 outcomes with passing the ball and 2 favor the defense
There are more than 3 outcomes when a team attempts to pass the football. At least 8 come to mind at first thought…
1) completion
2) qb scramble for positive yards
3) qb sack
4) incompletion
5) interception
6) fumble
7) draw defensive pass interference
8) commit offensive pass interference
Looking at NFL averages on passing plays, roughly 70% of those plays results in a positive outcome for the offense (either yards gained thru the air, on the ground, or via penalty).
How positive, for the future, are the Reds to have two, possibly, lefthanders in the starting pitching rotation.
Three counting Williamson? Though I know is stock isn’t near as high.
Anyone have an injury update on Weaver? Thanks for the shout out @Melvin. I do think Barrero has too much talent to give up on. And defensively, as Doug noted earlier, he’s better than EDLC who is better than McLain. Even without Barrero, I can’t see a solution beyond India being the odd man out.
Weaver was throwing before the game. X-rays negative. Bell said he couldn’t have fielded his position today if he had to but expects him to make his next start.
Zeus could gift Weaver lighting in his arm and 106 mph and Mrs Weaver/girlfriend could be armed with a laser pointer in the stands and I’m absolutely positive he’d still get hit hard. He stinks
Thanks , though if that’s what Bell said, it’s probably a career ending injury.
haha Yeah. He was throwing. I saw him.
Barrero at the start was not the Reds short stop.Newman was acquired because the Bucs had seen enough and were moving on from him and his 2.5 mil salary.The Reds and I said it from the get go didn’t not acquire him and his salary to be a bench player but rather to play and play a lot.Never was a competition at short but rather time split and Jose could have walked on water and that would have not changed.First Little Mac and then ELDC sealed the deal at short but Newman remained to DH or play in the field against lefties.Every team needs utility guys but the Reds just love them to the point that it is very puzzling at times.CES is up and Newman is well on the IL and well whats next for him.Now I am not against Newman nor all in on Barrero at all but one we really know about in over 1600 at bats and one we don’t in 450 at bats IMO.Jose is not in the plans of the Reds since he plays short and well you know but i hope somebody gets him in a trade.Barrero has always been a starter and was the Reds minor league player of the year I believe in 2021 and for me he never got much of a chance and what little he did get he didn’t run with it.Surely this year the Reds haven’t missed on those now in the big leagues but they may have missed on Barrero.
I think individual players can have development windows just as teams have contention windows. Barrero was force fed in 2020 ahead of his window.
He found it at AAA in 2021 but the Reds were not ready to pull the trigger and give him a free run like they have done with McML and EDLC. Then the hamate injury and 2022 ensued. Now perhaps he is opening his personal window again; but the team appears to have no real spot for him.
In retrospect, Barrero and the team would probably have been better served to leave him at AAA in ’21 than to piecemealed his MLB introduction like they did and to have brought him forward out of spring training in 2022.
@Jim. I think Barrero has the best chance of being traded by the Reds before the All-Star break. There are a lot of scouts at that game last night, and have to imagine he was one of the primary targets.
Showing that he has the flexibility to play centerfield is huge in my opinion. It was a great move by the Reds to do so.
@Pete>> As far as 40 man roster personnel, unless the Reds trade someone off the current active roster other than Newman or Senzel who I would consider convenience dumps, the choices would seem to be Fairchild or Barrero.
However, I am not sure either of the two (JB/SF) is more than a super sweetener to lower the prospect quality and count in the rest of the deal. This is because they were devalued by the Reds choosing the 3rd catcher, Senzel, and Newman over them for the last 3 position spots on the 26 man roster. Consider this possibility analogous to how Fraley and the lottery ticket on Justin Dunn may have kept Marte or Arroyo out of the Winker/ Suarez deal on the Mariners side.
If a team looking at SF or JB is looking for a traditional 4th OF capable of handling 300-400 PAs or even stepping in as the everyday starter in case of a long term injury, Fairchild is the ready for the job likely choice. If the team is looking for a with a higher ceiling and still young enough to grow into an everyday player anywhere on the diamond except catcher, Barrero would be their man.
@Jim. I’m still holding out hope that Stuart Fairchild will come up to the big club before long. They really need an outfielder that can play there competently . Also, he would make a great pinch runner. and a right-handed hitting OF would help balance the.roster
I still don’t see any major deals coming so this is why I suggested Barrero and I also wouldn’t rule out Chuckie Robinson. Either or both for a BP arm.
What if the Reds traded for Strohman? What would it cost? I think with Votto coming off the books next year, the option could be picked up and the Reds would still be saving about 4 million. Strohman is ace material, right? Just a crazy idea.
He has an opt-out, which he will surely use unless he gets injured. Cubs also unlikely to trade in the division.
“Astros, Rays Showing Interest In Michael Lorenzen” per MLB Trade Rumors
Not saying we should or shouldn’t but if we want him we better go get him soon. Remember Chapman.
6 games over 500, 64 games left, still very much alive for a wild card and a division title. I couldn’t have envisioned any of those scenarios at the beginning of the year. Factor in the injuries to our start pitching and it seems even more improbable. Hope the team can continue to play hard and qualify for the postseason.
Agree! On top of that, man have they been fun to watch.
Saw Joey getting pissed, and rightfully so in his first at bat…ump called a really bad strike 2, then Joey dribbled a grounder to 2B and came back down the line to give the ump some of his mind. Then I saw on gameday pitch-by-pitch Joey’s last at, he took 3 straight legit strikes. Hmmmmm.
Yeah, an unstated option (above) for why Senzel came on to play 3B (moving Steer to 1B) when the Reds were 5 runs up was that Bell didn’t like the look of Votto standing there taking those three and pulled him out of the game because of it. Or perhaps, JV got the thumb from the ump for something he said or did as he walked away; and, it slipped through the cracks of the inning change.
Reds have a great chance to really sprint past Arizona in the wildcard chase in the next 6 weeks or so.
Arizona’s upcoming schedule is rough. Only losing teams are St. Louis, SD, and Colorado and St. Louis and SD are playing well. Reds win 4-5 of those heads up vs Arizona and we could really fly past these guys. You have to hope St. Louis or SD doesn’t get too hot in the meantime, but they might start to trade off guys soon.
Milw gets back Woodruff and its starting to feel like they’re just too much. We’ll see what happens with our last 3 vs them
@ Cincy – 3
St Louis – 3
Seattle – 3
@ SF – 4
@ Minn – 2
LAD – 2
SD – 3
@ Col – 3
@ SD – 4
Texas – 2
Reds – 4
@ LAD – 3
Balt – 3
.
@ Twins for 3 not 2 games
I’ve been eyeing the Reds and Brewers schedules in September.
Reds: CHC (4), SEA, STL, @DET, @NYM, MIN, PIT, @CLE (2), STL
Brewers: PHI, @PIT, @NYY, MIA (4), WAS, @STL (4), @MIA, STL, CHC
Sept is as soft as the Reds could ask for. Twins, Mariners and Guardians are floating around .500 (8 games). Everyone else is 6+ under (19 games).
Brewers have 10 games against Phillies and Marlins, who are 9 and 8 games over .500 right now. Not brutal, but should give the Reds a chance to gain a couple of games.
The Cardinals could play spoiler for someone with 13 games against both teams.