The Reds have collapsed since the trade deadline, dropping from first place into a tie for second. Is it time for Reds fans to panic? If not, what reasons are there for optimism? Nate, Bill Lack, and I discuss all that and more!
Plus, we reveal the big news we’ve been teasing for the last few weeks: The Riverfront will be having a live show in Cincinnati on September 9 to celebrate our 500th episode! Plan to join us at The Stretch at The Banks at 4pm that day to meet everyone, and then head over to that night’s game at Great American Ball Park. More details to come, but mark it in your calendars!
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Past the panic/denial stage and firmly moving on to acceptance. Time to focus on the off-season. This team has been in a month long swoon at the plate. There will be a resurgence in September, but it will be too late.
Any idea on what’s going on with Santillian?
panic may not be the right word. I think the better word is acceptance that we are a franchise still lost at sea.
I’d go with familiar despair, and I’m an optimist.
Panic? Why? There are plenty of games left to make a run. Arizona and Miami have problems and aren’t killing it. It’s not even September yet folks. Let’s see what happens.
Why should we panic, we have at the helm of this organization a principal owner “who knows how its done.” Since 1963 the Castellini’s have held principal ownership for 18 years. The most of any. He just needs a little time….
Is that the fat lady I hear warming up in the bullpen?
The team just played 26 games in 27 days, and now they have 3 days off in 8 days–the scheduling has been atrocious in recent years. Went 10-16 over those 26 games (only 1-9 in August!)–a tough stretch. The bull-pen certainly had a hard time of it. But several arms are on their way back, CES is starting to hit, and Freidl seems back to his pre-injury form. Panic? Trying to make anxiety fashionable? Let’s put things into perspective: No one should ever panic about ANY sports team or event. Sports are simply not very important. And if anyone is panicking over their team, they should re-evaluate their life.
Harsh but true, JMB. Speaking for myself, the several months of exciting and winning baseball were so much fun and contributed so much surprise and expectation that a let-down was inevitable.. With disappointment comes perspective, however: this is a team whose success is heavily founded on rookies: Other teams are constantly adjusting to them and the young guys are, consequently, having to continually modify their approaches. They’re learning, hopefully, and that process can be painful to watch. It also doesn’t help that bullpen mainstays have thrown a few gopher gopher balls lately.
Panic? No, because if we’re completely candid, we didn’t expect to be here at this point.
Frustrated? You bet your !!! Shades of 2021 come to mind. I was engineering a trip to see a couple games and called it off due to that epic skid and meltdown.
This is NOT the team I watched in DC in early July. We’ll see how we stand up against the Pie-Rats this weekend. Still feels like a crapshoot to me.
Roster moves need to be made. Marte/Barrero need callup, Senzel/Fairchild need to be demoted.
Senzel and probably India will be traded in the offseason for proven pitching.
I don’t think Reds fans should panic, the FO should have panicked a bit prior to the trade deadline. The Bull was cool as a cucumber, and we are most likely going to miss out on the playoffs. I guess the extra revenue from fans showing up wasn’t enough incentive. 24 we should be better, and 25 even better. I’m not a big delayed gratification guy, but where else am I going to go.
Agree on the delayed gratification. Predicting the next year or years is never an easy thing. Would it have cost something to get better this year. Of course, but would have it emptied the cupboard? You can never bank on a prospect being solid gold. I have never been a fan of playing for next year when you are in contention this year. Alas I guess there really wasn’t a deal to be made. Nobody else was able to do anything. (Cough)
I’m not panicking yet. I’m somewhere between cautiously optimistic and slightly pessimistic. The Reds have 45 games remaining. I think they will have to win at least 24 more games to reach the playoffs. That would put them at 84 – 78 for the season. They’re capable of doing that if they can start playing better. Just not sure that they will.
The front office could have given them a boost at the trade deadline but they chose to sit on the sidelines again and watch.
Yes, the Reds are on the right track, but that doesn’t do much good if you never reach your destination. This organization is always looking to the future but never at the present. There are no guarantees that this team will be better in 2024 and 2025. When opportunity knocks, you need to go to the door and let it in.