The Cincinnati Reds offense never really got going as Cleveland shut them out. The Guardians scored twice in the first inning and that was all they would need, though they were able to tack on a run later in a 3-0 win.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Guardians (58-62) |
3 | 7 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (62-59) |
0 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Allen (6-5) L: Ashcraft (6-8) SV: Clase (32) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
It was a tough 1st inning for Graham Ashcraft. He gave up a leadoff single to Steven Kwan and then Jose Ramirez doubled on a ball that Spencer Steer lost in the sun to put two men in scoring position. After a strikeout, Kole Calhoun came through with a 2-run single.
Neither team would really threaten again until the bottom of the 4th. Spencer Steer would walk with one out and with two outs Christian Encarnacion-Strand single into left field. Both runners would be stranded as Stuart Fairchild struck out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the 6th inning the Reds would threaten again when Matt McLain led off with a walk and Elly De La Cruz followed up with an infield single. But things went south when Spencer Steer flew out to right field and De La Cruz was thrown out at second trying to advance on the play. Henry Ramos then struck out to strand McLain at third base to end the inning.
Graham Ashcraft returned for the top of the 7th. After getting a lineout he gave up a single up the middle to Myles Straw, who then stole second base. Steven Kwan then drove him in with a single into right field that saw him take second base when TJ Hopkins overran the ball. Ashcraft would get a ground out and a pop up to strand Kwan, but Cleveland held a 3-0 lead at the end of the inning.
Cincinnati would threaten again in the bottom of the 7th inning when Will Benson pinch hit for Tyler Stephenson and doubled to the wall in left center with two outs. With TJ Hopkins due up and a righty on the mound, the Reds opted to bring Joey Votto in as a pinch hitter but he struck out to end the inning as the home club remained scoreless.
Alex Young took over in the 8th inning for Ashcraft and he worked a 1-2-3 inning. Cincinnati’s offense also went down in order. Young returned for the 9th inning and like his previous inning, he sat the Guardians down in order.
Emmanuel Clase entered the game for the bottom of the 9th for Cleveland. After getting ahead of Spencer Steer 0-2 he fired a 101 MPH cutter that Steer lined into right field for a leadoff single. Henry Ramos would follow up with a strikeout, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand would pop up. That left the game up to TJ Friedl. He battled for seven pitches against Clase, but flew out to center to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
Kole Calhoun’s 2-run single in the 1st inning held up as all of the runs needed by Cleveland.
Notes Worth Noting
The Reds are now 3-10 in August.
Nick Lodolo threw 3.0 hitless inning with two walks and six strikeouts in his rehab start with Double-A Chattanooga.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Guardians vs Cincinnati Reds
Wednesday August 15th, 6:40pm ET
Noah Syndergaard (2-5, 6.35 ERA) vs Andrew Abbott (6-3, 2.93 ERA)
Good news on Lodolo and Greene tonight. Might be too little too late.
Probably right, but I’ll take all the good news I can get. 5 days for Greene, and maybe 15 for Lodolo if all goes well.
Yep. Definitely take it.
Starting pitching has not been the issue.
Ashcraft gave up 3 runs over 7 innings. But that’s pointless if your team scores zero.
The Reds could have prime Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax pitching for them right now, but as long as the offense doesn’t put up runs, it wouldn’t make a difference.
If Lodolo and Greene can hit, maybe all is not yet lost.
The first inning “in the sun” play only cost us two runs. We lost 3-0.
Steer is not an outfielder, he’s a below average 3B and an average 1B at best. Time to reconsider the OF picture for next season, only Friedl, Fraley and Benson qualify but they’re all LH so at least one RH corner outfileder should be in the pick list.
Noah Syndergaard is one of the easiest pitchers to steal a base on. So guess what the Reds will do tomorrow night?
Tag from first on a fly ball to right field?
Key Moment of the Game- when Bell turned in his lineup card.
lol
EDLC tagging up from 1st has my vote. He should have been pulled, and benched for tomorrow. There’s aggressive, and then there’s reckless.
HaHahahahahahaha…so true
Key moment of this game was a long time ago when Bell made it clear to everyone that he demands nothing of his players other than doing whatever they happen to feel like doing without giving even a moment’s thought to the situation.
To David Bell – Is there any concern about the offense at this point?
David Bell – No. No concern.
I usually don’t listen at all to David Bell but I wanted to see what he had to say tonight.
I’m no Bell fan but I don’t think he should air his concerns in the media. I would guess that he is concerned. I’m sure he would rather have watched the team score a bunch tonight.
He doesn’t have to criticize anyone in particular. He can say things like we need to find a way to score more runs, we’re striking out too much, we need to be smarter on the bases etc. Instead – No. No concern. No wander the players “love” him. They don’t fear him at all. A certain amount of fear is healthy and produces better players. I don’t see ANY.
Melvin, 100% that is the reason why the players “love” playing for him!
Absolutely, Melvin.
And while he shouldn’t openly grouse about specifics and personnel in public statements, the overall tone continues to be “we’re just gonna keep on keeping on” and that’s NOT what we need to hear and what this club needs.
50th most competent Field Manager in The Show … and dropping like a stone. And we very likely get the full 3 more years of this crap.
The Marlins lost. Philly is losing a close one. The cubs are tied. The Brewers play the dodgers later tonight, The reds might not fall too far behind behind in the wild card rce tonight.
Bell is just going to have to play his best players every night until India and Fraley return regardless of what side of the plate they hit from.That may not even be good enough but this lineup had no chance from the start and what really bothers me is that if a lefty were to start again tomorrow we would see the same lineup again more then likely.It won’t matter at all about Greene and Lodolo if we can’t score.This team right now just has no margin for error and base running and fielding miscues killed them tonight plus their overall approach at the plate.The first inning after a hit to start Matty swings at the first pitch,ELDC never swings and Steer swings at 2-0 and its 3 outs .Later on after a lead hit the next 3 guys go down on 7 pitches.Can’t happen if the team and the coaches are serious about winning baseball games.Lots of blame to go around but goodness.
Not really a lot to spread around. Who calls the shots? Who is responsible? Etc. On a team with no leadership, no accountability, and a bunch of young guys, what do you expect to happen?
I really enjoyed watching these guys play in June but to be honest they aren’t a lot of fun anymore. It seems like Bell has taken the joy out from them. He has no control of this team and the horrible horrible base running play by EDLC tonight shows the problem, Bell should have pulled him to prove a point.
I have to say I agree with you. Can’t say the Bell extension is sitting very well with me either.
Nope, it took the wind out of my sails too. Don’t understand extending him at all after 5 years of that…let alone for 3 more. I’m just hoping if they tank at the beginning of 2024 the Reds will realize they’re losing more money by the fans not coming anymore then they will by just buying out his contract and hiring good manager who knows what he’s doing who will bring winning and the fans back to GABP.
I agree too. I remember Bobby Cox pulled Andruw Jones from game every time he made a dumb play in outfield or didn’t run out a ground out or a fly out. Andruw was a talented young player just like EDLC. Can’t keep making the same dumb mistakes over and over.
I love the play by EDLC. He tried to get the tying run in scoring position in a game when the offense wasn’t doing anything. It was a fly ball to the warning track, and he is the fastest runner in baseball. It required a dead accurate throw to get him out. If that throw is 2 feet off line in either direction, we are talking today about what a great hustle play it was and how he is such a spark to the offense. And who knows, maybe the next batter gets a hit and he scores and the game is tied and this is an entirely different article we are reading.
Benching a guy for making an aggressive play that required the defense to be precise is a terrible idea. Crushing that aggressiveness is the exact opposite of what should be done by a manager.
Atta Luke!
l’audace, encore de l’audace, et toujours de l’audace!
I do think it was a rather foolish move, but you are right, if he was safe we’d be happy about what he did. I certainly wouldn’t bench him for that. Many in here think these guys are robots though. Probably the same people that bashed Jerry Narron for benching Encarnacion for not running.
Well said Luke!
Completely agree, Luke.
I mostly agree @Luke and as an isolated play by a 21 yo being agressive, its ok.
The problem is he has been making outs on the bases left and right, including twice recently in one game.
Theirs a fine line between Selective/ strategic aggression and carelessness that runs you out of innings. Hopefully he threads that needle soon.
The young talent Krall put together is formidable, but they have to grow and get better. Go get Rhys Hoskins and a couple of high leverage relievers and I think they’re good to go. If Bell has Benson platooning and batting bottom of the order next April then that’s on Krall. Here in Indy, Jim Irsay wants the wonderboy 4th pick rookie QB to start so he’s starting. Is he ready? Doubtful, but guess who signs the checks? If the Castellini’s and Krall can’t provide Baseball 101 then quit going to the games. Cause & effect
The future is bright if they do it right, but nothing is certain. Everyone said the White Sox were loaded 3 years ago and look at them
“Here in Indy, Jim Irsay wants the wonderboy 4th pick rookie QB to start so he’s starting. Is he ready? Doubtful, ”
Being in Indy too I sure hope he’s ready. I’m excited. 😀
i just don’t trust the reds can develop these young position players. I think Benson and Steer can become good everyday position players. it is a toss up with the other guys. the may have the same fate as Stubbs, Aquino, Hamilton.. just kind of fade away
You listen to Bell on the postgame tonight and it’s the EXACT same as 2021…..”there’s no problem, everything is fine….these guys will hit again…I know, they are all professionals” I remember, he said all the same things in 2021 when the collapse happened….and surprise, it never happened, they never got it back, it all went bad…..and what is the same? Different players, but the same bad manager
A good reason to never listen to the post game. Bell is the classic example of an empty suit. If Krall wants to be taken seriously, he fires Bell regardless of Castellini’s wishes. Could he lose his job? Sure, but that beats surrendering your character and credibility.
I’m willing to sacrifice a game in 2023 under these circumstances: David Bell actually went with one of his relievers for two innings. If this is an indication of lessons learned and ability to adjust on the fly, I’ll take. Don’t like losing but that was huge in my mind.
Really can’t say whether he figured this out on his own or somebody figured it out for him. Or it’s just a one off. But I’m praying it is a small step in the right direction, actually, it’s a small step that could turn into a huge benefit for this team going forward.
I understand about having right-handed batters v left-handed pitching, but when I saw Votto, Benson, and Friedl replaced by Newman, Fairchild, and Hopkins, I thought we were in trouble. It didn’t help that the other guys didn’t hit, either. Oh, well…
Another example the other night of disjointed low IQ baseball:
Freidl pushes a nice bunt past the pitcher for a bunt hit except Fairchild was unaware of the bunt and got forced at 2B. Only play their 1B had and I don’t know if I’ve seen that before? Shouldn’t Fchild just be going if Freidl is squaring up? You only get 27 outs and have to fight to preserve them. They just seem mentally worn out
Elly trying to tag on a fly to right and move from first to second with us down 2-0. Dumb move in that situation. Low Baseball IQ. Then I’m going to use the dreaded “c’ word,..though it’s a fighting word to a lot on here. I’ll just say it. The Reds are “chokers”. Very few meaningful hits (clutch hits). Almost all their hits occur when there is no pressure, and therefore they don’t help put runs on the board…. so they produce no reward. When there is pressure and they need a clutch hit (or just to put a bat on a ball) they strike out. They need a new hitting coach. It is what it is. No plate discipline whatsoever. Take strikes right down the heart of the plate, and swing at balls down in the dirt. That their story, and I’m sticking to it. Sad, It’s going to get more embarrassing, especially with Bell making the calls. It’s a shame to waste this much talent.
lol, yeah the “Rally Reds” who have made a name for themselves this year by leading the majors in comeback wins are “chokers.” Good one. Not getting the hits in big moments in the last few games doesn’t re-write the rest of the season where they got big hits repeatedly. You are a captive of the moment.
Fairchild has been playing a long time and should have this.
But Reds base running is collectively poor despite the earlier surge in SBs due to rule changes.
You’d think there would be some remedial chalkboard sessions on baserunning fundamentals, get Eric the Red or BP in for a seminar.
Bell apologists say “What makes you think he isn’t doing that?”
Prove a rhetorical negative, right?
If it were happening we’d be seeing the results.
We’re not.
Bunting for a hit (with 1 out in the books) with a man in 1st is a whole different circumstance from bunting for a hit with the bases empty or a lone runner on 2nd or 3rd because of the potential force out at 2B.
If SF breaks on the square around and Friedl misses the bunt, pulls back, or worse yet, pops it up, everyone is wondering why in the world SF took off on what looked like a delayed steal
.
If the bunt wasn’t called from the bench, there has to be some sort of heads up sign the batter uses to tip the guy on 1st what he is going to do.
@Jim
You are the president of the stu fan club. Was looking at fangraphs today and his splits are becoming quite disparate. His OPS against righties is .675 and wRC+ 76
What is truly bizarre is his home and road splits. Hes good on the road and terrible at home
GABP wRC+ 61 and OPS .626
Hes had 225 PA so sample size isnt tiny
Any ideas on home/road craziness?
Eleven strikeouts in today’s loss. Still too many. It definitely looks like Votto’s last year with the Reds. Just hoping all these young players will be good in the next few years or many years to come, or are they all “flash in a pan” so to speak.
The problem is they’ll have the same manager for the next 3 years, and I don’t see Bell taking them to the next level of consistent play.
Dude has ZERO sense of urgency and ZERO feel for the flow of a game . Been that way since he was hired … and Reds gave this clown a 3 year extension to top it off.
All of you guys continually harping on Bell about decisions like the line-up, being way too lax with the players, bullpen management, putting a positive spin on anything and everything, etc., I have finally seen the light and agree with all if it! As a teacher (and coach), I’m surrounded by teachers who would rather be liked than respected by their students, and every last one of those ‘teachers’ is a failure. Take heed, Mr. Bell.
Welcome to the Dark Side … we’ve got cookies! 😀
A lot of good comments in this thread. A loss today doesn’t kill us, but a shutout is certainly a cause for concern. Bell has to be thinking that he’s putting his best team on the field given a Lefty starting. But it sure didn’t work out today. We’ve seen this team slug it out with the best in National League. Victory or defeat seems to be an elusive razor edge. Nothing came together today. We’ll see if they rebound tomorrow. The Reds started the year 7-15, and then went 30-20. Maybe that’s all they had in them. All they can do is keep battling it out. And there’s always another game tomorrow…until there isn’t.
Neither Senzel or Casali played tonight. Candidates for DFA? Even more interesting is that Casali is supposed to be Greene’s catcher. He pitched tonight and pitched well. Also interesting that the Bats have four catchers on the roster.
That’s an indication that Casali won’t be catching Greene with Reds for at least his first start! BTW, I’m guessing that Greene will start the Monday game versus the Angels where he grew up. Ashcraft is due for his regular turn Sunday.
Just to highlight Melvin’s comment, the AAA box scores list the position roster players who did not play in the game. Senzel was included on that list as a 3B. Presumably, this means he has “reported” or at least that the Reds are OK with whatever is going on with him.
I think it would be interesting if prior to each game we all posted the lineup we would choose for the upcoming game. I think most of our lineups would look more or less the same, and none of them would ever look like the actual lineup.
Yeah. It could be like the Strato season we had in 2020. Everyone gives their lineup. Only problem is no matter who gets the most votes for the best lineup that day to become manager David Bell always wins regardless. hahaha 🙂
I wonder if any computer program would ever generate the same lineup Bell does. I doubt it would have happened even once in his managerial career.
Certainly wouldn’t look like tonight’s lineup, I’d guess.
I’ve posted this before and I’ll post it again. This team has to acquire some veteran talent this winter to lead the young guys. The Reds simply lack that on this current team, both on the pitching and hitting fronts.
i think the pitching is there, but yes. we need as many free agent position players as possible. But who are we going to get to come to Cincinnati?
It will be interesting this winter where we invest our free agent $ and who we trade to IMPROVE the team. I could make the case that we need a RH power OF bat, a strong defensive Catcher, and solid bullpen additions. If we spend the so called $50M cash on a few $20M players, I think you will see a pretty strong team. If you play around the edges and bring in $5-10M lottery tickets, then good luck. But I don’t have a lot of confidence in this management’s desire to spend to win.
i went to the game today. kind of a microcosm of my experiences at gabp these past 20 years. certainly enough pitching to keep you in the game but spotty defense and poor base running.
Most importantly though , just not enough hitting. Once again our young prospects looked confused, overmatched and anxious at the plate.
To me ,Benson and Steer are really the only two guys that “get it”. they actually have a plan when they go to the plate.
I would include McLain, but your point stands. Yeah, EDLC and CES are chasing far too much out of the zone to be legitimate threats at the moment. With both it’s soft stuff down. Very frustrating but part of the learning curve…..I mean, look at Steer’s stats last year for the Reds. Just takes time.
Punchless. If being a game back of the WC isn’t enough of a motivater . . . smh.
A punchless lineup, IMHO.
Another game where Ashcraft pitches reasonably well going five innings plus, and the Reds lose the game. Unless the hitter, like the opposing pitcher and catcher, has a constant idea of what to expect on each pitch, games are not going to be won with just good pitching.
Sunlight from a 1-0 loss. He pitched better than reasonably well.
A game where the little things that inexperienced players do shows up big. Cleveland pitched well, so you have to be prepared for a low scoring game. This means defense and base running are a big deal.
2/3 plays where inexperienced players just didn’t make the fundamental play. Ashcraft has games where he isn’t locked in in the first inning – but he’s definitely improved.
And the. On the hitting side, just not enough contact to force Cleveland to play more defense. Too many strikeouts.
These are games they can learn from. Hard to watch unless you’re confident they will learn from them. 2 of most fundamental teams in baseball/ Milwaukee and Cleveland.
Maybe the Guardians pitcher was spot on and basically unhitable. It does happen now and then that pitchers have dominant performances.
It’s been happening an awful lot to this Reds team. They just don’t take professional at bats and they very seldom get what I would call a clutch hit. I just hope these rookies aren’t flash in the pans, hitting in August is a lot tougher than hitting in June especially when David, I have no idea what I am doing, Bell is your manager. What the heck, why not give this clown a life time contract?
Well according to the Bell defenders none of this is really his fault. It’s ALL ON THE PLAYERS, managers have no bearing on winning or losing. Even though Managers make up the lineups, determines who plays where, hits where, makes all the pitching changes in the game Etc… it’s really all just random chance. Basically, Sparky Anderson and Bruce Boche etc are the same as David Bell. So Bell really has very little effect on the overall record or winning…or his team playing well or poorly when the playoff pressure goes up….or winning in the post season or a World Series for that matter. It’s all basically just random luck when it comes to managers. So I hope we get randomly lucky next time, because we drew the short straw for the rest if this season and the next three years.
Jon India blowing up the reds medical team publicly in the media. Says he feels fine now but lost 2 weeks because wasnt told to shut down all running 2 weeks ago.
Chemistry becoming an issue on this team and Senzel and India both complaining to the media. Who are these guys agents? Scott Boras. Id DFA Senzel and trade India this off-season.
Anyone who has had plantar fasciitis knows you have to shut things down immediately but India also gaslighting things pretending his injury could have been 10 day thing.. I am(was) a huge India fan but this is not the behavior of a leader? India has been bad for 2 months hitting as well. Whose fault is that?
Scott Boras and new Reds beat writer Gordon Wittenmyer are colluding to get Boras side of every story out to the public and using the Reds team chemistry as collateral.( see Nick Senzel). Nick Krall declined comment
Senzel should have been sent packing a month ago and with all the noise around India he needs to go as well. They also should not think about bringing back Votto, instead of leading these young guys he became one of them. This is a rudder-less team.
A good manager would have told Senzel that he’ll do the managing and Senzel will play when he puts him in the lineup, other than that zip it because he’s concerned about winning, not Senzel’s hurt ego. Instead Bell cave like the terrible manager he is and then started him immediately the 2nd game in Chicago for 7 of the next nine…ALL LOSSES. Once again very poor management by David Bell. As soon as word got out publicly Senzel had complained to Bell about playing time it was fairly obvious to most of us that putting him in the lineup ASAP and caving to his demands was the exact wrong thing to do for the overall team chemistry. Then the losing streak happened which was the inflection point on the season turning the wrong way and it all could have been avoided with a better manager… but we don’t have that luxury.
They’re going to piss away the next three years with a really good talented nucleus of players if they are not willing to buy out his contract next year and rectify the mistake. The gate attendance is going to drop like a stone and they’re going to lose a ton of money and the fan support that they built up this summer.
The (well deserved) narrative is that the Reds beat writers wouldn’t ask the hard questions. Now the new guy does and all of the sudden any player not towing the company line should be traded for being disruptive?
I’m of the mind that sunlight is the best disinfectant. Both India and Senzel’s comments came from a place of frustration—both wanting to contribute but feeling the organization wasn’t working in their best interest. Probably true with India but not Senzel imo.
+1000
I would mildly disagree about the Senzel situation. The big meeting was about him/ Boras wanting to make it clear they wanted him out of Cincy by the deadline to hopefully give him a shot at establishing enough worth somewhere else to avoid being non tendered this off season.
Maybe the Reds made a serious effort to trade him; and, any deals Boras had tried to hatch for them got hung up over Senzel’s sunken cost. Maybe the subsequent games with Senzel at 3B were about the India injury and not caving to Senzel. These would both be situations where the club’s best interests and Senzel’s best interests did not necessarily coincide.
However once the team decided to option Senzel, I found myself thinking the best solution for him and the team was to just go on and run him through waivers and if he cleared release him to find a better situation.
Perhaps the Reds already have cleared him through waivers and are letting him play at Louisville until Boras a can find him a landing place and will release him if/when that happens. Otherwise, it is not in Senzel’s best interest or the team’s for him to be at Louisville.
India has been butt hurt ever since Castellanos wasn’t retained. He laid down last season, then he did that interview telling the media that he’s going to be the leader this upcoming season. I heard him say it, but I haven’t seen him do it. It’s a shame because he’s a talented player.
I call Bolshevik on India not having a part in this. He’s exactly the kind of guy that attempts to play through an injury. I respect that, but he also cost himself time way early on. His performance definitely showed that.
Agree with Mark. He’s always played through injuries.
I don’t know but I would love to see the Reds averages in August. I am sure they are awful. All the rookies are slumping, the only player that is consistent is Benson and maybe Strand and Benson didn’t start last night.
Everything rises and falls on leadership. Bell, is no leader, or an mlb caliber manager. As long as he remains, the Reds will not be a legitimate contender. Plenty of fault to go around in other areas, coaching, mentoring, dicipline, consistent lack of sound game fundamentals, and general mgr/ownership’s lack of commitment to a present winning approach execution.
You are 100% correct, Bell is the worst manager in baseball and it’s not even close. This guy is a clown and all the players know it, I bet if you ask them privately they would admit that he has no idea what he is doing and that he has no control of the team.
You re 100 percent correct ark. A couple of weeks ago I saw a ranking of mlb managers. Bell was ranked 26th. Too high in my opinion.
Couldn’t have said it better myself…100% spot on. His teams are never going to perform well when the pressure goes up because that is who he is as a manager…totally overwhelmed and making numerous bad decisions game after game. He is not going to elevate his teams to perform when the games get bigger, his teams will shrink under the spotlight as he always does. Which means they’re never going to do anything of any significance at all under him because the only thing he’s been good at for 5 years is bumping along for a cheap owner managing average to bad teams that had no expectations. Good managers, coaches Etc know how to push the right buttons to lift their teams up to perform better as a team than they do individually and better in the bigger moments when titles and rings are won. He is the exact opposite of that
If they want to speed the game up even more they can just put up an 0-2 count for Reds hitters when they walk to the plate. Seems like thats all I see.
The plate discipline these guys have is absolutely horrible. So many missed walks by swinging at ball 3 and 4. Watching double digit strikeouts every night is not fun baseball.
Reds have talent and young talent and more on the way.Young guys do young things but this is not little league.They either aren’t listening or are not being told.Either way its just not acceptable.I have always called for let the young guys play and will continue to do so but this team must be coached and coaching is not well they will figure it out.Old school guy here but tired of hearing they will learn from it and want to see they are.Tired of hearing well we battle down to the last out and never give up.News flash thats your job and if you aren’t doing that well you should not play.Reds have not had leadership in the dugout or on the field in years.Tell them somebody please what they are doing wrong and if they won’t listen then send them down or bench them.Yeah I know this is the age where we hand out participation trophies but its past time something is done.By the way all this stuff has been there but winning covers up a lot of things but you can bet if this was the Braves ELDC gets pulled and sets last night.
Lots of talk about bringing in veteran leaders for 24. I’m not sure if any of these guys are “leaders”, but these are some guys who could fill “holes”. Gurriel Jr in the OF, and Soler as the DH. Soler might hit 45 + dingers playing at GABP, he’s done it in the past, and he’s at 30 HR’s in Miami so far this season. Gurriel Jr give the team a veteran right handed bat in the outfield. Those seem to be the biggest 2 offensive holes we have as far as I can see.
That shouldn’t be too costly, so Krall could still bring in pitching help.
Soler would be nice! The free agent list didn’t look that exciting last time I looked. They need a .375+ obp leadoff hitter. Maybe McLain if he learns to walk more, but nobody walks on this team anymore.
I’d trade a starting candidate if I had to. I think Lowder is a 10x better prospect then Leake ever was. He could replace someone in the rotation in the spring
McLain’s only going to get better, and he’s already a .300 type hitter with a .350 + OBP. You’re right, if he takes more walks he’d be great in the leadoff.
India did.
India
2021 150 G, .269 BA .376 OBP .835 OPS
2022 103 G, .249 BA .327 OBP .705 OPS
2023 103 G, .251 BA, .336 OBP .745 OPS
Not exactly living up to his rookie year. I’m sure it’s the Reds fault, and not the player’s.
2023 India batting 1st
25 Walks in 49 Games
.283 AVG
.376 OBP
Last year he led off in 71 games hitting .252 BA .320 OBP.
Never in the history of baseball was moving someone to the 3 hole considered a demotion. If he can’t handle it, it’s not the Reds fault, it’s his.
As a Leadoff hitter he had a different mindset…get on base as opposed to try to cranking HRs (which he can’t). Everybody and their brother saw that he changed his approach once he was moved down to #3/#5
He was playing injured for a majority of 2022.
From the healthy sample of this year he was an asset at leadoff.
I agree he changed his approach, that’s the point. I can almost guarantee Bell didn’t ask him to do anything differently. I bet you he said something to the effect of “we need in the 3 hole, you’re our most productive hitter, just keep doing what you’ve been doing.”
Just have to go to the Reds site and read what Bell said about ELDC and his bone head play.Among other things he said his thought process was perfect because if you read its not going to be a home run you should go back and tag up.Can win a lot of games that way.Never mentioned anything about the situation at hand like the men on base the outs the score its as if that doesn’t matter.This is coming from a man who played what 12 years or more in the majors comes from a family of players and to say that is just utterly insane.Oh my we have found the enemy and it is us.Goodness
Exactly…as if the situation with a guy on 3rd and one out in a 2-0 game bottom of the 6th where the team hasn’t come close to scoring yet isn’t relevant to Elly going or not…what a moron. I got news to you… the actual game scenario is by far the most relevant part of the decision. He is so afraid to criticize any player for anything it’s just maddening. He’s not hired to be their friend he’s hired to manage the team to WIN GAMES… not be buddies with everybody on the team
With this owner seemingly all he has to do to keep his job is get along with the players….and he knows it.
Let me add this and go cut my grass.Bell has no feel at all for whats going on in the game.Now he never throws guys under the bus and I respect that but whats wrong with yeah we teach to go back and tag up but there are other things that come in to play as to where you go or not such as outs score arm of the outfielder.Yeah we need to make sure our guys take that into consideration when we go over stuff before the game.Bell just constantly comes across as being just clueless.Three more years of this is way too long for me.
I agree with what Luke J said above concerning Elly trying to tag up from 1st. Once I saw the ball get to the warning track I thought, “this is good, both guys can tag up”.
He got thrown out, which is a result that doesn’t have great optics…after all…he could probably just as easily steal 2nd base a few pitches later, right??
I’m not gonna blast the kid for this.
Has anyone ever considered, that during similar plays throughout his baseball life, that he has never been thrown out in that situation?? So just maybe he thought it was automatic, as it has always been.
You can’t test the limits, until you know what the limits are.
Perhaps he found a limit on that particular play, and will learn from it.
If you aren’t being thrown out a little, then you aren’t pushing the boundaries enough.
So IMO, the lesson to him should be: Even if I stop at 1st, I can maybe steal 2nd later. Certainly a coach or manager would be telling him this right?
Great post but not only you, but Luke as well. Perspective.
Who are we kidding? That play didn’t matter because Ramos Kd and if he was the 2nd out then CES was a guaranteed out. Making a productive out hasn’t happened in forever and Fraleys out so no 2 out clutch hits either
Conversely, if they never push the boundaries, they will never find out where they’re at.
Karens have nothing on some of you guys.
I think most people overestimate how much a manager really makes a difference. I would guess that talent is about 99% of whatever success or lack of it that a team enjoys. That being said, Terry Francona is an awesome manager and yes, David Bell will never be at that level. Few others are. Cleveland is actually a joy to watch because they play so fundamentally sound.
The good news is, I watch a ton of the Reds minor-league games. Nearly all of them. In my opinion, their teams are as fundamentally sound as any of them.
There are lot’s of comments about the lineup Tuesday. It seems to me Bell did not have a lot of choices.
Since July 1, Friedl has a .546 OPS vs LH pitching with .265 OBP (34PAs).
Benson’s OPS Vs LH pitching from July 1 forward is .259 (sub .200 OBP).
EDLC since July 1 has an OPS vs LH pitching of .590 with .257 OBP (70PAs)
Votto’s OPS vs LH pitching since July 1 is a surprising a .846 with .400 OBP (30PAs).
Thus it seems to me the one move Bell might have had to improve the Reds chances would have been to sit EDLC for Votto. Bell could have moved CES to 3B with Votto at 1B or alternately moved Steer to 3B, Ramos to LF and used Votto as DH.
In terms of in game strategy, to my mind, Bell played his hand too quickly when a right hand pitcher was brought on by Cleveland in the 7th inning.
For those who didn’t see or hear it, CES opened the inning with a K. Friedl batted for Fairchild and K’d. Benson Batted for Stephenson and doubled. Votto batted for Hopkins and K’d.
For my money, the LH hitter parade should have started with Benson (for Fairchild) since he represented the best chance of getting a runner with 1 out already on the books. If he reached Friedl should have hit next. However, if Benson made the 2nd out, Friedl and Votto should have been held back.
Maybe Francona’s hole card was another LH pitcher in the pen. However, if this was the case, Votto was the 4th batter of the inning with 2 out and a man on; and, Francona did not bring a LHP in to face him.
G Pod said this early in last nights game around the 3rd inning.This game has a feeling of we won’t score and in the 8th and 9th inning we will be in panic mode wondering how we let this game slip away.You are 100% correct Jim and Francona suckered Bell the whole game and then he panicked and went all in the 7th.Bell is just out of his league.
Are you trying to say Bell is predictable to other managers? Hahaha!!! Sorry. I have to laugh to keep my sanity some times. 🙂
To those who are interested, Nick Senzel is in the day game lineup for Louisville. He is playing right field by the way.
Is he batting 1st (or 2nd if Casali is playing). As you know from watching regularly Pete, MLB players typically bat 1st if they are on rehab or considered a special case of some sort if on option to maximize their PAs (i.e. to my recollection Fairchild batted 1st every game he played on his recent option stint),
Fifth, and I know what you were talking about. But of course this isn’t a rehab assignment either.
@Pete, Thanks Pete, 5th with a rock just like Barrero seems anchored at 6th/ 7th
Jim, we don’t shy away from conjecture here, but I’m willing to admit I may be the worst offender. That being said, I really doubt that Nick Krall wants to see a Nick Senzel back on the field for the Cincinnati Reds. He’s the past and we must look forward to the future. Of course I can’t read his mine but I like to think that is what he has in mind.
To be brutally honest, I never thought Senzel played that smart, and in fact, kind of play clumsily on the field. I think this led to a lot of his injuries. Poor sliding technique, running into walls and so on. I wish him all luck in the future though. He plays hard, and I think he cares as well. Maybe a fresh start, is just what he needs.
Pete, I agree 100% with your 2nd paragraph. Also, I thought at least up until this season, Senzel seemed to play with a chip on his shoulder like he was still on a high school level super all star traveling team playing against “ordinary” traveling teams. He just didn’t get that every team had a number of guys as good or better than he was.
I am not going to deny that the Reds seemed to mishandle his development at various points; but, neither do I believe he did much to help himself along the way. I’d love to know what Boras tells him if they have CTJ meetings (or says to staff behind his back).
Wait. You mean guys who hit at the top of the order get more at-bats than guys who hit at the bottom? Interesting! This would suggest it’s probably a bad strategy to have your highest OPS guy always hitting 8th or 9th. Does Bell know about this?
Hahaha David Bell – We don’t make too of the batting order.
MLB Pipeline has released their minor-league system ratings. The Cincinnati Reds are ranked number five! Given how many recent graduations that have occurred this is phenomenal. The future is very bright gentlemen, please try to be patient.
They needed to hire a proven guy like the Cubs did with Joe Maddon in 2014, which turned into winning the NLCS in 2015 and the World Series 2 years later in 2016. If you stay with Bell you’re just pissing away the next 3 years. There are good managets out there who would love a chance to manage this group of young and talented players…settling for Bell is basically saying to your fans and players your not serious about winning.
“settling for Bell is basically saying to your fans and players your not serious about winning.”
…or that you’re totally inept in doing so.
Re EDLC…he had a coach standing like 3 feet from him, did that coach send him? What, if anything, did that coach say to him?
I hope him told him to stay aggressive both before and after the play. It didn’t look like the kind of game where you want to stand around and wait for base hits to accumulate. Force the other team to make plays, and in this case they did. Oh well.
Hoping he told him to stay aggressive both before and after the play. Didn’t look like the kind of game where you want to wait around to accumulate base hits. Make the other team make a play unfortunately, in this case they did. Oh well.
As always Jim respect your opinion.Can’t argue with data and maybe we just should accept we will not hit lefties regardless of who we play.Of course Bell has always went pretty much with righties against lefties all year long but India and Senzel were in there and now there not replaced by Hopkins and Ramos(probably cherry picking a little here).You mentioned Votto so let me zero in on Hopkins and Ramos vs Friedl and Benson.Ramos just came up and Hopkins has been up but only has what 4 or 5 at bats.Again numbers don’t lie for FrIedl and Benson.Results if all 3 of our lefties played may have been the same but IMO Bell is just all about the matchups and the data for the most part supports that so we play on.
Saw today’s line up, Fairchild batting ahead of Benson makes zero sense. He should be batting 9th or not playing at all. Bell always has certain players who he favors and Fairchild is one of them. He is a below average major league player. Oh well it really doesn’t matter the chances of competing for a playoff spot this year are slim and none and slim is on the way out of town.
He’s very cleverly sandwiched his most consistent hitter between two of the worst hitters. And as a bonus, it means the most consistent hitter is likely to have fewer at-bats than some of the lesser hitters. What could possibly go wrong? It’s called “smart managing.”
With the Fraley injury, benson has now ascended to #3 positionally in fWAR behind McLain and friedl
With the injury to India, its highly likely 4/7 top positional Reds in fWAR will be rookies for 2023. Over on the pitching side Abbott and Williamson are climbing.
Let’s face it. It’s “genius managing” that’s way above our heads. 😀
Also means they can pitch around the good consistent hitter to get to the lesser hitter.
But who does that anymore! Everybody but the Reds, lol
“Also means they can pitch around the good consistent hitter to get to the lesser hitter.”
They wouldn’t do that to us. Would they? 😀
McClain 2nd
Fried cf
Steer 3rd
Benson rf
Encarnosio-Strand 1st
DeLa Cruz ss
Maile c
Fairchild of
Ramos dh