The originally scheduled game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Angels for tonight has been postponed due to the effects of the hurricane/tropical storm that went through the area. The game will be made up as a part of a doubleheader on Wednesday. The first game that day is scheduled for 4:07pm ET. The second game, which is the make up game, is scheduled for 9:38pm ET.
The doubleheader will end the 3-game series with the Angles and the Reds will then head east to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks for four straight days. But that won’t be the end of their west coast trip because after the series is finished in Arizona, Cincinnati goes back to California to take on the San Francisco Giants for three games.
The Reds get to see Mike Trout
Angels superstar Mike Trout has been on the injured list for the last seven weeks. The outfielder broke his hamate bone on a swing on July 3rd and has been out ever since. It sounded like he was going to be activated today, but with the postponed game that is being pushed to tomorrow.
Lyon Richardson to the taxi squad
The Reds added Lyon Richardson to the taxi squad for this trip. The Reds scheduled starters seem to be Graham Ashcraft on Tuesday, Andrew Abbott and Brett Kennedy on Wednesday, Brandon Williamson on Thursday, and then Hunter Greene on Friday. Saturday would need someone to step in unless the club planned to pitch Ashcraft on short rest – which they won’t be doing. If things stay this way with on other postponements, it appears that Richardson is the likely candidate to step in this weekend if the team needs a starter.
It’s also possible that the team goes with a bullpen day and doesn’t make a roster move. But if that’s going to happen, the stars will likely need to align perfectly in the days before where the starters go deep and the bullpen is well rested.
ever since Bell got his extension and we basically did nothing at the trade deadline the dog days of August have been a brick wall for us.
Which leads me to believe the Castellinis are not going to spend any money this winter. Last winter they were determine to go to war with pitchers coming off their rookies season, none of whom threw more than 126 innings in a season, a converter reliever in in Cessa and Overton. It wasn’t a serious attempt to field a competitive team.
Many folks here are always eager to claim there is a plan and they know what it is. Because of this they attributed this season a “sorting year”. I am not sure what that even means, but some fans here are always eager to give Bob Castellini the benefit of the doubt.
But when the Reds refused to add significant help at the training deadlines, Castellini showed us once again. What type of an owner he is by not allowing the Reds to add any payroll. Despite how desperately the Reds needed a starting pitcher or two to stay in this pennant race. As always, Bob demurred.
Now these same people, spend their time speculating what top free agents the Reds will target this winter? It’s almost comical.
The Reds have significant contracts coming off the books after this season. They should save at least $45 million dollars by the Moustakas, Votto and Myers contracts coming off the books.
How much of that $45 million will be reinvested back in the team?
I suspect very little. Oh the Reds may sign some washed up veteran outfielder or pitcher who is still standing when the free agency game of musical chairs in the Spring but, I suspect the Cincinnati Reds will have one of the lowest, if not the lowest payrolls in baseball next summer.
But don’t get too upset, after all, the team has a plan and if the team doesn’t sign any free agents this winter, they will have the flexibility to add players at the trading deadline next summer, you know like they did this year.
+5,000
Evidence we see as fans seems to indicate you are correct. The BobPhil Monster has no intention of opening their wallet.
I truly suspect Bull Krall will move on to an organization that will fund and support his plans.
Don’t forget these are the same people that want Votto to come back another year for 14 million. Then they can whine all year about how he is done and Bell keeps playing him. These are the same people who want big trades and free agent signings. And Votto . Got to love a 40 year old man doing a farewell tour and hitting 6th and a buck ninety two probably. Oh yeah for all the people who are saying he has a high OPS, it’s sinking like a rock now that he is getting more at bats.
I’m not much optimist about Castellini affording to land needed FAs in next winter. Maybe there will be some contract extensions and have a cheap deal with one vet reliever and a backup catcher or an OF giving some time to Blake Dunn plays at triple-A… it will be something like trade deadline, a lot of conversations coming into no agreements…
I think they will add a BP piece or 2 but that’s pros it. With Williamson stepping up I think they go with him as the 5th starter.
I wonder though if they bring Votto back for a million or 2 in addition to his buyout. This team could definitely still use some veteran presence. It’s why I wanted Lance Lynn.
They won’t need to spend a lot, since most of the roster are Pre-Arb guys. I haven’t seen anyone throw out any names of the free agents they should bring in, except IndyRed.
Just saying they should spend money because guys are coming off the books is meaningless.
Who, and for how much, and how long are you signing somebody for?
Reds are now 8-13 since Bell’s 3-year contract extension on Friday July 28th! Just Sayin’!
Yep and went from 1/2 behind the Brewers to 4 behind and in 3rd place. Sadly, this is not a new experience during Bell’s tenure.
I assume teams still get to add a 27th active player for doubleheaders. If so Lyon Richardson would be on his normal schedule to pitch one of those games and keep everyone else on schedule.
Yes, that’s what I thought also. Ashcraft will pitch tomorrow (August 22nd). I would think Lyon would pitch (or at least start or pitch 3-4 innings) the 2nd game of the now scheduled double-header (23rd); hopefully Abbott pitches a good 6 or 7 innings and the bullpen is in good shape for the 2nd game. Kennedy would be pushed to Thursday (24th), then Williamson on Friday (25th), and Greene on Saturday (26th), and back to Ashcraft on the fifth day pitching Sunday (27th).
I’m here in Anaheim for the series and was shocked that tonight’s game was cancelled. It’s a bright sunny day with no flooding or wind damage in the immediate area.
So we drove to the stadium and a worker there told us there’s 3 + inches of standing water on the field. They had crews arrive at 1am and 3am this morning trying to drain the field. By 6am they gave up on playing a game there tonight.
So tonight’s cancellation has nothing to do with hurricane effects/damage in the area–just an old stadium with lousy drainage.
Wow … 😮
Even the best engineering can’t get rid of that much water that quickly.
Yep, prol decided not to invest in a proper drainage system at the time since it basically never rains there. Course that was like 60 years ago too lol. Dodger stadium is actually older but has a much better drainage system apparently. MLB shoulda just let the teams play it there. Double headers suck
At the beginning I thought this postponement was good to the Reds because the bullpen could rest another day before the 10-game roadtrip but I realize that the rotation is affected due to the Saturday game starter is not available so they will be forced to use an emergency pitcher or bullpen day being both things not so good in the pivotal series against Arizona…
Perfect! Mike Trout off the IL just in time to face the Reds! Bo Bichette came back from the IL for Game 2 of the Toronto series and the Blue Jays win the last 2 games of the 3-game series!
Trying to remain optimistic but if the Reds don’t go at least 5-5 on this long, difficult West Coast road trip, they will likely be hopelessly behind both the Stupid Cubs & the Brewers in the NL Central. Plus. the 4-game series against the Snakes is critical as Arizona is one of the 6 NL teams battling for the 3 NL Wild Card spots.
Let’s hope when the Reds return to GABP to face the Stupid Cubs those 3 games will mean something!
Jim Bowden had an article up on the Nl ROY awards and he rightly states there should be 2 awards- pitching and Positions.
He had 5 reds on his list of 15. when has that happened?
McLain 2nd, Elly 5th and Steer 8th in positional category
Abbott 1st and Williamson 5th in ROY pitching
I dont get the doom and gloom. This roster is light years away from 2021 with Akiyama and Moose and Too many bad bullpen arms to name. They lost 100 games last year.
An emerging narrative is Reds had it in the bag if Krall had done something. Sorry. Michael Lorenzen doesnt move the meter if the offense stinks and Stephenson/India/Greene/Lodolo have off years or injury years. What universe exists where the Reds make the playoffs in March if Stephenson is bad and India contributes nothing after the AS break and Greene and Lodolo are injured for months and Santillan Antone and Gutierrez are non factors and Votto is hitting
.200 slumping in August and Fraley misses a month and Sims cant throw strikes and Framer arm is dead????
This roster isnt a Michael Lorenzen for Carlos Jorge away from making the playoffs. Trading prospects for 2 month free agent rentals is insane. Moll was a good pickup. Look at the roster folks! Catcher Stephenson is having a terrible year. First base Votto is a one trick pony who hits a home run a week. India is done in the 2nd half. Fraley is out. Greene and Lodolo a lost year. Half the bullpen is dead.
Reds arent a playoff team and 1 or 2 trades for FA rentals wouldn’t have moved the needle.
The real dialogue is what is the reds budget in 2024. I believe it will be in the $130 million range which should add some meaningful bats and arms excluding Votto’s net $13 million.
Well, they lost 100 games in 2022, not 2021, but ….we all get the drift.
The team should be improving for the next several years, and if the ownership would sign a few key free agents, it could push them over the top.
Maybe.
The whole infield is now pretty young, and potentially pretty good, but it may take a year or two for them to start reaching their potential. Marte, EDLC, McLain and CES.
The outfield could stand some improvement.
I think Steer will be in left field, and Friedl in center. I think Benson has a tremendous amount of potential but don’t know how well he can hit lefties (the Reds’ nemesis this year).
Fraley a DH? Or is he someone on the trading block? Is India on the trading block this winter?
Yes, that is a more candid view of things. This team has a lot of potential but many present stumbling blocks as well. It’s also true that the projected payroll is the key. Krall deserves a shot with some mid level money to spend on 3 or 4 decent players. I think Bob may pony up as you say but I really have no idea. However, it must be encouraging to them to see the crowds return so quickly for a team that is likely fading to sub .500. This fanbase just needs a little meat off the bone in the soup stock after so little nourishment in recent years. Some owners would take advantage of the situation (on the other hand). Hopefully, there is some set aside for the Bell conundrum if Krall’s gambits turn over big time…without follow through in the W column.
I both agree and disagree Old School. The team is young and probably wouldn’t go anywhere in the playoffs due to the lack of clutch hitting and spotty starting pitching.
But it was clear in July the team needed an infusion of starting pitching. I didn’t understand then and still don’t now why we needed to hold onto every top 20 prospect when the need was so glaring. Even now, after hunter’s return it is obvious we need a veteran starting pitcher or two to compete in the NL central.
I never felt like we would do much in the playoffs – but I think they missed an opportunity to show the players and coaches that they fully supported them. I mean those 10 remaining middle infielder prospects won’t have a place to play until 2030.
Agree, old-school. The glass is still half-full.
Youngest team in League, major injuries, still in the wildcard and division hunt, and yet the usual suspects continue to whine like 2 year olds…Here is a hint, you could become Yankee or Mets fans. and see how your $300 million dollar payroll is working out.
So correct Old School. Lorenzen wasn’t going to push this team into the playoffs. Lively would have still started that game and give up 13 runs. Greene would have came back and gave up 9. Maybe they replace 3 of Weaver’s starts with ML…but I think they actually won 2 of those games. It just wasn’t a needle mover. The time to start getting players (chapman and others) was a month before the deadline.
Everybody keeps saying they should have gotten players. However, they didn’t say who they were going to get, and who was going to sit because of it. It has been the hitting that has failed the most since the deadline. Unless it was a no brainer like Ohtani or Soto, nobody had “great idea” about what hitter they should add. It wasn’t going to be an infielder. They had 4 decent OF’ers…Were you going to bench TJ/Steer/Jake/Benson?
Since 2006, Bob “We know how it is done” Castellini cannot wait to build a championship roster.