The Cincinnati Reds got strong performances on the mound and in the batters box on Thursday afternoon. Andrew Abbott’s start was cut short by a rain delay, but he combined with the bullpen to shut down the Cardinals and the offense got home runs from Jose Trevino and Spencer Steer as they beat St. Louis 9-1 to earn a split of the 4-game series.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals (14-18) | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (17-15) | 9 | 9 | 1 |
| W: Ashcraft (2-2) L: Liberatore (2-3) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Cincinnati got on the board first in this one after Gavin Lux drew a 2-out walk in the 2nd inning and then came around to score when Jose Trevino crushed his 3rd home run of the season to make it 2-0 for the home team. That zero didn’t stay on the board for much longer as the Cardinals came up with a 2-out rally of their own in the top of the 3rd that led to a run when a blooper into shallow center fell in for a hit and Elly De La Cruz tried to barehand the ball and had it trickle away from him and that allowed Brendan Donovan to come in and score the first run for St. Louis.
Andrew Abbott returned to the mound and tossed a shutout top of the 4th inning, but that’s when the rain finally arrived at Great American Ball Park and before the bottom of the inning began the tarp was pulled out onto the field.
An hour and 37 minutes later the game resumed. When the Cardinals took the field it was Matt Svanson heading to the mound after the delay, ending the day for Matthew Liberatore. And Cincinnati welcomed him by loading the bases with no outs. Gavin Lux grounded into a force out at second base, bringing in a run. Then Jose Trevino came through with a sacrifice fly to tack on another fun and make it 4-1.
Graham Ashcraft took over on the mound for the Reds in the top of the 5th inning. He breezed through both that inning and the next, needing just 23 pitches to record six outs. In the bottom of the 6th he got some help from Spencer Steer, who hit a solo home run into the seats in left field to put the Reds up 5-1. With a low pitch count Cincinnati had Ashcraft return for the 7th inning and it only took him seven pitches to record two strikeouts and a fly out.
The Reds went to work in the bottom of the 7th inning, but they also got some help from former Red Riley O’Brien. He would walk TJ Friedl and then hit Elly De La Cruz with a pitch. Noelvi Marte and Santiago Espinal then both came through with RBI singles to bring in three more runs and put Cincinnati up 8-1. After Taylor Rogers fired off a perfect top of the 8th, the Reds picked up another run when Matt McLain singled and drove in Friedl, who had reached on an error earlier in the inning.
Holding a 9-1 lead, Cincinnati turned the game over to Luis Mey for his Major League debut. He got to face pinch hitter Nolan Gorman and he struck him out on five pitches to record the first out of the inning. Mey had to battle Alex Burleson for eight pitches but he got him to fly out harmlessly to center. Two pitches later he got Luken Baker to pop up in foul territory to seal the 9-1 win and help the Reds earn a split in the 4-game series.
Key Moment of the Game
Let’s just go with Graham Ashcraft’s performance. When he entered the game it was still within reach, but he dominated on the mound for three innings and the offense tacked on runs to put things away.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz went 0-3, ending his hitting streak at 14 games. But he did walk and was hit by a pitch in the game, which extends his on-base streak to 20 games.
Jose Trevino’s hot start to the year continued with another home run. He’s hitting .324/.365/.544 on the season and has nine extra-base hits and just eight strikeouts through 25 games played.
Graham Ashcraft’s perfect outing lowered his ERA on the season to 0.57 in 15.2 innings.
Taylor Rogers lowered his ERA down to 1.64 with his perfect inning of relief.
Noelvi Marte was in an 0-9 slump before picking up a single in the 4th inning. He would cap off his day with an RBI single, raising his average to .328 through 16 games with the Reds this season.
Tyler Stephenson went 0-5 with a walk for Louisville on Thursday afternoon in Memphis.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Washington Nationals vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday, May 2nd, 6:10pm ET
TBA vs Hunter Greene (3-2, 2.70 ERA)
“Reds pummel the Cardinals” – That has a good ring to it. 🙂
Ashcraft has emerged as a weapon. The flexibility he has shown to go anywhere from 1 to 3 innings and be effective is invaluable.
YES!! I agree – I love that.
Ashcraft, Suter… we could even use more multi-inning relievers, I think. I’d love to see the Reds get to the point where they could actually carry 14 hitters and 12 pitchers (b/c of the multi-inning options in the bullpen).
Didn’t see the game today, but looks like a nice, stress-free win. Needed that, after a real clunker of a day yesterday.
Yes – wouildn’t even mind him as an “opener” if the need arises during this stretch without an off day – he was at 31 pitches for 3 ip today – see if he can go more than 3 and under 40 pitches. Pair him with Suter and get past the 6th inning – could be very useful,
Excellent to see both Ashcraft and Lyon Richardson having success in their new roles. Having both be products of the Reds’ system is excellent, too.
Back in the 70s, before the emergence of the set up man, closer, etc, guys came out of the pen and pitched 2 or 3 or 4 innings all the time. The Reds now gave such a pen with Ashcraft, Richardson, and Suter.
It’s real nice to see things working out for Ashcraft. Every pitcher does not have to be a starter to be a key part of a competitive team.
Matty Mc continues to barrel the ball at a high rate, just not with much luck. He had two 104+ contacts today. His time will come, soon. Reminds me of Lux’ first week where he was stinging the ball right at guys. It happens for stretches.
That is good to hear! We need Matty, and I’m a big fan of his game.
The K rate has gotten high… I hope that can come down a little. But yeah, he’s an athlete. When he puts the bat on the ball, good things happen.
And, in the meantime, McLain is playing Gold Glove defense at 2B. His hitting results are not affecting his play in the field.
I keep returning to our last or next to last stat of turning double plays last year. Consider, a pitcher working their butt off to get a DP ground ball that doesn’t get turned into two outs. It’s not just getting demoralized (they’re pro’s so i don’t worry about that). It is the cumulative effect of giving the other hitters too many extra outs to do damage with.
That alone helps win games.
That solo DP he made today with the short hop behind the bag was SPECIAL. He made it look so easy but to grab on a short hop on the run was anything BUT easy
Throw in Trevino’s play early in the series, too. Man oh man i love watching great defense. Strength up the middle. And Friedl is not a slouch, either. Wait til folks see Carlos Jorge play CF.
Stephenson? Hays?
Who’s on first? 😉
Yeah, I wish the Hays situation would clear up. If he can’t play because of a bad hammy, then put him on the DL and call up someone else, or activate Stephenson.
I’m sure the official response is ….”day to day”.
Stephenson still looks rusty in Louisville. He needs more batting down in Triple AAA.
Hitting .107 and its not like he is hitting hard hit at-em balls. The only guy looking worse at the plate is Dunn. Would somebody please tell the kid to lay down a bunt to see if that can get him out of his funk. Certainly better that today’s Golden Sombrero.
Watched Louisville game today and was really impressed with Reese Hinds outfield defense in centerfield. Guess I would option Dunn and give Hinds a chance. His defense is as good with a stronger arm, speed is close, he has a lot more power and isn’t going to strike out more than 4 times in a game. Hopefully like Marte a trip to Louisville could get his bat back up to normal.
A 9-1 loss followed by a 9-1 win. I’m no actuary but in a sport known for statistics, I would have to say this is very very unlikely. And if I was also superstitious about such things, I would say this a good sign, as in the Baseball gods have not forsaken us. We are now ready for the Nationals and whatever fate has in store for us.
If the baseball gods have a sense of humor (and how could they not?), they may just be tantalizing us, inciting irrational exuberance before crushing us. Sorry, but it had to be said.
This win let the Reds to stay in NLC 2nd place after Brewers lost today. I was checking the incoming WSH pitching so their rotation could be Parker, Williams and Gore. They are 2 more difficult lefties on the weekend to face so I think maybe is better sent down Callihan and call up Hinds if Stephenson still will have more rehab games. A good thing is Reds will go with their one-two Greene-Lodolo on Friday-Saturday to finish with Martinez on Sunday. The target is get 2 of 3 at least but the sweep would be nice before traveling to Atlanta.
Is any update about Austin Hays??
Statistically speaking, Benson > Hinds and Callihan > Benson
Hinds has K’d over 35% of the time in MiLs. No player (that I’ve found in research) has ever had a K rate over 35% in minor leagues and been a moderately successful (5 WAR or more) MLB player.
Comment meant for here below. I am misdirected again, as usual.
But I mean Callihan wasn’t being used against LHP during this series vs STL so I guess it will be the same vs WSH so maybe it’s better to bring a right hander batter who could start on 2 out of 3 games and pinch-hit in the other…IDK perhaps I am wrong or Nats make change in their starting rotation
Hinds’ current K rate for 2025 is 31.7% with an OBP of .336. His BB rate is 8.3%.
https://www.milb.com/louisville/stats/?playerPool=ALL
This said, I agree the area he needs to work on is his chase rate. However, given that to date his K rate for 2025 is approaching 4% lower than his MiLB cumulative K rate, maybe he is getting that work done.
And which is more important, a .336 OBP or that he K’s too much while getting there?
Would we care if he had that same OBP but was popping out and grounding out enough to get the K rate down another 5%?
Or would we be saying that for a guy with his power and speed on the bases (12 steals caught once in 2025) a .336 OBP is just fine?
Jim, where Hinds’ high K rate and chase rate become more relevant is in what we saw with CES, where his high chase rates didn’t mean instantaneous strikeouts so much as just being a pattern of easy (non productive) outs. Also, Francona and Valaika s emphasis on making better contact might be a barrier, too.
I do agree that should we need a RH bat, particularly in the OF, it should be Hinds. Playing CF, hitting rockets, with some improvement and still addressing some big flaws, i’d like to see him get a chance when he is ready. As you note, he may be moving in that direction.
Also, the question here was Callihan v. Hinds at this time.
Hinds: .269/.336/.490 (OPS .826)
Callihan: .303/.420/.528 (OPS .938)
So, my thing is, stick with Callihan.
Dave – With CES though, he has a much more advanced out-of-zone contact rate than Hinds does. Hinds will swing and miss much when he chases.
Jim – Ks matter vs putting a ball in play A LOT when there is less than 2 outs and RISP. In other words, in prime scoring opportunities, Ks matter vs in-play outs.
I think the issue with Hinds will most likely always be how much a team can tolerate his K’s.
If he could hit something like .240/.335/.500 (OPS .835), he’d be a starter. High chase plus high strikeouts make that unlikely. Bad combo.
Whereas Teoscar Hernandez, for instance, has a career chase rate of 29.4% and career K rate of 29.2%. He’s had a productive career with numbers just inside what i perceive as tolerable.
Here’s to Hinds making the adjustments. He has got time still. He’s a fun guy to watch mash. If not, he may still stick somewhere as a 5th OF with a big arm and some pop.
Dunn has K’ed 40% of time 20 out of 50 AB
Despite that, Dunn has one of the higher OBP’s on the team. The Reds need power hitting, but they also need men on base. Glad it isn’t my call, and I can certainly see a good argument for giving Hinds another shot: Yes, he’s apt to strike out even more often in MLB than he is in AAA, but how is he going to adjust without the opportunity? And how will the Reds know whether he can cut it?
@greenmtred
Re: “but how is he going to adjust without the opportunity?”
That answer to that is, adjust at the MiL level first, not in MLB. That has not happened. Pitch recognition is mostly a talent, not a learned skill. He likely does not have the ability to recognize out of zone pitches in advance.
I get that, ATH. But there are guys who hit AAA pitching well but crash and burn when they face MLB pitching. I don’t know if Hinds is one of those, but if he is, maybe he can only improve in MLB? CES crushed AAA pitching, remember.
One thing is usually common: A guy that chases in MiL ball will get exploited even more against MLB pitching.
The Reds are trying to compete. It’s not a place to try to bet against a norm with a player that will not be playing regularly.
True enough, ATH. I guess the question this leaves is whether Hinds’ potential upside is worth the time it would take to get him there. If he ever could. Same really for CES.
Yes, let’s give Hinds a shot.
The last I heard about Hays was Tito saying they were hoping to get his hamstring to where he could DH soon. This was a couple of days ago. My guess is they are not about to risk him even hitting and running bases on the type of wet fields we’ve seen this week.
Stephenson caught 2 consecutive games by my count, then DHed the day game today (Thursday) off the night game yesterday.
His triple slash is .107/.265/.250 in 34PA (28AB). His BB rate is 17.6% with a K rate of 26.5%. To me that says his K rate is NOT crazy bad; and, he is not seeing a lot to hit but is taking the walks.
I’m not a savant yet at using the MiLB version of Baseball Savant, so I can’t add much more.
Thank you Mr. Jim
Did anyone predict that 32 games into the season, the Reds would have 4 regulars in the line up batting over .300 and those 4 players would be?
– Marte (16 games) .328
– Lux (30 games) .317
– Espinal (23 games) .324
– Trevino (25 games) .324
Crazy.
And Hays
Welcome to the world of baseball.
Good point – I was just looking at today’s box score and marveling.
Hays and Wynns have been pretty huge contributors.
Trevino and Wynns have done such a good job this year. With Stephanson struggling so far in the minors there is no rush to bring him up. Hopefully he can find his bat soon too.
That’s the Reds offense we’ve been looking for. It’s been a long time, at this point in the season, that I’ve noticed at least one Redleg on the leading hitter column. This is the result of good work from the FO and Nick Krall.
Winning against “them” is always a good feeling.
Got to watch a fair bit of the game, even though it was on mute most of the time.
Bring on the GNats!!
Listening to Francona afterwards and he commented that how the bullpen performed yesterday and the shut out innings and today. Mentioned he told Suter and Texted Lyon. Tells me he truly is invested in his players. To me that goes along way.
Not sure other managers do that.
Texted Lyon. Cool.
Great to see Mey get his first real counting action in the big leagues. He could be the next Chapman!
Good to get a split. But 6-5 against the division isn’t good enough. They really need to do better
6-5 is a .545 winning percentage.
And for the season that’s what – 13-14 games over .500? Yes please.
It is but not good enough against the division isn’t, especially having not played the Cubs. At this point, I don’t think the division will have a wild card team. It’s win the division or stay home.
Math says .545 winning percentage means 88-89 wins on a 162-game season. That seems good.
6-5 is the DIVISION record without having played the Cubs and losing 2 of 3 to the Brewers. That’s not a playoff trajectory.
LDS clearly suspects that the baseball gods are toying with us.
88-74. I’d take my chances that would sneak into the playoffs
I’m not sold that the NL West will dominate the wildcard spots. They all have to play eachother quite a bit.
It’s better than another loss but man a split in this series sure feels like a disappointment. Thanks Alexis Diaz.
We scored 0 runs in that game. To date, no team has ever won a game not scoring.
Tito needed to know where Diaz was. He got his answer. Sent down the next day.
Diaz was bloody awful and I’m sure that his outing deflated the team going into the bottom of the 9th. Having said that, as @AllTheHype said, the Reds didn’t score. Even if Diaz’ outing was deflating, the Reds had 8 innings to score some runs before he entered the game. Although his outing was awful, he shouldn’t be “thanked” for the loss. The loss wasn’t on Diaz.
Some numbers to piggyback on here re: Hinds, Callihan, and Benson.
Hinds is chasing at 38.8.% as well.
Benson is slashing .284/.358/.495 (OPS .853). He striking out at 26.2% which is a big improvement from his rate of 39.7% last year. Still high though. He’s chasing at 24.9% which is slightly more than 2024 (21.1%) and walking at 9.3%.
Callihan is slashing .303/.410/.528 (OPS .938). He chasing at 28.9% after chasing at just 20.8% last year. He’s striking out at 27.4% but walking at 15.1%.
Comment to allthehype above. .
Nice work. And another point is, none of these guys are going to get regular playing time. And spot starts do not favor guys that have high K and chase rates.
IMO, chase rate is probably one of the best, but under-the-radar, stats to judge translation of a player from AAA to MLB. Because in MLB, pitching is so much better that they can more easily exploit a high chase rate into a higher one, which has happened to Benson and now CES. It’s the downfall of many promising minor leaguers.
And, as we saw with CES, it doesn’t necessarily mean more strikeouts — just hitters swinging at too many pitches out of the zone and making poor contact/getting themselves out.
Absolutely correct.
Didn’t get to see the game today. Thanks for the recap. Trevino is a beast.
Trevino is not just bringing leadership to the pitching staff, he is bringing it to the team. He speaks well, but his observations and comments are based on validity, having been part of a winning tradition and environment.
Yes. And it was a pretty astute foresight by the team to recognize his value in Spring Training and extend him right away. Have to think that had a lot to do with Francona’s input on Trevino. He knows catching and leadership value for sure.
Gotta give credit where it’s due, and so far, that means Krall.
Agree, Wynns, Trevino, Lux, and Hayes when he is playing have been such a huge boost to this team so far. Hopefully they all keep it up.
I have a friend who is not happy that the Dodgers gave up on Lux. She was a huge fan of his. She told me at least he went to my 2nd favorite team. THE REDS!!!!! I corrupted her when we were both teens to follow the Reds hahaha..
And Lux and Hays too
Excellent points.Hays and Lux come from winning teams and winning organizations and you need players like them to help change the culture from a losing one to a winning one.They know what it looks like and what it takes to get there.All 3 are bringing it every day to the ball park and it shows.Tito gets it but no better way to convey it then thru players that get it.
I was curious about how are catching tandem lined up against other teams. We aren’t even the best in our division!
The Cubs have a journeyman catcher( 5 teams in 10 seasons), who has never hit better than .246 hitting .360 with 7 homers and 21 RBI’s in 50 AB’s and has an ops of 1.337. The other catcher is hitting .266 2HR’s 14 RBI’s on 64 ABs. Our guys are .340, 6 HR’s 20 RBI’s. Aaron Judge has 10 home runs and 35 runs batted in, the same RBI total as these cubs catchers for perspective. To be fair, Judge is also hitting 427. I am sure this lift from the catching slot has been like found money for the Cubs offense, even better than our own good fortune.
We need a little more context here.
Our starting catcher has not played yet this year. Our catching tandem consists of our backups. Combined they have the 6th most fWAR in MLB,
https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?lg=all&qual=y&season=2025&season1=2025&ind=0&team=0%2Cts&type=8&month=35&sortcol=21&sortdir=default&pagenum=1
Thanks for the context. This chart reinforces what I said about the production from the Cubs catching position thus far in 2025. I was surprised to see better numbers than ours, starters or back-ups.
As for Hays, Tito said the MRI came up with mild stuff and they were exploring the idea of giving it a couple days and see how things shake out the other day. Nats are pitching 2 lefties- fri and Sunday and I suspect the Reds will take the precautionary route and put Hays on the 10 day IL tomorrow and retroactive to a couple days ago and call up Stephenson. Stephenson is the best option and can DH now that Steer can play first base and Candy is on the IL.
Whats lost on all this rostering is the biggest story of this young season and thats Noevli Marte is the every day third baseman for a bit and they will roll with Marte, Elly, McLain and Steer in the infield. Espinal and Lux will fill in positional gaps and may see a McLain and Elly rest day this weekend and a Espinal SS day and Lux 2b day with Stephenson catching Saturday. Tito will have a bench of Espinal Dunn Callihan and 1 catcher. I suspect Stephenson will DH Fri and Sunday and C Saturday against the lefty . Wynns probably catches Sunday.
Need 2/3 for sure
Stephenson is the best option? The Stephenson who is hitting about .100 in AAA?
Really, so you are calling Stephenson a bum who cannot play?. Please, he is rehabbing and those stats, as far as I know, do not count in the major leagues. How many times have we seen major leaguers look bad at AAA then get back and kill it in the majors? Stephenson, absolutely is one of our best offensive players. Bring him back.
Apparently the Reds think so.
No, Espinal should be playing every day and not on the bench. Stephenson needs 10 more games in AAA to get it together. He’s not quite ready.
He didn’t receive much repeat in this post.
Another tech ingineered errant post! I meant: He didn’t receive enough respect in this post.
You nailed the assessment exactly, at least to this point @old-school.
Let’s hope there is a space on the All-Star ballot for Jose Trevino.
Second that!
Great game to bounce back from the tough double header. I think the Reds will handle the WLBs the rest of this season. Their ceiling is just so low as a team.
Abbott didn’t have his best stuff today, I hope he’s healthy. The bullpen continues to shine as of late and Mey looks like he’s planning to stay up here!
I think Hays DHs for the next couple of days. They ran him around the IF today, Jim Day mentioned. They aren’t having him jog if they feared risking an injurty. Having him in the lineup vs a couple of lefty starters would be ideal. On the otherhand, I heard that the Nats have the most lefty heavy lineup in MLB. I think we see a lot of Suter and Rogers over the weekend. It’s too bad Moll isn’t right.
Marte, Espinal, and McClain should enjoy the opportunity to see multiple ABs vs. lefties the next couple of days. The Card’s decision to pull their reliver in favor of lefty to face those guys seemed dumb and it benefited the Reds late in the game.
I’ll take a split after being uncompetitive in the double header.
Trevino is going to be the first half mvp. I’d like to see Stephenson up but I haven’t been impressed with his Louisville stats. Seems like he needs another 1-2 weeks. But how long can he rehab there? 30 days?
Like the fact that we are impatient with poor bullpen performance this year. Either carry your weight or get out of the way so one of the guys performing in Louisville. Besides Mey. Maxwell, Torres, la Sorsa db Aubreu seem capable. Breath of fresh air compared to the last 2 years of triple A bullpen help.
We need some of the young position players to push forward and be an option. This team needs a young up and coming outfielder in the worst way. I sure hope Hays isn’t out for long. But for the good of the season, it’s probably best to DL him and get Hinds or Benson up for 10 days.
Stephenson rehab is limited to 20 days unless he gets recalled and put back on IL.
Very happy to see Ashcraft get the win credit and make it as Key Moment of the Game guy. He deserves applause.
Semi random stat I’ll throw out there. The Reds are 4-0 in Abbott’s starts this season and they’re 31-19 in his career. I like watching him pitch.
Trevino, Lux, Espinal, Marte–got to go with the hot hitting hands. Dunn doesn’t do.
+ 1000
With you, Dunn’s days are done?
Zuleta up for Richardson and Mey up for Diaz. It may not work out, but it is sure worth finding out. Particularly if they can help Mey throw more strikes. Add a bit of craziness and maybe the Reds have another Rob Dibble as a future closer.
Mey does kind of remind you of Rob Dibble, doesn’t he?
He might actually progress more up with the Reds under the tutelage of Derrick Johnson.
He has to work consistently on keeping his pitching mechanics together, and not trying to overthrow when he thinks he needs more. He’s just got plenty of gas.
@LDS, Reds fans have been in search of a Nasty Boys 2.0 trio for decades. Ashcraft, Mey, feels like the closest we’ve been to replicating that kind of vibe.
I completely think if the game would allow it, Ashcraft (Charlton) would blow up a catcher at the plate as payback. Mey’s (Dibble) heat, and unpredictability feels right as well. We still need our Myers.
Krall should look to trade for a power hitter OF, the moment is now. Catching and IF rosters are set, but in order to keep pace with the Cubs the OF roster must be improved, need someone better to pair with Hays and Friedl.
Agreed, Fraley should have been moved this off season. Rece Hinds is the only near-term power prospect and it’s not clear that he can stick. So, the Reds need to spend some money/capital and shore up the team. For that matter, it’s not clear that Steer and McLain will really bounce back this season, or that Hays can stay healthy. And CES? Might never be. The Reds roster is a bit thin in some places. And I don’t see guys in Louisville that can reliably plug those holes at the moment.
The best OF prospects that could reasonably be up in 2026 are in AA. Rodriguez, and O’Donnell are leading the pack there.
We do have Callihan up from AAA, and he’s been playing a bit of OF. Plus, we have Johnson in AAA, and he’s almost exclusively playing OF now.
I’m still of the mind that Marte should be moved to RF. I thought they should have started that transition when he got suspended last year, but I would have him start taking OF reps in the offseason if I were the GM.
3B could be covered by Stewart, or Arroyo next year.
Arroyo is hitting surprisingly well, given projections in the last couple of years that he was a glove first prospect and much of a bat. We’ll see.
Per Doug’s article on Patreon last night:
“Edwin Arroyo went 2-5 with a double, run, and an RBI”.
His current stats:
https://www.milb.com/player/edwin-arroyo-695490
Happy to see he’s doing well.
Really like Fraley, and he’s very good in a specific role, but yes, his sell-by date has passed. They can still use him.
As for all the rest, not too concerned about Steer and McLain, other than injuries/missing time, but the others are still TBD, all of which just gets back to THEY ARE MISSING AN OF BAT.
I think they’ll make a big deal, for them, at the deadline for a 1/2 season rental. The issue is if there is such talent available, and much less so the cost.
Part of the article Doug wrote last night on Patreon:
“Rece Hinds only had one hit to show for it, but he made outs on balls with exit velocities of 108.1 MPH, 101.7 MPH, and 99.6 MPH to go along with his triple that was hit at 102.4 MPH. His triple extended his on-base streak to 11 games”.
We’re looking for improvement from Hinds and at the moment we’re seeing it. Although his K rate sits around 31% it’s on it’s way down. His value has also increased since the Bats made him pretty much their only centerfielder this year to go with his very strong arm and very good speed. Not to mention his awesome power. His current stats are:
https://www.milb.com/player/rece-hinds-677956
Tito likes to play the hot bat. If the Reds need to pull someone from AAA don’t be surprised if it’s Reece Hinds.
This, and the above threads, are a very interesting discussion looking at Callihan and Hinds. What is the story on Hinds in CF? Who made that decision, and when. That strikes me as very significant.
Hinds and Callihan are essentially the same age, and they’re clearly giving a good look at Dunn as well, who I’ve liked for a while. These are all very small samples, but the slight changes are intriguing. If nothing else they’re watching trends and performances very closely, which may be a shift from years past.
If Hinds can play center his value noticeably increases, easing the focus on his hitting performance. If Dunn can maintain his OBP, his value becomes apparent with any improvement in BB/K% or power. If Callihan can maintain his MiLB stats thru the year he may turn the corner as well. Lots of “ifs”, but covering a lot of AAAA options. Hurtubise still there as well.
I don’t know who/when made the decision for Hinds to play CF but I like it. My gut tells me that Tito was a big influence on that. Taking a glance at the the last 10 games for Hinds his K rate is roughly 27%. The average K rate for a MLB power hitter is 23-24% so he’s getting closer.
Let’s face it, Melvin, and with great respect, if lasting world peace is achieved you’d suspect that Tito is behind it.
I was hinting at that, but think it goes beyond Tito – I’d give credit to a general change in tone – not that many new faces, but a clear move away from “seeing what we have” at the MLB level, to “need to win today, who best does that”. Should happen to any team moving up in development, exiting a “rebuild” phase, but it’s been quite while to have that sense about the Reds.
@greenmtred – Could be. I’d rather him stay as Reds manager though. 😀
Greenmtred, that produced a certified chortle from this old guy in the PNW.
Hinds looks quite good in CF IMO. He moves well, especially coming in and going side to side. I think he still is adjusting to going back on the ball in CF vs RF.
If i had to wager Melvin’s poker money, I’d say the Hinds assignment to CF is one part expedience and one part pragmatic. He is a better option there than Benson or Hurtubise. If/when Dunn goes back down, that might change, or not. My other thought was pragmatic — how to get the most value out of Hinds’ skills and abilities. He is a very good defensive OF, with a big, big arm, so getting CF on his resume makes his floor a better bet of 4th/5th OF with pop. His ceiling is still what it has probably been all along, but he has a better floor now.
What??!! You don’t think he could do both things simultaneously? It actually may be that the Reds winning the WS would be the catalyzing event needed to achieve world peace.
@greenmtred – I’m for winning the World Series and finding out. 😀
And on Thursday, in addition to a seeing eye groundball double in the mid 80’s, Hinds ripped one off the bat low (-9 degrees launch) at over 113MPH that was somehow scored as an E4 when the throw from the opposition 2b went wide of the first. I saw this play ~8 hours later when I was reviewing the game. After seeing it, I am amazed it was scored as an error.
The ball whistled off the bat and skimmed to ground across the pitcher’s mound. From there, it rocketed on a rising bounce over the 2b bag. The 2nd baseman was standing at the edge of the grass behind the bag. He had to leap with both feet off the ground and his gloved hand extended above his head to snag it. It would have been a bang/ bang play at 1b if the throw as it was had been on line (and too late if the 2b had taken time to set himself before throwing).
Sounds like a hit to me.
@Melvin, There were 2 outs with the bases loaded when this play happened. The runner from 3rd scored, but the man from 2nd stopped at third because the ball bounced off the barrier parallel to the 1b foul line and was quickly picked up by the 1b man.
The scorer must have felt the pitcher did not deserve to be charged with an earned run (or maybe the scorer was confused and thought the man from 2nd scored). Or maybe the scorer thought the 2bman should have raced the runner coming up from 1st to the 2b bag (the SS was not there to cover).
Regardless, the 2bman ended up with an error on a play where he saved a run by keeping the ball on the infield with an above and beyond reasonable effort, penalized for a throw which may or may not have been in time anyway, and on which no further damage was done.
I wonder if they go back and review plays in the minor leagues to make sure scoring decisions are correct? I’m guessing not.
Not exactly on topic with this article, but does anybody know what happened to the Riverfront podcast? I haven’t seen a new one since the end of last season. Thanks!
It’s still being done. Just not by Chad or Nate. https://www.youtube.com/@RiverfrontCincy
When Chad and Nate stepped back, whoever happened to be filling in (there have been multiple people) never came over to post the Reds specific podcast here.
You beat me to it Doug. You certainly know more about it than I do anyway. 🙂
It’s my understanding that you can still find it on YouTube but it’s being run by different people. Chad and Nate Dotson are evidently doing something else.
TBF Chad has an interesting day job.
I’m sure he does.
Chad is around. I believe he is still writing a weekly column or thereabouts for Cincinnati’s eponymous magazine. It is not limited to the Reds or even just sports these days. He also has a personal site for this work and other thoughts. It is easy enough to find for anyone who has more than a passing curiosity.
I think Nate moved to Texas. Beyond that, I do not know what he may be doing.
Chad writes on Substack. Not to the extent he did running this blog, but occasionally has thoughts and musings about the Reds and on baseball in general.
I’d settle for Eastwick and McEnaney though the Nasty Boys were more fun. Regardless, the Reds need a lights out closer. Pagan has survived so far, but his metrics are potentially very concerning, especially at GABP. His HR% is 6.0, nearly twice the league average. HH% is well above league average. And most concerning, his FB% is above 60%. Fortunately, he’s not walking batters at the moment. All of this suggests that the wheels could come off at any moment.
Well with the Reds island of misfit toys budget, Pagan is it I suppose? Not a big fan of Friedl at leadoff either. Little guy with a fly ball swing that doesn’t like to walk. Solid big leaguer and he is on pace for a career high in walks, but he’d be 8th or 9th in a big time lineup. Personally I’d try Elly there
Hays has been placed on the IL retroactive to Tuesday. Pulled his hammy scoring on Monday. It’s a shame, because he’s consistently hit when he’s been in the lineup.
In a corresponding move, Ty Steve has been activated.
Wow. So much for TS getting the needed playing time in AAA. It’s obvious the Reds aren’t the same team, at least so far, without Hays.
Hays IL. Stephenson activated.
The Reds now with +37 run differential.. the Dodgers +35
TS at DH tonight.