A day after the Cincinnati Reds managed just one hit against Zack Wheeler and the Phillies they remained as cold at the plate as ice, managing just one hit. That led to a run, just like it did in Philadelphia, but the Miami Marlins scored five runs as they picked up a win to open up the 4-game series.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Marlins (41-48) | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (46-45) | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| W: Junk (3-1) L: Singer (7-7) SV: Bender (2) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Rain came through the Cincinnati area on Monday night and delayed the start of this game by a little more than an hour. The Marlins got two free baserunners in the top of the 2nd inning thanks to a walk and a hit batter, but they couldn’t come through in bringing either of them in. Cincinnati also got two free baserunners in their half of the inning thanks to walks by Austin Hays and Gavin Lux. The Reds cashed in one of those runners on a Tyler Stephenson sacrifice fly to grab a 1-0 lead.
That’s where the score remained until the 5th inning. Miami got a leadoff double and that opened things up for them to score two runs on back-to-back 1-out hits to take a 2-1 lead. The next inning saw Lyon Richardson replace Brady Singer, but the end result in the 6th was the same as it was in the 5th as the Marlins had a 2-run inning thanks in part to some horrible defense that featured two throwing errors on the same play.
Agustin Ramirez capped off the scoring for the Marlins in the 7th inning with a solo home run to extend the lead for the road team to 5-1. Cincinnati entered the 9th inning down by four and they had just one hit on the day. Noelvi Marte gave them their second hit of the day with a leadoff single. Elly De La Cruz picked up a 2-out single of his own, but a strikeout would end the threat and seal the Miami 5-1 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Down 2-1 with a runner on third base, Derek Hill hit a grounder to third base and Noelvi Marte came up throwing to the plate. A good throw would have easily led to an out at the plate. Instead the ball went over the head of Tyler Stephenson, allowing the run to score. Lyon Richardson, backing up the play, retrieved the ball off of the wall behind the plate and threw the ball to second base but it went into the outfield and put another runner at third base. He would score on the next play.
Notes Worth Noting
The Reds pitching staff walked just one batter in the game. The bullpen threw 61 pitches and 43 of them were strikes as they pounded the strikezone.
Elly De La Cruz had three batted balls with triple-digit exit velocities but only one hit to show for it.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Miami Marlins vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday July 8th, 7:10pm ET
Eury Perez (1-2, 4.50 ERA) vs Nick Martinez (6-8, 4.20 ERA)
Is anyone else getting sick and tired of the Reds lack of hitting? I feel sorry for the pitchers who need to pitch a no hitter or ??????
Yep. Sick and tired of these offensive slumps they go into where they can barely get a hit. Just a very inconsistent team. Tonight’s showing was just plain pathetic.
My word was listless.
Seems like a tired team that thought by showing up they could beat the marlins. Hopefully more energy and focus rest of home stand. Need to grind out at bats more.
Different night, same story. Except instead of making a legit Cy Young candidate (Wheeler) look like a Cy Young candidate, they do it to a mediocre at best starter.
Why has the Reds organization failed so mightily for the past 15-17 years at developing hitters? Between Jay Bruce and Elly De La Cruz, I think that Jesse Winker was the only All-Star-caliber bat developed through this system. (I’m not counting Mesoraco or Cozart, as they each really only had one standout season).
Joey Votto out ok.
*turned out ok
I didn’t list Votto since he came before Bruce.
3 straight losses after a hot streak. They’ll need to pick up one or 2 bats and one or 2 arms for the pen to make making in the playoffs worthwhile.
I told everyone last time the Marlins are no pushover, and I predict it will be difficult to break even on this series. They can get on base to push the runner over a little at a time to score.
Marte won’t make it as a 3B. 1B or LF is his future.
People complain about CES at 3rd and let Marte slide. Marte might be worse.
Hmm, I’ve never thought of Marte as a 1B. He would be the fastest 1B we’ve had. His sprint speed is 29.2 this season, leading the active roster. Only Hinds 29.8, and Dunn 29.7 beat him out.
Speaking of speed what happened to EDLC?
1 Hinds 29.8 ftps
2 Dunn 29.7
3 Marte 29.2
3 McLain 29.2
5 EDLC 29.1
5 Benson 29.1
How did EDLC slow down so much? EDLC was averaging 30.0 ftps last season.
He has been playing through a hamstring issue all season.
As discussed, Marte’s next position, if he plays himself off of 3B, will be RF.
Something, something about a 60 grade arm with that speed and power.
Once again dejection on this board because the team just isn’t that good. But was our first clue? It has been evident all year that the reds are just average at best.
Only young player that is well above average is EDLC. MM is still trying to make a comeback for injury but hasn’t
Developed from his first year. TS is mediocre and should probably be traded soon for prospects and let Trevino be the starter. Marte, Benson, CES, Hinds, and Fraley are all flawed.
Espy is a defensive sub who is being exposed by playing too much. Friedl is above average but just so. Same with Steer. Any lineup has holes in it day in and day out.
No one in the BP really stands out except Pagan has played pretty well. The SP’s are above average collectively but no ace on staff as yet.
Really just not much to get excited about and not in same class as Cubs and Brewers, by a pretty fair margin. Even worse than Cards who most of us think stink as well.
FO should sell the vets—and try to shuffle the one time prospects to see if it can find some bona fide MLB position starters.
2025 is not ready for prime time.
You nailed it. They’ve been held to 1 run or less 22 times now. Thats a 1/4 of the season? Whatever the new hitting instructor is teaching isn’t catching on.
I’d also sell. They could alter from Bell’s pattern of nosediving immediately after the AS break, but does 4.5 back from the last wildcard with 2 teams in between excite anyone? If we did get in, do we want more Wheeler? This isn’t March Madness.
I will say TS is throwing better then ever and you’d be selling low. I like Marte’s bat speed too, but where can you hide him defensively? Alot of stuff to fix offseason, but not now. I’d resign Pagan too
Finally HG, Burns, AA, Lodolo, and Lowder gives us a chance moving forward, but they need an identity and a plan w/the bats. We don’t have much power. We no longer run and can’t bunt or play small ball either. Other then that, how’d you like the parade Mrs Kennedy
Have yet been able to count on HG. Always
hurt.
The Reds are 12-16 in games started by a LHP.
2025 vs RHP:
.252 BA / .320 OBP / .410 SLG
2025 vs LHP:
.225 BA / .300 OBP / .355 SLG
Yes, last night’s game was concerning – they didn’t face a lefty and they reached base only five times. But I’m gonna say this was just the offense’s worst game of the season – an anomaly.
I don’t see the problem as “approach” or “focus” or “coaching”… I think the problem is more in roster construction. They’re mostly a league-average offense against RHP and they’re dreadful against lefties.
I was optimistic when Hays returned from injury but he’s under .200 BA in ten games and he looks he *needs* to face some lefties to get going.
I hate to admit it, but I think this is correct. If the team went all in and traded for a bunch of help, I’d like that. But at this point I wouldn’t be mad if they sold, either. I’d hate to see the team lose valuable capital only to stumble into a wild card and get 1 hit by Zack Wheeler again.
I agree. Might as well trade TS,Pagan,Martinez and any prospect to get this team better.
One at bat (or perhaps one pitch) made a huge difference in this game. Second inning, Spencer Steer batting, runners on corners, none out, Miami pitcher had thrown seven straight balls, one passed ball one wild pitch. Spencer up 3-0 in count. Bottom of the order upcoming. In this situation what would you expect from pitcher? Fastball down the middle maybe. Yep, Steer took that pitch. He swung at next two which were pitchers pitches on corners and struck out. Not all strikes are equal as Ted Williams could tell you. The pitch he took was one he should handle and do damage on. Stephenson would drive in lone run with a SF fly, but this inning was deflated. Poor pitch selection is hurting Reds a lot. McLain takes a lot of first pitch strikes so does Stephenson, who at about 6’5″ has a large strike zone. Others in lineup swing at pitchers pitches and miss ones they should handle. Ted Williams had it right https://www.facebook.com/thebsblr/posts/the-ted-williams-hitting-zone-chart/1589330061255343/.
Man, I thought exactly the same thing. Sadak asked Larkin: “Does he swing here?”, to which Larkin said “No.” My thought was “Sure. This guy has a record of good control and will groove one here.” Which he did. The #1 rule from Ted Williams was “Get a good pitch to hit.”
Chris Valaika may be the best human on the planet, and the players may like him, but I can’t see where he’s improved a single hitter on this team. But if you shoot pool with Tito Francona, you are apparently guaranteed a job.
McClain takes the first pitch 82% of the time in 2025. Unreal.
@Justin
And yet, if he likes the first pitch and swings… McLain has a .920 OPS on the first pitch this year.
(1.140 OPS on the first pitch in 2023.)
But yeah,
the problem is he has a .515 OPS this year if he falls behind 0-1.
A couple more observations after watching a week or more of games on new subscription. MM almost always takes the first pitch. Teams know this and use this to get ahead. Elly has gotten so much better at laying off of pitches out of the strike zone, but he is also hitting a lot more grounders. Tyler Stephenson wants to hit to right field, pitchers jam him with inside pitches. After Austin Hays took an outside pitch to right for a hr, Wheeler gave him nothing but inside half pitches the rest of the game. As I watched WS last year I noticed how good the Dodgers are at picking out pitches they can and do handle and letting the rest go by. They do not get themselves out. IF and when the Reds learn to do the same they will start to be a lot more consistent offensively. CES has the most to gain by learning how to manage the strike zone. Not sure he will get the chance though.
Sadak is a motormouth, but he does run his numbers. He said the other night they were near the top in taking pitches. Everyone wants to run up the pitch count on their starter, but when you have guys that K alot and struggle with contact then regularly getting down 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 is fatal. Hays comes up there hacking and I like that.
Overall its a skill that most of the Reds don’t possess. 22 games with 0-1 runs doesn’t lie
It’s impressive how the team return to struggle offensively after a stretch when they hit well against good teams and pitchers but unfortunately maybe it’s a collective regression , they were lucky haven’t been shutout in none of last three games. By the way Reds have scored first in last three games but they ended losing a weird thing this season where they own a really good record when they score first in the game
This team has issues defensively as well as offensively. We need to find a couple of outfielders with an arm. Half the offensive line-up need replaced. And a couple of bullpen arms and this team could be a second place team in the division.
Unfortunately every team is looking for an outfielder with an arm.
Key Moment of The Game- Your 3rd Baseman over throws your 6’4 catcher from 60 ft away by 10 feet.
It’s great having Pagan as your closer. He is All Star worthy. Problem is they have nobody else worthy in the pen to get to him. Everyone of them is shaky. Santillan is getting to be the last guy I want to see out of the bullpen. This team fills a hole and they spring a leak somewhere else. The black hole at 3rd. The black hole in Right. Now the black hole in the Pen.
Hitting coach should be first cut they make. Reds have too many players who either strike out (Benson, CES, Hinds, Stephenson) or hit weakly to 3B or SS (Espinal) including many Double plays. This is a sign of poor hitting including bad judgement on which pitches to take and which to swing the bat.
I just do not see how players with such holes in their swings are ever going to be consistent big league hitters. Even the so called power hitters like CES and Hinds cannot show any power when they cannot hit a 97 mph fastball or any breaking ball!
So if the team wants to contend then extend some pitchers and bring up three players from AA and one from AAA and see what they can do. At this point what can you lose? This team needs energy .
And moreover I am not impressed with Tito’s decision making or energy at this point in his career. There are better options out there.
I have been impressed with the amount of Sunflower seeds and bubble gum that the man consumes in 9 innings. I’m starting to think that is what he came back for. The endless supply.
U have hit the nail right on the head
One hit on Sunday followed by three on Monday, even with good pitching overall, this offense will not get the Reds to the playoffs. EDLC is a young star who’s developing but he’s not the veteran thumper the Reds have needed since Castellanos left. Hays has done well, when he’s not injured. But, without getting runners on base and across the plate, the Reds are not going to compete.
Let’s face it the Reds have swung and missed on way too many players = Marte, CES, Benson, Mclain, even Stephenson and Steer have not become All Star caliber players. Some may argue but I also think they failed with low energy Francona. He will not be here more than another year or two. They needed a younger more energetic guy not a guy who won’t let the team run and watches them hit into double plays.
Tough loss, however that’s baseball. Yankees have been struggling and Dodgers have lost 4 in a row.
Today is a new day and game. Marte isnt any better at 3rd than CES. Not sure why he gets a free pass.
Last but not least Francona isnt the problem and has this team playing disciplined focused baseball. Lastnight aside errors happen to all teams.
If you played the game I am sure you made errors, walked batters, made base running blunders. Etc etc
Yes, I played Little League and HS baseball.
I made errors, (didn’t pitch) and made a few base running mistakes.
What does my experience playing ball have anything to do with performance expectations of players who have made this their life’s work and are being paid 6-7-8 figure salaries to do so?
There are many things that I do in my life which I have an expectation that others should be doing much better.
I’m sure many of the Reds’ players hope that I’m doing my job better than what they might do in similar situations.
But unlike your job there isn’t another extremely gifted person actively trying to prevent you from being good at your job.
The point I was trying to make is these are still human beings playing a game. They will make errors and mistakes. They are not perfect and to expect perfection is fallible.
Good point, Brian. I’ve tried to say the same thing in overly long comments, but didn’t say it as clearly as you did. The point isn’t that our experiences playing youth baseball are instructive when discussing poor play by major leaguers, it’s that people- no matter how skilled–make mistakes. And, further, though MLB players are all very skilled, they are not equally skilled, nor do they have equal potential. Are the Reds’ mistakes and inconsistent play a result of poor coaching and discipline, or a result of often being over-matched by the competition?
Perhaps CenRexRed’s point is that when we see these guys supposedly at the top of the food chain making mental “errors” we were drilled not to make as a youth, and these mental errors translate into bad physical outcomes, it is exasperating.
I sense a lack of maturity in many of the Reds. They seem not to understand that they are now at a level where there are no easy marks to take advantage of as there were in Little League, traveling leagues, high school, college, the back lots in the Dominican, or the lower minor leagues.
One pitch or one play can turn any game; and, any guy on either team can be the guy who makes or blows the play.
They pump themselves up to hang tough against the top teams but leave their A+ game behind against supposedly inferior teams.
They need to learn to grind for 27 outs versus every team.
End of rant.
The 2025 Reds are 26-18 against teams with a losing record.
They’re 4-2 against the Yankees and the Tigers but they’re 4-9 against the Cubs and Brewers. In 2025 they are 20-27 against teams at or above .500
I think they’re just a middle-tier team with a middle-tier roster. Maybe they could “focus” more and “play with more energy” but maybe (probably?) they just don’t have the guys.
Can someone on the team take an armload of bats and chuck them into the shower?? Anything to wake the team and the offense up. Maybe the players can stop shaving until they achieve a spot in the wild card race.
Come for the recap, stay for the recency bias in the comment section!
For perspective, the Reds are exactly middle of the pack in OPS (15th). 7th in strikeouts, 19th in batting average. Making more contact would really help.
The pitching is 17th in ERA, 19th in BB and K, 9th in batting average, 9th in HR allowed. Very solid considering their home ballpark.
7th best run differential in the NL, ahead of the Cardinals.
Even with their flaws, this team should be playing meaningful games in September. Stay the course!
Run differential means nothing when you score 24 and 14-3 over Texas then manage to score 0-1 in 22 games before the AS break
They were 8 games under .500 last year and a +5 in run differential. It’s a meaningless stat.
Cardinals were 4 over .500 and a – 47.
They have to make it through the 7 weeks from the post All Star restart to Labor Day to have a meaningful September. The good ship Reds has foundered several times in the perilous straits of August attempting this passage (22-34, the last two years; 49-63 since the pandemic).
As strange as that game was, it’s also sometimes what happens when a pitcher gets his stuff where he wants it. But as fans, we can’t be all giddy when they score 8 or 9 runs and turn around and wish for them to all be traded when they hit a funk.
If the gurus of baseball had a solution for that, we’d have it based on severe metrics by now. The trick to winning a ball game is to get the first 2 guys on base. Reds fans were figuring to win 5 out of 7 against bottom feeder teams.
Just another Stink. Fish. Pot!!! to wake up to this morning. 🙁
Rough week for the Reds.
They were staring at 5 over and here they are staring back at .500.
Playoff projections have SF at 86 wins as the last team in with SD at 85.
If the Reds want to make the playoffs, they have to be a minimum of 10 over at 86-76 and probably 87 wins.
Unfortunately, the 2 defining characteristics about this 2025 team are the erratic offense with way too many games of 0 or 1 runs and the inability to beat poor teams and NL central teams. Those 2 things have to change or we will be talking about either a sell off in 3 weeks or an irrelevant September. Reds have 9 remaining games against the Marlins/Rockies/ and Nats in July. Its time to win.
This team wasn’t built to be a playoff team. To be charitable it was built to be competitive/average. “No peaks or valleys”
Ever since Dick Williams left the Reds have been very conservative. We are always just a year or two out, so we need to be patient. I mean “where else are you going to go”
The day the Reds make a couple of big signings or equivalent talent acquisition via trade is the day I will believe the Reds are prioritizing winning.
Keep an eye on the NL East. Counting tonight (Tuesday), the Reds have 18 games left with the NL East.
Team (Reds) H A TOT
Atlanta 3 0 3
Miami 3 0 3
NY Mets 3 3 6
Philadelphia 0 3 3
Washington 0 3 3
NL East Total 18
Oh well, another mess on the import formatting. At least it’s more fun trying to figure it out than watching the Reds play has been the last several days. And you should get the idea at least. 🙂
One last thing from me. Year one with Francona and Reds are playing better and in contention for a playoff spot.
Whatever happens this year in my opinion has been a success from a fundamental standpoint. He holds his players accountable and they like playing for him.
Year two will be more on who upper management brings in to fill the holes etc etc. Fun time being a fan
This team has the talent but will it ever live up to it.Reds made the decision to go with MM and Steer regardless while others such as Ty Steve and Hayes and CES and Marte are coming back from injuries this year.Now for me and I may be in the minority when do we as a team say this isn’t working.Its very hard to find out about other players when you remain committed to a few regardless of how they perform.Right now for a lot of reasons Espy and Joe and CES and Marte and Lux and even Trevino are part time players.Now that works if your regular guys are getting it done and they are not so how long do we go this way.No way does it help CES or Marte if they play a couple of games and then set.If the Reds remain committed to Steer at first and to use the DH to rest players then CES and Marte need to go either out or down to the minors.Put Espy at third and move on.Trevino is the catcher starting today and stays till he returns to the back of his card.Ty Steve is the back up and lets see how he does with getting a few at bats each week.Lux gets more time at second and DH going forward.This is what IMO I would do if I was trying to make the playoffs.Now if we are still sorting then I do something completely different which is why we don’t ever get anywhere.We are never all in or all out cause 71 wins is better then 70 and well it helps sell tickets and keeps guys employed.Bob isn’t going to spend any money and Krall is not going to trade any prospects and today is who we are and with our starting pitching we will stay a 500 team for the next few years which is all ownership wants any way.I echo MBS and his comments above this team is not about winning.The players know it as to all of us.Burns coming up was just to sell tickets
This is the guy that many on commenters on here wanted. I got attacked for saying Devers isn’t the guy you want around a young team.
But Red Sox broadcaster Will Flemming has now reported that Devers skipped an early first base workout with Giants coach Will Clark, suggesting he isn’t as committed to the change as the Giants might have hoped.
“They don’t yet know what is going to happen with the player,” Flemming told WEEI. “I was there the second day Will Clark was there to work on ground balls with him on first base and Raffy didn’t show up. So, that’s the person that these guys have been dealing with for a long time.”
Marte is a defensive horror show at third base. He has the footwork of a 13-month old toddler, and therefore never has the slightest idea where his throws are going. His arm is pretty strong, but I feel I need to dive under the sofa every time I see him throw.
The Reds need to surrender on him as an infielder. Move him to LF and let him focus on hitting.
I’ve been hearing and reading since Marte was acquired that “scouts” felt his likely eventual MLB destination was corner OF because his physical build did not fit SS or 3B. Would any team aside from the Reds wait until he was actually at MLB to do anything to prepare for that eventuality?
There is no spot for him or CES unless its at 3rd and that doesn’t work for either player.The Reds are committed to Steer at first and the DH is a revolving door.No place for either to get anything resembling regular at bats.Just send them down cause what happened Sunday with CES and last night with Marte will continue to happen.Now if you want to pencil one of them in every day at third and take the bad along with the good that works for me cause either one could carry this team at the plate for a few games if your willing to put up with then throwing a ball into the stands on occasion.
What chaps me about it is that they completely owned him in 2024, following the suspension, and they should have moved him to OF when he was serving the suspension and (later) playing in AAA. He had no choice but to accept it.
Instead, they kept him at 3B, and he’s not any better there.
Given Marte’s speed and arm, RF might be a better use of him. Or, at least the preferred place to start, ie start in a higher value position and, if that fails, move to a lesser value position.
Many of us, including the pre-season prognosticators didn’t and don’t expect the Reds to make the playoffs this year. Between the injuries, poor performances generally, and a rather mediocre roster filled with castoffs like Connor Joe, Francona has an uphill battle. That he’s kept them performing as well as he has is a miracle. Nonetheless, when it comes to looking pathetic, few teams do it as well as the Reds. And losing to teams like Miami and Colorado simply gives Krall his out and he can dump payroll at trade deadline, once again.
Uh-oh – https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/07/rays-notes-rasmussen-boyle-lowe-kim.html
Yep. I’ve been keeping an eye on Boyle. I hated the Boyle for Moll trade, and was criticized pretty heavily on here for saying so. Time will tell.
I’m confused are we supposed to be concerned because he gave up 1 run in five innings of work? It’s not like he is a Cy young contender.
When the Reds trade a player I stop worrying about it. Especially, when they have only pitched 10 innings.
Go back and examine the floor/ceiling discussion of Boyle. Floor was career over by now, ceiling was HOF. HOF may not be in play, but this season is awesome in AAA and an excellent few games in MLB. If the Opener to Boyle for innings 3 to 7 works, the Rays have struck gold.
If you were expecting the Reds to win the division in 2025 I have some bad news for you. It was never going to happen.
Now, try to see the Forrest for the trees.
1. The Reds have been incrementally increasing payroll the past few years.
2. There about to clear some serious payroll by trading Nick Martinez, Taylor Rogers and Emil Pagan. .
3. When the those layers are traded they will bring back talent to help the Reds is 2026 and beyond.
4. I believe the Reds will reinvest the money saved on the pending free agents to sign a middle of the line up bat and to rebuild the bullpen.
5. There will be an incredible influx of young talent next year. Players like Cam Collier, Sal Stewart, Arroyo, Hector Rodriguez, Tyler Callihan, Rhett Lowder, Brandon Williamson and others will make an already talented team much deeper.
I get the skepticism but sometimes you have to take a step back and see all the good things that are happening.
True enough, but at or around .500 this week, what stops them from acquisitions to grab a wild-card spot this season? We all understand it’s almost entirely x$, and very slightly the need to retain prospects. So, solve for x to win a wild-card spot – I suspect it’s somewhere between $10 and $40M, with 40 being the almost certain amount to get a spot, and 10 being a very, very serious and decent effort.
With all that said, I expect the likely decision is as you describe, which makes the late season run with the effects of Tito’s management all the more disappointing since they will get very close and not fade – another year and another series of what-ifs and second guesses.
Sorry, but I’m simply not optimistic about this organization developing hitters. I made a comment last night here to the same effect. The hitters that are carrying the team this year (other than Elly and perhaps Friedl) are all from other organizations and all veterans (Lux, Hays, Trevino). The young prospects that came up with a bang in 2023 still have not taken the next step in their development at the Major League level. If the Reds intend to compete for the division in 2026, Francona’s going to have to convince the front office to acquire bats from outside the organization.
Good stuff and here’s just one other thought.Just wave the white flag and put Marte and CES and Hinds in the lineup every day and lets see what happens.If we can commit to MM and Steer regardless then why not these 3 guys,heck I like the circus every night and who knows with each getting 250 at bats the rest of the way what might happen.Heck outside of Elly the Reds won’t have another player hit 20 homers this year
Guess I am having difficulty understanding some of logic here. How does trading Lux, Hays, Martinez, Pagan, Singer, et al, for more prospects like CES, Martes, Arroyos, Phillips, et al make this a better team? Didn’t we go down this road 3-4 years ago with Castillo, Mahle, Suarez, Sonny, and Nick. In my view, our continued malaise is much more due to overestimation and underproduction of our younger guys? McLain, Dunn, Hinds, Ashcraft, Benson, CES, Greene, Stephenson, Lodolo, Marte, et al? (Some certainly due to injury.). In alot of cases we are even talking 3rd and 4th year guys. If I am translating correctly, isn’t the supposition that these young guys all of a sudden will become much better in 2026. Sorry but that seems like the same logic that management gave us in 2024 with upcoming 3rd and 4th years in 2025. If that has any accuracy to it, then isn’t it just as logical to predict these same guys will be great the 2H of 2025? Our 1 year free agents are producing just fine for Closer, DH, LF, and 3rd and 5th starters. We lack a strong RF/CF, and a bullpen piece or two. Same story as March, April, and May. I believe our chances are much better this year than next year with the same youth and different set of free agents. Are we really that confident we are going to be 4 games over 500 on July 4, 2026?
You would be right if the players are willing to resign with the Reds. I suspect all the pending free agents plan to test Free Agency. So it makes sense to move the pending free agents for players who will help them next year and beyond. Then the Reds can replace the pending free agents with the money they will be saving.
Players get a say where they will play. So would you prefer the Reds keep them for a couple
Extra months and let them walk for absolutely nothing in return? That would be foolish in my opinion.
Wasn’t the original deal and intent to sign and have them for one year and one year only? I completely understand your point that unless resigned, then they are gone after season end. When we signed them for one year in the winter, we hoped and intended to have them all year…..but no more unless resigned.
So if we trade these guys in 2-3 weeks, how in the heck does that make the 2025 team anything but worse? Who are you going to replace Hays with? Dunn? Hinds for Lux? Spiers for Martinez? That seems to me like territory for locking up fourth or fifth place rather than “improving the team.”
If we are talking about improving the team (Krall’s words), we shouldn’t be trading any of the one year guys having good years (Lux, Hays, Pagan, Martinez, and possibly Barlow and Roger’s. To improve, we need more production out of several of the young guys (McLain, CES, Benson, Greene, Lodolo, Marte), and/or bring in some strong additive pieces via trades. Otherwise, imo, this team will struggle and will be unlikely to make the playoffs.
To be clear, I am not in the crowd that thinks this team As Is is good enough to make the playoffs. Never have been. In April, i said this team looked like a lesser version than the Cubs. And we needed additions then imo to stay with the Cubs. Well here we are in early July with no significant additions and 7-8 games behind the Cubs. Now the additions will probably have to be more significant. Or we could do our usual stunt of not trading prospects and believing 2026 is going to be our year. Nothing is going to be any better in 2026 unless the young guys do better.
I had hopes that the Burns move meant something. Those hopes are now fading. I am leaning to that it was hype and flash, and maybe even a disservice. To compete,in 2025, we need better players. Burns is only a very small piece of this. Now if we traded Burns for Acuna and Riley, that might make us a better team.
Stud move by Trevino looking for an ump to check his hand 🙂