After giving up a run in each of the first two innings, Nick Lodolo and the Reds pitching staff shut the Mets down for the next seven innings. Austin Hays homered twice and helped fuel a come back as Cincinnati scored in five straight inning, but New York rallied in the bottom of the 9th with a little help from the bullpen and defense in a shaky inning that eventually the Reds closed out to start the post All-Star break with a win.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (51-47) | 8 | 8 | 1 |
| New York Mets (55-43) | 4 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Lodolo (7-6) L: Carrillo (0-1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The first game back after the All-Star break didn’t get out to the best start for the Reds as All-Star snub Juan Soto cracked a solo home run in the 1st to put the Mets up 1-0. The next inning saw New York tack on another run when Jeff McNeil singled in Brandon Nimmo as the home team built a 2-0 lead.
Cincinnati didn’t have a hit entering the 4th inning, but that all changed when Austin Hays led off with his 9th home run of the year. In the next inning the Reds would take the lead after TJ Friedl was hit by a pitch and Matt McLain crushed a 2-run home run.
The home run derby continued for Cincinnati an inning later as Austin Hays hit his second of the day to lead off the inning. Spencer Steer followed up with a walk and then scored when Tyler Stephenson hit the Reds 4th homer of the game, making it 6-2. They would tack on another run in the 7th on an Elly De La Cruz single.
While the offense was tacking on runs left and right, Nick Lodolo had really settled in after the 2nd inning. He would finish his day with seven strikeouts in seven innings before handing the game over to the bullpen.
In the 8th inning the Reds would benefit from 2-out wildness from Brandon Waddell as he hit a batter and then walked three in a row to bring in a run. Graham Ashcraft tossed a perfect bottom of the frame to keep his team’s lead at six runs.
Cincinnati then turned the game over to Sam Moll in the 9th and he picked up the first two outs, but then gave up a 2-out double. The game looked to be over on a fly ball to right field, but Connor Joe dropped it and the Mets scored a run and kept the game alive. A walk would follow and that ended the night for Moll. Emilio Pagan then entered the game and gave up back-to-back singles as New York made it 8-4 and had the bases loaded for Francisco Lindor. The two battled for six pitches before a lazy pop up into shallow right field that Matt McLain camped under ended the game and started the Reds out with a win in the second half.
Key Moment of the Game
The 6th inning home runs by Austin Hays and Tyler Stephenson that turned a 3-2 game into a 6-2 game and essentially put things away.
Notes Worth Noting
Austin Hays homered twice in a game for the second time this season. Both times have come on the road, with the first time happening back in April against the Rockies.
Matt McLain and Tyler Stephenson both went 2-4 with a double, home run, a walk, and had two runs batted in.
Nick Lodolo completed seven innings for the second time of the season. He lowered his ERA to 3.33 with his outing.
TJ Friedl was hit by three pitches in the game.
Cincinnati batters walked seven times in the game on top of Friedl being hit three times. 10 free base runners does a long way.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs New York Mets
Saturday July 19th, 4:10pm ET
Nick Martinez (7-9, 4.78 ERA) vs Clay Holmes (8-4, 3.31 ERA)
That was a fun game! McLain and Stephenson rebound and we could make it interesting. Tired of the Hines talk, but he can play OF, he can run, and he can hit a mistake a mile. Getting steady at-bats at AAA obviously isn’t helping him w/the Reds. Joe was a tough out at one time, but that time appears to have passed. 4-2 road trip or better and it might encourage Krall to go get an arm or two. Just maybe? I don’t think we’re realistically expecting much? I think I changed my mind on Buxton if they went that route somehow. Why not take a shot
Buxton has a full no trade contract and has recently stated he is a Twin for life.
If he was ‘on the market,’ it was internet speculation run amok. See ESPN, I believe, for that one.
Yeah, I thought the Twins might want to ride themselves of his contract since he’s playing well but so often injured, but he’s made his wishes clear. But there are other Twins the Reds could trade for: Duran, Jax, Coloumbe.
His contract ($15mm/year through 2028) is pretty team friendly, and extremely team-friendly if he produces like he has this season. His no-trade runs through 2026, and (per Cot’s) he can block trades in 2027-28 to 5 teams to be named. I think that clause would override his 10-year rights not to be traded at all.
He isn’t coming to Cincinnati this season, or probably ever.
@OBE>> I doubt that any contract provision can supersede something specifically spelled out in the CBA, such as the 10 and 5 rule. If the player meets the 10 and 5 rule, those are the terms that apply to his trade availability.
Of course, if a player agrees to a trade, then the clock resets on the 5 year portion of his 10 and 5 rights, and whatever trade restrictions that are in his contract would kick back in.
McLain!
It sure is fun to think about how this offense might continue to improve if he gets it going and keeps it going.
In his last 7 games:
27 PAs – 3 BB – 6 K
9 for 24
.375 BA
2 2B. 2 HR, 1 SB, 5 runs
Reds are 5-2 in those seven games.
He went hitless once – in the 6-0 win over Miami when he had two walks and scored a run
Seven games is a small sample size but it’s good enough for me to optimistic!
(.172 BA in his 7 games prior to the above seven games. And the Reds were 2-5 in those games.)
And right now, it looks like they’ll end tonight tied with StL in the standings, though still in 4th if you consider the tie breaker
Picked up a game already on the Mets of course but also on the Giants.
Yep, but really want to get ahead in the division. Yes, the WC is far more probable. But I hate the last decade of humiliation by the Brewers and have hated the Cards since childhood.
“Yep, but really want to get ahead in the division.”
No arguments from me. 🙂
Since the 1950’s, with the exception of the BRM era, the Milwaukee Braves or Brewers have been a tough team for the Reds to beat. It goes back to Warren Sphan (13 twenty win seasons} and the offense led by Eddie Mathews.
Eddie Matthews was a formidable player, but that same team had Henry Aaron. He certainly had an important role in leading the offense.
All true and yes, we were all spoiled by the BRM, without which the Reds have a losing record as a franchise. Nonetheless, there’s no reason to embrace that thinking as Krall has with his wait and see attitude. If he and the ownership were truly committed to winning, they’d be all in on buying at the deadline and would have already started. instead, lose a couple of games or series over the next two weeks and we’ll dump tons of salary. Maybe someday the Reds stagger into the playoffs on the backs of the prospects, but don’t bet on it.
Henry Aaron hit something like 94 home runs against the Reds in his career. I can remember him being on the “Star of the Game” with Joe Nuxhall back in the 1970’s, and Joe laughing about how many he hit off of him.
Big win. As Mr. Welsh pointed out the Reds have been swept the first series after the All-Star break three out of the last four years in 2021, 2023, & 2024.
I like the way Tito didn’t mess around even with a sizable lead there at the end putting his best pitchers in there. Cannot lose games like that which we have done on several occasions in the past few years.
Yep.
On the flip side of that, we didn’t see any of the Mets strongest relief pitchers…
Diaz is great and he was crazy good against the Reds last year: .077 BA in 4 games
Reds against Garrett last year: .000 BA with 6 strikeouts in 2 games
And they have other guys. Their bullpen as a whole is not great but they have some guys. We probably saw two of their duds tonight.
2-out 2-run HR by MM really turned this game around while Lodolo settled in and put up zeros on the board. Good night all around in the Big Apple.
It was a weird game…first , I thought Mets was going to dominate but The Reds offense did a good job getting 69 pitches from Maneae thru just 4 IP and after that they took advantage of the Mets relievers…Lodolo just blinked in the frist and second inning being really good the rest of his outing….Good 2nd half start…just go and win the series …
Big hits when it counted and solid pitching will win you a lot of games. Stephenson going on a tear would be huge. Fun team to watch when they’re all clicking.
Did anyone else take note of how emphatically McLain waived off Joe to catch that pop fly at the end? That had me in stitches
Lex … LOL
I thought the same thing. When my wife saw Joe charging in for the ball she let out a “ Oh No”!
But then MM closed the gap and made the play . Did anyone ask Tito after the game what happened on that. Look like he just flat out missed it .
Yep. I think McLain would have gone to the warning track if necessary.
Brewers won but tied with the Cards now.
The Brew Crew owns Dodger Blue!
Unfortunately they own Cincy Red too. We’ve got to change that.
Anybody catch Cowboy’s take on Greene being an ace? Basicly said if you can’t stay on the field, you’re not an ace.
True. This offseason, the Reds might think about trading him. Being that Lodolo and Abbott are pitching so well and are lefties, they should keep them–why would you trade them and put more lefties out there that a team that’s bad against lefties may have to face? Burns and Lowder will both be in the rotation next season, and Williamson, Spiers, and Aguiar will be available. Perhaps they could get Ward for Greene.
I may have missed the first part of that comment, so I took it as being directed at Lodolo. However, if he directed it at Greene I would understand. I do wonder though if they are playing it slow with Greene’s return in anticipation of possible fatigue issues with the lefties later in the year.
Anyway, great start to the run-in. I have been a long time reader of this blog and this is my first post. I would like to thank the writers and all of the posters for all their insight over the years.
Go Reds!
Ward for Greene is overpay. Angela would have to throw in way more guys.
Angels
Why on earth would you want to trade Greene. Last year was a freak accident and this yesr a stubborn groin injury. Those things happen in baseball. Trading the ace of your staff is not a smart move
The last thing the Reds will do and should do is trade Hunter Greene. Sometimes the ideas floated on this board are just baffling.
Also, “The Cowboy” (I didn’t realize there were a lot cattle rustling going on Mississippi) says a lot of things. He has to fill dead air on the radio.
Yes, way, way more.
There is truth to that statement, however when healthy Greene is the best pitcher the Reds have.
I understand Brantley’s sentiments about having a Zack Wheeler type guy that’s perennially in the running for a Cy Young. 200 innings of lockdown stuff is a necessary component of a World Series contender.
But 3/4 of a season of Hunter Greene is still better for the Reds than a full season of Carson Spiers, or 90% of the guys floating around out there for that matter. His injuries have been frustrating, but when he is on, he is really on. Even with his absence, his contract is still a value. IMO, it would be organizational malpractice to offload him for anything other than the steal of the century.
Yes young controllable starting aces usually require an overpay. Rare when they come up for trade.
Now that’s how you come out after the all-star break! Hopefully they can keep it going. Tired of the many years of terrible baseball being played after the break. Great to see production from McLain and Stephenson. Hays has been huge. Great job by Lodolo to buckle down after being down 2-0 after two innings.
My star of the game: Lodolo.
A great outing against a top team.
Dfa Joe. Starting Espinal in right makes their need glaringly obvious. Trade for Laureano NOW.
I like the idea of Laureano, who is fast, has a good glove and can hit. As a rental, he shouldn’t cost much, either. He has wide reverse platoon splits in 2025, but that split is an outlier for his career. Plus, he’s a veteran who is well suited for part-time play.
Sometimes it can be the small moves that make a big difference.
Yeah, that’s a bit of a mystery starting Espinal in Right Field. I am sure that Francona really likes the guy and he has a great attitude about playing, etc., but he is not an outfielder by any measure, and he is just not hitting much at all.
The old knifey-spooney, left handed pitcher, right handed batter. I would rather see Francona play Benson. Give Benson a chance to hit against a left hander, and with his power, he might run into one.
Who’s this Hays guy? I thought Krall didn’t acquire a power hitting OF.
The masses all wanted Santander, Soler or O’Neill, all of whom are having bad seasons. The Reds ended up with the best producer of the free-agent OFs. (Can’t count Teoscar Hernandez, who made it clear from day 1 of free agency that he wanted to stay with the Dodgers.)
I wanted Profar who turned out to be a juicer. Go figure.
And add joc Peterson, conforto, and trade the farm for Robert jr too.
But Hays won’t stop a good rant from some though.
At various times during the off season I wanted Profar, Santander, O’Neill, and Conforto. The Reds FO dodged a few bullets there. I was surprised when Tito installed Hays into the cleanup spot to start the year. Turns out Tito knows a few things.
If Hays and Marte stay healthy and healthy the lineup will probably be ok.
Find another back end of the bullpen reliever. That would improve the team immensely.
Stewart and Rodriguez are now playing for Louisville.
Next up is Nick #2.
Nice to see the bats heat up and Lodolo to go 7 innings. He leads reds pitchers in innings although Martinez might leapfrog him today.
Looks like Hunter Greene is going to throw 2 innings in the ACL this upcoming week and then go to AAA to rehab. Optimistically speaking, lets say he gets 4 starts every 5 th day and is ready to rejoin the Reds rotation in 3 weeks give or take a few days ~August 10 th-15th.
Chase Burns threw 100 innings last year. He is at 82 innings now and was pushed back after the AS game to the 5th slot. If you give Burns 4 more starts and 20 innings into mid August, he’s at his 100-105 innings threshold.
I say Burns moves to the bullpen in mid -August when Greene comes back and finishes the year there to build another 10-15 innings or so in a controlled predetermined way and give the Reds a wipeout high leverage bullpen arm for the stretch run.
I personally would be surprised if they sent Burns to the bullpen. Most of his value is as a starter. I would rather package Burns with others to Cleveland for Kwan and Clase. Maybe Burns, Dunno and Arroyo? We get the lockdown closer and OF we have been needing.
I don’t think Clase is even closing this season. I also think that trading Burns would be big mistake: He’s probably not a multi-year project and is likely to be an important contributor next year and even what’s left of this one.
Burns to the bullpen is because hes approaching his innings limits in early august. Mlb teams wont push young pitchers past 20 -30 innings from previous year
Better to have in bullpen than street clothes after august 20
Elly greene and burns are untouchable in trades
“In all, Carrillo gave up five runs in just 1 ¹/? innings. “
Mets fans comment Mendoza mis use of his BP, by let the 29 yo rookie, in his 3rd appearance in MLB, return to pitch one more inning.
Before that Manaea has well controlled Reds. Kudos to Hays with his HR to Manaea in a pitch high and away (it was a ball)
DFA Connor Joe. There’s gotta be someone better. Anyone.
Here are 3 names from the AAA Bats, none of them Hinds. Blake Dunn, Ryan Vilade, Francisco Urbaez.
Dunn could play any of the OF spots and has had an AAA OPS of .702 since mid June. His K Rate is actually a tick higher than Hinds over at stretch at 25.5%, but his BB rate over the same period is 17.6% which helped him to a .420 OBP in 51 PAs.
Vilade is a jack of all trades, master of none. However, he could play either corner OF spot. Vilade’s AAA OPS for the season is .877.
Both these guys are on the 40 man, so they could be swapped for Joe with a simple option back to AAA and corresponding recall.
Urbaez is not on the 40 man roster, which may be why we haven’t seen him at MLB this season. He has a steady season long triple slash of .333/.423/.455. He’s mostly played all around the infield except 1b, but has also made some appearances in LF.
I was wondering about Urbaez and didn’t know if he was on the 40man.
Looks like he can hit lefties. But he is not a young man and has never been to MLB? Is he a liability on defense?
Looking at the 40 man… I had never heard of Brian Van Belle.
Evidently he is needed more than Urbaez…
😉
Urbaez is in his age 27 season. He’s rattled around the Reds system, then last year in a mid season promotion to AAA put up an OPS of .847 AAA OPS, and so far this year has followed up with a .846 PA at AAA. There is some discrepancy in that from his triple slash I posted above (-.042). One is from Fangraphs, the other from BBRef. I must have gotten caught in an update gap.
Von Belle is a starting pitcher; the Reds got him recently in a DFA period deal from the BoSoX. He would have required waivers to get off the 40 man, and the Reds did not want to risk that because they needed a depth guy in that role.
@Leonard>> Oops. Forgot Urbaez and defense……
He’s not McLain or Espinal and probably not Lux either on infield defense. But if the Reds can put up with Lux’s OF defense, I’d guess they could put up with Urbaez in the OF.
@Jim
Thanks!
Urbaez, Von Belle and Villade… Wow.
It’s like Johnny Fever and Venus Flytrap spinning some deep deeeep cuts here at WKRP/Redleg Nation!
@Jim – I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that Hinds had two hits last night both around 104 mph off the bat to go along with a walk. Yes he had one K. It would seem at times that his Ks are more unforgivable than other player’s Ks. lol
I would go with Dunn and maximize his defense and base running opportunities. Joe is not adding value to the team in any phase of the game.
Agree. I think Dunn can provide much more competitive PAs against LHP than Joe, and he’ll take a BB too. Even in MLB this year, his OBP was .320 and it’s .379 in Louisville.
Well one thing is for sure. We can’t have a player missing a ball like Joe did last night in a crucial part of the game. That was pretty bad. We were just fortunate that it didn’t kill us.
Let’s hope TJ can play today.
Just watched the highlights, and if he plays today then he is one tuff dude. I am not much into retaliatory situations. Yet I do think a Reds pitcher should perhaps hit a mets batter. I mean 3 times in one game, come on..
Thoughts?
Those didn’t look intentional to me. Friedl, I’m pretty certain, gets hit more than most guys, so it may have to do with his stance. If you want to retaliate, punch the pitcher: batters’ on the Mets had nothing to do with it.
I have never understood why some people believe assault is acceptable on the field of professional sports games. The best retaliation is to beat them. Whether intentional or not, it would be appropriate for the league to levy a suspension or two. Both responses are better than purposely endangering a random player who would literally only be guilty by association.
@BK 100% agree.
Thanks for the comments. Your all probably right. I just think hitting a batter 3 times is a bit extreme intentional or not.
I think a lot of MLB players and managers have moved past the “eye for an eye” revenge-responses of days gone by. But in extreme cases like 3 HBP? Maybe that gets the guys talking.
I think the Reds’ home runs and the home crowd’s booing probably made the Mets angry and motivated enough. If I were Tito, I’d say “Let’s walk around with our eyes up and shoulder back today, but that’s it. Let’s play winning baseball, not head games.”
They did score four runs last night after all. And that was with their #-#4 hitters going 1 for 17 with no walks. That’s not gonna happen again this weekend.
@Kevin, it is extreme, intentional or not, and perhaps the manager gets a one-game suspension because it happened. Leaders get to take responsibility when things go poorly on their watch.
“I have never understood why some people believe assault is acceptable on the field of professional sports games”
Well one COULD argue that it is much more dangerous these days with MANY pitchers throwing 95-100+ mph.
Why? What do you think about that Friedl guy JB?
How do the Reds get to 87 wins?
Keep winning, right? 😉
But here’s a closer (eye-opening?) look at the opportunities to win 87…
64 games to go… The Reds need to go 36-28.
42 games left against good teams … The Reds need to go 21-21.
22 games left against bad teams … The Reds need to go 15-7.
21-21 against good teams
5-7 against the bad teams
That’s 87 wins.
That’s a smart way to look at it, Leonard.
Does “good” = over .500 and “bad” = under .500?
Pretty muchy a
I included the Diamondbacks (48-50) as a “good” team because they’re a bit better than all the other “bad” teams. (Positive run differential, basically). And hey, they’re still alive in the wild card race.
btw.. I see now that the math is not entirely accurate because I think I mistakenly had Tampa as one of the “bad” teams. So the Reds path is probably a slightly steeper uphill climb than I tried to show.
EDIT:
21-21 against good teams
15-7 against the bad teams
That’s 87 wins.
I was surprised to see MM HR total at 11 (seemed high) so I checked on it. In 88 games this year he had 68 hits, 11 for HR. In 2023 he played 89 games, had 106 hits, 16 for HR. His hit/hr ratio is about the same, he just has way less hits this year. If he gets back to his level of play in 2023, he’s a 25 HR, .28ish hitter playing excellent defense at 2nd base. He would be an all-star. That’s why Reds are patient with him. His intangibles are good too. Tough as nail and all business. I like him.
Agreed. I was thinking the same things when I saw that last night.
Hays, on the other hand, seems to hit Hr at a much higher ratio compared to previous years. This year he has 53 hits, 10 HR. In his last full year with Baltimore he had 146 hits, 16 HR. I don’t have home/away HR stat, but I am willing to bet that he benefits from playing at GABP.
Well, he hit two HR in Citi Field, one to center. Sometimes, when a guy has an “injury year”, he works harder in the off season to get in shape, and maybe he is just in better shape this year
And maybe at this point in his career, this will be the new “normal” for his power output.
Who knows??
Hays is on a 1-year contract, playing for his next one, which we all hope is his big career payoff.
We’ve seen a numerous players play with just that little bit extra in such a situation.
Castellanos and Martinez as recent examples.
Hays’s contract is apparently incentive-loaded as well.
I hope he stays healthy and meet those $ / production thresholds.
Really wish the Reds would make Hays a 3-year offer, with the 3rd year a team option, or even a player option, if need be. Say $25 over 3, who says no? Locks him in at a nice increase, gives us stability for a couple of years and he’s an amazing trade piece if we have to bail in the next 2. Plus, if he far exceeds the first 2 years, he can decline the option and then try and make some more money on the market.
Personally I’d hold off on Hays til mid-September and see if he’s still going. I have to admit though….he’s a huge part of this team. His lifetime ops is .756 so I figured he’d come back to Earth, but he just keeps hitting. 17-62 (.274) since he came back, but with 3 doubles, a triple, and 4 HRs.
15 rbis in 16 starts ain’t bad either. Funny thing is…all these oppo HRs are on the road. 10 hrs and only 3 at Gabp. Road ops .977 to .786 at home. I’m sure it will even itself out
McLain was striking out a lot in April and May.
He’s averaging 1.1 K per game this year but “only” has 30 in 34 in his last games.
As far as McLain being a force for the Reds going forward, I do not at all want to give up on him. I think he’s still shaking off the rust and hopefully rounding into form after missing a season from surgery and rehab.
Small sample size, but…
9 hits and 4 walks in his last 7 games
.320 BA / .405 OBP / .605 SLG
1.103 OPS
And the Reds are 5-2!
From MLB.com
Line up
Friedl
Mclain
Elly
Hays
Lux
Steer
Stevenson
Fraley
Marte
P. Tricky Martinez
Mendoza would limit Holmes to an amount of pitches, similar to Manaea yesterday, since both are returning from injueries
It caught my eye that Fraley is playing ahead of Benson after getting the PH call ahead of both Benson and Lux last night. I suspect he is being shopped.
For those wondering, Lux is in LF with Hays as DH. They are definitely being very cautious with Hays’s foot/ leg.
I think Tito di dan experiment yesterday with Espinal-Joe at RF to decide who’s gonna drop from roster I guess the winner is Joe…
Or maybe someone asked for WB … from top contenders, who’s having issues at RF?
Phillies maybe?
Castellanos is an asset hitting… but a minus defending.
Something is definitely going on with Fraley over Benson two days in a row. It’s not like Benson hasn’t been hitting better than Fraley. If not a trade then a Benson injury maybe. Something.
I stand corrected.
Fraley last 7 games .154/.267/.231
Benson last 7 games .160/.160/.360
Neither one is hitting. It’s not much better if you look at 15 games or 30 games. Our RF platoon is not helping very much. We need an upgrade SOMEHOW. I’m SURE Krall is working on it. 😉
I guess you could use Fraley’s stats in the last 15 games as a possible reason of him playing over Benson but that’s short lived when you look at it from a 30 game standpoint. Either way we need and UPGRADE.
Fraley
.154/.267/.231 – 7 games
.314/.400/.429 – 15 games
.200/.333/.343 – 30 games
Benson
.160/.160/.360 – 7 games
.245/.245/.429 – 15 games
.200/.255/.329 – 30 games
Not good. We’re in a post season hunt. Their replacement last night (Joe), because neither of them can hit LF, dropped an easy fly ball that could have cost us the game.
Fraley vs Benson is interesting. One is a C- and the other is a C with a ceiling of a C+. I’m just not sure which is which? I’m thinking Tito is going w/Fraley because he walks more and Ks less. Jake has 20 walks (.333 obp) with 126 at-bats. Benson is a little younger with more power, but I think I’d roll with Fraley for a bit. He was hot when he went out.
What’s your over (yes)/ under (no) that Lux and Fraley with both be with the Reds after the deadline? Mine is under unless the Reds come up totally empty at getting a RH bench bat aside from the “spare” catcher or Joe.
Its hard to say? Lux has no power, but I enjoy his at-bats usually. He’s a thinking mans hitter. .301 w/risp and .346 w/risp & 2 outs. Clutch is good. Problem is .599 ops in July, .661 June, and .694 in May. He just hasn’t done much since April. Lux hitting 5th though has a .841 ops lol.
Thats alot of conflicting numbers. I think he stays unless they crash and burn before the deadline. Yeah I’d deal Benson or Fraley if you like the lottery ticket
Fraley is 1 for 1 against Holmes; Benson is 0 for 1. Francona has said he weighs a hitter’s prior performance against a particular pitcher heavily when constructing his lineups.
Back of the line up, 6-9, looks solid. Love Marte hitting 9 and look for a big game from him today.
Lux and Fraley are the same player.Lux with over 1600 at bats has a 713 OPS and is 27 years old and 10 homers is the most he has ever hit.Fraley has over 1300 at bats with a 735 OPS and 15 is his high in homers.Both are bench players and good ones on a good team.May get something for both of them.I start Benson and play him the rest of the way against righties and some against lefties.I want to know about him this year as we look to next year and for me power always wins out for a corner outfield spot.
So what do I know.Fraley starts in right and Lux at DH and Benson watches.Obviously something I don’t know or something I am missing.I mean after last night with Espy then Joe in right which I did understand one would think its right back to Benson today.Fraley playing with a torn muscle gives us a better chance? OK works for me.GO REDS.
Satisfying win last evening, especially given it’s the first of the “second half” and against a contending team in their own house.
I’ll be settled in for the fun in a couple of hours. Waiting a bit to see if the sun dries out the grass a wee bit more so I can mow it.
In search of that right handed outfield bat that might be available, these are the eight names that I came up with. The stats are ops, risp, hr and rbi.
1 Ramon Laureano (Orioles)
.851 – .246 – 11 – 36
2 Louis Robert Jr (White Sox)
.625 – .258 -10 – 37
3 Harrison Bader (Twins)
.761 – .276 – 11 – 34
4 Jo Adell (Angels)
.806 – .269 – 20 – 56
5 Taylor Ward (Angels)
.773 – .223 – 22 -67
6 Adolis Garcia (Rangers)
.677 – .268 – 13 – 56
7 Randal Grichuk (DBacks)
.748 – .205 – 7 – 22
8 Jordan Beck (Rockies)
.784 – .235 – 11 – 33
Unless we move an outfielder or find one that is better than Benson or Fraley, how they hit against LHP matters most. Based on that assumption, I consider Robert Jr. to be the best fit. His salary and poor performance against RHP drive his price down. But his defense, speed, and ability to crush lefties fits the Red’s needs well.
P.S. Thanks for pulling together the list above!
Robert would be good as a platoon against LH pitching but was just thinking he probably wouldn’t be TOO KEEN on the idea of being a platoon player. lol