Arizona scored a run in the 1st inning and then didn’t pick up a hit again until the 8th inning. Cincinnati failed to come through with multiple opportunities early on but they were able to cash in on them late as the Reds picked up a 6-1 win over the Diamondbacks to avoid being swept.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (68-63) | 6 | 11 | 3 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks (64-67) | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| W: Ashcraft (8-5) L: Backhus (0-3) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Arizona didn’t waste much time grabbing the lead in the bottom of the 1st inning. Geraldo Perdomo led off with a triple into the right field corner and came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
Cincinnati would get a leadoff single in the top of the 2nd from Austin Hays and then Ke’Bryan Hayes would draw a 2-out walk. The paid would then execute a successful double steal to put both men in scoring position, but Matt McLain would strike out looking to strand both runners.
Two innings later the Reds would get another golden opportunity after Elly De La Cruz singled to begin the inning and moved to second base on a wild pitch. But once again the club failed to take advantage of it as a ground out was followed by back-to-back strikeouts.
Brady Singer had settled in after the 1st inning and he kept Arizona’s lead at 1-0 through the 5th inning. His offense finally showed him the tiniest bit of support in the 6th inning when Noelvi Marte tripled to the wall in center, and then when the throw to third hit his foot and rolled into foul territory he got up and sprinted home to score on the play and tie the game up.
Singer would retire the Diamondbacks in order in the 6th, completing the inning with his 9th strikeout of the day. Arizona went to the bullpen to start the 7th and Spencer Steer welcomed Juan Morillo with a ground-rule double on the first pitch he saw. Ke’Bryan Hayes then walked before Matt McLain laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position with one out. With Will Banfield due up the Reds sent Miguel Andujar to the plate as a pinch hitter and he walked on four pitches to load the bases. Arizona made a pitching change, bringing in lefty Kyle Backhus to face TJ Frield and on the first pitch he saw, Friedl grounded into an inning-ending double play and the game remained tied at one.
After Graham Ashcraft tossed a perfect bottom of the 7th the Reds went to work at the plate in the 8th. Noelvi Marte led off with a single and moved up to second base on a fly out. After a pitching change, Austin Hays came through with an RBI single to put the Reds up 2-1. They weren’t finished there, though. Gavin Lux followed up with a single and then Spencer Steer crushed a 3-run homer to make it 5-1 for the road team. After a 2-out single from Matt McLain and a walk from Jose Trevino, Cincinnati tacked on another run on a single from TJ Friedl to push their lead to five runs.
Tony Santillan had to work around a walk and a single – the Diamondbacks first hit of the game since a leadoff triple in the 1st – but he got out of the jam with a scoreless bottom of the 8th inning. Emilio Pagan took the mound for the bottom of the 9th inning and got back-to-back pop ups to shortstop before ending the game with a strikeout.
Key Moment of the Game
The 3-run home run by Spencer Steer in the 8th inning.
Notes Worth Noting
Brady Singer has allowed two runs and struck out 19 batters in his last three starts. His ERA in August is now sitting at 1.95.
Noelvi Marte, Austin Hays, and Spencer Steer all had multiple hits in the game. The two hits for Marte boosted his slash line on the year to .300/.338/.518 through 61 games with the Reds this year.
Hays had had five multi-hit games in his last nine games – and one of those nine games he was used as a pinch hitter. He’s hitting .353 since August 15th.
The New York Mets lost on Sunday. That coupled with the Cincinnati win leaves the Reds 1.5 games out of the final wild card spot heading into Monday’s game.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Dodgers
Monday August 25th, 10:10pm ET
Hunter Greene (5-3, 2.63 ERA) vs Emmet Sheehan (4-2, 4.17 ERA)
Marte and Singer the 2 stars today. Marte’s tag was key, great base running.
Steer deserves mention. He was clutch. Apparently he can hit despite what many on here proclaim.
Singer and bullpen outstanding against a solid hitting team.
Well, Jason, just remember that had Krall called up Sal Stewart and benched Steer, Sal would have probably hit 3 home runs.
Or so they say.
Well, yes. After an 0-16 streak, Steer did get a couple hits today.
4 for his last 22 and 19 for his last 102.
But today he got two hits.
One of them was a very good one.
When Singer came in to the dugout after his day was done, Francona gave him such a warm little personal talk – thanking him profusely propbably for such a crucial outing. Then it looked like he even gave him a peck on the forehead like Singer was his son. He’s done stuff like that beforee, really building up his guys – Martinez earlier in the season for instance. He’s got that personal style that really means something to his players. That’s something Bell always lacked. Now it’s time for Tito to get this team on one of his patented September playoff race rolls…
It was warm but was it tender?
Season over. Season over. Season over. Season over. Season over. Season over. Season over. Season over.
Oh, wait. season not over. Who da thunk it only took one win and a Mets loss to cut the margin to 1.5 games with 31 left.
Not a good day for the Chicken Little family.
Eat more Chikin. 😉
But a good day for the RLN Second-Guessers who come out of the woodwork after a win, but remain deathly silent after a 10-1 loss.
Perhaps they have less invested in the Reds being a losing team populated by terrible players.
@Tex You seem….. bitter.
You are not funny, sir! You are a decent writer on occasion.
This Reds team is flawed in obvious places, including how it is run by FO and owners. Your snarkiness has not plausibly disputed that fact.
Reds’ fans deserve better than what the Reds’ regime produces and your criticism of fans is misplaced.
Fans come here to offer their opinions, and currently frustration is the overwhelming mood.
Can you blame them? If so, please explain.
Thankfully the Mets lost so the Reds are 2 games behind in the loss column for the final NL Wild Card spot!
Now on to play the Hollywood Dodgers!
Really good pitching by Reds. Not so good defense by Reds. Good clutch hitting by Reds in 8th inning.
I watched the golf tournament. Did not read the RLN comments on the other thread.
Congrats to Fairway Jesus on the win. Was rooting for him.
Now that’s funny! Apparently, barbers are as rare as dentists in England!
I find Brits to be pretty nice folks, all in all. In terms of appearance, there are some folks here in Kentucky who could use a haircut or a shave and a tooth or two.
Oldtimer,
You’re right. British society has its problems, like every other one, but Brits are very pleasant, very social, and very respectful. Even bus drivers are nice! One thing I noticed on a recent trip there was the extent to which they remember WWI and WWII and how like a small unified community it is. In York, I saw a small WWI memorial for the men who died FROM that ONE STREET. There were 76 names! And they suffered a great deal at the hands of the Nazis and for a long time after WWII. They didn’t taste orange juice, other than Tang, until the 70s! Most likely their communal sufferings have led to them being so unified. Of course, the horror story that is 21st century media is trying to disunify them as well. But as far as dentistry is concerned, all across Europe dentistry has become common, even expected. It’s completely different than it was my first trip there over 30 years ago.
You and me both! Last major golf tournament of the year before the Ryder Cup next month! Glad Fleetwood finally got his first PGA Tour win after 164 starts! That being said, will NOT be rooting for Fleetwood going forward as all European golfers are now the enemy!
I used to play Bethpage Black regularly in the 80s. Can’t wait to see the Europeans double bogey the same holes I once did.
Yes it was a great victory for Tommy.
Seems like a genuine good dude.
@ Richard – I assume you’ve read the John Feinstein book Open: Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black.
People have to camp out for tee times there these days.
When I lived in Manhattan, we would walk with our golf bags across town at 7:00am to the Long Island RR at Penn Station, take the train to Hicksville where the electrification stopped and changed to the gas train to Ronkonkoma; then disembark and walk 20 minutes to Bethpage State Park.
The wait by then was 2-3 hours. We’d eat breakfast in the cafeteria, hit balls at the driving range for another hour before teeing off for a 5 and 1/2 hour round of golf.
Then repeat the trip home and get back around 9 or 10pm.
You had to love golf to do that.
Fascinating journey!
I watched it as well than the Reds. Good to see Fleetwood get his first win in the biggest tournament of the year.
Steer is good and not the problem. McClain on the other hand might need to sit or get sent down. It’s time for Sal S. to make his major league debut.
Don’t look now but The Stupid Cubs now trail first place Milwaukee by only 5 games!
Reds are back to 1.5 games behind Mets for the last WC spot…This series was a nightmare until the 8th inning of today’s game but at the end is just a 1W-2L result which is not good because the expectations were to sweep or at least win it …Littell and Abbott had ugly outings but Singer could rebound the starting pitching…
Dbacks scored only 1 run on 2 hits today after scored 10 runs on 14 hits yesterday. That doesn’t happen only to the Reds apparently.
Tomorrow will start one of the toughest series left in this season against Dodgers at LA…Only hope the Reds win at least 1 game…Mets will face Phillies …
With Greene, Martinez, and Lodolo pitch, I really hope we take 2 out of 3.
The Reds can beat any team easily if they score runs. I expect them to win at least 2 out of 3 every series. The Dodgers are no different. Just have to score runs.
I should say that the Brewers are the exception.
Get a good nights sleep y’all, we have some sleep deprived tv watching ahead!
Steer breaks his 0-16 slump in a big way and it won the game.Friedl breaks his 0-11 slump later in the inning.Both can do it lets hope it continues.Marte is a player and because he uses the whole field just got to believe he could one day be a star.Singer held em down after the triple to the first batter and well every pitch he threw was high leverage.Got to admire him.A real professional.GO REDS.Hays with 3 hits and goodness we need him to be what he was the first month of the season.MM with a hit.Great day for the three players I called out early in the game so maybe I should do that again like maybe every game.Long as Reds win I will eat crow every night.GO REDS.
Good win to keep the streak alive.
I’ll be back almost to the point where you couldn’t find out scores to the late games for nearly two days … 😮
For those who are able to watch, my nightcap is tipped to you.
Proud of this team. Can’t say enough how valuable Singer has been for this team. What a trade it was Krall made. On the offense, I called for Marte and Steer to show up and they sure did. This offense can’t go anywhere without these two guys hit. Hays only uses half of the field but he was able to get three hits today. Again, so proud of this team. We have something no other team has. Something to cherish.
Singer was unbelievable. Really good offspeed today and just pounded the lefties inside which doesn’t sound smart on paper, but he kept it just off the plate
I know. When he pitches inside and his pitches break low, he is great. Man, these are the starts that I remember for a long time. We needed it and he delivered.
Singer. Trevino. Hayes. Andujar. Littell. Five pretty good trades by Krall lately.
Yep.
Yes, 5 very good trades. We need 1-2 more in the off season and we will be set. No big free agents are coming to Cincy. Have to develop or trade for talent.
Not a Steer fan really, but I will say he doesn’t only put up numbers in garbage time.
Most of his HRs and rbis mattered.
They’re not a really good team, but neither are the Mets and somebody has to win. Mets/Phillies Reds/Dodgers. We’ll see what happens? I’ll feel better with Lodolo and Burns back. That really gives Tito more options
Not only does he hit clutch, he also plays clutch defense at first base. I think a lot of fans don’t realize how good he is at playing hops/catching difficult throws at first. If Steer had as many chances at first base as Matt Olsen, he would be about the same as Olsen in terms of defensive war.
I agree and so does Brantley. Steer is not a consistent hitter and is having a down year, the reasons for which have been adequately discussed. Despite this, for 2024 and this season, he is second in baseball in extra-base hits with RISP. Seemingly improbable considering the stretches of futility he has endured., but he makes up for some of it with excellent defense, as you say. It means nothing, but I believe that he will bounce back next season.
Why isn’t anyone mentioning extending Singer? How much would he cost the team? $15 million a year? If you can get a guy who can log innings nowadays, that is a rare feat. Or will Singer be wanting/deserving more?
Reds have him another year. He’s a serviceable innings eater but not elite. Pitchers can go down with TJ or shoulder issues out of nowhere. So why now? Just wait til next year if he’s healthy and still fits the teams needs.
Singer is as advertised or perhaps better. Gives you 175 innings and 500 like record as a #4/#5 starter. We definitely should keep him next year. We have the studs above him but they have a tendency to spend time on the IL. Reference Greene and Lodolo. I would look to trade one of the young arms for a comparable young bat. Braves guys like Riley, Acuna, or Olsen would all seem to meet the definition.
Not necessarily Singer (which I’d be fine with) but this team needs 1-2 veteran inning eaters. We have 4-5 exciting young pitchers who have yet to throw 150 innings in a season. We’re gonna need a couple veterans who can take the ball every 5th day. Maybe that’s winger and Luttrell next year. But Martinez is such a leader and team first guy that I wouldn’t mind having him back in a more affordable contract.
I’ve been saying we should sign Singer to a 4 year, $60 million extension for weeks. The best ability is availability. Singer will make 32 starts, and 26 of them will keep us in the game.
Last thing: This is just my observation on EDLC but just watching him play this year compared to last years, he seems either too serious or maybe fighting depression? I know he’s been through some hard times with the loss of his sister, but I wonder if how the team has apparently not tried to wrap him up contractuarally, may cause some issues for him? We all know that they should have signed him earlier, but that boat may have already sailed.
Oh my, the things you read here lol.
The thing you read here? You mean being nice and showing empathy to a player we all root for? Ok.
They have tried to extend him. You really think they have not tried?lol. The boat sailed when he signed with his agent 3yrs. ago.He is heading to the LAD.
Yes been know for sometime now Reds can’t sign Elly. My ever so SINCERE wish is that we trade him whenever we get max value in return. If that means trading him this offseason then so be it. The haul would be significant and I am sure make the team better than holding on to Elly. The only chance albite a very small one to sign Elly is the new CBA looks like after it is agreed upon.
Lol, you think we haven’t tried extending him? As soon as he saw his buddy Juan sign a $765 million contract, it was over.
Elly has pretty clearly been playing at less than 100% since June. Speed decreased, power disappeared.
Per Statcast, his speed has been down a notch all season. However, I agree he doesn’t look 100 percent.
I really don’t think we should be diagnosing anyone with a mental health condition based upon watching him play baseball for a few hours each day.
At the beginning of the year many of the so called experts on local radio wondered who on this staff will be able to pitch 150 innings. Counting Zach L the Reds should gave 5 pitchers to reach that mark. Singer has really pitched well this year. Think this trade will go down as a win for the Reds.
The TySteve injury is really causing some problems. Any word on the extent of his injury?
Why? Everybody here wanted him gone and he was the worse catcher on the team. Heck Wynn’s was better. Now you want him back?
Hmm. I dont really it recall it exactly that way, but thrusting Banfield onto the roster at this point of the season is causing a lot of stress on the pitchers, Trevino, Francona, the bench. Pretty much everyone. TySteve was not as good as Wynns as a Red this season. He probably has more upside and he’s better than Banfield anywhere, anytime.
From Charlie Goldsmith:
“Stephenson will play catch on Monday, and that will be an important step.
“(Catching) in the bullpen is the biggest test,” Stephenson said. “If that feels good, that’s going to be as close to game reps as we’re going to get. It’ll be sooner than later. I don’t think it’s going to be too much longer, but I don’t know exactly. Tomorrow will be a test.”
What would this fan base do without Charlie Goldsmith ……and Doug Gray!
This is how Reds win. We have zero chance when SP struggles, thr offense is just not good enough to cover. When SP keeps us in the game, offense comes around in late inning to win it. Being Reds fan this year is not for thr faint of heart.
Steer although not having a great year Offensively, on his way to maybe 20 Hrs 75 RBIs. I think he’s actually one of the few 3 or 4 players you know what to expect from yearly on this team which is a good thing.
He’d be a part of the every day lineup in 2026 in my world. The expectations are probably too high for him though as he’s probably not a 1-4 type of hitter in a lineup. But having a player you can count on 20 Hrs and 75 Rbis or so every year is good overall.
Marte lost his way a bit for 2 games but quickly found his way and had another multi hit. He’s a natural hitter. Steer, once again with a couple runners on base he hits a HR. I feel like if Steer reduces his launch angle a bit, if he flats out his swing a bit to avoid hitting long fly ball, he’ll have more success. He’s a great number 6 hitter. Is Hayes getting the Bond treatment? He is walking a few times thr last couple of games. Teams are seeing what I saw when Hayes too thr first swing in Reds uniform that he can drive the ball.
“Do you expect me to walk, Goldfinger?”
“No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to strikeout.”
Good win, the 8th inning was fun (finally!!!)… but MAN do we need to clean up the defense! We’re just not good enough to give away outs like that.
We just need to clean up Elly…lol. Seriously that’s all we need to do.
Bats win 5-2 . Stewart 2-4 with a double . Kid has nothing else to prove at AAA right now. He can possibly help the Reds lineup
immediately . Happy for the Reds win today , but one offensive outburst does not hide the holes in this lineup . Gonna keep banging the drum for this guy to be in the bigs , and not 8 days from now . Obviously every single game is crucial from this point . Get off your tail Krall !!!!
His out to RF had an EV of 103.8.
Not aimed at anyone in particular, but for all those who love stats and bring them up in criticism of the team or players: unless the Reds are mathematically eliminated, please don’t decide the season is over until they play all 162 games.
100%%
Exactly! 31 games to go! I, for one, am not giving up on this Reds team when nearly 20% of the 2025 season remains!
https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1964-schedule-scores.shtml the 1964 Reds agree with you. 8.5 games behind on Sept 15th. 1 game AHEAD on Sept 27th.
But then lost 4 of last 5 games to lose pennant by 1 game.
The ’99 Reds choked the last 3 game series of the season and then lost a one-game playoff.
The 2013 Reds lost the last 6 games of the regular season.
Well if you decided they were done and wouldn’t win a playoff series then you’d be right 30 years in a row.
Reds won so nothing to complain about. Only 1.5 games out and a big series with Dodgers. Hopefully 2 out of 3 against LA.
Stewart can help the Reds, or he can go 2-30 like Jackson Holiday did when he got called up last year for Orioles.
At the same time the Reds are playing the Dodgers the Mets are hosting the Phillies for a 3-game series! Should be interesting!
I saw that. Phillies are playing good ball. Hate that they lost Wheeler though.
Kevin , I’ve already said I’m happy about the win – not complaining . He should be up here helping this lineup instead of the AAA lineup. … and he might obviously fail – some of the current reds hitters are not far from that same stat you mentioned are they !
Never know until he gets a chance … and he should get that chance now when he can maybe help , when it’s actually important . One game is not gonna change my mind that this team needs all the offensive help they can get .
Kevin never called you out so maybe you should go outside and breath keyboard warrior.
Not calling Kevin out JB – go take a long hike off a short pier my man .
Stating my opinion just like everybody else does . Get over it
The Angels swept the Dodgers.
So the Dodgers may be at their most dangerous now.
I’ll continue to pull for them
Whether they bring the kid up
Or not …. Just believe it’s time and he can possibly help the cause .
You don’t know about Stewart until he plays and he can’t play unless you bring him up.Its baseball and well Steer struck out his first two times today and then doubled breaking an 0-16 slump then homers to put the game away.He may go 8-16 or 0-16 or some where in between great and awful the next 4 games or so.You just don’t know but I feel Stewart can help.Reds are 18-16 since the break and I read they had the third best ERA since the break and of those 16 losses half of them were games they scored 2 runs or less.Would he have helped win a couple?Would he have caused us to lose a couple more? I am with you RedAlert I will pull for them regardless.
I am curious if Andujar gets put on the injured list. Hasn’t played a lot since it came out he was dealing with a leg injury. That would open a spot for a right handed DH.
43 straight series without getting swept, that’s something. 7 times in a row winning the last game of the series to avoid the sweep, that’s something. This team is something, both in a bad way and in a good way. Going into last week of August trailing the Mets 1.5 game for last WC spot with Mets coming to GABP in Sept. I don’t have a single complaint.
I hope the streak continues for the whole season. If they don’t make the playoffs, the Reds can make a banner stating: The 2025 Cincinnati Reds!! The only MLB team that wasn’t swept in a Series!! Remember the banner 44 years ago? The 1981 Cincinnati Reds!! MLB’s Best Season Record!! Unfortunately they didn’t make the playoffs that year because of the split season winner decision!!
I have the newspaper clipping (from the Rutland, VT Herald as it happens) showing them holding that banner. Displayed prominently in the downstairs bathroom.
On July 5, Steer had his highest OPS of the season at .727, Since then, prior to Sunday, his triple slash was .182/.273/.326 (OPS =.599) in 39 games, which had dropped his seasonal OPS to .687 (85 OPS+).
His consistency is that he has been streaky. He has big games and hot weeks, but he has struggled to get his OPS back above .700, let alone keep it there, since the falloff from .727 in early July. He went under .700 on July 22. Since July 22, he has had 7 days when his OPS was over .700 with a high of .706.
Some players have an off 2nd season, the sophomore blues. Steer has played well at 1B, but overall this season seems a step backward so far for him.
I’m not a trainer, physical therapist, or doctor; however, my suspicion is that much of Steer’s streakiness could correlate with his shoulder issue. Perhaps he gets a treatment, and when it takes hold, he has a hot streak. Then, as the impact of the treatment wanes, along with it, his performance wanes.
It would be interesting if somebody–not I–would research how many players are not streaky. I suspect that they’d be seriously outnumbered by those who are. Elly certainly seems to be streaky, but the eye test….I agree with Jim that some of Steer’s trouble is likely related to his shoulder injury, but it also could be, as it is with many young players who start out well, that the other teams have found their vulnerabilities and pitch them accordingly.
I think it was Larkin, or maybe Brantely, who mentioned one game that I was watching a while ago, comment that Steer tends to swing up and when he dips his back shoulder too low, he pops the ball up (when he’s not hitting he does seem to hit a lot of weak pop ups). Now, maybe his shoulder injury impacts that.
Great start by Singer! Another error by EDLC.
Random thoughts & numbers:
Steer still only .699 ops for the season (.602 ops vs lhp)
Hays 13 for last 37 (.351) but hasn’t homered in over a month and only 10 for the season. .678 ops vs rhp. We’re also tied for 23rd in HRs and the teams behind us play in huge parks where the opponent is limited too. KC, SD, Washington, Miami, SF, etc. Add to that Lux is a better 2B then LF.
With all that, no reason Sal Stewart can’t get in the lineup. We need Stewart and Burns to finish up strong.
Apparently, no one’s listening, Indy.
I commented above why the Reds should not let Steer block Stewart despite Steer’s big day on Sunday.
https://www.redlegnation.com/2025/08/24/spencer-steers-clutch-home-run-leads-cincinnati-reds-to-a-win/#comment-1095192
The problem with broad statements regarding Steer is that they don’t consider how predictably bad his first month was and how it weighs down his season numbers. As Charlie Goldsmith astutely points out, “Between May 1 and today, Steer has a solid .733 OPS. Now, he also has 14 homers during that stretch.”
https://x.com/CharlieG__/status/1959741237571002853
From Charlie’s chalkboard:
In all of MLB this season, there are eight players who are 23-or-younger, have 200+ big league plate appearances and have an OPS above .800: Nick Kurtz, Roman Anthony, Tyler Soderstrom, James Wood, Junior Caminero, Elly De La Cruz, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Marte.
While Marte has the fewest plate appearances in that group, he also has the second-best OPS among that group.
You could argue Noelvi Marte should be at the top of the list of Reds who should be extended…..although a strong case could be made for Andrew Abbott. I feel the Reds missed the window with EDLC, and Burns probably needs to prove he can give you a full healthy season.
Waiting on Burns could cost the team an addition $40-$80 million.
Marte’s rebound has saved this season. The Reds would be sniffing dust with the lizards if they didn’t have him.
“sniffing dust with the lizards.” I’d ask to borrow that, but nobody would believe that I’d thought of it.
It was one of the many great sayings from my high school trigonometry teacher. She had a bushel of them! “Sniffing dust with the lizards” was a common retort I would receive along with my graded test 🙂
+10000000
So Marte had 2 Little League HRs within the last month? He’s sneaky fast, aggressive running bases, forced opponents into making errand throws. Francona came to his senses and moved Steer out of 2nd spot. But Francona didn’t finish the job. Elly should slide to #2 and Marte #3. Marte is a better hitter and Elly is a better base stealer. Am I wrong?
That’s how I would arrange them.
Should we start a petition SultanofSwaff? 🙂
I prefer the best hitter in the #2 slot, and Marte breaks up the LH-hitting Friedl and the switch-hitting EDLC. I don’t know if you’re wrong, but there are good counter-arguments.
Good points. Let me add one more thing to my case. Elly walks more than Marte. I think if Elly is on base, the chance is higher for Marte to drive him in than the other way around. Elly hits into 19 or 20 double plays I think. Now if Friedl gets on base the way he did in first half of the season, I can see Marte bat 2nd. But Friedl is really struggling.
Good point on Elly walking more, but I was impressed w/Marte drawing 2 walks in this series. On 3-2 pitches if I’m not mistaken. Thats the next step for Marte since word is getting out that he can hurt you.
I may be wrong, but my memory is that Marte is one of the Reds’ players with better sprint speed than Elly’s this season.
Red’s 2025 sprint speed leaderboard (feet per second):
1. Hinds, 29.8
2. Dunn, 29.7
3. (tie) Benson, 29.2
3. (tie) McLain, 29.2
5. EDLC, 29.1
6. Marte, 29.0
7. Steer, 28.1
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/sprint_speed?min_season=2025&max_season=2025&position=&team=113&min=10
I was wrong. Thanks for doing the research, BK.
You’re welcome. The four fastest players currently on the roster are essentially the same speed. Hopefully, EDLC regains supremacy at some point.
I’m not so sure he’s not “turning it on” lately when he needs to. It would seem he did that recently when he scored from 1B twice in a game.
Btw I trust Krall (traded Castillo for Marte, traded India for Singer and picking up Littell, Andujar, and Hayes) so if Krall doesn’t think it’s time to promote Stewart, he has his reasons. We have enough offense right now if Francona is a better coach.
What could Francona do to make the current offense better?
It’s the things that he did do that hurt this offense like hit Steer 2nd or limited base stealing or pulled players out randomly. Shall I go on?
No need, but I personally find it difficult to judge managerial decisions because I lack much of the critical information that the manager has. I was puzzled by McLain batting 2nd so much, and feel that the Reds would be better if they were more aggressive in their base running.
Ok, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but what has Krall done for the Reds? The Cubs called up a kid and stuck him in the middle of their lineup. America is a land of 2nd guessers that don’t take “The Mans” word for it. We’re not Russia or North Korea or the Germans of 90 years ago. We can think critically and decide for ourselves. Take 51 runs away that were scored in 3 games and where would be offensively? Poor. Weak. Inept
Krall did the things I spelled out in my message.
Re: “Take 51 runs away that were scored in 3 games and where would be offensively?”
That’s a good question. Take away the top 3 scoring games from every MLB team, compute the the new league average R/G and let us know where the Reds settled on that list. We’ll wait.
Lol. I get it, but 40+ games and counting with 2 or less says it all. If we were middle of the road with HRs or top 3 steals like were before then we’d be 4-5 games up on the Mets minimum
Re: “I get it, but 40+ games and counting with 2 or less says it all.”
Is that as bad as you think?
The Reds are 18th out of 30 MLB teams with 43 G of 2 or less R scored. The average MLB team has 41 G of 2 or less R scored.
Team Range G W L WP
NYY 0-2 R 30 3 27 0.100
LAD 0-2 R 32 4 28 0.125
Ari 0-2 R 32 4 28 0.125
Mil 0-2 R 33 2 31 0.061
Tor 0-2 R 33 6 27 0.182
Det 0-2 R 34 8 26 0.235
NYM 0-2 R 36 6 30 0.167
Ath 0-2 R 36 2 34 0.056
Phi 0-2 R 37 8 29 0.216
LAA 0-2 R 37 5 32 0.135
Sea 0-2 R 38 8 30 0.211
TB 0-2 R 38 2 36 0.053
Atl 0-2 R 38 3 35 0.079
Bal 0-2 R 39 5 34 0.128
CHC 0-2 R 40 7 33 0.175
Bos 0-2 R 41 9 32 0.220
Cle 0-2 R 42 3 39 0.071
Cin 0-2 R 43 5 38 0.116
STL 0-2 R 43 5 38 0.116
Mia 0-2 R 43 4 39 0.093
SF 0-2 R 43 3 40 0.070
SD 0-2 R 45 13 32 0.289
Min 0-2 R 45 5 40 0.111
Hou 0-2 R 46 12 34 0.261
Was 0-2 R 48 5 43 0.104
Tex 0-2 R 49 10 39 0.204
KC 0-2 R 50 10 40 0.200
CHW 0-2 R 51 4 47 0.078
Col 0-2 R 53 2 51 0.038
Pit 0-2 R 55 12 43 0.218
Total 0-2 R 1230 175 1055 0.142
AVG TM 0-2 R 41 6 35 0.142
@Tom – Absolute gold! Thanks for the info!
Wow! I wouldn’t have guessed that. Thanks, Tom.
Kansas City is 3 games back of the wildcard in the AL.
Jac Caglianone was drafted in the 1st round, and slashed .335/.399/.617 in AA/AAA this year.
He was promoted to KC, made a regular, and has slashed .147/.205/.280 in 161 PAs.
He has single handedly damaged KC’s playoff chances. The chasm between AAA and MLB is wide.
For those wanting a Stewart promotion now and benching Steer or whoever, there is another negative outcome you are NOT considering.
I think thats been considered, but can he do worse then Steers .602 ops vs lhp? Or MM? Or Elly/Hays with 1 HR combined since July 19?
The bar is so low there is no bar
First of all, Caglianone had a much better year than Stewart in MiLs and has a .485 OPS in MLB, so yeah, much worse is possible.
Secondly, he will be a big downgrade at either 1B or 2B defensively.
So it’s very possible he’s much worse than what we’ve got. I don’t think that has been considered, just based on your response to my first comment,
I consider everything my friend, but I am also a gambler and unconventional. Have you considered KC is a huge park and this kids ops there was .359? Maybe it got in his head? Idk? Stewart might not be ready, but maybe he could help?
I called for Andujar last year. I called for the Reds to pick up Sonny Gray, Castellanos, Puig, and others they eventually got. Didn’t particularly like Moose or Candy. I haven’t seen Stewart at all except for video, but I’m not particularly impressed with Hays or Lux in LF. Steer disappears for 6 weeks at a time before maybe 10 decent days of production. Thats who he is. We need more.
Reds no playoff series wins in 30 years! They should think like George Costanza and do the opposite of their original leaning
I agree the bar at 1B and 2B is rather low. Bringing a guy up and hope that he adds pizzaz to your offense isn’t a 5 year contract at $30M per. It is somewhat a shot in the dark and may not work. But how is that any different to what we have now which is rather weak. Bring him up and if it doesn’t work, send him back down. It is a 10 day experiment hoping or expecting to get an offensive jolt. Do we really believe our tepid offense is going to get us to 88 wins?
It amazes me how little RLN commenters value defense. As if it is an after-thought.
Stewart is not viable at 2B (per Doug) due to lack of range, and he has played just one game in his career at 1B. So he’s not viable defensively at either position. And currently Steer and McLain are playing plus defense at their respective positions.
But most commenters only talk about the marginal offensive upgrade. Which, when added to the huge defensive downgrade, is almost surely to be negative overall.
After seeing Friedl HDP with the based loaded, taking away a chance for Marte to hit with the bases loaded, I think there should be an intentional strike out, just like intentional walk. Managers with guts will call for intentional strike out as they see fit. How about that for a change?
I was surprised–a little, anyway–that Friedl didn’t bunt in that situation.
Me too. That said, the short stop was in exactly the right place, otherwise it would have been a single easily…the pitcher had to duck to not get hit by it.
Just a quick look at hitting measured by OPS+ by player in August for starters, who are logging their worst month of the season. All were on the Reds roster before the trade deadline:
Friedl – 65
McLain – 39
EDLC – 59
Hays – 60
Other starters who were on the Reds roster before the deadline:
Steer – 91
Marte – 146
Lux – 116
Starters added at the deadline:
Andujar – 179
Hayes – 119
The offensive woes are due to the players in the first group. For the next few series, I suggest:
– SS: platoon EDLC and McLain (give them both a chance to rest more as we hit the most grueling part of the season). Not forever, just a few series.
– 2B platoon Lux and Espinal.
– LF: platoon Benson and Hays
– DH: Andujar
– RF: Marte
– CF: Friedl (I would work Benson into CF once a week for the next few series)
– 1B: Steer (if I were to insert Stewart, this is where I would play him, pushing Steer to 2B platoon partner to Lux, and leaving McLain temporarily optioned. This alternative is only feasible if Stewart can play 1B at a major league level immediately.)
– 3B: Hayes
– C: Trevino/Banfield
At one point, 4 players in first group were 1-4 batters in daily line up, how awful it was. Anyhow, action has been taken on MM, check. No action taken for the other 3. Switch Hayes and Friedl spots? My eyes say Elly has been awful and the stats show. He should not be batting 3rd. These are all the things within Francona control to make changes. It’s not Better Call Saul. It’s Better call Francona.
Elly hasnt been awful. His power numbers are down a tad, however to say he has been awful is not accurate .
Elly is an enigma this year. We know that he’s had an ongoing hamstring issue, and might assume that this would negatively impact his speed and his power. We may not know how much until next season.
Wow… thanks for doing that legwork, BK.
Other than a handful of bright spot, that is… pretty grim. Worse than I realized.
Honestly it’s a testament to the pitching that we’re still on the fringes of contention!
The quality of the pitching staff is a big reason why the Reds haven’t been swept this season.
After a good offseason, and now a good to great deadline, Krall should get consideration for MLB Exec of the year.
For the way the core team has played offensively, he should be commended for the acquisitions he has made.
Last offseason or this year at deadline:
Singer
Andujar
Littel
Hays
Hayes
Trevino
Martinez
Lux
Prior years:
Marte (prev trade)
Pagan
Steer (prev trade)
Barlow
Suter
Then add the success of pitching in the draft to that.
He’s had a great run in putting this team together for sure. It’s about time he gets some national recognition in my opinion.
I agree, as his body of work has been mostly positive. I’ll add, he also hired Tito Francona. While I don’t think managers are enormous difference makers, it’s hard to miss the passion and care for players that he brings to the table every day. It’s easy to see why he is a future Hall of Fame manager.
Yes, Francona hire was a positive for sure.
He’s had some misses, Candelario being the most obvious, but way more hits than misses. It’s not easy to do what he’s done considering the budget he has to work with.
I would add that our pitching coach/director – DJ- has been very important to developing some content pitching development the last 3 years.
I believe his contract is up this year. Hopefully it will be a non-issue and he will re-up this off season.
I agree he is definitely not awful but to say his power numbers are down a tad is just not true, they almost don’t exist.
So maybe we should wait for his OPS+ to drop to 40 to call him awful? I didn’t post the stats. BK did. Numbers don’t lie.
Worst months of the season, then yes I agree he has struggled. I was going for overall season so far Cincy. My apologies for not reading further up.
If we look at his stats from last year to this year he is on pace to match those numbers. I dont necessarily follow all the analytical numbers. I compare last season to this season to date.
Wow.
Your ‘analytical’ method is certainly a unique one, but not a surprise.
Think it through.
EDLC has hit one HR in his last 30 games.
He’s “on pace” to hit 1.5 more over the rest of the season.
You know Centexred.
Pretty tired of your harassment on my post. As your condescending nature is rude.
Evidently no Sal Stewart today. The Bats are off. Would have been a perfect time.
Maybe they don’t want him to have to endure a flight to L.A., Melvin.
Knowing Big Bob & Son he might be on the bus? 😉
Barring an injury, I don’t think Stewart gets a promotion before Friday. Having him face Kershaw and Ohtani in his first taste of the big leagues would not be very smart. The problem is that our trade deadline acquisitions, one of which I found exceptionally curious and panned in multiple posts, are working out so well that 3B and DH, the best places to play Stewart, aren’t the positions in need of a hitting upgrade. I’m not against Stewart (or Andujar) playing 1B, but I understand why the Reds may not see that as a great move.
Atleast put Lux at 2B and get MM out of the lineup. Subbing Benson for MM improves your offense and defense in LF vs Lux. Its a no brainer to me…they’ve given MM enough rope already
I’d DH/1B Stewart too, but I get that the defense would suffer. You could attempt to get the lead w/offense and then sub in defensively.
Per my post above, I would start Lux at 2B and Benson in LF against RHP. Positive offensive improvement with little to no change defensively. Lux is BAD in LF, average at 2B.
Hey, we’re all still passionately posting our viewpoints because the Reds are playing meaningful baseball headed to Labor Day weekend. Not entirely happy but this is what you want.
Pagan and Snatillan have been bright spots in the bullpen, the SP has been good and Noelvi Marte is arguably the Reds best hitter and seemingly a cornerstone RF for the long term.
Go Reds!
+10,000
Marte is certainly an interesting character for the Reds.
Recall they traded Luis Castillo for him, arguably the best pitcher the team has had in a couple decades.
RLN headhunters were ready to run Marte out of town this time last year, with the thickest heads positing that his 2023 successes were due to the PEDs he didn’t start taking until an injury in Fall 2023 DR league.
But that’s how it goes around here.
He certainly has been looking good at the plate and seemingly adapting to the pitchers adapting to him.
Dodgers pitching will be a real test.
He may be the real deal, the likes we haven’t seen since the heyday of JV.
I look for Marte to outpace EDLC in 2026.
Which would really be something.
Mo Egger says be good or be interesting. The Reds are toeing the line on both. Im going to buy tickets this weekend. Weather is stunning in Cincinnati and say what you want but this team is resilient and finds a way to be relevant. They have huge warts for sure. But, Im not quitting on this team and I will stay the course.
I like everything you wrote her CentexRed until you mentioned JV. I want Marte to be anything except JV. Anything.
Okay….I was thinking of Votto in his consistent, productive prime.
I suppose there are other Vottos that folks can get itchy about.
Not sure what the jinx is there, but no I don’t think there is much chance of Marte going Canadian on us.
I’d be okay with the .400+ half season BA Votto put in.
Yeah, we absolutely don’t need another Joey Votto. The guy who is 2nd in Team history in OPS, 4th in all time for the Reds in Offensive WAR, 2nd in OBP, 6th in slugging, 4th in runs scored, 6th in hits, first in total walks, 2nd
In doubles, 2nd in total bases, 2nd in home runs and third in RBIs. But, you are right, the last thing this team needs is another Joey Votto.
Apparently, the Reds approached Barry Larkin about their managerial opening before hiring Terry Francona.
Barry was a great player, but I am so glad he is not managing the Reds
https://www.si.com/mlb/reds/news/cincinnati-reds-approached-franchise-legend-about-manager-job-before-hiring-terry-francona-01k3ezkk6zds
I don’t know what kind of manager Larkin would be, but getting Francona was a grand slam oppo taco homerun. It’s hard to top adding a future Hall of Fame manager to the dugout.
So a few things – Larkin did not directly say he was asked before Francona in the sense that they asked him after firing David Bell. He said that they asked him “early”. Given what we actually know about how the Francona situation played out, and then Larkin talking about him being a grandfather and all of that, he almost certainly was not saying that at some point in 2024 in September did the Reds ask him to be their manager, but that early on when he was joining the Reds organization. Which was 8 years ago.
Also – not that I expect anything less from SI’s Reds conglomerate but “Reds approached franchise legend about manager job” instead of just saying they approached Barry Larkin…. sucks. Just infuriating that every single day they publish 3-5 “articles” with the most vague titles possible, then tweet out “Wow!” or “Whoa!” with the article link. Have some self respect.
Phillies 3-0. Senga getting worked. Reds don’t need to be great, just keep grinding and they could get the Mets
Wow. 2 outs nobody on and the Mets have scored 3 with 2 more on vs Sanchez. The Reds don’t have enough bats to rally like that
Averages after 130+ games for 30 MLB teams will get you every time.For example the Reds record at 5 and 38 with scoring 2 runs or less is accurate.Also what is accurate is that in 16 of those those losses the other team only scored 3 runs or less.Reds lost 1-0 4 times,2-0 once,2-1 twice,3-1 they lost 3 times,and 3-2 six times.Thats 42% of their losses which I feel we can agree were in low scoring games.Its also obvious most teams do not do well when scoring two runs or less.A loss Is a loss but 10-1 like the other right is just different then the losses I listed.Reds also lost 4 games when the other team only scored 4 runs.Maybe its the same for all teams or maybe it isn’t.Used to be a stat I think where you take the run differential for a team and can calculate what there record should be vs was it actually is.If so I wonder what the Reds record would be.
I believe you are referencing Pythagorean win/loss records, which are based on run differential. The Reds are -3. The league totals are here (hint, scroll down):
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB-standings.shtml
Lux is underrated. I think he was a good pick up. I would play him over McClain at 2B at this point, if he does not play elsewhere. McClain has hit terrible this year.