The Cincinnati Reds never trailed on Monday afternoon until the 9th inning when Toronto took the lead. But Cincinnati’s offense came through as they scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th against two Blue Jays relievers to pick up a much needed walk-off win to start the final month of the year.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Blue Jays (79-59) | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (70-68) | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Zulueta (1-0) L: Little (4-2) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Sometimes the Reds defense giveth, but sometimes it taketh. After George Springer led off the game with a single he stole second base. But Addison Barger hit a liner up the middle and Elly De La Cruz leaped and caught it, then when he landed he dove to tag the bag to double off Springer.
The Reds offense came out swinging in the 2nd inning. Gavin Lux doubled to get things started. That brought Sal Stewart to the plate for his first big league plate appearance and he hit a soft liner over the shortstop for a single to put runners on the corners for Ke’Bryan Hayes. The Reds third baseman doubled to the wall in left-center. Lux scored easily, and Stewart made a good read on the ball and took off and scored from first base as Cincinnati took a 2-0 lead.
Hunter Greene was cruising with a lead. He had kept Toronto off of the board through the top of the 6th inning. That was important because like the Blue Jays, the Reds only had three hits to that point.
In the bottom of the 6th, though, Elly De La Cruz tripled to lead off the inning and put the Reds in a good spot to add to their lead. But a pop up and two groundouts followed and De La Cruz was stranded at third base as Cincinnati failed to add to their 2-run lead.
Toronto was able to break through against Greene in the top of the 7th. He would get a fly out to begin the inning, but Bo Bichette followed with a double and then Greene walked Daulton Varsho. Closing in on 100 pitches he was left in the game to face Alejandro Kirk and Kirk came through with a blooper RBI single into left field to cut the Reds lead to 2-1. That hit ended the day for Greene as Scott Barlow came in out of the bullpen with runners on 1st and 2nd and just one out. The move worked out as Barlow would get a fly out and a ground out to get out of the jam.
Cincinnati would get the leadoff batter on in the bottom of the 7th, but a poorly executed sacrifice bunt attempt by Jose Trevino led to a force out at second. TJ Friedl would pick up a 2-out single, but a strikeout by Noelvi Marte would end the frame as another opportunity went by.
After a shutout 8th from Tony Santillan, the Reds sent Emilio Pagan to the mound to try and hold onto the 2-1 lead in the 9th. A chopper on the infield turned into an infield hit for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto sent a pinch runner out there for him, but it wouldn’t matter because Bo Bichette hit a 2-run home run to put the Blue Jays in front. Six pitches later Daulton Varsho made it back-to-back home runs to push the lead to two runs. After getting a ground out, Pagan was replaced by Yosver Zulueta who threw seven pitches to get two outs and send the game to the bottom of the 9th.
Cincinnati wasn’t going to just roll over without a fight. Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a single, and then Matt McLain came through with a 1-out single of his own. The Blue Jays then went to their bullpen to bring in lefty Brandon Little to face TJ Friedl. Little fell behind 2-0 to Friedl and came in with a fastball, but Friedl turned on it and doubled into the right field corner. Hayes scored easily, and McLain followed as he sprinted around the bases. Toronto challenged the play as the ball was lodged between the padding in the wall and they won the challenge, sending McLain back to third base and taking a run off of the board for the time being.
That set up Noelvi Marte for a chance to be a hero. And a hero he was as he battled for five pitches before hitting a hard grounder into left field that saw McLain score easily and Friedl sprint around third and slide to the infield side of the plate just ahead of the throw as the Reds walked it off for a 5-4 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Noelvi Marte’s walk-off 2-run single.
Notes Worth Noting
Hunter Greene lowered his ERA to 2.70 on the season. He now has 101 strikeouts in his 83.1 innings pitched over his 15 starts.
Ke’Bryan Hayes had three hits on the afternoon. In his 29 games with the Reds he’s now hitting .274/.343/.453 with 10 extra-base hits. He only had 14 extra-base hits in 100 games this season with Pittsburgh and only 13 with the Pirates in 96 games in 2024.
Both starting pitchers threw over 100 pitches in this game. No stats or data to back this up, but that feels like a rarity in today’s game.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Toronto Blue Jays vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday September 2nd, 6:50pm ET
Jose Berrios (9-5, 3.95 ERA) vs Nick Lodolo (8-7, 3.22 ERA)
Good game. Glorious blue sky here in Cincinnati today. If only there were all like this.
A good start to my 75th trip around the Sun. I completed my 74th trip yesterday.
Happy birthday, Ot!
Happy Birthday Sir! My Dad will be 83 on the 3rd
Happy birthday, Oldtimer! I’m glad the Reds gave you a great present today.
Happy bd Oldtimer. We have to travel around the Sun a few times to see a Reds walk off like this. Worth the trip though.
Happy birthday old man! Will complete my 72nd trip around the sun later this year on December 28th!
Dennis you are assuming Oldtimer is male.
Happy birthday, but as long as we both are breathing this air, I’ll have a year and small change on you 🙂
Happy birthday, OT. I’m going to a grandson’s 15th birthday party in a couple of hours.
Thanks to all above,
Some birthday magic provided by the rally Reds. Happy Birthday OT.
Happy Birthday OT. I watched the game with my 101 year old dad. He and I went to our first Reds game in 1960 at Crosley Field.
You beat me and my old man by six years, Bob.
Happy birthday, Oldtimer. Glad the Reds got you a win for your birthday, and usually appreciate at least 75% of your comments 😉
OT the OG
Congrats, OT!
Happy Birthday!
Happy Birthday! Glad the Reds helped you celebrate.
Happy birthday big guy. 🙂
Thanks again to all above.
Happy Birthday Virgo! I’m not so big on astrology, but your posts could certainly support the idea that you’re level-headed and detail oriented.
Happy Birthday OT!
Happy Birthday OT!
Happy birthday. Here is hoping the Reds win one for you today.
Okay, so now we know that Andujar is healthy enough to hit.
Why would Francona leave the best hitter on the team outta the lineup?
This guy plays favoritism more than a little league coach with kids on the team.
Andujar is battling a quad injury and may not be in a condition to even DH the entire game.
Why do you assume it’s arbitrary favoritism? Do you really think Tito wants to keep a hot bad out of the line up simply out of some arbitrary reasons?
1000% Tom
Battle that bad attitude with 100% FACTS. More of this, please!
I don’t think its favoritism at all but I do think that Hays plays in to the situation.Since his last IL stint Hays rarely goes back to back days in left field often rotating daily with Lux who was in left today.Tito said in regards to Stewart and I must paraphrase some in that he will not forget the players who have been grinding all year in that it wouldn’t be right to forget them and he wouldn’t forget them.Just to be real and I get it cause it’s real Anjujar and Stewart will not play any more then Hays Lux and Steer because of what Tito said.Three positions for 5 players just doesn’t work at any time of the year.It may be a game by game thing for Tito based on the previous day and matchups.
Tito does have a mismatch of players suited for positions. Couple that with a mix of nagging injuries and I think he’s trying to get the best available bats in the line up and keep players playing enough to stay ready. That’s not favoritism – that’s managing a ball club in a playoff race. I realize most of us haven’t seen that in so long we’re confused by it.
I will beat the drum again to eliminate the ridiculous pitcher “win”. Hunter Greene pitches a great game, 6 1/3 innings and just 1 run with 7 strikeouts. But since Pagan blew the lead, the “win” goes to… Yosver Zulueta, who faced a grand total of 2 batters.
Stupid stat. The only “win” that matters is the one the Reds got as a team.
pitcher wins are like snowfall totals.
??
Gotta keep winning, and this weekend will be a playoff atmosphere.
And gotta keep hitting to keep on winning.
22K fans at the game on a perfect Cincinnati day today.
And a lot of traveling on the long end of summer weekend.
I noticed that too Tom. Pitiful showing by the cincy metro area. No wonder they can’t afford to pay anyone.
Diamondbacks had almost 40,000 fans at every game the Reds played them recently. And their team is completely out of it and sold everything they could at the trade deadline.
The Ke’Bryan Hayes acquisition is looking better every day!
I will gladly admit that I was wrong about that. He is a ballplayer!
Ditto. If he hits .250/yearly and plays third like we have seen, that’s a big win for the Reds.
Maybe a slightly higher bar than 250. Primary reason I say that is his salary at $30M for 4 yrs is a little steep for a #8/#9 hitter. With his D, I would certainly settle though for an OPS north of 700. Similar to Steer’s production except I need a lot more from one of the corner IFs in the power and RBI dept. Go get Vlad and KeBryan 700+ OPS will work just fine.
Vlad just signed a huge contract so that isn’t happening
I think Hayes is going to turnout to be a nice add. But far far short of the offensive piece(s) that this team will need to get to 88 wins imo. And that was the objective at the trade deadline no matter if the Mets lose 11 of 12 again. Just think we are going way overboard here for a guy hitting 244 135 games into the season. From an offensive standpoint, we already have about 4 too many of these guys. Nice piece, will help the Reds for several years, defensive whiz, but not the difference maker we needed (and will need in 2026) to capture a playoff spot.
He certainly seems to be a better/smarter player/hitter than advertised. Hope he keeps it up. It’s nice to have a good feeling of no worries when a ball is hit to him.
Melvin,
I never heard any knocks against anything other than his bat. But he’s turned that around significantly since the trade.
Just to remind us: Steer had an .820 OPS two years ago and has been playing hurt since then. And a BA North of .250– aside from the fact that BA is among the less meaningful hitting stats–is above league average. Reasonable expectation, I guess, but Hayes provides defense that is far above league average, and given the number of games in which the Reds dug themselves deep holes with poor defense, it’s clear to me that shoring up the team’s fielding, with its benefits to the pitching, is also a very pressing need.
Same here. I didn’t like this trade at all, but he’s been pretty good at the plate since he arrived. It’s hard to know if it’s small sample size with it only being a month. At the same time, if he can prove to be even slightly below average with elite defense he’s a valuable player. So hopefully there were some tangible changes to his approach and what we’re seeing is real and sustainable. Because even with his hot streak his overall season line is pretty dreadful. Hope he keeps it up because it makes the offseason needs more straightforward not having to worry about upgrading 3B.
Hayes since coming to the Reds – .274/.343/.453
If he keeps that up paired with his defense you won’t hear any complaints from me.
Ops+ of 113 since he’s been in Cincinnati now. That is 13% above league average one of the best players on our team. Yes, well worth the money.
Other than Ramon Laureano (who I wanted), he’s probably the top producing trade deadline acquisition this year.
I think Ke’ Bryan is pleased with the trade to the Reds, and he’s out to prove he’s a better hitter than commonly assumed.
Well, I am sure it is hard to give your best for a team that has zero chance of winning. I know he is a professional player, but it could not have been easy to give it his all in a Pirates Uniform.
I liked the trade from the beginning because this team needed defensive help so badly. I figured he would hit for a little more playing at GABP.
I would imagine one’s outlook and hitting would improve leaving the Pirates. As bad as our team has been for as long as it has been I would think we have been better than the Pirates.
It seems to me that I heard that the Pirates wanted him to pull everything and the Reds thought that changing that approach would help.
Hitting .274 as a Red so far. A change of scenery and organizational hitting approach seems to have been an elixir for him.
Unfortunately, the Mets also won, so the Reds remain 4 back.
Amazing after their recent swoon that the Reds still have a slim chance.
Cardinals are losing, so we gain a game. See how SF and Arizona fare later. Great come back win no matter what though.
AZ lost, SF won.
Even more amazing is that the Mets have beaten the 1st place Phillies 3 times (a sweep) and now the 1st place Tigers for a total of 4 wins against 1st place teams in their last 8 games! On the flip side the Mets lost 3 of 4 games against the Marlins at home!
Baseball is truly unpredictable!
Hallelujah! A devastating loss that this would have been averted. Gotta keep it going these next two and who knows… take it to the Mets this weekend.
Is it just me or does it look like Matty McLain is slowly breaking out of his season long hitting funk?
Just maybe. He’s probably aware that Stewart has been some 2b at AAA 😉
Exactly. Hearing footsteps. Competition’s a good thing
Yes, I think MM heard Stewart’s footsteps.
@Jim, I don’t think he’s hearing the lumbering footfalls of Stewart. Stewart is not a 2B, we are not going back to having Moustakas, and Suarez at a middle infield position.
Stewart is going to be fighting to stay at 1B, if not DH is his likely position.
A little bit late in my opinion
Season started in March
I cautiously agree, Dennis. Almost afraid to mention it.
He’s no longer setting up in the batters box a mile from the plate.
There are positive signs. I would not have predicted such after 5 months. That looked kind of permanent to me.Would be great if he had a solid month.
A side comment: We need a second catcher. Aren’t there any out there on the waiver wire? Trevino looks worn out and Banfield is no better than a Dayton player.
Greene Day. 19 in a row minus the great hitting by Bichette. Francona kinda clueless in his post game conference on his evaluation of Greene, saying he was “pretty good.” I mean WTF Francona? Greene was pretty spectacular for the second straight season. If he stays healthy he’s a Cy Young candidate. Excellent at locating his pitches and with his pitch selection.
Great for Stewart and his family. Even in his 2nd at bat when he fouled off some great pitches. Hayes was huge. His bat has been pretty impressive. Even when making outs he’s making good contact. Marte came back after a brief rough 10 or so at bat stretch. He’s probably the best hitter on the team. Elly and Terry Lee with some big hits too. Lucky all those prior stranded runners didn’t come back to bite them in the end.
What a big win. Nice way to start the series and build some momentum down the stretch and prepare for next season.
Hayes may still be riding the high of being traded to a contender. Let’s absolutely hope it stays that way.
Gonna go out on a limb here and say that Hunter Greene will put it all together for 9 innings and pitch a no-hitter in his career! Not necessarily this season, but in the coming years!
Pitch a complete game, probably. A No hitter. I would be surprised. He can be lights out for sure, but he also tends to give up a decent number of round trippers. He also tends to only go 6 innings most of the time because his pitch counts per inning are too high.
Francona pointed out that Greene had to battle through a bit of a command issue early. I presume that we all saw the full counts. But he’s great pitcher and he got past it. Tito seems to call ’em as he sees ’em, and I appreciate the absence of gratuitous happy talk.
I guess I didn’t see it like Francona did. Greene looked pretty lights out all game minus some good hitting by Bichette. I thought Greene worked the zone extremely well and mixed his pitches nicely. Outside of Bichette only 2 hits allowed and 1 walk.
And I absolutely love a straight shooter as a manager. Please don’t sugar coat things in that position. If a guy is great, give him praise, if a guy stunk it up you can call it that way too.
I was just miffed by his comments as far as Greene.
Speaking of Greene, so good to have him back on the mound. The guy has matured a ton and has become so dominant.
Nice grit from Cinci!
Hat tip to the FO for the Hayes’ trade, nobody could have had foreseen such hitting level. Nice debut for both roster additions, Stewart with a hit in his first at bat and Zulueta with the win.
I pulled a Clete to take a shower and came back out, opened the app on the TV to check the score, and saw we had a chance. The GR2B was, I thought, going to be a killer. But low and behold, we pulled a whole family of rabbits out of our 9th inning hat … 😮
Winning games does the most to raise hopes.
Maybe this comeback is the psychological boost this team needed to finish with a strong September.
One can only hope.
1-0 in September! One game at a time for the final 24 games!
Sal Stewart getting a hit in his first big league bat was a high point of the season for me, so far. He’s a big addition for the Reds, plus he has personality. I like Sal’s waving the bat high in the air. It reminds me a bit of the stance of Stan Musial.
The Reds haven’t had many (if any) comebacks like this one, this year ! What an inning the 9th was today … to give up three and lose the lead by 2 going into the bottom of it, and then to turn it around, tie it, and then lose a challenge, only to come thru in the clutch and win it on a walk-off … Wow ! What emotion ! Come what may, this is what the Reds can do, and we hope to see many more before it’s all over.
Reds up to 4.7%. Unlikely, but these things happen regularly in sports. The Mets seems to be playing better though. McLean, their rookie starter, has really given them a boost. They are on a 10 game road trip. I could see them splitting these last 2 in Detroit, 1-2 in Cincinnati, and 1-3 in Philly. The Reds could sweep the Jays or win 2 of 3 in SD. Either one puts the Reds at 75-71 going into Friday Sept 12 and the Mets at 77-70. They’d own the tiebreaker and 1.5 out. Thats about the best we could realistically hope for. We need help.
Atleast a decent part of the team seems set for next year. Steer might be a Ben Zobrist type and give us 350 at-bats or so as kind of a floater. Or he might win 2B straight up. I’m assuming they don’t get a big bat, but you never know? Currently we’d be looking at Marte and Friedl with Lux, Andujar, Hinds, and Rodriguez in the mix.
Lux is a tricky one imo. Hitting .290 (.779 ops) vs rhp, but only 5 HRs. You could put almost any corner OF type in Gabp and they’d hit 15 HRs in 400+ at-bats. And then there’s his arm in LF. Ugggh. Idk? Those #s would look good at 2B for sure, but you have MM and Steer. I think I might trade Lux or Steer with a prospect or whoever for a nice established bullpen piece if they could pull it off.
Both Lux and Steer could be traded, but we may see them platoon in LF next season. I hate to say it, but that would be a typical move by this organization.
I know Marte drove in the winning runs but Ke Hayes was a key piece for the today’s victory. This guy brought home the first 2 runs of the game and lead-off the 9th inning with a huge single to spark the come back. I wonder if additionally to his great defense Hayes can hit well with the Reds consistently , it will be a very nice acquisition under a cheap contract to the next years…
Lodolo should be really carefull tomorrow facing Guerrero Jr. and Bichette…especially the latter who crushed the Reds pitching today…
Stewart looked pretty good in his debut…very emotional…
Off topic (sort of). OTD on 1965 (60 years ago) the Reds were in 1st place in NL after sweeping the Braves on September 1st.
PS the Reds finished 8 games behind the Dodgers in 1965. September was not kind to us.
Great win. Maybe this is a spark.
Is there anywhere that one can find the Reds success % on sacrifice bunts? I’m curious if it is over 20%
@jessecuster44
Well, when you use catchers that can’t bunt, and players who have Never! bunted before in their pro career, percentages can’t be expected to be high.
the sample size would be to small. Pitchers used to know how to bunt, at least some of them. Friedl is the only one who can lay one down, and it took him a couple of tries to get there this year. Having Banfield bunt successfully the other day and move the runners up to 2nd and 3rd was really good, and then some guy said we gave up an out to do that… what the heck ! Would you have rather had him hit away with a Dbl Play as a serious option. How many times have we seen the Reds put men on 1st and 2nd to see them get stranded. Bunting puts pressure on the Defense. Knowing how to bunt should be part of every hitters repertoire. The Brewers use bunts to good success.
I think the Banfield bunt attempt was not successful.
Pitcher grabbed it and got the runner at 3rd.
I like bunts. But the guy who mentioned giving up an out put his finger on why they aren’t as common or, evidently, taught intensively: sac bunts, overall, decrease the likelihood of scoring. I agree that there are situations in which they make sense.
If Lodolo #40 pitches like he did last week in his first 3 innings, we got action. Go Nick! Pitch Lila an ace Baby.
Great comeback win there, boy if the Reds would have lost because of a “wedged” ball in the wall that would have been rough.
I was a little surprised the crowd was only at about 22,000 today on Labor Day. I know back to school and work tomorrow for most, but I thought Labor Day games usually were pretty well attended especially against a first place interesting team like the Blue Jays and the Reds hanging in the playoff race. Makes me think the fans as a whole maybe think the Reds don’t have much of a chance after the recent slump.
Bichette would be a nice player to have in Cincy if he kept the kind of production he’s had this year. I’m surprised pitchers don’t move him off the plate a little more, it looks like he kind of hovers over the plate.
Stewart seems like a fun guy, and a competitor! I think it’s good they brought him up, and hopefully he can get consistent at-bats. Reds Offense still just so inconsistent, but showed a lot of heart winning this game as a team.
Football > Reds unless they give them reason to change their thinking, but they usually don’t
Indy are you a Colts fan? Might be a long year with Anarumo running the Colts Defense and Daniel Jones as the Colts QB! As a Bengals fan actually I’ll always have great memories of Anarumo’s Defense on the run to the Super Bowl. I feel like his D’s are more suited for veterans though, so think the young guys the last couple years on the Bengals D couldn’t quite pick it up.
I am, but I kind of gave up a few years ago with Matt Ryan. He had no arm left whatsoever and they paid him a ton. Did they even try him out or give him a physical? We needed a new D coord for years, but they’re already down to their 4th CB on the one side. Ugly. If Taylor runs for 1400+ then they might be decent like 9-8 borderline wildcard chase
Yeah, Taylor is really good, and who knows maybe Jones is better on a better team, the Colts, as opposed to the Giants.
As a big time Bengals fan, I wish nothing but the best for Anarumo. The Bengals weren’t exactly loaded with talent on defense last year. He created schemes that gave guys named Mahomes and Allen fits in some big games over the years.
Plus the AFC south isn’t exactly loaded so I hope the Colts can make some noise. Not as high on Stroud as some are.
AFC South is def weak. Who knows? The TE Warren was def a steal at #14 and I love our receiving corp. The D has to hold up long enough though to pound people with Taylor. Its hard to stick to the run when you’re behind. Jones will be a disaster if thats a regular theme
On Friedl’s ground rule double, I guess the age-old rule that if a ball becomes unplayable, like stuck in the fence, the fielder is supposed to stop, raise both hands and let the umpire come out and check it to determine if it is playable. If the fielder grabs it and plays it, it stays a live ball and the play proceeds.
That’s interesting MK. I kind of wonder now, since the outfielder did pull the ball off the wall and played it regularly, should it have been a live ball? If it was the other way around, I’d want it to be unplayable if the Reds were in that situation though too. I guess they don’t have to put their hands up, it must just automatically be considered a ground rule double?
That’s what Larkin said I believe and that’s what I was thinking. Obviously the replay people didn’t see it that way. It wasn’t a smart move on the part of the RF to pick it out of the wall and play it.
What are the chances of that happening in GABP? Amazing. It may never happen again. Fortunately it turned out well for the good guys in the end or we’d still be talking about it endlessly.
Friedl smoked that ball to have it stick in the wall like that. Friedl’s struggled at times lately, but he’s really a tough guy. He’s had a solid career really overall so far especially for a player not drafted.
The ball was obviously, still playable, it just didn’t rebound into the field of play. Think of the Ivy at Wrigley. Sometimes those balls are playable and sometimes they get lost. The ball that stuck in the gate was both visible and playable. A rule should be made, even if it’s only a GABP rule, that balls in such a situation are playable, and should be treated as such.
I guess this clears it up:
https://baseballrulesacademy.com/ball-gets-lodged-in-outfield-wall-what-happens-now/
Call on the field after review was the correct call because the umpire is not required to let an outfielder interpret ground rules. I have seen fielders hold up their arms and the inside-the-park-home run was still a legitimate outcome. The difficulty in getting a lodged ball is still subjective. The fielder did not have an “ordinary” play after plucking it free and just because he did, it’s instinctive to make the play first, let the umps call it on review. The only weird part is that the ball getting stuck there would 9999.88 pct. of the time almost have to be intentionally wedged there.
But it’s not up to the fielder to make that call despite the fact-free comments in the broadcast booth.
It is interesting. And I thought that inasmuch as the fielder had no evident difficulty pulling the ball out, it probably made for an easier play than chasing the ball as it caromed off the fence.
“and Stewart made a good read on the ball and took off and scored from first base as Cincinnati took a 2-0 lead.”
Stewart may not be fast at but he seems to be a smart base runner. A guy with his speed scoring from 1B on that play is not easy. Seventeen SB in 20 attempts also suggests that.
I like the energy and emotion from Stewart. Emotion in baseball can be overrated I think, but as someone else mentioned, the Reds seem to kind of lack energy and personality in some ways as a team. The little I know of Stewart, he seems genuinely confident, not overly cocky, and high energy. It doesn’t seem like he’s doing it for attention, or as an act.
Yes. He seemed to get the team fired up. He looked to be a leader to some degree already. He made me feel at least, like he wasn’t just there to be better than someone else or to take the spot of other players. He looked like he genuinely wants to be part of the team and help them win. Most importantly he looked like he knew how.
The ’23 team had personality. What’s happened?
IMO, the League shut them down for their style of play. (“The Reds broke Baseball” youtube video laid it out.) The umpires around the league were all in on it. And if the Umps are out to get ya …
Nothing came together in ’24 like it had in ’23. The magic from that season got snuffed out and never came back.
’24 featured injuries to pitchers, the loss of McLain, CES being counted on but not ready, Candy being counted on but being being a bust, Fraley having a family crisis, injuries, and losing weight and his power, and so on. Enough to derail them without collusion on the part of the league or the umpires.
The debut of Sal Stewart in the major leagues turned out well I thought with his first hit. He didn’t look overmatched or intimidated in any way. He looked like he belonged and he knew it. His ABs for the most part were disciplined. He did K on one bad pitch and it was obvious he wasn’t happy about it and didn’t think it should happen.
If I remember correctly in his first AB for the Bats he worked and 0-2 count into a walk or a hit. The first couple of games were kind of slow for him but then he took off and we know what happened after that. I hope he continues to play every day. Tito seems to realize what kind of an advanced hitter he is. I didn’t realize until today that Steer has been dealing with the same kind of leg injury that Andujar has been dealing with. The ailments of those guys to go along with the fact that Hays doesn’t seem to be healthy enough to play every day should make it easier to find places for Stewart to play. I have a good gut feeling about him. I’m glad he’s up. He’s a real competitor driven to win and knows how.
I know nothing about what goes on behind the scenes but Tito made it every clear that he will not forget about the players that have been grinding all year.I would imagine every player this time of year has some nagging injuries but Tito has been around the block several times.He wanted to make it clear that Stewart at first did not mean Steer was going to be set down rather referring to Steer’s injury.Your right on Hays but it has never been mentioned that I am aware of.My point is that Tito will do his very best to find playing time for Andujar.Lux,Stewart,Steer and Hays at DH left and first with his main objective to win games.I agree Melvin it would be easier if playing Stewart every day was the main objective.I would have to go back and look at the stats but we could make a point that Andujar should play every day.Tito will do his best but for sure we will ask every day why Stewart isn’t playing just like some asked why Andujar wasn’t in the lineup yesterday.
Makes sense, Roger. I have the feeling that Tito innately understands–or has come to understand–that treating his players with human concern is critically important.
Just for you, Melvin, I went back to the draft report and comments on the 2022 (Stewart) draft at RML.
Some guy wrote this:
“Just did a quick look at BA’s best tools for this draft.
Cam Collier is considered the third best college hitter … again at 17 years old.
Sal Stewart is considered to have the third best power and the fifth best strike zone judgement for high schoolers. There could be more here than at first glance.”
https://www.redsminorleagues.com/2022/07/17/sal-stewart-cincinnati-reds-1st-round-comp-draft-pick/
Thanks. From Charlie Goldsmith:
https://charlieschalkboard.substack.com/p/sal-stewart-is-fitting-in?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3342490&post_id=172529977&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=5rk8fn&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
I was surprised the jays brought the infield in in the 9th after the friedl double. On the road your just tryimg to get the game into extra innings.
In a way the overturned call allowed the reds to win the game in 9.
Agreed
You have to have the infield in with man on 3rd and less than 2 outs.
If not, a simple ground ball scores the winning run.
Baseball 101.
That’s not the case here, though. The runner at 3rd was just the tying run, the winning run was actually at 2nd.
It was a curious decision. By bringing the infield in, you decrease the chance of giving up the tying run on a grounder right at someone. But at the same time, you increase the chance of a ball getting through the infield, which with a runner on 2nd, has a great chance to score two. Almost like saying, we’re either going to win it or lose it right here, no tie ballgame and no extra innings.
I said myself when Marte came to bat, I wouldn’t bring the infield in if I was them. I’m glad it worked in our favor.
That’s a valid point.
But in this case the Jays already had their top 2 RP’s not available because of overuse…so they were down to the bottom end of their depth in the pen, and probably didn’t want extras. Thus, they went for the win.
I agree, I had just said prior to the hit that I would not have played it that way. If I was the manager, no way I’m playing the infield in with the winning run at 2nd.
I think the modern method is to depend on the strikeout and more often than not, you get the K. Any other defensive alignment is probably just theatrics.
Not necessarily. There were a couple instances earlier in the game where the Reds had a man on 3rd and less than 2 outs. Jays brought the infield in every time. However, those situations did not have a man on 2nd as well.
2nd inning, Hayes on 3rd = Trevino grounds out to the 2nd basemen who is drawn in. McLain then hits a medium fly ball and Hayes gets thrown out at the plate.
6th inning, Elly on 3rd = Hays pops out, infield was pulled in. Lux then grounds out to the drawn in 1st baseman. Elly does not score.
So twice the Jays benefited from the drawn-in infield to prevent a run. But the 9th inning shows the danger in that strategy: a normally routine grounder that finds a hole.
Good point.
Huge moment for Marte. Barry Larkin brought up that Ke’Bryan Hayes was a key piece in this win. I’m starting to feel that acquiring Hayes is the best move the Reds could have made at the deadline. By my count he has put his signature on at least 4 victories since August 1st with his late inning stellar defense; today his offensive production was a factor as well. Personally, I’m happy he’s a Red, exciting to watch and extremely talented. Oh, and the DiamondBacks lost. More good news.
In Hayes’ initial month he has done everything the Reds said they hoped he would. He’s got a lot of time left on this contract, but the initial returns have been much better than I expected. I hope he continues to prove me and his other detractors wrong.
I think you could question though, what would have given the Reds a better chance to make the playoffs this year? Maybe trading for Suarez and Laureano may not have made them as good in 2026, but maybe it would have made them better this year. Suarez is struggling in Seattle though, so who knows. While I like Hayes overall, you still kind of wonder if Krall is making the right moves to try and get the Reds into the playoffs.
I was in favor of trying to get Suarez, though I questioned the cost in prospects (which may have included Stewart or Rodrequez, and/or one of our pitchers). Certainly given the two’s production after the deadline, Hayes has the edge. Of course, who knows how Suarez would have done here. I do think, switching leagues is a tough transition, even though Suarez played in Seattle before.
At the trade deadline, the goal was getting to 88 wins and catching the Padres. Personally, I liked the moves the Padres and Mariners made a heck of a lot more than the Reds acquisitions. The Mariners and Reds had the same record at the time and the Pads were 2 better. We will never know the IF part on Laureano, OHearn, and Miller, but if we don’t get to 88 wins, I think the consensus verdict will be that Krall badly missed the boat. And got no prospects in return for any of the Martinez, Pagan, Lux, Barlow, Suter, Fraley, etc. group. But we will still have prospects like Dunn, Arroyo, Richardson, and Phillips that we would have had to relinquish to get the big bats and bullpen pieces. With our starting pitching, I would have preferred bigger trades and chances at the playoffs that the Pads seem to now have. But that required boldness and not fear that it might no work out. No guarantees that 2026 will bring a similar opportunity.
And no argument that Hayes has proved to be a fine acquisition. That is a secondary question vs the playoff target. The bigger question all along has been whether Krall did enough to get to the magic 88 win number. It will also be a fairly sizable loss (in potential prospect acquisitions) if his playoff plan falls short. 5-7 additional prospects that would have been great trade barter in the winter for bigger bats and bullpen pieces.
IMHO it would have been a mistake to pay so much for a couple month rental for Suarez for a small chance to make the last wildcard spot. Reds don’t have that luxury to gamble with their farm players like that and they don’t have the money to sign him to an extension.
2 games behind the Pads and out of the wildcard on July 31 is not a small chance. I will take it any year. The Pads went after it big time and traded like 6 top 15 prospects. We went after it very meekly and traded 2 top prospects. What do we think is the outcome going to be and that is the rub. If you didn’t think you had a chance 2 games out with 55 to go, then do what the Dbacks did and trade 6 solid players for 6-8 top prospects. That would have been GM suicide for Krall though. Instead he traded away prospects for rentals but only did about 30% of what needed to be done to catch the Pads. Yeah, I know Krall said that he significantly improved the team. But I think he will find out that he will fall (considerably) short of the Pads and will have missed a grand opportunity to add a whole bunch of prospects for either 2026 or trade barter for big bats over the winter. Not debating whether we would have got to 88 wins with Laureano, OHearn, and a closer, but I definitely believe we certainly would have had a much better shot than the current version. Krall obviously feels differently or he would have held onto his prospects and raked in a lot more by trading some of those expiring contracts. No doubt he went at it to get to the playoffs finish line. He just did a terrible job in understanding what was needed to get to 88 wins. Just ask yourself are we that confident about making up 8 games on the Cubs or 15 games on the Brewers in 2026 without major additions($) and/or trades of starting pitchers and top prospects to get the offense we need. We may be fortunate to get to 2 games out of the wildcard on July 31,2026.
Pagan as CL is an Achilles’ heel, regardless whether this team makes the playoffs or not.
Good comparison. Pagan has stepped up, but he does have that vulnerability. We had to move on from Diaz, and top notch closers are as rare as hen’s teeth it seems.
Yes, I think Pagan has stepped up big time. But I think he’s gassed.
Great game for Greene and Hayes! But it was certainly a team win.
Friedl has 3 hits yesterday and 2 hits today. Lets not make a big deal about it, see if he collects more multi hit games tomorrow and the next day. Hayes and MM turning over to Friedl and Marte, when they hit line drives for double and singles, it is a thing of beauty. Btw, Elly has a number of triples of late, when is he going to end his HR drought?
DiMaggio had a weakness for Doubles… I guess we can tolerate a weakness for Triples from EDLC. Keep ’em comin’.
Elly’s lack of home runs doesn’t worry me. I just want to see the young man develop as a good hitter who gets on base and uses his great speed.
And clean up his defense…altho his dbl play demonstrated his extreme variation to-date.
I don’t think Elly will see many fat pitches to hit homers until Reds get some serious players to protect him in the lineup. Plus despite his, I want to play every game youthful bravado, he plays a demanding position and (until this year) has run and stolen a lot of bases. Last time I checked he is human so if I am the manager he gets rest when I say he gets rest.
TJ Freidl has now been on base 13 times in the last 5 games.
Elly got his first triple on June 21, in the 77th game. He’s now had 7 in his last 62 games.
It makes no sense, except that we all (me definitely included) underestimate the amount of luck that arises in any one baseball game, and really in any one baseball season.
Postseason Roster Rules & Eligibility
https://www.mlb.com/glossary/transactions/postseason-roster-rules-eligibility
Playoffs? Playoffs? You’re talkin playoffs?
Lol, I’m just kidding
I’m a dreamer. What can I say? 🙁
https://sports.yahoo.com/article/mlb-rumors-reds-linked-pursuit-141259708.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall
We’d all like a big splash in free agency, but that doesn’t seem to be the Red’s way.
For some reason Alonso didn’t get a whole lot of offers last year.
3 years 100 million maybe would get him? He probably wants something longer term.
Stewart would be forced to DH/part time 1B or move over to 2nd?
The Red’s way would just be to hope the rookie, and his min-salary, makes a great leap.
There was some Dealio with Alonso and the Mets, and I think a lot of teams were a little shy of making him an offer, because I think he always wanted to be back with the Mets, he just wanted a better offer. A lot like Teoscar Hernandez and the Dodgers; a free agent, but he really wanted to stay with the Dodgers.
Right now, Austin Hays is in what Sparky Anderson used to call players with non-contending teams category as in a “salary drive”. The Reds might still be a peripheral to the Wild Card, but Austin is playing for a big contract in 2026, with somebody (maybe the Reds??).
Fine I hope Hays gets that contract based on a 1.200 OPS for September, 30 RBI and 5 assists at home plate. He can find work that way.
I’d be ok with this. The Reds have had a black hole at 1B since Votto left.
Would probably mean they would need to trade Steer. That would definitely be selling low.
Anticipating what the Reds lineup will be today is always drama.
I cant see Stewart playing anywhere besides first base. With Mclain coming on I see Steer as the odd man out here.
@Rednat
I’m okay with that.
McLain has had what, a few good games the past week?
He’s still a .223 hitter with a .646 ops. He still has a lot to prove and hasn’t won any job moving forward until he can prove it.
Steer is a .235 hitter with a .702 ops. Yes both McLain and especially Steer play great defense, they shouldn’t be given starting jobs for the 2026 season unless they prove to be the best options.
Might work out out that way, but seems a little premature at this point, what with Stewart’s one MLB hit and Steer’s .820 OPS in ’23 and his GG-caliber defense.
I absolutely feel Steer is quite superior to McLain for the record. He’s also much more clutch in tight situations and with runners in scoring position.
Steer has had odd home and away splits this season:
Home .254 average and a .756 ops
Away .216 average and a .648 ops
@JasonT>>> Steer’s home/ away splits could be an indication of what the eye test suggests to many folks: his power level is warning track power. It plays well in a smallish homerun haven, GABP, but not so well on the road.
Even more shocking are his pre and post-All-Star triple slash splits:
Pre-All Star> .254/.317/.439 (.756 OPS)
Post- All Star> .197/.296/.379 (.675 OPS)
The popular narrative is that Steer’s low seasonal OPS/OPS+, now .702/88, is the result of him playing with a shoulder issue from day one of the season.
A linear look at his performance would seem to disagree with this. From about the middle of May through July 5, when he posted his highest OPS of the season (.737), he was on the rise. Since then, he has tailed off to yield those post-All-Star splits which have his seasonal OPS/OPS+ at the .702/88 level.
If Steer’s shoulder condition is really a determining driver in his performance, it seems to be getting worse, not better. This begs the question of why the Reds have stuck with him so long when multiple 40 man roster guys were lighting up the score board at AAA. If his shoulder was not the driver, then the question screams to be asked why they stuck with him.
An Oops on me. In the comment above, I mistakenly copied Sreer’s season long home triple slash into the line labeled as “Pre-All Star”.
His correct Pre-All Star triple slash is .251/.308/.406 (.713 OPS),
which aligns with his seasonal high OPS of .727 (not .737 as above) on Jul 5. The logic of my comment is correct as stated above.
If it is accurate that Steer has a leg issue, that could be a factor, as we can say about Elly. I just think about Votto, Candelario and others effectively hitting on one leg and how that went. As for Steer, i think his raw power is pretty good, at least when I’ve seen him in BP out here in Seattle. He elevates the ball well and can put them in the upper deck. In game power as of late, though, comes and goes. Sounds like an injury of some kind. Steer competing for 2B next year and/or as Mr Utility again sounds better all the time.
Jim, fantastic stats. Perplexed with the post all star drop, although the Reds are 23rd in ops since the all star break so the team unfortunately as a whole took a dive in that regard.
Steer definitely is warning track power. We’ve seen that a lot this season. With Steer being 28 by the start of next season it’s going to be interesting to see how the Reds go. If Stewart takes the 1st base position the Reds are going to face some interesting decisions with the roster.
McLain has a lot to prove after a very disappointing season. If he can show signs of life as he has the past 5-7 games with his zone recognition then that would be huge. Way too premature to assume he can sustain that however.
Horrible blown save, and totally gutsy comeback for, in the end, a really fun win.
One detail I want to bring up though – Elly led off an inning with a triple, so he’s on third with no outs – and we did not get him in. That is so bad and so frustrating when it happens, and I just feel like it’s something that good teams don’t do.
Regardless, the Reds don’t bludgeon teams, pretty much ever, so we cannot leave runs like that out there. We need to be good on the margins.
And for my money, Austin Hays’s AB (the first guy up after Elly’s triple) was one of the worst of the season. First pitch, a looping 72-mph curveball from Bassitt, and Hays swings and pops out harmlessly on the infield.
That’s our #4 hitter.
That really is just bad. If you get a looping curveball down on the FIRST pitch, just take the dang thing. Get a pitch you can elevate and drive.
I know Hays has been hotter lately, and that is great – and I do like the guy – but giving away AB’s like that, with a runner on 3rd, in a tight game, is just inexcusable. It’s sloppy. It’s what bad teams do.
Ugh, Lodolo has been scratched for tonight due to “illness” 🙁
“Illness” to his fingers again.
One wonders. The IL would cost 15 days for a pitcher. The SanMartin for Moll move may not be unrelated to Lodolo’s situation. But somebody will need to go on the IL to get Moll back in fewer than 15 days….
If it is just an illness that could turn out to be a good thing. Hopefully, Martinez will come in after Barlow and have one of his classic quality long relief appearances. And then Lodolo can go tomorrow, with Littel being pushed back to the opener against NYM. Littel has been hit pretty hard by Toronto.
LaSorsa DFAd, Moll down, SanMartin up
Was wondering when SanMartin was going to get another chance. He’s been pitching well in AAA.
Lineup is out and its the same as yesterday with Hays and Lux doing the flip as usual.The rookie is back at first and Steer and Andujar watch from the bench.Let the discussion begin as to who should play and who should set etc etc etc.
Such is baseball life for the guys sitting. We know Andujar and Steer are both hurting, just not to what degree.
CES just posted an AAA triple slash of .265/.340/.566 (.906 OP) for August.
Blake Dunn was .358/.430 /.506 (.936 OPS) in August at AAA.
Maybe the Reds should look at putting Steer or Andujar on IL and getting one of these guys up for the Mets come Friday if they are not healthier by then.
SanMartin was recalled to the Reds today, replacing Sam Moll. LaSorsa was DFA to make room on the 40-man roster.
I was surprised San Martin was not the original pitching expansion slot guy. Like the IL for pitchers, the minimum time down on option is 15 days. Unless there is an injury, Moll won’t be back until at least mid-September.
I was too. He’s pitched really well and was a solid reliever before his injury.
Recall that Sanmartin (one word) was “the other guy” acquired along with Sonny Gray.
I thought it was a great trade just get Gray and that Sanmartin would be a bonus.
Here’s hoping that bonus finally pays off. Sometimes it takes a while.