The Cincinnati Reds had to come from behind on Monday, but they scored in both the 7th and 8th innings to take the lead. Then they watched that lead disappear as the bullpen struggles continued in what turned out to be a 5-4 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies to open up the series.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (24-24) | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Philadelphia Phillies (25-23) | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Kerkering (2-0) L: Ashcraft (1-1) SV: Duran (8) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The bottom of the 1st inning did not get out to a good start for Nick Lodolo. The first pitch he threw was hit for a double. Lodolo then walked Bryce Harper and Alex Bohm to load the bases. That led to a visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson. A 9-pitch at-bat followed and resulted in a sacrifice fly to center to put the Phillies up 1-0. A second sacrifice fly of the inning would follow to push the lead to two runs.
Cincinnati got back-to-back singles to begin the top of the 2nd inning against Andrew Painter. Tyler Stephenson followed up with a single of his own just down the 1st base line on a ball off the end of the bat and it trickled into right field for an RBI that brought in Sal Stewart. TJ Friedl came through with a sacrifice fly to bring in Nathaniel Lowe to tie the game up at 2-2.
After that the offensive output slowed down. Lodolo and Painter just kept trading zeroes until the 6th inning. That’s when Alec Bohm came through with a go-ahead solo home run into the seats in left-center. The lefty would hit a batter and then walk Bryson Stott with two outs before he was removed from the game and replaced on the mound by Tejay Antone. He would issue a walk to load the bases but got a groundout to end the inning without any further damage done.
Philadelphia didn’t have a lead for very long. With the Phillies going to the bullpen to start the 7th, Sal Stewart welcomed Brad Keller to the game with an opposite field home run to tie things up. Cincinnati would do damage again in the 8th inning after Matt McLain singled and stole second base with two outs. That set up Spencer Steer who lined an RBI double into the left field corner to put the Reds up 4-3.
After an 8-pitch 7th for Graham Ashcraft he came back out for the 8th inning. He gave up a single to begin the frame and then got a force out and a fly out. But on the second pitch to Bryson Stott he hung a slider and Stott crushed it 360 feet into the seats in right field for a go-ahead 2-run home run.
Philadelphia brought in Jhoan Duran to try and close things out in the top of the 9th. He had to battle with Nathaniel Lowe for 10 pitches but he would end the at-bat with a strikeout. Duran needed just three pitches to strike out Tyler Stephenson for the second out of the inning. TJ Friedl would ground out to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
Bryson Stott’s 2-run home run in the bottom of the 8th inning to turn a 1-run deficit into a 1-run lead.
Notes Worth Noting
Spencer Steer remains hot. He’s had hits in nine straight games, and he’s had hits in 19 of his last 20 games. During that 20-game stretch he’s raised his average from .216 to .270.
Nick Lodolo matched a career high with five walks in the game as he struggled to throw strikes on the night.
Sal Stewart’s home run in the 7th inning was his 11th of the year. That’s the most by a Reds rookie before June in the history of their franchise, topping the 10 hit by Joey Votto in 2008.
The loss dropped Cincinnati to 24-24. This is the first time they’ve been at the .500 mark since they fell to 3-3 on April 1st.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Philadelphia Phillies
Tuesday May 19th, 6:40pm ET
Chase Burns (5-1, 1.87 ERA) vs Jesus Luzardo (3-3, 5.07 ERA)
Should have skipped May and went right on to June?
This is the worst of the NSYNC songs.
haha
Well played, Doug!
I wonder if anyone has thought about trading from our hitting depth to get bullpen help.
I assume that’s sarcasm. haha Otherwise I ask WHAT hitting depth?
I said earlier this year how we were relying way too much on the bullpen. That our offense was one of the worst in the league, and even our starting pitching was average for the league. If the bullpen goes down, we’re going down.
And, everyone said, “The bats will come around. Just wait.” I responded, “We’ve been saying that for the last 2-3 years at least. The waiting is long enough. Get the bats going or step the bats down, and get some bats in there that can work.” I mean, I’m not even looking for a “Big Red Machine” lineup. But, it would be nice to see a major league team have a starting lineup where they all can hit at least 200. The last I looked, we have 4 starters below 200 for BA.
The bullpen simply hasn’t had the April success this month. And, nothing stepped up. No offense. No starting pitching. So, we lose.
Headline: “Reds bullpen blows another game” …..you can just go with “ditto” for the rest of the season and we will know what you mean
I was thinking Doug could have stopped at “Reds bullpen blows”
Same
Reds 5-14 over last 19 games. That is a winning pct of .263.
Is that bad?
haha, let’s just say it is not good. Reds will see better days!
It’s still better than the BA of most of our players? That’s really reaching for positivity isn’t it?
Maybe it’s time for Ashcraft to take a trip to Louisville in hopes the their pitching coach can help him get his mojo back. Maybe it is time for the Red’s front office to send Johnson packing and get a real pitching coach. I feel the same about the hitting coaches.
Ashcraft has had a bad week or two not a bad year up to this point.
Depends on your context. Ashcrasft is not a good setup guy or 7th inning guy IMO. He would be mop up man on a good team if he even makes the team. He’s just shy of a 4.00 ERA and 1.4 WHIP since he’s been a reliever. It’s time to give Pierce or someone else his spot in the BP
$112 Million just leaves you with too many holes and no depth. I think having the 12th best team with the 23rd highest payroll like last year is about the best we can realistically expect or hope for. The math just isn’t there for 95 wins and a deep run.
There needs to be a salary cap.
Or you have to hit on most free agents and develop the farm system consistently. The Reds just haven’t done that overall to a high enough level. They’ve gotten to a point where they’re competitive, but they’re still 10-15 games behind Milwaukee, Chicago annually.
Let’s do this, when a team in signs a player to a 10 year 700 million dollar contract, let that count as 70 million dollars a year on the cap but they want to pay him 35 million a year for 20 years it’s up to him to decide.
Gman88:
New CBA can not get here fast enough for me because clearly whatever the Reds are doing is not working and has not been for a very, very long time. We are going to need to add a salary floor to that cap and other concessions to the players if they are ever going to accept a cap.
Year after year, roughly one-third of MLB teams (33%) or less begin the season with virtually no chance of making the WS. Baseball is my favorite sport and Reds my favorite team but at some point something has to give.
At least Santillan probably is glad his picture is not being featured on the game write up tonight here! That picture is so funny I think of Santillan, he just looks bewildered.
SP can’t seem, or not let, to go a full 6 or more. Stretches the BP. That said how does the whole pen implode at the same time.
6 outs without giving up a run….you can’t get 6 outs!!
Meanwhile Chapman gets his 11th save tonight. I know because he’s on my fantasy team and I get notifications. Oh what might have been if we would have just signed him one of the several chances we’ve had over the last few years.
If the Reds had Mason Miller they’d probably have 3-4 more wins now. Sometimes those truly elite closers make a huge difference.
I’d say this is one of those times. Chapman wouldn’t even has cost that much relatively speaking.
Just came here to comment about him. Krall needs to be on the phone with Boston offering whatever prospects it takes to get him. Like his job depends on it. Who cares about prospects 2-3 years away when his job is likely on the line this season if they fail to reach the postseason?
Whether it’s Krall or another GM they should have had the mentality in general the last year or so, giving up prospects for established players. Although, glad they hung on to Stewart.
I’m not a big fan of trading for Chapman just because of how he left Cincy, I don’t think it’s a good fit. But if at some point you could trade for an elite closer would be smart.
“I’m not a big fan of trading for Chapman just because of how he left Cincy,”
I don’t know exactly what Chapman did and I’m not here to argue the point by any means nor am I going to get into a discussion about it. I just know that whatever it was he stopped doing it or he wouldn’t be in the majors the past several years. We could sure use him.
Repeat after me “Chapman will never pitch for the Reds again”.
Agree, Melvin.
Tito said in his postgame that Ashcraft actually pitched really well…..Tito is slowly melting into Bell postgame garble
Seems like Tito protects his players
Please dont compare Francona to Bell. Not even in the same league. Ashcraft hung a slider. He didnt pitch bad. Its only magnified because Reds keep losing. Players need to do there jobs, and Ashcraft for most of season has done just that.
Truth.
Bell, Tito.. it doesnt matter. The losing continues until the manager publicly calls out poor performance and demands better play.
For those of you who think thats too harsh, how has being soft on players worked out?
Jessecuster44 can you explain in detail why the manager must criticize the player publicly in order for his criticism to matter and to make a difference versus him having conversations with the player(s) in the clubhouse?
If the manager privately criticizes a player, no one outside the clubhouse knows that it has happened.
Public criticism places expectations for all to see. Maybe that level of toughness and accountability will change a culture that has been awful for over 10 seasons.
So public shaming is an effective way to enhance performance where one-on-one confrontations are not valuable???
We have no idea what is going on inside a clubhouse. I really doubt Tito allows things to slide, look at Marte and his situation.
In my line of work (teaching) I don’t need the public, parents or anyone else to know when I messed up. A one-on-one is good enough for me. Afterall, we are all professionals aren’t we?
Why do we need to know a player has been confronted, and in what manner it was confronted in???
I think that Jesse is longing for the 15th century and doesn’t understand why the rest of us don’t share that view.
I long for winning. We have had a string of managers who spew platitudes and who many assume hold people accountable behind closed doors. If you believe that, fine. I just don’t see any meaningful change.
I’m a teacher. I would never publicly air my students’ failings because… they are children. They are still learning the basics.
Public Criticism does not equal shaming. Public Criticism does not equal the Spanish Inquisition. What an incredibly lazy comparison.
“Grant needed to throw a better pitch there.”
“Our bullpen has to stop walking so many batters. That’s unacceptable.”
“Many people on the roster have to start playing better if we are going to make a postseason run”
If these kind of quotes “shame” players, then those players probably don’t have the backbone to help the team win.
You get what you put up with.
If you are calling out players by name then that is counter-productive. They already know what they did wrong. And if they don’t, you take care of that in-house not air it in the public. Name one manager today that even does a general “we need to quit walking so many guys” criticism. They already know it, the coaching staff already knows it and the informed fans already know it. They don’t need to be called out. If anything needs to be said, say it to their face, not via media/TV/newspaper. The player will obviously know you are talking about them and calling them out. Some players may be able to handle it, most today probably cannot. There is too much money at stake to be and to stay in mediocrity. They know, You do not need to be blasting them out. The player will go to an organization that doesn’t resort to those tactics.
Would the manager calling out the team to the media really make that much of a difference today. If players do not perform, you move on to someone else. maybe the Reds are at that point???
Marte leading all AAA in batting average at .378. There is no other MLB team that would not bring him up. He cannot hurt. Give him a little longer rope if he needs it, you know, maybe 30 ABs
I’m not sure about that. There was a mention here a few days ago that Marte is working on a specific issue–chasing too many pitches out of the strike zone. I doubt that the Reds or many other teams would be in a huge hurry to bring him up until he makes significant progress with that. His BA in AAA likely won’t translate to MLB until he does.
Everybody in the minors, even at the AAA level has “issues”. A lot of guys playing Major League baseball have “issues” with hitting.
Marte is killing it at AAA. Are they trying to make an example of him like they did to Rece Hinds and Christian Encarnacion-Strand?
A lot of Major League ball players are also kind of jerks. That can’t be helped, because people are flawed. You, me, Noelvi Marte.
And yes, if my team is struggling to score runs, and I have a guy at AAA level that is hitting .378 and leading the International League in hitting, I would bring him up and stick him in the starting lineup. Or the Reds just play Will Benson some more.
It’s a choice to make.
I am a Sarasota resident,normally attend 3 or 4 Rays games,maybe 2 or 3 Reds games a season,always amazed how the Rays are always competitive in a very high dollar division?With both being “small”market teams,the reds always seem to be routine failures?Is it the management?I assume so, unfortunately they can’t trade anyone since nobody wants negative 200 hitters and guys with ERA over 6
The only thing dumber than trading for Hayes, is actually playing him. Talk about doubling down
Please forgive him
Leaving Marte at third base might have been dumber.
We reside at Esplanade at the heights off of Honore and Lockwood Ridge are you familiar with that area. What part of town in Sarasota do you live?Do you have a few bucks you can lend me. Lol
I like MM at the leadoff spot. 1-4 today. Keep him up there for at least this series and the next. Would also like to see Myers and Dunn get starts in place of Friedl and Hayes. Keep 1-6 as is with Myers, Stephenson and Dunn to fill out the lineup. PJ, Hayes, Benson and Friedl coming off the bench. Looks like closer by committee moving forward.
Pitching coach change time.
Overdue
24-24, same as last season, and losing all the tiebreakers to this point. The Reds need to shake things up. Hinds didn’t seize the opportunity but he had about 2 weeks. Hayes, Benson, Stephenson, and Friedl have had longer and need replacing. Stephenson obviously can’t be. The rest can. And why the entire bullpen chose to go belly up at the same time defies the imagination.
Our relievers are kind of scuffling,” Terry Francona said.
Kind of?
I don’t know if the Reds will bounce back winning a lot of games and make it to play the world series this season but at this moment they looked an awful and collapsed losing team…
You are almost better off using an opener every game and using the starters to ” close” the game. Maybe they will perform better in lower leverage situations
It will be interesting to see what the reds do at the trade deadline if we are out of it by then.
If that’s the case, they’d have to send Singer as an innings eater to a contender with injury issues. There’s always a couple back of the rotation guys that get moved.
If they dump people t the deadline then somebodies need to be out of jobs.
Reds are back to .500! Wow! There goes that good first month. Amazingly we are only 5 out still even with this terrible month of May so far.
Anyone hear an update about Geno! Since he left the team has been terrible.
Rehab in AAA starts Wednesday.
Should just “rehab” with the Reds. Wouldn’t be any worse than Hayes or Friedl.
Have you looked at his stats with the Reds this year? It may be coincidental that the Reds started losing when they did. That said, if he comes back and hits the way the Reds hoped he would, it would help the offense.
I missed the last 3 innings, but this is the headline I expected.
Rinse repeat.
Feinsand’s article on the MLB app was a huuuuuuge lifter. More of tired, worn out Francona and his consistent, pathological, perpetual nonsense. I’m thinking it has to be time for him to finally realize that he has to retire. Lost team, lost season, lost manager. We’ve seen it way too many times before. But hey, tomorrow’s another day. Ya can’t win ‘em all. It just wasn’t meant to be. That’s how the cookie crumbles. The sun will come out tomorrow. That’s how the ball bounces. Win some lose some. The grass is always greener on the other side. It’s always darkest before the dawn. There’s always next year. It’s just a game. Even if they would win once in a while, there would still be strife in the world. It doesn’t really matter. The world will keep spinning. There’s more important things to worry about. Here we go again. Football season’s coming up. It’s not life or death. It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game. Apples Peaches Pumpkin Pie. Sunshine Lollipops and Rainbows. Polly Purebred, Pollyanna, Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater——Aww, Life goes on, S#%* Happens. Our favorite baseball team has gone to Complete, Nonstop, persistent Pot. AND IT’S ONLY MAY!!!! Is David Bell Back????
Lodolo showed some positive signs and looks to be on track. With Abbott and Burns performing well, hopes are that Paddack can contribute until any of Greene or Lowder return from IL. Unfortunately, Singer hasn’t shown much this year, not sure how much longer will temain in the rotation.
No one to replace Singer so he isn’t going anywhere.
One thing for sure is unless bullpen return to form there’re no expectations at all this season. Seems like they take turns to blow out games every single day. The only expected move is for Ferguson to return sometime this week from rehab, sending Franco or Phillips back to AAA, but that won’t make the cut.
I counted to three and said my peace with my last comment yesterday. Still SFP.
The Reds need Eugenio Suarez back in the lineup. He’s always been a streaky hitter, but he provides leadership for the offense where a few hitters are doing quite well. The bullpen needs an established closer. Make a deal with Boston, who is in rebuild mode, to get Chapman as the closer. I think he enjoyed his earlier years with the Reds. The starting pitching is beginning to look better with Greene about ready to begin rehab. All is not lost.
We are blaming Tito now? I dont think we need to worry about him, as he is retiring after this year. You think he likes shuffling .180 hitters in the lineup? You think its him keeping Marte in Louisville? You think he DFA’d Hinds?
Are you glad we didnt trade Singer? Who needed Nick Martinez and his 1.51 ERA anyways? Its the little things that some get right and some (consistently) get wrong. No rocket scientists needed to see what side of that our front office is on.
I have to agree with you that this will be the end for Tito, he can’t be having any fun and truthfully he isn’t doing much of a job.
Actually if you listen to his radio show and his time on Jim Days podcast, he is having fun and he likes this team.
“Truthfully he isnt doing much a job” well his history suggests otherwise. Playoffs first year as Reds Manager
playoffs these days is an incredibly low bar. backed into the last spot because of an epic collapse.
yes, lets give tito a parade.
“Epic Collapse ”
It doesnt matter. The reds made the playoffs. The Reds won and Francona guided them to the playoffs. Not saying throw him a parade, I am saying the the dude is a winner.
@ Mark….That’s not what we were all saying about Tito Francona 4 weeks ago, before the Reds reverted to form, and this long slump in hitting and pitching caught up with the team and they are back to 0.500. Every move he made worked. Now everything he does goes into the crapper. The players just are not performing, or many they just aren’t that good, and the first four weeks of the season were the aberration.
As fans, we are always involved with “What about-ism”. As in, what have you done for me lately?
It’s all pretty depressing, because I don’t think the “collapse” , or reversion to their talent “mean” is over. Chase Burns pitching tonight, and the Reds will be OK until he leaves in the 6th or 7th inning. And then the bullpen takes over, and unless they are up by 6-1, the Reds could still lose.
With the qualifier that, yes, this game is insanely difficult to play, the pitch execution has been terrible and the thought process leading to that pitch being called is even worse. We can all agree it’s a really bad idea to throw sliders to opposite handed hitters on the inner half and waist high…..it’s even more inept to do it in a moment where you can’t have a hitter elevating a ball pull side (I talked about this yesterday while praising JJ Bleday’s successful approach). We’ve seen this 3 days in a row now, especially with Singer. Your misses can’t end up in the most optimal location for the hitter. You get what you get when your tactics are this poor.
….and the HR was on an 0-1 count.
Friedl is done. Looks older and plays older than his age.
Benson has never been a real MLB talent.
And while ware at it have to wonder whether we need to get rid of both pitching and hitting coaches. Neither is doing their job.
Firing the coaches either assumes that the players’ talent is not being optimized (as opposed to the players not having ample talent), or is simply eyewash.
Earth to fellow Reds fans: Tito is cooking supper with the ingredients ownership/FO gives him.
+10000000, Doofus.
Until ownership invests in talented players instead of themselves expect more losing.
I wont harp on this much longer. Yet, I find it interesting how some are now turning on Francona and even comparing him to David Bell. I remember when people wanted Bell gone. I said and paraphrasing here. “Reds could hire a hall of fame manager and some would still complain. Well here we are
Much like the previous manager, Francona plays who he has, and at some point its on the players, and just maybe the general manager and ownership to bring in better talent. As I mentioned recently, the bullpen will bounce back. Things have a way of evening themselves out
BC, the Williams Bros, et al are making money. Otherwise these astute business folks would sell their positions. The problem is that they invest too much of the organization’s returns on themselves not the construction of a talented squad.
This may be jumping the gun just a bit but now that the Reds have dropped to .500 and may are in the cellar approaching Memorial Day, I wonder if there is a plan if they are sellers this year? What parts do we have that they are willing to part with? Do we have any pieces that are worth anything and are the right time to move? Unfortunately, we may be headed that direction.
It’s to the point where the opponents strategy is going to start being ‘get into the bullpen and then stop swinging.’ I’m not even mad about the home run pitch; yeah, it was a cement mixer in the worst possible place for the pitcher to make a mistake to that particular hitter, but you’ll have one of those every now and then. It’s the absurd walk rate that simply cannot go on. This is the opposite of what relievers are supposed to be doing. They are there to get you out of trouble, not put out fires with gasoline, and oh-by-the-way how about another one in the next inning.
All that venting aside, the sky is not falling. Hunter Greene will be on his way back. Suarez will be on his way back. A trade for a good bullpen arm from a team that’s already throwing in the towel on this season, and maybe a real closer, and the pen will settle. Replace Benson with Marte, and Friedl sits the bench, or maybe even makes room to give Arroyo a shot. The lineup flexibility will be an issue, but it’s doable. A few moves, some of which are readily available, and we’re right back in the money (I hope).
The sky is not falling but unless the Reds are willing to make some roster moves they will continue to struggle.Can’t hide the offensive numbers and Suarez returning only cuts in to Lowe’s at bats and he has done well.Benson Hayes and MM have not hit for 3 years,not for a few at bats or a few weeks its been 3 years.One is 29 one is 28 and MM is 26.The ideal lineup is Sal at third Steer at second with Lowe at first.Marte in right Bleday in left and you live with whoever plays center and whoever catches.Geno is at the DH and Elly plays short.However the Reds want to and will play Hayes at third and Tito loves MM at second.To be honest MM is still young enough and like last night he singles and stole second and scores and he does play good defense but he has not hit for 3 years.Its fools gold to think Krall will do anything except play Hayes just as TIto will do anything except move MM up and down in the lineup for the rest of the season.Hiding 4 or 5 players every game that just can’t hit is impossible to do and still win games.
I would see if the Reds could pry some RP from the Astros or Marlins. Astros are only 5 out of first but have been hit hard by injuries. Maybe the Reds could find a match on position of need for the Astros? Marlins are already 10 out. Not catching the Braves and won’t make the wild card.
I was “streamed in” for the game deciding sequence, but could not think of anything worthwhile to post last night (Monday).
All I will add this morning is that for me, the bottom of the eighth inning has always seemed an absolute death valley for visiting teams nursing a small lead or in a tied situation. Last night reminded me why.
Great post Roger Garrett. You absolutely nailed who should be playing, and what they will do. They have to see that. In the mean time, we lose.
Every day I come here looking for Marte and Arroyo to join this ball club. I think I am most likely wasting my time because this is a poorly run ball club from top to bottom. I am sure there is not another team in baseball that would not be calling up a high ceiling guy hitting around .375 in AAA. What a joke, wake up Tito.
“Poorly run”? An understatement to be sure. I still haven’t wrapped my head around the “fact” that the Reds viewed Hinds less favorably after 130PAs than they do someone like Nicholas, who has 93 games under his belt with a career 5.55 ERA and a walk rate roughly twice his SO rate. Of course, it has seemed for years that the Reds’ love guys that walk a lot of opposing batters.
Yeah, call up Marte, either option or waive Will Benson, and ditto call up Edwin Arroyo and option Dunn back to AAA or waive TJ Friedl (that would take some guts).
Sellers if they are in the basement at the Trading Deadline?
How about Tyler Stephenson? He’s having perhaps the worst year of his career. Maybe they could get a mid – level minor leaguer for him from a team that needs another catcher. Because he is likely gone after this season.
you would have to pay someone to take Ke’Bryan Hayes off the Reds’ hands. He may have a Golden Glove at 3rd base, but he has a bat that goes CLANK in the night with regards to hitting.
@David. Who’s gonna catch?
Call up Banfield, if Stephenson is off the roster.
Can he be worse with the stick than Tyler has been this year?
Who would catch? That move makes absolutely no sense letting Stephenson go or trade him
Looks like Ferguson will come off the IL soon with either Phillips or Franco heading down to Louisville. Dunn most likely heading down when Geno is ready, hopefully later this week. Benson may also be considered. How will Tito set the lineup when Geno returns? Does he keep MM in the leadoff spot or move him down to the bottom third of the lineup? My prediction is that Tito will move Steer to the leadoff spot. I can see Steer, Elly, Sal, Bleday, Geno, Lowe, MM, Stephenson and Friedl with PJ, Hayes, Dunn or Benson and Myers off the bench.
Excellent piece online by Chad Dotson (Cincinnati magazine) on the current state of the reds….if you get a chance to read it ….his points are right on
There is no one in Louisville who is going to right this ship. Call Arroyo up and he will be hitting .200 with zero power. Marte will be hitting .233 with terrible defense.
No, you’re not going to improve this team with any player at Louisville. If you believe that you are setting yourself for disappointment.
You don’t know that. If you think that people are spouting nonsense by stating they will then you are at the other end by saying they won’t.
.200 with zero power and .233 with terrible defense would be a lot better than Hayes, Friedl, Benson, and probably Mclain. Offensively, way better. But don’t sweat it. They won’t call anyone up anyways
At the pace McLain is hitting, he will hit 15 HR this year. What his batting average will be is a question. In the last seven games, he is hitting .308.
They’re waiting on Arroyo to turn 25, and for Marte to be perfect
remember that season when the reds needed offense and the front office answer was to sign and bring on Mike Ford….I think he was in the Beer League before the reds signed him to a contract & put him in the lineup….this is what we are dealing with here in Cincinnati…lord help us
We are 4-13 without Arroyo and Marte, and in last place. I believe we can do at least that well with them
Can they pitch in relief? 🙂
Yeah, don’t do nuthin’ and hope it all fixes itself. I know that’s not what people are saying, but to alternatively say that Marte and Arroyo can’t help at all is being a little defeatist. I am just about done with the team, now. And it’s not because of Toto Francona. It’s just they won’t do what is necessary, and do so many DUMB things.
To bring up a reserve catcher, DFA Rece Hinds. I just don’t get that. The people in the Front Office, being the giant baseball minds that they are, just thought he was a hopeless mess and could never be a Major Leaguer. It will be interesting to see where he lands and what happens afterward.
@David, “To bring up a reserve catcher, DFA Rece Hinds. I just don’t get that.”
In response, here’s what Doug wrote in the comments section of this article (https://www.redsminorleagues.com/2026/05/17/rece-hinds-designated-for-assignment-by-the-cincinnati-reds/) at RML:
“Will Benson was having a much better big league season than Hinds was. I really think people ignore the fact that Benson actually gets on base even if he isn’t hitting his body weight. Last week at some point the only Reds regular who had a higher OBP than Benson was Elly De La Cruz. He’s slumped a little since then, but his OBP is still .322.
And I am begging people to read what Rece Hinds has hit in the big leagues since his first six games have passed. The answer is .100. And it’s coming along with zero power and next to no walks while also striking out almost literally half of the time he stepped into the batters box. The idea that Hinds was more valuable, much less wayyyyy more valuable than Benson is an imaginary thing that’s in your head because you either haven’t paid attention to how bad Hinds had been in the big leagues or you are tired of seeing Benson run out there and not hitting while ignoring that he walks a lot and that Hinds isn’t/wasn’t/hasn’t.”
@BK, Hinds had 130PAs. No one knows what he’ll turn out to be. Quite possibly a bust. OTH, so are Benson, Hayes, and a host of others that the Reds are relying on. Moving Stephenson is unquestionably tough. He will however declare free agency at season’s end and who knows how that will turn out. If the Reds believe he has value than offer him a dirt-cheap contract now and keep him around a few years. Otherwise, package him and acquire some better players, or at least another stack of prospects. Because the way this team is constructed, it seems unlikely that year are going anywhere this year.
@ BK
Well, sorry, I am not that smart, and am dazzled by the brilliance of you and Doug Gray. Well, of course, they should have DFA’d Rece Hinds.
Of course. How stupid of me to think otherwise.
Thanks for setting me straight. And Benson’s OBP explains perfectly why he was batting leadoff. Of course.
Re: “He (Stephenson) will however declare free agency at season’s end and who knows how that will turn out.”
It’ll turn out great for Stephenson since he’ll be one of, if not the, top catcher on the FA market this winter now that Jeffers is injured.
Re: “And Benson’s OBP explains perfectly why he was batting leadoff. Of course.”
Glad to see you finally figured that one out.
@David, I’m just sharing another perspective from a trained scout, no less. I had not seen this thorough an analysis shared here.
@LDS, the notion that we have to give a player a certain number of plate appearances to truly know whether or not they will produce at the big league level is false. Hinds had been badly overmatched at the big league level and was not making progress over multiple opportunities. He seems like a wonderful person and it’s easy to dream on his potential, but his approach was so bad, pitchers weren’t even throwing him a single strike and getting him out. It’s a hard game. You can’t keep giving a player who is not competitive at the plate more opportunities and hope for a different outcome. As for your other comments, I suspect it’s only a matter of timing for those unless the team gets back on track.
David, I’m glad you are dazzled by my brilliance. Be sure to tell any single women you happen to know about it and point them in my general direction. Thanks man!
So, going back to the Benson versus Hinds stuff, I do not disagree with Doug when it comes to immediate value to the team being in Benson’s favor.
However, I also believe the Reds had other alternatives to DFAing Hinds and that it was short-sighted to take that path. Regardless, the organization took that path and will live and be judged by the consequences based on how the future unfolds for the Reds and for Rece Hinds.
I suspect the dichotomy between Benson’s immediate value and Hinds’ longer term potential is what led Francona to say that he hoped Hinds got the chance elsewhere that he didn’t get with the Reds, that his tools were obvious, and sometimes things turned around. That’s probably as close as Francona could have come to saying he wasn’t ready to move on from Hinds in the bigger long range picture without ruffling feathers above his pay grade.
Just for fun, I went to Fangraphs and isolated Benson’s first 131 MLB plate appearances. They were between August 1, 2022 (with Cleveland) and June 12, 2023 (all of 2023 with Cincinnati). His BA/OBP/SLG slash was .210/.277/.269; (OPS=.546). His K rate was 29.8, and his BB Rate was 6.9%.
Cleveland had traded Benson to the Reds between the 2022 and 2023 seasons. His 2022 triple slash with Cleveland in 61PAs was 182/.250/.200 (OPS=.450) with a 31.1 K rate and 4.9% BB rate.
Chew on.
“Be sure to tell any single women you happen to know about it and point them in my general direction”
You mean they don’t already know? 😉
Gotta cast a real wide net these days!
“Gotta cast a real wide net these days!”
Just thought it was common knowledge. 😉
Jim Walker – Benson may very well be the next one to go when needing a roster spot. I don’t see how he’s hung on this long. The fact that they paid him, in error in my opinion, $1.725 M this past season with Hinds being a lot cheaper may have something to do with it.
@Melvin, that’s predicated on the question of how many women are actually looking for a brilliant guy. My guess is that it varies by age group. I don’t know how old Doug is, but he may have to top 40 before his brilliance becomes live bait.
Say what you will about him, but everything fell apart when Pagan got injured. And he was injured well before his actual DL date. He should have been sat down long before the final game to get that thing calmed down. This team really relies on him.
So this is a what if question. You call up Marte and Arroyo and they struggle then what? Mclain is coming around so let’s see. See Steer for context. I understand frustration and everyone has a opinion, however recently I read send Stewart down. I mean why would that be even a thing. Maybe I need a break LOL
Yeah, keep it like it is; it’s obviously going very well. This hapless organization is two maybe three weeks away from blowing this whole thing up and instilling Late Uncle Walt’s 2014, ‘15 “getting younger” idea. Hopefully Singer and Friedl will be the first to go; that’s if any club will be willing to trade for definite dead weight. I noticed some chatter about Singer earlier on this forum; one thing to always remember about him, the Royals were willing to take Jonathan India just to get rid of him. That pretty much says it all.
From Pollyanna to Cassandra in the same conversation.
“What if the Reds try something and it doesn’t work!”
“They’re coming around!”
LOL
Just stop dude.I recognize what you are doing and frankly it is old. Just scroll by if you dont like what I post.
Sending Stewart down is exactly the kind of move I could picture the FO making. It wouldn’t be a good move but when has that mattered? Tito’s public optimism aside, I have to believe he’s aware that Friedl and company may not be bouncing back. And if not, then the preseason prognosticators will be proven correct. And for Reds fans, it’ll be more of the same. I was discussing the Reds with a friend of mine a couple of days ago. He’s a retired psychologist and a rabid Reds fan. I suggested that we Reds fans need our own entry in the DSM-5. We’ve earned it.
Spot on Kevin. Everyone is looking for a savior. If they send Benson down and he has a good few weeks, they would be screaming for the Reds to call him up. There is a large gap between AAA and the major leagues. You would have to think all of us would have learned that by now. Just because someone is performing well in Louisville doesn’t mean they will perform well in Cincinnati.
Maybe the Reds should acquire better players rather than recycling the same players from AAA to the majors.
Just winning some games would help….like yesterday, when you have a chance to win a game and you need your BP to get six outs …..it’s a killer when you lose these games that are there to be won
Saw the line up without Marte or Arroyo he has to play one of the automatic outs plus the catcher = 2. What you can’t sell me on is that Dunn is better than Marte. You can keep Dunn and send down Benson. Heck I know I, and many others, could do a better job managing this roster.
Re: “Heck I know I, and many others, could do a better job managing this roster.”
LOL!
I guess delusions of grandeur are running rampant here at RLN these days.
Especially when they start losing or struggling. Hardly a word though when Reds were wining regularly!!!
Managing the roster isn’t the problem. The problem is the roster itself. That falls on ownership and the POBO.
Here’s the Dotson article to which GPod referred.
https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/five-moves-to-break-cincinnati-reds-out-of-their-funk/
As he said, Dotson’s points are right on.
You can’t expect the people who got the team in this mess to be the same people to get them out of it.
The Red’s system needs a deep, deep cleansing. This includes the ownership group. Replacing Nick Krall would be a good place to start, but the whole system needs an overhaul.
It occurred to me that instead of a firing, as suggested by Dotson, perhaps the most high impact action to correct this situation would be a resignation. And that resignation would have to be Terry Francona.
I can’t see any other ground shaking move by the ownership or front office management groups. For one, the Castellanis won’t fire themselves. And I do not want to stray into the “if Krall had integrity’ stuff — that notion would require way too much from either Krall or Meador, as in who gives up a ML job? Answer: No one.
That leaves the field leadership group and, in fairness to DJ or Valaika, their resignation wouldn’t even cause a 0.5 tremor. So, as the best communicator of all mentioned, and as the most honest of all mentioned, it will fall on Francona. Can’t see him walking away, at this moment anyway, but it just seems like the one, most impactful thing.
Post Script: It occurs to me the succession plan to Francona is already in action, namely Mike Napoli. So, you never know.
The problem is, if Francona resigns again mid contract, he’s likely done for good. So I can’t see that happening unless he actually has serious health issues again. I think the more interesting issue is whether or not he wants to get extended with this team past 2027. If so, would those discussions begin after this season?
Francona being fired or resigning would simply be another indictment of the organization’s incompetence. Tito isn’t the problem. The roster is. Even Bell didn’t have to endure the likes of Hayes.
Does anyone think Francona isn’t retiring after this?
I didn’t say Francona was part of the problem. The exact opposite. He would be part of the solution.
The Twins optioned Royce Lewis to AAA. See, it can be done.
With Suarez going out on rehab, Freidl has to be on the clock, doesn’t he? The team would probably prefer an open-ended IL stint, but since that did not happen when he sat for several days recently, I don’t see it in the future unless he suffers an obvious injury along the lines of Pagan’s.
In May, CIN has the 2nd worst HR/FB rate. Oddly, the Cubs are the worst. We have thrown the most balls (as in ball four). We have thrown the most pitches. We have thrown the 12th most strikes. We have given up the 4th most Hard% – just better than the Rockies.
What does this mean? The philosophy is flawed. Pitching up has predictably yielded a ton of home runs – already. Throwing a whole bunch of pitches getting guys to chase is not working either.
I’m guessing that most of you have heard the Greg Maddux quote about throwing the most strikes in 0-2 counts because that count is when hitters perform the very worst. Think about that for a second. He didn’t believe in nibbling or wasting pitches. He used the 0-2 count to right after them.
We have 5.44 BB/9 in May. By far the worst (4.82 is next for BAL). We give up 2.02 HR/9. By far the worst (1.80 is next for the Cubs). The team’s WHIP in May is 1.61 – dead last. And its not BABIP – sitting at .272.
The pitching philosophy is a failure – at least in May. I have argued all winter that we needed a different philosophy. We stayed true to a formula that does not work in the ballpark where we play half of our games.
Report card time.
The problem I have with those saying, why bring up Marte? People are forgetting that last year he played 90 games and hit .263 with 14 home runs and 51 rbi. Those stats would be very good on this team. I realize he started slow this year but to be fair he only had 29 at bats.
+100000
In September of last year his numbers were .191/.214/.287/.501. I’m not saying I understand what’s going on with Marte. I suspect there’s something behind the scenes they’re not happy with. Under normal circumstances I would think he would be up considering the current state of the Reds outfield.