Back tightness...team playing it safe. Mets starting a lefty tonight, got a heavy righty lineup tonight.Hmmm, no Joey in tonight's lineup either...that's two in a row.
I’ll laugh at that. Tommy Pham is legit a crazy person who’s known to make outlandish comments. It’s why reporters run to him.'I doctored in baseball.' Why Tommy Pham remains optimistic about the Cincinnati Reds
Even though the last-place Reds could be sellers at the trade deadline, Tommy Pham remains optimistic about what the team is building.www.cincinnati.com
Laugh if you want, Tommy Pham sees some good signs in this Reds team.
Ironically, Strickland has been pretty good as of late, other than the two solo shots in Sunday's game. Over his last 8 outings, he's 7 2/3, 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk. He may be our "best of the worst" senario.Hunter Strickland was Krall's big off-season move to improve the bullpen. Solid choice.
i cn never keep that righty-lefty thing straignt.Back tightness...team playing it safe. Mets starting a lefty tonight, got a heavy righty lineup tonight.
I believe I read that the Pirates had used their 54th player during the Yankee series.In the first game of today's DH with the Pirates, the Reds are using their 52nd different player for the season. The team's season record is 57.
We can moan and groan about the season, but if you don't acknowledge that injuries are a big part of the lack of success in '22, then you just don't get it.
Sure, injuries have contributed. But even at full health, this is easily a bad sub-.500 roster.In the first game of today's DH with the Pirates, the Reds are using their 52nd different player for the season. The team's season record is 57.
We can moan and groan about the season, but if you don't acknowledge that injuries are a big part of the lack of success in '22, then you just don't get it.
Supposedly it was a first-degree UCL strain. I don’t know what the setback is, but anytime a pitcher has any kind of UCL tear, it’s probably just a matter of time until TJ surgery.14red is the optimist of all optimists. Have to give him credit he sees a glass 3/4 full. However this club is bad with or without the injuries which as all know are part of every teams equation.
I saw that Vladimir G was sent to the 60 day DL. What is the extent of his injury?
Not sure getting on the IL helps your trade value.I would love to know whether Tyler Mahle is actually injured in any way or if they’re just stowing him away on the IL so he doesn’t have to pitch much anymore before being traded.
I continue to believe Krall needs to get going on making trades ASAP before guys get injured and leave the Reds up a creek. There is no need to wait until the deadline to make trades, and they’ve got several guys who need to be moved, so better to start making deals now. For example, it was on this day (July 7) 14 years ago that C.C. Sabathia was moved to the Brewers, so big trades can (and should!) happen early.
It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
5.34 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 2 straight blown saves. Someone needs a better standard for "pretty good".Ironically, Strickland has been pretty good as of late, other than the two solo shots in Sunday's game. Over his last 8 outings, he's 7 2/3, 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk. He may be our "best of the worst" senario.
Absolutely the injuries have been brutal. When you only have a handful of good players, losing them hurts. India, Stephenson, Castillo and Votto all missed significant time. And no other quality players ready to fill in. 100% blame on the front office for constructing a garbage roster for $120M.In the first game of today's DH with the Pirates, the Reds are using their 52nd different player for the season. The team's season record is 57.
We can moan and groan about the season, but if you don't acknowledge that injuries are a big part of the lack of success in '22, then you just don't get it.
I'm almost sure the Reds have has the most player games lost this season at well over 1,000. Not that it's an excuse, but certainly contributes.I believe I read that the Pirates had used their 54th player during the Yankee series.
Not disagreeing with that. We have mostly a bunch of average baseball players. And adding to that as I watch our defense, in having so many "utility" type players, we are just not great defensively. I know that the "new" baseball calls for guys who can play multiple positions, but when you have 5,6,7 players in the field who don't have a primary position, it shows.Sure, injuries have contributed. But even at full health, this is easily a bad sub-.500 roster.
It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
While that is true, it always takes two to tango. Now that the world knows the Reds are looking to deal Mahle and or Castillo, the asking price is dropping. We'll see if they actually get traded, but I wouldn't hold my breath.I would love to know whether Tyler Mahle is actually injured in any way or if they’re just stowing him away on the IL so he doesn’t have to pitch much anymore before being traded.
I continue to believe Krall needs to get going on making trades ASAP before guys get injured and leave the Reds up a creek. There is no need to wait until the deadline to make trades, and they’ve got several guys who need to be moved, so better to start making deals now. For example, it was on this day (July 7) 14 years ago that C.C. Sabathia was moved to the Brewers, so big trades can (and should!) happen early.
It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
I certainly am overall optimistic. But I also look around the rest of baseball. We are certainly not alone. I'll have more of a midseason review soon, but we can do a quick summary of this season like this. The starting pitching has been ok, the bullpen awful and the offense awful. Starting pitching and offense aside, we've missed the following in the bullpen this season - TJ Antone, Alexis Diaz, Tony Santillan and Justin Wilson. Now we knew Antone was out for the season before it began. Luis Cessa has been a major disappointment. Other than Jeff Hoffman, most of the bullpen has not been effective at all.14red is the optimist of all optimists. Have to give him credit he sees a glass 3/4 full. However this club is bad with or without the injuries which as all know are part of every teams equation.
I saw that Vladimir G was sent to the 60 day DL. What is the extent of his injury?
Agreed. Saw on ESPN he had another walk-off HR last night, #15 and 44 RBIs. I told people on here last year he would bounce back - good players don't just forget how to hit. Good for him. Plus it keeps Zeeyore quiet.I’m happy for Eugenio Suarez. He seems to be somewhat bouncing back this year from his calamitous 2020-21 Reds seasons. His strikeouts are trending toward a career high, but he’s also trending toward a career high in games played (he’s appeared in 83 of Seattle’s 84 games).
He’s gotten the batting average up to a respectable .240 now, and while the HR total is understandably trending down moving from GABP to Seattle, he has 14 HR, 41 RBI and a 124 OPS+, to go along with 2.1 WAR so far, per Baseball Reference.
Obviously the Reds found a diamond in the rough with Drury, but still happy to see Suarez back to some semblance of normalcy after his career looked to be teetering on the brink. Moreover, Seattle has surged to 42-42, so he will be playing meaningful baseball again in the second half of the season.
It’s true, it’s true. Trust me …
This isn't a rebuild....Midseason Report:
Coming off a sweep of the contending Rays and riding a 4 game win streak is great, but we still are what we are. This is a team in a rebuild, giving on the job training to most of the starting rotation. Now I think the one thing that people have to keep in mind is the Reds have the most games lost due to injury for any major league team, it's over 1,000 games now. Basically we've had a lot of guys who shouldn't be major leaguers thrust into roles at the major league level. Like it or not that has to be a factor in the 2022 season. Also, the grades reflect THIS years team, not the guys traded before the season. Castellenos, Suarez and Winker are all gone and have no impact on this team this season. We can debate until the cows come home weather that was a good move or not. I think many just assume those guys were all all star caliber players and they are not. Castellenos was great last year, but that's kind of proven to be an anomaly looking at his entire career.
Offense - D
Again, injuries included, I really felt this team would be able to score runs. India has had little impact in 2022 and Stephenson has been good, but has missed quite a bit of time. Senzel is finally, finally showing some signs, but as an overall #2 pick in his 4th ML season, expectations were much, much higher for him. Moustakas and Votto have not been good. The Moustakas deal will go down as one of the worst in franchise history. He's just not done anything that's been expected. I cannot and will not ever dis Votto. He's been an ambassdor for this franchise his entire career, yes we knew he'd slow down and he's just not been able to sustain any kind of success. Still feel he has some value. As I continue to say he'll go down as one of the best players in franchise history. But he's been disappointing this season.
Now the good, and what's keeping us from an F, where would this team be without Brandon Drury and Kyle Farmer? Drury was a minor league invite, on his "last chances" as a major leaguer and he's been far and away our best offensive player. The Reds have some options with him as he's very cheap and if there is a way to sign him it may be worthwhile. And what do you say about Kyle Farmer? He's always the guy that's on his way out. It was projected by some that Jose Barrero would be our opening day shortstop, but he was injured and Farmer was again handed the position and he's done nothing to disappoint. He plays a good shortstop and has just exceeded any expectations that anyone has ever had on him. Great story. A guy I've really liked also is Mark Reynolds. He's done a nice job as a utility guy and has been very solid. Tommy Pham got off to a slow start, but has been pretty much what we needed in left field. He's above average defensively and has been put in the #3 hole in the lineup most of the season. Tyler Naquin has been about as expected. He's a solid major leaguer. I liked the addition of Albert Almora Jr. - he's an excellent defensive outfielder and he hits enough to keep a job.
Overall this team just struggled mightly to score runs. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the baseball "analytics". I don't think we have a home run hitting team, but management is dead set that we are not going to play any kind of small ball. For a team that struggles scoring, hitting into double plays are killers. I know we aren't really a base stealing team, but starting the runners and doing more hit and runs makes alot of sense to me.
Starting Pitching - B-
Again, my grade is based on this years expectations - NO ONE picked this team to finish above 3rd place and most picked us lower than that. Castillo is and all star - and deservedly so. My biggest issue with Castillo, and I'm sure the Reds will never say this, is why he was held out of April? I honestly believe they held him out because he does not pitch well in colder temps. But when on the mound this season, he's been very good. Tyler Mahle is Tyler Mahle. We've seen him now for several seasons and he just is going to be a high pitch count guy, and will have some stinkers. He's a solid #3/ #4 starter and he's done a decent job. The fact that Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and a little unexpected, but Graham Ashcraft have all been pretty good overall. The stats may not show it, but for these guys that we hope are our foundation of the rotation for years to come, they've all passed with flying colors. I've mentioned on here I'm kind of concerned about Lodolo's health as he seems to be very injury prone. Taller guy, lean, lots of arm action, he may be susceptible to injury so we'll have to watch that.
Bullpen - F
If there was any lower grade, they'd get it. Sadly this group has been affected most by the injuries. Honestly, at times we have guys who are double A or triple A pitchers in high leverage situations. Alexis Diaz and Jeff Hoffman appears to be a guy we can keep around moving forward. We can only hope that Tejay Antone can bounce back next season. We really missed Justin Wilson. Not having Tony Santillan has hurt in recent weeks. Raver SanMartin could work into a role. Luis Cessa has been a major disappointment. Just not much to say about this bullpen. Luckily, this is one are of a baseball team that can be fixed quickly.
Management - D
The Castellani thing is just beating a dead horse. This team was good last year, but that was coming off a rookie of the year in India, Castellenos appears to have had a career year and the resurgence of Votto. It's really easy to say this team could have added a few pieces and contended, but I just don't think that would have happened. We knew Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo was on the way, you had a chance to move some high priced pieces in Suarez and Sonny Gray. To me Winker isn't a guy you wanted to put a big investment in and there is no way it the world you would bring back Wade Miley at his price tag. I generally applaud the players when they are successful, and I blame the players when they lose. They are the performers.
I'll keep following these guys, win or lose. Our young pitchers look good, and Justin Dunn is in Triple A now. We actually have a good stock of starting pitchers for the first time in a long, long time.
Midseason Report:
Coming off a sweep of the contending Rays and riding a 4 game win streak is great, but we still are what we are. This is a team in a rebuild, giving on the job training to most of the starting rotation. Now I think the one thing that people have to keep in mind is the Reds have the most games lost due to injury for any major league team, it's over 1,000 games now. Basically we've had a lot of guys who shouldn't be major leaguers thrust into roles at the major league level. Like it or not that has to be a factor in the 2022 season. Also, the grades reflect THIS years team, not the guys traded before the season. Castellenos, Suarez and Winker are all gone and have no impact on this team this season. We can debate until the cows come home weather that was a good move or not. I think many just assume those guys were all all star caliber players and they are not. Castellenos was great last year, but that's kind of proven to be an anomaly looking at his entire career.
Offense - D
Again, injuries included, I really felt this team would be able to score runs. India has had little impact in 2022 and Stephenson has been good, but has missed quite a bit of time. Senzel is finally, finally showing some signs, but as an overall #2 pick in his 4th ML season, expectations were much, much higher for him. Moustakas and Votto have not been good. The Moustakas deal will go down as one of the worst in franchise history. He's just not done anything that's been expected. I cannot and will not ever dis Votto. He's been an ambassdor for this franchise his entire career, yes we knew he'd slow down and he's just not been able to sustain any kind of success. Still feel he has some value. As I continue to say he'll go down as one of the best players in franchise history. But he's been disappointing this season.
Now the good, and what's keeping us from an F, where would this team be without Brandon Drury and Kyle Farmer? Drury was a minor league invite, on his "last chances" as a major leaguer and he's been far and away our best offensive player. The Reds have some options with him as he's very cheap and if there is a way to sign him it may be worthwhile. And what do you say about Kyle Farmer? He's always the guy that's on his way out. It was projected by some that Jose Barrero would be our opening day shortstop, but he was injured and Farmer was again handed the position and he's done nothing to disappoint. He plays a good shortstop and has just exceeded any expectations that anyone has ever had on him. Great story. A guy I've really liked also is Mark Reynolds. He's done a nice job as a utility guy and has been very solid. Tommy Pham got off to a slow start, but has been pretty much what we needed in left field. He's above average defensively and has been put in the #3 hole in the lineup most of the season. Tyler Naquin has been about as expected. He's a solid major leaguer. I liked the addition of Albert Almora Jr. - he's an excellent defensive outfielder and he hits enough to keep a job.
Overall this team just struggled mightly to score runs. I'm not sure I'll ever get used to the baseball "analytics". I don't think we have a home run hitting team, but management is dead set that we are not going to play any kind of small ball. For a team that struggles scoring, hitting into double plays are killers. I know we aren't really a base stealing team, but starting the runners and doing more hit and runs makes alot of sense to me.
Starting Pitching - B-
Again, my grade is based on this years expectations - NO ONE picked this team to finish above 3rd place and most picked us lower than that. Castillo is and all star - and deservedly so. My biggest issue with Castillo, and I'm sure the Reds will never say this, is why he was held out of April? I honestly believe they held him out because he does not pitch well in colder temps. But when on the mound this season, he's been very good. Tyler Mahle is Tyler Mahle. We've seen him now for several seasons and he just is going to be a high pitch count guy, and will have some stinkers. He's a solid #3/ #4 starter and he's done a decent job. The fact that Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo and a little unexpected, but Graham Ashcraft have all been pretty good overall. The stats may not show it, but for these guys that we hope are our foundation of the rotation for years to come, they've all passed with flying colors. I've mentioned on here I'm kind of concerned about Lodolo's health as he seems to be very injury prone. Taller guy, lean, lots of arm action, he may be susceptible to injury so we'll have to watch that.
Bullpen - F
If there was any lower grade, they'd get it. Sadly this group has been affected most by the injuries. Honestly, at times we have guys who are double A or triple A pitchers in high leverage situations. Alexis Diaz and Jeff Hoffman appears to be a guy we can keep around moving forward. We can only hope that Tejay Antone can bounce back next season. We really missed Justin Wilson. Not having Tony Santillan has hurt in recent weeks. Raver SanMartin could work into a role. Luis Cessa has been a major disappointment. Just not much to say about this bullpen. Luckily, this is one are of a baseball team that can be fixed quickly.
Management - D
The Castellani thing is just beating a dead horse. This team was good last year, but that was coming off a rookie of the year in India, Castellenos appears to have had a career year and the resurgence of Votto. It's really easy to say this team could have added a few pieces and contended, but I just don't think that would have happened. We knew Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo was on the way, you had a chance to move some high priced pieces in Suarez and Sonny Gray. To me Winker isn't a guy you wanted to put a big investment in and there is no way it the world you would bring back Wade Miley at his price tag. I generally applaud the players when they are successful, and I blame the players when they lose. They are the performers.
I'll keep following these guys, win or lose. Our young pitchers look good, and Justin Dunn is in Triple A now. We actually have a good stock of starting pitchers for the first time in a long, long time.
No, not a believer. Votto is definitely not playing well this season, but the Reds are not winning because he is out, probably has more to do with pitching lately and level of competition from the American league East.Reds keep winning with no Votto. Trend continues with the REDS well over .500 without the overpaid piece of weight in the lineup.
Are you believers yet?
#VottoMustGo