Disappointing

[Hit-n-Run]

Tyler Mahle made his 1st start in Louisville. He went 6 IP, 3 ER, 1BB, 1 K. The 1 K is a bit surprising, but maybe he was working on trying to get the hitter to put the ball in play earlier in the at bat. Making quality pitches and weak contact is the key to pitching deeper into games. It's an area he needs to improve on.

Mahle was followed by Brandon Finnegan who has been a trainwreck in Louisville. He went 2/3 of an inning allowing 3 ER. Whether it's physical or just a bad attitude, he has tanked since being injured. He'd have to be under consideration to be DFA. If he is and not claimed off waivers he's still under team control and can be kept in the farm system.

Brandon Phillis also played in the game. He's in the Bosox farm system playing for Pawtucket. Tony Renda is playing for Pawtucket also.

 

[eburg5000]

I didn't get a chance to see that last game with the Mets. I normally record all the games and watch them, but when I saw the score , I didn't think there was much to watch' Guess that shows you box scores can be deceiving 2 and 7 road trip and this home could end up as bad.

The Reds are hitting the ball but are having a hard time scoring runs.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

As the song goes, Two out of three ain bad. The Reds have consistently won series against 1st place teams, but I don't know why.

There is a definite power outage with the current lineup. The Reds haven't hit a HR since last Tuesday.

The Saturday game was a nice late rally win. It was a nice ending to a rather boring game. The game had an early start time with a Jake Owen concert to follow, so most people hung around. I went downtown early to eat dinner with the thought of arriving around game time. Then the rain came and a miserable rain delay. GABP and I'd guess most any other park aren't very accommodating when it becomes standing room only for that many people. All in all I guess we were at GABP for 6 hours.... that's a long night at the ball yard.

 

[eburg5000]

Your right the Reds haven't had much power the last few weeks. But they have given up a few. Sort of reminds me of April.

Votto hasn't had any power. They were saying yesterday and wondering that he might have something wrong an injury that no one is talking about. AZ even walked Peraza to get to Votto. It was a mistake, but could be other teams see something to.

Tucker was a 250 hitter when he came over here. bbut he must of left his bat in Atlanta. I would like to see him get some more playing time to see he is worth anything

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Last night they hit three HR's and only allowed one, but that's not much of an advantage when the opposing team hits .400 against your pitching staff for the game. The Indians scored 10 runs, but also had 11 LOB.

Homer was sharp his first couple games back, but looks like he has returned to the same guy they wanted to move to the bullpen. He's made it clear he's not going to the pen, so I don't see how the club is going to be able to keep running him out there if he's not showing improvement. The money is already spent. It has to be getting to the point where the FO has to at least be considering cutting bait.

Votto hasn't been hitting for power most of the season. His slugging % is down 100+ points compared to his career average and hasn't had a single month this season that reached his career average. He's been hobbled since being HBP in the Washington series, but the lack of power has been present most of the season. The stat that is way up is the amount of his strike outs that are looking. It's nearly 45% this season. His career SO looking is 28.5% and league average is 24%. So he's not adjusting well to the way he's being pitched. I'd say his skill set is in decline as is normal for a player in his mid 30's.

 

[eburg5000]

The Reds left 12 on base. They had a chance to put that game away early but couldn't come through with the big hit.

I noticed that they have Ervins weakness and they have been pitching him away. He has been striking out a lot.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Back-to-back good old-fashioned butt whoopings.

This team looks primed to go 68-94 for the third straight year. They would need to play 1 game over .500 the rest of the way to avoid losing 90 games. I can't see that happening.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I noticed that they have Ervins weakness and they have been pitching him away. He has been striking out a lot

Ervin hit .300+ in rookie ball, but didn't show much s he moved through the Reds system. The way he has hit this year has come as a surprise to me. I don't know what the adjustment has been, but I hope it works moving forward.

Ervin has always been prone to striking out, but so has just about every other player we're seeing in baseball today. I never thought I see the day that striking out wasn't seen as detrimental.

Ervin has hit better than expected, but his route on flyballs and throwing hasn't been very good. His base running hasn't been any better.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I think my math on win/loss is flawed. They have to play .500 the rest of the way to avoid 90 losses. Either way I think they're losing 90+ this year.

 

[eburg5000]

The Reds have given up 27 runs in 3 games while scoring just 6... shades of April.

For awhile there I was wanting to see Hamilton gone. but with his defense and that one time he gets on base a game. He makes a difference. He looks bad when the rest of the team isn't hitting

I have been reading post on other Reds boards. And there seems to be a lot of the posters that don't like Riggleman. I don't think he is the best manager in baseball but he's done alright so far. He plays to win games. These guys want a more progressive manager who uses a lot of Sabermetrics and is younger. They call Riggleman "old school" No one likes the old, not even the old. These same people also think Ervin is great and Williams stinks. As far as hitting they are about the same. Williams is better defensively. I don't think either will be much more than backups on any ML team.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I don't think Riggleman will be the manager next season. I have no idea who will be, but I get the impression the FO wants more of a sabermetric oriented guy.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Ervin being right handed is probably an advantage with Williams, Tucker, Schebler, and Winker all being left handed.

Assignment options could also play a role heading into 2019 Opening Day. Ervin has assignment options where some of the lefties don't.

Williams is the only other guy that can really play CF. If Hamilton were injured Williams stock would go up.

Tucker and Williams will be the first two the Reds have to make decisions on this fall/winter. When all the DL players and prospects eligible for the rule 5 draft have to added to the 40 man there's always a couple guys getting let go. It's the first piece of the 2019 roster puzzle

 

[Hit-n-Run]

If fans didn't like Rigs before last night they even like him less today.

The double switch installing Williams in the 6th and pinch hitting for him the same inning made Riggleman look incompetent.

The play that seems to back fire on the Reds more times than not is the contact play with runners on 3rd. Hamilton was the tying run on 3rd with no out and is instructed to go on contact. It's my least favorite play in that situation. The fact that Peraza didn't advance on the play only added insult to the ineptitude that inning became. I'd prefer to see Billy use his own instincts.

 

[eburg5000]

11 left on base last night, in a 1 run loss. Hamilton with no outs gets thrown out at the plate on what I assume was a contact play. Stephinson doesn't even get through the 2nd inning......All this is disappointing

 

[eburg5000]

I agree about Riggleman He seems to waste his bench a lot. and he's done that a lot this season

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Rob Stephenson obviously didn't improve his fastball command and relied on his secondary pitches to get by. That may have worked in AAA, but it's not going to in the Majors.

One of the first things he said when he got called up was walks were apart of his game. That doesn't sound like a pitcher that plans on improving any time soon.

You would think a pitcher that has descent command of his secondary stuff would automatically have better command of his fastball. Rob Stephenson puts that theory on the shelf. I don't know if the problem is more physical or mental, but it's a crippling problem for his future as a ML pitcher.

 

[eburg5000]

He better get it worked out , because he probably is on his last leg. I don't think if he keeps going like he is now that he will get anymore than 1 maybe 2 more starts. To me he is no more than a wasted roster spot.
Last year he finished well, and I thought he might be ready to be in the rotation. But he just went back to his old walking everyone, and picking the edges. So even if he does pitch a good game, I won't be impressed until I see some consistency.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

All the fans hear is how well he pitched in AAA. They lead you to believe he has improved. Then he shows up at GABP and looks like he has gotten worse since we last saw him.

There's obviously a disconnect between the players and minor league coaching. It's no secret to anyone except maybe the Reds developmental staff that Stephenson is in dire need of improving his fastball command. There's no way he should have been promoted without someone checking off the fastball command box.

That leads me to my next reality check of what the future holds for this club.

There's no denying this organization has failed to draft and develop enough talent to be relevant. This team is on pace to lose 90+ for the 4th year in a row. The continued losing is in large part due to the lack of success in scouting and development. You'd think the FO would be firing the scouting and development directors. Not in Reds country. They promote both of them to new jobs this week.

 

[eburg5000]

If Ervin keeps hitting like he did last night . he will be on this team...

Votto on the DL, and he needed to be. He wasn't helping the team much lately anyway because of that injury.. What I think is odd , they brought up an outfielder to replace him. They're not planning on Barnhart being the main replacement for Votto. I would think Scooter would be best suited for the job. plenty of guys that can play 2nd.

I will be surprised if Dixon is on this team next year. I wonder if the only reason he's on the team now is so others can use his 1st basemen mitt. LOL. Barnhart used it last night

I don't think this team is going to win many more games this season. Schebler could be back by the end of the week'

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I got a chuckle from the Dixon first baseman mitt comment. They'll probably keep the glove and option him.

Good pitching the last two games and the end result is two wins. This team has more problems than its pitching, but a lot of the flaws aren't as magnified if you pitch well.