Regular season -- 2nd half

[Hit-n-Run]

...... and he got the win.

A guy can pitch a no-hitter and give up one unearned run and be a loser, but you can get hammered and record the W. Gotta love it!

 

[Hit-n-Run]

And the winner of the mandatory one Reds' All Star is.... Adam Duvall.

Could have been Bruce or Cozart. All three have had nice 1st halves.

 

[eburg5000]

Both may be playing somewhere else in a month...

 

[JohnU]

I could be the only person who can prove this but back in March, I wrote on the CBS board that Duvall would be the Reds' only ASG representative. I had no reason for making that comment.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

There's no doubt in my mind about that John. You've consistently liked the guy all year.

The Reds roster doesn't have perennial All Star type players, but there are a few guys that can fit into the puzzle nicely. All players have weaknesses and the Reds aren't any different. If Duvall can maintain the .250+ with solid power numbers, the K's and low OBP are acceptable for a number 5-6 hitter.

The task moving forward is to get other pieces that fit. This team desperately needs a couple high OBP guys with speed at the top of the order.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Performance to my expectations of individual players have varied...DuVall and Cozart have both surprised me...mainly because I didn't know (or expect much) about DuVall, and because of what I did know (and didn't expect much offensively) from Cozart. Bruce has done better than I thought, BA-wise, and although I thought he could hit .240-.250, Billy Hamilton has surprised a lot of others by doing so (so far). I'm also surprised Suarez is as bad as he's played at 3b, and although most expected the bullpen to be bad, I don't think anyone expected HOW bad it has been. Votto has been brutal on defense, and clueless at the plate for the first 3rd of the season, for no apparent physical reason. I don't believe Cody Reed is nearly as bad as he's pitched, but I do believe the bullpen is that bad, at least those that have comprised it until recently.

I'm most surprised in the general lack of ability to throw quality strikes by Reds pitchers- even the "good" ones... the unfathomable logic in NOT running and bunting every time against Lester (who refuses to throw to a base)...and that Brandon Phillips continues to occupy a middle of the order spot in the lineup, hitting like a 7 hitter, while Votto, Bruce and DuVall are in the same lineup.

With the second half looming, and the odds of losing 100 games a near certainty, any optimism I can muster is tempered by the knowledge that a few individual bright spots does not a winning team make. Reds hitters plate approach suffers still, just with less tolerance to the W-L, than when they had a couple more hitters in the lineup, and half a dozen better pitchers. IMO, bad pitching has less to do with the pitching coach than the guy tossing the pitches.

I have more questions than answers for the second half and into next year...

Iglesias is impressive, but equally questionable physically, and how does your best arm justify the bullpen, when your starting rotation blows this bad on a 100 loss team? How or when will Homer Bailey change things ? Will Bruce be traded ? Cozart ? Will Devin Mesoraco ever be right again ? How will DuVall adjust after pitchers adjust to his ability to hit a fastball ? Can Cozart really hit more than .250 for a full season, and can Votto hit .350 for half a season to get to a respectable number by year end ? Will Pete Rose's statue be a head first slide ?

 

[JohnU]

I will say that spending a hot Wednesday afternoon in Section 418, Row 3, Seat 6 at Wrigley today was more fun than a small Snickers bar. Even the Cubbos fans were gracious. I was railing on to my friend about Barnhart being a better hitter than he has shown ... and the guy in front of me was just giggling, before Barnie planted that one in the basket.

I did notice Lorenzen did pitch inside a little bit against them, which Disco apparently wasn't doing. No way should Addison Russell be beating them.

Cingrani seems to have caught a dose of ability.

Cubs moving forward need to find a way to cut down on the running game. Montero was just brutal.

Loved those throw-back uniforms. Cubs gave out replica jerseys to about all 41,000 of us and a couple of young ladies learned real quick how to make an XL baseball jersey look almost XXX.

It is mind boggling how that ballpark has changed from a pastoral dump to a money-maker. That old scoreboard in CF is completely useless now but they still use it for balls, strikes and the linescores. Seriously, 50M dollars worth of Jumbotrons and I had to squint to see the count on the hitter.

Was kidding one of their fans after the game, saying all that matters now is that the Cardinals lose. He said, "why does everyone hate the Cardinals?"

 

[Redsfan1507]

"why does everyone hate the Cardinals?"

Because they win so effin often, and always expect to.

 

[JohnU]

Because they win so effin often, and always expect to.

We agreed about that but it was more about their self-appointed role as "best fans in baseball." It's easy to be a fan when the team wins. Best fans are in Chicago, where they were reminded again tpday that they ain't won squat yet.

 

[JohnU]

Phillips has a hand injury 2 days before the break. Why is he playing?

 

[eburg5000]

I'm starting to think that Eugenio Suarez future as the starting third baseman for the Reds, is growing short. 226, BA, with 15 errors, ain't getting it

 

[eburg5000]

3 out of 4 so far, sense the AS break. Of course against 2 teams that are not very good.

Bruce probably will be gone soon. Any ideas of who will be playing right field when he is gone.

 

[JohnU]

Holt should get the job. Maybe Waldrip.

 

[JohnU]

TJ for Moscot. So much for that.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I think Yorman Rodriguez was the plan to fill the void if Bruce was traded. YR is on a rehab assignment and the Reds have to make a decision on him moving forward. He's out of options and has to be on the 25 man roster or DFA.

The last I heard Yorman's hammy had flared back up and he was day to day. So it may be whomever the Reds see as next in line.

Winker, Selsky, and Schebler have all had descent seasons at AAA. Winker isn't on the 40 man, so that would require a DFA of another player.

Kyle Waldrop seems to be the guy in the mix that the Reds aren't concerned with getting him everyday AB's. He's 3 for 4 with a BB pinch hitting, so that may be his future if he continues to have success. He seems the mostly likely choice to option back to AAA if they call up YR or whomever.

Price likes Holt, but IMO, the AB's would be wasted on him and would be better served on someone else. Holt plays hard, but he's a 27 year old .220 hitter that probably isn't going to improve.

Homer Bailey is nearing a return and isn't on the 40 man roster. So the Reds are going to be making several moves in the near future. They may move a guy like AJ Morris to the 60 DL to make room.

The non-waiver trade deadline is 10 days away. Would it surprise anyone if the Reds didn't make a deal?

 

[JohnU]

I don't think the Reds are going to be blown away by any offers they get on Bruce. I am beginning to think they may make him an offer. For the moment, it doesn't matter who plays right field.

What surprises me is the man-love I have been hearing from Brantley and Day about Zach Cozart. I wonder when these guys plan to build their shrine outside the ballpark. Phillips is done and he knows it. I think Price is waiting for BP to actually admit it.

All Bailey's return will do is verify whether the Reds have 2 acceptable starters or 3 acceptable starters.

The Cincy media seems all up and ready to bring Amir Garrett to the big club as if that will do anything we didn't already know. Numbers game being what it is inside organizations, I am often amazed at the loyalty shown to veterans. I mean ... seriously ... give Alfredo Pasta his last paycheck.

Cody Reed needs to learn how to pitch. John Lamb is not going to make this team. Finnegan should be in the bullpen with Lorenzen. It is odd moving forward how the targets seem to shift. Moscot done for at least a year. Lamb showing no ability to get people out and suddenly we are wondering if Tim Adleman really is a starting pitcher for the Reds.

Iglesias is the puzzle piece.

Is Suarez another E5 Encarnacion? Somebody needs to teach him how to hit.

I hear our top draft choices are doing well. Let them rot in Pensacola, right?

 

[eburg5000]

Not much action here these days.
Reds had a good home stand against some teams that are not real good. But the way this season has been going Better take what we can get. Going to the west coast so I think the winning series is coming to an end. hope I'm wrong.
We have one week before the trade deadline. I'm wondering if the Reds are going to make any deals, If they are they sure are quiet about it. I did here one wild rumor about Texas being interested in DeSclafani' I can't think of any deal there that would benefit the Reds
I'm to lazy to go to the Wires thread, so I will say it here. Look's like Chapman is going to the Cubs. Yankees will get way more than the Reds did for him.

 

[eburg5000]

Not much action here these days. I'm retired so I don't have much to do.
Reds had a good home stand against some teams that are not real good. But the way this season has been going Better take what we can get. Going to the west coast so I think the winning series is coming to an end. hope I'm wrong.
We have one week before the trade deadline. I'm wondering if the Reds are going to make any deals, If they are they sure are quiet about it. I did here one wild rumor about Texas being interested in DeSclafani' I can't think of any deal there that would benefit the Reds
I'm to lazy to go to the Wires thread, so I will say it here. Look's like Chapman is going to the Cubs. Yankees will get way more than the Reds did for him.

 

[JohnU]

Reds have not called me for my opinion but I don't see how trading Bruce and/or Cozart helps this team at all, unless it's purely from a payroll point of view. Either way, both players are affordable.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Yankees will get more for Chapman than the Reds did, but that was predictable. With all the uncertainty surrounding Chapman's status at the time, they should have waited.

There's probably not any trades coming down the pike that is going to improve this team in the short term. But all moves have to at least have downstream potential to improve this team or they shouldn't be made. No moves come with a guarantee, but they have to make sense at the time of execution.

I don't have an issue with the Reds trading anyone currently in the organization. I don't know there budget limitations moving forward and only hope they have a viable plan. But there has to be a time table for it to all come together and I think that is a few years away. I think Bruce and Cozart will both be past prime before this team is ready to seriously contend, so if the Reds feel they can acquire younger talent that can help this team win in a few years I'm OK with it.