Have the Tides Turned?

What Cincinnati Team is this…

Over the past week since my last post, the Reds have managed to currently have the best record in baseball right now. Let me say that again the best record in baseball. Considering the poor season the reds have had the past two seasons this is an amazing start. The Reds are currently 7-3 going into the second game series versus the Orioles today. Don’t Miss it! If it’s anything like last nights win. (9 -3 win). You won’t want to miss it.

The Reds bullpen has probably been one of the most successful bullpens in the MLB as of right now as well. They were just named Bull pen of the week and up until the 10-4 loss to the Brewers. The bullpen had an ERA of 1.13, The bullpen had not been scored on up until that point. After that night the ERA obviously jumped up to around 2.69 I believe.  The starting pitchers as well have been really productive. Amir Garret has been the shining star and a key player every time he has started thus far. Same with Michael Lorenson besides the Brewers flop.  On top of that like I predicted in an earlier Spring Training blog post. Jesse Winker has been brought up to the majors to play off the bench since the Reds dropped Rookie Davis and shortened their bullpen. Winker’s first MLB hit was a clutch two-run double which made it a 6-4 game versus the Brewers as well.

The number one factor in the Reds losses to date this season is the lack of offense. Whenever the bats are quiet for the Reds they seem to lose. Which makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, the Reds seem to have a flock mentality and everyone’s bats will go quiet during the same game which endlessly leads them to their blowout losses they have suffered thus far.

Last Night: Orioles Game

Last night’s game was an incredible display of what this Reds team is capable of when everything is clicking. Not only did the game end in the Reds favor but the game had meaning behind it. This was Bronson Arroyo’s first MLB win of 2017 and his first win in the past 3 years.  To put it in a perspective his last win was 1,038 days ago. This win not only means he’s not completely finished but brought positivity to the 40-year-old pitcher that his career has not bottlenecked completely.  In other news, Adam Duvall broke his record for most RBIs in an MLB game with 5.

I look forward to watching the Reds progress during the rest of season. This season is going to be an interesting one. I believe it will be a game of chess with multiple useful young bullpen prospects will be rotated through in order to best suit the matchup that lies ahead for that week.

Thanks for Reading 🙂

First Week of Reds Baseball

The Reds this week have been on fire, but not without their fair share of mistakes of course.  There have been losses that could have been prevented with fewer failures to capitalize on errors and stranding runners on base etc.. That’s baseball though right? A lot of it comes down to that day and how well each player is doing.  Most people would like to think of baseball as 20% luck and 80% skill. The players can do everything to make sure their season is successful but there is no way to tell how well you are going to do in a particular season or that particular day.

News Time!

The Reds claimed Phillies outfielder, Tyler Goeddel the waivers on the 5th. The decision to me. Doesn’t seem like a very good one, or at least a clear one.  Goeddel batted .192,.258, and a .291 with 4 home runs and 16 RBIs in 92 games last season. He seems to be significantly improving, so from a rebuild it makes sense but the reds need to have a productive season in the majors, not the farm systems. Don’t get me wrong though the minor league farm systems are gravely important, but the Reds need to be productive and successful in the majors this season. The Reds haven’t been a force to be reckoned with since the 2010-2012 seasons.

Sorry to go off on a tangent, the Reds starting pitchers have all been a force these past couple games/ series. Finnegan had an amazing night versus the Phillies, Barnhart commented saying it was one of the best nights he’s thrown beside his complete game he threw back in 2016 versus the Dodgers. Amir Garrett has been sight this season. Garrett was the first Reds pitcher to throw 6 scoreless innings in his first big league appearance since the 1970s.  Feldman also redeemed himself from his opening day let down by going six-plus innings with six strikeouts.

Opening Day 2017 Recap

Opening Day in the Queen city was this past Monday. I’m sure the opening day parade and all the festivities before the game were a blast. Sadly due to me being in college. I was unable to attend. Definitely next year for sure. Opening Day was definitely a success even though the Reds did lose to the Phillies in game 1 of the series. The reason I say it is a success is because a total of five relievers working a total of 4 1/2 innings with only one earned run allowed. This shows light in a turnaround from last season where the Reds relievers allowed 356 runs and 103 home runs. I hope this indeed is a sign of a change and the beginning of a  journey towards a new direction.

The outcome of this game was ultimately decided by the Red’s missed chances. There were numerous times with runner stranded on base. The Reds were I believe 0-7 with runners in scoring position before Scooter Gennett’s homerun.  The bases were loaded twice but they were only able to get one run in on Hamiltons sac-fly.

The Reds starting pitcher Brandon Finnegan is pegged to start his 2017 season off Today. In his spring training appearances, he posted a 7.63 ERA in his 5 starts.  I also look forward to seeing how Votto and Peraza develop as the season goes on defensively. I think having Peraza in the infield between Votto and Cozart will help him develop into an even better defensive threat. As we all know he has big shoes to fill with Brandon Phillips being traded. Along with that defensive picture, the way the batting order was decided leaves me to think it is up to Peraza and Hamilton to be the dynamic duo. They will be responsible for helping the offense surge in game.

Opening Day in Queen City

Opening Day 2017

It’s almost time for one of the best time of the year. Well, the best time of the year for Baseball Fans that is. Opening Day for Baseball is coming in hot. Opening Day for the Cincinnati Reds is right around the corner scheduled for April 3rd, at 4:10 p.m. EST versus the Philadelphia Phillies.

 

Every year in Cincinnati Opening Day is all the whole city is itching with excitement about it. Hundreds of eager fans of all ages ask off for work and even some business will close for this time of the year. It is the one time every season regardless of how good the Reds look that the stadium will be sold out or nearly sold out and piled to the ceiling with fans ready to watch regular season baseball for the first time in 2017. This will be the 142nd annual opening day parade if I’m not mistaken. That’s right parade. In Cincinnati, we pride ourselves as a baseball town. The Redlegs were one of the very first teams in the original MLB organization and still remain a part of it under the name the “Reds”. The team was originally formed back in 1869. I’ll let you do the math on that one but trust me baseball has been bred into this cities cultures for generations.

Juicy Details

The Reds made a number of bold moves this past week slowly slimming down the roster to the 25 man roster. One of the biggest moves was the release of veteran utility player Ryan Raburn. Yes, Raburn would have added a veteran presence but in terms of utility players there were better options and with Bailey and DeScalfani out for the Opening day series. It was more important to add another player to the bullpen and limit the bench to 4 players. Next big move was the Reds claimed Scooter Gennett off the waiver list from the Brewers. His last year stats make him a candidate for the Reds Off-bench players. The rest bench spots will be held by Alcantra, and Kivlehan. Also, the Reds will be utilizing a two catcher play with Tucker Barnhart and Stuart turner as the backup.Mesoroca was deemed not ready fo opening day and will not be on the active roster come the opening series. Next big news was that Davis and Garett earned spots on the rotation. Reed will be moved to the bullpen temporarily and the veteran Bronson Arroyo will be given another shot in the big leagues. The Reds could use his consistency if he can still hang with big boys.

 

Signing off till next week, Its been 1800-RedsLine!

Updates, and My Starting 8 Prediction

Cody “K” Reed!

Following Reed’s start about a week ago he helped lead the Reds to a win with 7 straight strikeouts giving the Redlegs the momentum to rally past the San Diego Padres with and 8-7 win last Wednesday. Along with Reed’s excellent performance, we have to thank Billy Hamilton as well for delivering a solid outing and the arguably the best of his spring training appearances thus far.

The next series against the Cleveland Indians, the Indians gave their ace Corey Kluber an outing. Kluber pitched and excellent game, however; it went downhill fast after his exit. The Bench candidates decided it was their time and Iribarren, Rayburn, Kivlehan, Wallach, and Elizalde all contributed to the 7-3 win over the Indians. Most notably was prospect Desmond Jennings who demolished a RBI triple. The bench candidates did a favor for the Indians showing them that their bullpen prospect Josh Martin. Is not ready for late-game appearances.

Starting 8  Prediction, 2 Bench Prospects

So a lot of these names are pretty obvious. I believe there is only one purely new player in the everyday eight but he has been with the farm system withing the organization for a while. At catcher, we have Devin Mesoraco, pending a clean bill of health all season Mesoraco has been putting up good numbers and has declared that he is getting back into the swing of things. I expect to see him there all season unless something happens health wise. First base will be played by Joey Votto. Shocker right? I expect to see Votto play first for the rest of his career in the Reds organization. The only thing that would stop that would be if he was traded. Votto has been progressing his skills and doesn’t except average which always makes him a great starter. Now that Phillips has gone to the Braves via a trade deal. Second base had an open spot. It was clear for most of us that long time Reds No.1 Prospect Jose Peraza would fill in his shoes. Peraza has consistently put up MLB forecasted numbers that make him a great option for the everyday second basemen. Next up we have Cozart at Shortstop, 1 yearCozart sig1-year contract and has made himself a permanent home at his position. You then have Eugenio Suarez at Thirdbase. He made himself a threat at third after Todd Frazier left two years ago. Suarez took the role with open arms and has been on fire with minor hiccups here and there. Lastly, we have our entire outfield returning to their home positions. Now, this is the outfield as of late last year after Duvall went on a tear all season long make himself a threat both offensively and defensively. From left to right field we have Adam Duvall, Billy Hamilton, and Scott Schebler. Those are predicted starting 8. Let me know what you think! As always have a wonderful day.

 

Spring Training Thus Far

Hey everyone sorry about missing a post last week! In this past week, a lot has happened. So let’s get right into it.  I hate to see it 2 years in a row, but one of our top pitching prospects vying for a spot in the rotation has torn his UCL ( ulnar collateral ligament). Anthony DeScalfani was diagnosed Monday with a UCL sprain. Luckily it is not a full sprain similar to last year’s mishap with Lorenzon. His case, however, was complicated but Lorenzen returned in June. It’s safe to say that the Reds will play it safe and make no effort to rush DeScalfani along and risk any further injury to a such a high profile ligament in such a young athlete.

What’s the effect of such an injury?

Well first off just to clarify it was not fully torn which is wonderful news. DeScalfani will be starting the 2017 Season on the disabled list indefinitely. This leaves us with another open spot in the rotation this year. We had only 2 spots to fill now we have three which leaves room for the plethora of rookie pitching prospects the Reds invited to Spring Training.  Some key individuals to note are Amir Garrett, Cody Reed, Robert Stephenson, Sal Romano, Luis Castillo and Rookie Davis.  Tim Alderman and Bronson Arroyo also have a chance but in terms of rookie prospects. There are better viable options for the pitching rotation. Garret has thrown 4 hitless innings twice this spring training which may be a clear sign of him possibly becoming part of the rotation if not at least part of the bullpen. Ramano, Castillo, and Davis were all a part of the second string group of pitchers since none of them have been above Double-A yet. All now have a chance with the third spot opened up with the injury of DeScalfani. The Reds organization still seems adamant at seeing what they have at camp and utilizing their farm system instead of going for outside help.

As of Today, the Cincinnati Reds only have 2 confirmed spots with Scott Feldman and Brandon Finnegan. These next weeks are critical and are definitely exciting to watch unravel.

Reds 0-5 in Spring Training

What’s this mean?

This doesn’t mean anything to be quite frank. Over the past several decades there has not been a hard solid correlation with doing well in Spring Training and doing well in the regular season. The regular season is still about 40 days away and Spring training just started last week. It’s like judging a newly formed team on their first few games as a unit. The teams that all the ball clubs are using currently are not their starting lineups by any means. There are regular season players mixed in with probably the top 20-30 prospects from each of the respective team’s farm system. We won’t start to see true cohesion and any form of true chemistry til about 2 weeks to a week out from regular season baseball.

Updates from the Dugout!

 

• Joey Votto, has been focused on improving as always. showing more drive during warmup and in games. This past game he made a diving play to stop the massacre that was happening against the Chicago Whitesox.
• DeScalfani was sidelined and because of an injury his start will be pushed back. The injury;however, was just a sore elbow. He is expected to start soon.

• Both Peraza and Hilson are leading the Reds offense. Both players of which I mentioned in my previous post. The 2 are battling. If they continue with their current streak they both could end up being on the final roster. All they have to do is prove they can help the team. With Phillips gone this ball club will need all the support it can muster in that position.
• Feldman, Storen, and Castillo all pitched these past games. It was Storen debut in a Reds uniform. Storen is glad to get the first game under his belt and is ready to tackle the rest of spring training. I look forward to seeing more of him. I’d put him on the watch list to make the Roster come regular season. This past game was also Castillo’s first pitched game. Castillo was part of the Dan Straily trade. I’m excited for this young gun to join the squad because in his appearance first the Giants he seemed to be smooth operator when it came to precise and powerful pitching.

The New Reds, 2016 Out of sight out of mind!

Too much to handle!

So over the past week, a lot of things have happened. A lot of things! First off as I said about 2 weeks ago the Reds picked up veteran Scott Feldman, who is looking forward to being in a leadership role for all our young pitchers. This is good for multiple reasons. One being that they will have someone to guide them and help them along. Second being that we will have a veteran pitcher to be consistent all season.

This is going to be a pitcher heavy update, but who doesn’t like pitchers, right?  Along with Feldman,  Lisaverto Bonilla from the Rangers and Nefi Ogando are both former MLB pitchers who were claimed off the waivers. On top of those two pitchers Robert Stephenson and Cody Reed, both said in interviews that they are taking last season as a learning experience. Arroyo also a heavily interviewed pitcher is going for a comeback and attempting to make a major league comeback. He turns 40 on Feb. 24, and he had Tommy John in 2014 and tore is rotator cuff last season. I would say it’s safe to say unless all the rookies are doing awful that arroyo will not have an easy time getting into the rotation.

Welcoming the New Wave

Zack Cozart remains optimistic despite the trade rumors and wants to Cincinnati. He likes all the new faces and really wants to win in Cincy. Votto as well is embracing all the new faces being one of the few players who has not been traded. All his buds were traded and now it’s time to welcome the new faces

 

New Blood

Jesse Winker has been highlighted as being a guy that has a hell of a battle in front of him for this season. Being the number 3 prospect, he definitely has a shot at making the team if anyone slacks off or an injury that might happen during the season. He’s the go to for his positions for both his offensive and defensive performances. Next big thing is that the Reds are going for a four-player rotation in the closer spot.Keeping each close new and unique.

A Mic Dropped- Brandon Phillips Gone

Goodbye Brandon Phillips!

That’s is right, if you even semi-keep up with the Reds and have any form of social media then you definitely heard about the recent trade with the Atlanta Braves. The Reds agreed to trade our “SUPERSTAR” 2nd Baseman for two mediocre minor league pitchers. (commence eye rolling) This is hands down one of the biggest heartbreaks Reds fans have gone through in the past 5 years. Brandon Phillips has been a part of the Reds for a majority of his career. He’s played 11 seasons and is a seasoned veteran. From an age aspect, Yes his age is getting up there but his numbers have not slowed down. He still leading the ball club with Doubles, and RBI’s. Phillips is one of those breakout players that always seemed to get the ball rolling.

Here’s a highlight reel of Phillips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oi1aQ8QNG6I

Trade Details: 2B Brandon Phillips for LH Pitcher Andrew McKirkhan and RH Relieve Pitcher Carlos Portuondo. The Reds will play 13 million of the 14 million dollars remaining on his contract and the Braves will pay 1 million. 

Where does this leave us?

This leaves room in the infield for a couple of players the Reds acquired over the past 2-3 seasons. Both Jose Peraza and Dilson Herrera are the future of the infield. Peraza has played a variety of positions his original position being shortstop and 2B. Some people question whether he will be the everyday 2B as the Frazier trade with the Chicago White Sox brought Herrera to the Reds who is also a solid choice for the position.  This is all a toss up though because the Reds so have veteran Shortstop Cozart, but this is also the last year on his contract and in prior dealings, he is not a soluble trading piece because of his age. Peraza could end up being the Shortstop depending on how things play out before opening day. The higher-ups on the Reds board of directors released a statement late Sunday. The statement in general just said how its hard to let go of a veteran player who has made a face for himself through the organization. They then went on to say that the vote was unanimous and everyone thought it was a good time to let go of the past and look towards the future. I think we as fans also need to be aware that Phillips could have vetoed the trade if he did not want to play for Atlanta because he had a no-trade clause.  Maybe Phillips will pull a Lebron James and return to his hometown team and win a World Series. You just never know.

News:

1.  Spring Training began today. Pitchers and Catchers reported!

 

Spring Training 2017- Part 1

It’s that time of the year folks! The Superbowl is over which leaves us with Basketball and Baseball out of the big 3 sports. Spring Training for a lot of fans is almost like the teaser trailer for a movie coming out in the next year. You get to the Top 15 prospects of every team as well as the returning players. You get to hear their story because in baseball there is no offseason. As soon as the season ends all the players go into conditioning mode. They work out regularly and make adjustments so they can better themselves when it comes time to play again. 

Returning Reds! 

For the returning Reds player’s they all have work to do. After a semi-disappointing season of 68 wins and 94 losses, the Reds finished dead last in their division. They were a whopping 35.5 Games back from the leader which was the World Series winning Chicago Cubs. Some things I would like to see is better batting from both Schebler and DuVall. Schebler was a new Red last year but quickly came into his own in the outfield. I think he was a great addition to the roster. I want to see more power and definitely a more productive RBI season from him since he is in a cleanup hitter position in the batting order. As for DuVall, He led the entire roster with the most HomeRuns and made a big run in the home run derby he was also second in the clubhouse with RBI’s. So Duvall hitting wise I would like to see better pitch selection. He took a lot of strikes that were definitely in the sweet spot. Duvall even said himself he would like to improve on this in an interview he did. You can go see the full article here: http://m.reds.mlb.com/news/article/214540556/adam-duvall-visits-louisville-for-reds-caravan/

As for the rest of the Reds roster, we have a returning Devin Mesaraco who we all hope has made a full recovery so we can see him all year. His bat was missed this past season as well as his arm. Also, we have Homer Bailey returning to the pitching rotation this season after having Tommy John surgery, maybe we will see another no-hitter this season? You just never know.  We have the two veterans as well and we all wish the best of Luck to Votto, Cozart, Phillips, and Hamilton.

 

BREAKING NEWS!!!

If you pay as much attention as me which I’m guessing you do. The Reds dealt Straily to the Marlins for a Trio of prospects. Which gives us an open spot in the rotation. The Reds rotation is filled to the brim with new blood and some notable players who have been there in years prior. The Reds signed veteran Scott Feldman to a 1-year deal as well as veteran Bronson Arroyo to a 1-year deal. Feldman had tons of success with the Astros and Arroyo? Well, I grew up watching Arroyo pitch for the Reds, so it’s exciting to see a veteran want to come back and add some leadership to a rather young pitching rotation. Arroyo, however, did sign a minor league contract so his appearance on the rotation during the season is questionable, but he did pitch in the majors for years so inevitably he will be called upon at some point.

 

 

The Arizona Cactus League logo above is intended for entertainment purposes only and all right go to MLB and its creator you can find the full theme here at their Spring Training web page -> http://mlb.mlb.com/springtraining/