The lineup is inadequate. But if the three young guns in the rotation stay healthy and effective, and if Williamson is also ready this team could be good. Relatively speaking. Above. 500 maybe.
My prediction 68-94. For many of the reasons you mention above though only Farmer made it through the end of 2022. This team will be even younger. I fully expect the Reds to wait until September like they did with Steer to bring up players like ELDC, CES or McLain so they can retain another year of service time. The worst thing the Reds can do is repeat the mistakes of the last decade once they had a couple of winning seasons trading off prospects for rentals they can't afford to keep or signing players like Castellanos who will walk rather than extending the current young stars that they have to build around for a number of years. This last go around trying to contend lasted a whopping 1 year and backed into the playoffs getting hot in the final 2 weeks of the 2 month 2020 season. The stretch of winning from 2010-13 had a losing 2011 season and couldn't even win a playoff series.
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I'll take Greene, Lodolo & Ashcraft any day over Lucas Giolito at 97 with his 4.90 ERA.No Reds on the list.
MLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball's top 100 players
With Opening Day approaching, we rank -- and make predictions for -- the best 100 players in the sport for the upcoming 2023 season.www.espn.com
I still have them losing 90+ games but I'll take Ashcraft over the other 2 just based on that filthy slider he displayed yesterday.
Another 90 loss season in the books with this team. Ashcraft has had a great spring and the last 2 starts vs Cleveland & San Diego looked dominant. Pumping the brakes on the Brandon Williamson train after giving up 9 runs yesterday. Hopefully before September players like ELDC, CES, Williamson, McLain make it to Cincinnati and push for .500 in 2024. Probably more like 2025 at this point in the event a few of them hit the rookie wall and don't hit the ground running like India in 2021 and the big 3 in the rotation to finish the year.
Giolito is another Homer Bailey. Overrated and claim to fame a no-hitter with subpar career numbers. I don't know that any of them are Top 100 players though.
Still like Greene & Lodolo long term more. The numbers put up down the stretch by Greene & Lodolo showed significant improvement in the 2nd half. Ashcraft faltered down the stretch last year after the injury. He looks healthy now but taking the start the other night vs San Diego at face value considering it was their AAA lineup. Still has more to prove than the other 2 IMO.
Tbh, I liked Ashcraft better last year as well. Better control as I recall. Yesterday's performance only solidified it for me.
Don't know about that when you look at the number of hits per 9 innings given up compared to the others. Ashcraft with a 1.419 WHIP vs Greene 1.210 & Lodolo 1.248 isn't really close. Still has more to prove before I would put him above Lodolo or Greene. Only area Graham was better was with BB/9 but not so much more. Greene was mowing them down in the 2nd half with a 1.02 ERA, 2.92 ERA for Lodolo and 5.36 for Ashcraft. They're all 3 great pitchers, Cincinnati will be lucky to keep any of them in a few years but need to see more from Ashcraft to believe he is the ace of this rotation.
Should definitely be considered more aggressively by this franchise. Position versatility is something you are seeing across MLB these days whether that be with Trevor Story, Jeff McNeill, in the past Kris Bryant playing in the outfield and even shifting Senzel from the infield to the outfield in previous years to name a few examples. Something has to give with the logjam of infielders and shortstops coming up in the pipeline then to select 2 3B in the 1st round last year. Last week, the Reds threw Barrero in CF again for a game for the 1st time since 2021 despite being known for his glove at SS. Then you have SS Matt McLain who logged 58 games in the outfield at UCLA.
From an entertainment standpoint on TV, that was one of the best MLB games I've ever watched. Can't imagine how awesome it would've been to be there.
