Reds
- Thread starter mrschwump
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Whose bright idea was it to bunt EDLC down one on the road late in the game? Wonder if EDLC did that on his own or if Bell called it? Earth to Reds: EDLC is a power guy who can tie a game with one swing, not drop a bunt, steal 2 bases and hope some .150 hitter hits a sac fly. SMH.
Another perfect game by Candy. 4 ABs without a ball being put in play, 4 Ks today. Awesome!!!
The Reds stringing together quality starts on the road trip is really good to see. Lodolo went through stretches last night where he was unhittable with 22 swings and misses and every hitter looked baffled going back to the dugout. Only Abbott's 4 run first Sunday was the blip of the trip so far with Ashcraft and Greene giving great starts.
But good lord the injuries and it's impact to the everyday lineup are taking a real toll.
But good lord the injuries and it's impact to the everyday lineup are taking a real toll.
The injuries and the lack of hitting.
Good to see Candy get a couple hits though.
I liked what Welsh said last night during the broadcast. When talking with people in the Nats organization, they spoke highly of Candelario being able to carry them which he did for them last year enough to be coveted at the trade deadline by the Cubs again. He has played in the middle of some awful lineups most of his career with Detroit.
Of course Reds broadcasters are known to talk up players, though it was a fair point based on his numbers in Washington. Obviously it needs to happen here with that contract and Jeimer should be taking full advantage of available playing time by producing while the infield is banged up. The Reds no doubt overpaid for a switch hitter with a career .240 average which he isn't even giving the Reds at the moment. Hopefully last night will be the start of him turning his season around.
Candelario has had the Padres number in his career. Happy to see him hit that home run and having a good series so far. Fairchild with a HR too!
He was the definition of retread from day 1. Horrible acquisition, especially to put in the rotation. I commend his work ethic to get back in the game, but he is your middle relief/down 5 runs guy to save arms, nothing more.
That will be the case with 1 more start to go until Frankie Montas is supposed to return. He is a swingman option just filling in while Montas is out. He is better fit in a long reliever role to save the bullpen when a starter gets ran early or a spot start like now with no other options. Hopefully Williamson comes back soon and bumps him from being considered next in line for starts. The alternatives in AAA are shit. Richardson is having the best year of viable candidates. Spiers has done nothing at the MLB level in his short time to make me think he can start. Phillips and Kennedy have been lit up like a Christmas tree all year in Louisville.
Mike Ford:
www.redlegnation.com
Mike Ford opts out, Reds must decide to add him or not - Redleg Nation
Mike Ford has opted out of his contract, leaving the Cincinnati Reds with the decision of having to add him to the roster or release him.
www.redlegnation.com
Golden Boy Krall catching much deserving flack for the shape of this roster and the lack of depth. Some of the people who cover the Reds saying he needs to be signing free agents. I mentioned 2 in the last week (Meadows/Segura) previous All-Stars plus keeping Mike Ford down after a hot spring. They won't carry the Reds but their veteran presence will light a fire under the ass of some of these guys half-assing it day in and out.Mike Ford:
Mike Ford opts out, Reds must decide to add him or not - Redleg Nation
Mike Ford has opted out of his contract, leaving the Cincinnati Reds with the decision of having to add him to the roster or release him.
Ford has 5 years of MLB service with 6 home runs, 15 RBIs and hitting .297 in Louisville. Zero reason he hasn't gotten called up. Now he has forced Krall's hand and with the push back I have seen online, it would behoove Krall to call Ford up. He's not going to be the savior though Bubba Thompson sure as hell is not the answer and the Nick Martini experiment has run its course. Eventually these guys like Martini are going to live up to the numbers on the back of their baseball card. He is a career minor league journeyman for a reason.
If not Segura, bring in a veteran presence like Evan Longoria over Espinal at 3B, Elvis Andrus at age 35 or AJ Pollock in the outfield is still better than some of these shit bags the Reds bring in that wouldn't field a competitive starting lineup in the International League.
I said they should have signed JD Martinez in the offseason to boost a young roster to fill the void of major league quality outfielders and with his power mixed in with all of these singles hitters in Great American Small Park. He would have been a good fit like Ludwick was in 2012 with 26 HRs & 80 RBIs. Martinez would have just made too much sense for the Reds. Any of these guys could have easily been traded when this team got healthy or waived as a low-risk/high-reward player on an incentive-based deal except JD Martinez still playing decent but that is irrelevant with JD on the Mets. Had their chances as he signed late and NYM scooped him up.
We can pretend Espinal and his .191 batting average is something that he is not based on John Sadak and Jim Day telling us he had a couple good games and that he is 'rounding the corner'. For me, give me a veteran and try to be serious about winning.
It galls me to no end how a player like Candelario can come in here and do virtually nothing all year long. Then go into the biggest damn park in MLB and have a good series. He has it all to prove with that contract and is a large part of the problem without consistent productivity and depth in this lineup. Brought in to be a stabilizer to the lineup as a switch-hitter and has had one good series. This is the big leagues. It would cost the Reds $30 million to buy him out at the end of the year. Stuck with him while the young infielders when healthy need the playing time. They are the future.
I'm sick and damn tired of coming in here every day saying I hope such and such players starts to go on a run. Just f'n do it. Too many players to list here underperforming and paid too much money to be underperforming at the rate they are. Sure, it sucks McLain and Friedl are hurt. But excuse making isn't going to win this team any games. We don't know if McLain is going to factor in at all in 2024. They can lose just as easy as they can win a game with Friedl much like some of the sorry ass teams the Reds wasted Votto's career on. Marte is now unknown what he brings after being caught cheating with PEDs.
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Unrelated to this post but your overall point in the past about this Reds training staff, their strength and conditioning regiment has proven to rear its ugly head again. How are we just now discovering old fractures in CES?
Reds are losing games largely in part due to key players always getting hurt and injuries mounting up therefore rostering a bunch of minor league level talent in their place. A healthy Reds team is much better than the product we're seeing on the field but can never count on them all being ready to go at any point in a season. 5 Players McLain, Friedl, Gibaut, Young & Williamson that all played significant roles last year are yet to play in a game this year.
No question Reds training/S&C programs are woeful and has been for some time yet no attempt at correction is being attempted.
I went to the Bats game this past Sunday. Not sure what's going on there. I hardly recognized anybody out there. Blake Dunn was the only higher level prospect to play that day. Hurtubise didn't play. Livan Soto played. but everybody else, I was like "who?" Christian Roa got hit pretty hard, had them down 5-0 by the second inning. Tony Santillian was the only real bright spot, He came in at the end and pitched like a man among boys. He's a big dude though. He was touching upper 90s on some of his pitches.
It's the worst lineup in Major League Baseball by far. I'm with you I've never seen that many numbers that low in a Major League lineup.
Oh please, the Reds are over .500, while, e.g., the Rockies have trailed in all 30 games, a first in MLB history. 🤣
This lineup combined with the baseball ignorance of Bell is going to be their demise, same as last year.
If you listen to Sadak call a game, they're all hitting .330 and leading the AS vote at their positions.
Pagan shit the bed along with pathetic defense by Fraley diving for balls he has no shot at catching and can't read the ball coming off the wall to save his life. Shutout again with this underperforming roster surrounded by minor league journeymen. This is what you get when you field a lineup of jokes and singles hitters in a band box. The Reds were the only winning team overall last year that had a losing record at home. Looking like another season of the same. Inexcusable to not be able to win at home and for Nick Krall to let this go on with a lineup full of minor league scraps.
Give Krall another extension Bob! Rewarding managers and promoting GMs with contract extensions before accomplishing anything in the postseason is like wiping before taking a dump. For all of that 'farm system depth', the cupboard is bare in Louisville with no one near ready to contribute in Cincinnati. Even with Friedl back soon, there is no guarantee what you will get from him fresh off an injury and expecting him to carry the load with the underperforming players not doing their job around him isn't realistic. Zero excuse for a team with the expectation to build off a winning season to not be putting forth a better effort right now.
A lot of people from the FO down to the dugout not earning their money. Bell has his faults with lineups but this is more than a Davis Bell problem. The lack of depth with position players is solely on the FO. Every team deals with injuries but teams with a gumption do something about it than just accept it. They have chosen to settle for these scrubs like Thompson, Espinal and keep bringing back Fairchild and Martini. The rest of the players like Steer, Stephenson, Fraley, Benson, Candelario, CES, India need to take ownership of their piss poor play.
Give Krall another extension Bob! Rewarding managers and promoting GMs with contract extensions before accomplishing anything in the postseason is like wiping before taking a dump. For all of that 'farm system depth', the cupboard is bare in Louisville with no one near ready to contribute in Cincinnati. Even with Friedl back soon, there is no guarantee what you will get from him fresh off an injury and expecting him to carry the load with the underperforming players not doing their job around him isn't realistic. Zero excuse for a team with the expectation to build off a winning season to not be putting forth a better effort right now.
A lot of people from the FO down to the dugout not earning their money. Bell has his faults with lineups but this is more than a Davis Bell problem. The lack of depth with position players is solely on the FO. Every team deals with injuries but teams with a gumption do something about it than just accept it. They have chosen to settle for these scrubs like Thompson, Espinal and keep bringing back Fairchild and Martini. The rest of the players like Steer, Stephenson, Fraley, Benson, Candelario, CES, India need to take ownership of their piss poor play.
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Another putrid performance by the Reds offense tonight. 21 consecutive scoreless innings by the offense before scoring one in the bottom of the 9th and pissing away the bases loaded. FO elects to release Mike Ford rather than giving him a chance because Martini, Fairchild & Thompson are 'better' options.
At this point, why not call up Conor Capel? .272, 7 HRs, 16 RBIs with 5 steals. Friedl coming back soon. Can ship out Martini and Thompson in the outfield. No one setting the Southern League on fire for Chattanooga so the option of reaching down to AA for a hot hitting prospect is unavailable that other organizations like Atlanta will do.
At this point, why not call up Conor Capel? .272, 7 HRs, 16 RBIs with 5 steals. Friedl coming back soon. Can ship out Martini and Thompson in the outfield. No one setting the Southern League on fire for Chattanooga so the option of reaching down to AA for a hot hitting prospect is unavailable that other organizations like Atlanta will do.
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Having reviewed tonight's performance, I stand by my assessment. This is a bad, bad baseball team.
Yep, they have try someone, something, anything. Continuing to run this group of minor leaguers out there is ignorant. CES is complete garbage. Id argue hes the worst player on the team. Candelario is God awful, but CES makes him look like Ohtani. Strand has on OB% of .217 while slugging .303. LOL I can make a sound argument that he is the worst hitter in all of MLB. Dump his ass.
It is absolutely absurd to me that Jake Fraley doesn't play every single day. I don't give a shit about splits, he is one of your 3 best players on the roster, and he needs to be in the lineup daily.
Tyler Stephenson could very well go down as one of the biggest busts in Reds baseball history. He was slated to be the franchise, our cleanup hitter for 10 years. The guy absolutely sucks.
There are 3 Major League level players on the team, Cruz, Steer, Fraley. Thats it, thats the entire list. Could make a case for India, I guess. So for those of you thinking, "we will be fine when TJ gets back!" Think again.
These are numbers on Candelario that Lance McCalister posted this week. These are astonishingly embarrassing, especially the 0-27 on curveballs this year. I thought the Moustaukas signing was the worst in Reds history, but Jeimer takes the cake.
Jeimer Candelario: hitting .159 in 95 plate appearances
Striking out 35.8% of the time.
Bottom 4% MLB in exit velocity: 84.4mph ....down 3% from his 2023.
His career exit velocity: 88.1. Average MLB exit velocity: 88.4.
2024 vs fastballs .195........last year .306
2024 vs breaking balks 0 for 27, 16 K.
More ground balls, fewer line drives, more opposite field.
Batting average on balls in play .234. ML average balls in play .296.
Last season: .211 over first 38 games...hit .268 rest of way
Last season: 22 HR, 39 2B, 70 RBI, .807 OPS, OPS+ 120....basically same offensive production as '23 Spencer Steer.
Career: April his worst month....OPS .644
Contract: 3 years/$45M.......$13M, $16M, $13M, '27 buyout $3M
Best 3 ML seasons: 2020-2021-2023.
Running total:
7 for 46 last September
8 for 42 in Goodyear
13 for 82 in April
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28 for 170 (.164)
Jeimer Candelario: hitting .159 in 95 plate appearances
Striking out 35.8% of the time.
Bottom 4% MLB in exit velocity: 84.4mph ....down 3% from his 2023.
His career exit velocity: 88.1. Average MLB exit velocity: 88.4.
2024 vs fastballs .195........last year .306
2024 vs breaking balks 0 for 27, 16 K.
More ground balls, fewer line drives, more opposite field.
Batting average on balls in play .234. ML average balls in play .296.
Last season: .211 over first 38 games...hit .268 rest of way
Last season: 22 HR, 39 2B, 70 RBI, .807 OPS, OPS+ 120....basically same offensive production as '23 Spencer Steer.
Career: April his worst month....OPS .644
Contract: 3 years/$45M.......$13M, $16M, $13M, '27 buyout $3M
Best 3 ML seasons: 2020-2021-2023.
Running total:
7 for 46 last September
8 for 42 in Goodyear
13 for 82 in April
---------
28 for 170 (.164)
3 measly hits today and 2 came once the game well out of hand in an 11-1 ass busting. Good grief this team is sorry. Reds missed the boat to move Alexis Diaz when his trade value was at its peak before last season. He is a joke. Not been overworked whatsoever this year. He is what he is. Time to shitcan Joel McKeithan and Terry Bradshaw & Tim LaMonte are just collecting a paycheck and are as useful as an empty bench seat. This team needs a veteran manager.
Krall & Brad Meador are failing this team by not making any moves. Perhaps use some of those top prospects not ready to debut anytime soon and make a splash to help this team. The outfield needed to be addressed well in advance before ST started. Cincinnati went into 2024 moving Steer into LF and had plans for India to play OF if everyone was healthy lmao. Anything to not spend money and get a major league quality outfielder that could bring some offense to the lineup. We're screwed.
The Reds need a real catcher in the worst way!! Time to start demoting players or release the ones who have zero business being in the organization. The Reds are going to lose regardless playing like this. Light a fire under some of their asses and start sending players to Louisville who have options. Dead weight like Fairchild, Thompson and Martini, cut them or outright them to Louisville. Get them the hell out of Cincinnati. For the rest like Steer, India, CES, Benson, Candelario and so forth, they need to take ownership for their sorry ass play. This beyond ridiculous.
Krall & Brad Meador are failing this team by not making any moves. Perhaps use some of those top prospects not ready to debut anytime soon and make a splash to help this team. The outfield needed to be addressed well in advance before ST started. Cincinnati went into 2024 moving Steer into LF and had plans for India to play OF if everyone was healthy lmao. Anything to not spend money and get a major league quality outfielder that could bring some offense to the lineup. We're screwed.
The Reds need a real catcher in the worst way!! Time to start demoting players or release the ones who have zero business being in the organization. The Reds are going to lose regardless playing like this. Light a fire under some of their asses and start sending players to Louisville who have options. Dead weight like Fairchild, Thompson and Martini, cut them or outright them to Louisville. Get them the hell out of Cincinnati. For the rest like Steer, India, CES, Benson, Candelario and so forth, they need to take ownership for their sorry ass play. This beyond ridiculous.
Unfortunately, the Reds had months of off season to build a team and failed to do so. Everyone sees the Reds can't continue on their current path, that is everyone but the FO. I'd normally expect to see a flurry of roster moves but they really have nowhere to turn, weak AAA/AA teams assure that. You're right...Reds fans are screwed.
The HOF SS is now 6 for his last 35 w/ 14 K's (mirrors his excellence of a year ago)
Everyone got excited over a 2 week stretch and Sadak screaming, but that balloon burst w/ the quickness as expected. He simply isn't good enough on a consistent basis, and is very bad for long stretches.
When your best player is 5'8; 190 lbs. and is out until August, then you have a problem.
Everyone got excited over a 2 week stretch and Sadak screaming, but that balloon burst w/ the quickness as expected. He simply isn't good enough on a consistent basis, and is very bad for long stretches.
When your best player is 5'8; 190 lbs. and is out until August, then you have a problem.
It is pure negligence on the part of the FO to not be looking for alternatives out there on the free agent market. I won't claim that any one of them would save the Reds season but the floor of some of the players out there with veteran experience compared to the current scrubs is something they should be considering.
An infielder like Elvis Andrus was in camp with the D'Backs. Surely it wouldn't take him that long to get ready. Longoria isn't what he once was but still think whatever he has left in the tank would be better than Espinal. Segura is one year removed from still being a productive infielder. Even led the league with 203 hits one year and only 34.
For the outfield, I would be glad to have Tyler Naquin back over Fairchild, Martini or Bubba Thompson. Take a chance to see what AJ Pollock has left in the tank or an outfielder like Austin Meadows only 29. In his last full season in 2021 put up some decent power numbers 27 HR and 106 RBIs. Imagine what those numbers could be in GABP. The front office needs to get their heads out of the sand and make a move.
You are 100% correct about there not being any viable options in the minors right now to contribute at the MLB level. I nearly made a post about that today here. That is an indictment on the player development by the coaches within the pipeline that players like Hendrick, Cerda, Hinds, Jay Allen, Dunn, Callihan, Vellojin, Torres, McGarry so forth that have been in the Reds system for years and wouldn't be an upgrade over the struggling Reds right now.
Even players like Barrero gifted with athleticism and at one point considered one of the top prospects in the game. Reds coaching failed him and seeing it play out with other top talent. Senzel another 1st round bust this organization can hang their hat on. For every McLain or Lodolo, seems like 2 misses with their 1st round selections. I won't give up on Dunn or Hurtubise yet with Jacob injured but at age 25 and 26, it's time to get it going.
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Absolutely agree. David Bell overmanaging at its finest and cares way too much about the splits than playing the better options. Reds have so many needs to address and fill holes on this roster. Most definitely aren't going anywhere with Stephenson thought to be an offensive catcher and has been a liability on offense and defense. Sad thing is their only legit options in the pipeline are in A Ball Jackson Miller and Connor Burns. If they don't go get a Ross, Hanigan or Ramon Hernandez to bridge the gap, it is going to be a long time until a catcher is ready here unfortunately.
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