Agree 1 run each of last 2 games. 78 wins might be wishful thinking
If things continue, you are absolutely correct. However, Marte was performing well before he got hurt, Benson made changes and is hitting well, Hayes has been average when he plays. Mclain, Elly, Steer and Stephenson (and Candy if you ever had faith in him, I never understood that signing from the get go and it keeps getting worse) were supposed to lead the offense, but have instead struggled. It wouldn’t take that large of a leap of faith to think of them coming around and hitting better and propelling the offense to a better place than it is now. The pitching, both starting and relief, have been great this year. If the offense goes, the team could rocket to the top of the standings, the dream is that Benson is the spark that ignites them.
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Up 6-2 entering the 7th inning tonight, lose 13-6.
Francona may be able to hold things together, but 78 wins is looking like a stretch.
The middle of the Cubs lineup is so much better than the Reds, not even close.
They had like two good moves in free agency. One might even argue one. Simply put, someone needs to buy the reds and pretend we are The Cardinals. We’d win everything. Great town. Great history. Shitty 25 years of average with a few blips above it.
(Please don’t hate my vitriol, gentle /ungrentle readers. I just want to win. Enough is enough.)
That was a brutal loss. 96% win percentage against the division leading team, only to get blown out at home. Once again, the starting RF (Joe who had one hit on a slow roller between 1B and 2B) looks awful while Benson sits on the bench. I don’t know if Benson is the answer, I mentioned in my previous post though that since his call-up he has looked fantastic, and I don’t get why he stays on the bench (I’m sure the answer is matchups, but didn’t look).
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Didn’t they try that when they brought Walt Jocketty in? It seemed like he made some headway, but the Reds never seemed to match the Cardinals’ farm system (at least until recently) or St. Louis’s ability to bring in one or two big-name free agents.
Then again, I’m a Tigers fan, and they’ve been a budget-conscious operation ever since Chris and Denise Illitch assumed control of the team (Mike Illitch, God love him, always spent more money than made any sense for that size market.)
My impression is Jocketty had fallen behind the times when he joined the Reds organization. Scouting and drafting was mostly awful during his tenure. They didn’t keep up with technology and analytics. Other than Castellini, there is no one individual more responsible for setting the Reds back many years than Walt Jocketty. The current guy (Nick Krall) is in over his head and needs to be fired, but I will say their amateur scouting and drafts have been solid in recent years.
They have faced 3 consecutive left-handed starters, the reason Benson hasn’t been in the lineup.
Krall’s downfall has been on the position player side. Moustakas, Akiyama, Wil Myers and Candelario have all been disasters and a lot of money wasted in free agency. The Reds simply can’t afford mistakes like that. The Guardians don’t make costly mistakes.
One of my pet peeves with Krall is that he brings up budget limitations in almost every interview. Make better decisions and you won’t need to blame budget limitations.
I’m with YellowNumber. I’m more down on the Reds today than I have been in many years, which is really saying something. Maybe the most tortured fanbase in all professional sports over the last 30 years….Reds or Browns?
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It’s really interesting how Cincy and Cleveland have flipped orbits over time on baseball and football. And I write this because you made an interesting point about Cleveland and their spend. Way back in the day, the Browns were awesome in football but the Bengals sucked. Now for the most part, those two teams have flipped. Same with Reds and Guardians. Whenever the one is good, the other isn’t. A sort of yin and yang if you will.
The last time I checked the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Washington Commanders still existed. (And, as Devil Mom would be quick to remind me, her Reds have won a World Series more recently than my Tigers.)
I think the thing that makes the reds special is that demoralizing circle of mediocrity they inhabit. Always 70 something wins. Never more. Look at the Rockies. That is a terrible club. Like they could lose to a AA team bad. Cincy never gets there. But those 15 wins it takes to get to 90, well, we never get there either…
The Reds of the last 30 years also absolutely fold in all big games. Historically bad games when the lights are the brightest. I’m sure I’m going to leave some out but:
'99, one hit by Al Leiter in the play in game
2010, Best of 5 NLDS, no-hit in game 1 and shutout in game 3, game 2 Aroldis Chapman lost the game in the 7th.
2012 NLDS, the Reds win the first two on the road to the Giants. They return to GABP for the final three games hoping to advance for the first time since 1995.
Game 3, lose in extras on an error by perennial gold glove contender and team leader Scott Rolen. Games 4 and 5 were punctuated by the Buster Posey grand slam that put the Reds in a hole they would never come out of.
2013, 1 game Wild-card round. Johny Cueto forgets how to throw the ball.
2020, Lost to the Braves in 13 innings, and didn’t score a run in either game.
I can’t imagine many teams having worse than that as their last 30 years. I think I would have preferred they never make the playoffs than what happened when they did.
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You poor tormented souls.
I would have guessed the Tigers won it in 2006?
How the game has changed… the 2006 Tigers had 4 starting pitchers throw 186 or more innings, 3 of them over 200.
I’m a gonna save you the suspense:
Colonel Mustard shits the bed and we are a 70 something win team. You’re welcome.
Well, it’s June now and we are 2 under .500. This is the make or break month for the Reds. If we somehow escape the month over .500 then they live to fight another 30 days for meaningful late season baseball. But, if we dig into a deep hole, they could start rebuilding in the style Tito wants as early as July. My prediction of course. I don’t see them escaping a ten back type position but the last time I said that, I went out of the country two weeks and when I came back we had won like 12 in a row. I hope we play better.
Looking at their June schedule, there’s not one series the entire month I would favor the Reds to win two out of three. I’ll be shocked if they’re still hovering around .500 by the end of June. The lineup seems lost without Austin Hays. Also, it’s time for Francona to change it up a little…get Espinal out of the 2 spot.
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It’s funny. The Rockies are a truly inept team. They might not win 50 games this year. Yet it’s actually easier to go from 50 to 70 wins than from 70 to 90. Put another way, they could likely ditch their entire roster and get to the gates of mediocre hell in one year. Reds have been stuck there for over a decade
This is still the same group of people in charge who fired Dusty Baker because he did not win a playoff series, even though he was getting there consistently. Really all you need to know. GM has changed but the people in charge now were part of that front office.
Ownership is the same, and they were said to be the ones who fired Dusty. There is really little reason to get excited about near future of Reds baseball. I expect Reds ownership to be part of the hardline ownership groups who try to shut down baseball for a year or two until they get a salary cap.
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