I said before the trade deadline the team as currently constructed likely isn’t a playoff team. They made some incremental changes at the deadline, and didn’t sacrifice much to do so, but they still lack a true impact bat, and until they get that, and quite frankly better play by McClain, they aren’t a legitimate contender.
And 19 strikeouts is ridiculous. Especially for a team that doesn’t even have a 20 HR guy on the roster. Elly, struck out 4 times. Hayes 3 times. Can’t win doing that.
Ohtani’s 9-strikeout win last night over the Reds came on….. wait for it….. Ohtani Bobblehead Night!
For a young player Elly looks like he needs some days off.
Speaking of days off, what MLB is doing to the Brewers is absolutely criminal. They haven’t had a day off since August 14th. I don’t know how they have any pitchers with pep left.
Reds playoff hopes officially died last night.
We’re just about to.500 again. What a surprise! I said 78 wins and I’m starting to think I should have put real money on it.
Reds rank 10th for most strikeouts in MLB. Reds top HR hitter is Elly at 19 which ranks 67th. Reds top RBI man is also Elly at 77 which is 27th. After that you drop to 74th and Steer with 63. Elly also leads the Reds in strikeouts with 154 which is 11th worst in MLB. I am using StatMuse and TeamRankings.com for these numbers. Just showing the lack of an impact bat in this lineup. This has vexed the team all year, and likely will continue to do so until they remedy the situation. I.E. develop one in house (not looking promising on either the major league club or minors) or go out and spend the money to acquire one. And team strikeouts have to come down. Team fielding is abysmal. Basically bottom 7 by most metrics. Pitching however is fine. 9th or 10th in most metrics, 6th best in opponent batting average. I didn’t do a deep dive into the advanced metrics, as these basic metrics pretty much tell the story. The story of a .500 or slightly above team.
The Reds just called up their #1 prospect, Sal Stewart. I don’t know if he can play 2B at the major league level but if he can, put him there. (He played 1B, 2B, and 3B in the minors) But for today, he will bat 6th and play 1B. I would rather have him at 2B to keep Steer at 1B.
he looks a bit like Kenny Powers from Eastbound and Down. Nice.
His call up…
I felt like a naysayer early this year and then as the Reds played better I thought maybe I was wrong. Well, I wasn’t. 78 wins. There are only 20 games left. We will be virtually the same as last year. Get me off this torture.
“These guys are like cockroaches, you can’t kill them!”
Within 1.5 games of the 3rd wildcard, tied with the Giants. I had written this team off a week ago, but the somehow keep surviving. And Burns is coming off the DL and will hopefully solidify the backend of the pen. I love that there’s a chance in mid September. Unfortunately, the Giants have been hot recently and may be tougher to beat than the Mets, who are falling apart and just got swept in a 4-game series against the Phils.
Reds could have been 1/2 game out of the wildcard today. Tied for a half game back with the Giants. Instead, they are the Reds and could muster zero offense against the Athletics. Opportunity lost.
In the first 3 innings they were 0-for-8 with RISP… and 0-for-12 for the game. Pathetic.
Yep, if you want to make the playoffs you can’t do that.
The 0-12 with RISP wasn’t the most frustrating part. Sometimes you just don’t get timely base hits. It was the multiple times they had men in scoring position with no one out and either struck out or failed to hit it to the right side of the infield. Just terrible situational hitting.
It’s hard to earn a playoff spot when you go 7-14 as the Reds have over the last 21 games. With the Mets handing the Reds every opportunity to catch up, it appears the Giants are more likely to claim that last wild card spot.
That said: there’s still time to right the ship…though they’d better not waste the remaining 14 games.
I cannot fathom how we lose 2 in a row to an almost AAA team. A’s are putting one of the poorest quality products on the field to save money while they build their new stadium. This and the Rockies losses are just so odd. Especially given the teams we’ve beaten. Are we actually better than last year? We are (shocker!) .500
Playoffs? Team is a joke
