Reds June 2023 thread

[CJD]

(06-08-2023, 12:56 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I'm trying to keep my expectations for this season in check. I just don't think we have the pitching and/or it's just not ready yet. Having said that I'm beginning to think they might just make some waves before it's over this season. Get some teams feeling a bit of pressure.

Yea, I agree. I think we're still a year away. And that kind of relies on Ashcraft and Lodolo to get out of their funks. Lodolo is injured, but he also has suffered from Homer-itis this season, giving up a staggering 10 HR in just 34.1 IP. His 6.29 ERA was horrible and, honestly, shook my confidence in him as a prospect a little bit. He isn't a particularly hard thrower (at least not compared to Greene and Ashcraft), so his claim to fame has always been location and pitch variety. If he's being taken yard this much, maybe those two things aren't as elite as they appeared to be in the minors and as a rookie.

And then Ashcraft has, obviously, been absolutely pummeled in his last 6 starts or so (give or take a decent enough performance against Miami in May) that has seen his ERA rise from 2.00 after his first 6 starts all the way up to 6.64 after his most recent 6 starts...Something is going on there, for sure. Is it pitch tipping? Is he just a very patterned pitcher that teams have figured out? I don't know how you can go from a dominant 6 starts to a horrendous 6 starts so quickly like that.

Our pitching coaches have got to find out what's going on with those two before we are truly playoff contenders, in my opinion.

The bullpen has been surprisingly good though. Not elite, but above average, which is much better than we were anticipating coming into the season. Diaz, Farmer, Law, Young, Gibaut and Sims are a really good bullpen, each with an ERA under 3.55 and Diaz looking like the best closer in baseball. The bullpen is 12th in the majors in ERA, 14th in WHIP. Their biggest issue is the free passes. They are 5th worst in the majors in terms of walks handed out.

With Abbott, Williamson, and maybe Stoudt debuting this year and Greene, Ashcraft and Lodolo continuing on from last year, we should be able to sign a 7th starter to a decent deal that would give us good starting pitching depth assuming Ashcraft and Lodolo rebound in the 2nd half of 2023 and in 2024.