Reds June 2023 thread

[CJD]

(06-18-2023, 07:44 PM)kevin Wrote: REDS SWEEP ASTROS IN HOUSTON

Few teams beat Houston, let alone sweep them in their own park. Reds are playing great.

Right, Reds are playing great, so hearing Votto will be back, I'm not sure that is good news. Reds are playing great without him.

An extra bat isn't likely to hurt us. I imagine Votto will mostly play DH for us at this point, so he'd likely play on days where Stephenson is behind the plate. 

Our current line up is something like Friedl CF, McLain SS, India 2B, De La Cruz 3B, Steer 1B, Stephenson C, RF Will Benson, LF Nick Senzel with the DH being someone like Jake Fraley, Stuart Fairchild or Kevin Newman.

I could see them moving Fraley to LF to open up DH for Votto, which would bench Senzel, who has been ice cold since his return from the IL, going 0 for 10 with 0 walks and 4 SOs in the series against Houston. He did have one run scored, but that's only because he was the ghost runner in the 10th inning.

Or, on days where Stephenson isn't catching, Steer could move out to LF, Stephenson could DH and Votto could play 1B and Fraley (or Benson, who has been super hot as of late) would be a pinch hitting bat.

We'll have to see how the team does it, but hopefully it doesn't disrupt the chemistry of the team (and I don't think it will).