Reds June 2023 thread

[CJD]

(06-28-2023, 04:28 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: In his last 5 starts, Luke Weaver has given up 23 ER, 35 H, 5 HR, 10 BB, 16 K over 22.1 innings. That's an ERA of 9.27 and a WHIP of 2.01.

In those 5 games, the Reds are 5-0, averaging 7.8 runs per game (39 runs total).

The Reds have not lost a game in which Luke Weaver started since May 25th. And, in an ironic and cruel twist of fate, that game was BY FAR Weaver's best game as a Red:
6.1 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K on only 86 pitches against the Cardinals.
We lost 2-1.

It seems like one of two things will happen tonight.
1. Weaver pitches like shit, and we win.
2. Weaver pitches really well, and we lose.

Hopefully, he breaks this trend and he pitches well AND we win :) (and hopefully he doesn't break the trend and pitch poorly and we lose).

In what has become an unsurprising phenomena at this point, Luke Weaver pitched like shit, but we still won.

That's 6 straight games where Weaver has played horribly and we still end the night with a win.

At some point, one of those baseball historical statisticians needs to start tracking this because it must be a rare occurrence. How can a guy who pitches so poorly not only avoid the loss for 6 straight games but also have the end result of the game be a win for all 6 games? And 3 of those games have gone to extra innings! 

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Weaver settled down after the 1st inning but, my lord, seeing the entire lineup in the first inning is brutal.

In other news, TJ Friedl is incredible, Will Benson continues to impress and Elly De La Cruz had a multi hit night.

Yes, the 3 Ks were not great and his swing and miss % is...frustrating (whiff % is 30.2%, league average is 24.8%), but he is still taking a fair number of looking strikes. In the 4th inning, his strikeout was 2 balls and 3 looking strikes. That's 5 pitches where he did not lift the bat off of his shoulder haha. 

I'd love for him to learn from Joey how to fight off pitches a bit better. It seems like, too often, he is not consistently defending the plate. Something that Votto was the master of in his prime.

As he matures, I think both situations (swinging and missing and looking at strikes) should improve. We'll have to see. Still, he remains electric on the base paths and with in field singles.