Reds September Games Thread

[*ochocincos*]

(09-05-2023, 06:23 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Oh, they can catch them, but most likely won't. They do have some things in their favor, but it probably isn't going to be enough. Milwaukee's pitching staff still has to pitch 24-27 more innings than Cincy as they've played three less games than the Reds. The Reds still have five days off, including three in the last week and a half of the season, and the Brewers have a total of two for the remainder of the season. They both have this Thursday off and the Brewers are then scheduled for 17 games in 17 days before their last day off on the final Monday of the season. Their pitching staff is superior to the Reds but that's a brutal stretch this late in the season.

The Brewers have seven games vs Marlins, finish the season with three vs the Cubs and the rest are all sub .500. The Reds have two more vs the Mariners, three vs the Twins and the rest are all sub .500. However, both teams do have to face the Yankees which might be over .500 when they matchup as they are currently sitting at 68-69.

There is something to be said about a good defensive CF. I really liked Albert Almora in CF last season, but after hitting .286 for his first 32 of 64 games played, he hit .160 for his last 32. The pathetic, 62-100 Reds were 27-37 with Almora and 35-63 without him. After years of seeing Jesse Winker getting a handful of starts in Centerfield, Nick Senzel slamming into walls and the best, most fluid outfielder appeared to be Michael Lorenzen, it sure is nice watching Harrison Bader roam the outfield. I love TJ Friedl, but Bader is on another level.

Yea, it's hard to gain +6 games when there's just 21 games left.
Reds would have to go 14-7 over this last stretch if MIL stays even the rest of the way.
And it's been almost a month since MIL went under .500 in a 10-game stretch.
They do have 13 of their remaining 24 games against the Yankees, Marlins, and Cubs though, so it's not out of the realm of possibility, just not probable.

This does pose another question though...
With the Reds 5.5 games out of the division but holding the last WC spot by 0.5 game, should we root for the Brewers over the Marlins/Cubs so that the Reds can have a better chance to get into the WC, or should we root for the Marlins/Cubs to get closer to the division? I'd think we want the WC teams to lose more so that the Reds have the best chance to get into the playoffs regardless.