(08-24-2022, 12:27 AM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Senzel should not be in Center anymore. Now that Winker is gone, put him in LF and let a real outfielder play the most important position in the outfield, not a converted infielder. Hell, move him back to 3rd and put Farmer in LF.

I hate the shift . . . this is twice in the last week where the Reds were beaten by the outfield shifted to RF with a right handed hitter and a routine ball for a straightaway CF is now a two run triple or a one run triple. Why shift your entire infield to the left but have your outfield shifted to the right? You shift everyone because the will most likely pull the ball . . .  why allow the OF to have less coverage to the side you are expecting them to hit? Makes zero sense to me.

Good news. The shift (at least the infield shift) will not be allowed in the 2023 season and beyond. So hopefully, managers won't out think themselves quite so much next year.

Quote:• A ban on infield shifts. Beginning in 2023, teams no longer will be allowed to have more than two infielders on one side of second base. Opening the field puts a premium on athleticism and incentivizes hitters to put the ball in play.

https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/04/12/baseball-radical-changes-coming

(08-25-2022, 02:35 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: Good news. The shift (at least the infield shift) will not be allowed in the 2023 season and beyond. So hopefully, managers won't out think themselves quite so much next year.


https://www.si.com/mlb/2022/04/12/baseball-radical-changes-coming

Very good news !

I hate the shift with a passion.

"Opening the field puts a premium on athleticism and incentivizes hitters to put the ball in play."


No it doesn't. It allows them to try and do nothing but dead pull the ball every time in an effort to hit more home runs.

The shift forced them to slap the ball to the opposite field, i.e. "put the ball in play" to beat the shift.

I don't like the shift. Players should hold their position and play like they did as kids. We'll see what happens next year.

(08-22-2022, 09:52 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: Jose Barrero has played in every game that the Reds have had since August 3rd. 16 games total.

He has struck out at least once in every single game. 30 total out of 58 ABs with zero walks.

He almost broke his streak last night as it was his night off.

But, luckily, he was brought in as a defensive replacement in the 7th inning and nabbed that strikeout in his single plate appearance for the night an inning later (on 3 pitches).

We'll see if he can keep up this torrid pace to end the season. The current record is 37 straight games, set by Aaron Judge in 2017.

The Reds have 43 more games to play, so it's well within the realm of possibility that Barrero sets this MLB record, even if he sneaks an 0-fer by in one of the next 6 games, he can still recover to claim the title assuming he plays every game from here on out.

7 games later, Barrero is up to 23 games in a row with at least one strikeout.

He did get 2 walks on Tuesday though, so there's that!

However, we've now reached the final 36 games of the season, which means that if Barrero does play a game without a strikeout, he will lose the opportunity to set or tie the MLB record of 37 straight games with a strikeout held by Aaron Judge, as there will not be enough games left to reset the streak.

(08-28-2022, 11:38 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: 7 games later, Barrero is up to 23 games in a row with at least one strikeout.

He did get 2 walks on Tuesday though, so there's that!

However, we've now reached the final 36 games of the season, which means that if Barrero does play a game without a strikeout, he will lose the opportunity to set or tie the MLB record of 37 straight games with a strikeout held by Aaron Judge, as there will not be enough games left to reset the streak.

And just like that, the streak ends at 23! The Reds gave Barrero two nights off to clear his head and it seems to have worked....well, at least a little. He had his first MLB game without a strikeout this season, but he still went 0-5 with a walk.

The good news is that I saw some rumblings on Twitter that both Barrero and Aquino changed their batting stances to be more closed for this game and, perhaps coincidentally, it's the game that Barrero does not strike out and where Aquino has 3 hits in 3 ABs.

Did multiple Reds alter their batting stance or is the camera at a slightly different angle? It’s playing mind games on me

— Claiborne Snowden (@Clay_sno) September 1, 2022

Also of note, the Reds have reportedly called up Spencer Steer! I'm excited to see what he can do at the major league level after playing very well in AAA (and all year, really). .294/.375/.467 in 23 AAA games since coming over to the Reds, .274/.364/.515 for the year (which includes 35 games in AA where he was killing the ball at .307/.385/.591).

Sources: Spencer Steer was told Wednesday that he’s headed to the big leagues. Steer, acquired in the Tyler Mahle trade from the Twins, has 27 hits and 3 homers & 7 doubles in 23 games since joining AAA Louisville.

— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) September 1, 2022

(09-01-2022, 09:38 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: Also of note, the Reds have reportedly called up Spencer Steer! I'm excited to see what he can do at the major league level after playing very well in AAA (and all year, really). .294/.375/.467 in 23 AAA games since coming over to the Reds, .274/.364/.515 for the year (which includes 35 games in AA where he was killing the ball at .307/.385/.591).

Showed marked improvement from '21 to this year. That is a good sign.

Nice stick for an infielder.

Spencer Steer. With a name like that he has to succeed!

Votto has been in the TV booth a lot. It has been fun listening to him talk baseball, especially when him and Larkin chat.

(09-02-2022, 10:42 AM)SladeX Wrote: Spencer Steer. With a name like that he has to succeed!

If he never gets married, will he become and old Spence Steer?

Is this the shortest single month thread ever in this forum?

Have a game Spencer Steer! 2 for 2 including his first MLB hit being a homer, 2 walks and scoring the walk off run!

Steer had a really good game against the Rockies today. I also think the reds have found their closer in Diaz.

(09-02-2022, 04:08 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Is this the shortest single month thread ever in this forum?

Probably.

1st time in the history of the public internet that the Bengals are coming off of a Super Bowl berth which happens to coincide with the Reds trading away 5 players at the trade deadline after trading 4 players in the off-season and letting Castellanos walk.



Hell of a game by Steer. Move India to LF, Lopez to 2nd and Steer at 3rd and there's your 1st three hitters in the lineup. Thank you, Tyler Mahle.

Votto in the booth is pure gold.

(09-03-2022, 12:55 PM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: Votto in the booth is pure gold.

As an analyst, he's killing it. One thing he proved is that play by play is much more difficult than most people thought. He's brutally bad at it, but I expected it . . . not slamming Votto. I kind of winced when they announced Votto was going to do play by play because I know how hard it is(I've been in radio off and on for over 30 years). I can't stand Sadak but he showed how difficult it is to be the lead play by play announcer when he covered up for Votto's minimalist approach, which is just the byproduct of no formal broadcasting training.

Play by play takes a special skill that needs to be developed, very few can do it naturally. I started in college radio and admired one of the afternoon DJs because he was so smooth in his delivery. He and another DJ called a college volleyball match and I listened to it and told him later "Dude, I learn a lot from listening to you . . . but that was awful. What happened?" and his answer taught me the difference between play by play and analyst. 

"Anybody can be an analyst . . . you don't speak until the play has been over for a few seconds . . . you have a little bit of time to think about what you want to say about what just happened. Play by play is way different. Your eyes see something and then sends the info to your brain. Your brain then needs to translate it into words and then relay it to your mouth and then your mouth needs to vocalize it all while your eyes are seeing new things for your brain to translate. It's way harder than talking about the impact of a guitar player that I've been listening to since I was a kid." Add in that Votto had producers talking in his ear that we can't hear and that's another distraction for your brain to take in while trying to sound like you are having a flowing conversation about a baseball game.

(09-03-2022, 06:23 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: As an analyst, he's killing it. One thing he proved is that play by play is much more difficult than most people thought. He's brutally bad at it, but I expected it . . . not slamming Votto. I kind of winced when they announced Votto was going to do play by play because I know how hard it is(I've been in radio off and on for over 30 years). I can't stand Sadak but he showed how difficult it is to be the lead play by play announcer when he covered up for Votto's minimalist approach, which is just the byproduct of no formal broadcasting training.

Play by play takes a special skill that needs to be developed, very few can do it naturally. I started in college radio and admired one of the afternoon DJs because he was so smooth in his delivery. He and another DJ called a college volleyball match and I listened to it and told him later "Dude, I learn a lot from listening to you . . . but that was awful. What happened?" and his answer taught me the difference between play by play and analyst. 

"Anybody can be an analyst . . . you don't speak until the play has been over for a few seconds . . . you have a little bit of time to think about what you want to say about what just happened. Play by play is way different. Your eyes see something and then sends the info to your brain. Your brain then needs to translate it into words and then relay it to your mouth and then your mouth needs to vocalize it all while your eyes are seeing new things for your brain to translate. It's way harder than talking about the impact of a guitar player that I've been listening to since I was a kid." Add in that Votto had producers talking in his ear that we can't hear and that's another distraction for your brain to take in while trying to sound like you are having a flowing conversation about a baseball game.

I’ve just enjoyed his insights and his Back-and-forth with Larkin a lot. His reaction to Steer’s HR was genuine. I really do hope he comes back healthy next ST ready for a revenge tour.

(09-03-2022, 06:51 PM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: I’ve just enjoyed his insights and his Back-and-forth with Larkin a lot. His reaction to Steer’s HR was genuine. I really do hope he comes back healthy next ST ready for a revenge tour.

I just re-read my post and it sounds a little snarky and negative towards Votto. You are correct, it was more like two old dudes in a bar talking about the game . . . it was quite refreshing. I look forward to getting to know Tyler Stephenson a little more today.

I left out two key things in my post and also kind of ended it abruptly because I felt that it was getting long winded.

My DJ friend was in his Junior year and in his third year of broadcasting/DJing
His girlfriend was also a Junior and in her 2nd year of varsity volleyball, so he wasn't a novice to the sport

My point was how difficult it is to do play by play, even a guy that had three years of consistent part-time experience in front of a microphone froze up and that wasn't the first game he called, just the first that I listened to. Sadak may be King Dork, but he's pretty smooth at what he does.

Early in the year they had Votto mic'ed up talking to the booth while he was playing defense.

It was crazy. It seems like a manager would not let that happen. But Votto was able to pay attention to the game and carry on a conversation at the same time. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen.

(09-03-2022, 07:52 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Early in the year they had Votto mic'ed up talking to the booth while he was playing defense.

It was crazy.  It seems like a manager would not let that happen.  But Votto was able to pay attention to the game and carry on a conversation at the same time.  It was the craziest thing I have ever seen.

If I recall correctly, he did it in the field of dreams game too.