Reds June 2023 thread

[CJD]

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).

[CJD]

My God, Luke Weaver is such a piece of shit pitcher.

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-28-2023, 08:37 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: My God, Luke Weaver is such a piece of shit pitcher.

Yup. I'm out for today. I just can't watch Weaver throw batting practice.

[cinci4life]

(06-28-2023, 08:42 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Yup. I'm out for today. I just can't watch Weaver throw batting practice.

Good thing they got the 3 runs in the top of first or this might have been over already. Also helps their pitcher sucks just as bad too.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Weaver pitches too much on the outside of the plate and has much more success in the at bats where he gets a fastball inside to keep them off of the plate.

He's scared of his stuff getting hit but he'll still start because he's healthy.

[cinci4life]

Got to give Weaver credit for settling down.

[cinci4life]

Wasn't pretty but it's still a win and series victory!

[Nicomo Cosca]

I’m gonna miss Todd Frazier on the radio side. Thought he did a great job.

[kevin]

(06-29-2023, 12:02 AM)cinci4life Wrote: Wasn't pretty but it's still a win and series victory!

I thought it was beautiful.  Reds take series from very good Baltimore Orioles in extra innings in the rubber game. 

FIRST PLACE REDS return home for 4th of July weekend, which should be HUGE crowds of Fans.  Reds will be in Chicago on Tuesday the 4th, but many wll be celebrating Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Reds have bands and fireworks lined up.  FIRST PLACE to start this 4th of July weekend homestand, that is so FANtastic. 

This is Fun.  If people don't like the 2023 Reds now, they don't like baseball.  This team was so early on in season, but they are as Hot as a team can get. I think they have won 7 of their last 8 series.  Most comeback wins of any team in baseball.  Aggressive and Hustle.  Very heads up baserunning.  Grinders. 

Winning it all around Halloween in the cold is nice, but for Summer it's great to be in FIRST PLACE going into weekend home series as part of 4th of July.  Reds are Yankee Doodle Dandy's in FIRST PLACE.  GABP should be sold out all weekend to watch this exciting team. 

[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.

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-29-2023, 09:56 AM)Crazyjdawg Wrote: 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.

I'm trying to settle down LOL   but I got so damn mad watching Weaver getting rocked.......again. I fell asleep, mad, and woke up and turned the game back on like 7th inning. Then got mad again when we surrendered the lead and turned it back off. Then the wife, who's been sick, yelled homerun from our bedroom. And I figured well there you go. After like several seconds I asked "who hit a HR" ? She said us and I turned it back on. I've been getting her interested in the Reds/baseball this year. She's a big DLC fan.

Elly striking out looking gets boils my blood. But I hate guys striking out looking, always have. I believe though he's got to learn to quit swinging out of his shoes on every stroke. He's got the wrist strength and bat speed that he doesn't need to swing like he's trying to explode the baseball and the power is still there.

Just hoping Ashcraft can stop the pain this evening.

[CJD]

(06-29-2023, 10:09 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I'm trying to settle down LOL   but I got so damn mad watching Weaver getting rocked.......again. I fell asleep, mad, and woke up and turned the game back on like 7th inning. Then got mad again when we surrendered the lead and turned it back off. Then the wife, who's been sick, yelled homerun from our bedroom. And I figured well there you go. After like several seconds I asked "who hit a HR" ? She said us and I turned it back on. I've been getting her interested in the Reds/baseball this year. She's a big DLC fan.

Elly striking out looking gets boils my blood. But I hate guys striking out looking, always have. I believe though he's got to learn to quit swinging out of his shoes on every stroke. He's got the wrist strength and bat speed that he doesn't need to swing like he's trying to explode the baseball and the power is still there.

Just hoping Ashcraft can stop the pain this evening.

Haha, yea it can be frustrating watching that man pitch. I kept the game on simply because I feel this team has earned the right to go down early. They lead the major leagues in comeback wins with 29, so I knew the game wasn't over, especially since we put 3 on their SP in the top of the inning.

I was putting my son to bed when they tied it up, so I wasn't able to see that inning, thankfully, because I imagine it was very frustrating to watch. Like "Okay, they scored a run. All you have to do is NOT give a home run here and...oh okay. Yep...you did that..." But I turned it back on for the extra inning and that was a lot of fun to watch.

I agree that Elly looks like he's trying to hit a 500 footer every time he swings. There's a reason many players choke up on the bat. Making contact is the most important part. Power comes second. And Elly already has plenty of power to spare, so he doesn't even need to take those massive cuts for the ball to go flying.

I've lost all faith in Ashcraft. I expect him to get shellacked tomorrow night, but we will still have a chance to win because we're the Rally Reds :) .

[kevin]

Reds Off Day : Ashcraft is back from injury trying to stay healthy and get his game on track. Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are OUT until at least August. No July for either of them, and August is in question. Ashcraft being able to avoid more injury is in question, and he should be on a rock solid pitch count no more than 70 pitches due to just back from another injury. These 3 have been injured a lot in their first year and a half in the majors.

So with the main 3 pitchers banged up, maybe we shouldn't complain too much about the pitchers Reds are throwing out there to take their place.

Will Reds get pitching before trade deadline. I doubt it. One problem is all teams who are buyers in July are looking for pitching every year, and few teams are trading good pitching. Another problem is Reds are still shackled with all of The Moose contract and all of the Joey Votto contract this year. Reds will not be doing well on money until after this season. I doubt the Reds have the money to buy much this July. Poor Attendance in 2020, 2021 and 2022 plus the Moose and Votto contracts has forced payroll cuts, not payroll additions.

Now THE GOOD NEWS : REDS ARE IN FIRST PLACE going into 4th of July. THAT is pretty good. Reds home games are drawing more Fans which means Reds are just starting to make some money again. It's been a long time since Reds were around First Place on 4th of July. Fans, Players, Coaches and Front Office should be very happy over that.

Also the Reds have won more 1 run games than any team in baseball, so Bell gets credit on managing. I've been critical of Bell in the past, as have many, but Bell is Manager Of The Year so far for all the close wins and having Reds in First in spite of star pitcher injuries and major payroll cuts.

So, maybe we can back off on putting down the replacement pitchers Reds are forced to run out there, because Reds are in First Place. Maybe we could enjoy The Winning as much as The Players and Fans in stands are.

OK, so I doubt Reds can make a move for pitching trade. Reds still paying Moose and Votto a Ton of Money until this season over. Also every contender wants pitching, and you aren't gong to outbid the super rich teams. However IF Reds get Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo back in August and IF Ashcraft is still healthy, there are your Pitching Add On's end of July going into August.

For Now, I say just ENJOY Reds in FIRST PLACE going into 4th of July. Don't be too hung up about which two teams will still be playing in the freezing rain on Halloween. Enjoy The 4th of July FIRST PLACE REDS.

My MONEYBALL hope was Reds could be close to.500 on Memorial Day and 4th of July, and bring some Fans back to games, something Reds failed to do last couple years. The heck with the 2 teams left on Halloween. The Reds have did even better than my MONEYBALL hopes. They have had Sell Out Crowds around Memorial Day and 4th of July and are in FIRST PLACE. My MONEYBALL is different than the Brad Pitt guy in the movie. My MONEYBALL is give The Fans a team worth watching Memorial Day and 4th of July, and go ahead and steal bases and bunt, Sparky Anderson did and was a great manager. The Negro Leagues and Jackie Robinson brought a base stealing approach to the game that Fans love. Who knows, this new Red Elly De La Cruz may bring back Stealing Home. Jackie Robinson did it. Rod Carew did it. I don't know how they did it, but DE La Cruz has the speed to Steal Home.

I must give baseball credit on The Pitch Clock. Games are no longer 4 or 5 hours of Boring. The Clock and getting rid of players looking at Shift Cards has made the game Faster. Games are back to going 2 or 3 hours again, and The Fans seem to love the Faster paced game, I know I do. Watching players take all day looking at their Shift Cards between each batter was BORING. The game is more Fun in 2023. The game was getting stupid with third baseman at shortstop and such. Back in their positions, we are seeing The Brooks Robinson plays again at Third, and McClain has made the Dave Conception at Short plays of running and grabbing balls hit up the middle and turning them into outs as Davey or Ozzie did. The game is FUN again.

[guyofthetiger]

The Mets are considering trading Scherzer or Verlander. We need to get one of them in our rotation. We need to at least make an offer.

[*bengalfan74*]

I hope they go after at least one decent starter here soon. I lose a little more faith every start that Ashcraft is going to make it back to where he was again. Who knows if Lodolo can come back and be effective? What's up with Greene? He's not supposed to be back until August something. I just don't know how they can go on just hoping they have a starting pitching staff.

I feel like a broken record but I get it, they're probably not looking at this as "the year". But at least get one middle of the road starter to help the bullpen out eating up some innings.

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-29-2023, 11:32 PM)guyofthetiger Wrote: The Mets are considering trading Scherzer or Verlander. We need to get one of them in our rotation. We need to at least make an offer.

Both of those guys are at or very near the end of their careers. Why not get one at a half year rental price? But the Mets have sunk a boatload of $$$$ in this team the last few years and I doubt they're ready to throw in the towel yet.

[*ochocincos*]

(06-29-2023, 11:15 AM)kevin Wrote: Now THE GOOD NEWS :  REDS ARE IN FIRST PLACE going into 4th of July.  THAT is pretty good.  Reds home games are drawing more Fans which means Reds are just starting to make some money again.  It's been a long time since Reds were around First Place on 4th of July.  Fans, Players, Coaches and Front Office should be very happy over that.  

Don't count your chickens yet, bud.

Reds are tied with the Brewers (43-38) right now.

4-game stretch for each team before July 4:

Reds - 3 games vs SD, then 1st game of series @WSH
Brewers - 3 games @ PIT, then 1st game of series vs CHC

Both 1st place teams get to play stretches of teams under .500 before playing each other the final series before the All Star Break.

As for giving the Reds a pass for putting out all the crappy pitchers because that's all they have...I'd hope that's not their mentality leading up to the trade deadline, or at least not after the ASG. This is a good team and I don't want to see them take the mindset of, "Well, we'll see what we can do with who we got, and if we fall behind it just wasn't meant to be."

[*bengalfan74*]

Sweet!

Ashcraft didn't get steamrolled in first. Good sign

I hope

[cinci4life]

(06-30-2023, 06:16 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Sweet!

Ashcraft didn't get steamrolled in first. Good sign

I hope

I don't think any of our starting pitchers have had that few pitches in the first. More often than not it's closer to 20 pitches.

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-30-2023, 06:25 PM)cinci4life Wrote: I don't think any of our starting pitchers have had that few pitches in the first. More often than not it's closer to 20 pitches.

And another good inning, id he back? Fingers crossed