Spring Training good bad and ugly

[*bengalfan74*]

I got to watch about 5 or 6 innings of Reds vs. Mariners today,

Good:

Sonny Gray, I missed the first two innings but they kept talking about how dominant he was and showed highlights. Pitched two scoreless innings and struck out three.

Jose Garcia, they may have to make room for this guy sooner rather than later. He came a foot from hitting his third HR in two games. Barry Larkin says he has all the tools to be a star !

Castellanos drove in a run on a hard hit ball.  Jankowski had an RBI double.

Bad:

Sims had a good inning on mound then got rocked 2nd time around. Reed walked bases loaded and gave up run. They were talking about his same old M.O. control problems.

Ugly:

Joey Votto is the same old Votto ! He came up in 3rd or 4th with 1 out and runner on 2nd and never took the bat off his shoulder taking a 6 pitch walk ! He was doing the stupid uppercut check swing.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

I remember hearing about Garcia on the radio when Marty would interview the Reds,com writer (Sheldon?) or sometimes some other official in the Reds system about the minor leagues. I remember the Reds being excited after signing him and I always kept him in the back of my mind when they chose not to re-sign Iglesias, who not only played smooth defense but also led the team in batting average at .288. They probably figured that he wanted a multi-year deal and they were making plans for bigger signings while they already had a pretty good SS under contract for this year.

[*bengalfan74*]

(02-27-2020, 02:44 AM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: I remember hearing about Garcia on the radio when Marty would interview the Reds,com writer (Sheldon?) or sometimes some other official in the Reds system about the minor leagues. I remember the Reds being excited after signing him and I always kept him in the back of my mind when they chose not to re-sign Iglesias, who not only played smooth defense but also led the team in batting average at .288. They probably figured that he wanted a multi-year deal and they were making plans for bigger signings while they already had a pretty good SS under contract for this year.

Probably correct

I'm anxious to see more of Garcia during spring training. I know they shuffle guys around and do stuff to retain players as long as possible but I wouldn't be to shocked to see this young man in bigs before to long. If Galvis slips possibly even sooner ?

[fredtoast]

(02-26-2020, 08:43 PM)bengbengalfan74 Wrote: Ugly:

Joey Votto is the same old Votto ! He came up in 3rd or 4th with 1 out and runner on 2nd and never took the bat off his shoulder taking a 6 pitch walk ! He was doing the stupid uppercut check swing.

With just one out that is a very good at bat.

[*bengalfan74*]

(02-27-2020, 11:56 AM)fredtoast Wrote: With just one out that is a very good at bat.

It's spring training Fred, we know he can walk just fine. He drastically needs to swing the friggin bat ! We don't need the guy batting 2nd taking walks, he runs the bases like my grandma.

He has to get more aggressive at the plate ! We need him knocking in runs.

[Circleville Guy]

It seems like Garcia was hitting .180 or something in Cuba and I was complaining about the signing and scratching my head about how that would work. It sounds like it’s going great and I’m glad to be wrong in these kinda cases. Let’s hope he has a great Reds career!

[*bengalfan74*]

Looks like Bauer had two good innings. Reds pitch shutout !

[*bengalfan74*]

(02-27-2020, 02:48 PM)Circleville Guy Wrote: It seems like Garcia was hitting .180 or something in Cuba and I was complaining about the signing and scratching my head about how that would work. It sounds like it’s going great and I’m glad to be wrong in these kinda cases. Let’s hope he has a great Reds career!

https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/reds-jose-garcia-impressing-in-first-spring-training

It's early for sure but sounds like he may well be on the fast track.

[Circleville Guy]

(02-27-2020, 10:34 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/reds-jose-garcia-impressing-in-first-spring-training

It's early for sure but sounds like he may well be on the fast track.

The Reds seemingly have a new window opening to winning baseball and I am so wound up for this coming season.

[*bengalfan74*]

(02-28-2020, 04:44 AM)Circleville Guy Wrote: The Reds seemingly have a new window opening to winning baseball and I am so wound up for this coming season.

Me too !

I'm ready for some good baseball for a change

[Yojimbo]

(02-28-2020, 04:44 AM)Circleville Guy Wrote: The Reds seemingly have a new window opening to winning baseball and I am so wound up for this coming season.

Just imagine where we could be without Votto’s contract weighing us down. He has got to bounce back if we want to have a chance at a WS over the next three seasons.

[*bengalfan74*]

Damn Garcia staying hot ! 2 run HR and 3 RBI's. Ervin with hit and RBI, Vanmeter has 2 hits and two runs. Disco had a strong two innings with two K's

Votto is continuing his walking practice he had 3 today.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(02-28-2020, 11:48 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Damn Garcia staying hot ! 2 run HR and 3 RBI's. Ervin with hit and RBI, Vanmeter has 2 hits and two runs. Disco had a strong two innings with two K's

Votto is continuing his walking practice he had 3 today.

Well, maybe the walks will be there for the right guys now.

For years, he's had Suarez behind him . . .  now he has Moustakas and Castellanos added with Aquino.

Maybe this is Votto's run scoring season.

I'm going to TRY to be somewhat positive about Votto. It's going to be difficult, but I am going to try.

[Circleville Guy]

(02-28-2020, 04:01 PM)Yojimbo Wrote: Just imagine where we could be without Votto’s contract weighing us down. He has got to bounce back if we want to have a chance at a WS over the next three seasons.

That is an anchor for sure. If he continues to decline this year, they’ll need to consider moving on from him. I think he’ll have a better year this year.

[Circleville Guy]

(02-28-2020, 11:48 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Damn Garcia staying hot ! 2 run HR and 3 RBI's. Ervin with hit and RBI, Vanmeter has 2 hits and two runs. Disco had a strong two innings with two K's

Votto is continuing his walking practice he had 3 today.

Has Votto had a hit yet?

[grampahol]

I just don't get the Votto hate some people seem to express here and other places. Think about it. When the greats like Bench, Concepcion, Larkin and others aged and batting averages, etc., fell off I didn't hear calls to trade them or cut them from rosters and nobody complained about the fact they were sticking around. Is it the salary? Votto never demanded that long term, high dollar contract that keeps him around well after the sell by date. His talent and stats demanded the salary compared to other players of his era and in todays game it could be argued Votto's been underpaid by todays standards. That contract was done by management and ownership at the time. But in the meantime Joey Votto's been a damned good first baseman and never really complained about the lack of fans in stands even when the team was doing horrible and in fact for several years he was just about the only player carrying his weight. He's had several seasons in recent memory when he could have easily been the league MVP and he'll very likely retire as a Red, maybe the last Reds player to do so for some time. Now, should he be batting 2nd all season? That's certainly debatable, but in my opinion Joey Votto deserves the respect other great Reds players nearing retirement received and I look forward to his farewell to Reds fans when he does retire. I'd love to see Joey Votto go out with at least one championship under his belt. I don't begrudge having Joey Votto representing the Cincinnati Reds one bit. In fact it is us who should be honored he's still with the club after everything.. If the Reds do win the WS this season I think Joey Votto will be enshrined in Cooperstown and rightfully so.

[*bengalfan74*]

(02-29-2020, 01:00 AM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Well, maybe the walks will be there for the right guys now.

For years, he's had Suarez behind him . . .  now he has Moustakas and Castellanos added with Aquino.

Maybe this is Votto's run scoring season.

I'm going to TRY to be somewhat positive about Votto. It's going to be difficult, but I am going to try.

Me too

(02-29-2020, 02:40 AM)Circleville Guy Wrote: Has Votto had a hit yet?

Nope

(02-29-2020, 03:02 AM)grampahol Wrote: I just don't get the Votto hate some people seem to express here and other places. Think about it. When the greats like Bench, Concepcion, Larkin and others aged and batting averages, etc., fell off I didn't hear calls to trade them or cut them from rosters and nobody complained about the fact they were sticking around. Is it the salary? Votto never demanded that long term, high dollar contract that keeps him around well after the sell by date. His talent and stats demanded the salary compared to other players of his era and in todays game it could be argued Votto's been underpaid by todays standards. That contract was done by management and ownership at the time. But in the meantime Joey Votto's been a damned good first baseman and never really complained about the lack of fans in stands even when the team was doing horrible and in fact for several years he was just about the only player carrying his weight. He's had several seasons in recent memory when he could have easily been the league MVP and he'll very likely retire as a Red, maybe the last Reds player to do so for some time. Now, should he be batting 2nd all season? That's certainly debatable, but in my opinion Joey Votto deserves the respect other great Reds players nearing retirement received and I look forward to his farewell to Reds fans when he does retire. I'd love to see Joey Votto go out with at least one championship under his belt. I don't begrudge having Joey Votto representing the Cincinnati Reds one bit. In fact it is us who should be honored he's still with the club after everything.. If the Reds do win the WS this season I think Joey Votto will be enshrined in Cooperstown and rightfully so.

They didn't go to the plate thinking about their OBP looking for walks.

[Yojimbo]

(02-29-2020, 02:40 AM)Circleville Guy Wrote: Has Votto had a hit yet?

The Reds twitter account was gloating that he had 3 walks in 3 pa yesterday...

[samhain]

I expect Garcia to start the year at AA. There's no reason to rush his development over a great spring performance.

The positive I'm taking from his terrific play is what the team has to look forward to in the coming years. The team spent big this offseason and maintained almost all of their prospects, save Trammell. They have a decent amount of top end talent that's young and controllable. Unlike the last time they were good, the cupboard won't be bare if the current roster warrants a sell-off when players like Castillo are up for big contracts.

[*bengalfan74*]

Good: Tomorrow is another day

Bad: Well Castillo didn't look all that great, again. Gave up leadoff triple then wild pitched him home. Put two on base after two outs in 2nd. Aquino doesn't have a hit yet in 9 AB's with 3 K's and still seems to be swinging away at the low and outside pitch. Jankowski pulled up limping on double, looked like hammy ?

Ugly: Iglesias got rocked for 4 runs including a moon shot 2 run homer in 2/3 of an inning.