07-09-2024, 05:41 PM
Outfield has been the one major weakness in the Reds farm system, which is why people were surprised when they signed Jeimer Candelario this off season instead of someone like Teoscar Hernandez, Michael A Taylor, Adam Duvall, or even Tommy Pham for a year or two, who was on the market all the way until April 16th. The OF market this past off season just wasn't that great once it became clear Jorge Soler was no longer capable of playing OF.
It seems like the strategy was just "hope Benson can hit lefties and no one gets injured."
Rece Hinds had a good debut, but it was not at all representative of what he's done in the minors to this point. I mean, the 450 ft homer is. He has insane power. But normally, those 450 ft HRs come paired with 3 strikeouts, not a double and a hard hit grounder that would have been a hit 95% of the time. I do not expect him to keep this up.
I still think Elly is a shortstop. Especially since that's what he wants to be. If we want to re-sign him to a long term deal, you should want to make him happy. And he's performing there. According to statcast, he is tied for 16th in the majors with a fielding run value of 6, and a lot of that has come in the last 2 months after a rough start to the year. His arm and his range are rare when combined with a body that has the quick twitch ability to react at shortstop. It's easier to find a good defender in the outfield than it is to find a good defender at SS, in my opinion.
Especially since right now our infield is going through it. Injuries to CES and McLain and Marte being shit makes our depth on the infield just as bad as the outfield haha. Moving Elly to RF would just mean Santiago Espinal would be starting every night until McLain is healthy!
I am hopeful that Charlie Condon will be the new #1 prospect in the Reds organization after this coming Sunday, as he could be in the majors as soon as the beginning of the 2025 season (similar to Wyatt Langford for the Rangers). I think that's our best chance at resolving the outfield depth issue for 2025. That, plus one more free agent outfielder with a history of production would be spectacular.
It seems like the strategy was just "hope Benson can hit lefties and no one gets injured."
Rece Hinds had a good debut, but it was not at all representative of what he's done in the minors to this point. I mean, the 450 ft homer is. He has insane power. But normally, those 450 ft HRs come paired with 3 strikeouts, not a double and a hard hit grounder that would have been a hit 95% of the time. I do not expect him to keep this up.
I still think Elly is a shortstop. Especially since that's what he wants to be. If we want to re-sign him to a long term deal, you should want to make him happy. And he's performing there. According to statcast, he is tied for 16th in the majors with a fielding run value of 6, and a lot of that has come in the last 2 months after a rough start to the year. His arm and his range are rare when combined with a body that has the quick twitch ability to react at shortstop. It's easier to find a good defender in the outfield than it is to find a good defender at SS, in my opinion.
Especially since right now our infield is going through it. Injuries to CES and McLain and Marte being shit makes our depth on the infield just as bad as the outfield haha. Moving Elly to RF would just mean Santiago Espinal would be starting every night until McLain is healthy!
I am hopeful that Charlie Condon will be the new #1 prospect in the Reds organization after this coming Sunday, as he could be in the majors as soon as the beginning of the 2025 season (similar to Wyatt Langford for the Rangers). I think that's our best chance at resolving the outfield depth issue for 2025. That, plus one more free agent outfielder with a history of production would be spectacular.
![[Image: oN5QAdY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/oN5QAdY.png)
