Today is the half way point of the season.

[fredtoast]

Game #81 today.  We are on pace to only win about 75 games despite having the 2nd best pitching staff in the league. The lack of offense is a true mystery.  It is so much like the Bengals defense last year it is eerie.  You watch them and you think "There is no way they can be this bad with this talent."  I am not saying the Reds offense should be a powerhouse, but last year we were 8th in runs scored and we replaced one of the lowest ranked offensive players in the major leagues (Billy Hamilton) with Yasiel Puig.  No way in hell we should drop to 13th this year.

I thought the Reds would at least have a winning record, and maybe even challenge for a playoff spot, but for the entire first half they have been consistently between 6 and 2 games under .500.  Scooter is coming back, but Dietrich hit 18 HR while he was out.  Woods may come back, but our pitching has not been the problem.

I still say the Reds are more talented than their record indicates.  Luck plays a big role in baseball games and the Reds have one of the worst records in 1-run games.  Overall they have outscored their oppenents by 37 runs which is 5th best in the NL.  They should have a winning record, but the fact is they don't.  Based on the current winning percentages the Reds would have to win 86 games to get a wild card spot.  That would require winning sixty percent of their remaining games while hoping that none of the 8 teams above them in the wild card standings get hot.

[HarleyDog]

Halfway and 6.5 games out is not horrible. But I agree. Thought they would at least be playing above 500.

[Circleville Guy]

The Reds were 67-95 last year, they’re on pace for 76-86. That’s a move in the right direction, hitting 80 wins would be a big step. This division is winnable, the head to head matchups inside of the division will probably be the determining factor. This offseason will be extremely interesting! I didn’t like how they were in a hurry to bring Scooter up before he got his stroke down, he didn’t have very many AB’s while on rehab.

[McC]

(06-30-2019, 12:53 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Game #81 today.  We are on pace to only win about 75 games despite having the 2nd best pitching staff in the league. The lack of offense is a true mystery.  It is so much like the Bengals defense last year it is eerie.  You watch them and you think "There is no way they can be this bad with this talent."  I am not saying the Reds offense should be a powerhouse, but last year we were 8th in runs scored and we replaced one of the lowest ranked offensive players in the major leagues (Billy Hamilton) with Yasiel Puig.  No way in hell we should drop to 13th this year.

I thought the Reds would at least have a winning record, and maybe even challenge for a playoff spot, but for the entire first half they have been consistently between 6 and 2 games under .500.  Scooter is coming back, but Dietrich hit 18 HR while he was out.  Woods may come back, but our pitching has not been the problem.

I still say the Reds are more talented than their record indicates.  Luck plays a big role in baseball games and the Reds have one of the worst records in 1-run games.  Overall they have outscored their oppenents by 37 runs which is 5th best in the NL.  They should have a winning record, but the fact is they don't.  Based on the current winning percentages the Reds would have to win 86 games to get a wild card spot.  That would require winning sixty percent of their remaining games while hoping that none of the 8 teams above them in the wild card standings get hot.

The Reds are right on the edge of getting it together and making a run.   You're right about the talent being there.  A little more consistency and they are there.  The second half should be very interesting.

[*ochocincos*]

Reds hitters really started off slow. Hardly anyone was even at .250 through the first two months of the year.
Now, Votto, Suarez, Iglesias, Winker, Senzel, and Casali are all above .250 and Puig is approaching that fast too.
I expect Scooter will also get there but since he just got back healthy but he's knocking the rust off right now.
I expect by sometime in August we could see all 8 starters (Suarez, Senzel, Winker, Puig, Votto, Iglesias, Gennett, Casali) above .250.

I think this team will finish above .500 by year's end but still may miss the postseason. Definitely would be an improvement though. Need to keep a couple of these guys beyond this year or have adequate replacements if they leave (Gennett, Puig, Iglesias). I think out of those 3 guys with best replacement, it'd be Puig with Phil Ervin. Peraza can take over 2B or SS but he doesn't have as good of a bat. Scooter is obviously a fan favorite but he may cost more to re-sign compared to Iglesias.

[*bengalfan74*]

(06-30-2019, 12:53 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Game #81 today.  We are on pace to only win about 75 games despite having the 2nd best pitching staff in the league. The lack of offense is a true mystery.  It is so much like the Bengals defense last year it is eerie.  You watch them and you think "There is no way they can be this bad with this talent." 

It's like they had the sucking on O mapped out before the season began. "Ok fellas, the whole team is gonna suck the first month, then you 4 are gonna suck the next 4 months, then you 4 suck the next 2 months and so on.
The last 30 games Dietrich is batting .111 with 1 HR and 3 RBI's. Suarez is thankfully coming out of his month+ funk but he's still only batting .198 over the last 30. Winker went thru a prolonged slump and just on and on.
If they could ever get to firing on even 7 cylinders they would be very competitive.

[grampahol]

They've consistently done exactly the opposite of everything I've expected them to do all season.
Just when I think they're done for the season they turn things on. Just when I expect them to break things open and go on a 10 game winning streak they lose 2 in a row. Just when I expect the starting pitching to fall apart they get a real gem by [Insert starter] and just when I expect someone to strike out or hit into a double play they score run(s). I thought the bullpen was done for and yet yesterday they shut down the Brewers..
It's been both an exciting season and infuriating at the same time..  It's why I love following the Reds, win, lose or draw.. 
About the only thing they did that I expected was to get no-hit earlier in the season.. I expected a few more by now.. I'm glad to be not disappointed..errr, glad they've only been no-hit just once.. Another thing I kind of expected was Scooter not hitting much.. He'll likely turn things on at some point, but I don't expect it soon.. I hope to be wrong.

[fredtoast]

Still wonder what happened with Schebler.  He was better than a lot of people realize.  Over the last two seasons ('17-'18) he was 11th among all NL outfielders in HR, 19th in slugging percentage, and 20th in RBI.  But he was hitting just .123 when we released him this year.

[guyofthetiger]

Reds in last place today, but only 4.5 games out of first. We are still in the mix.

[*bengalfan74*]

(07-04-2019, 10:48 AM)guyofthetiger Wrote: Reds in last place today, but only 4.5 games out of first. We are still in the mix.

Still hanging around. A win today would be really sweet ! Taking 3 of 4 from Brewers. Lets hope Castillo can get over his Brewers hump.

[fredtoast]

(07-04-2019, 10:48 AM)guyofthetiger Wrote: Reds in last place today, but only 4.5 games out of first. We are still in the mix.

It is crazy.  Everytime I say we are still in it they take a dive.  Every time I say I am ready to give up on them they make a little run.

We are absolutely still in the playoff race.

[samhain]

(07-05-2019, 11:23 AM)fredtoast Wrote: It is crazy.  Everytime I say we are still in it they take a dive.  Every time I say I am ready to give up on them they make a little run.

We are absolutely still in the playoff race.

The staff has the 2nd lowest ERA in the National League.  3rd lowest in MLB.  We have a fairly large sample size at this point.  I think they're for real.  Just have to make hay with all of the NL Central matchups remaining in July.

[grampahol]

Something I've been wondering about quite a bit is the possibility of a 5 way tie in the standings on the last day of the season.  I seriously doubt it'll happen, but it's still a possibility. What would happen if the entire division was tied in the standings after the last game of the regular season? That would be both awesome and mind boggling at the same time and I'm not sure if MLB has any kind of tie breaking procedures in place in the event of such a scenario.. An inter divisional playoff game(s)? Imagine every team finishing in first, second, third, fourth and last place all at the same time.. I can't think of a better ticket sales opportunity than that.. Can you even imagine every team in the division selling out every game in the last few weeks of the regular season?  You know what would make it even cooler? Listening to Marty broadcast it in his last season before retiring for good. That would be just awesome as hell..