Reds March/April 2024 Thread

[guyofthetiger]

Reds come home for a few series. West Coast seems to always cause us problems. Let's win these series and get back on track.

[kevin]

(04-19-2024, 01:33 AM)guyofthetiger Wrote: Reds come home for a few series. West Coast seems to always cause us problems. Let's win these series and get back on track.

My message to Reds is keep enjoying the game and the Viking Helmet thing.  Get win #10.  Reds can still win 15 games in April, or more. If a team wins 15 games a month, that is 90 wins.  July All-Star week makes 15 hard that month, but not impossible.   

Just keep having FUN and get Win Number 10.   Get off being stuck on win 9.  

Angels don't play in Cincy much.  Trout and other good players in town.  

[cinci4life]

Back on track!

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Heck of a game by EDLC and Lodololololo.

[CJD]

Lodolo is showing truly elite stuff on the mound. He has never had an overpowering fastball, but I feel like he's a perfect example of how fastball velocity may be a bit overrated.

The swings he gets on his curve are genuinely hilarious.

Also, Elly is on pace to win MVP at the moment. His pace is .290/.364/.638/1.001, 170 OPS+, 119 RBI, 51 HR and 85 stolen bases, while being +2 OAA at shortstop (the most valuable position, statistically) over the last 2 weeks. In that same 2 week period, he's cut his K% down to 22.9%.

His WAR has already exceeded the WAR he accumulated last year (1.2 WAR this season, 0.8 WAR last season in 98 games/388 AB), although his fWAR is still lagging a little behind his 2023 fWAR (1.0 to 1.9).

I don't expect him to keep up this pace, but it seems he has hit his stride. Let's hope he keeps it going. I am optimistic this is closer to the "real" Elly, considering the league has had time to adjust to him and now it seems he has made the re-adjustment successfully.

[*bengalfan74*]

Yep

Lodolo is looking fantastic !! Just praying he can stay healthy and keeps dominating. Right now our offense is EDLC, Steer, and Fraley. Everyone else is very sporadic. India is batting .167 for crying out loud. CES .192, Candelario .190, Benson .200. Just hoping they can find their way out of these slumps, it's till early.

Also hoping McClain and Friedl can be back and healthy before it's over.

[cinci4life]

That's a series win and going for the sweep tomorrow! Diaz seems to have gotten it back together.

[cinci4life]

Montas just took a 103mph liner off the right arm in the top of 1 and is out of the game. Hopefully it's not too serious.

[*bengalfan74*]

(04-21-2024, 02:50 PM)cinci4life Wrote: Montas just took a 103mph liner off the right arm in the top of 1 and is out of the game. Hopefully it's not too serious.

Damn !!

[CJD]

(04-21-2024, 02:50 PM)cinci4life Wrote: Montas just took a 103mph liner off the right arm in the top of 1 and is out of the game. Hopefully it's not too serious.

(04-21-2024, 03:03 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Damn !!

We've gotten 6.1 innings of scoreless baseball out of our bullpen so far via Suter (who is clutch as hell), Pagan and Cruz, which is incredible given the circumstances. Yesterday, we got 4 scoreless innings (granted an inherited runner scored) out of Martinez and Diaz.

8.1 of those innings have come from new Reds in Suter, Pagan and Martinez.

Lots of long guys (Suter, Pagan and Martinez) mixed with some elite stuff guys (Cruz and Diaz). I'm still concerned about Farmer and Sims, who are very up and down, but overall I've been very impressed with the construction of this pen thus far.

Also, word is there was no fracture for Montas, so hopefully he doesn't miss a start.

[cinci4life]

Outstanding job by the bullpen today! 8.1 scoreless innings and Reds win 3-0 to complete the sweep!

[kevin]

Reds got off 9 wins and went to 12 wins. The goal for April should be at least 15 wins, more if possible. In comes Philly. The math is simple, 15 wins a month gives you 90 wins and a winning season and play-off hopes. Plus it keeps fanny's in the stands buying tickets and spending money. This is Pro Ball, and making money is a huge part of this thing, especially after the huge financial loss of no fans 2020, and low attendance 2021 and 2022 for Reds

GO REDS and the minor league teams bringing up The Future. I know Dayton sells out, may all the Reds minors make money also, Reds could use the bounce back in making money to not have to dump salaries as much as after 2020.

Lets GO....15 Wins in April so Fans in Stands in May.....Go Reds.

It's not NFL, there is no TV revenue sharing. Filling the stands by winning some games is key in MLB.

[guyofthetiger]

Reds looking good this weekend. Keep it up against Philly this week.

[*bengalfan74*]

Four games at home vs. Phillies, oh boy. They're a good team with great pitching. We took a series against them already, I'm hoping we can at least split with them now. Greene worries me tonight to say the least.

And what's up with Benson? 30 strike outs already (leading the team) and batting .186 I've been pulling for Benson to make it. Kind of under the radar player who has shown potential. It' early still but with Friedl and McClain out it's his chance to shine now.

It would be great to head into the road trip to end the month with 14 W's. Come on Reds

[CJD]

(04-22-2024, 10:14 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: Four games at home vs. Phillies, oh boy. They're a good team with great pitching. We took a series against them already, I'm hoping we can at least split with them now. Greene worries me tonight to say the least.

And what's up with Benson? 30 strike outs already (leading the team) and batting .186 I've been pulling for Benson to make it. Kind of under the radar player who has shown potential. It' early still but with Friedl and McClain out it's his chance to shine now.

It would be great to head into the road trip to end the month with 14 W's. Come on Reds

Benson has been a cold streak for the last few weeks. After starting with a super solid line of .257/.333/.629/.962 in the first 10 games of the season (9 for 35), he has gone 4 for 35 in the last 10 games with 16 strike outs. He's still hitting the ball hard (15% barrel percentage vs MLB average of 6.9%, sweet spot % of 40% vs MLB average of 33.1%, hard hit % of 47.5% vs MLB average of 36.3%, average exit velocity of 90.5 mph vs league average of 88.4), which suggests he is just getting a little unlucky at the moment.

In the game against the Angels on Friday, he had 2 fielded outs that were hit 99.0 and 96.9 mph, going 389 and 373 ft, respectively. Looking at his statcast game log, I also see a 100.6 mph groundout, a 96.8 mph flyout (379 ft), a 103.2 mph groundout, and a 102.9 mph flyout (356 ft) all within that 10 game skid. 

As it gets warmer, those 380 ft fly outs will become 400 ft homeruns.

His BABIP is just .289 right now, which is below average league wide (BABIP league wide is typically around .300), so that's another indication that it may just be bad luck.

I think he's likely to average out as time goes on.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Benson is suffering Bellnotknowinghowtoputoutaneffectivelineup disease.

Yeah, you're missing Friedl and McLain, but Benson is NOT someone you lean on. He's a 7th, 8th or 9th hitter. The. End.

[*bengalfan74*]

(04-23-2024, 12:15 AM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Benson is suffering Bellnotknowinghowtoputoutaneffectivelineup disease.

Yeah, you're missing Friedl and McLain, but Benson is NOT someone you lean on. He's a 7th, 8th or 9th hitter. The. End.

Oh yes

I detest how Bell plays musical lineup. I was watching a Spencer Steer interview during a rain delay a week or so ago. And he made a statement something like "I'd be in left field for 5 games straight and then back at 3rd over to 1st back to LF and it was very hard to get settled in." And it's much the same with the hitting lineup.

[The D.O.Z.]

Absolutely embarrassing performance last night. Is there a MLBPA rule that doesn't allow Batting Practice to be pitched with actual pitches instead of a coach's soft-lob-may-as-well-use-a-tee? Because we need it! Waaaaaaay too many strikeouts as a team.

[*bengalfan74*]

(04-23-2024, 10:57 AM)The D.O.Z. Wrote: Absolutely embarrassing performance last night. Is there a MLBPA rule that doesn't allow Batting Practice to be pitched with actual pitches instead of a coach's soft-lob-may-as-well-use-a-tee? Because we need it! Waaaaaaay too many strikeouts as a team.

Yup

We have the 4th most strike outs in the NL and 9th most in MLB. CES struck out yesterday on a pitch that bounced 2 feet in front of the plate and a foot outside. It's embarrassing. 

[*bengalfan74*]

I have serious doubts H. Greene is going to make it as a starting pitcher?? In the 2nd-5th innings yesterday he gave up a run per inning. The announcer's were even commenting on how hard he was getting hit. He just doesn't have enough pitches in his toolbox to last over several innings.

Are any of the minor league pitchers doing ok?