Reds July 2025 Thread

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(Yesterday, 10:02 AM)Timanky12 Wrote: Seems to me, that ball and strike calls are getting worse every year. Umps are so inconsistent, where the same location is a strike on a RH batter and a ball in a LH batter. Something needs to be done.  It’s time for computer aided ball/ strike calls. 

You're going to be very disappointed when it does come.

The box on the broadcast is NOT the actual strikezone. It's the broadcast's rough approximation of the strikezone.

So you're going to see pitches that the broadcast box says is a ball but is called a strike, and then they're going to challenge it and the robot looking at the actual strikezone (which only needs a fraction of an inch to TOUCH the outside line to be a strike) will confirm it.

[cinci4life]

Making the Nats look like the Brewers.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Didn't want to jinx it by saying earlier that Burns was pitching really well through 4.... then it all fell to shit anyway.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, he really needs to go down and learn a quality third pitch (and probably an okayish 4th) if he wants to ever be a decent starter.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Random minor bright side note: McLain will be above the Mendoza Line for the first time since April 3rd.

[Timanky12]

After starting the 2nd half 2-0, with a great chance for 3-0 they are now 2-3. So much for a good start for the 2nd half, a couple more loses and they will be sellers not buyers.

[TecmoBengals]

(Yesterday, 09:57 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Random minor bright side note: McLain will be above the Mendoza Line for the first time since April 3rd.

I miss, oh let's say 1987, when the bright spot would have been you posting "McLain is now hitting above .250" or something like that. 

[*ochocincos*]

Ahh, ye olde Reds.
4-4 in their last 8.
28-31 against teams >.500 on the season.
Sitting just 2 games above .500 and 3.5 games out of the WC again, just like the ASB.

Will this team actually make a trade or two in the next week to try to get them out of the middle-of-the-pack hump they've been in the past few years now?
I have my doubts based on the past 10-15 years.
It feels like the last real attempts to make any impact at the trade deadline were the July 2009 trade for Rolen (which sadly saw Encarnacion traded away) and for Broxton in July 2012.

Reds don't seem willing to relegate Fraley and Benson to the bench/demotion yet, thinking a platoon at RF continues to be the best option.
They also seem to be banking on Hunter Greene returning and this rotation to stay healthy the rest of the year, which also feels risky.
Burns is too green to be sent out there right now in the playoff hunt, as much as I root for him. Teams are teeing off on him, allowing a 6.65 ERA in 5 starts.
Could also use even just 1 reliable RP who is a setup guy, as right now they really have no one aside from Pagan who you can confidently feel good about coming into the 7th or 8th inning.
I'm not ready to rely on Santillan yet to think RPs are in good shape. This is already nearly double the amount of games he's pitched in any MLB season, so the sample size is too small to think he'll consistently maintain a sub-3.0 ERA.

[Timanky12]

(07-04-2025, 07:54 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: We're not particularly a young team, this isn't 2023 anymore. Trevino is 32, Steer is 27, Espinal is 30, Benson is 27, Friedl is 29, Fraley is 30, Lux is 27, Stephenson is 28, Hays is 29. We only have 3 batters with 100+ PA this year who are younger than 27.

The league average weighted batter age (weighted so a 22-year-old with 10 PA and a 28-year-old with 400 PA doesn't average out to 25 years old) is 28.1... we are at 27.5.
The league average weighted pitcher age is 29.3... we are at 29.5.

10th in batters, 18th in pitchers

We're fairly middle-of-the-pack overall.

San Diego is on pace for 88 wins and the final wild card spot.  The Reds would have to play .600 ball or go 36-24 to tie them. That’s not going to happen.  With the hardest remaining schedule, they will be lucky to go .500.
The Reds will be sellers at the trade dead line. 

[*bengalfan74*]

This 3 game skid, just what they do this season, may well have tipped the scales to sellers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/reds-humiliating-collapse-vs-nationals-might-shift-everything-at-the-trade-deadline/ar-AA1J8ulq?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ASTS&cvid=3f77cbbe0572460e8457793ab54dc0bd&ei=8

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Can't be calling for the ball on the other side of 2nd and then not getting it, Elly.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Nice comfy 5 run lead means they should give Lodolo a chance to complete it.

[Goalpost]

Impressive pitching by Lodolo. 105 pitch CG shutout

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Great start by Lodolo, nice W for the Reds to avoid getting swept.

[Timanky12]

(7 hours ago)Goalpost Wrote: Impressive pitching by Lodolo. 105 pitch CG shutout

If you want something done right, do it yourself.

Reds have blown a 5 run lead with 2 outs in 8th with no one on base.

[*bengalfan74*]

(7 hours ago)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Great start by Lodolo, nice W for the Reds to avoid getting swept.

Yep, complete games are rare as hens teeth in todays MLB. Great outing for him.

[guyofthetiger]

I recall about 6 years ago the Reds were only 2 games out of the wildcard at the trade deadline and still ended up being sellers trading away our good players. History will repeat itself.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(3 hours ago)guyofthetiger Wrote: I recall about 6 years ago the Reds were only 2 games out of the wildcard at the trade deadline and still ended up being sellers trading away our good players. History will repeat itself.

The more I hear and see folks say "we're still a young team, we'll continue to grow and go for it in 2026" that more I believe this is just Groundhog Day and it's 2023 again. 

A whole lot of the same players (EDLC, Steer, McLain, Friedl, Benson, Stephenson, CES, Fraley, Marte, Green Abbott, Lodolo), largely the same results of a .500-ish team (82-80), the same wait-and-see approach to the deadline (even though we were actually 9 over .500 at the break), and the same rationalization that we're young and they'll all get better next season (we aren't young anymore, and the 2024 team went 77-85, and now those same folks in 2025 are probably going 82-80 again).

[Timanky12]

(3 hours ago)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: The more I hear and see folks say "we're still a young team, we'll continue to grow and go for it in 2026" that more I believe this is just Groundhog Day and it's 2023 again. 

A whole lot of the same players (EDLC, Steer, McLain, Friedl, Benson, Stephenson, CES, Fraley, Marte, Green Abbott, Lodolo), largely the same results of a .500-ish team (82-80), the same wait-and-see approach to the deadline (even though we were actually 9 over .500 at the break), and the same rationalization that we're young and they'll all get better next season (we aren't young anymore, and the 2024 team went 77-85, and now those same folks in 2025 are probably going 82-80 again).

The problem is the Reds are susceptible to left handed pitching. Doesn’t matter if we load up on RH hitters, and that a major problem.