|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jun 8, 2024 23:14:50 GMT -5
Less than a week ago, the Reds were last in their division, with a record well below .500. They’ve won seven straight, are now second in their division, and are just one game under .500. Woo!
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jun 30, 2024 0:44:07 GMT -5
Reds haven’t been playing well enough of late to get themselves above .500, but they are back to leading off the order with Jonathan India and Elly de la Cruz. de la Cruz has been very good as of late, but India, after a really slow start to the season currently has an 11 game hit streak, an 8 game multi-hit streak, and just set a Reds record for the most consecutive games with a double at 7 games (a stat that’s admittedly hyper-specific in a very silly nigh-meaningless sports stats way, but still a pretty impressive achievement).
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jul 10, 2024 10:46:07 GMT -5
Thank you for having a headline photo of NBA player Caleb Martin in an article about the Reds-Rockies series, Yahoo Sports. Very informative. (On a related note, Elly de la Cruz appeared in a photo in a recent FT article about how shitty Nike’s MLB uniforms were this year, so that was neat I guess).
Also, on a more substantive note, I adopted the Reds as my NL team this season, knowing absolutely nothing about the present-day squad the only player from last year’s team who I even recognized was Votto and he left for the Blue Jays prior to this season) and very very little about their history (seriously, I don’t think I knew that Pete Rose played for them). But as I have not really been willing to spend the time to follow two baseball teams at once, I’m willing to go ahead and say that I am first and foremost a Reds fan now, having previously been a very casual Yankees fan. This will probably not be a good choice from the perspective of my odds of seeing my team win a World Series or make the playoffs (the Reds have been stubbornly hanging around about five games below .500 for about a month now), but on the positive side, Cincinnati did sweep a much better Yankees team in an interleague series last week.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jul 14, 2024 0:01:44 GMT -5
Cincinnati’s 2nd round pick in 2019 was some guy called Rece Hinds. I had trouble learning much about him because he doesn’t even have his own Wikipedia page, but in the six games since being called up from AAA he’s hitting .500 with 5 home runs.
|
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Jul 14, 2024 15:48:28 GMT -5
Cincinnati’s 2nd round pick in 2019 was some guy called Rece Hinds. I had trouble learning much about him because he doesn’t even have his own Wikipedia page, but in the six games since being called up from AAA he’s hitting .500 with 5 home runs. Yeah, there's probably not much info out there about a young player just called up from Triple A. Other than his baseball stats at varying levels, I mean.
Cool to see him be so successful in his first week!
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Jul 28, 2024 23:26:22 GMT -5
Ugh, the Reds’ struggling closing pitcher Alexis Diaz managed to ruin a brilliant scoreless game from starting pitcher Hunter Greene and a game where Elly de la Cruz stole four bases.
|
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Aug 13, 2024 1:10:34 GMT -5
I feel sorry for any non-NL West team that is playing the NL West teams right now.
The Dbacks are 26-10 since July 1st. They are 9-2 in August. Unfortunately, both the Rockies and Dodgers are also on hot streaks. Dodgers are 7-3 in their last 10. Padres are 8-2. The Dbacks would love it if the Dodgers and Padres would just lose some games, but no. The Dbacks went 8-2 over their last 10 and only picked up 1 game on the Dodgers and are still tied with the Padres.
In that 26-10 streak, the Dbacks played the Dodgers, Padres, Royals, Indians, Braves, Cubs and Phillies.
Yeesh, it is really hard to make up ground against these teams with gazillion dollar payrolls.
Can the Brewers or Pirates please just play a couple of good games to help the Dbacks out here?
|
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Aug 14, 2024 0:06:44 GMT -5
Ugh, come on, baseball. The Dbacks win again. So of course the Dodgers and Padres win, too.
The Dbacks and Padres are now both 9-1 in their last 10, the Dodgers are 8-2.
Both the Dbacks and Padres now are statistically tied with the NL Central leader.
The way the standings are now, it could hilariously put the Dbacks on the exact same postseason path they had last year: Brewers to Dodgers to Phillies. LOL, this would be deeply amusing. This isn't as likely as other playoff scenarios, but it is still a possibility.
This is a nice benefit to MLB going back to the balanced schedule. Now you can clearly see how good these NL West teams are. Under the imbalanced schedule these teams would be playing each other 19 times a season each, cannibalizing wins.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Aug 21, 2024 13:19:26 GMT -5
Ugh, come on, baseball. The Dbacks win again. So of course the Dodgers and Padres win, too. The Dbacks and Padres are now both 9-1 in their last 10, the Dodgers are 8-2. Both the Dbacks and Padres now are statistically tied with the NL Central leader. The way the standings are now, it could hilariously put the Dbacks on the exact same postseason path they had last year: Brewers to Dodgers to Phillies. LOL, this would be deeply amusing. This isn't as likely as other playoff scenarios, but it is still a possibility. This is a nice benefit to MLB going back to the balanced schedule. Now you can clearly see how good these NL West teams are. Under the imbalanced schedule these teams would be playing each other 19 times a season each, cannibalizing wins. I have a question. In a bad blowout loss for the Reds last night, they put their backup catcher in at pitcher and he threw two shutout innings pitching the ball hilariously slowly. Why is it so hard for batters to hit the ball when it’s pitched really slowly on a night where they hit like five homeruns off normally thrown baseballs? |
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Aug 21, 2024 19:30:30 GMT -5
I have a question. In a bad blowout loss for the Reds last night, they put their backup catcher in at pitcher and he threw two shutout innings pitching the ball hilariously slowly. Why is it so hard for batters to hit the ball when it’s pitched really slowly on a night where they hit like five homeruns off normally thrown baseballs?
This is a good question. I've seen this happen in games where a position player is pitching. I'm not knowledgeable enough about hitting to give a definitive answer. Though, I will ask on the baseball blog I frequent to see if those people know.
My guess is something to do with timing. If they spend their time practicing against those faster pitches, it may be tough for them to pick up a dramatically different speed. There's also the fact that hitting a baseball is actually quite difficult, in general. Which is why there is a bigger gap in ability in baseball from college/minors to the pros than there is in any other sport.
It could also be that a non-trained pitcher throws the ball with a different (uncontrolled) spin and more unpredictable location.
So, those are my guesses. I will let you know what the more knowledgeable baseball folks I know have to say.
|
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Aug 22, 2024 14:11:44 GMT -5
^^^ As an update, the folks on the blog I'm on seem to agree with points 1 & 2 of mine.
1. Their timing is screwed up by the pitches being dramatically slower than they're used to.
2. They are tempted to start swinging at everything because they know it isn't a skilled pitcher, but it is generally very difficult to hit a baseball, so they tend to make outs. Which honestly could encompass my point about the pitches not being well-controlled by the pitcher. Remember, you're considered a good hitter if you get a hit 3 times out of every 10 ABs. Baseball is heavily skewed towards the pitcher.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Aug 28, 2024 23:54:16 GMT -5
^^^ As an update, the folks on the blog I'm on seem to agree with points 1 & 2 of mine. 1. Their timing is screwed up by the pitches being dramatically slower than they're used to. 2. They are tempted to start swinging at everything because they know it isn't a skilled pitcher, but it is generally very difficult to hit a baseball, so they tend to make outs. Which honestly could encompass my point about the pitches not being well-controlled by the pitcher. Remember, you're considered a good hitter if you get a hit 3 times out of every 10 ABs. Baseball is heavily skewed towards the pitcher. How bad is it when a team plays just their bullpen guys for two games in a row? |
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Aug 29, 2024 11:22:28 GMT -5
How bad is it when a team plays just their bullpen guys for two games in a row?
That would be very difficult to do! Generally bullpen pitchers aren't equipped to throw that many innings. And there aren't enough of them to compensate.
I imagine the Reds will have to promote a pitcher from AAA for the next week or two.
The DBacks had similar problems both last year and this year. The Dbacks opted to promote a AAA pitcher, and then throw a bullpen game. That's how they were covering when they only had 3 operational starting pitchers. Reds may have to try something like that.
What a bummer of a season for them. I really thought they'd contend. I'd love to see Elly de la Cruz get a chance to play in the playoffs.
|
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Aug 29, 2024 11:33:38 GMT -5
Also, thank the baseball gods, Corbin Carroll is back! Tried changing his swing and this didn't work at all. Changed it back and now he's back.
1st Half: .212/.301/.334
2nd Half: .258/.338/.633
August alone: .267/.333/.656 with 9 HR
Whew! So happy he's back!
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Aug 30, 2024 0:40:11 GMT -5
How bad is it when a team plays just their bullpen guys for two games in a row?
That would be very difficult to do! Generally bullpen pitchers aren't equipped to throw that many innings. And there aren't enough of them to compensate.
I imagine the Reds will have to promote a pitcher from AAA for the next week or two.
The DBacks had similar problems both last year and this year. The Dbacks opted to promote a AAA pitcher, and then throw a bullpen game. That's how they were covering when they only had 3 operational starting pitchers. Reds may have to try something like that.
What a bummer of a season for them. I really thought they'd contend. I'd love to see Elly de la Cruz get a chance to play in the playoffs.
Yeah, it’s unfortunate, but the team has struggled with injuries and inconsistency. They’re at least a fun team to watch. Elly de la Cruz alone has made this a fun team to watch. Also, hopefully next season, the Reds can get a new closer. Their current closer, Alexis Diaz, has an ERA of 4.86 this season. Every time I see him come up to close out a close game, I brace myself for the Reds to give away their lead. Happened in their latest game; he gave up three runs in the top of the ninth after entering with a one run lead, but thankfully the offense was able to generate three runs in the bottom of the ninth to take back the lead. Bad pitching all around in that game, with a young Reds pitcher who’s being given a chance as a starter giving up like four homeruns, and the Angels’ starter walking three separate Reds with the bases already loaded. Also, really getting tired of how whenever there’s a female commentator in a game, half the comments on the Youtube highlights will be complaints about her. Astonishing that that could be the first thing on someone’s mind after watching the highlights of the last Angels-Reds game, rather than, say, the extremely poor pitching from both teams, or the Reds challenging an out that I’m pretty sure should’ve been overturned but wasn’t, or literally anything related to the actual game. |
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Sept 30, 2024 21:11:56 GMT -5
Desert Dweller what was the tiebreaker that got the Mets and the Braves into the playoffs and not the Diamondbacks? Brutal to have to miss the playoffs when they were playing in the same division as the best team in baseball. Sorry about that. Meanwhile, the Reds season was ultimately disappointing, finishing a ways under .500, with their offense unable to generate runs late in the season, but Elly de la Cruz remains fun to watch with an MLB-leading 67 steals on the season, and an ability to make incredible defensive plays (albeit he also led the league in strikeouts and errors, which is bad?). Hunter Greene is an exciting young pitcher who spent a good chunk of this year injured (I guess the team’s best reason to have hope for next year is the astonishing number of injuries they had this season, and rookie Rhett Lowder, who was called up about a month ago, was absolutely incredible in his handful of starts. So maybe next year. Any advice on who I should support in the postseason?
|
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Oct 2, 2024 18:46:53 GMT -5
Dbacks finished 6 games better than 2023 and missed the playoffs by one game. Made the playoffs by one game last year. Sigh.
In the playoffs I'm rooting against the Dodgers and Astros. Haven't yet figured out which team I will root for.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 2, 2024 23:37:22 GMT -5
Dbacks finished 6 games better than 2023 and missed the playoffs by one game. Made the playoffs by one game last year. Sigh. In the playoffs I'm rooting against the Dodgers and Astros. Haven't yet figured out which team I will root for. Are the Tigers the biggest underdogs? |
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Oct 4, 2024 17:54:05 GMT -5
Are the Tigers the biggest underdogs? I'd say probably them or KC. The Mets feel like it in the NL. Ugh, Dbacks had the same record as the Mets. This sucks. |
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 6, 2024 8:51:44 GMT -5
Dbacks finished 6 games better than 2023 and missed the playoffs by one game. Made the playoffs by one game last year. Sigh. In the playoffs I'm rooting against the Dodgers and Astros. Haven't yet figured out which team I will root for. Is it normal to find the Phillies particularly unlikeable? I think it would be good if the Mets kept winning, even though I don’t know how realistic that is. But for the first time ever, I’m actually following the MLB playoffs in general and it’s honestly been pretty great. I was also hoping Arizona would make it given the Reds clearly not being a legit contender to make the playoffs for quite a while, but yeah, baseball rules. |
|
|
|
Post by Desert Dweller on Oct 6, 2024 21:23:44 GMT -5
Dbacks finished 6 games better than 2023 and missed the playoffs by one game. Made the playoffs by one game last year. Sigh. In the playoffs I'm rooting against the Dodgers and Astros. Haven't yet figured out which team I will root for. Is it normal to find the Phillies particularly unlikeable?
Yes, I'd say this is pretty normal. They are probably not top-tier in the "most hated teams" list. But I think Philly teams, in general, are not well-liked amongst sports fans.
Edited to add: They didn't win themselves many fans last year when they whined about "Why can't the teams be re-seeded after the first round" because they got the Braves instead of the DBacks in the second round. But then they drew the Dbacks in the Third round and lost. So, it definitely felt good to shut them up for making that argument.
|
|
|
|
Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Oct 18, 2024 1:05:52 GMT -5
Desert Dweller how good of a thing is it for the Reds that they hired Terry Francona as their new manager?
|
|
