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How has 11-7 Sonny Gray surpassed 15-6 All-Star Castillo? Sonny Gray looks like he will end up as a great add to the staff. However, he didn't look so good when he first was pitching for the Reds this season so that was the reason for some questioning. He certainly got better as the season wore along. The bottom line is this franchise has crapped the bed for the past 6 seasons despite Sonny or Bauer or whomever.

I'm quite skeptical that the Reds will be competitive to the extent that the front office is suggesting next year. Keep in mind that it had been suggested that 2020 was an all-in year. Outside of pitching, the only position where the collective WAR was above average was 3B. Everything else was below average. That's a lot of players to replace to get to the playoffs, miss less the World Series. We basically need upgrades for catcher, a whole new middle infield, at least two outfield starters, and we need to fix our rickety bullpen. That means leaning heavily on free agency to obtain 4-5 new starters, mortgaging a significant portion of the future to trade prospects for established starters MLB ready prospects, or depending on performance from our own prospects.

It just feels like we're too far away. I would be happy to wait for steady growth as I see our minor league prospects getting better. I don't want to see an "all-in" 2020 where the Reds hobble into a wildcard playoff or get dismantled by the Dodgers in the division series and then suck for the next three years.

Our key to long term success is building a competent and unified player development system and drafting better players internationally. Not going all-in in 2020 depending on backups to suddenly become the next Scooter.

(09-20-2019 09:14 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  How has 11-7 Sonny Gray surpassed 15-6 All-Star Castillo? Sonny Gray looks like he will end up as a great add to the staff. However, he didn't look so good when he first was pitching for the Reds this season so that was the reason for some questioning. He certainly got better as the season wore along. The bottom line is this franchise has crapped the bed for the past 6 seasons despite Sonny or Bauer or whomever.

Because the statistics referred to as "wins" and "losses" has nothing to do with actual "wins" or "losses" on the baseball field. It's the original useless sabermetric stat, with good marketing.

Sonny Gray: 2.87 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 205 K, 17 HR given up, leading the league in hits per 9 innings with 6.3
Luis Castillo: 3.25 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 218 K, 22 HR given up

Best wishes to Marty in retirement. At 40 years old he's the voice I grew up listening to and falling asleep to. Hard to picture Red's baseball without him.

(09-22-2019 06:54 AM)crex043 Wrote:  I'm quite skeptical that the Reds will be competitive to the extent that the front office is suggesting next year. Keep in mind that it had been suggested that 2020 was an all-in year. Outside of pitching, the only position where the collective WAR was above average was 3B. Everything else was below average. That's a lot of players to replace to get to the playoffs, miss less the World Series. We basically need upgrades for catcher, a whole new middle infield, at least two outfield starters, and we need to fix our rickety bullpen. That means leaning heavily on free agency to obtain 4-5 new starters, mortgaging a significant portion of the future to trade prospects for established starters MLB ready prospects, or depending on performance from our own prospects.

It just feels like we're too far away. I would be happy to wait for steady growth as I see our minor league prospects getting better. I don't want to see an "all-in" 2020 where the Reds hobble into a wildcard playoff or get dismantled by the Dodgers in the division series and then suck for the next three years.

Our key to long term success is building a competent and unified player development system and drafting better players internationally. Not going all-in in 2020 depending on backups to suddenly become the next Scooter.

Yeah.

If you had told me in March that Suarez would hit 49 HR, Iglesias would hit .290, acquiring Puig would end up looking like a good deal, three rookies would look like everyday players through the end of August (Senzel, Aquino, and Van Meter), Castillo & Gray would make the All-Star team, and the rotation would only have 1 guy get injured...... what would be your over/under on this team's record?

Everything has gone right for the team this year (well, until the last weekend in August, when they stopped hitting). But here we are in late September and they're still in 4th place, 13 games under .500.

(09-26-2019 03:01 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(09-22-2019 06:54 AM)crex043 Wrote:  I'm quite skeptical that the Reds will be competitive to the extent that the front office is suggesting next year. Keep in mind that it had been suggested that 2020 was an all-in year. Outside of pitching, the only position where the collective WAR was above average was 3B. Everything else was below average. That's a lot of players to replace to get to the playoffs, miss less the World Series. We basically need upgrades for catcher, a whole new middle infield, at least two outfield starters, and we need to fix our rickety bullpen. That means leaning heavily on free agency to obtain 4-5 new starters, mortgaging a significant portion of the future to trade prospects for established starters MLB ready prospects, or depending on performance from our own prospects.

It just feels like we're too far away. I would be happy to wait for steady growth as I see our minor league prospects getting better. I don't want to see an "all-in" 2020 where the Reds hobble into a wildcard playoff or get dismantled by the Dodgers in the division series and then suck for the next three years.

Our key to long term success is building a competent and unified player development system and drafting better players internationally. Not going all-in in 2020 depending on backups to suddenly become the next Scooter.

Yeah.

If you had told me in March that Suarez would hit 49 HR, Iglesias would hit .290, acquiring Puig would end up looking like a good deal, three rookies would look like everyday players through the end of August (Senzel, Aquino, and Van Meter), Castillo & Gray would make the All-Star team, and the rotation would only have 1 guy get injured...... what would be your over/under on this team's record?

Everything has gone right for the team this year (well, until the last weekend in August, when they stopped hitting). But here we are in late September and they're still in 4th place, 13 games under .500.

The offense and the bullpen are the big issues. They're not one or two players away. They're probably a third of a roster away.

(09-26-2019 03:01 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(09-22-2019 06:54 AM)crex043 Wrote:  I'm quite skeptical that the Reds will be competitive to the extent that the front office is suggesting next year. Keep in mind that it had been suggested that 2020 was an all-in year. Outside of pitching, the only position where the collective WAR was above average was 3B. Everything else was below average. That's a lot of players to replace to get to the playoffs, miss less the World Series. We basically need upgrades for catcher, a whole new middle infield, at least two outfield starters, and we need to fix our rickety bullpen. That means leaning heavily on free agency to obtain 4-5 new starters, mortgaging a significant portion of the future to trade prospects for established starters MLB ready prospects, or depending on performance from our own prospects.

It just feels like we're too far away. I would be happy to wait for steady growth as I see our minor league prospects getting better. I don't want to see an "all-in" 2020 where the Reds hobble into a wildcard playoff or get dismantled by the Dodgers in the division series and then suck for the next three years.

Our key to long term success is building a competent and unified player development system and drafting better players internationally. Not going all-in in 2020 depending on backups to suddenly become the next Scooter.

Yeah.

If you had told me in March that Suarez would hit 49 HR, Iglesias would hit .290, acquiring Puig would end up looking like a good deal, three rookies would look like everyday players through the end of August (Senzel, Aquino, and Van Meter), Castillo & Gray would make the All-Star team, and the rotation would only have 1 guy get injured...... what would be your over/under on this team's record?

Everything has gone right for the team this year (well, until the last weekend in August, when they stopped hitting). But here we are in late September and they're still in 4th place, 13 games under .500.

And you were doing so well in the Castilo v. Gray debate. smh .C'mon. Yeah, everything went right except:
- Their highest-paid and presumed best player had the worst full season of his career.
- Arguably their second-best offensive player of the past few years entering his free agent season got hurt for much of the year and was among the worst hitters in the league upon his return before being dealt for a PTBNL who I believe they never even bothered naming.
- In terms of actual market value of performance coming in, their key pitching acquisition and only LHSP was hurt most of the year and ineffective in his few starts before getting shut down again.
- Which influenced them to acquire a consensus Cy Young contender type starting pitcher midseason who suddenly was frequently hit like he was pitching batting practice.
- Both heads of their two-headed catching platoon got hurt leaving them with a starting catcher for a time who struggled to hit much over .200 in the minors
- Both of their extremely reliable veteran free agent relievers from last year suddenly became extremely unreliable this year and were released.
- Arguably the best Reds hitting prospect of the last few years seemed to regress and yes of course also got hurt ending his season.
- The alternative best Reds hitting prospect of the last few years and best overall prospect had a merely OK rookie season before, you guessed it, he got hurt which ended his season.
- Matt Kemp goes from a fairly nice All-Star season in LA (121 OPS+) and seemingly primed to thrive in GABP as trade bait to an utterly worthless entity (OPS+ of 26 ) whose career is probably over.

So other than that stuff (and a few others I left out edit: Raisel Iglesias for crying out loud!) it's incredible how "right" everything went for the Reds this year.

By the way, like you mentioned, I agree some things went better than expected. And I'm not saying the Reds were the only team to encounter adversity by any means. And clearly other teams fought through it much better than they did. I'm just saying it's crazy to argue that everything "went right" for the Reds this year.

(09-26-2019 02:43 PM)RealDeal Wrote:  Best wishes to Marty in retirement. At 40 years old he's the voice I grew up listening to and falling asleep to. Hard to picture Red's baseball without him.

Yeah for awhile it seemed like Marty and Joe would outlast us all. But none of us escapes Father Time. Good for him on getting out on his terms while he's still feeling good and with a lot of things left on his personal agenda to do and experience. It's a shame the Reds couldn't send him out on a playoff season or at least giving him the chance to call one last "And this one belongs to the Reds" in his final game, but it's hardly surprising the way this team has played much of the year.

(09-26-2019 02:35 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(09-20-2019 09:14 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  How has 11-7 Sonny Gray surpassed 15-6 All-Star Castillo? Sonny Gray looks like he will end up as a great add to the staff. However, he didn't look so good when he first was pitching for the Reds this season so that was the reason for some questioning. He certainly got better as the season wore along. The bottom line is this franchise has crapped the bed for the past 6 seasons despite Sonny or Bauer or whomever.

Because the statistics referred to as "wins" and "losses" has nothing to do with actual "wins" or "losses" on the baseball field. It's the original useless sabermetric stat, with good marketing.

Sonny Gray: 2.87 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 205 K, 17 HR given up, leading the league in hits per 9 innings with 6.3
Luis Castillo: 3.25 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 218 K, 22 HR given up

Except that wins and losses is what actually counts in the team standings. Castillo was chosen as an All-Star starting pitcher this season for a reason. Sonny Gray was not. I don't have an issue with Gray at all but I think it's overblown to say he has become our #1 pitcher.

Compare and contrast the two players I molded my son's baseball style after.

Ted Williams does not sit on .3995 the last day of the year to hit .406. Joey Votto gets pulled after his second at bat so he will mercifully end the season at .261 instead of .259.

(09-29-2019 03:33 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  Compare and contrast the two players I molded my son's baseball style after.

Ted Williams does not sit on .3995 the last day of the year to hit .406. Joey Votto gets pulled after his second at bat so he will mercifully end the season at .261 instead of .259.

Fake news! It's true the Reds took Votto out after 2 PAs (I'm guessing because what's the point and why risk an injury?). But it wasn't because he was scared of hitting .259. At 0-2, he's now at .261. If he stayed in for another AB, worst case is he's at .260456 which of course is still .260.

And even if he made an out then and stayed in for another AB after that (so basically 0-4 with no walks), worst case is .25996 which goes into the record books for eternity at .260. He didn't leave the game because he was worried about not hitting .260.

(09-29-2019 04:04 PM)Bearhawkeye Wrote:  

(09-29-2019 03:33 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  Compare and contrast the two players I molded my son's baseball style after.

Ted Williams does not sit on .3995 the last day of the year to hit .406. Joey Votto gets pulled after his second at bat so he will mercifully end the season at .261 instead of .259.

Fake news! It's true the Reds took Votto out after 2 PAs (I'm guessing because what's the point and why risk an injury?). But it wasn't because he was scared of hitting .259. At 0-2, he's now at .261. If he stayed in for another AB, worst case is he's at .260456 which of course is still .260.

And even if he made an out then and stayed in for another AB after that (so basically 0-4 with no walks), worst case is .25996 which goes into the record books for eternity at .260. He didn't leave the game because he was worried about not hitting .260.

Umm, if he went 0-5 what would be his average?

(09-29-2019 04:04 PM)Bearhawkeye Wrote:  

(09-29-2019 03:33 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  Compare and contrast the two players I molded my son's baseball style after.

Ted Williams does not sit on .3995 the last day of the year to hit .406. Joey Votto gets pulled after his second at bat so he will mercifully end the season at .261 instead of .259.

Fake news! It's true the Reds took Votto out after 2 PAs (I'm guessing because what's the point and why risk an injury?). But it wasn't because he was scared of hitting .259. At 0-2, he's now at .261. If he stayed in for another AB, worst case is he's at .260456 which of course is still .260.

And even if he made an out then and stayed in for another AB after that (so basically 0-4 with no walks), worst case is .25996 which goes into the record books for eternity at .260. He didn't leave the game because he was worried about not hitting .260.

Risk an injury. That's funny. The next Reds game is in 5 months.

APPROXIMATE GUESS, NO NEED TO GIVE ME THE CORRECT NUMBER ... LIKE BELL PULLING JOEY TO PUT AN END TO HIS TERRIBLE SEASON.

(09-29-2019 04:51 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  

(09-29-2019 04:04 PM)Bearhawkeye Wrote:  

(09-29-2019 03:33 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  Compare and contrast the two players I molded my son's baseball style after.

Ted Williams does not sit on .3995 the last day of the year to hit .406. Joey Votto gets pulled after his second at bat so he will mercifully end the season at .261 instead of .259.

Fake news! It's true the Reds took Votto out after 2 PAs (I'm guessing because what's the point and why risk an injury?). But it wasn't because he was scared of hitting .259. At 0-2, he's now at .261. If he stayed in for another AB, worst case is he's at .260456 which of course is still .260.

And even if he made an out then and stayed in for another AB after that (so basically 0-4 with no walks), worst case is .25996 which goes into the record books for eternity at .260. He didn't leave the game because he was worried about not hitting .260.

Umm, if he went 0-5 what would be his average?

If that was the real fear, why wouldn't they just wait to pull him iafter he was 0-4 if it came to that? Fake news.

(09-29-2019 05:02 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  

(09-29-2019 04:04 PM)Bearhawkeye Wrote:  

(09-29-2019 03:33 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  Compare and contrast the two players I molded my son's baseball style after.

Ted Williams does not sit on .3995 the last day of the year to hit .406. Joey Votto gets pulled after his second at bat so he will mercifully end the season at .261 instead of .259.

Fake news! It's true the Reds took Votto out after 2 PAs (I'm guessing because what's the point and why risk an injury?). But it wasn't because he was scared of hitting .259. At 0-2, he's now at .261. If he stayed in for another AB, worst case is he's at .260456 which of course is still .260.

And even if he made an out then and stayed in for another AB after that (so basically 0-4 with no walks), worst case is .25996 which goes into the record books for eternity at .260. He didn't leave the game because he was worried about not hitting .260.

Risk an injury. That's funny. The next Reds game is in 5 months.

APPROXIMATE GUESS, NO NEED TO GIVE ME THE CORRECT NUMBER ... LIKE BELL PULLING JOEY TO PUT AN END TO HIS TERRIBLE SEASON.

Are you asking me to guess something here?

(09-29-2019 03:33 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  Compare and contrast the two players I molded my son's baseball style after.

Ted Williams does not sit on .3995 the last day of the year to hit .406. Joey Votto gets pulled after his second at bat so he will mercifully end the season at .261 instead of .259.

Lmfao. You really think they have a damn about this?

2018
67-95 [28.5 GB] 5th NL Central

2019
75-87 [16 GB] 4th NL Central

Wahoo! Next year is the year gentlemen!

(09-29-2019 07:06 PM)bearcatmark Wrote:  

(09-29-2019 03:33 PM)Romell Shorter Wrote:  Compare and contrast the two players I molded my son's baseball style after.

Ted Williams does not sit on .3995 the last day of the year to hit .406. Joey Votto gets pulled after his second at bat so he will mercifully end the season at .261 instead of .259.

Lmfao. You really think they have a damn about this?

Homer or Votto which was dumber?

Next yea Votto ends at .235 the dude is done!

Some interesting developments for next season...

Quote:Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams and general manager Nick Krall were two of the busiest, and most aggressive, executives in baseball last winter. They made a flurry of moves to improve the rotation and attempted to boost the offense.

Expect more of the same when the Hot Stove season ramps up in earnest after the World Series, but with an added twist.

“We will have a bigger payroll,” Williams said on Wednesday in his office. “We will have money to spend. It will be a nice increase.”

The Reds made strides during the 2019 season, but still finished 75-87 and in fourth place in the National League Central.

“I think we've shown that we can make a lot of good decisions, and that's why we're confident in our abilities going into this offseason to try to get creative,” Williams said. “Whether it ends up being trades or waiver claims or free-agent signings, [we will] continue to find players that will help.”

Much of the priority will be on improving the lineup and offense, which dipped in 2019. The Reds ranked 12th in the NL in hitting (.244) and runs scored (701) this season and although they set a new club record with 227 home runs, they scored only five more runs than last year.

“We want guys on base so when those homers happen, they really cause damage,” Williams said. “It's just making sure we give ourselves more opportunities to score. Having more guys on base earlier in the innings creates more traffic, and I think we'll have more success. We've got guys that can do that, but we're going to have to create a lineup that generates more offense.”

The team potentially could look to upgrade offensively in the outfield, at second base and, possibly, at catcher.

“I think we have the potential to have three everyday outfielders in [Jesse] Winker, [Nick] Senzel and [Aristides] Aquino, but we cannot go into next year counting on all three of [them] to be everyday guys,” Williams said. “It just isn't going to be that easy. We have to create more impact in that group, and still give those guys the opportunity to play their way into everyday roles or complementary roles, but the outfield area is [one we] would be looking to supplement.”

The Reds also will seek to improve the bullpen, but they feel good about a core of Raisel Iglesias, Michael Lorenzen, Amir Garrett and Robert Stephenson. The rotation’s front four will be Luis Castillo, Gray, Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani.

More Payroll 2020?

A 36 year old pitching guru?

Quote:The Reds' rotation made big advances in 2019, in both performance and how it embraced analytics and data. On Tuesday, the club hired one of the industry leaders in harnessing information to improve upon its pitching success.

Kyle Boddy was named the Reds' director of pitching initiatives/pitching coordinator. Boddy, 36, is the founder and president of Driveline Baseball, a data-driven baseball performance center near Seattle that’s been embraced by many big leaguers, including Cincinnati starter Trevor Bauer.

“The Reds are getting someone with a deep understanding of how to integrate data science with player development, and do so very quickly,” Bauer said. “He has an established process based heavily on measurable qualities that will benefit many players and coaches immediately. He’s used to running a fast-moving company and managing many employees. It’s rare to come by that skill set in one individual.”

The club said that Boddy will work closely with the Major League pitching department to ensure the pitching philosophies and protocols are consistent throughout the organization. Much of his time for the Reds will be spent working with their Minor League pitchers.

Reds Moneyball?