Matt’s Take: A cup of Reds optimism
Matthew McAdow
By Matthew McAdow
HCP columnist
“Same old Reds,” said the fans who don’t watch every single inning. Hey, I get it, I am frustrated too. I’m 31 and haven’t seen success from this organization in my entire life, but let’s relax just a little.
Was that the worst stretch going from first to last in a week and some change? Probably so. I said a few swear words that would get you kicked out of church, but this team is 3 games above .500. I would’ve taken that record at the beginning of this season, and I bet you would’ve too. The losing streak was embarrassing, but it must be forgotten about. It’s baseball.
Hank Aaron said it best when he stated, “Failure is a part of success. There is no such thing as a bed of roses all your life. But failure will never stand in the way of success if you learn from it.”
Just be glad it happened now and not in August. Learn from it and climb back in the division.
Cup of optimism
Steer is hitting .280/.328 over the last month and has 7 home runs this season. He was never going to slump forever.
Chase Burns is an ace. He has a better WAR, winning record, ERA, ERA+, and more strikeouts than Paul Skenes. Pretty darn good, huh?
JJ Bleday has made an immediate impact: .262, 4 HR, 1.023 OPS with a 16% BB rate. In just 50 plate appearances, he’s been stellar.
Francona was finally OK with messing with the Reds lineup. While he is not a fan of it, I loved seeing Benson leadoff and Steer bat second.
The Reds are 1.5 games back from a wildcard spot. That’s it. I’ll be tuning in all season, as they’ll be in it all season.
The Reds upcoming schedule is fairly easy: Nationals, Guardians, Phillies. Win each series and you’re right back in the race for the division title. The Cubs cannot sustain the pace they are on now.
Elly De La Cruz might be the best player in baseball.
Negative Nancy
Here you go, negative Nancys. This is what you’ve been waiting for. A rant of points to go after all of those with massive frustration:
Ke’Bryan Hayes has been awful. At .139, I don’t care how good you are defensively. While we cannot cut him, it’s time for a long injured list stint for him when Eugenio returns.
Matt McLain is batting .204 and batted .220 last season. At what point do you allow Arroyo his chance in the bigs?
TJ Friedl is batting .185 and is no longer our best center fielder. He has no lift on the ball and is nearly an automatic out. He can’t continue to leadoff, as he is not the same player as he was last season.
Rhett Lowder, Emilio Pagan, Lodolo (finally returned), Williamson, Greene, Ferguson, and the list continues. It’s time the Reds catch a break from the injury bug.
Terry Francona’s decision to load the bases with 2 outs and Burke pitching in extras will haunt me for another month at a minimum. If you agreed with that decision, you don’t have a feel for the game (I don’t care who is up to bat).