OD roster

[JohnU]

Starters (8)
Joey Votto
Jose Peraza
Zack Cozart
Eugenio Suarez
Adam Duvall
Billy Hamilton
Scott Schebler
Tucker Barnhart


Bench (4)
Stuart Turner
Arismendy Alcantara
Patrick Kivlehan
Scooter Gennett


Rotation (4)
Scott Feldman
Brandon Finnegan
Rookie Davis
Amir Garrett


Bullpen (9)
Drew Storen
Blake Wood
Michael Lorenzen
Raisel Iglesias
Tony Cingrani
Robert Stephenson
Cody Reed
Wandy Peralta
Barrett Astin

 

[JohnU]

Notice that the 5th starter is likely to be Arroyo who has to make a start this weekend to clear the gate, so to speak.

 

[JohnU]

This bench is even worse than I expected given the apparent desire this winter to improve it

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I haven't heard the official OD roster, but that looks right to me.

Jennings was signed with the provision to opt out if assigned to the minors. So if he opted out he's already gotten the bad news. Can't see another team giving him a MLB contract.

 

[JohnU]

I haven't heard the official OD roster, but that looks right to me.

Jennings was signed with the provision to opt out if assigned to the minors. So if he opted out he's already gotten the bad news. Can't see another team giving him a MLB contract.

This is the one Rosecrans tweeted. Jennings did opt out, not sure what all was done there but evidently Kivlehan beat him out.

 

[wvu_man]

I thought that I have been keeping up with ST pretty well until I saw that you had Gennett listed on the OD roster. I was thinking, "When did this happen?". Interesting last minute acquisition and I like it. Scooter always played well against us and will be a solid utility guy...he must speak Latin as a secondary language haha

I'm also surprised that Coleman didn't make the cut. Romano kind of imploded at the end of ST but I still think he pitched really well and will likely be called up after Reed or Davis gets shellacked early on.

 

[JohnU]

If/when Disco returns, Rookie D will go down to Louisville, I suppose.
The deal with Disco is, ya never know. If he really needs TJ, he's done for the year.
Can Bailey even get people out? I'd hope so.
Can Bronson get past the 3rd inning -- ever?
I think the plan for this pitching staff was based on things not in evidence.
But I will say this: If a guy wants to be a big-league pitcher, nobody can say Price hasn't given them a chance.

The rest of the bench is thin, IMO. All of these guys are infielders who just happen to have played some outfield. You can do that once a week, but if/when Hamilton gets hurt, we have no true center fielder. Schebler is as good as it gets. He will not save this team any runs in center field.

Turner is a bit of a surprise but I hear he has earned the temporary job. All that depends on Mesoraco, who has only one year (2014) as his resume.

Maybe not 100 losses but this outfit needs to play pretty well to avoid losing 90. I am far more disappointed now than I was a month ago.

Gennett lets the Reds tinker with a trade for Cozart, but he is not a solution. His numbers are probably equal to BP's until you factor in the glove. Maybe now, the differences are immaterial.

The bullpen is better if Iglesias can pitch. If not, we use Cingrani more. A lot of late wins are going to be lost with that guy. Sorry, but he can't pitch at this level.

 

[wvu_man]

I know a lot of people think that fans won't come out to watch a team that doesn't have a bunch of big names on it. I'm the opposite actually. I realize that we won't be winning a pennant anytime soon. At least Price is fielding some new blood instead of using washed up, veteran retreads minus Feldman and Arroyo (and I like Bronson...hope he plays well). I'm kind of excited to see what they can do. If you're gonna lose, lose while giving the young guys major league experience.

 

[JohnU]

There is versatility in the infield but I don't know how that translates to improvement.
It appears the Reds are going to experiment with the bullpen a little more to help keep the starters from having to throw 100 pitches by the 4th inning and hobble into the 5th. I will be curious to see how this evolves.
A short bench isn't a dealbreaker at the moment but I think Jennings made it better. He's opted out rather than take a minor league assignment. Not sure what he thinks he will accomplish but he will find a contract.

 

[game]

As an outsider living in Cincy, I don't think the offense looks bad. That starting pitching though, awful.

 

[JohnU]

As an outsider living in Cincy, I don't think the offense looks bad. That starting pitching though, awful.

Reds pitching will be a matter of seeing if they can make chicken salad out of chicken shit. The GM explains it as being "innovative" since a smaller market has to be creative rather than good. I don't know if I buy the story but I am prepared to see how it plays out. These kids are going to get hammered this year.

 

[Redsfan1507]

The clear short term and questionable long term objective of this team has soured me badly, but I'm hoping to be won back by better play, delusional fantasy and/or better drugs.

I have to agree with JohnU- IMO, this isn't a MLB pitching staff than can compete for a playoff bid unless the Reds average score approaches the Bengals average score. Ok that's an exaggeration, but maybe no more than saying this is a MLB pitching staff.

Normally this time of year, I say a lot depends on health, but that would be rubbing salt in the wounds of a team with its current statement of physical health of critical arms, and the relative old age of at least one. I hate the Bronson Arroyo signing because I truly like Bronson Arroyo, and it is a matter of (short) time until he isn't wanted in Cincinnati. No one including Bronson will be OK with that. IMO, Desmond Jennings may be at the end of his MLB career, but he still had enough pride not to get sent down by a team this bad. Japan may be a better answer for him, but he'll surface somewhere in MLB if he gets PT ion a bad team or might prefer to ride the pine for a real winner, if he can. I don't blame him.

There is only rare justice in Spring training in regard to long shot names getting the opportunity to become surprise MLB heros, most rarely the result of overwhelming and overlooked talent (the Josh Hamilton miracle), and most commonly-in the Reds case this year I fear, the result of stark absence of better (or cheaper) options. In any case, the Reds will probably give half a dozen rookies and a handful of undeserving veteran castoffs that chance on Monday. It's evidenced by the fact the name Scooter Gennett is a legitimate uplifting addition for fans, to the OD roster. He is not unfortunately, Roy Hobbs, or even Brandon Phillips. He's probably not even close to Jose Peraza or Zack Cozart, but he may indeed give the front office an excuse to unload Cozart to any team with budget for a $5M shortstop willing to give up a minor league rumor and a beer fart for him...just because he's nearing the MLB average salary.

There will be bright spots and positive surprise players this year, there always are. There probably will be disappointments and regressions, too, although I'm not sure how much worse in terms of losses the Reds can do.

I think Joey Votto may prove to be the best all-around hitter in Reds modern history, given full time healthy PT over the rest of his regrettably enormous contract. I'm also equally pessimistic Homer Bailey or Devin Mesoraco at a much lesser wage, can ever give back a fraction of value from those contracts. Tucker Barnhart has heart and mitt and arm, but will lose PT for the hope that used to be Mesoraco, because they need a bigger bat and gate draw so badly. DuVall can hit a ball a mile, and isn't bad defensively- he is however, likely to do a pretty good (or bad) Adam Dunn / Jay Bruce impersonation in the BA department. I love the speed and defense prospects of Hamilton and Peraza. Iglesias is impressive, for the few minutes they let him pitch. I'd like Suarez better if he could try to field a groundball without backing up like a little leaguer with sore shins, and/or could hit .250.

Sadly, there are only about 6 players on this roster that could make the team on a legit 90+ game winner.Two questions aggravate me most- 1) Are there really more than that that COULD develop into those kinds of players, and 2) what is the probability the Reds will keep them, even if there are ? I can't give a positive answer to either. The Reds are a jackwagon right now. As a fan, I feel used and unappreciated, offended. I feel like someone broke into my house and shit on the dining room table.

Still, I may not make many other games this year, but I will attend my 25th opening day game on Monday. I can't blame the players- they want this badly. I blame the Organization.

 

[JohnU]

The Reds knew in October that they needed 2 rotation guys and in January knew they needed 3. The middle of camp, they knew they needed 4. As of today, it appears they still are guessing at it.

The argument that Arroyo is "eating" innings that somebody else could have is miscast. Somebody has to pitch the innings. What bothers me is that Arroyo basically got the position without even auditioning for it. Doesn't matter if he is the best for the job. The club decided when they signed him that if he could throw the ball over the plate, he'd get a rotation spot. Not sure how that translates but not many fans are fooled.

The bench probably isn't terrible considering what it costs to get a bench full of players who'd be starters for any other team. I like Gennett a little, don't see a value in Alcantara that isn't the obligatory Latin-speaking utility guy like Renteria, Izturis or some other such Valdez type guy. There may be value if you have a Cuban lefthander on the pitching staff. Everyone else need not apply.

They let Jennings walk so they could keep the fourth-best 3rd baseman in the system. Jennings hits lefties.
Phillips hit lefties. Votto hits lefties.

Nobody else hits lefties, unless Turner has a trick we haven't seen.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Nobody else hits lefties, unless Turner has a trick we haven't seen.

That's been an ongoing problem with Reds' right handed hitters and some what a league wide issue. But it's especially a problem for a club that always has platoon level talent at a few positions.

Drew Stubbs was a classic example. He was much better against LHP, but was never paired with another outfielder that was stronger versus RHP.

Devon Mesoraco was always noticeably better against LHP and Tucker Barnhart would be a nice compliment hitting left handed if Mesoraco could ever get healthy enough to stay on the field.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

1507 mentioned MLB average salary. It got me curious as to what the actual number was last season. A quick Google and the answer is...... $4.4M.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

1-1 tie versus the Reds minor leaguers. It shows the Reds' pitching can get themselves out. Now to answer the bigger question.....

Can they get anybody else out?
They'll match up better with single A Dayton.... maybe? LOL

 

[JohnU]

It's hard to tell in a game like that why nobody was getting any runners. Either way, a lineup that can't churn is going to finish pretty low against teams with good pitching.

 

[JohnU]

I know this isn't relevant but the 1975 Reds had this guy playing 3rd base for the first 25 games of the season.

John Vukovich Stats | Baseball-Reference.com

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Reds-Louisville game was played like a company picnic game. Everybody got into the game including non-roster guys and I'm quite sure the big leaguers gave a half hearted offensive effort. I'm sure they would have rather been enjoying whatever they personally enjoy than to playing an exhibition game in Louisville followed by a day game in Dayton.

.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I know this isn't relevant but the 1975 Reds had this guy playing 3rd base for the first 25 games of the season.

Every Reds fan old enough to remember the Big Red Machine knows the story of Pete Rose moving to 3rd and Foster becoming the starting left fielder.

The only real reason John V. was on the team can be attributed to Dan Driessen being a poor defensive 3rd baseman in 1974. Sparky preferred defense at 3rd over offense at the position coming out of ST. A 18-19 start and fearing for his job changed his thought process.