Regular season -- 2nd half

[JohnU]

Straily was due to come back to the pack against AL hitters but he's still not terrible.
Simon's career really IS over. I think they are just being nice to the guy for being loyal enough to pitch at discount prices.

 

[JohnU]

Any combination equaling 3 and ... well, there is still a chance at the wild card till Tuesday.

 

[eburg5000]

Reds are not playing well right now, and they haven.t played well sense Barnhart has been out of the lineup.

 

[JohnU]

Looks like Price is able to generate enough enthusiasm for the Reds to at least avoid being swept by equally bad teams.

Wait ... sorry, lost 5 of 6 to said bad teams.

Never mind, carry on.

 

[eburg5000]

And don't forget the 4 hit shutout by a 4.95 era pitcher... and that is after his shutout.

 

[eburg5000]

He was 4 and 12, going into the game. I know every MLB league can put it all together and have that kind of game, but it's just frustrating. On the brighter side of things, at least the Reds won a game out on the west coast. lol

 

[JohnU]

I just feel like I got screwed out of the summer. I knew these guys would suck but this latest adventure ... they were not even putting any effort into it.

 

[JohnU]

We are done.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

First team eliminated from it's division and 15 games back in the the Wild Card. The magic number to be eliminated from the Post Season is 16. Hell, the other teams probably don't have to win another game.... the Reds will most likely eliminate themselves.

Interested to see who gets the Sept. Callup? Looking at the AFL assignnents, none of the top prospects are being sent to Arizona. So one would think they'd be headed to Cincinnati.

The Cardinals are in town with a slim lead in the Wild Card race. Time for the Cards to extend their lead at the expense of the Reds. It'd be nice if the Reds could play spoiler for a change instead of rolling over and paving the way for St. Louis to print playoff tickets..... again!

 

[JohnU]

We know Winker, Selsky, Reed and Stephenson are coming up. Garrett, probably.

I see Lamb is still on the DL and I cannot find what happened to him.

Herrera, Renda, Waldrop.
Smith, Sampson, Villarreal all on the 40-man.

No idea if anybody in Pensacola would come up. Depends on who's on the 40-man.

Rookie Davis maybe.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

John Lamb reportedly has a flexor mass injury.

Winker isn't on the 40 man, but maybe Lamb is heading to 60 DL to make room on the roster. We'll know shortly.

 

[JohnU]

They could DFA Sampson or Villarreal.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Winker is finishing his 5th year of MiLB play and has to be added to the 40 man prior to December's rule 5 draft. So one might assume he'll be added and called up. But how much will he play barring injury?

Duvall in LF, Hamilton in CF, and they seem to be taking a good look at Schebler in RF.

The Reds love guys that hit for power, even if they can't hit for average and only occasionally hit a HR.
Winker is more Votto without power than the Reds typical corner outfielder. I'm interested to see Price's distribution of playing time.

If Price handles it the same way he has most callups, we'll never know Winker is on the roster.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

With 30 games remaining the Reds are 55-77. That's exactly where they stood after 132 games last season.

They won their 63rd game in game 147. Then they loss 14 of their last 15 to record 98 losses.

Unlikely they'll get to 63 that early this season, but 9-21 seems very possible to me given the remaining schedule.

Can this group still lose 100 or have they improved past that level of ineptitude?

 

[JohnU]

I think the rotation pitchers going forward is a tilt better than last year but we assume they will limit some innings. I guess Reed will get some starts and that's a crap shoot.

Personally, I don't mind if they lose 100 or 96 ... what puzzles me is that, based on how the "off seasons" have gone in the last 3 years, why anybody thinks a winter is going to turn Schebler into a .260 hitter. The pitchers can watch film all winter and most of them will hobble into camp again like they did last spring.

yeah, it is hard to measure Winker's value. I suppose all teams have this problem.

 

[eburg5000]

Schebler hasn't played that bad in Right field, and I think he has 7 homeruns sense he came back up. I think he will be given a good shot to be the right fielder next year. But then again he could be just one of those 4 A players that we have seen over the years. Anyone remember Champ Summers, To good for AAA but really never did do that well in the majors

 

[JohnU]

Schebler probably will be doomed to highs and lows, just like Bruce and other hard swingers. But Schebler is fairly fleet afoot and seems to have a nice knack in right field. He may end up being a keeper. Actually Reds OF defense is much better than it was a year ago.

 

[eburg5000]

I was looking for some info on Summers, He played for ten years, Mostly as a DH. He had a lifetime batting avg of 2.55, 54 HR's, 218 RBI's in 668 games. don't know what his WAR was, but as far as I can tell it makes a player look better than his stat's indicate. Sadly he past away in 2012, at age 66

 

[Redsfan1507]

I'm not high on Schebler- I think he's a really average or slightly below average grade in every tool. He looks like a "serviceable 4th or 5th OF with about 250 max at bats a season, not a 500 AB power stud...To be honest, I thought even before Hamilton went down, that Peraza has shown better tools and deserves to play more than Schebler.

This time of year where the Reds are positioned, is a just loose on the job interview for prospects for next season. The problems are 40 man roster manipulations, player limitations with position flexibility, pitchers innings maximums, and balancing organizational goals with managerial sense of humor and gate attendance. It's a slippery slope not really likely to satisfy anyone except family members and agents of the recipients of the end of season, MLB "cups of coffee".

Barnhart surprised a lot of people with his much better than serviceable skills behind the plate in Mesoraco's absence, and although his power and run producing potential WAS paled buy Mesoraco's (before his hip and shoulder injuries), his own absence exposes Cabrera's own limitations (can't reliably catch strikes, much less tough chances, or throw anyone out) that he can't make up for at the plate...he is a midget much smaller than his 5'8" program exaggeration belies. Hamilton's exit similarly exposes ANYONE else in comparison to out getting in CF, and possibly more important now, in putting butts in the seats.

DuVall's season stats are going to wind up looking a lot like what most would have expected of Jay Bruce- .240's BA with 30 HR. So, oversimplifying, he's ALREADY replaced Bruce, so now they just need someone to replace HIS contribution in the lineup to better themselves. IMO, they could do that by finding an everyday lineup spot for Peraza- he's not a power bat like Duvall, but I could handle a plus OBP/BA player that could steal 30-40 bases and play gold glove caliber, plus plus range defense...either in the infield or outfield. Personally if personnel did not change, I'd move Peraza to a permanent infield position and bounce Suarez' lead glove to a corner OF spot. I could stand a Votto-Phillips-Peraza-Cozart infield and a Duvall, Hamilton, Suarez OF, and if either Mesoraco or Barnhart catches, it's plenty of D (made better if the Reds could find half a pitching staff of groundball specialists, instead of short porch flyball/gopherball specialists pitchers) and maximizes the O potential at the same time.

Of course, the Reds would still desperately need about two thirds more pitching staff of better performances than showed this season...the BIGGEST shortcoming on this Reds team, IMO. If Iglasias can't start, the Reds are still in very deep pitching doo-doo. Giving Bailey a temporary too early return from TJ excuse, and taking exception to DeSclafani, the Reds don't really have a single SP with enough command to win more than they lose, in such a small park. They simply give up too many walks and missed location HR to win. The bullpen speaks for itself. For the same lack of control issues, this bullpen really blows chunks, regardless of matchups, in about 6 of 7 bullpen spots. I don't know if Stephensen, Reed, or the next propaganda prospect are answers somewhere in the staff, but IF they are- the Reds still need better pitch location from even the "better" pitchers of the '16 season- Straily, Finnegan, etc. to make any kind of real climb in the standings. Sadly, our prospects for standings improvement next year hinge primarily on the Brewers being at least as bad as the Reds and the Pirates and Cardinals continuing a defined talent decline. I'm afraid it appears the Cubs are in position to dominate the NLC for the next decade, much like the Cardinals did in the last decade.

 

[JohnU]

As we all suspected or knew, Simon's shoulder is shot.
Simple, Simon set for surgery.
His career is over.