Redsfan1507
It is what it is
Hamilton and Peraza's struggles at the plate are well documented, but unfortunately they are arguably the best defenders on the team, at the 2 most important positions on D...and the only thing worse than bad pitching, is bad defense behind it. I'd say they will be in the lineup more than not for the foreseeable future, if healthy. You can toss all the wanna be replacement names you want, Senzel is going to AAA to work at 2b, and a Ben Revere or Phil Ervin epiphany at this stage of their careers is only slightly less likely than Scooter Gennett repeating his 2017 career season this year.
The REAL issue on offense is STILL the lack of consistent contact from ALL of the OF's. DuVall and Schebler could platoon and combo for 50 HR while hitting .240 and striking out 300 times. That might be better than both getting 500 AB's, hitting 60 HR while hitting a combined .230 with 400 K's. Toss in fellow swingaholics Hamilton and Suarez, and the Reds offense may have more K's than the entire Reds pitching staff. If Winker can hit better than .260 and strikeout less than 25% of his PA, he will not only play a LOT, he might qualify to get on a Reds HOF ballot. Even a DP ball advances a runner (or scores one) sometimes...a K never does. It's a problem that lots of lineups have, even winners, but they can usually make up some of those K's with pitching limiting the opposition.
As flawed as they are, the Reds can score, but it's going to be real hard to watch Reds pitching this season, unless about three-fourths of the staff suddenly improve their command (and results) to unexpected levels. FOX could hang that strike square over the real plate and these guys would have trouble hitting it... until they groove one right in the center behind in the count, with runners on.
The REAL issue on offense is STILL the lack of consistent contact from ALL of the OF's. DuVall and Schebler could platoon and combo for 50 HR while hitting .240 and striking out 300 times. That might be better than both getting 500 AB's, hitting 60 HR while hitting a combined .230 with 400 K's. Toss in fellow swingaholics Hamilton and Suarez, and the Reds offense may have more K's than the entire Reds pitching staff. If Winker can hit better than .260 and strikeout less than 25% of his PA, he will not only play a LOT, he might qualify to get on a Reds HOF ballot. Even a DP ball advances a runner (or scores one) sometimes...a K never does. It's a problem that lots of lineups have, even winners, but they can usually make up some of those K's with pitching limiting the opposition.
As flawed as they are, the Reds can score, but it's going to be real hard to watch Reds pitching this season, unless about three-fourths of the staff suddenly improve their command (and results) to unexpected levels. FOX could hang that strike square over the real plate and these guys would have trouble hitting it... until they groove one right in the center behind in the count, with runners on.