Vaunted Reds offense

[JohnU]

Hamilton has no hits.
Cozart has no hits.
Cueto has a hit.
Phillips has a couple of hits.

Meet the new batting philosophy, same as the old one.

 

[JohnU]

I just love it when Phillips makes me look bad.

 

[redsfan03]

This year's team looks exactly like last year's except with a worse leadoff hitter, more injuries, and a shakier bullpen. I'm not sure a change in dugout staff can offset all those negatives, especially given how the offense (or lack thereof) looks the exact same as last year. Guys still look clueless at the plate. It appears that once again the Reds will rely heavily on the long ball to get runs. Granted it's early, but what I've seen so far has not impressed me.

 

[ckhokie]

^^The team definitely didn't get any better offensively. Good pitching will carry you to more wins than a good offense, but I don't expect the Reds to finish any better than 3rd in the division and .500 on the season.

Have we scored a run not via HR yet?

 

[JohnU]

Just the game-winner against St. Louis.

 

[eburg5000]

No hits in 5 games by the leadoff hitter and ss. Not sure how anyone can fix that either. outside of some kind of trade or miracle. Not to mention luck hasn't been on the Reds side either.

 

[JohnU]

Most everybody else is getting hits ... just need to cluster a few of them.
But the 7-8-9-1 segment of the order is killing us.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I'm not too worried. It's early, and it's a game of streaks...Todd Frazier is hitting like George Brett right now. All things trend back toward normal eventually-Hamilton and Cozart aren't going ofer the season.

There will be exceptions of course, but I think offense is going to be skimpier in general in the NL this year, and at least Price is willing to try to score without a homer, at least in theory, a less drought ridden concept than previous feast or famine formats.

I've had a couple of chuckles about the Price shift against lefty hitters, busted regularly by opposing hitter going oppage...albeit on ill placed outside pitches made for doing so. Gotta pitch to that shift, too. I like Price's thought process...he's got to work on the teams execution though. It's a work in progress.

 

[JohnU]

I noticed, or at least thought I did, that Frazier has modified his batting stance. It's not much but he doesn't curl the bat back over his head like he did a year ago. I noticed it the very first spring training game and he's stayed with that. It will be curious to see if it pays off.

Cozart is a threat to be benched. Not sure if Santiago offers any solutions.

On a side note about hitting, I think Tucker Barnhart is showing he can get some decent cuts. One game doesn't mean much but I think he's closer to the Show than we realized.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Through 6 games the team has hit .210 and the team ERA is 3.29. The ERA may not be to far off the end of season mark if good health prevails and the .210 BA will go up....... maybe???.... sure it will.

The running aspect of this team I'm less confident in. Between bad base running, Billy Hamilton unable to steal first base and the rest of the teams inefficiency to steal anything, station to station with the occasional long ball seems to be the 2014 Reds offense.

 

[JohnU]

Through 6 games the team has hit .210 and the team ERA is 3.29. The ERA may not be to far off the end of season mark if good health prevails and the .210 BA will go up....... maybe???.... sure it will.

The running aspect of this team I'm less confident in. Between bad base running, Billy Hamilton unable to steal first base and the rest of the teams inefficiency to steal anything, station to station with the occasional long ball seems to be the 2014 Reds offense.

Regardless of the ballyhoo over stolen bases and speedy runners, I think Price has always known that the steal is a high-risk, low-reward strategy. Not many teams are running and haven't for years. Even the guys with the high-percentage steal rate don't do it much. Naturally, the pundits give all the credit to the catchers.

I suppose the point is, we knew what we were getting with Hamilton and we knew what we had with everyone else. We talked about Cozart stealing more, failing to realize that he AND Hamilton have yet to reach first base, let alone second base. I didn't expect anybody else on this team to steal anything anyway.

 

[Redsfan1507]

The fewer homers teams hit, the more they will run, if they have any speed at all. It will never be dead ball era again, but considering Aaron hit 755 but never 50 in a season, PED's have had a bearing on HR, and on philosophy.

Managers are about as slow to change as elected officials, and for the same reason- there is relative safety in doing what everyone else is doing.

When the best catchers in the business only throw out 1/3 of stealers, I wouldn't necessarily call it high risk. The risk is when you send slugs with bad leads running on pitch out counts, or with swingaholics at the plate with 2 strikes. A sensible manager could get twice as many steals out if any MLB team if they used better philosophy and had the balls. IMO SB's are easier than doubles for fast guys like Hamilton...and singles are a lot more common than HR for anyone. Singles after steals score a run more frequently than 2 run HR with a guy at 1b, I would think. I'll take the HR, but not willing to wait to score until we hit one, or four.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Ultimately, your point is well taken John- you can't steal 1b... Except on a ROE, or a walk, etc.

The Reds are limited- BP is an average runner now. Votto has speed but isn't worth the risk of breaking a bone or a toenail sliding. Ludwick, Bruce, Frazier, the catchers, are slugs. That leaves the rest of the OF, and Cozart to steal. If they collected 100 steals amongst them, and got tossed out 25, I wonder how many more runs that would net, than if they stayed at 1b. More, I have to imagine. Besides, even if they don't score, it keeps fans and other players more alert than 6 innings of snoredom between solo homers.

 

[JohnU]

I think the longer the Reds take to establish an aggressive running game, the less likely we will see it ... which means reverting back to what we grew to dislike in previous years. Honestly, I have seen only Frazier improve his approach. Could be, others will eventually. Heisey claims to have changed. His approach is different if not better. Mesoraco will show soon enough. Cozart must be working on something. If not, he may want to consult a witch doctor.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Hamilton hit better. Meso had 2 doubles. Votto coming around. Bruce isn't hitting yet. Ludwick and Frazier are on an up. Still a learning curve to how to advance runners though.

The pitching isn't there yet...and the Cardinals know what to do with mistakes.