I was watching today's game, and all of a sudden, Joey Votto was doing something only Joey Votto would do. Initially, I was thinking the same thing that the announcers were thinking, which was that he had a stomach issue of some kind. Upon further review, it appears that he is a zen master and is staring into his own soul before every pitch. He is an enigma, and I love him because of it.
Alfredo Simon threw what I believe is the first eephus of the season for the Reds and it was beautiful.
Brandon Phillips finally hit his first home run of Spring Training and he damn near hit this ball into orbit.
It's hard to ignore that the Cincinnati Reds have opted for a chameleon strategy in left field for the better part of, oh, my entire lifetime. Aside from the defensively-oofing Adam Dunn days, the team has had a revolving door there more or less since the tantalizing days of Kevin Mitchell were derailed by the 1994-1995 strike. In recent years, the team has opted for bargain-bin veterans who carried at least some name recognition (Ryan Ludwick, Marlon Byrd, Jonny Gomes), but that strategy has changed in favor of a rather anonymous youth movement heading into 2016. How anonymous? Well, enough to make the team at FanGraphs scratch their head, as you'll read when you make it to #28 in the team rankings in the link above.
In a bit of a surprising roster move (we're gonna use the word "surprising" liberally here), the Reds placed Carlos Contreras on waivers today, of which he has cleared and been released. The 25 year old relief pitcher has pitched 47.1 innings for the Reds over the last two seasons, and owns a 5.51 ERA and 5.31 FIP to show for it. This spring, Contreras appeared in 4 games, pitching 3.2 innings and giving up 6 earned runs with a 2.727 WHIP.
Yesterday I spoke with Garion Thorne of FNTSY Sports Network about a few of the pressing issues facing key Cincinnati Reds players for the 2016 season. We touched on Billy Hamilton's OBP struggles and how he may not be long for the leadoff spot, as well as Devin Mesoraco's hip surgery and the vacancy in the team's closer role. Check it!
Scott Schebler made this awesome catch to save 4 runs and ensure a Reds win. I think we're going to like him.
We've seen the overall Cincinnati Reds minor league system consistently ranked in the 10-15 range throughout this offseason, but that's not because of their future pitching arsenal. In fact, MiLB.com thinks the Reds lay claim to the 4th best stable of minor league pitchers in all of baseball, thanks in large part to the additions they've made via trade in the last calendar year. If that's indeed the case, it's odd that a system that rich with pitching paired with three position players (Jesse Winker, Jose Peraza, and Tyler Stephenson) who have cracked Top 100 overall prospect lists only lands the overall system ranking around 12th. Regardless, this is a ranking that's spot-on, and matched with recent rookie graduates Anthony DeSclafani, Raisel Iglesias, Brandon Finnegan, and Michael Lorenzen makes the Reds' pitching depth seem downright formidable.
You might remember Tanner Rahier, the one time Reds prospect turned idiot who got too drunk and nearly killed a woman by throwing a large rock at her head. Well, he finally got his day in court. Mariopa County sentenced Rahier to two years probation today, to go along with 100 hours of community service and anger management classes. He has received substance abuse counselling through the Reds organization. Hopefully it works, but in my opinion, if I never see Rahier in a Reds jersey, it'll be too soon.