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The 2016 iteration of the Reds will have plenty of arms to choose from should it be content to stand pat and build a rotation from within this off season. Anthony DeSclafani, Raisel Iglesias, John Lamb, Brandon Finnegan, Keyvius Sampson, Michael Lorenzen, David Holmberg, Josh Smith, Jon Moscot, and Tony Cingrani have all started games this season and could certainly eat some innings for the Reds in 2016 with varying degree of confidence and results. Robert Stephenson lurks, nearly ready in AAA while Homer Bailey should be back to no-hitting the Pirates by at least May.
However, relying on that many young, inexperienced arms may not be a winning strategy for a team that wants to win again as soon as possible, and Reds general manager Walt Jocketty addressed that concern, among others, in an interview with Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In said interview, Jocketty said the Reds will be looking at adding a veteran arm in the offseason, "possibly more." It's another interview about the rebuilding retooling/rebooting Reds (a distinction that Walt makes clear in the piece), but I don't recall him every explicitly stating that he'll be going after veteran pitching in free agency (even if it's been a logical conclusion).
Here's a reminder about how stocked the starting pitcher free agent class is. The market is about to be flooded with arms and you'd think a decent one of them could be had on the cheap.
Just no more Jason Marquis's, okay Walt?
ICYMI: Billy Hamilton is done for the year. Yes, I'm plugging my own FanShot in the Reposter. There's not a lot of meat on the Reds-links bones today, okay? Besides, this deserves more discussion. Walt said on Monday that there is no structural damage, so that's the good news. It makes me quite nervous that a guy who can't hit with a healthy shoulder has to have surgery on his shoulder, but this doesn't sound too serious. I applaud the Reds for getting this over with now and not risking a more serious injury in order for him to pinch run in meaningless games over the next couple of weeks. But, damn... surgery?
Because of said lack of meat, and because I mentioned it yesterday, here's a tidbit on Pete Rose and his conversation at Miami University. I care almost zero percent, but since I brought it up yesterday, why not follow through?
Including tonight, there are only 13 games left in the 2015 Reds regular season that will probably FEEL like 1300. However, there are only SEVEN home games left. The weather is beautiful as the calendar has turned officially to fall, so treat yourself and make it out to the ballpark one last time this year. The crack research team here at Red Reporter has found that good (read: REALLY cheap) seats are still available.
In Divisional News:
- Yesterday, I provided you with a link saying that Yadier Molina was hurt. Turns out, he's got a ligament tear in his left thumb. The Cardinals are optimistic that Molina will play again this season, but my very amateur opinion? He done.
- Ryan Braun has revealed he will have surgery on his ailing back, which has plagued him all season. Ryan Braun's nine figure extension kicks in in 2016, which means the Brewers need Ryan Braun's back to get right like, nowish.
- Joe Maddon is a little more than Thunderstruck about the current state of Wrigley Field, due to damage he's claiming was done by a recent AC/DC concert. Wrigley in a state of disrepair? Hell's bells.
- The Pirates became the second team in baseball to reach 90 wins in their chase to a... wild card spot? They outpace everyone that's not the Cardinals by 3 games, and barring a fairly shocking Cardinal collapse, they'll be facing off against probably-the-Cubs in the one game, winner-take-all crapshoot that is the wild card game. Damnit this division is good.