Let’s remember some Cincinnati Reds

In honor of Taco Wednesday, let’s remember some Cincinnati Reds of yore, shall we?

Remember Brandon Finnegan?

The talented former 1st round pick of the Kansas City Royals, he of the World Series appearance in the same year in which he pitched in the college event of the same name. He became the centerpiece of the deal that shipped out ace Johnny Cueto back in 2015, and in 2016 showed the kind of promise that made him such a valued chip by tossing 172.0 IP of 107 ERA+ ball.

Unfortunately, his left shoulder got borked, and he later borked his right shoulder with some unfortunate boat-docking, and has never quite regained his original form. That said, he was back around as a non-roster player at the Reds alternate site during the 2020 season, and spoke at length in August about how good he felt on the mound again.

He’s somehow still just 27 years old. Here’s to hoping he claws his way back to the bigs again in 2021.

Remember Scooter Gennett?

Perhaps the most found-money player in recent Reds history, Scooter was plucked off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers prior to the 2017 season, as the Beers deemed him surplus to requirements at his then-arbitration salary. The Reds, despite being mid-rebuild, decided adding a veteran of the NL Central would be a worthwhile idea, bringing in Scoot to serve in a super-utility role.

His career OPS in over 1600 PA at that point was .738. He immediately put that to shame.

He eventually staked a full-time claim to the 2B spot, belted 4 dingers in awful camo uniforms against the St. Louis Cardinals, and eventually posted a rock-solid .859 OPS and 124 OPS+ in over 1100 PA for the Reds across two brilliant seasons.

The Reds, still rebuilding, opted against trading him at that newfound peak, however, and after settling on an arb3 salary of some $10 million for 2019, Scooter tore his groin in meaningless Cactus League play before the 2019 season ever began. He limped back just prior to the summer trade deadline, barely hit, and was flipped to the San Francisco Giants for a song, only to perform poorly enough there to be cut before season’s end.

He’s not been signed by a pro baseball club since then on any contract, remarkably.

Remember AJ Morris?

It was 2016. So no, you don’t.

Remember Layne Somsen?

He’s the best player with a first name that begins with L, ends with E, and has a Y in the middle for some reason since Laynce Nix. He also allowed 5 ER in 2.1 IP in his big league (all Reds) career.

Remember Curtis Partch, Ryan Mattheus, and Nate Adcock?

We celebrate them all.

Remember Steve Selsky?

If you’re a loyal Farmers Only reader, and have been for a decade, you remember Steve Selsky. Heck, the dude owns a career .810 OPS in his career as a Red, which is better than that of Rete Pose.

Selsky socked a pair of dingers in his Reds career, including one off John Lackey, which surely made the fiery right-hander do this:

Anyway, Selsky’s tater off Lackey came at Wrigley Field in 2016, and just so happened to be socked on the evening of September 21st.

Do you remember?