Well, color me surprised. Even a couple of days ago, I was ready to be angry as the Cincinnati Reds trotted out an Opening Day roster with too many guys no one wanted and not enough of the young players we’re supposed to get excited about. And then they cut loose a couple of players who needed to be cut loose. And now, well, I have a hard time getting upset about what I’m seeing.

As of this moment, there seems to be one position player spot up for grabs as the Reds figure out who to have up when Joey Votto starts the year on rehab, but the talk seems to indicate that we might see Stuart Fairchild back up on the team. And I was lobbying for that anyway.

On the position player side of the Roster, the Reds are set to field team where the only members of the 30 and over club will be: A Hall of Famer, gone by August (Wil Myers), a backup shortstop, and two backup catchers. And that is absolutely completely 100 percent fine. Jose Barrero Barrero is gonna get a real shot and looks ready for it. That’s fun. We’ll see what Will Benson, Jake Fraley, TJ Friedl, and Spencer Steer can really do. That’s also fun!

Three games out of every five, there’s going to be a pitcher on the mound you want to watch and all three of them are plenty young. Heck the eighth and ninth innings might even be okay this year.

Now listen. I’m happy, but I’m not necessarily totally optimistic. While I’m glad that eleventy-billion 20-somethings are gonna get real at bats, there is also not a single player position player on this team who’s going to take the field without a serious question mark by his name. Some of them will give us the answers we want. Others, very much will not. But at least we can finally begin the process of knowing and start to move past last year’s heinous disassembly.

And yes, a lot of the bullpen and 40 person of the starting rotation (assuming the big 3 stay healthy) is going to be very tough to watch. But relievers are capricious anyway, so really, who the heck knows?

Is this team going to be great? Nope. That would be real miracle. But are they giving us something worth paying attention to, including, based on his quotes, a very determined Joey Votto? Yes. They are.

Given the Reds unwillingness to spend like they should, I find myself unable to argue with what they’ve done with the resources on hand. And that is a small thing to feel good about as the season begins.

The post The rational moves of the Cincinnati Reds appeared first on Redleg Nation.

The Cincinnati Reds have made two more roster cuts this evening, optioning left-handed pitcher Bennett Sousa to Triple-A and reassigning outfielder Henry Ramos to minor league camp. Those two moves put the Reds roster at 33 players. That number, though includes several players who we know will not be active for the start of the season.

What the move that sends Henry Ramos to the minors also does is leave the Reds with just 12 position players in camp that are going to be ready to begin the season. That would indicate that as of now an unknown move is coming. Whether that move is that the team decided someone from the minors that they’ve already sent down is coming up (the least likely of situations), or that a trade is completed but not yet announced, or that the club picked up someone on waivers and it hasn’t yet been announced – we’re all kind of just waiting to see.

The move stinks for Ramos, who did just about everything he could. The outfielder hit .448/.469/.759 with three doubles, two home runs, two walks, and two strikeouts in 13 games played (32 plate appearances). Ramos missed some time with the Reds during spring training while participating in the World Baseball Classic as a part of Team Puerto Rico.

As for left-handed reliever Bennett Sousa, he’s heading to the minor leagues as well. And while his stats weren’t as impressive as the ones Ramos put up, he had a fine spring. He pitched in eight games and allowed two earned runs in 7.1 innings. That was good for an ERA of 2.45 while allowing nine hits, no home runs, walking just one batter, and he picked up eight strikeouts.

The pitching staff would seem to be set at this point, assuming that there is no forthcoming roster additions via a trade or waiver wire pick up. The rotation is set with Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft, Connor Overton, and Luis Cessa. With Sousa now out, that leaves these eight for the bullpen: Fernando Cruz, Alexis Diaz, Buck Farmer, Ian Gibaut, Joel Kuhnel, Derek Law, Reiver Sanmartin, and Alex Young.

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The Cincinnati Reds roster is taking shape for opening day, but there is still one big question: Will Joey Votto be ready to play on Opening Day? Spring training is over, but there are still three days remaining before the season begins. And yesterday, while the Reds played their final two games in Arizona, Votto played in a game on the minor league fields and said that he still wasn’t sure if he was going to be ready to go when the season begins on Thursday.

Votto is recovering from surgery last August that repaired his rotator cuff and his biceps muscle. He missed the first few weeks of games in Goodyear, but has been playing in games since March 12th. Votto hit .182 with four walks, a double, and six strikeouts in 26 plate appearances. This is the final guaranteed year on his contract. The Reds have a $20M option for 2024 or they can pay him a $7M buyout to make him a free agent.

The Reds first baseman and likely future Hall of Famer spoke this week, though, about what his future could hold. He told the assembled media on Saturday afternoon that if he didn’t perform well that he would retire.

I’ve done really well with my offensive work,” Votto said. “I mean this, seriously, I think I’m going to play well. I think I’m going to perform well offensively. If not, I’m going to retire. End of story.

He expanded on where he feels like he was at on Saturday, hinting more that he may not be ready to start the season on time, telling the Cincinnati Enquirer that his swing didn’t feel ready yet. Nor did his legs.

If Joey Votto is not going to be ready to start the season on time, that would open up a spot on the roster for one of Jason Vosler or Henry Ramos. Without Votto on the roster it would seem that both players would make the team given that there are only 11 other position players ready to start the season, plus those two as non-roster invitees still remaining in “spring training”. Ramos spent time with Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic, but hit .448/.469/.759 with two walks and two strikeouts in 32 plate appearances with the Reds. Vosler wasn’t quite as good at the plate, but hit .263/.341/.526 in 44 plate appearances with four walks and 13 strikeouts. Ramos only play in the outfield, while Vosler’s been able to play just about everywhere except catcher in his career.

It seems that we might have to wait until Wednesday or Thursday in order to find out what the status for Joey Votto’s going to be. The Reds will play intrasquad scrimmages this afternoon as well as on Wednesday. Votto and the team could wait until after that to see how he’s feeling before making any moves official.

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The Cincinnati Reds wrapped up their time in Arizona by splitting a set of split squad games on Sunday. The Reds fell 3-2 to the Cleveland Guardians in Goodyear, but came out on top of the Colorado Rockies 7-5 on the road.

Guardians 3 – Reds 2

The Highlights

The Reds got on the board first when Jake Fraley and Wil Myers had back-to-back doubles in the top of the 3rd inning. Cleveland got that run back in the bottom of the inning when Amed Rosario homered off of Nick Lodolo. In the next inning the Guardians would take a lead when Johnathan Rodriguez hit a 2-run homer off of Tommy Eveld that put Cleveland up 3-2.

Neither team would score again until the top of the 9th. Austin Callahan walked, moved up to second on a single by Noelvi Marte, and then he’d score on a 2-out single by Michael Siani to make it a 1-run game. The game would come to an end on the next play as Rece Hinds grounded into a force out.

Alexis Diaz and Ryan Nutof each tossed a shutout inning of relief. Lyon Richardson threw 2.0 shutout innings. Jake Fraley went 2-2 with a double, steal, and a run scored. He finishes the spring with a .320/.382/.600 line that included five steals.

Reds 7 – Rockies 5

The Highlights

Cincinnati started out the second inning with two singles and a hit batter, loading the bases with no outs. Daniel Vellojin grounded out, but drove in a run on the play to put the Reds up 1-0. That was all that they could muster in the inning.

Two innings later they would get back to work. Jason Vosler led off with a double and scored when the Rockies made two different throwing errors on the same play. Daniel Vellojin picked up an RBI single to follow, making it 3-0. Back-to-back singles by Kevin Newman and TJ Friedl extended the lead to 4-0. The Rockies would get all three of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Elehuris Montero crushed a 3-run homer off of Fernandez Cruz.

Both team’s bats went quit until the 8th inning. In the top of the inning the Reds loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, single, and a hit batter. Cincinnati then scored two runs on wild pitches before TJ Hopkins came through with a 1-out RBI single that extended the lead to 7-3. In the bottom of the inning the Rockies got two of those runs back on an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to 7-5.

After Cincinnati went quietly in the top of the 9th Pedro Garcia took the mound. He worked around a walk as he picked up the save with Allan Cerda making a diving catch against Mike Moustakas to end the game.

Derek Law, Buck Farmer, Ian Gibaut, Joel Kuhnel, Bennett Sousa, and Randy Wynne all also threw a shutout inning during the game. Jason Vosler and TJ Friedl each picked up two hits on the day. Alex McGarry went 1-1 with a walk.

The split of Sunday’s games left the Reds with a final record of 15-14-1 this spring. It is their second year in a row with a winning record in spring training after six consecutive years without one.

What’s Next for the Reds

Sunday was the final day of games for Cincinnati in spring training. The Reds are packing up and heading back to Cincinnati. Tomorrow they will play an intrasquad scrimmage game of sorts at Great American Ball Park, and will have another one on Wednesday as they get ready for Opening Day on Thursday.

The post Reds beat Colorado, lose to Cleveland to finish up spring training appeared first on Redleg Nation.

Two of the Cincinnati Reds top prospects are going to miss the start of the minor league season. Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Elly De La Cruz and Christian Encarnacion-Strand are both dealing with injuries and won’t begin the season when the 2023 minor league season gets underway next week. Along with starting pitcher Chase Petty, three of the Reds Top 10 prospects won’t be on the field when the minor league season begins.

Elly De La Cruz is dealing with a hamstring injury. The Reds top prospect isn’t expected to miss too much time, but likely won’t be ready to go for the first two weeks or so of the regular season. Triple-A Louisville’s season begins on March 31st (Double-A Chattanooga begins on April 6th in the scenario where he would begin his season back with the Lookouts). De La Cruz is coming off of a season in which he won the triple crown within the Reds farm system, hitting .304/.359/.586 with 31 doubles, 9 triples, 28 home runs, and 47 stolen bases between High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga in 2022. He also played for Licey for a month in the Dominican Winter League, hitting .286/.396/.417 in 101 plate appearances.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand is expected to miss a little more time than De La Cruz. The corner infielder is dealing with some “slight disc herniation in his back. Encarnacion-Strand originally injured himself in early February, but was able to get on the field in time for spring training. The team’s 7th rated prospect hit the cover off of the ball this spring with the big league club, hitting .577 and slugging 1.192 with a team best four home runs despite playing in just 12 games before the team reassigned him to minor league camp. His back began to act up again and according to the report in the Enquirer, he’s potentially going to return around April 19th or April 24th depending on whether or not he’ll return as a part time player and designated hitter or if he’ll get an extra few days and come back ready to play every day and in the field.

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The Cincinnati Reds are ending spring training in Arizona today. And they’ll celebrate the final day by playing two games. They will be in Goodyear playing against Cleveland as the road team. The Reds take on the Guardians at 4:05pm ET. The team then sends another squad over to take on the Colorado Rockies. Cincinnati will be the road team in that contest, too, with first pitch at 4:10pm ET.

Reds (14-13-1) vs Guardians (11-14-2)

Reserve players on today’s Reds roster

In today’s game notes only Nick Lodolo and Alexis Diaz are listed as “probable pitchers” in this game. There are five minor leaguers ready to go in the bullpen, but which of them get an opportunity to pitch is going to be a surprise for all of us.

Reds (14-13-1) vs Rockies (11-17)

Reserve players on today’s Reds roster

Expect to see a lot of pitching changes in this one for the Reds. With Derek Law getting the start, it may be a true bullpen day where you see eight or nine guys all pitch an inning each.

Where to watch/listen/follow the game

Both games will be available to watch on MLB.tv and they are FREE to watch – you do not need a subscription to MLB.tv to watch them today. Only the game against Cleveland will be on the radio and you can listen to it on 700 WLW AM.

Reds links and news

Reds complete the Will Benson trade

Late last night the Cincinnati Reds agreed to send pitching prospect Steve Hajjar to Cleveland to complete the trade from February that saw the Guardians ship Will Benson to the Reds.

Joey Votto’s Opening Day status is still uncertain

With today being the final day of spring training it’s got to be uncomfortable for the Reds to still be uncertain if Joey Votto’s going to be ready to start the year with the club or not.

Votto is playing in a Minor League game today and will travel back to Cincinnati with the team, Bell said. There is still no decision about his status for Opening Day.

— Mark Sheldon (@m_sheldon) March 26, 2023

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The Cincinnati Reds have traded left-handed pitching prospect Steven Hajjar to the Cleveland Guardians. This move completes the trade with Cleveland that brought outfielder Will Benson to the organization earlier this spring. That deal also included Cincinnati Reds 2022 2nd round draft pick and outfielder Justin Boyd going to Cleveland.

Benson was told that he made the team and shared that information with Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer on Saturday. The outfielder has hit .326 with a double, home run, six stolen bases, no walks, and 11 strikeouts this spring. Now Cincinnati has completed the trade with Cleveland to acquire him, sending the lefty across the parking lot in Goodyear to join his new organization.

Steve Hajjar was not in the Reds organization very long. He was a 2nd round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2021. He didn’t pitch after the draft in 2021, but began the 2022 season in Single-A Fort Myers. He missed six weeks before returning just after the All-Star break. The Twins then traded him to Cincinnati at the deadline in the Tyler Mahle deal that also saw the Reds acquire Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Hajjar made just two starts after the deal – both with High-A Dayton – before he wound up on the injured list. He didn’t return last season after that as he missed the final month of the year.

Hajjar had success when he was on the mound. He posted a 3.61 ERA and held opponents to a .177/.306/.254 line last season in the minors. But he did struggled at times to throw strikes, and he’s battled some arm issues in his limited time as a pro. He shows good raw stuff, with a fastball that was up to 96 and sat in the low 90’s to go along with three other secondary offerings. Despite throwing four pitches, Hajjar seems to profile best as a reliever instead of a starter at the big league level.

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In his final start of the spring, Connor Overton struggled as the Chicago White Sox scored nine runs against him as they topped the Cincinnati Reds 9-2 on Saturday night.

The Highlights

The White Sox looked to be threatening with two outs after back-to-back singles, but Yasmani Grandal was thrown out as he tried to stretch his hit into a double. Cincinnati took advantage of that and grabbed a 1-0 lead after Jake Fraley doubled and scored on Tyler Stephenson’s 2-out single.

It was the 2nd inning when the White Sox got on the board. Hanser Alberto doubled and then scored on a Zach Remillard 2-run homer that gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. Erik Gonzalez followed with a home run of his own. Cincinnati got one of those runs back when Curt Casali walked and later scored on a Jose Barrero single.

In the top of the 3rd the White Sox offense went right back to it. The first five batters reached base and it was 6-2 before the Reds could blink. Connor Overton exited the game only to see both of the runners he had left on the bases score off of reliever Michael Byrne, who eventually got out of the inning – but it was 8-2 at that point. With spring training rules in place, Overton was allowed to return to the mound in the top of the 4th inning, and he did. He retired Chicago in order in both the 4th and 5th innings, but gave up a second homer of the day to Zach Remillard to begin the 6th. Overton would get the next two batters out before exiting the game with the Reds trailing 9-2.

The Reds only had two hits the rest of the game. In the bottom of the 9th inning Daniel Vellojin and Jason Vosler put together back-to-back 2-out singles, but they were stranded there to end the game.

Reiver Sanmartin threw 1.2 shutout innings with two strikeouts before giving way to Alex Young in the 8th with two outs. Young came out of the bullpen and tossed 1.1 perfect innings while picking up a strikeout.

Connor Overton’s spring ended with an ERA of 15.43 and a WHIP of 2.49. He is currently the team’s #4 starter.  Reiver Sanmartin dropped his ERA on the spring to 2.35. Alex Young’s ERA was lowered to 1.74. Jonathan India picked up two hits on the day, raising his line to .320/.426/.480 with twice as many walks as strikeouts through 18 games.

Sunday’s Game

The final day of the spring for the Reds before heading back to Cincinnati, the Reds will play a split squad set of games. At 4:05pm ET they’ll be in Goodyear as the road team taking on Cleveland with Nick Lodolo on the mound. At 4:10pm ET they will take on the Colorado Rockies. No starter has been announced for that game yet.

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The Cincinnati Reds return to Goodyear Ball Park tonight to host the Chicago White Sox under the lights. First pitch is set for 9:05pm ET.

White Sox (11-12-2) vs Reds (14-12-1)

Reserve players on today’s Reds roster

Look for Connor Overton to push his pitch count tonight. After him it’s just Reiver Sanmartin and Alex Young listed as expected to pitch tonight. There are three minor leaguers in the bullpen that can step in if needed, but it seems that they might be asking Overton to stretch out in his final start of the spring.

Where to watch/listen/follow the game

There is no television broadcast of the game tonight. If you want to listen then you can tune into 700 WLW AM.

Reds links and news

Hunter Strickland released

This afternoon the Reds announced that they had released reliever Hunter Strickland. After giving up four runs last night against Arizona his ERA jumped to 10.00 on the spring. We wrote a bit more on the move and where it leaves the Reds if you are interested in that sort of thing.

Will Benson has made the club

The outfielder told Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer that he’s made the team. Benson is hitting .326/.326/.413 with a double, home run, no walks, 11 strikeouts, and six stolen bases this spring.

Will Benson confirms that he has made the team. It’ll be his first Opening Day on a big league roster.

“I’m ready to help this team win.”

— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) March 25, 2023

Joey Votto still uncertain about Opening Day

Votto: "I mean this, seriously, I think I'm going to play well. I think I'm going to perform well offensively. And, if not, I'm going to retire. So end of story. I'm going to play well and that's where my head's at."

— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) March 25, 2023

The post Spring Game Thread: Chicago White Sox vs Cincinnati Reds appeared first on Redleg Nation.

The Cincinnati Reds announced on Saturday afternoon that they had released relief pitcher Hunter Strickland. He had an ERA of 10.00 this spring with the club.

Cincinnati signed Hunter Strickland prior to the 2022 season, but got out to a rough start. He posted an ERA of 9.82 in April, but started moving in the right direction after that. From May 1st through the end of the year his ERA was a solid 4.25 in 55.0 innings where he had 22 walks and 55 strikeouts. He would end the year with a 4.91 ERA overall. Still, after the season he became a free agent. There were no takers on giving him a big league deal, but he re-signed with the Reds on a minor league deal in February as spring training was getting started and got an invite to big league camp.

After a shutout inning in his first appearance he gave up two runs in each of the next two games, then one run in the two that followed. Three perfect outings followed that, but last night he pitched against Arizona and allowed four runs. That took his ERA on the spring from 6.75 up to 10.00. That must have been enough to push the Reds to the decision that he wasn’t going to make the team.

With the release of Strickland, the Cincinnati Reds are down to 34 players that are “active” in camp. That isn’t really true, though, because Tejay Antone, Justin Dunn, Tony Santillan, Lucas Sims, Luke Weaver, and Nick Senzel are all “active”, but none are expected to begin the season on the active roster. Dunn and Antone are expected to miss real amounts of time, with Dunn potentially not returning until well into the second half this season. Senzel is back in games in the spring, but he’s just getting started. Santillan and Weaver are all expected to pitch in the spring game tonight against the White Sox. Sims is expected to throw a side session today. Without setbacks, all of those guys should be ready in April and aren’t expected to miss much time once the season begins.

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Jose Barrero picked up three hits, including his first home run of the spring as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-4 on Friday evening in Goodyear.

The Highlights

Cincinnati didn’t waste much time getting on the board. Spencer Steer came up with one out in the top of the 1st inning and hit a 412-foot solo home run to make it a 1-0 game. Hunter Greene took over from there, tossing 4.0 shutout innings while striking out two batters in the game. When he left the game he had a 2-0 lead, with the Reds getting their second run when Jose Barrero singled, stole second base and later scored on a ground out in the top of the 4th inning.

In the 5th inning it was Jose Barrero in the middle of the action once again. Jason Vosler singled and Spencer Steer walked before Barrero clobbered a 93 MPH fastball from Zac Gallen over the wall in right-center to make it 5-0.

? 414 feet
? 104.7 mph exit velo

Jose's hot spring continues?? pic.twitter.com/gR8tGd7Dhk

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 24, 2023

Ian Gibaut took over for Greene when the bottom of the 5th inning began. It wasn’t a smooth inning, but Gibaut worked around a leadoff single and a 1-out walk to keep the shutout alive. Hunter Strickland entered the game in the 6th and things went south. Evan Longoria doubled to lead off the inning, then Strickland walked Kyle Lewis to put two men on. Christian Walker then doubled to put Arizona on the board and make it 5-1. Corbin Carroll followed with an RBI hit of his own and it was 5-2 in the blink of an eye. After getting a pop up for the first out of the inning, another RBI single followed to bring in two more runs and Cincinnati’s lead was down to one. Strickland was able to limit the damage to four runs by retiring the next two batters.

The offense got one of those runs back in the top of the 7th when Kevin Newman and Jose Barrero doubled. It was Barrero’s third hit of the day, and his second extra-base hit. In the bottom of the inning it was time for Buck Farmer to take the mound. He made quick work of Arizona, throwing 10 pitches (9 of which were strikes) in a 1-2-3 inning that included two strikeouts.

Henry Ramos continued his hot hitting on the spring in the top of the 8th, leading off with a 402-foot home run that came off of his bat at 109 MPH. That extended Cincinnati’s lead to 7-4. Fernando Cruz took over on the mound for the 8th inning and kept his ERA perfect on the spring with a 1-2-3 frame that included a strikeout, sending the game to the 9th. After the Reds went down in order in the top of the inning, Alex Diaz took over to try and seal the win in the bottom of the 9th. He did just that, tossing a perfect inning with a strikeout to pick up the save.

With the big day at the plate Jose Barrero raised his line this spring to .325/.386/.600 with seven extra-base hits in 15 games. Henry Ramos is hitting .500 (13-26) with two walks, two strikeouts, and he’s slugging .846 this spring.

Fernando Cruz has allowed just one hit in his four outings with the Reds this spring, covering 4.0 innings with five strikeouts. Cruz spent time in the World Baseball Classic this month with Team Puerto Rico.

Saturday’s Game

The Reds will host the Chicago White Sox Saturday night. They’ll send Connor Overton to the mound at 9:05pm ET.

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The Cincinnati Reds hit the road today for an afternoon contest against the Arizona Diamondbacks. First pitch is set for 4:10pm ET at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

Reds (13-12-1) vs Diamondbacks (13-13-1)

Reserve players on today’s Reds roster

There are five relievers scheduled to pitch today (the top five guys listed above). That would suggest that we probably aren’t going to see Hunter Greene in the game for all that long as each of them are probably scheduled to throw an inning. Then there are the three minor league guys ready to come in if there’s any further need.

Where to watch/listen/follow the game

There is no television broadcast for today’s game. If you want to listen to the game you can tune your radio to 1360 WSAI AM.

Reds links and news

Chad Pinder was released

The Cincinnati Reds made four roster moves today. They released Chad Pinder, but also sent pitchers Brandon Williamson and Chase Anderson, as well as utility man Matt Reynolds to minor league camp. We wrote about it in more depth earlier today if you wanted to give it a look.

The rotation is “set”

We’ve long known that the top three of the rotation would be Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Graham Ashcraft. It was the other two spots that were unknown. That’s no longer a question as the team announced that it would be Connor Overton and Luis Cessa taking the 4th and 5th spots. That, of course, comes with a caveat from me – not from the team. There’s always the opportunity to pick up someone who was waived by another team to take one of those spots if it is deemed to be an upgrade. Overton has allowed 15 hits and has an ERA of 14.85 in 6.2 innings this spring, and while he did have some success in the big leagues last year, it may not be something the team feels can be replicated.

The post Spring Game Thread: Cincinnati Reds vs Arizona Diamondbacks appeared first on Redleg Nation.

The Cincinnati Reds made four more roster moves this afternoon. The biggest one was the release of Chad Pinder. The team also optioned Brandon Williamson to Triple-A, and they reassigned Chase Anderson and Matt Reynolds to minor league camp.

Chad Pinder had struggled this spring. And that’s putting it about as nicely as possible. Officially he was 4-39 (.103), but he also went 0-2 against the Chicago Cubs in a game that eventually was rained out and cancelled, and those stats never became official. That means he was actually 4-41- that’s a .098 batting average for those trying to keep track at home but can’t do that math in their head (it’s me, who can’t do that math in their head). He had been competing for a spot on the Reds bench. As someone who could play both the infield and outfield, if he had been able to hit the ball even a little bit, his fortunes could have been different. But he hit like a pitcher this spring and that just wasn’t enough for the Reds to hand him a spot on the roster.

Brandon Williamson was competing for a spot in the rotation. The left-handed prospect took the mound last night for the Reds against the Seattle Mariners and the Mariners just crushed him. Williamson was charged with nine runs in 2.2 innings, giving up two home runs along with six other hits, while also walking three batters. His ERA on the spring ballooned up to 11.20. A year ago he was the new face in camp, having just arrived via trade with Seattle. One of the players he was traded for, Eugenio Suarez, doubled off of him on Thursday night. He’ll head to Triple-A Louisville where he finished his 2022 season and continue to work on some things in their rotation.

Chase Anderson hasn’t pitched on the big league side of camp in two weeks. He pitched on March 6th, striking out five batters in 2.0 shutout innings. Then he took the mound on March 11th and allowed three runs in 3.0 innings on six hits to go with one strikeout. He’s not shown up in a big league game since. Anderson is now heading back to minor league camp.

Utility man Matt Reynolds heading back to the minors isn’t surprising. He’s only played in four games this spring due to injury. He returned earlier this week , and he’s in the lineup this afternoon for the Reds as they take on the Diamondbacks, but it wasn’t likely he was going to be ready to go when the season began and the team had said as much. For now he’ll head to the minors. Don’t be too surprised if he’s with the club on the bench in a similar role to the one he showed last season, though, at some point later in the year.

Those four moves drop the Reds spring training roster down to 35 active players. That number does still include Tejay Antone, Justin Dunn, Tony Santillan, and Nick Senzel – all of whom will not be ready for the start of the season. So realistically there are 31 players in camp that are playing for the 26 spots on the Opening Day roster.

The post Reds release Chad Pinder, send three others to minor league camp appeared first on Redleg Nation.

This week has seen two national broadcasters of Major League Baseball release parts of or all of their schedule. Apple TV+ has released their scheduled through June and Fox (and FS1) has released their entire schedule for 2023. Peacock released their national schedule last week.

Last year saw the first season of Major League Baseball on Apple TV+. The results were certainly mixed on several fronts of the broadcast. They are back at it in 2023 and they have released the schedule of games through June. The Cincinnati Reds will be featured twice on the schedule.

Cincinnati’s first appearance on the Apple TV+ schedule will be on Friday May 5th as they take on the Chicago White Sox at Great American Ball Park. The broadcast will be at 6:30pm ET. A month later the Reds will return to the streaming service as they once again play hosts. Friday June 2nd will see the Reds take on the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park with the broadcast set to begin at 5:00pm ET.

If you want to be able to watch these games you have two options. The first would be to buy a ticket and head to the stadium. The other option will be to sign up for Apple TV+. Last year the games were free to watch, you simply needed to create an Apple ID and log into the app. That is not the case for the 2023 games. This season you will need to actually have a paid subscription to Apple TV+ to watch the games. That’s going to cost you $6.99 per month (available on a month-to-month basis).

Fox has put out their entire schedule for the year, covering games that will be on both Fox as well as FS1. You can see the entire schedule here if you’d like. There will be five games during the season which will feature the Cincinnati Reds. Two of those games will be in the first half of the year, while they’ll make three more appearances on the networks down the stretch.

Cincinnati’s first game will be on Saturday May 27th against the Chicago Cubs. The game will be a 7:00pm ET game, on Fox, and is a road game for the Reds. They will return to the national schedule a week before the All-Star break, facing off against the Washington Nationals on Monday July 3rd. That’s another road game and it will be at 6:00pm ET on FS1. Just a few days later the Reds are back on FS1, taking on the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday July 8th at 4:00pm ET. That game will also be on FS1.

In a match up that was so tantalizing that Fox felt the need to double dip on it, Cincinnati will host the Washington Nationals on Saturday August 5th. That game will be on FS1 at 4:00pm ET. Six weeks later the Reds make their final appearance on the national Fox networks, hosting the Minnesota Twins on Monday September the 18th. That game will also be on FS1 and is currently set for a 6:30pm ET broadcast.

Peacock will have one game per week during the season, beginning on April 23rd and running until September 3rd. Only one of those games, though, will feature the Cincinnati Reds. Peacock will be airing the game on Sunday May 21st against the New York Yankees. The game will take place at Great American Ball Park and will begin at 11:35am ET.

The post Cincinnati Reds to be on national tv 6 times in the 1st half appeared first on Redleg Nation.

I was joined this week by Bill Lack, and we opened up The Riverfront Mailbag to answer all the burning questions surrounding the Cincinnati Reds. We discuss the final roster battles, who will be in the bullpen, and the latest injury news…plus a dose of nonsense, as usual.

Also, we say goodbye to a Reds legend.

Please give us a thumbs up and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Seriously: SMASH that subscribe button! Of course, as always, you can listen to the audio version of the show as well:

Come join the family and support the podcast on Patreon. You can follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. Music for this episode provided by Freekbass, a big Reds fan and a friend of Redleg Nation.

If you prefer the audio podcasts, we’re available everywhere you find podcasts, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, Google Podcasts, and iHeart Radio. Please subscribe, and give us a rating/review over at iTunes/Apple Podcasts (or wherever you found us). If you like us, talk about us! However, if you don’t like us…maybe just keep your mouth shut?

Podcast-related questions and comments can be directed to the podcast via email (team@riverfrontcincy.com).

The post TR #471: Burning Questions about the Cincinnati Reds! appeared first on Redleg Nation.

Things started out poorly for the Cincinnati Reds and they didn’t get any better on Thursday night as Seattle pounded out 17 runs on 17 hits in the Mariners 17-6 victory.

The Highlights

To say that it was a tough night for starter Brandon Williamson would be putting it nicely. The left-handed started allowed nine runs in 2.2 innings while giving up eight hits – two of which were home runs – and three walks. Manuel Cachutt entered the game in the 3rd inning to relieve him and gave up a home run of his own – a 2-run shot – that made it 11-0 for Seattle before Cincinnati had a chance to blink.

In the bottom of the 3rd Jose Barrero led off with a double and came around to score on a Joey Votto single. Votto then scored on a ground out to get the Reds within nine runs.

The top of the 4th saw Manuel Cachutt return and he started things out by hitting a batter and walking the next one. The minor leaguer got a double play, but then things went the wrong way as he gave up an RBI single, an RBI triple, and a 2-run homer off of the bat of Julio Rodriguez as the Mariners extended their lead to 15-2. They would add another run in the 5th when former Red Eugenio Suarez led off the inning with a home run.

In the bottom of the 5th inning Cincinnati got some of those runs back. Joey Votto led off with a walk and moved up to second base on a single by Jake Fraley and then he scored on a throwing error. The Reds got another run on a ground out, and added a final run in the inning on a Henry Ramos single that made it 16-5.

Seattle went right back to work in the next inning with a little help from new pitcher Bennett Sousa. Jose Caballero singled on a grounder to Sousa and then moved up to second when Sousa threw the ball away. A wild pitch followed to move Caballero to third and he’d later score on a ground out that made it 17-5.

The Reds got a run in bottom of the 6th after singles by Jonathan India and Tyler Stephenson book-ended a walk from Joey Votto to load the bases. India scored on a ground out to make it 17-6.

Joel Kuhnel took over in the top of the 7th and picked up a strikeout in a scoreless inning of work. Zack Brown followed with a perfect inning with three strikeouts. In the bottom of the 8th the Reds would load the bases with one out, but a double play ended the inning and stopped the potential rally dead in it’s tracks. Pedro Garcia followed that with a perfect 9th inning where he struck out the side, giving the Reds one more chance to score 11 runs to tie the game up. They didn’t, going down in order.

Tyler Stephenson finished the day by going 3-4. Jonathan India went 2-4 with a double. Joey Votto went 1-2 with two walks. Henry Ramos went 2-5 with an RBI.

Friday’s Game

The Reds switch things up after hosting a few night games and hit the road on Friday for an afternoon game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. First pitch is set for 4:10pm ET with Hunter Greene expected to get the start.

The post Reds crushed 17-6 by the Mariners on Thursday night appeared first on Redleg Nation.

Tonight will have the Cincinnati Reds playing hosts to the Seattle Mariners under the lights in Goodyear. First pitch is set for 9:05pm ET.

Mariners (12-10-2) vs Reds (13-11-1)

Reserve players on today’s Reds roster

It’s good to see Jay Allen II back up from minor league camp for the day. He exited his last big league game with an injury.

Where to watch/listen/follow the game

There will be no television broadcast of the game tonight. If you want to follow along on the radio then tune in to 700 WLW AM.

Reds links and news

Forbes franchise valuations for 2023

The crew at Forbes has published their valuations for the 30 teams in Major League Baseball and the Cincinnati Reds value is the same as it was a year ago – $1.19 billion. We wrote a little bit more about it earlier today if you are interested in checking that out.

Minor league musings

Among some of the Cincinnati Reds cuts on the minor league side of things were two notable names this past week. One player was on the 40-man roster within the last year and the other is a teenager who got the top signing bonus in the international class just a few years ago. More on that over at RedsMinorLeagues.com from this morning.

MLB Pipeline ranks the Reds farm 5th best

The crew at MLB Pipeline unveiled their 2023 farm system ratings last night and put the Cincinnati Reds 5th on the list. That’s tops in the division, but the division is also quite strong when it comes to farm systems and the Reds aren’t on an entirely different level than the other teams according to MLB Pipeline’s rankings.

The post Spring Game Thread: Seattle Mariners vs Cincinnati Reds appeared first on Redleg Nation.

Less than two weeks ago Sportico released their annual estimated values for all 30 teams in Major League Baseball. They estimated that the Cincinnati Reds were worth $1.39 billion, and that was including giving teams in the Bally Sports fiasco no credit for their television deals. The folks over at Forbes released their valuation estimates today for teams across the sport and they are a little less optimistic on the Reds value, stating that they believe the team is worth $1.19 billion.

Forbes shows the Reds having lost money for the second time in the last three years. After losing an estimated $47M in 2020, the team essentially broke even with a $400,000 positive number in 2021, and then lost $13M last year. The value of the organization, in the eyes of Forbes, has not changed from a year ago despite those losses.

Only the Miami Marlins and Oakland Athletics are valued lower. The Marlins come in at a cool $1 billion even. Oakland is just behind the Reds at $1.18 billion. Within the division only the Pittsburgh Pirates are also in the bottom third, coming in at 24th at $1.32 billion.

No team in baseball saw their value drop. Many teams saw their value rise, and some in significant ways. The Seattle Mariners, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta, Baltimore Orioles, and Los Angeles Angels all saw the estimated value of their franchise increase by at least 23%. The New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox all saw their estimated values rise by at least 15%. The Marlins, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Guardians, Oakland Athletics, and the Reds all saw a 0% or 1% change in their estimated values.

The business of baseball is still good despite all of the doom-and-gloom of everything that’s happened post 2019 with some years of limited attendance, the regional sport networks possibly collapsing, etc.

With Kroger now paying $5,000,000 a year for a jersey patch, and the Reds having the MGM Sportsbook within the stadium (and signage all over it), it will be interesting to see what happens to the franchise value and subsequent breakdowns of revenue a year from now. What happens with Bally Sports and in particular with the team could also play a big role in the short term, but we don’t really have an answer as to what will happen there yet.

The post Forbes: The Cincinnati Reds are worth $1.19 Billion appeared first on Redleg Nation.

Graham Ashcraft was dominant on Wednesday night in Goodyear. The right-handed starting pitcher allowed one hit, struck out 10 batters, walked no one, and had eight ground outs in 6.0 shutout innings as the Cincinnati Reds defeated the San Diego Padres 4-1 under the lights.

The Highlights

Graham Ashcraft struck out the side in the top of the 1st inning. Joey Votto got things started in the bottom half, doubling with one out and coming around to score on a single into right field by Tyler Stephenson to put the Reds up 1-0. In the top of the 2nd inning Jose Azocar lined a single into left field in what would turn out to be the only hit that San Diego would get against Ashcraft on the day.

The bottom of the 2nd inning saw Cincinnati put up another run as Spencer Steer walked, moved up to second on a single by Curt Casali, and then later he would steal home on a double steal when the throw went to second base and he beat the throw back to the plate.

Graham Ashcraft continued to dominate on the mound, and in the 5th inning his offense got back to work to give him more runs to work with. Will Benson led off with a double and he moved up to third base when Jonathan India laid down a bunt single. Benson scored on a ground out to make it 3-0. In the top of the 6th Ashcraft finished out his day by picking up two more strikeouts, giving him 10 on the night. Cincinnati added another run in the bottom of the inning when TJ Friedl singled on a bunt, moved up a base when Kevin Newman walked, then both moved up on a double steal, and then Curt Casali drove in the 4th run for the Reds with a sacrifice fly.

The 7th inning saw Nick Senzel take over in center and Hunter Strickland take over on the mound. Strickland tossed a perfect inning to keep the shutout going. Reiver Sanmartin came out for the 8th inning and gave up a leadoff double to David Dahl, who would score the only Padres run of the game on a Brett Sullivan single later in the inning. Senzel, who entered the game an inning earlier, wound up on second base in the bottom of the 8th after Jakob Marsee flubbed a fly ball. Buck Farmer would come into the game in the 9th and made easy work, striking out the side to seal the victory.

Thursday’s Game

Cincinnati will have another night game on Thursday as they host the Seattle Mariners. Brandon Williamson will take the mound against his former organization with first pitching scheduled at 9:05pm ET.

The post Graham Ashcraft K’s 10 as the Reds beat the Padres 4-1 appeared first on Redleg Nation.

The Cincinnati Reds get back on the field tonight following an off day on Tuesday. They will play hosts to the San Diego Padres tonight. First pitch is set for 9:05pm ET.

Padres (11-12) vs Reds (12-11-1)

Reserve players on today’s Reds roster

Just in case you overlooked it, Nick Senzel is with the team in an official capacity today for the first time of the spring. He’s going to be on the bench rather than in the starting lineup, but he may be making his spring debut today.

Where to watch/listen/follow the game

You can watch tonight’s game on Bally Sports Ohio as well as MLB.tv and MLB Network. If you want to listen in on the radio then set your dial to 700 WLW AM.

Reds links and news

Checking in on the injured players

Today saw us get some updates on several injured players for the Reds who are working their way back. Tony Santillan, Luke Weaver, and Lucas Sims were all expected to throw today, but it seems unlikely any will be ready to begin the season on the active roster. We also got an update on Nick Senzel, who is in the lineup tonight but will begin the year in Triple-A on a rehab assignment.

Did the Nick Senzel window close?

Wick Terrell of Red Reporter wrote about the potential difficulties in front of Nick Senzel to grab significant playing time with the Reds given the amount of playing time that may be in store for others on the roster at seemingly every spot that Senzel could be asked to play. If nothing else he’s likely going to have to really go out and show he’s a better option than the others because there’s a long list of guys that can play center field with Cincinnati and or cover some infield spots.

Fangraphs isn’t a fan of the Reds shortstops

Earlier today Ben Clemens took a look at the projected value of all 30 teams shortstop position and, uh, it doesn’t look good for the Cincinnati Reds. They rank dead last, and the gap between the Reds and the Diamondbacks (who ranked 29th) is large.

The post Spring Game Thread: San Diego Padres vs Cincinnati Reds appeared first on Redleg Nation.