Reds July 2025 Thread

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Manaea was doing to the Reds what Andrew Abbott does to everybody else. Good thing for the Reds that he was on a pitch limit because he just about had everybody guessing.

Everyone that homered had two extra base hits apiece Hayes 2HR, Mclain 2B HR, Stephenson 2B HR . . . Elly and Marte added singles.

Major props to Lodolo with another quality start in a tough environment.

The Reds played good, until two outs in the 9th, in front of a sold out New York crowd. It's always important to play good, but you want to play your best baseball in September and October. Playing big games in front of big crowds in July will help them play tough games later in the season. They appear to be not afraid of anybody outside of their division.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(07-18-2025, 10:22 PM)cinci4life Wrote: Geez Friedl is going to need a serious ice bath after the game.

One of the most important things that Francona has done is put that man at lead off and keep him there. None of this Bell bullshit (Bellshit?) of playing him everyday, but batting him 6th or 7th vs lefties.

[*bengalfan74*]

(Yesterday, 12:28 AM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: One of the most important things that Francona has done is put that man at lead off and keep him there. None of this Bell bullshit (Bellshit?) of playing him everyday, but batting him 6th or 7th vs lefties.

I hated with a passion DumbBell's musical lineup every game. 3RD base today LF tomorrow, RF the next. Then going from batting 2nd to 6th to 8th back to 2nd.

Guys can't settle in, at all. Steer even brought that up in an interview last season.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

0-0 going to the bottom of the fourth but Eric Lauer is perfect against the Giants.

I only say this because they're one of the teams ahead of the Reds, they lost two going into the break and again last night.

[cinci4life]

(Yesterday, 04:56 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: 0-0 going to the bottom of the fourth but Eric Lauer is perfect against the Giants.

I only say this because they're one of the teams ahead of the Reds, they lost two going into the break and again last night.

Giants lose 6-3.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Nice game by Fraley so far. Now to build on the lead and keep it.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Thankfully the double play erased it, but Marte needs to be banished from 3B.

5 errors in 227 innings there this year.
21 errors in 930 innings in his career at 3B.

His career pace is ~32 errors per full season at 3B. Just a .921 fielding% at 3B.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Pagan pitching scared.

[cinci4life]

Finally broke through the wall and are 5 over for the first time! No need to make it stressful though.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(Yesterday, 08:06 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Thankfully the double play erased it, but Marte needs to be banished from 3B.

5 errors in 227 innings there this year.
21 errors in 930 innings in his career at 3B.

His career pace is ~32 errors per full season at 3B. Just a .921 fielding% at 3B.

It'll never happen, but I'd love to see them trade for Ramirez in Cleveland.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(Yesterday, 08:29 PM)cinci4life Wrote: Finally broke through the wall and are 5 over for the first time! No need to make it stressful though.

Huge. Absolutely huge. It took them 99 games, but they got there.

You can feel the confidence growing in these guys. Just need to tighten it up a bit.

[*bengalfan74*]

(Yesterday, 08:45 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Huge. Absolutely huge. It took them 99 games, but they got there.

You can feel the confidence growing in these guys. Just need to tighten it up a bit.

5 games over who woulda thunk it? Color me impressed

Now if they can stop the offensive vacations.

[cinci4life]

Cards lost which puts the Reds a game ahead of them. Padres just lost so Reds and Giants are 1.5 out of the last WC spot.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(Yesterday, 06:21 PM)cinci4life Wrote: Giants lose 6-3.

Padres just lost 4-2 to their next opponent Washington. The Reds are now 1.5 games out of the last Wild Card slot.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

Some notes while re-watching the game with the New York announcers.

Friday night's four homer game gave the Reds their 29th straight win when hitting three or more home runs.

First 27 games - .352 average with a .911 OPS
Last 57 games - .221 average with a .644 OPS - The numbers at the start of the game for Gavin Lux. He went 1 for 4.

After years of watching overpaid guys with job security show little to no hustle, they are impressed with the Reds efforts at rounding first on a simple single. "You never know when a bobble is going to give you that chance. These guys are scrappy." Plus, later in the game they loved JR House's movement and decision to send Stephenson on Fraley's double.
1) Stephenson was running full speed around third without being sent by House
2) House moved down the line to stay in Stephenson's sightline, but buy him more time to read the throw by Soto
3) He didn't send him until the last second when he realized that Soto's throw was going to miss Baty and go to Alonso.
4) House didn't wait until Stephenson scored to move back, he was hustling back into position to tell Fraley "DOWN!!"
"That's excellent coaching" said Keith Hernandez.

Nick Martinez had a 4.76 ERA to start the game, it rose to 4.90 after the solo shot to start the 2nd inning and finished at 4.73 after 2 earned over 5 innings. Not bad for a guy that was a 2nd baseman at Fordham and had a total of 26 innings pitched in college. He only had five strikeouts but four of those were one by Soto and three by Lindor.

LOL Keith Hernandez "You don't need a program to see that Gavin Lux is an infielder playing the outfield"

David Wright in the 4th inning about . . . When did you feel like 'I'm a Major Leaguer'?- without hesitation "When I walked off Mariano Rivera." -edited- "It gave me a shot of confidence. Even if it's just for one at bat, in that moment, I beat the best in that one at bat. So no matter who's on the hill the next day or who is closing the next day, I've already beaten the best. I can do it again and that gave me soooo much personal confidence going forward." Play By Play announcer "And that was your third year" . . . That confidence is what I was talking about for our Reds after two big wins in front of sold out New York crowds.

Miami Marlins . . . 1,386 plate appearances by rookies which is 300 more than the next team.

Tony Santillan's 47 appearances out of the pen before the All-Star break is a Cincinnati Reds record, On pace for 78 appearances. Hernandez really liked him "It says 97 but it looks over 100. His follow through reminds me of Goose". He struck out Soto, Alonso and Vientos in his one inning.

In 2016 The Reds traded Jay Bruce to the Mets. The Reds wanted Brandon Nimmo and the deal was already being reported as done in the New York media. They got Dilson Herrera. Ouch.

In the last 37 games, a Mets starting pitcher has recorded an out in the 7th inning only five times. All five are by today's starter, All-Star David Peterson.

In their last 29 games, including yesterday . . . Mets starters 126.1 innings - Mets relievers 126.2 innings. That's going to wear on them soon because the break is over.

Fellow/former first baseman Hernandez was pretty impressed with Steer
- on his scoop to end the big double play after the Marte error in the 8th. "Great form. Reaching out. Bottom up(glove straight upside down, not at an angle). Calm scoop." Steer stares at Elly before pointing his glove at him. Hernandez "I got you." . . . "Been there."
- on the Lindor ground ball that was almost turned into a double play in the 9th. "Ooooh!!! That was a bad hop. This is a really nice play. Fortunate for him it was mid hop so he had time to react and still deliver a great throw."

-----------------------

I then popped on the Angels @ Phillies game in the top of the 4th because the Mets got all excited playing spoiler when the Angels took a 3-1 lead and showed the scoreboard so I figured that I'll just jump in at that point. I only mention that because they were talking about Castellanos getting into it with his manager about his defense and "He's been working hard on his defense". I chuckled at first but then reflected back to him standing up to David Bell early on. "I didn't come here to be a part-time player. What defensive drills do I need to do? Let's go do them right now." and then went out AFTER the game with an assistant coach to take fly balls, line drives in the corner, catch and throws and such. All while the Reds post-game was going on with Jim Day updating it while ducking in and out of the locker room for post-game interviews.

That's one thing that I've liked about Francona and why I was comfortable with Jim Riggleman . . . consistency. I've said it multiple times before, players are playing full games. Friday's game had two pinch hitters. Both were for the #9 hitter. RF Espinal got one at bat, a righty came in, Fraley got an at bat, then a lefty came in and Joe wound up with three at bats. Seven fielders played the whole game and RF was treated like a "bullpen day". Players recognize and trust that consistency and that's been lacking for a long time. There's a lot of coach speak about "building a culture". Castellanos could see what Bell was doing and stood up to him. With over 2,000 wins under his belt, I don't see anybody having to do anything like that with Francona.

He's building a culture and he's getting his players ready.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(Yesterday, 11:20 PM)cinci4life Wrote: Cards lost which puts the Reds a game ahead of them. Padres just lost so Reds and Giants are 1.5 out of the last WC spot.

You sunk my battleship.

The Reds are still 7.5 behind the team with the best record in baseball right now, the Chicago Cubs. Milwaukee has the third best record, only one game behind the Cubs.

11-15 in the division
41-32 outside of the division
They close out the season with one series vs each divisional opponent.

[Timanky12]

(Yesterday, 08:24 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: Pagan pitching scared.

Nothing is easy for the Reds, they always make it interesting in the 9th.  They have to stop walking men, giving the other team a chance for a big comeback. Pagan gives up a single, then Walks the next man, binging the tying run to the plate. Luckily, a force out at second, a gift called check swing, which the Reds never get, and a strike out. 

3 walks in the 6th inning could have been a disaster. I just don’t get all the walks in crucial situations.

[jmccracky]

Abbott pitching today. I like our chances of getting to 6 games above .500.

[*bengalfan74*]

(31 minutes ago)jmccracky Wrote: Abbott pitching today. I like our chances of getting to 6 games above .500.

i was hoping the same thing, sweep would be nice. Then what the hell sweep the Nats.