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April was good under Terry Francona. Reds ended 16 wins, 15 losses, 2 games out of 1st Place.
A win on May 1st would give them a split in the 4 game series with division rival St Louis Cardinals. I'm hoping for that today as Reds kick off the month of May. I'm hoping they have 30 wins or more end of May. Win today and avoid losing series to St Louis.
GO REDS
1968 Bengal Fan
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Once again, please just put EDLC at 3B or OF. He needs to let the CF charge that ball so he can throw it home with all the forward momentum he has and there's zero chance for the run. Instead the CF has to swerve off because EDLC is charging it from behind and then he just pushes it deeper into CF.
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Something needs to happen with McLain. Can't keep a guy who is on a 2-33 skid at #2.
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Glad they were able to rescue a split in the series. Kept the winning record. A shame Elly's consecutive games with a hit ended at 14.
3 of the next 4 series are against teams with a losing record right now. Need to keep making progress.
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Major props to Ashcraft for coming in after the delay and rolling through their lineup. It's great for the team that he's embraced his role instead of getting pissy about being demoted. 0.57 ERA and most of his work has been in those crucial 6th and 7th innings. He just takes the torch from the starter and goes forward.
Rogers had a rare perfect inning. He might have the shakiest 1.44 ERA that I've ever seen. He's probably the least imposing pitcher on the staff, but keeps getting out of his own mistake filled rallies.
Luis Mey looks legit. Chase Petty and Chase Burns should take note. It's OK to throw strikes in the upper 90s, just don't groove them (in my best Jeff Brantley voice) "right . . . down . . . Broadway". Ask Hunter Greene 'what's the difference between young Hunter and current Hunter?'. One of his answers will probably be "I stopped putting 100 MPH fastballs in the middle of the plate".
Jose Trevino did not have a strong post-season last year, but is playing baseball like he's in full post-season mode. Every at bat is a battle and he hits to all fields. Yeah, we'll have days like yesterday, but with guys like him and Hays in the lineup, we'll have fewer of those days than we saw the last couple of years.
Espinal with another two hits. Quietest star on the team. "You guys keep doing all your running and shit. I'll just keep my head down and play solid ball." .324, doesn't strike out a lot and plays great defense. One of their best re-signings in recent memory.
Steer with two hits and a walk. Now up to .189 as he hits his third homerun. He was down to a season low .109 on April 13th and then only at .125 on April 21st. On April 25th, I called that his 29th Spring Training game and that part was over . . . he's hitting .292 since April 26th, 7 for 24.
Marte continues to impress with a couple of singles, two runs scored and an RBI. A .328 average with lots of hard contact is a good way to win back a fan base.
Abbott is awesome . . . but he's got to get a handle on those walks. Four more today. He's often on fire and then out of nowhere . . . a four pitch walk. He's too good of a pitcher for those types of lapses.
I agree about McLain, but I'd just drop him in the lineup for a bit with Espinal moved into the #2 spot or maybe even Marte. Let McLain not have to deal with the pitches that a #2 gets vs a #6 or #7. Lux would be a great #2 as he sees a lot of pitches, but then that's back to back lefties with Friedl so that's not ideal, especially late in the game where a lefty reliever can neutralize both of them.
Only users lose drugs.
:-)-~~~