Why Cincinnati Reds still struggle despite finally getting starting pitching
It was a throwaway line near the end of Nick Krall’s media session Monday after the Cincinnati Reds general manager reiterated his intent to be a buyer for pitching at the trade deadline.
Maybe after all those zeroes against the Milwaukee Brewers, Krall oughta pivot to adding some hitters?
It got a few chuckles, albeit mostly from the press box wag who said it.
But a few hours later, it was starting to look more like the laugh was on a Reds lineup that has ranged from tepid to AWOL since getting back from the All-Star break – while the starting rotation has looked more like it’s starting to take these trade rumors personally.
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For the third time in four games since the break, the Reds starter Monday pitched at least six innings without allowing more than two runs — and none of those starters had a win to show for it because of a sudden drought since all that high-flying, higher-scoring production from the lineup the previous month and a half.
The Reds may yet get their team win in this one after Monday night’s game against the San Francisco Giants was suspended because of bad weather in the eighth inning with the score tied 2-2 and two Giants on base in the top of the inning.
The game is to resume at 5:40 p.m., ahead of the regularly scheduled 7:10 game Tuesday against the Giants.
Meanwhile, rookie Brandon Williamson had done his job to add to a streak of stout starts for the rotation since the All-Star break, joining Graham Ashcraft and Andrew Abbott with quality starts. Sunday’s starter, Ben Lively, might have missed one but for a bout of dehydration four innings into an impressive start (one run allowed).
“It helps to get four days to recoup and get your arm and legs under you,” Williamson said of the post-break rotation performance. “I thought we’ve been doing at least a decent job keeping us in games for a while and certainly after the break we’ve all thrown pretty well.”
Throw in Lively’s 5 2/3 innings in his return from the injured list July 9 in Milwaukee – when he allowed just one run ‒ and it’s been a five-start run for the rotation that has produced a 2.28 ERA.
Pending Tuesday’s outcome, they hadn’t won any of those games, including shutouts pitched by the Brewers to beat the Reds by scores of 1-0, 1-0 and 3-0 in consecutive games before the Reds lost Lively’s lead late in a 4-3 loss Sunday to the Brewers.
Maybe it’s no coincidence that the Reds picked Monday to call up their latest, greatest top prospect, slugger Christian Encarnacion-Strand, for a debut and put Kevin Newman on the injured list with *checks notes* “gastritis”?
This is a team, after all, that got a big bump offensively with Matt McLain’s debut in May and an even bigger bump with Elly De La Cruz’s debut last month.
“I think a lot of the young guys have provided a lot of energy, a lot of spark,” Krall said when asked about that as an incentive. “I wouldn’t say that we’re expecting a bump or not a bump. I think he was a really good player that we have a chance to put in a good situation.”
The move coincided with a lineup shuffle that had the struggling De La Cruz moving from the cleanup spot to leadoff for the first time. He struck out twice and grounded out in three at-bats before Monday’s game was suspended, stretching his hitless skid to 15 at-bats (with seven strikeouts).
That hasn’t helped the overall production, especially against the formidable Brewers staff — followed by Logan Webb, the Giants’ best pitcher, on Monday.
If there was a sign of renewed life stirring in the lineup Monday, it was Jonathan India, who delivered three of the Reds’ four hits until rain stopped the game. That included a tying solo home run in the seventh that followed a pair of leadoff hits in the second and fifth that went for naught.
India had entered the game hitting just .174 in his previous 24 games, dating to mid-June.
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But the most unexpected trend of late for the Reds has to be what’s going on with a starting rotation that has ranked among the three worst rotations in baseball all season ‒ and that has its top two starters from its opening rotation (Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo) on the injured list.
With Williamson’s first career quality start Monday, the Reds’ rotation ERA still ranks near the bottom at 5.53 this season ‒ but check out July’s numbers compared to each of the other months:
April ‒ 5.98 (12-16)
May ‒ 5.55 (14-13)
June ‒ 5.96 (18-9)
July ‒ 3.74 (6-6, plus Monday’s conclusion)
Williams shrugged off any extra motivation from the group resulting from all the talk in the last month or so about trading for pitching at the deadline and Krall’s acknowledgment that he’s looking ‒ even if Ashcraft seemed chapped Friday about apparent disrespect outside the organization regarding the Reds rotation.
“I certainly don’t think we listen to that at all,” Williamson said. “We just do our job. Whatever happens, happens. I wouldn’t like any of us to be traded. I think our team’s pretty solid the way it is. And then you throw Nick and Hunter back in the mix, too ‒ there’s maybe two aces right there.
“That’s out of our control. We don’t handle any of that. We just do the best we can.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Cincinnati Reds lineup has traded places with struggling rotation
