Fun fact: since the start of the 2019 season, Scott Barlow leads the league in relief appearances and innings pitched out of the bullpen, by a lot. Emilio Pagan also ranks top 10.

Happy birthday to 6-time All-Star and 2010 NL MVP Joey Votto! 🥳 Reply and repost for a chance to win this @Topps autographed card!

Said the other day that they needed to go 16-5 and get some help to have a chance to get in. They’re 3-1 since then, so sticking with that, they’d need to go 13-4 from here Feels more doable now & they’ve gotten some of that help. Ultimately even 11-6 or 12-5 have a nonzero shot

Tyson Lewis 📈

Not saying this means anything AT ALL especially given the tiny sample size. But since Stewart was called up, they’re 3-1 when Stewart starts and 0-2 when he doesn’t (this is his third game without starting, not his fourth)

They’re 2-0 since this. 14-5 feels a lot more doable than 16-5.

Probably need to go 16-5 and get some serious help to even have a remote chance at making it now. We talked about this Mets series as a “must sweep” but honestly the Padres series is the same way. A sweep there might give them an outside shot.

For comparison, here are the WAR/162 figures for some other recent young “stars” through their age 23 seasons: Witt Jr: 3.7 ELLY: 4.9 Carroll: 5.2 Harper: 5.3 Soto: 5.8 Lindor: 5.8 That puts him among the best of the best. No way that’s “underperforming” IMO

58% of you expected Elly to be more than a 5 WAR player instantly? Because that’s what he’s been - 4.94 WAR/162 games. That’s an insane expectation for someone that’s still 23 and not even to his prime.

This was absolutely a fantastic trade, despite what many fans have said about it throughout the season. Next up: making the same type of trade with Spencer Steer this offseason

2 for 2 on Stewart playing 1B. That’s not insignificant.

Also, the positions Stewart, McLain, Elly, & Steer play in September may tip their hand on a long term plan While it would be surprising to see them move Elly this year, the less he plays SS (the more he is the DH), the more likely a long term position move happens, for example

My prediction: Stewart will get ~5 starts per week, rotating primarily between 2B and 1B. Steer and McLain likely sit 1-2 times each, with Elly getting a few extra games at DH (with McLain at SS) and others (Hayes, etc) getting an occasional day off as well.

Friedl being the slowest OF brings me back to the other point I made tonight - for many reasons, CF is the biggest need in the offseason That doesn’t mean Friedl doesn’t have value. They just need to find a way to maximize it. Whether that’s a trade, moving to LF, a platoon, etc

Maybe a hot take, but CF is their biggest need this offseason.

Ke'Bryan Hayes since joining the Reds: 19 G .266 BA .319 OBP .788 OPS 5 doubles 1 triple 2 HR 49% Hard-Hit% Hayes had a 49.5% GB% over his MLB-career. With the Reds, his ground-ball rate has dropped to a career-low 39.2%. It was 50% with the Pirates before the trade.

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But someone told me Stephenson is terrible at blocking…🤔

All he needs is to post an 80 OPS+ and the trade is a resounding success. On the right track so far, even if he never becomes an average hitter going forward.

To clarify, a 3-5 year deal with an opt out after year 1 (and maybe a second opt out after year 2) is the same thing in all practicality. If Tucker prefers that route, I would still be in if I were the Reds.