Oh come on! That is a magnificent title for the first post on this new site for the Cincinnati Reds in the UK.
I’m not going to say it was “only” the Marlins, but it was certainly relieving to get a series win. 3-1 in Miami (and the one was courtesy of a walkoff homer in the 12th inning).
Let’s start there. Poor Raisel Iglesias. He is responsible for 10 losses and four blown saves this season. In reality, his underlying stats (FIP, BB/9, HR/FB) suggest he is the same pitcher as last season. If anything, his strikeout rate is up slightly. Many fans, however, will only see the 4.31 ERA and the game-losing appearances.
On the whole it was a great series for Reds’ pitchers, with Sonny Gray, Anthony DeSclafani & Luis Castillo all picking up the W.
We know that Gray and Castillo are enjoying career-seasons, but seven shutout, two-hit innings with eight strikeouts was Disco’s best outing of the season.
The often-leaky bullpen was secured by Rob Stephenson, Amir Garrett, Lucas Sims and Kevin Gausman who did not allow a run. They will all likely be heavily worked as the Reds face the Cardinals four times over the weekend.
Embed from Getty ImagesVenezuelan superstar Eugenio Suárez continues to excel. With players like Kris Bryant, Anthony Rendon, Jose Ramirez and Nolan Arenado, third base is crammed with elite sluggers, but none of them have hit more homers than Suarez. The three long balls during the Marlins series takes him up to 38 for the season.
| Rk | Player | HR | Tm | Lg | G | PA | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | BA | OPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eugenio Suarez | 39 | CIN | NL | 134 | 561 | 492 | 76 | 128 | 85 | 54 | .260 | .883 |
| 2 | Nolan Arenado | 34 | COL | NL | 134 | 571 | 512 | 90 | 159 | 104 | 47 | .311 | .938 |
| 3 | Josh Donaldson | 33 | ATL | NL | 133 | 566 | 474 | 82 | 123 | 77 | 84 | .259 | .908 |
| 4 | Eduardo Escobar | 32 | ARI | NL | 133 | 589 | 533 | 84 | 144 | 109 | 43 | .270 | .857 |
| 5 | Anthony Rendon | 31 | WSN | NL | 120 | 531 | 457 | 100 | 153 | 109 | 55 | .335 | 1.047 |
| 6 | Matt Chapman | 30 | OAK | AL | 132 | 561 | 492 | 87 | 128 | 75 | 57 | .260 | .872 |
| 7 | Rafael Devers | 28 | BOS | AL | 132 | 591 | 544 | 112 | 174 | 104 | 41 | .320 | .947 |
| 8 | Miguel Sano | 26 | MIN | AL | 85 | 353 | 307 | 60 | 73 | 58 | 43 | .238 | .888 |
| 9 | Kris Bryant | 26 | CHC | NL | 129 | 560 | 483 | 95 | 136 | 64 | 64 | .282 | .896 |
| 10 | Justin Turner | 26 | LAD | NL | 126 | 517 | 452 | 78 | 134 | 65 | 48 | .296 | .897 |
Everyone’s favourite rookie, Aristides Aquino, pounded his 13th and 14th home runs of the season. His ability to reach seemingly good pitches and then power them into the stands is a joy to watch. Next season, it will be fascinating to see whether pitchers’ adjustments extinguish his threat, or if he continues to develop into a Vlad Guerrero (senior) hitter.
Outfielder Jesse Winker is likely to remain on the IL until mid-September with a cervical strain, but our favourite player, Joey Votto, returned to the lineup and notched three runs.
It’s difficult to believe that Freddy Galvis has only played 16 games in Reds colours. His swagger and slick defending belong in Cincinnati. Although he hit a three-run homer in the opening game of the Marlins series off Pablo Lopez, it wasn’t the greatest few days with the bat for the 29-year-old. He went 3-for-19 with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Talking about walks, in the four game series, Michael Lorenzen walked more times (one) than Galvis, Curt Casali, Kyle Farmer and Phil Ervin did in their combined 37 plate appearances.
The Marlins are not as poor as they looked in the series and 2020 will be a far better season for them. Their pitchers could be the key to a quick return to NL East contention. The most disappointing feature of the four-game series was that fewer than 25,000 spectators attended. That’s just over 6,000 per game. I dream of the day 60,000 people are watching the Manchester Marlins.
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4000 miles from Ohio 