Full credit to the Detroit Tigers, but that wasn’t the opening weekend I anticipated. No matter how great it was for the neutral fan to see future Hall-of-Famer Miguel Cabrera wind back the years, it would have been preferable if he’d done it against someone else. He had Michael Lorenzen’s number, taking him deep with …
Author Archives: ukredsmlb
Day One … of 60
We’ve waited 300 days (don’t check my maths) since the last Reds game, and the waiting was worth it. Phil Ervin walk, Joey Votto single, Eugenio Suarez hit-by-pitch, Nick Castellanos hit-by-pitch, Mike Moustakas single. And that was just the first five at-bats! You can’t ask much more than for all of the first five hitters …
Spring has sprung: Reds quest for 2020 glory
Let’s be honest, this was a better offseason than most I can remember. The players joining the team were highlighted by: Nick Castellanos Mike Moustakas Shogo Akiyama Wade Miley Pedro Strop Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projects the Reds to finish top of the highly competitive NL Central, much to the chagrin of fans from the Cardinals, …
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Reds fans getting in a Strop about Pedro
I hate social media, yet I am addicted to it. I hate the way it encourages such negativity and tolerates abuse. So will I delete the apps? Not a chance. Pedro Strop has just signed a one-year, $1.8 million deal to join the Reds bullpen. In 411 appearances for the Cubs, the 34-year-old has a …
12 Reasons to support the Cincinnati Reds
In my humble opinion. If you are looking for an MLB team to support, even as your second-choice team, then it should be the Cincinnati Reds. Here are a few nuggets to chew … (1) History: Cincinnati Reds are baseball’s first professional team. Founded in 1869. That’s older than every single Premier League football team. …
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Despite Sonny & Trev & Luis, Reds need more pitching
Given that Stephen Strasburg ($245 million/seven years) and Gerrit Cole ($324 million/nine years) signed for record-breaking deals, it was always going to be unlikely that the Cincinnati Reds were ever realistically targeting either starting pitcher to bolster our rotation. Apparently the Reds were runners up to the Philadelphia Phillies ($118 million/five years) offer to Zack …
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Jesse Winker, the new Cody Bellinger?
I didn’t write an article this time last year predicting that the Dodgers Cody Bellinger would win the NL MVP award. It would have been a ludicrous suggestion. Bellinger had proved his rookie season was a fluke and his struggles against left-handed pitchers made him a victim of the Dodgers exuberance for platooning. I’m not …
Reds get an infield power surge by signing Mike Moustakas
The Reds Front Office are not messing about this offseason with an audacious swoop to secure the services of one of the best free agent sluggers, Mike Moustakas. I’m not interested in whether it was an overpay or if they could have persuaded the 31-year-old to agree to a shorter deal, or even if the …
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Cincinnati Reds Team of the Decade: Third Base
Third base is a good position for the Reds offensively, so this was the toughest one so far. We had three third basemen with wRC+ above 100. Although Scott Rolen was 35 years old when the decade started, he played 290 games for the Reds and was an All-Star twice in the three final years …
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Cincinnati Reds Team of the Decade: Second Base
Barring a big-money offseason signing, second base at Great American Ball Park will be manned by a combination of Freddy Galvis and Josh VanMeter. Fine players, but perhaps not All-Star quality. Brandon Phillips, is unquestionably the Reds star second baseman of the 2000s. In 1,614 games, DatDude hit 191 homers with 196 stolen bases while …
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4000 miles from Ohio 