They said, Joey did this and Joey did that
Oh, that guy was crazy, what a crazy cat
Then something strange would happen, there's trouble on the way
And trouble only means one thing
Joey's on the street again
Joey really ought to be involved in these games, surely? Unfortunately, he's in the throes of a 2-26 slump in AAA, and it's hard to see this having anything resembling a happy ending.
His old team probably feels somewhat disappointed at how things have gone without him. The 2023 Reds took a great leap into the Region of Respectability, going from 62-100 to 82-80 - they appear to have fallen back a little this season. They haven't really - they've mostly just been really unlucky (10-21) in the close games. They're probably a better team overall this season - they're certainly a whole lot better at run prevention, having shaved almost a full run per game from the other team's offence. Hunter Greene's emergence as a legitimate ace starter had much to do with that, and everyone connected with the Reds is heaving a huge sigh of relief that the MRI on his tender elbow indicates that he appears to have avoided a major injury.
The Reds have called up 23 year old RH Julian Agular to make his MLB debut tonight, and they haven't yet decided who's starting tomorrow's game. Wednesday's starter, Nick Martinez, has spent most of the year working out of the bullpen, although he has given the Reds three Quality Starts since going into the rotation two weeks ago.
Random notes...
Since the calendar turned to July, Kevin Gausman is 5-1, 3.17, mostly because the opposition is hitting just .212 against him and he's been able to keep the ball in the park...
Over the same period, Spencer Horwitz has cooled down (.247/.314/.387) from his hot start, and he may prove to be a very good hitter for a second baseman, not so much for a first baseman...
Steward Berroa has drawn 6 bases on balls in his 32 Plate Appearances, which means just one more and he'll have walked as often as Ernie Clement has in more than 300 Plate Appearances. Berroa drew lots of walks in the minors as well - if he can manage to hit just .260 in the majors, he's a legitimate leadoff hitter.
Back on 11 May, Davis Schneider had three hits, one of them a homer off Simeon Wood-Richardson. He'd played in 32 of the team's first 39 games and was hitting .287/.388/.517, which makes a nifty .906 OPS. Since then, times have been pretty hard, which seems a polite way to describe .169/.258/.290 over 74 games. My own utterly uninformed observation is that - like Cavan Biggio before him and his own teammate Daulton Varsho - he's having trouble hitting the high fastball. This is a serious problem, because the high fastball is as close as baseball has to a Default Pitch. It's the thing everybody throws, it's the natural way to throw a baseball. And modern pitchers are all enormous brutes, most of whom have only made it to a major league mound because they can throw high fastballs, and throw them really hard. That's almost never enough for a pitcher to succeed - most major league hitters can hit the high fastball, that's why they've made it this far - but it's the most common point of departure. Schneider is at a further disadvantage. Varsho (and Biggio) at least have the platoon advantage working in their favour more often than not. (And Varsho is an elite defensive player.) If you can't hit the slider low and away - well, what's the big deal? No one can hit that pitch. But you have to be able to handle the fastball.
Anyway, these are details. Elly De La Cruz! Live and in person! This will be cool.
Matchups
Mon 19 Aug - Agular (---,-.--) vs Gausman (11-8, 4.20)
Tue 20 Aug - TBA () vs Berrios (11-9, 3.85)
Wed 21 Aug - Martinez (6-6, 3.25) vs Rodriguez (1-5, 3.93)
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20240819163811792