Two Reds Are Better Than None

 

Does it feel like more than a coincidence to anyone else that once the Reds activated Luis Castillo and Mike Minor, and once Tyler Mahle found his control, the Reds caught up to Chicago? Doesn't it track that the moment you add actual established pitchers to the Reds' rotation, they'll actually win a few more games?

I'm not saying that this is where the Reds start their 2022 Championship story or anything. Mike Minor still has a high ERA, which I kind of figured at this point in his career. But having Castillo and Mahle playing well definitely evens the playing field a bit. Castillo has a 3.33 ERA and a 1.087 WHIP, and Mahle still has a 4ish ERA but has 86 strikeouts, which is huge. I'll at least say that, between Tyler Mahle and Hunter Greene, there's no shortage of strikeout artists in Cincinnati, and those two can definitely keep batters down, even if they give up too many runs either way. 

At the same time, Graham Ashcraft is off to an awesome start, going 3-0 with a 2.22 ERA in his first 5 MLB starts. Ashcraft comes in the wake of Nick Lodolo and Connor Overton getting injured, and both of those guys, especially Overton, were doing well coming into the leagues. So...just imagine getting Overton, Lodolo, Ashcraft, Castillo, Greene and Mahle all healthy. And, like, good. Then people won't go on about the Reds' pitching woes. Then it'll be 'when's the lineup gonna catch up?'

I will say that the Reds are looking a bit more polished now that Jonathan India's back from the IL, but without Tyler Stephenson they have to have Aramis Garcia start games at catcher, which...yeah, bet you wish you hadn't have traded Tucker Barnhart now, right? With all the pitching developments, it just illuminates that the only hitters who are really doing anything right now are people like Kyle Farmer, Brandon Drury and Matt Reynolds, and that's not a team I'd trust to really do anything. All these great players, Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas, doing NOTHING. It's gotta be awful for Reds fans to watch, because they had a shot not too long ago. 

What I do see happening is the rotation unifying even more, and once Castillo, and possibly Mahle, gets traded, we can actually see this youth, with more experience under their belt, dominate. And that'll really be something.

Coming Tonight- A hard-hitting outfielder who acts as one of the few lifelines the A's have left.