Instability Killed the Reds

 

When they were up in the majors, Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Brandon Williamson and Rhett Lowder all displayed excellent skills, had untouchable starts, and instilled confidence in Reds fans. Now the trick, I gather, is getting them all to be healthy at the same time. Because this current strategy, of getting a rotation together only for someone to get hurt and needing to find a replacement, for the SECOND YEAR RUNNING, is not it.

And that is ultimately the issue of employing so many pitchers who consistently overthrow and go for high speeds consistently. Greene is one of the deadliest pitchers in the league, but he may never go for a full season without compromising his fastball. Abbott and Lodolo also had nice runs this season but, again, all that hard throwing is not a sustainable strategy. They just NOW got Brandon Williamson back, and while he's been really good in his first couple starts, that was 5 whole months where he wasn't on the table, so it only means so much that he's here now, while everybody's hurt and there's no playoff chances.

Rhett Lowder was honestly the 'well if the whole season's a wash, let's at least fill seats' tactic. Lowder, despite being picked 6 spots lower than Paul Skenes, has gotten some comparisons to the Pirates hurler, and blazed through the Reds' minor league system in a year's time. In his first three starts, Lowder has a 0.59 ERA, a 1-1 record and 12 Ks. He's not the full strikeout artist that Skenes is [yet], but he's eerily on-target and just doesn't score many runs. He is the kind of efficiency that the Reds desperately need right now, and if everybody else is gonna fluctuate and be on and off the IL, Lowder really needs to condition himself properly to keep off the IL. 

I also wonder about how many extra starters the Reds are gonna keep around next year as depth options. Nick Martinez is definitely an option, seeing as he's been extremely helpful down the stretch this year. Julian Aguiar could be the taxi guy, keep him in Louisville unless like 2 guys drop. Carson Spiers could be a trade candidate at this point, unless the Reds really have a plan with him. And then maybe the Reds sign a swing guy just in case, someone who can be a beast as a long relief man but could start if the opportunity came up. Somebody like Bryse Wilson or Drew Smyly or possibly even the return of Jakob Janis. It's time to be smart about this, because if not, they get caught with their pants down for the third year in a row if the rotation all get hurt.

You also saw the Reds underprepare for lineup injuries. Both Matt McLain and CES got hurt early, resulting in both Noelvi Marte trying his best post-suspension, the wheel of free agent signings like Dominic Smith and Ty France, and Jeimer Candelario, who was hot for a month then got hurt. Stuart Fairchild, clearly the depth OF guy, tellingly got a lot of playing time this year, and...while he's fine and all, you could tell that being without Friedl and Fraley for a bit did severely wound the outfield. The Reds are extremely lucky they got a full season of Elly de la Cruz, and that it was such a satisfying one. I just hope he continues amazing people as the Reds themselves improve, perhaps with more contingency plans and better injury luck in general.

Coming Tomorrow- One of the most dangerous outfield arms in baseball, even if his bat has been hit or miss this year.