For two straight seasons, the Cincinnati Reds would begin with a great looking rotation and end the year exhaustedly rifling through double-A guys with no business being up. Last year it got to a point where even the prospects were getting injured. Both Rhett Lowder and Julian Aguiar were injured for the majority of this season thanks to overexertion during the 2024 season. To be fair, 2025 was getting hairy for a while as well, two different Louisville pitchers named Chase were called upon, and only one has really stuck around, but...thankfully the Reds have landed on a working model of five pitchers without going too far into the basement.
I'm just taking a moment to emphasize what a concept that is. The Reds actually have some really great pitchers staying healthy and starting games for them, and haven't had to resort to minor leaguers, swingmen and Carson Spiers. Or...at least not anymore.
The Reds, right now, have gotten consistent, admirable work out of Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer and Nick Martinez. Chase Burns is getting there very slowly. I think he needed a season of learning curve, and eventually he and Lowder will be running the show around here, but at the very least he's not getting killed as badly as the Boston start anymore. Lodolo, who's made 20 starts [rare for him], has been having a very nice year, with a 3.33 ERA, 7 wins and a club-leading 106 Ks. I suppose he leads the team in strikeouts because Hunter Greene has missed starts, but it's still a very good thing. Lodolo's another one of those guys who's taken years to stay healthy, and the Reds are finally able to enjoy his material. Abbott has also been fantastic this year, going 8-1 with a 2.07 ERA in 16 starts. With the exception of Burns, none of these starters have especially high ERAs, and they're all just...making starts and getting wins. It's simple enough that when Greene comes back, he'll slide right into Burns's spot, hopefully the rest will have kept going, and they can roll towards the wild card race.
I'm kind of surprised by how many strong pieces have formed in Cincinnati this year. Not just the crucial, building block guys like de la Cruz, Friedl and Abbott, but veterans who have been very helpful, like Austin Hays, Gavin Lux and Jose Trevino. I'm still worried that Steer and McLain's fluke seasons lined up in 2023, but there's still a chance these guys can mellow back into usefulness. They're at least hitting alright, I suppose.
Even in their imperfections, the Reds have enough energy and momentum that they can't be completely counted out of the NL Central race. And this pitching staff actually working this year is a major plus in their favor. So the possibility that this iteration of the Reds is the one that finally breaks into a playoff spot persists.
Coming Tonight: One of the most feared sluggers of the early part of the decade. Like his team, he's seriously calmed down in recent years.
No comments:
Post a Comment