Gray's Anatomy

 ...look, the team's hitting .220 and you're shocked this couldn't all come together? Yes, it's one thing to get several talented baseball players on the same team at the same time, but it's another thing entirely to have them all playing well at the same time. Mike Moustakas, Shogo Akiyama, Eugenio Suarez, Joey Votto, Tucker Barnhart and Nick Castellanos would have made for a good core had any of them came to this season with their A material. Castellanos, to his credit, was hitting beautifully in July, and has struck out enough times to balloon his WAR back down below 0.2. 

The 2020 Reds, everybody. Where optimistic projections go to die.

Good news is they've finally taken my suggestions and started using Aristedes Aquino and Tyler Stephenson again, and both are doing alright, but...despite a smooth extra-innings win over Pittsburgh today, and despite the momentum from those rookies and Brian Goodwin, this is not a playoff team. They've tried, and I commend them for trying, but so much of this team isn't hitting that it's pointless to even pretend otherwise. San Francisco seems to have a handle on the last playoff spot, and that seems to be that.

At the very least, this was another great year for the Reds' pitching staff, which, after 2015 it's insane as hell that I'm saying that phrase with a straight face. Sonny Gray just got injured, but he still had 5 wins and 60 Ks. Trevor Bauer and Luis Castillo had showier awesome seasons, and Bauer is going to factor well into the Cy Young race. Tyler Mahle and Tejay Antone had good come-up seasons, and Mahle looks to figure into this rotation for the future. Raisel Iglesias, Lucas Sims and Amir Garrett are all pitching well in relief. And...as misguided as his acquisition now looks, Archie Bradley is doing insanely well for them. 

But it really feels like a makeup for what could have been a huge, impressive season from the Reds. They're not the worst team in the division this year, but they might be the most disappointing, and that saddens me.

Coming Tomorrow- Former Philadelphia Phillie, current shortstop for a team who, in a year less strange than this one, would not be in third place.