Red Dawn

 I just would like to remind you all that in 2022, absolutely none of Matt McLain, Elly de la Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Andrew Abbott, Levi Stoudt, Brandon Williamson or Will Benson were on the Reds' active roster. And now they've all taken over this team. And if there's any team in baseball that was due for its farm system to completely reinherit the narrative, it is the Cincinnati Reds.

And so here we are. Spencer Steer, Matt McLain, Andrew Abbott and Brandon Williamson are all looking at Rookie of the Year votes, with Abbott and McLain looking like fair bets for the final round. And Elly de la Cruz, who began the year as one of the most sought-after rookies in the game, and now that he's here has made things all the more interesting.

It's nice that we've had this slow trickle of OMG prospects that light up the minors and do the same to the big leagues. 2022 had both Adley Rutschman and Julio Rodriguez, who did everything they set out to do and became MLB-wide names because of it. This year already began with Anthony Volpe, who, at the very least, steals bases like it's his god-given right. And now we have Elly, who's got 33 RBIs, 11 homers and 22 steals in 69 games. And when he does something, like have a multiple RBI game or make a blazing throw to catch Corbin Carroll at home or run so fast he makes a home plate tag obsolete, everybody hears about it. Elly de la Cruz is one of those 'must see TV' type athletes, descended from Ken Griffey Jr., Manny Ramirez and Derek Jeter. And even if he's only hitting .248 so far, and is definitely doing more of the talking than his stats, his presence in Cincinnati has been solidified. 

What's very funny about Elly is that there's someone in his exact division that I'd say is his equal on a number of levels, and that's Oneil Cruz. Oneil, like Elly, is a tall-ass shortstop; Oneil is 6'7, Elly is 6'5. They're both Dominican, both speedy, and both deadly when given the right opportunity. When Oneil went down early in the season, I was worried that a lot of the fun factor of him would be gone, and while I was sort of right in regards to the rest of Pittsburgh's season, Elly fills that void very well. It will be interesting to see Reds-Pirates games next year, as these two going against each other should be fun to watch. 

The Reds stumbled a little, and the Brewers zipping ahead has not helped them, but getting Hunter Greene back, early struggles notwithstanding, gives them slightly firmer footing heading into the last month of the season. This series with the D-Backs has left them 1.5 games back from the last wild card spot, and appropriately their next series is with the Giants, who is their nearest rival for said spot, so they'll need to hold onto whatever momentum they can muster if they want to compete at all this year.

It's fantastic that the Reds were a 1st place team at all this year. With the converging number of wild card teams, it's no longer guaranteed that they're playoff-bound, but it definitely confirms that this rebuild may not be as dire of a process as previously thought.

Coming Tomorrow- It's the strangest thing for non-baseball people, if you tell them this guy gets called 'the big dumper' and it's a compliment.