Under circumstances, Reds played great until final 2 weeks

[PutPeteIn]

Circumstances obviously being major injuries to Ludwick and Cueto. That said, and I really scratch my head trying to figure out how this team basically folded after sweeping LA in Mid September.

That's baseball I guess.

[scotly50]

Pressure. We seem to fold under those circumstances. (By our best hitters.)

[PutPeteIn]

Your right. These guys are really chock artists for the most part. Votto, Bruce and Phillips wet the bed from about Sept. 20th on...

I'm not sure these guys have it in them to ever win it all...

Sad really....

[SlimJim11]

The last 6 games of the season the Reds had the lead for a half inning of the 54 innings.

[Lewdog]

I just think the team wore down. The injuries hurt through the stretch and players who came back from injuries just weren't ready. Marshall wasn't the same guy and neither was Ludwick. Votto and Phillips looked uncomfortable tonight.

[RedlegJake]

Conspiracy theory. (I just love nutty conspiracy theories). Walt and Mo knew Byrd would give the Bucs a shot and let him go to Pittsburgh intentionally to give the Bucs a better shot. Better for baseball. Walt knew Ludwick was still half baked, couldn't do bench presses or curls, but he let Byrd go unblocked because Pitt was a great story for baseball. Great for attendance and ratings. Mo and Walt punted, basically, to give the Bucs a better shot at staying alive when they were gasping for air.

I know, I know. That's insane. Nutty. Not if you know your baseball history. This kind of thing has occurred many, many times behind the scenes. Collusions both for and against teams.

Or, of course, it could be Walt just blew it. Okay, I had my fun. Walt blew it.

[swaisuc]

Compare our injuries to others. What we had was not unusual.

[mivers176]

I think its pretty simple. Lack of offense is what this team's demise was. We had two guys in the every day 8 that hit above .280; one that hit above .300 (and barely at .305). We had one (catcher) in the lineup last night hitting below .200.

last night we were 5 for 40 with risp going into the game, i think they went 1 for 10 last night so 6 for 50 during the final week of the season. I watched just about every game, it was like we never could come through with just one clutch hit.

Hopefully we can keep the pitching staff in tact for the most part, Cingrani will replace Arroyo probably which is fine I think. Lineup wise will probably be very similar- I think 2014 reds will be just a player or two at most different (starting lineup wise)

[tomnuetten]

The biggest problem the Reds was the bad year from the Cardinals 2012 and the choke job from the Pirates 2012 and the Houston Astros...

Our offence is just not that good, and with a year like 2012 (not much contest for the division title because the other teams played below their talent) the expectations were to high and the front office didn´t do enough to get better...

they obviously upgraded the cf/leadoff position big time but they thought to much about rocco, hanigan, frazier, cozart, bp, ludwick and the bench...

those players are (below) avg offensively and it´s hard to win in postseason without a right handed bat that can do something...

votto and bruce have solid numbers against most leftie´s but against the great ones (not so much) and choo has good obp but can´t hit lefties...

so our 3 greatest hitters (and only good hitters) have similar weaknesses is not what you want to see....

fans overrated the reds team because they played great in 2012 (although our offence had some offensiv problems aswell) without votto for a big stretch...

[SlimJim11]

People can hate on Walt for the Byrd thing, but don't forget Ludwick was 3-4 last night and it did not make a difference.


I don't think adding anybody at the deadline would have changed much, the entire offense shut it down the last week.

[HiltonHead]

This is an extremely unmotivated and lethargic baseball team. I went and saw them play the Braves in Atlanta just before the Allstar break and I told my son at that time that I had never seen a baseball team on any level that showed less effort and enthusiasm than this team. No hustle, walking on and off the field, didn't run out ground balls, etc. There body language was horrible and it looked like that weren't even enjoying themselves. I was fortunate enough to play quite a bit of baseball in my younger years and actually played on some very good teams. Without a doubt, one thing I can say is that all championship teams put worth extra effort, enthusiasm and desire. Sorry folks but this team has none of those components. Whether it is because of players attitudes or the team taking on the personality of their laid back manager, there is a huge problem with their desire to fight and win ballgames.

You can talk about hitting, pitching, coaching, etc. but at the end of the day you have to have something inside that makes you try harder and put forth the extra effort in order to be a champion. Unfortunately, these guys just don't have it!

[SlimJim11]

I might have bad body language too if my manager continued to complain to the media about how the 2 best offensive players on the team approached hitting.

Choo and Votto had to be rolling their eyes every time Dusty opened his mouth.

[NorCal Reds Fan]

Can't say that I'm at all surprised, I even predicted the final score when I was talking with my boys about the game when I picked them up from school. I knew the Reds wouldn't hit Liriano.

The Reds just didn't consistently hit well this year, had trouble with StL and Pit all season, and losing 5 straight at the end doesn't help, no matter how much people want to argue "those games didn't matter." You still want to play well, and getting SWEPT in YOUR PARK by the team you're going to see in the play-in game just doesn't bode well.

And about this play-in game...man is it stupid. If you're going to add a second wildcard, then at least give both teams a shot at playing a home game. It should be a best-of-3. That said, I still don't think the Reds would've beat the Bucs in a 3-gamer, but just making the point that the 1-game play-in is lame.

[scotly50]

Can't say that I'm at all surprised, I even predicted the final score when I was talking with my boys about the game when I picked them up from school. I knew the Reds wouldn't hit Liriano.

The Reds just didn't consistently hit well this year, had trouble with StL and Pit all season, and losing 5 straight at the end doesn't help, no matter how much people want to argue "those games didn't matter." You still want to play well, and getting SWEPT in YOUR PARK by the team you're going to see in the play-in game just doesn't bode well.

And about this play-in game...man is it stupid. If you're going to add a second wildcard, then at least give both teams a shot at playing a home game. It should be a best-of-3. That said, I still don't think the Reds would've beat the Bucs in a 3-gamer, but just making the point that the 1-game play-in is lame.

I think they should just do away with the second wildcard, rather than going to a 3 game set.

The Reds never did seem to hit their stride offensively. Bruce led the league in strikeouts and only hit in streaks. Votto just looked for walks and choked with opportunities late in games. Whoever was at catcher or right field did nothing. Cozart did nothing except for that stretch at the end which pumped up his numbers. Phillips went on a downslide as the year went on. The only reason we were close was our starting pitching.

[SlimJim11]

Did you know the Reds were 3rd in the NL in runs scored and 4th in the NL in runs against?

[scotly50]

Did you know the Reds were 3rd in the NL in runs scored and 4th in the NL in runs against?

Not when it mattered.

[SlimJim11]

Yes but you said the team was only good because of the pitching staff. That is not true.

[Falcon7]

Too many, not ready for prime time players...

[PaulyOH]

When you get below-average production from 5 of the 8 hitters in the lineup, its tough to score consistently, even with the top 2 on-base percentage guys in the league (Votto and Choo). And with the Reds likely to lose Choo to free agency, lineup production will just get worse.

I also think the team wore down in September. I believe the Reds had 6 guys play at least 150 games. Maybe it would have been good to give Votto or Bruce an extra day here or there.