Best Shape of My Life 2021: Spring Training Pics & Media

[reds77]

Positive: It's always exciting to see the start of Spring training and the photos get me pumped for baseball.

Negative: The Spring training caps are awful, awful, and awful looking.

[NebraskaRed]

C. Trent Rosecrans
@ctrent

#Reds manager David Bell on SS: "I feel great about the options we have. I'm not ready today to name a starting SS by any means."

David Bell: "we're excited to have Dee here" said "he'll get opportunities" at SS

Lucas Sims said he had an MRI on his elbow and it was good... he said he's not far off

David Bell on his brother Mike, who has been diagnosed with kidney cancer, "at this point, he's at home, he's focused on getting healthy, getting stronger. He has a ton of people who love him and support him."

David Bell on the closer spot: "the roles a lot of the time take care of themselves. ... the idea is to have a lot of options."

David Bell said "my best guess is that we'd go with a 5-man rotation" but they've discussed other options, would like to have other pitchers built up to go long

[JFLegal]

bell already saying stupid things, although not sure what any manager would say to the media about this awful SS situation. but regardless, "i feel great about the options we have" at SS is an interesting way to look at it.

again, i realize he's not going to come out and say "our options at SS are dreadful." but i still had to laugh at that quote.

i doubt i'll be laughing when kyle farmer is our opening day SS though.

[Ron Madden]

Joel Luckhaupt of the Pawnee Lerpiss family
@jluckhaupt
Players who debuted with the Reds and reached 2000+ hits and 300+ HR in their career:
Frank Robinson (2943 H, 586 HR)
Johnny Bench (2048 H, 389 HR)
Tony Perez (2732 H, 379 HR)
Lee May (2031 H, 354 HR)

Joey Votto needs 92 H and 5 HR to join them.

[Ron Madden]

On Wednesday as Cincinnati’s pitchers and catchers reported to Spring Training for physicals, Gray was among those eager to get to work and less concerned with what was missing. He was more excited about what’s still there.

“I don't think it was only us; I think it was across the game. I think it's clear as day that there are people that are cutting back all of their expenses,” Gray said. “We still have guys who are incredibly talented and have won and have been a part of this thing. I don't think in any way we should sit back and say, 'OK, we're not capable of winning because we didn't make any major headlines.’”

Mark Sheldon@m_sheldon

[Larry Schuler]

It’s cool that the team has decided not to give up in February.

But I am not hopeful that there will be a magic series of breaks this year that turn them into a serious playoff team without any significant additions. We shall see.

[Ron Madden]

There’s been a fun back-and-forth between Amir Garrett and Lucas Sims on social media about who will become the Cincinnati Reds' closer in 2021.

“Being in the bullpen, I think every pitcher should have the goal of ‘you want to be The Guy,’ ” Sims said. “If you’re in the rotation, you want to be an ace. If you’re in the bullpen, you want to be at the back end to lock it down. When I saw (Iglesias traded), I saw it as an opportunity to go out there and do what I know what I’m capable of and try to grab that.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Lucas Sims wants to be 'The Guy' in Cincinnati Reds bullpen;

[Ron Madden]

This winter, the Reds didn’t seem to make a serious run at retaining Trevor Bauer, they traded longtime bullpen ace Raisel Iglesias to the Angels and they popped up in plenty of other trade rumors surrounding stars like Eugenio Suárez, Luis Castillo and Sonny Gray.

But this roster still has lots of talent. Castillo and Gray are a 1-2 combo most teams would covet. The lineup should have serious punch with sluggers like Nick Castellanos, Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas, Jesse Winker and Suárez. The bullpen that looked great on paper last year still has swing-and-miss potential with arms like Amir Garrett, Lucas Sims and Tejay Antone. But can all of this click at the same time?

Best-case scenario: Castillo and Gray are lights-out, leading the way while Tyler Mahle takes the next step toward a top-end starter. Castellanos and Moustakas deliver on the promise they brought into 2020, and Suárez comes back healthy and ready to slug. The bullpen holds it together.

Worst-case scenario: That bullpen falters (again) and Castillo or Gray get hurt, causing the Reds’ rotation depth to collapse without Bauer. The offense is sluggish again, with Votto moving into the twilight phase of his career and Castellanos and Moustakas proving too streaky to carry the lineup.

https://www.mlb.com

[Ron Madden]

I thought we would be seeing more photos from training camp than what we've seen so far

[klw]

Bobby Nightengale
@nightengalejr
·
2h

#Reds pitcher Brandon Bailey will have Tommy John surgery next week. He will miss the 2021 season.

[NebraskaRed]

[RedTeamGo!]

I feel like Lorenzen gets more shredded every offseason

[JaxRed]

I'm actually not sure who that is in the shades, throwing his head back and laughing......

But I feel fairly certain he doesn't work out with Lorezen.

[Ron Madden]

Haha! This is a funny article. Some good stuff

How these Cincinnati Reds got in The Best Shape of Their Lives

https://www.redreporter.com

[M2]

It’s cool that the team has decided not to give up in February.

But I am not hopeful that there will be a magic series of breaks this year that turn them into a serious playoff team without any significant additions. We shall see.

If they pitch, they'll contend ... and, on paper, they've got pitching. At least that's the complex math I've applied to their situation.