Building a team for Great American Ball Park

[RED VAN HOT]

With the draft approaching, this seems like a good time to discuss how the Reds might best realize a home field advantage. IMO, Dick Williams took a shot at it when he acquired Moose and emphasized a swing that would produce fly balls to take advantage of the hitter friendly right field stands. That, plus high K pitchers should have worked. The problem was that in the post season, when teams face a stable of top starters and relievers, the reliance on the HR worked poorly.

So, what would work best? I'll post a straw man to get the discussion started and draw some RZ fire in the process. IMO, the Reds should strive to win the OBP stat. Accordingly, they should pursue contact oriented hitters with speed who put the ball in play. Speed will help to manufacture runs in close post season games. They should give priority to infielders. Infielders can be moved to the outfield if they are fast. They are likely to have fewer HR's than opposing teams, but contact oriented hitters won't be without some HR's in GABP. On the pitching side, ground ball percent should be a priority. I like the K's as much as the next person, but K's take more pitches and risk more injuries from high effort pitches. Ground ball pitchers are more likely to keep the ball in a small ball park and go further into games. Clearly, if the Reds are to win the OBP stat, pitchers need to throw strikes as well. BB percentage needs to be low. Sacrificing velocity for control should be favored.

This strategy runs counter to the high HR, high K pitcher strategy that seems to dominate today's game, but, hey, I'm desperate for an alternative approach that will result in wins in a ball park that has not played to the advantage of the Reds.

[Kc61]

Ground ball pitchers who miss enough bats. A few power pitchers for a different look.

Line drive hitters with sufficient power to get the cheapo GABP homers.

Speed and defense go without saying, you need those in any stadium. With GB pitchers you need a solid defensive infield.

[Tony Cloninger]

Build a higher fence in RF. Just like the one in left. Or even higher like in Pittsburgh.

Force John Allen to build it with his own hands.

[TNRED]

Its the players, not the ballpark.

[M2]

The GAB is an obnoxious offense-heavy ballpark and the Reds haven't have an above-average OPS+ since 2010 (106). In fact, that and 2005 (104 team OPS+) are the only two seasons in the Reds' 20 years in the GAB where they've been in the black at the plate. They've put together a few high quality pitching staffs, but they've never assembled an offense that can pound the opposition into a gelatinous blob. Might want to give that a try at least once.

[KronoRed]

Slug away, we should slug away
Stay all day if you want to

[icehole3]

Get several dominate Kershaw type SPs figure out the rest.

[Mitri]

The GAB is an obnoxious offense-heavy ballpark and the Reds haven't have an above-average OPS+ since 2010 (106). In fact, that and 2005 (104 team OPS+) are the only two seasons in the Reds' 20 years in the GAB where they've been in the black at the plate. They've put together a few high quality pitching staffs, but they've never assembled an offense that can pound the opposition into a gelatinous blob. Might want to give that a try at least once.

It truly boggles the mind that they haven't figured this out.

Another suggestion: clone Graham Ashcraft.

[LeatherPants]

Start spending money to bring in better player would be a good start.

[mth123]

I think building a team for the ballpark is exactly 0ne of the things wrong with this team. They get flawed players with the idea that GABP will turn them into something better. At the end of the day the better players are still the better players and when the opponents come into GABP it helps their hitters the same way it helps the reds hitters, so it doesn't really provide a competitive advantage. What it does do is wear down a pitching staff who has to pitch here 81 times per season. The opponent pitcher may come here and have a bad day, but then they leave and life goes back to normal, so they don't suffer the same cumulative effect we've seen this park take on a staff that results in overusing and wearing guys down. Turning guys like Sam Lecure and David Hernandez and other examples of the few decent pitchers the team has into sore armed has beens. Is that is what is happening to guys like Antone, Sims and Diaz now?

[HokieRed]

Move the fences back. Stop overvaluing players based on "what they might do in GABP." etc. If signing players like Moustakas was part of the strategy, it's a strategy that cries out to be abandoned.

[westofyou]

Build a real outfield, gaps and some freaking depth.

Then get players that can play everywhere and succeed everywhere

[gonelong]

I say it about once a year. This park is a death sentence. Bulldoze it.

Build the park for the payroll you can afford. Go completely counter to the rest of the league. Neutralize everyone else and take the talent they can't use and work it against them. 450 down the lines and 550 ft to CF. Defense and Speed. Steal bases on every pitch. Fly ball pitchers and guys that miss bats. Fly ball/uppercut hitters are not as valued when your OF can go get 'em.

At minimum, it shouldn't be boring.

[RedsManRick]

Step 1. Build a team that wins games everywhere they play.

That's it. That's the strategy.

If you have two otherwise similar options, sure, go with the one that better fits the park. But when you start acquiring players who are worse than another player who you might target because they're a better fit for the park, you've lost the plot.

GABP is not the reason the Reds have been bad. They've been bad because up until recently they hadn't developed good pitching in decades and it's really hard to win with an average-at-best payroll and minimal in house pitching talent.

[15fan]

Reds play about half their games vs Pit, Chi, StL and Mil. For starters, build a team that can consistently go 45-35 against those teams every year. Get guys who can hit their pitchers. Get pitchers against whom their guys struggle.