9-2-24 Reds vs Astros 4:10 PM

[Dave C]

12 singles and a double. France, Stephenson, Espinal and Rosario all with 2 hits or more.

[Kingspoint]

"He consistently goes with the pitch which leads to fewer ground-outs and more balls hit between the infield and outfield where there is a lot of open space."

To bad our hitting coach doesn't preach this or challenge our hitters to do so

You're always going to have a higher BABIP when you do this. Some people like to call this luck, but it has nothing to do with luck. It has to do with situational-hitting and plate approach.

[Tony Cloninger]

Never should have sent Spiers back out for the 7th. With off day tomorrow made that a no-brainer...

If the Reds were in a race like 2021 or 2023 this is the type of move that Bell would make that made you question his ability to manage in pressure situations. Spiers was wild. Gassed. But then you wait longer to bring in a pitcher. Who even if he’s on. Is prone to homers. You wait until 2 are on. Tying run at the plate.

You bring Pagan on to start an inning. That’s just obvious at this point. Yet he does stuff like this that when he did in 2021 you question his ability to manage a bullpen.

[Dave C]

Alvarez has an interesting stat line. 30 Doubles, 2 Triples and 30 hrs while hitting .314. Hitting behind a guy who gets on a lot as well but only 73 RBI's.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

Will the Reds' "All-Nation" Connection (France, Espinal , India) be here and intact next year?

[Kingspoint]

Will the Reds' "All-Nation" Connection (France, Espinal , India) be here and intact next year?

Works for me.

[Coopdaddy67]

We are the home team. I’m pitching around slow poke Alvarez. One of the top 5 hitters in MLB isn’t behind him.

Diaz isn't a chump. He's a Top 10 hitter in the AL since the All-Star break and responsible for all 3 RBIs today. You don't bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Worst Alvarez could do was tie it.

[klw]

Will the Reds' "All-Nation" Connection (France, Espinal , India) be here and intact next year?

Mark Portugal is rested.

[Kingspoint]

Looks like Ty France has earned himself a contract with Cincinnati next season (I assume it might be 2 years).

He's changed his plate approach since he got here. He has warning-track power that turns into HR's in Cincinnati. He plays good Defense at 1B, better than anyone else the team has who plays 1B.

He's a great teammate, having watched him his entire career in Seattle. And, he's an emergency 3rd Catcher. We'll not ever have to carry 3 Catchers again.

He now is willing and learning to hit it opposite way and that is going to relaunch his career here in Cincinnati.

This makes CES a trade candidate (along with Marte, and the two of those should generate a quality Major League ballplayer that the REDS would never have a chance to acquire in FA) so we can get the Left Fielder/3rd Baseman we need.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

I don’t know the answer…but I do know Santiago Espinal did 100% EXACTLY what he was trying to do. Luck factor 0

That 78 mph exit velo will take his numbers down and the BABIP keeps rising ….scares the number crunchers

It does seem that he goes up there with a real plan. And that plan is seldom to swing out of his cleats. His plan seems to be to hit the ball where someone is likely not to be, even if it means hitting the ball with less velocity than an old man wearing a hat drives.

[Kingspoint]

This is one of my favorite wins all season...top-three all season.

So many things done well.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

You're always going to have a higher BABIP when you do this. Some people like to call this luck, but it has nothing to do with luck. It has to do with situational-hitting and plate approach.

^^^

The bolded!!!


Another thing that I like about him is that he very well could go up there and swing for the fences. He has some pop. He has out of the park power. He just chooses to engage in situational hitting and strategically put the ball in play consistently. Smart ball player.

[Maldez]

Will the Reds' "All-Nation" Connection (France, Espinal , India) be here and intact next year?

I sure hope so...I like all 3 players.

[Kingspoint]

Espinal's hardest hit ball, 98+mph, was a flyout. What horrible luck! Should have been a Double to the wall.

[Ky Fried Redleg]

Espinal's hardest hit ball, 98+mph, was a flyout. What horrible luck! Should have been a Double to the wall.

Hell, I crunch numbers for a living. I teach mathematics and statistics. I LOVE numbers. I respect the heck out of analytics. But sometimes they are overrated. They don't always give you the full story and they can, at times, cause people to undervalue a player, like an Espinal. His BABIP will be interpreted by some as a lot of luck. But is it, really?

“There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”--- MARK TWAIN