A thread for Rece Hinds

[Sea Ray]

I'm less concerned with who hits against LHP as I am that the best choice is in the line-up. If that means that Hinds doesn't develop this year, so be it. Maybe next year when hopefully the rest of the line-up is improved and they can afford to devote a spot to a lot of failure in the name of development. At this point, the line-up is only 3 or 4 deep before you get to the auto outs. They need to wring every bit of production out of it they can.

Hinds starting tonight is not exactly keeping Eric Davis on the bench. Given their current lack of OF talent I definitely think playing him tonight is the right call. I think they ought not get too cute with how they use Hinds. Now that he's here, I want him playing almost every day for now. If he ends April without a line drive on his stat record then we can discuss but for now he should play

[NachoMan]

Not sure if this has been posted, but a good writeup on Hinds and what to watch for to see if he truly has figured it out:

The number I'm watching is his strikeout rate in his first 60 MLB plate appearances. That's roughly two and a half weeks of everyday play, and it's where the strikeout rate starts to stabilize as a meaningful indicator rather than random noise.

If it stays below 33 percent, the improvements are translating. His MiLB chase rate dropped from 38.4 to 32.1 percent, and his MLB chase rates in 2024 and 2025 were in the 42 to 45 percent range. If the chase rate this time settles below 38 percent, the approach change survived the jump. And if he's laying off pitches in that trap-door zone, down and outside, where pitchers threw 30 percent of everything they had against him, the rest of the improvements follow from there.

If the strikeout rate spikes above 40 percent, it means the velocity gap won, or the sequencing was too much, or the approach change that worked against 89-mph breaking balls didn't hold against 94-mph ones. That's a real possibility. The projection systems have him pegged as a roughly league-average hitter with minimal playing time, and they may be right.

[Sea Ray]

Not sure if this has been posted, but a good writeup on Hinds and what to watch for to see if he truly has figured it out:

A league average hitter would be a shot in the arm for this team

[mth123]

Hinds starting tonight is not exactly keeping Eric Davis on the bench. Given their current lack of OF talent I definitely think playing him tonight is the right call. I think they ought not get too cute with how they use Hinds. Now that he's here, I want him playing almost every day for now. If he ends April without a line drive on his stat record then we can discuss but for now he should play

I agree completely that they don't have good alternatives, especially against LHP. A lot of these players aren't suited for their jobs. Just like the guy who assembled them.

[Larry Schuler]

I’m looking at his Baseball Reference page and I’m not sure what people are seeing with Hinds. His defense is nowhere near elite and his bat is way too valuable. How is he supposed to be the magic X factor that bends time and space to get the Reds to the next level? If anything, we already have our magic X factor manning third base so why do we need Hinds? That’s my question to folks who follow this club more closely than I.

[TRF]

I’m looking at his Baseball Reference page and I’m not sure what people are seeing with Hinds. His defense is nowhere near elite and his bat is way too valuable. How is he supposed to be the magic X factor that bends time and space to get the Reds to the next level? If anything, we already have our magic X factor manning third base so why do we need Hinds? That’s my question to folks who follow this club more closely than I.

He hits tanks. And he's pretty fast too.

[SunDeck]

It was just one game, but I thought Hinds looked defenseless at bat. It's revealing to watch Stewart bat compared to him; the approach and hunt for hittable pitches is so different. I'm not saying Stewart is the next Mike Trout because the book on him is not completely out, but knocking a high and outside fastball out of the park last night required him to show that he was done with the breaking balls diving at the ground. And it says a lot to other pitchers, that he's disciplined and can adjust his swing to barrel balls in multiple places right now. He forced Day to look for another location to create swings and misses, then showed that balls up and away aren't safe either. Compare that to Hinds who repeatedly swung at and couldn't connect with that low junk with his long swing. I hope I'm wrong, but I just see a giant hole in his swing and a lack of options available to him to close it.

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[LiferJim]

It was just one game, but I thought Hinds looked defenseless at bat. It's revealing to watch Stewart bat compared to him; the approach and hunt for hittable pitches is so different. I'm not saying Stewart is the next Mike Trout because the book on him is not completely out, but knocking a high and outside fastball out of the park last night required him to show that he was done with the breaking balls diving at the ground. And it says a lot to other pitchers, that he's disciplined and can adjust his swing to barrel balls in multiple places right now. He forced Day to look for another location to create swings and misses, then showed that balls up and away aren't safe either. Compare that to Hinds who repeatedly swung at and couldn't connect with that low junk with his long swing. I hope I'm wrong, but I just see a giant hole in his swing and a lack of options available to him to close it.

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It would be interesting to see his spray chart in AAA. He appeared to be trying to pull everything and sometimes stepping out of the bucket. Hopefully someone other than Sea Ray noticed. Maybe Sal needs to do double time as the Reds hitting instructor. lol


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[HokieRed]

He missed a lot of pitches, which is worrisome, but he successfully laid off a couple of Ray's best sliders/knuckle curves. So, as I'm an optimist, I'm encouraged.

[JCM11]

Hinds is most likely a 4A player, but he plays good enough defense to give him a few weeks to audition before we go to Bleday/H Rod/Dunn/whoever.

[Sea Ray]

This is why he needs an extended look. That's just one game. Everyone in our lineup looked bad except for two ABs last night

[JCM11]

This is why he needs an extended look. That's just one game. Everyone in our lineup looked bad except for two ABs last night

Non elite prospects don't get extended looks when a team is trying to win unless they preform. You only get so many chances to impress at the big league level, and this may be Hinds' last chance as a Red. I would advise him not to start out 1-20 with 15 K's. Bleday or H Rod will be up if he doesn't hit.

[NachoMan]

He missed a lot of pitches, which is worrisome, but he successfully laid off a couple of Ray's best sliders/knuckle curves. So, as I'm an optimist, I'm encouraged.

I think most (all?) of his swings and misses were in the zone, which is something I suppose. They were all sliders or changes... so the concern is he has to cheat on fastballs against MLB pitching. His swing speed certainly ain't the problem, but maybe the pitch recognition just can't catch up to MLB speed. Or maybe he was just trying to make a splash and jump on one. We'll see.

[Mitri]

I think Hinds deserves a couple of weeks and he will get that. i agree that if he hits .200 with a 35% k rate, it won’t matter how far his home runs go.

Benson is on a hotter seat. Bleday, and eventually H Rod, look to be better options as our LHH corner OF. Guessing they’ll want to give Hector enough time in Louisville to work on defense and prove his bat will play in the bigs. But he has looked the part and he is by far the best OF prospect in the system.

[RedTeamGo!]

I am not and have never been sold on Hinds, but it is 1 game folks lol