August 28, 2025 • 19 mins
The Reds were swept for the first time this season at the hands of the Dodgers and Jeff Carr from Locked On Reds joins the show to break down the Reds slump
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Cincy three to sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in
part by Cinci Shirts. Cinci Shirts, All Cinci all Day.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Here we go, Hour number two Cincinnatis. ESPN fifteen thirty
gets your talkbacks in. We'll go to those in the
next segment. But first, most importantly, we're gonna go out
to a former employee at this station, one of the
most optimistic humans I know, and somebody that I'm frankly
(00:40):
a little bit concerned about. Ten days ago, this man
was on top of the world. The Reds were in
a wild card hunt. They were chasing down the Mets
with vigor. Everything looked positive, and ten days later they're
four and a half out of that wildcard spot. The
team that's in front of them got things back on
(01:03):
track and is playing extremely well, and the Cincinnati Rads
not so much. Jeff car from Lockdown Rads joins us, Jeff,
it seemed like a rough one last night. How have
you recovered this morning? Did you sleep it off?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Like?
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Where are you at this morning?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Sleeping? Help? Chad? Yeah, I should have tried that.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I should have tried that.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It's so frustrating to watch because it's a systemic failure.
Like everywhere you look, they stop pitching, they stopped fielding,
they stopped hitting. They it wasn't like it's one thing
and like we can really focus in on how bad
they've been with runners in scoring position, but that's also
fed into by everything else. And it's so frustrating to
(01:51):
watch this team right now. Those three games in Los
Angeles just felt like a a absolute just dumpster fire
floating down the river and then some big old crane
just like smashed it.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Unfortunately, it's felt like so many trips to Los Angeles
for this team over the last twenty five years, Like
it just feels like it's every August September like that
there is this trip west that look, it.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Started out pretty good, right, They won the first.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Two like okay, and then they won one more the
rest of the trip. They finished the trip three and six.
They're now four and a half out of the wild card. Jeff,
I have to ask you what's more likely this team
makes the playoffs. This team fails to win eighty one games.
(02:41):
This is gonna break your heart.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
I don't think that they've fin it under five hundred.
I really don't, so I think it's more likely between
the two that they make the playoffs. But that's just
because I don't think they they finished under five hundred.
I still think they win eighty four ballgames, which is
not enough. It's not going to get you in. It's
not going to to catch the nets unless the Mets
have one more, really really bad collapse in them. But
(03:05):
I feel like they've kind of figured some things out,
and so the Reds are gonna have to play over
their heads right now for the rest of these five weeks.
It's like, you know, Tito told the press yesterday after
the game that he went down and he talked to
the team, and he said, we're gonna have the best
five weeks of our baseball lives so long as we
remember what we've talked about and completely put everything behind us.
(03:28):
It's like your.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Family, your religion, and the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
It just literally wipe your brain of everything else that matters.
But yeah, I just I have such a hard time
believing that they're going to play over their skis that much.
But I also have a hard time believing that they're
gonna continue this collapse. I think they're gonna write the
ship just in time to have a winning season and say, gosh,
(03:55):
Gollie g we're gonna get him next year.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
And that's part of the problem. I almost want them
to finish under five hundred at this point, Jeff, because
I think there needs to be some soul searching in
this organization. That's not gonna happen if they finish over
five hundred. I think if they finish over five hundred,
they say, man, we were close.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Some things didn't go our way.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Another year of development for these guys, like we're on
the right track. Things are, things are almost there, and
I think if this thing falls flat at the end,
I think they do have to ask some questions and
they have to look inward and say, how do we
fix this offense because it is broken. They strike out
(04:35):
too much, they don't hit any any home runs. Jeff,
I I've read, I don't know if you heard earlier,
this is a three outcome team, Jeff walks, single, strikeouts
and singles.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
That's not it. That's not the formula, Brother.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
No, that's that's definitely not And I mean it's it's
ironic in that one of the few hits that they
got in the finale in Los Angeles was a solo
home run, because up until that point they were fifty
to twenty six in games where they hit a home run.
So it's like, just hit home runs. But for whatever reason,
that doesn't seem to be part of the of the
(05:12):
recipe with this team. And I think that that's the
tough part too, is that when you look around this
roster and the fact that they felt the need to
play noelvi Marte in centerfield on Tuesday, that just really
underscores the problem here, and that is they have put
together a team that they feel confident can win eighty
three to eighty four games and if everything goes right,
(05:34):
then they're in the playoff race. But their goal was
eighty three or eighty four wins, and so they're on
pace to hit that. They're on pace to hit their goal.
So they're going to go into the offseason feeling really
good about what they did. The question is gonna be
does that improve or do they look at everything that
they've done and they say, noelvi Marte has outfield experience,
we don't need an outfielder. We're getting a bunch of
(05:56):
pitchers back from injuries, so our pitching staff's going to
be fine, and we can move guys into the bullpen
who don't fit into our starting rotation, so we don't
need to go rebuild the bullpen, although they are losing
Emilio Pagan and they're losing a couple of other guys.
So there's definitely a realm of reality where those who
would go super scorch strength negative about this team kind
(06:20):
of have a point. And it's really hard to dive
into the optimistic side of things and how this team
is growing when you look at some guys and you say, boy,
the main thing that I'm looking at with him is hope.
Because the other part of this and I know that
it'll be an off season discussion. I'm sure we're going
to talk about it a lot over the next six months,
(06:41):
and that is do you move Elie de la Cruz
to the outfield? That doesn't answer anything, It just moves
one question to another place.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
But here's my only like, this is the point I
made I think last week, Jeff. The problem with Ellie
short right now as it currently stands, they have made
it clear they are not gonna spend big on a
bat like a on a true thirty five forty home
(07:13):
run guy. If they produce one internally, great, but they're
not going to go into the open market and do that.
If you don't do that, the offense is regardless going
to be in a similar position next year as it
is this year because you're not able to completely overhaul
things in a season. If he can't fix his issues
(07:37):
in the field, it's costing them games. Like, we are
past the point he's going into year four next year,
we are past the point of going He'll figure it out.
He'll figure it out, He'll figure it out. I have
been the most staunched. Ellie's a shortstop guy that I know.
But I'm looking at it now and saying, if they
(07:58):
are going to force the air the margin of to
be this small, I have to wonder what his future
is in the field.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
The only problem because I like the idea of exploring
other options with him, but the only problem with that
is you then open up two question marks. Number One,
can he fit in the outfield, because we've seen two
different outcomes with that with shortstops moving into the outfield.
Fernando Tatis looks like a Platinum Gloves candidate for the
(08:29):
National League and O'Neil Cruz. You just hope he catches
the ball because he's very mediocre in center field, but
he doesn't work at shortstop. And if that's what the
Reds solution is to move Alli de la Cruz to
the outfield. So okay, you open up that question of
what type of field or will he be out there?
How healthy will he be out there? And then the
(08:51):
second question that you answer that you bring up is
who's going to play shortstop now? Because you've moved everybody
else away, right, And if it's if Matt McClain is
your answer, then you have to answer ask you know,
is he gonna hit? Is he gonna figure things out?
Because I want to believe that this is a sophomore slump.
I want to believe that this is you know, he's
(09:12):
still coming back from the injury. But it's a large
sample size now that we've seen of him just very yeah. Yeah.
So so do you move noelv Martelle back to short step? Well,
I don't know that he's much in the infield. I
think we're liking what we see potential wise in the
(09:32):
right field. So then do you call it Edwin Arroyo?
Guy has no power whatsoever, like less than the Reds won.
So it's it's so frustrating right now to look at that,
because it does feel like the first solution that the
Reds will seek out to fill other positions of need
is to move guys around, and that has not worked
(09:55):
for them because they have not trained those guys. Those
guys have not developed that position. They developed at the
position that the Reds drafted in that and then they
got up to the major leagues and went ogi, we
can only play one short stop, so we got to
move all these other guys.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
It is part of the I suggested this earlier. It
is part of the fix to this. If they are
going to stick to this, we're drafting the best athlete.
We're drafting shortstops because shortstops are the best athlete. Then
you know what, when you make that decision to pull
the trigger, you make a decision where do we see
(10:31):
this guy, and you make that move early in their
career so that they spend those years in the minors
in development. If you want him to be a corner outfielder,
play them at both spots, figure out which won their
best at. If you want him at third, play them
at third. If you want him at second, play him
at second, But enough of this. We're gonna play him
at shortstop, ride them all the way up to the
(10:51):
major leagues, and then when they get to the highest
level of the sport, then we'll decide what to do
with them.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
That's dumb, No, it's it's one hundred percent what's happened,
and that's what we're looking at this problem, and they
refuse to go actually acquire the position players that they need.
Like you cannot continue to just keep moving outfielders or
infielders into the outfield and saying we fixed the outfield
because you just ask different questions of guys that you
(11:21):
had questions about on the infield. Right, So then you
move into the outfield and the questions change, they don't
go away. You're just you're, you're It's a lateral move
right now, like Nolai Marteta, right field is a lateral
move that it seems to be ticking up a little bit.
But don't start telling us that he's a center fielder now.
Because he played the game out there in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
He's got experience in center field. I saw it, Jeff, I.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Saw Kyle Farmers a catcher thing right, like I just
it's so frustrating because there is so much talent, but
it feels like it's very mismanaged and very misplaced.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Agreed, agreed, here is no matter what happens, Jeff, I
think this is a critical next twenty eight games. And
I'll tell you why I think it is a critical
next twenty eight games because when we get to February,
January and February, I do not want to look at
the pitching staff and say.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I trust these guys.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I know they're good, but I also know none of
them have pitched into August in September. I know none
of them have been in high leverage situations. I know
none of them have seen their innings count go one
forty one to fifty. Outside of Brady Singer, everybody else
has been below that mark. I need this group to
get to the finish line because if this isn't the year,
(12:47):
and it's looking very much more likely that it's not,
I don't want to have the same questions about pitchers.
I think are very good and I trust, but I
always what is that one thing sticks out? And the
one thing that sticks out is they had four starters
that had never thrown more than one hundred and sixty innings,
(13:08):
and injuries might prevent like the actual number from getting
up there. But I need to see these guys finish this,
and I expand that to the whole team. I have
one expectation for them the rest of this year, and
it's something they haven't done, and it's something that looks
really hard for them to do.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
But for the rest of this year, and I'm not
saying a little bit here and then not so much there,
the rest of this year, play clean baseball and let's
see what happens. You know, I don't know that that's
going to get them where they need to go, because
clean baseball could still mean that they get eighty four,
maybe eighty five wins, and then you really are hoping
(13:49):
for a collapse from the Mets or the Padres or
even the Phillies. The Phillies seem like they're collapsing right
now and they've lost their race to a crazy, crazy
blood clot issue. But at the same time, like all
of that being said, just take care of what you
can take care of, because they haven't done that. There's
been so many points in this season where we just
(14:10):
scratch our heads as though it looks like you can
make some sort of you could try to throw some
sort of excuse out there and be like, well, it's early,
it's no longer early. It's not being early about two
months ago and we're still seeing the same early mistake.
So just play clean baseball and let's see what happens
the bullpen.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Is it time to panic kind of about where the
state of the bullpen?
Speaker 4 (14:35):
As we get into this last month.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I had felt I felt pretty good about it coming
out of last year. I felt pretty good about it
for a good chunk of this year. But boy, the
wheels have been wobbling for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Now. I am hopeful. But I'm hopeful, let's go with that,
because I think that Ashcraft is going to return at
some point. But that's not the reason I'm hopeful. I
think he could be replaced by Maxwell or Phillips, one
of the two, and maybe it's a little bit of both,
(15:11):
because those guys stuff, the stuff that they have is
just so fantastic. And I think that we have seen,
and Cowboy has said this on the broadcast a couple
of different times, we've seen a little bit of maturing
in the way that Connor Phillips pitches and he's a
little bit better at commanding, and then if the command
falls apart, he's able to right the ship on the
(15:32):
next step. Mat because in twenty twenty three when we
saw him and in twenty twenty four in the Miners
when he got sent to Arizona to like figure some
things out, when he lost command, he lost control of
the game. But we saw it in Los Angeles he
lost command where he walked two guys in a row
and you're like, oh boy, here we go. But he's
able to buckle down and finish that any And I
(15:54):
really think there's something to these guys that they could
improve the B squad side this bullpen and help out
the A squad and Pagan and Santion so that they're
not half in the pitch every other day, which we
haven't seen them in a few days, just because the
Reds haven't played that well. And so I think that ultimately,
I'm still hopeful that the bullpen can hold its own
(16:14):
the rest of this year.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Is it gonna need work in the off season or
do you look at it and say, we think, like
you said, Pegan is probably gonna be gone out It
would be a surprise to see them pay what he's
probably gonna command in the open market. But future wise,
do you look at this thing and say, I feel
confident with the foundation of the bullpen.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
They definitely need well, yes, I feel confident about the
foundation of the bullpen. They're gonna need to fill in
the margins. They're gonna need to make sure that they
really support the guys next year, because I don't know
that Graham Ashcraft has pitched his way into the closer
role like we thought in one year. I think we're
gonna need to see this one more year to see
if the experiment's gonna work. I'm okay with the idea
(17:03):
of Tony Santion being the closer, but I think that
they need to really bring in a strong setup man
to lead into him, because if you let Hagan walk, which,
like you said, I agree with you, I think that
he gets a big deal somewhere else, then you're going
to have to replace that spot on the A squad.
(17:23):
There's nobody that's really jumped up for me to be like, yes,
that guy can be trusted in the biggest of situations.
Maybe Scott Barlowe, but again, he's becoming free agent too,
so do you bring him back? And I would like
to see that because I think they've ran that dude
into the ground and yet he's still pitching pretty well.
So ultimately there's definitely going to be some open seats
(17:45):
that they have to fill through free agency or trades
or whatever. But yes, I do agree. I think I
like the Bullpen foundation moving forward.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Job Who you got tonight?
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Wellcats? Okous?
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Okay? You got you got any breakdown of the game?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Have you have you researched any you got any insight,
you got any feelings about it?
Speaker 3 (18:08):
I think they're going to control the ball well. I
think that we're gonna see a nice, uh running offense
that really takes the pressure off of you know, Brent Sorsby,
and I think that he's going to ultimately make the
plays he needs to make. I feel good about the
Bearcats winning a low scoring affair.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
You're gonna come down and join us at the Holy
Grail watch the game. I think Taron Blant's coming down there.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
I might. I might have to see if I can.
I know we got a lot going on with the
Lockdown Network, Big Squad show going on tonight, so we'll.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Kick off not un till nine o'clock. Bro, We're gonna
be there until past midnight. We're gonna be there for
a while. I'm gonna tell you what. He's late game.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
That's, you know, from a completely fan perspective, until at
the West Coast road trip is over me.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Well, there's another one coming in another week and a half,
so get ready for it.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Jeff, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Man.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Where can they find you?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
You can always follow the Lockdown Reds podcast everywhere you
get your podcasts, including the iHeartRadio app. You can also
watch us on YouTube and follow me on the Socials
on x and on TikTok at Jeff Carr with three.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
F's appreciate you, Jeff ff Cary. There you go, Jeff Carr.
I drill. That man's unflappable, unflappable. That's the that's the
perfect word to describe Jeff Carr. That man is one
night of sleep and.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
We're right back, right back on it, baby, right back
on it. I love it.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I love it because I feel like I'm being cynical
about the Reds right now. I need Jeff Carr's shot
of optimism. Speaking of shots of optimism, talkbacks next since
he three sixty.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifty there
Cincy three to sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati, sponsored in
part by Cinci Shirts. Cinci Shirts, All Cinci all Day.
This is ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Here we go, Hour number two Cincinnatis. ESPN fifteen thirty
gets your talkbacks in. We'll go to those in the
next segment. But first, most importantly, we're gonna go out
to a former employee at this station, one of the
most optimistic humans I know, and somebody that I'm frankly
(00:40):
a little bit concerned about. Ten days ago, this man
was on top of the world. The Reds were in
a wild card hunt. They were chasing down the Mets
with vigor. Everything looked positive, and ten days later they're
four and a half out of that wildcard spot. The
team that's in front of them got things back on
(01:03):
track and is playing extremely well, and the Cincinnati Rads
not so much. Jeff car from Lockdown Rads joins us, Jeff,
it seemed like a rough one last night. How have
you recovered this morning? Did you sleep it off?
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Like?
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Where are you at this morning?
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Sleeping? Help? Chad? Yeah, I should have tried that.
Speaker 4 (01:28):
I should have tried that.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
It's so frustrating to watch because it's a systemic failure.
Like everywhere you look, they stop pitching, they stopped fielding,
they stopped hitting. They it wasn't like it's one thing
and like we can really focus in on how bad
they've been with runners in scoring position, but that's also
fed into by everything else. And it's so frustrating to
(01:51):
watch this team right now. Those three games in Los
Angeles just felt like a a absolute just dumpster fire
floating down the river and then some big old crane
just like smashed it.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Unfortunately, it's felt like so many trips to Los Angeles
for this team over the last twenty five years, Like
it just feels like it's every August September like that
there is this trip west that look, it.
Speaker 4 (02:18):
Started out pretty good, right, They won the first.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Two like okay, and then they won one more the
rest of the trip. They finished the trip three and six.
They're now four and a half out of the wild card. Jeff,
I have to ask you what's more likely this team
makes the playoffs. This team fails to win eighty one games.
(02:41):
This is gonna break your heart.
Speaker 3 (02:44):
I don't think that they've fin it under five hundred.
I really don't, so I think it's more likely between
the two that they make the playoffs. But that's just
because I don't think they they finished under five hundred.
I still think they win eighty four ballgames, which is
not enough. It's not going to get you in. It's
not going to to catch the nets unless the Mets
have one more, really really bad collapse in them. But
(03:05):
I feel like they've kind of figured some things out,
and so the Reds are gonna have to play over
their heads right now for the rest of these five weeks.
It's like, you know, Tito told the press yesterday after
the game that he went down and he talked to
the team, and he said, we're gonna have the best
five weeks of our baseball lives so long as we
remember what we've talked about and completely put everything behind us.
(03:28):
It's like your.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Family, your religion, and the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
It just literally wipe your brain of everything else that matters.
But yeah, I just I have such a hard time
believing that they're going to play over their skis that much.
But I also have a hard time believing that they're
gonna continue this collapse. I think they're gonna write the
ship just in time to have a winning season and say, gosh,
(03:55):
Gollie g we're gonna get him next year.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
And that's part of the problem. I almost want them
to finish under five hundred at this point, Jeff, because
I think there needs to be some soul searching in
this organization. That's not gonna happen if they finish over
five hundred. I think if they finish over five hundred,
they say, man, we were close.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
Some things didn't go our way.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Another year of development for these guys, like we're on
the right track. Things are, things are almost there, and
I think if this thing falls flat at the end,
I think they do have to ask some questions and
they have to look inward and say, how do we
fix this offense because it is broken. They strike out
(04:35):
too much, they don't hit any any home runs. Jeff,
I I've read, I don't know if you heard earlier,
this is a three outcome team, Jeff walks, single, strikeouts
and singles.
Speaker 4 (04:48):
That's not it. That's not the formula, Brother.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
No, that's that's definitely not And I mean it's it's
ironic in that one of the few hits that they
got in the finale in Los Angeles was a solo
home run, because up until that point they were fifty
to twenty six in games where they hit a home run.
So it's like, just hit home runs. But for whatever reason,
that doesn't seem to be part of the of the
(05:12):
recipe with this team. And I think that that's the
tough part too, is that when you look around this
roster and the fact that they felt the need to
play noelvi Marte in centerfield on Tuesday, that just really
underscores the problem here, and that is they have put
together a team that they feel confident can win eighty
three to eighty four games and if everything goes right,
(05:34):
then they're in the playoff race. But their goal was
eighty three or eighty four wins, and so they're on
pace to hit that. They're on pace to hit their goal.
So they're going to go into the offseason feeling really
good about what they did. The question is gonna be
does that improve or do they look at everything that
they've done and they say, noelvi Marte has outfield experience,
we don't need an outfielder. We're getting a bunch of
(05:56):
pitchers back from injuries, so our pitching staff's going to
be fine, and we can move guys into the bullpen
who don't fit into our starting rotation, so we don't
need to go rebuild the bullpen, although they are losing
Emilio Pagan and they're losing a couple of other guys.
So there's definitely a realm of reality where those who
would go super scorch strength negative about this team kind
(06:20):
of have a point. And it's really hard to dive
into the optimistic side of things and how this team
is growing when you look at some guys and you say, boy,
the main thing that I'm looking at with him is hope.
Because the other part of this and I know that
it'll be an off season discussion. I'm sure we're going
to talk about it a lot over the next six months,
(06:41):
and that is do you move Elie de la Cruz
to the outfield? That doesn't answer anything, It just moves
one question to another place.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
But here's my only like, this is the point I
made I think last week, Jeff. The problem with Ellie
short right now as it currently stands, they have made
it clear they are not gonna spend big on a
bat like a on a true thirty five forty home
(07:13):
run guy. If they produce one internally, great, but they're
not going to go into the open market and do that.
If you don't do that, the offense is regardless going
to be in a similar position next year as it
is this year because you're not able to completely overhaul
things in a season. If he can't fix his issues
(07:37):
in the field, it's costing them games. Like, we are
past the point he's going into year four next year,
we are past the point of going He'll figure it out.
He'll figure it out, He'll figure it out. I have
been the most staunched. Ellie's a shortstop guy that I know.
But I'm looking at it now and saying, if they
(07:58):
are going to force the air the margin of to
be this small, I have to wonder what his future
is in the field.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
The only problem because I like the idea of exploring
other options with him, but the only problem with that
is you then open up two question marks. Number One,
can he fit in the outfield, because we've seen two
different outcomes with that with shortstops moving into the outfield.
Fernando Tatis looks like a Platinum Gloves candidate for the
(08:29):
National League and O'Neil Cruz. You just hope he catches
the ball because he's very mediocre in center field, but
he doesn't work at shortstop. And if that's what the
Reds solution is to move Alli de la Cruz to
the outfield. So okay, you open up that question of
what type of field or will he be out there?
How healthy will he be out there? And then the
(08:51):
second question that you answer that you bring up is
who's going to play shortstop now? Because you've moved everybody
else away, right, And if it's if Matt McClain is
your answer, then you have to answer ask you know,
is he gonna hit? Is he gonna figure things out?
Because I want to believe that this is a sophomore slump.
I want to believe that this is you know, he's
(09:12):
still coming back from the injury. But it's a large
sample size now that we've seen of him just very yeah. Yeah.
So so do you move noelv Martelle back to short step? Well,
I don't know that he's much in the infield. I
think we're liking what we see potential wise in the
(09:32):
right field. So then do you call it Edwin Arroyo?
Guy has no power whatsoever, like less than the Reds won.
So it's it's so frustrating right now to look at that,
because it does feel like the first solution that the
Reds will seek out to fill other positions of need
is to move guys around, and that has not worked
(09:55):
for them because they have not trained those guys. Those
guys have not developed that position. They developed at the
position that the Reds drafted in that and then they
got up to the major leagues and went ogi, we
can only play one short stop, so we got to
move all these other guys.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
It is part of the I suggested this earlier. It
is part of the fix to this. If they are
going to stick to this, we're drafting the best athlete.
We're drafting shortstops because shortstops are the best athlete. Then
you know what, when you make that decision to pull
the trigger, you make a decision where do we see
(10:31):
this guy, and you make that move early in their
career so that they spend those years in the minors
in development. If you want him to be a corner outfielder,
play them at both spots, figure out which won their
best at. If you want him at third, play them
at third. If you want him at second, play him
at second, But enough of this. We're gonna play him
at shortstop, ride them all the way up to the
(10:51):
major leagues, and then when they get to the highest
level of the sport, then we'll decide what to do
with them.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
That's dumb, No, it's it's one hundred percent what's happened,
and that's what we're looking at this problem, and they
refuse to go actually acquire the position players that they need.
Like you cannot continue to just keep moving outfielders or
infielders into the outfield and saying we fixed the outfield
because you just ask different questions of guys that you
(11:21):
had questions about on the infield. Right, So then you
move into the outfield and the questions change, they don't
go away. You're just you're, you're It's a lateral move
right now, like Nolai Marteta, right field is a lateral
move that it seems to be ticking up a little bit.
But don't start telling us that he's a center fielder now.
Because he played the game out there in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (11:42):
He's got experience in center field. I saw it, Jeff, I.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Saw Kyle Farmers a catcher thing right, like I just
it's so frustrating because there is so much talent, but
it feels like it's very mismanaged and very misplaced.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Agreed, agreed, here is no matter what happens, Jeff, I
think this is a critical next twenty eight games. And
I'll tell you why I think it is a critical
next twenty eight games because when we get to February,
January and February, I do not want to look at
the pitching staff and say.
Speaker 4 (12:21):
I trust these guys.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I know they're good, but I also know none of
them have pitched into August in September. I know none
of them have been in high leverage situations. I know
none of them have seen their innings count go one
forty one to fifty. Outside of Brady Singer, everybody else
has been below that mark. I need this group to
get to the finish line because if this isn't the year,
(12:47):
and it's looking very much more likely that it's not,
I don't want to have the same questions about pitchers.
I think are very good and I trust, but I
always what is that one thing sticks out? And the
one thing that sticks out is they had four starters
that had never thrown more than one hundred and sixty innings,
(13:08):
and injuries might prevent like the actual number from getting
up there. But I need to see these guys finish this,
and I expand that to the whole team. I have
one expectation for them the rest of this year, and
it's something they haven't done, and it's something that looks
really hard for them to do.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
But for the rest of this year, and I'm not
saying a little bit here and then not so much there,
the rest of this year, play clean baseball and let's
see what happens. You know, I don't know that that's
going to get them where they need to go, because
clean baseball could still mean that they get eighty four,
maybe eighty five wins, and then you really are hoping
(13:49):
for a collapse from the Mets or the Padres or
even the Phillies. The Phillies seem like they're collapsing right
now and they've lost their race to a crazy, crazy
blood clot issue. But at the same time, like all
of that being said, just take care of what you
can take care of, because they haven't done that. There's
been so many points in this season where we just
(14:10):
scratch our heads as though it looks like you can
make some sort of you could try to throw some
sort of excuse out there and be like, well, it's early,
it's no longer early. It's not being early about two
months ago and we're still seeing the same early mistake.
So just play clean baseball and let's see what happens
the bullpen.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
Is it time to panic kind of about where the
state of the bullpen?
Speaker 4 (14:35):
As we get into this last month.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
I had felt I felt pretty good about it coming
out of last year. I felt pretty good about it
for a good chunk of this year. But boy, the
wheels have been wobbling for a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:49):
Now. I am hopeful. But I'm hopeful, let's go with that,
because I think that Ashcraft is going to return at
some point. But that's not the reason I'm hopeful. I
think he could be replaced by Maxwell or Phillips, one
of the two, and maybe it's a little bit of both,
(15:11):
because those guys stuff, the stuff that they have is
just so fantastic. And I think that we have seen,
and Cowboy has said this on the broadcast a couple
of different times, we've seen a little bit of maturing
in the way that Connor Phillips pitches and he's a
little bit better at commanding, and then if the command
falls apart, he's able to right the ship on the
(15:32):
next step. Mat because in twenty twenty three when we
saw him and in twenty twenty four in the Miners
when he got sent to Arizona to like figure some
things out, when he lost command, he lost control of
the game. But we saw it in Los Angeles he
lost command where he walked two guys in a row
and you're like, oh boy, here we go. But he's
able to buckle down and finish that any And I
(15:54):
really think there's something to these guys that they could
improve the B squad side this bullpen and help out
the A squad and Pagan and Santion so that they're
not half in the pitch every other day, which we
haven't seen them in a few days, just because the
Reds haven't played that well. And so I think that ultimately,
I'm still hopeful that the bullpen can hold its own
(16:14):
the rest of this year.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Is it gonna need work in the off season or
do you look at it and say, we think, like
you said, Pegan is probably gonna be gone out It
would be a surprise to see them pay what he's
probably gonna command in the open market. But future wise,
do you look at this thing and say, I feel
confident with the foundation of the bullpen.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
They definitely need well, yes, I feel confident about the
foundation of the bullpen. They're gonna need to fill in
the margins. They're gonna need to make sure that they
really support the guys next year, because I don't know
that Graham Ashcraft has pitched his way into the closer
role like we thought in one year. I think we're
gonna need to see this one more year to see
if the experiment's gonna work. I'm okay with the idea
(17:03):
of Tony Santion being the closer, but I think that
they need to really bring in a strong setup man
to lead into him, because if you let Hagan walk, which,
like you said, I agree with you, I think that
he gets a big deal somewhere else, then you're going
to have to replace that spot on the A squad.
(17:23):
There's nobody that's really jumped up for me to be like, yes,
that guy can be trusted in the biggest of situations.
Maybe Scott Barlowe, but again, he's becoming free agent too,
so do you bring him back? And I would like
to see that because I think they've ran that dude
into the ground and yet he's still pitching pretty well.
So ultimately there's definitely going to be some open seats
(17:45):
that they have to fill through free agency or trades
or whatever. But yes, I do agree. I think I
like the Bullpen foundation moving forward.
Speaker 4 (17:54):
Job Who you got tonight?
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Wellcats? Okous?
Speaker 4 (18:01):
Okay? You got you got any breakdown of the game?
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Have you have you researched any you got any insight,
you got any feelings about it?
Speaker 3 (18:08):
I think they're going to control the ball well. I
think that we're gonna see a nice, uh running offense
that really takes the pressure off of you know, Brent Sorsby,
and I think that he's going to ultimately make the
plays he needs to make. I feel good about the
Bearcats winning a low scoring affair.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
You're gonna come down and join us at the Holy
Grail watch the game. I think Taron Blant's coming down there.
Speaker 3 (18:31):
I might. I might have to see if I can.
I know we got a lot going on with the
Lockdown Network, Big Squad show going on tonight, so we'll.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
Kick off not un till nine o'clock. Bro, We're gonna
be there until past midnight. We're gonna be there for
a while. I'm gonna tell you what. He's late game.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
That's, you know, from a completely fan perspective, until at
the West Coast road trip is over me.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
Well, there's another one coming in another week and a half,
so get ready for it.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Jeff, Thank you so much.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
Man.
Speaker 4 (18:58):
Where can they find you?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
You can always follow the Lockdown Reds podcast everywhere you
get your podcasts, including the iHeartRadio app. You can also
watch us on YouTube and follow me on the Socials
on x and on TikTok at Jeff Carr with three.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
F's appreciate you, Jeff ff Cary. There you go, Jeff Carr.
I drill. That man's unflappable, unflappable. That's the that's the
perfect word to describe Jeff Carr. That man is one
night of sleep and.
Speaker 4 (19:26):
We're right back, right back on it, baby, right back
on it. I love it.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
I love it because I feel like I'm being cynical
about the Reds right now. I need Jeff Carr's shot
of optimism. Speaking of shots of optimism, talkbacks next since
he three sixty.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifty there
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