May 7, 2025 • 20 mins
The Reds are struggling. So Tony Pike calls on Jeff Carr to try and make sense of what is going on with the Reds during their 4-game losing streak.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Cincy Shirts since e three sixty, about Cincinnati
from Cincinnati, sponsored in part by Cinci Shirts. Cincy Shirts
All Cincy, all Day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
All right, welcome back. It's our two since e three
sixty thanks to Cinci Shirts. The Hunter Green Man of
the People shirt available right now Cinci shirts dot com,
as well as the Ellida La Cruz soccer jersey also available.
We have tried, Drew and I have done our best
to sort through everything as it relates to the Cincinnati
(00:36):
Reds and our number one, and quite frankly, I just
don't know how to do it anymore. I need help.
I need help from someone that I trust to give
us the best baseball knowledge around the Reds that we can.
So I reached out to Jeff car today. I said,
I need you today. I need to figure out what's
going on with the Reds. We need a state of
(00:57):
the franchise, and Jeff was happy to oblige. He joined
this right now. Jeff Carr, what's up.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Jeff Tony. I have myself a nice flavored coffee from
a local shop. I have myself a pretty mid frozen
breakfast Sandwich. He even watched a couple of angles of
Tyres Halliburton just demoralizing Cavaliers fans. And I'm still stuck
on this game because the way that the Reds have
played all season long, I defy anybody to tell me
(01:26):
that they're bad. But I also don't think they're they're good.
They're almost yeah, and it's so frustrating. It's the problem
that I go back to. They've had nine games now
where they've scored zero or one runs. They're one and
eight in those, they're three and six in one run games.
I saw Charlie Goldsmith mentioned last night that you could
probably make an argument for ten games in which they
should have won or you felt like they could have won.
(01:47):
They lost all of them, and yet they are one
game under five hundred. The starting pitching has been phenomenal.
Let's start with last night, and then let's let's broaden
it from there. Let's even go before the game, because
there's this window so now where Austin Hayes is expected
to be back Friday, but they've got a roster spot
open because of what happened to Tyler Callahan, and everyone assumes, okay,
(02:09):
resigns will Benson. You look at the numbers after last night,
Resigns is now homered in three straight games, and yet
the Reds go to Jacob Herdabees, whose stats do not
compare to either of those. What did you make of
that move in itself? Even before last night's game? The
only way that I can even explain it because quite frankly,
(02:30):
I'm with you guys, totally disagreed with the decision that
they made. But the only way that I can explain
it is that they don't want Resigns sitting on the
bench for three or four days in a row, or
you know, for the majority of games in three or
four straight days, and that's what this person is going
to do, Like Jacob Hurdabees is going to be like
(02:51):
a late game replacement. Maybe he plays here or there
until Austin Hayes gets back. But they did not want
to dis up to what they felt like as the
development process of Resigns. But that is me squinting, turning
my head sideways, making sure that the lights are down low,
and jumping up and down in a three sixty circle
to try and understand exactly why it was Jacob Hrbebe's
(03:15):
because You're right, like Reese sins has really turned it
on here recently, and albeit if he has one game
with four strikeouts, but Will Benson has played pretty well
at Triple A, and I just feel like there were
other options and Will Benson being a left handed option
if you wanted to make the argument they had to
keep it a left handed hitter. I just I don't understand,
(03:36):
and I think it's the Reds also telling us with
their actions and with their inactions in certain areas that
they don't love their depth. Because I feel like Nick
Caral had to poke his head into Terry Francona's office
and say, hey, Tito, we were calling up herd to
Bees and at that moment, Tito just happened to be
talking to Santiago est But and Gavin Lux about playing
(03:59):
more outfield time. And whenever Nick Crawl left his office,
Tito was probably like, h yeah, so I mentioned you
guys are outfield more right. It's just it's a comedy
of errors, like you guys have said of trying to
get this team to where they want to be, and.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Then you lose Marte before the start of the game yesterday.
So now Austin wins has to play first, Spencer Steeer's
got to go to left. Espinall's got to come into third.
It's just you can't get comfortable at any place you're at.
It just continues to pile up. Let's talk about the
game itself, but before the ninth inning, seventeen strikeouts, Tyler Stevenson,
(04:34):
the rare five strikeout game, multiple strikeout games from Blake Dunn,
Spencer Steer, Ellie de la Cruz. What do you make
right now of just the overall approach from this Reds
offense that you're seeing from a game in game out standpoint.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
They seem to be flipped almost on what it is
they're swinging at and what it is they're looking at.
And my biggest example of that was Ellie's final strikeout
of the night where he was facing right Glasias and
he swung at two pitches that were lowing outside the
zone and he struck out looking on a pitch right
down the middle. So clearly he went up to the
plate with some sort of scouting report in his brain
(05:12):
of this is what you're gonna see and this is
what you need to hit, and then he saw something
that wasn't a part of that, and he was just
flabbergasted by it. And then he watched multiple bats from
Blake Dunn where Chris Sayle threw that breaking ball and
it broke right over the middle of the plate, and
I swear I maybe saw five or six of those
(05:32):
exact pitches that Blake done specifically, and he never swung
it any of them. He just completely laid off it.
I almost wonder if there's such a scouting report right
now that the Reds are giving to their hitters as
they walk up to the plate, and it's zapping them
out of it, like it doesn't feel like they're approaching
each and every bat or each and every pitch like
(05:54):
they're letting it come to them. They're trying to force
the issue, and that's why we're seeing these performances where,
I mean, they scored two runs in twenty seven innings.
This is hard to win a baseball game when you
do that. And yet they were right there last night.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
The ninth inning, the play from Matt McClain, the hesitation
Terry Francona. He alluded to the fact that the throw
kind of pushes him more towards the second base side,
which creates a problem in itself, But anyone who's played
baseball or been around baseball knows that as that ball's
coming in, you should have some people are multiple people
(06:30):
yelling to Matt McClain where the ball's going. The hesitation
obviously cost the run because it was a bang bang play.
After the hesitation, if he turns and throws that home,
Stuart Fairchild's out and the Reds got a good chance
to win that game. Where do you stake blame. It's
not the first time that a fundamental air has cost
this team. It certainly cost them last night. How do
(06:51):
you view the play and the ninth with Matt McLain's throw.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
It's easy to place the blame on the guy with
the ball, and I definitely don't think he's blameless in this,
But I put more blame on Spencer Steer. That is
a play where he's got to be the man out
in short right field calling for the ball with his
hands up, ready to throw the ball home. Because when
you have a runner coming home and the ball's in
right field, the play is to the cutoff man of
(07:15):
the first base spot, the second base guy. I mean,
it looked like Matt McClain wasn't ready for it because
he shouldn't have had to been ready for it. That
was Spencer Steer's play to have. And then whenever Matt
McClain gets the ball as the cutoff man, your back
is to the rest of the diamond. You don't know
where the runners are. You need somebody in your ear.
And it was clear that wasn't the case because when
(07:36):
he turned around and saw Stu hadn't even broke stride
running around third base like That's why it surprised him
so much because he did not know. And for me,
it's an annoying play that a lot of people are
putting almost one hundred percent of the blame on Matt McClain,
but I put the blame on the infield as a whole.
(07:58):
Somebody's got to be yelling at him smart, yelling home,
home home. Spencer Steers got to be the one to
get that cutoff play. I mean, how many times do
we see Joey Vado get the cutoff play whenever he
was the guy at first base. That is the play,
it is not to Matt McClain.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Speaking of Matt McClain, he has been a topic of
conversation and you hate the pile on someone. But I
feel like for a lot of folks, we just continue
to push the goalpost back a little bit because he
missed all last year and you know it's not going
to click right away. But I've been people, well, you know,
you give him fifty at bats on the season, give
him seventy five at bats on the season. Now he's
got one hundred and three at bats on the season.
(08:37):
The strikeout numbers have been through the roof. The average
sits at one sixty five, and oddly enough, at least
in my opinion, he continues to play in the two hole. Now.
I am not out there clamoring and saying you got
to send him down, but can you send him down
in the order? Maybe an off day here there. And
I know the lineup's in a tough spot right now
with all the injuries, but can you make the case
(09:00):
in your opinion, to move Matt McClain down in the
order a little bit, maybe take some pressure off in
that way.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I could definitely see that working, especially with a guy
who gets on base so well and Gavin Lux that
you could put in that number two spot very easily.
But I will say this on behalf of Matt McClain.
Like here recently, he's actually turned it on. And I
know he had the rough strikeout and fly out in
a couple of key scenarios later on in Tuesday Night's game,
but he had a hit by pitch, he had a walk,
(09:28):
and he had a hit. So he's on base three times.
And I think that we're getting to the point where
he is starting to catch up to the speed of
the game. His bat speed early on, and I love
that Baseball Savant gives us bat speed because it's an
easy way to tell just where a hitter is at.
And his bat speed was very slow. League average is
about seventy three miles an hour. He was averaging about
(09:49):
sixty nine miles an hour on his bat speed for
his first like ten to twenty games something like that.
It's really started to creep up here recently. And that's
the same with Spencer's st year. That's why we started
to see some results for him. And that's the biggest
reason why I think Tyler Stevenson, albeit he had a
couple of really good first games, his last couple of
(10:09):
games have been rough because his bat is still a
little bit slow. These guys trying to get their bat
up there and get the speed up there, and I
think McLain is getting to that point where we're going
to see that turnaround. He's had great quality of contract metrics.
He's just had really rough babbit and a really high
strikeout rate. But even in twenty twenty three when he
was super good, he still struck out more than thirty
(10:30):
percent of the time. So I think the strikeouts is
just who he is. It's whenever the rest of his
game isn't hitting, that's when you see the numbers that
concern you.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Someone that's not having a problem right now. Santiago Espanol,
in your opinion, does he become a player that you've
got to have on the field every single day right
now after the Reds.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I think so, especially with the different injuries. I mean,
if Marte's gonna hit the il, then Espinol's your guy
third base because if you need a hit, he's your guy.
He's not going to strike out in a tough spot.
He's he's probably not going to give you a home
run when you need it, but he's going to put
the ball in play. And that's all they needed last
night with Ellie on second base, because he is one
(11:13):
of like the handful of guys in the entire sport
that if you put him on second base and somebody
puts the ball into the outfield and it hits the grass,
that guy's scoring. And Santiago Espinal knew that and he
was able to just perfectly place the ball into the outfield.
That is what he does with his bat. You're never
gonna see him slug like four fifty for a season,
(11:36):
But I also think his betting average is always going
to be around two seventy to eighty, and that's the
kind of guy that you need somewhere in your lineup.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Outside of of what we've talked about with Matt McClain,
how do you view the rest of this lineup coming together?
Because we've seen the offensive explosions in a couple of games,
We've seen far too many games like we saw last night,
where it just looks like it completely team taking a
different approach at the bat. Who are some players that
you're looking at that you feel like are close or
(12:06):
players that you can pretty much rely on on a
day in, day out basis.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
I'm definitely loving what I'm seeing from Spencer Steer here. Recently,
we're getting back to the point where he can be
counted on to be in that five to six range
in the lineup and you can get a lot of
production out of him. I think spent. I think Tyler
Stevenson is going to be fine. I'm not worried about
him at all. And then when Austin Hayes gets back,
(12:31):
it's so weird to think that a guy who just
got here this year and has barely played is probably
the most important player in this line he's not here,
they don't score, and when you get him back, I
feel like things are going to even out a lot more.
You're going to be able to play Steer at first base,
keep Hayes in the outfield, and then you could even
(12:51):
make the case. And this is something that I would
like to see them try a little bit. Maybe move
Hayes to right field, create a latune in left field
with Gavin Lux and Santiago Espinal and then that's, of course,
if Noelvie Marte is healthy and playing third base, and
if you need to play Espinol at third base, then
you can you Steer in the outfield and then you
(13:13):
use Wins at first base. I kind of liked what
they did with Wins playing first base last night, even
though that was just his second game ever at that position,
but he looked like he's played there before. So if
you can keep that up and keep his bat in
the lineup, I think that's how you finagle this thing
right now, where it seems like the guys that we
wanted to be big and Cees and Jamie Candelario are
(13:35):
nowhere to be found because they're hurt and they've been
playing horribly so far this season. So you got to
come up with some other solutions. And right now, Austin
Wins is hitting a lot more than a lot of
other guys are.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
It's hard to argue anything with what the staff has
done up to this point in the season. Nick Martinez
hit a little rough stretch. I think he's been better
in his last couple outings. Brady Singer has been solid.
You're getting great stuff out of Lodolo. Hunter Green is
a category in his own right now. But talk a
little bit about who we saw last night, Andrew Abbot,
I know, just five innings, but the strikeout numbers up,
(14:08):
the walk numbers non existent last night. What do you
make of what you've seen through just five starts from
Andrew Abbot.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
That was a huge start for him because his first
couple of starts were also nails, and then he sort
of hit a snag there for a couple of outings
and people were starting to wonder. But I firmly believe
that he is proven to be one of the best
five pitchers in this organization. I think their starting staff
right now is pretty solid. Even if Rhet louder Like
(14:36):
is healthy and pitching in Triple A and ready to go.
I find a hard find a hard case to knock
anybody out of this starting five and replacing them with
Rehet louder just because of how consistent they have all been.
And last night was just another example of how many
different amazing performances the Reds have wasted because of lineup
(14:58):
ineptitude and things like that. But I really feel like
this starting pitching staff is exactly what we thought they
could be. As far as like the optimistic point of view,
they're the reason that this team is going to get
where they need to get. They just need some support
when it comes to the scoreboard.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
When you look at how things have panned out, how
are you categorizing the start of the season up until now,
because there are folks out there that's a well, one
game under five hundred. You're not in a terrible spot
from an NL Central standpoint, you're only four games back.
But you also look at that in the sense of
the schedule was very inviting through the first thirty seven
(15:36):
for the Cincinnati Reds, and maybe you view it as
they didn't take advantage of enough of those opportunities. How
do you view the season to this point as a whole,
if you're looking at a bigger.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Picture, I think whatever the it depends on what app
or what system or what computer view using, but whatever
the picture is. For Buffering still kind of there with
with this team, because it feels like there's a couple
of days a week where man, this is the this
is the potential that we see in them, this is
(16:08):
what they can be. And then there's a couple of
days a week there they're like, oh boy, how far
away are these guys? So they've got to find that
middle ground and that's why where's That's why Charlie said,
you know, they've lost so many games that they can win,
and he also said in that tweet, He's just like,
I don't feel like they've won any games that look
like they should have lost to this point. So really
(16:29):
in that category, they're like h to ten. But they're
also a five hundred team right now or you know,
one game under five hundred. I think as long as
they can just stay afloat around five hundred and then
they hit some sort of hot stretch in the middle
of the summer and we're talking about an over five
hundred team at the All Star break, then that's really
where I start to get excited about them reaching their
(16:51):
potential because they need to win eighty eight games, I
believe to win the division. I don't buy the Cubs,
especially losing Justin Steele and show to Immanaga is now
on the IL. Their lineup is going to keep them
in every single game that they play, but their pitching
staff is going to hurt them in every single game
that they play. So I feel like they can be got.
(17:11):
And I don't buy the Brewers either. It's just I'm
having a hard time saying that I completely buy the Reds,
like it's the NL Central as a whole is as
a division, and I've I've talked with other Lockdown hosts
that cover teams and other divisions. They all look at
the NL Central like, gosh, I wish our team play there.
Even the Rockies guy says that. So there's there's something
(17:35):
about this division that it doesn't seem like anybody has
taken the reins and it's just gonna run away with
this thing. So that's where I say, if you can
just keep afloat, maybe get rip against Atlanta and Houston,
who are both good teams in their own right but
are having slow starts to the season, then we can
(17:57):
really start thinking about if they can make a run off.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Lastly, in that same sense, I had Rob Dibble in
the show a couple of weeks. He said, you know,
with a new manager, I think you get a pretty
good feel of the team fifty games. In same question
from a team standpoint, let me ask you from a
Terry Francona standpoint, how do you view the tenure up
to this point of Terry Francona and what he's brought
to this team.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
I think he's solid, He's made He's made as many
good calls as he's made bad calls. I know that
we overweigh the bad calls, and there's still a lot
of people that are just like, how on Earth. Could
you put Lion Richardson in the tenth ending that game
in Atlanta? But quite frankly, they lost that game on
that stupid play of the cutoff man. But I feel
(18:42):
like there's been plenty of calls that we all just
don't even really acknowledge because they were such good calls.
And I think that's who Terry Francona is, and I
think that he's going to ultimately get the best out
of these guys. I know that there's a lot of
folks that every time they lose, they all say, well, stee,
he's not gonna fix this, But they're still time And
(19:05):
I know we hate saying that, but I still think
that there's time for him to write the ship here.
And there was even some tone. I saw this before
the season too. There's some people that said this season
is gonna be okay, and then next season is going
to be the thing, And that's not what we want
to hear because we always say wait till next season.
But I still think they've got a shot this season.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Jeff, you're the best man. I respect everything you do
in your coverage of the Cincinnati Reds. What is the
easiest way for listeners to follow along with everything he
got going on.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
You can follow us on all the podcasting apps out there,
including the iHeartRadio app. You can also watch us on
YouTube and I'm on the socials as well on x
and on TikTok and Twitter or I already said Twitter
at Jeff Carr with three f's.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
You're the best man. Thank you so much. I look
forward to talking again soon. Jeff.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Thanks ton, Go right, sir.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
There he is Jeff Carr all over the beat for
the Cincinnati Read certainly appreciate his time as much as
I appreciate your time for listening each and every single day.
When we come back, it's your official time. It's talkbacks next,
thanks to CINCI shirts on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
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This is Cincy Shirts since e three sixty, about Cincinnati
from Cincinnati, sponsored in part by Cinci Shirts. Cincy Shirts
All Cincy, all Day. This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati
Sports Station.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
All right, welcome back. It's our two since e three
sixty thanks to Cinci Shirts. The Hunter Green Man of
the People shirt available right now Cinci shirts dot com,
as well as the Ellida La Cruz soccer jersey also available.
We have tried, Drew and I have done our best
to sort through everything as it relates to the Cincinnati
(00:36):
Reds and our number one, and quite frankly, I just
don't know how to do it anymore. I need help.
I need help from someone that I trust to give
us the best baseball knowledge around the Reds that we can.
So I reached out to Jeff car today. I said,
I need you today. I need to figure out what's
going on with the Reds. We need a state of
(00:57):
the franchise, and Jeff was happy to oblige. He joined
this right now. Jeff Carr, what's up.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Jeff Tony. I have myself a nice flavored coffee from
a local shop. I have myself a pretty mid frozen
breakfast Sandwich. He even watched a couple of angles of
Tyres Halliburton just demoralizing Cavaliers fans. And I'm still stuck
on this game because the way that the Reds have
played all season long, I defy anybody to tell me
(01:26):
that they're bad. But I also don't think they're they're good.
They're almost yeah, and it's so frustrating. It's the problem
that I go back to. They've had nine games now
where they've scored zero or one runs. They're one and
eight in those, they're three and six in one run games.
I saw Charlie Goldsmith mentioned last night that you could
probably make an argument for ten games in which they
should have won or you felt like they could have won.
(01:47):
They lost all of them, and yet they are one
game under five hundred. The starting pitching has been phenomenal.
Let's start with last night, and then let's let's broaden
it from there. Let's even go before the game, because
there's this window so now where Austin Hayes is expected
to be back Friday, but they've got a roster spot
open because of what happened to Tyler Callahan, and everyone assumes, okay,
(02:09):
resigns will Benson. You look at the numbers after last night,
Resigns is now homered in three straight games, and yet
the Reds go to Jacob Herdabees, whose stats do not
compare to either of those. What did you make of
that move in itself? Even before last night's game? The
only way that I can even explain it because quite frankly,
(02:30):
I'm with you guys, totally disagreed with the decision that
they made. But the only way that I can explain
it is that they don't want Resigns sitting on the
bench for three or four days in a row, or
you know, for the majority of games in three or
four straight days, and that's what this person is going
to do, Like Jacob Hurdabees is going to be like
(02:51):
a late game replacement. Maybe he plays here or there
until Austin Hayes gets back. But they did not want
to dis up to what they felt like as the
development process of Resigns. But that is me squinting, turning
my head sideways, making sure that the lights are down low,
and jumping up and down in a three sixty circle
to try and understand exactly why it was Jacob Hrbebe's
(03:15):
because You're right, like Reese sins has really turned it
on here recently, and albeit if he has one game
with four strikeouts, but Will Benson has played pretty well
at Triple A, and I just feel like there were
other options and Will Benson being a left handed option
if you wanted to make the argument they had to
keep it a left handed hitter. I just I don't understand,
(03:36):
and I think it's the Reds also telling us with
their actions and with their inactions in certain areas that
they don't love their depth. Because I feel like Nick
Caral had to poke his head into Terry Francona's office
and say, hey, Tito, we were calling up herd to
Bees and at that moment, Tito just happened to be
talking to Santiago est But and Gavin Lux about playing
(03:59):
more outfield time. And whenever Nick Crawl left his office,
Tito was probably like, h yeah, so I mentioned you
guys are outfield more right. It's just it's a comedy
of errors, like you guys have said of trying to
get this team to where they want to be, and.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Then you lose Marte before the start of the game yesterday.
So now Austin wins has to play first, Spencer Steeer's
got to go to left. Espinall's got to come into third.
It's just you can't get comfortable at any place you're at.
It just continues to pile up. Let's talk about the
game itself, but before the ninth inning, seventeen strikeouts, Tyler Stevenson,
(04:34):
the rare five strikeout game, multiple strikeout games from Blake Dunn,
Spencer Steer, Ellie de la Cruz. What do you make
right now of just the overall approach from this Reds
offense that you're seeing from a game in game out standpoint.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
They seem to be flipped almost on what it is
they're swinging at and what it is they're looking at.
And my biggest example of that was Ellie's final strikeout
of the night where he was facing right Glasias and
he swung at two pitches that were lowing outside the
zone and he struck out looking on a pitch right
down the middle. So clearly he went up to the
plate with some sort of scouting report in his brain
(05:12):
of this is what you're gonna see and this is
what you need to hit, and then he saw something
that wasn't a part of that, and he was just
flabbergasted by it. And then he watched multiple bats from
Blake Dunn where Chris Sayle threw that breaking ball and
it broke right over the middle of the plate, and
I swear I maybe saw five or six of those
(05:32):
exact pitches that Blake done specifically, and he never swung
it any of them. He just completely laid off it.
I almost wonder if there's such a scouting report right
now that the Reds are giving to their hitters as
they walk up to the plate, and it's zapping them
out of it, like it doesn't feel like they're approaching
each and every bat or each and every pitch like
(05:54):
they're letting it come to them. They're trying to force
the issue, and that's why we're seeing these performances where,
I mean, they scored two runs in twenty seven innings.
This is hard to win a baseball game when you
do that. And yet they were right there last night.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
The ninth inning, the play from Matt McClain, the hesitation
Terry Francona. He alluded to the fact that the throw
kind of pushes him more towards the second base side,
which creates a problem in itself, But anyone who's played
baseball or been around baseball knows that as that ball's
coming in, you should have some people are multiple people
(06:30):
yelling to Matt McClain where the ball's going. The hesitation
obviously cost the run because it was a bang bang play.
After the hesitation, if he turns and throws that home,
Stuart Fairchild's out and the Reds got a good chance
to win that game. Where do you stake blame. It's
not the first time that a fundamental air has cost
this team. It certainly cost them last night. How do
(06:51):
you view the play and the ninth with Matt McLain's throw.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
It's easy to place the blame on the guy with
the ball, and I definitely don't think he's blameless in this,
But I put more blame on Spencer Steer. That is
a play where he's got to be the man out
in short right field calling for the ball with his
hands up, ready to throw the ball home. Because when
you have a runner coming home and the ball's in
right field, the play is to the cutoff man of
(07:15):
the first base spot, the second base guy. I mean,
it looked like Matt McClain wasn't ready for it because
he shouldn't have had to been ready for it. That
was Spencer Steer's play to have. And then whenever Matt
McClain gets the ball as the cutoff man, your back
is to the rest of the diamond. You don't know
where the runners are. You need somebody in your ear.
And it was clear that wasn't the case because when
(07:36):
he turned around and saw Stu hadn't even broke stride
running around third base like That's why it surprised him
so much because he did not know. And for me,
it's an annoying play that a lot of people are
putting almost one hundred percent of the blame on Matt McClain,
but I put the blame on the infield as a whole.
(07:58):
Somebody's got to be yelling at him smart, yelling home,
home home. Spencer Steers got to be the one to
get that cutoff play. I mean, how many times do
we see Joey Vado get the cutoff play whenever he
was the guy at first base. That is the play,
it is not to Matt McClain.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
Speaking of Matt McClain, he has been a topic of
conversation and you hate the pile on someone. But I
feel like for a lot of folks, we just continue
to push the goalpost back a little bit because he
missed all last year and you know it's not going
to click right away. But I've been people, well, you know,
you give him fifty at bats on the season, give
him seventy five at bats on the season. Now he's
got one hundred and three at bats on the season.
(08:37):
The strikeout numbers have been through the roof. The average
sits at one sixty five, and oddly enough, at least
in my opinion, he continues to play in the two hole. Now.
I am not out there clamoring and saying you got
to send him down, but can you send him down
in the order? Maybe an off day here there. And
I know the lineup's in a tough spot right now
with all the injuries, but can you make the case
(09:00):
in your opinion, to move Matt McClain down in the
order a little bit, maybe take some pressure off in
that way.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I could definitely see that working, especially with a guy
who gets on base so well and Gavin Lux that
you could put in that number two spot very easily.
But I will say this on behalf of Matt McClain.
Like here recently, he's actually turned it on. And I
know he had the rough strikeout and fly out in
a couple of key scenarios later on in Tuesday Night's game,
but he had a hit by pitch, he had a walk,
(09:28):
and he had a hit. So he's on base three times.
And I think that we're getting to the point where
he is starting to catch up to the speed of
the game. His bat speed early on, and I love
that Baseball Savant gives us bat speed because it's an
easy way to tell just where a hitter is at.
And his bat speed was very slow. League average is
about seventy three miles an hour. He was averaging about
(09:49):
sixty nine miles an hour on his bat speed for
his first like ten to twenty games something like that.
It's really started to creep up here recently. And that's
the same with Spencer's st year. That's why we started
to see some results for him. And that's the biggest
reason why I think Tyler Stevenson, albeit he had a
couple of really good first games, his last couple of
(10:09):
games have been rough because his bat is still a
little bit slow. These guys trying to get their bat
up there and get the speed up there, and I
think McLain is getting to that point where we're going
to see that turnaround. He's had great quality of contract metrics.
He's just had really rough babbit and a really high
strikeout rate. But even in twenty twenty three when he
was super good, he still struck out more than thirty
(10:30):
percent of the time. So I think the strikeouts is
just who he is. It's whenever the rest of his
game isn't hitting, that's when you see the numbers that
concern you.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Someone that's not having a problem right now. Santiago Espanol,
in your opinion, does he become a player that you've
got to have on the field every single day right
now after the Reds.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I think so, especially with the different injuries. I mean,
if Marte's gonna hit the il, then Espinol's your guy
third base because if you need a hit, he's your guy.
He's not going to strike out in a tough spot.
He's he's probably not going to give you a home
run when you need it, but he's going to put
the ball in play. And that's all they needed last
night with Ellie on second base, because he is one
(11:13):
of like the handful of guys in the entire sport
that if you put him on second base and somebody
puts the ball into the outfield and it hits the grass,
that guy's scoring. And Santiago Espinal knew that and he
was able to just perfectly place the ball into the outfield.
That is what he does with his bat. You're never
gonna see him slug like four fifty for a season,
(11:36):
But I also think his betting average is always going
to be around two seventy to eighty, and that's the
kind of guy that you need somewhere in your lineup.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Outside of of what we've talked about with Matt McClain,
how do you view the rest of this lineup coming together?
Because we've seen the offensive explosions in a couple of games,
We've seen far too many games like we saw last night,
where it just looks like it completely team taking a
different approach at the bat. Who are some players that
you're looking at that you feel like are close or
(12:06):
players that you can pretty much rely on on a
day in, day out basis.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
I'm definitely loving what I'm seeing from Spencer Steer here. Recently,
we're getting back to the point where he can be
counted on to be in that five to six range
in the lineup and you can get a lot of
production out of him. I think spent. I think Tyler
Stevenson is going to be fine. I'm not worried about
him at all. And then when Austin Hayes gets back,
(12:31):
it's so weird to think that a guy who just
got here this year and has barely played is probably
the most important player in this line he's not here,
they don't score, and when you get him back, I
feel like things are going to even out a lot more.
You're going to be able to play Steer at first base,
keep Hayes in the outfield, and then you could even
(12:51):
make the case. And this is something that I would
like to see them try a little bit. Maybe move
Hayes to right field, create a latune in left field
with Gavin Lux and Santiago Espinal and then that's, of course,
if Noelvie Marte is healthy and playing third base, and
if you need to play Espinol at third base, then
you can you Steer in the outfield and then you
(13:13):
use Wins at first base. I kind of liked what
they did with Wins playing first base last night, even
though that was just his second game ever at that position,
but he looked like he's played there before. So if
you can keep that up and keep his bat in
the lineup, I think that's how you finagle this thing
right now, where it seems like the guys that we
wanted to be big and Cees and Jamie Candelario are
(13:35):
nowhere to be found because they're hurt and they've been
playing horribly so far this season. So you got to
come up with some other solutions. And right now, Austin
Wins is hitting a lot more than a lot of
other guys are.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
It's hard to argue anything with what the staff has
done up to this point in the season. Nick Martinez
hit a little rough stretch. I think he's been better
in his last couple outings. Brady Singer has been solid.
You're getting great stuff out of Lodolo. Hunter Green is
a category in his own right now. But talk a
little bit about who we saw last night, Andrew Abbot,
I know, just five innings, but the strikeout numbers up,
(14:08):
the walk numbers non existent last night. What do you
make of what you've seen through just five starts from
Andrew Abbot.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
That was a huge start for him because his first
couple of starts were also nails, and then he sort
of hit a snag there for a couple of outings
and people were starting to wonder. But I firmly believe
that he is proven to be one of the best
five pitchers in this organization. I think their starting staff
right now is pretty solid. Even if Rhet louder Like
(14:36):
is healthy and pitching in Triple A and ready to go.
I find a hard find a hard case to knock
anybody out of this starting five and replacing them with
Rehet louder just because of how consistent they have all been.
And last night was just another example of how many
different amazing performances the Reds have wasted because of lineup
(14:58):
ineptitude and things like that. But I really feel like
this starting pitching staff is exactly what we thought they
could be. As far as like the optimistic point of view,
they're the reason that this team is going to get
where they need to get. They just need some support
when it comes to the scoreboard.
Speaker 2 (15:15):
When you look at how things have panned out, how
are you categorizing the start of the season up until now,
because there are folks out there that's a well, one
game under five hundred. You're not in a terrible spot
from an NL Central standpoint, you're only four games back.
But you also look at that in the sense of
the schedule was very inviting through the first thirty seven
(15:36):
for the Cincinnati Reds, and maybe you view it as
they didn't take advantage of enough of those opportunities. How
do you view the season to this point as a whole,
if you're looking at a bigger.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
Picture, I think whatever the it depends on what app
or what system or what computer view using, but whatever
the picture is. For Buffering still kind of there with
with this team, because it feels like there's a couple
of days a week where man, this is the this
is the potential that we see in them, this is
(16:08):
what they can be. And then there's a couple of
days a week there they're like, oh boy, how far
away are these guys? So they've got to find that
middle ground and that's why where's That's why Charlie said,
you know, they've lost so many games that they can win,
and he also said in that tweet, He's just like,
I don't feel like they've won any games that look
like they should have lost to this point. So really
(16:29):
in that category, they're like h to ten. But they're
also a five hundred team right now or you know,
one game under five hundred. I think as long as
they can just stay afloat around five hundred and then
they hit some sort of hot stretch in the middle
of the summer and we're talking about an over five
hundred team at the All Star break, then that's really
where I start to get excited about them reaching their
(16:51):
potential because they need to win eighty eight games, I
believe to win the division. I don't buy the Cubs,
especially losing Justin Steele and show to Immanaga is now
on the IL. Their lineup is going to keep them
in every single game that they play, but their pitching
staff is going to hurt them in every single game
that they play. So I feel like they can be got.
(17:11):
And I don't buy the Brewers either. It's just I'm
having a hard time saying that I completely buy the Reds,
like it's the NL Central as a whole is as
a division, and I've I've talked with other Lockdown hosts
that cover teams and other divisions. They all look at
the NL Central like, gosh, I wish our team play there.
Even the Rockies guy says that. So there's there's something
(17:35):
about this division that it doesn't seem like anybody has
taken the reins and it's just gonna run away with
this thing. So that's where I say, if you can
just keep afloat, maybe get rip against Atlanta and Houston,
who are both good teams in their own right but
are having slow starts to the season, then we can
(17:57):
really start thinking about if they can make a run off.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
Lastly, in that same sense, I had Rob Dibble in
the show a couple of weeks. He said, you know,
with a new manager, I think you get a pretty
good feel of the team fifty games. In same question
from a team standpoint, let me ask you from a
Terry Francona standpoint, how do you view the tenure up
to this point of Terry Francona and what he's brought
to this team.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
I think he's solid, He's made He's made as many
good calls as he's made bad calls. I know that
we overweigh the bad calls, and there's still a lot
of people that are just like, how on Earth. Could
you put Lion Richardson in the tenth ending that game
in Atlanta? But quite frankly, they lost that game on
that stupid play of the cutoff man. But I feel
(18:42):
like there's been plenty of calls that we all just
don't even really acknowledge because they were such good calls.
And I think that's who Terry Francona is, and I
think that he's going to ultimately get the best out
of these guys. I know that there's a lot of
folks that every time they lose, they all say, well, stee,
he's not gonna fix this, But they're still time And
(19:05):
I know we hate saying that, but I still think
that there's time for him to write the ship here.
And there was even some tone. I saw this before
the season too. There's some people that said this season
is gonna be okay, and then next season is going
to be the thing, And that's not what we want
to hear because we always say wait till next season.
But I still think they've got a shot this season.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Jeff, you're the best man. I respect everything you do
in your coverage of the Cincinnati Reds. What is the
easiest way for listeners to follow along with everything he
got going on.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
You can follow us on all the podcasting apps out there,
including the iHeartRadio app. You can also watch us on
YouTube and I'm on the socials as well on x
and on TikTok and Twitter or I already said Twitter
at Jeff Carr with three f's.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
You're the best man. Thank you so much. I look
forward to talking again soon. Jeff.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
Thanks ton, Go right, sir.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
There he is Jeff Carr all over the beat for
the Cincinnati Read certainly appreciate his time as much as
I appreciate your time for listening each and every single day.
When we come back, it's your official time. It's talkbacks next,
thanks to CINCI shirts on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
Now your chance to win a thousand dollars. Enter this
nationwide keyword on our website, the bank. That's the bank,
and answer it now, Hey Google, which
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