The Reds surprised their fan base on March 18th when they agreed to a 1-year deal with Alfredo Simon. It was just last offseason when the Reds had traded Simon to the Detroit Tigers for Eugenio Suarez. Simon made his debut in spring training against the Cubs on March 22 going 3 innings not allowing a base runner while striking out four.
The bad news for the Cincinnati Reds is pretty apparent. The bullpen lacks quality arms and does not get the job done. So, even when their starting pitching performs well, the instability in the bullpen will blow a lot of games.
On the offensive side of things for the Reds, Joey Votto has hit 3rd in the lineup primarily so far during spring training. Outside of Cincinnati, this may seem obvious that he would hit in this spot, but in 2015, Bryan Price did experiment with Votto batting 2nd due to his high on-base percentage. Proper expectations for a Votto production line would be 25 HR, 90-100 RBI, 5-10 stolen bases with a very high OBP and solid batting average eclipsing .300.
The Billy Hamilton experiment with him leading off is the apparent plan to begin 2016. Will his plate discipline improve enough to allow him to walk more and get on base to kick start the offense? That remains to be seen, but so far this spring he is batting .158. It is not looking good. Jose Peraza has been playing center field some, so the leash on the experiment may be short this year. Peraza has had a solid spring batting .333 with a homerun, and 5 SB.
Eugenio Suarez enters 2016 as the Reds Opening Day Third Baseman. The transition defensively is something to watch as his defense at SS was never spectacular. With Zack Cozart returning from injury, the move over to 3B to keep his bat in the lineup was necessary. Suarez has batted both 2nd and 6th so far. If he were to bat 2nd in the lineup, he is likely to get plenty of pitches to hit in front of Votto and should get on base to score more runs theoretically. If he would bat 6th in the lineup, he will be in a better spot to drive in runs with Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce on the base paths in front of him.
The highlight so far this spring was the showcasing of SP Cody Reed. Reed was acquired last July in the Johnny Cueto trade. He stands at 6 foot 5 and throws his fastball between 93-96 mph and has a great slider from the left side of the mound. There was speculation that he might break camp with the club, but after a subpar outing against the Padres on March 21st, Reed was sent to AAA for more seasoning. He definitely provides the organization some hope for the future on the mound.
The Reds are a team with very low expectations in 2016 both nationally as well as locally here in Cincinnati. Having said this, Opening Day in this city is something everyone should add to their bucket list to experience. There is a parade that shuts down streets Downtown and the partying begins at 6am when the game normally starts at 2:15pm. Regardless of how good or bad this team is, Reds Opening Day is always a sell out, so plan ahead for sure.
Let’s hope this rebuild sticks and leads to the Reds being relevant by 2018.