Just grabbed this at Draft Kings. De La Cruz is already a star. Abbott's been fantastic and they'll go out and get more arms.
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+370 right now.Comment -
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mets no and red sox no are slam dunksComment -
Great value for a team most think will win the AFC North. It pays to shop around..Comment -
Great Bet... Right now I have the Reds at 38% to make the postseasonComment -
DBacks -240 is the best value on the boardComment -
The starting rotation (outside of Abbott) is brutally bad, Luke Weaver will be Exhibit A again tonight. Return of Lodolo and Greene will help immensely (August?), and the Reds can score runs. +380 is more than fair.Comment -
...............https://theathletic.com/4662759/2023...season-bowdenLet’s talk about the first-place Cincinnati Reds.
They’re one of the most exciting, athletic and energetic teams in the sport. They have one of the youngest rosters in the majors. And over the past month and change, they’ve become one of the top three offensive teams in the game and a legitimate postseason contender.
In June, they ranked second in the majors in runs, third in home runs, first in stolen bases and fourth in OPS. That offensive firepower has helped the Reds go 24-10 (.706) in their past 34 games, as they’ve leaped from last place into a first-place tie with the Brewers in the National League Central.
Elly De La Cruz, 21, is one of the most exciting rookies in the game in recent years. He regularly hits the ball with an exit velocity of 112 to 116 mph, runs 30.7 feet per second (tops in the majors) and can throw a baseball 100 mph. Incredible.
But what makes this team special is the strength of the lineup from top to bottom. Eight of the Reds’ starting nine players are 28 or younger and six are 26 or younger. Rookie shortstop Matt McLain, 23, has a .924 OPS, tops among qualified rookies, and recently tied a club record with four extra-base hits in a game. Second-year first baseman Spencer Steer, 25, leads the team with 14 homers and 50 RBIs and has posted a .928 OPS over the past 30 days
This group reminds me a lot of our 1999 Reds team during my time as the club’s general manager. The Reds won the World Series in 1990 and finished first in the division in 1994 and 1995. After losing to the Braves in the National League Championship Series in ’95, we put together a five-year plan and thought the team would be ready to contend again by 2000 or 2001, but were pleasantly surprised to win 96 games in 1999.
That Reds team was filled with young, high-energy players who had breakout seasons, such as third baseman Aaron Boone, center fielder Mike Cameron, left fielder Dmitri Young and first baseman Sean Casey. It also had veteran leader and future Hall of Famer Barry Larkin.
Sound familiar? This Reds team has a similar blend of young, high-energy hitters like De La Cruz, McLain, Steer and Jonathan India plus a future Hall of Famer, Joey Votto, to provide leadership.
GM Nick Krall, the front-runner for MLB Executive of the Year, deserves high praise for building this team, and it will be fascinating to see what he does to strengthen it before the Aug. 1 trade deadline. While the Reds’ offense sizzled over the past 30 days, their pitching staff posted a 5.05 ERA, which ranked 27th in the majors. For the Reds to win the division and make the playoffs, I think Krall needs to improve the middle and back of their rotation by trading for two veteran starting pitchers who can provide at least five or six quality innings per start. It’s the strategy I used with the ’95 Reds when I traded for David Wells, Mark Portugal and Dave Burba at the trade deadline. Those deals were instrumental in not only winning the division by nine games but also making it to the NLCS.
Krall doesn’t necessarily need a No. 1 or No. 2 type starter because he potentially has that in Andrew Abbott, a 24-year-old lefty who has posted a 1.21 ERA in his first six starts, and flame-throwing righty Hunter Greene, 23, as long as he returns from his hip injury later this summer and can regain the dominant form he showed before going on the injured list last month. Krall also has a farm system that’s strong enough to compete with anyone to acquire pitching in a seller’s market.
First, they have to make the playoffs, but if the Reds can add two key starters, they are built for the postseason. They have the offense, up and down the lineup, to hit good pitching and win close games with their speed and power. They have two top-of-the-rotation talents and an impact closer, All-Star Alexis Díaz, who has converted 23 of 24 save opportunities this season. They are so close to being a World Series threat, so close to shocking the world, so close to going from 100 losses a season ago to — if the stars align — a world championship, that the front office must go for it at the trade deadline.
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No matter what happens when he got down makes this a great pick.
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I thought this was a wager for the Bengals when I first clicked it lolComment
