Rus Livingood
April Recap:
The Reds went 15 – 13 (.536) in the first month of the season. They are one game back from the Cardinals, and ½ game behind the Pirates. The Reds were dealt a big blow on Opening Day when they lost their cleanup hitter for half the season (at least) when he dislocated his shoulder sliding into third base. Also spending time on the disabled list was number one pitcher Johnny Cueto, who has yet to return after straining an oblique; Chris Heisey (hamstring), the second left fielder to go down with an injury; Ryan Hanigan (oblique), the starting catcher who is credited as one of the game’s premier defensive catchers and a heck of a signal caller; and Sean Marshall (shoulder fatigue), the lefty reliever and setup man. Others have had some minor injuries that have prevented them from playing every day, but didn’t necessitate a trip to the disabled list. Needless to say, the Reds have missed some important cogs from their starting lineup, and 15 – 13 is not all that bad considering the players that have missed significant time.
The Reds have had their fair share of problems on the road (3 – 9), and success at home (12 – 4). They have also had trouble scoring runs in some games (10 games of scoring one run or less), but have exploded in others (five game of 10+ runs). Overall, they scored an average of 4.5 runs per game, and gave up an average of 3.64 runs per game. On paper, those averages look pretty good, but the offense has been feast or famine for the season so far.
Several players have slumped or struggled in the early season. In particular, the starting shortstop (Zack Cozart), catcher (Hanigan), and left fielder (Heisey) were batting around .200 or much lower. Two of those players batted second in the lineup, which means the Reds haven’t taken advantage of the amazing start to the season by Shin-Soo Choo. The “holes” in the lineup have no doubt contributed to the offensive struggles in some games, and it will be interesting to see how the Reds move forward as the season progresses if these players continue to struggle.
Stats for the Month:
Batting
Player H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB AVG OBP SLG
Shin-Soo Choo 34 8 1 4 11 20 17 .337 .477 .554
Joey Votto 30 3 1 4 11 17 26 .291 .439 .456
Brandon Phillips 31 6 0 4 24 14 9 .282 .331 .445
Xavier Paul 11 1 0 1 9 6 3 .268 .318 .366
Jay Bruce 29 7 0 1 11 15 10 .252 .312 .339
Devin Mesoraco 11 3 0 0 5 6 9 .244 .364 .311
Todd Frazier 23 5 0 6 19 13 10 .240 .315 .479
Zack Cozart 21 3 0 4 12 12 4 .208 .234 .356
Chris Heisey 13 3 0 2 5 7 2 .173 .195 .293
Ryan Hanigan 3 0 0 0 2 3 5 .079 .182 .079
Pitching
Player G GS W L SV IP BB SO K/9 ERA
Mat Latos 6 6 2 0 0 39.1 8 37 8.47 1.83
Tony Cingrani 3 3 2 0 0 18.0 4 28 14.00 1.50
Johnny Cueto 3 3 1 0 0 17.1 6 18 9.35 2.60
Homer Bailey 5 5 1 2 0 32.0 9 32 9.00 2.81
Bronson Arroyo 6 6 2 3 0 41.0 5 18 3.95 3.95
Mike Leake 5 5 1 1 0 29.0 11 19 5.90 4.34
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Sean Marshall 3 0 0 0 0 2.2 0 3 10.13 0.00
Aroldis Chapman 14 0 2 1 6 13.1 3 21 14.18 0.68
Sam LeCure 9 0 1 0 0 11.0 5 12 9.82 1.64
J. J. Hoover 12 0 0 3 0 12.1 5 13 9.24 3.55
Logan Ondrusek 9 0 1 0 0 8.0 3 8 9.00 4.50
Alfredo Simon 11 0 2 1 0 14.2 4 10 6.14 4.91
Jonathan Broxton 12 0 0 1 0 11.1 4 8 6.35 6.35
Manny Parra 6 0 0 1 0 6.2 3 7 9.45 8.10
Overall Thoughts on April:
The Reds did well considering the injuries and offensive woes they have faced. The pitching has been exceptional for the most part, and has kept the Reds in a lot of games. The fact that they have a winning record and are not far back from the lead in the NL Central is a good sign considering:
•Joey Votto and Jay Bruce have not been putting up the power numbers expected from them, and in Votto’s case his average and overall production is down a bit.
•The ace of their staff, Johnny Cueto has missed three starts with an injury.
•Three of their regulars have hit right at or well below the Mendoza line, including catcher Ryan Hanigan who was hitting .079 before going on the disabled list.
•The top two left fielders are on the disabled list, and one of them (Ryan Ludwick) had a grand total of two plate appearances before being lost for half the season.
All things considered, it doesn’t look like the Reds are in that bad of a position. One of the common themes in the games this year is that this Reds team battles back and never gives up. If the pitching can remain one of the better staffs in the league in the months to come, the team should be able to go on a good run and battle for the top spot in their division. Manager Dusty Baker is going to have to address the lineup at some point, though. For years, the problem was the leadoff spot. Now that the team has a guy getting on base nearly half the time, there is a large void before the third batter comes up. That third batter is also getting on base nearly half the time, but the opportunities to score should be more prevalent.
As an overall grade, I would give the Reds a C+ for the month of April, largely carried by the pitching staff and Choo’s performance in the leadoff spot. The good has outweighed the bad so far, and the 15 – 13 record seems to reflect just that.
