Cincinnati Reds Week-in-Review: May 15, 2016

Wins, losses, and a rain-out, oh my! That’s right Reds’ fans: your team went 2-3 this week while getting Joey Votto three questionable days off in a row. I’d like to put this week into perspective. Even with a sub-.500 (losing) week, this was the best week for the pitching since the first week of the season. The pitching staff kept them in all five games and put up a respectable 3.60 ERA.

• What is going right:

Back, back, back… Yep AGAIN we’re going with Sluggin’ Adam Duvall, who has made this list two weeks in a row and for the third time in four weeks. All THE ENFORCER has done this week is hit .438/.500/.688 with four of his seven hits going for doubles! All together, Duvall is slashing .286/.330/.572 with a team-leading 12 doubles. Add that up and this guy has a .902 OPS for the year!

The Natural Jay Bruce quietly had a great week. Hopefully Red-for-Life Bruuuuuuuce hit .462/.563/.769 with a home run and walked more (3) than he struck out (2). Getting Brucer back on track will go a long way toward making the lineup more efficient. Right now, he has a .258/.318/.500 line for the year and leads the team with 23 RBI.

We’ve gotta give some props to two pitchers this week, Blake Wood and Steely Dan Straily. These two were the main reason the Reds ERA for the week was closer to 3.00 than 5.00. Straily started two games, winning one while putting up a 1.64 ERA over 11 innings. Wood pitched three scoreless innings in his three games this week, allowing only one hit and one walk with three strikeouts. Wood nabbed himself a hold and had a 0.67 WHIP for the week!

• What is going wrong:

Well I don’t know how to tell you this, but Sizzlin’ Zack Cozart is steadily cooling off. His last week has been tough, slashing just .188/.176/.375 in the five games. Since his hot April, hitting .361, Cozy has been struggling in May, batting .243 with a .256 OBP.

My usual #RED2ROCK Joey Votto had a rough week. What else could you describe it as when Vottomatic un-Vottomatically had only a single hit for the week. Albeit, that one hit was a doozy home run, but hitting .083 just isn’t going to get it done. He still amazingly put up a .389 OBP by adding four walks. Like I’ve been saying over and over, get Joseph Daniel Votto some protection in the lineup!

Bryan Price‘s use of top prospect Jose Peraza and prospects in general. Peraza was leading off for Triple-A Louisville, hitting .295/.341/.393 in 30 games. So the Reds called up Peraza Friday, sat him, started him Saturday, and sat him again Sunday. What’s the point of calling up top prospects to sit? It doesn’t help with their development to just sit on the bench. I’ve never understood this with this regime, going back to top prospect Devin Mesoraco backing up Ryan Hanigan in 2012-2013. Even local Cincinnati broadcaster Lance McAlister had something to say about it.

• Overall assessment:

Our beloved Reds are like Jekyll and Hyde. One minute you’re thinking, “This game is well in hand” and the next you’re like “Holy Toledo, how can this even be happening?!” Manager Bryan Price tinkers with everything but what he needs to. Eugenio Suarez hits .297/.347/.505 out of the two hole so Price moves him up and down fourth, fifth, and sixth in the lineup to watch him change his approach and slash .156/.200/.289 over 45 at-bats. All the while just not leaving him to succeed out of the two hole and try swapping Duvall and Phillips in the lineup.

It’s also a mystery about the starters, leaving Brandon Finnegan in over and over again with over 90 pitches through six innings to implode, but will suddenly pull Tim Adleman out after five innings and 68 pitches. My personal favorite is Price pulling Straily after six innings and 91 pitches (TWICE!).

At this point, we all have to just wait until the top prospects force themselves onto the 25-man roster and then force themselves into Price’s everyday lineups and rotation by contributing and producing more than the players in their way on the depth chart.

Until then, I am sure you all know the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.