Cincinnati Reds: Homer Bailey gets little run support again

Homer Bailey lost yet another start last night. The Cincinnati Reds’ pitcher is now 1-11 on the season. In Bailey’s defense, he didn’t get much run support and that’s been the case several times this season.

Okay, let me start by saying that I’m not making excuses for Homer Bailey. He has not been good this year. However, he has not been as bad as most people would make you think. Part of the reason for his abysmal 1-11 record this season is due to a lack of run support from the Cincinnati Reds offense.

Bailey has started 17 games this season. The veteran right-hander has one win. Ouch! Even more interesting is the Reds record in games that Bailey doesn’t start. The Reds have 54 wins and 54 losses in the 108 games that Bailey has not pitched in this season. That’s right, the Reds are a .500 ballclub when Bailey does not toe the rubber.

However, those numbers are a bit skewed. Let’s delve a bit deeper, shall we? First, look no further than last night. The Cincinnati Reds provided some pop in their bats early against the Milwaukee Brewers. Both Eugenio Suarez and Phillip Ervin went deep off Brewers’ starter Chase Anderson in the top of the second inning.

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Unfortunately, both blasts came with the bases empty and accounted for only two runs. The Reds offense would not provide another hit until the top of the ninth inning. Yeah, that’s right, aside from Williams single and a walk to Jose Peraza in the ninth, the Reds had zero base runners for six consecutive innings.

Now, I won’t defend Bailey’s previous two starts. Against the New York Mets and Cleveland Indians, Bailey pitched 8.2 combined innings and allowed 10 earned runs on 22 hits. That’s awful, I agree. But, in the previous two starts, Bailey went 14.2, allowed only 8 hits and 4 runs while striking out 14 batters. That included a complete game loss to the Detroit Tigers in which the Reds scored only one run.

That loss to Detroit wasn’t the only gem that Homer Bailey has thrown this year, only to receive little to nothing from the offense. In one of his best games, back on April 10th against the Philadelphia Phillies, Bailey went 6 innings, stuck out 7 and allowed only 1 run on 2 hits. The Reds lost that game 1-6, however, Bailey wasn’t on the hook for the decision.

His next start against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 15th was a lot similar. Bailey went 7 innings, allowed only 4 hits and 3 runs. The Reds were able to scrape across only 2 runs of their own, and Bailey lost his third game of the season.

Now look, I’m not here justifying the enormous salary that Bailey is receiving. That’s insane for a pitcher that’s only got one win on the season. I’m also not making excuses for Bailey’s poor performances this season. There was a four-game stretch from late April until early May when Bailey allowed 9 home runs and struck out just as many. His ERA over that stint was 8.24 while opposing batters were hitting .337 off the big Texan.

Homer Bailey has not been good this season. But, he also hasn’t been as bad as his record indicates. Like it or not Reds fans, he’ll be part of this team next season as well. However, if we can think positively about the possibility of Bailey getting run support from the likes of Scott Schebler, Jesse Winker, and maybe Nick Senzel next season, maybe he can have one last hurrah in what will likely be his last season with the Cincinnati Reds.