Cincinnati Reds: Lucas Sims deserves a start before the end of the season

Lucas Sims saw his first action as a member of the Cincinnati Reds during the Sunday finale against the Cardinals. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to see Sims get a start before the end of the season.

Lucas Sims, who came over to the Cincinnati Reds along with Preston Tucker and Matt Wisler in exchange for Adam Duvall, got to see his first action with the Reds on Sunday afternoon with the Cardinals. Sims cruised through two-plus innings of work before being lifted after a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh inning. Sunday will definitely not be Sims’ last appearance of the season, in fact, I’d love to see him get a start or two before the season ends.

Interim manager Jim Riggleman seemed to have a quick hook yesterday in St. Louis. A lot of fans have commented on that fact throughout the season, but it seemed especially prevalent against the Cardinals on Sunday afternoon.

Anthony DeSclafani saw his day come to an end after facing only 18 batters. Disco was no his usual self, throwing 72 pitches through 3.2. After the Cardinals rallied in the bottom of the fourth, Riggleman decided that DeSclafani’s day was over. He brought in lefty Wandy Peralta to face the NL’s home run leader and left-handed hitter Matt Carpenter with two outs. Peralta got necessary out, and Riggleman trotted out Sims for his first action of the season to start the fifth inning.

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Sims mowed down the first three batters he faced. Yadier Molina flied out to Scott Schebler in right field, Sims struck out Jose Martinez swinging, and third baseman Eugenio Suarez made a nice play to take care of Marcell Ozuna to end the inning.

Sims came back out in the sixth and made quick work of the Cardinals again. After back-to-back punch outs against Paul DeJong and Patrick Wisdom, he induced Harrison Bader into a simple grounder to shortstop. Jose Peraza threw on to first and the inning was over.

Sims was dealing and headed out to face the Cardinals in the bottom of the seventh. However, after Greg Garcia worked the count full and drew a leadoff walk, the Cardinals sent in Matt Adams to pinch hit. Riggleman had seen enough from his young right-hander and pulled Sims in favor of the veteran Jared Hughes.

I would’ve loved to see Riggleman leave Sims in to see how the Georgia-native faired with a pressure. But, it’s also a good thing to give Sims a boost of confidence having retired six of the first seven batters he’s faced. Hughes got the job done, and the Reds were no worse for wear.

Sims final line shows 2 innings of work, 3 strikeouts, and 1 walk. To see Sims perform well, with the game tied, in a hostile environment, against a contending team was a huge positive for this Reds team.

Lucas Sims was the centerpiece of the trade with the Braves, and yesterday’s performance gave you a glimpse as to why. The Reds are hopeful that Sims can become a productive member of the starting rotation, maybe as soon as next season. The Reds owe it to themselves, and to Sims, to see what the young man can do as a starter.

With the season all but lost, Sims deserves a shot to start this September for the Reds. The Reds know what they have in Homer Bailey, and he’s been atrocious this year. I’d love to see Cincinnati give one or two of Homer’s starts to Sims. Bailey’s won only one game this season, and the Reds as a team have only won 1 of Bailey’s 19 starts.

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Anthony DeSclafani and Luis Castillo have set themselves apart from the field as it relates to the starting rotation heading into 2019. Sims deserves a chance to show that he can be part of that mix too. There are only 25 games left in the season, Sims should get a chance to start at least one.

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