Cincinnati Reds: Three players hindered by virus-related hiatus

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MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN – AUGUST 07: Trevor Bauer #27 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches in the third inning. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Some of the Reds hottest players may be cooled after missing a few games.

While the Cincinnati Reds as a team were not necessarily rolling, a few of the players were riding hot streaks. The Reds series with the Pirates was halted following one Cincinnati’s players testing positive for COVID-19. The team is hopeful to restart the season on Tuesday in Kansas City. Hopefully the hiatus will not affect these players too dramatically.

With the Reds in limbo and unable to practice, there has to be concerns that players who were performing well might suddenly hit a wall. Baseball is all about establishing a good rhythm. Whether it’s in the batter’s box or on the mound, when a player is locked-in, sometimes the worst thing that can happen is a player getting out of rhythm.

That may very well be the case for a few of the Cincinnati Reds players. After Friday’s victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, MLB put a stop to the series. There was hope that following several rounds of testing, both teams could play a doubleheader on Monday. Major League Baseball decided against that, and the earliest Cincinnati will take the field again is Tuesday against the Royals.

After missing at least three games, will some of Cincinnati’s hottest players have cooled off? The hope is obviously no, but the reality is that the Reds will be off for a minimum of three days and perhaps more. Which three players are likely to be affected the most by missing time on the diamond?

CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 3: Jesse Winker #33 of the Cincinnati Reds (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) /

1. Jesse Winker is the Reds best offensive player.

At the moment, there’s not a hotter hitter in all of Major League Baseball than Jesse Winker. The left-handed slugger has exceeded expectations thus far, and after a slow-start, Winker is absolutely locked-in. Hopefully this time away from the game will not affect his swing, because Winker is one of the few Reds who’d actually hitting.

Winker was a man without a position entering training camp in February. The Reds had just acquired Japanese outfielder Shogo Akiyama and doubles-machine Nick Castellanos. Looking for Nick Senzel to reach his lofty exceptions, it appeared as though Winker would be the odd-man out in the Cincinnati outfield rotation.

Thank goodness for the universal DH, right? Many Reds fans detested the idea of bring the designated hitter to the National League. Major League Baseball added a universal DH as part of its 60-game season. It gave Jesse Winker a spot in the everyday lineup and the results have been phenomenal.

Over the past 15 games, Winker is slashing .425/.521/.875. Shrink the sample size even smaller, and over the past seven games, Jesse Winker is hitting .650/.720/1.500. You read that correctly, Winker’s OPS in the last seven games is 2.220. Let’s hope Winker treats this minor delay like the All-Star break and gets back to work when the Reds return to the field.

2. Trevor Bauer may miss a start for the Reds.

As hot as Jesse Winker has been at the dish, Trevor Bauer has been equally impressive on the mound. Bauer was slated to start on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but that game has since been postponed. How will David Bell reorganize his starting rotation? Reds ace Sonny Gray would have been scheduled to go Wednesday, but Luis Castillo will have missed a start as well.

Pitchers are very into their routine, and perhaps no pitcher is more routine than Trevor Bauer. The right-hander already had a start postponed this season when a game in Detroit was called eight minutes before the first pitch. Bauer, as he typically does, took his grievance to Twitter and voiced his displeasure with the cancellation of the game.

Bauer returned the following day to pitch in Game 2 of a seven-inning doubleheader against the Tigers. All Bauer did was go out and pitch a two-hit shutout. Bauer went the distance and walked off the mound with a swagger that surprised no one. Like him or hate him, Bauer has the stuff to strikeout anyone in today’s game and he’s been red-hot to start thee 2020 season.

In three starts, Bauer is 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 19.1 innings of work. It’s a tossup as to who the Reds true ace is; Trevor Bauer or Sonny Gray. Regardless, those two have been dominating opposing batters this season. If Cincinnati gets back to it on Tuesday, I’d expect to see Bauer on the hill. If not, it’ll be interesting to see how Bell sets the rotation going forward.

CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 11: Lucas Sims #39 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

3. Is Lucas Sims the Reds bullpen ace?

It was thought before last season that David Bell will employ the idea of using closer Raisel Iglesias as the team’s “bullpen ace”. Meaning that, regardless of the situation, when Bell needed outs, he’d turn to Iglesias. That idea didn’t work out well for Bell or Iglesias, as the right-hander was hung with 12 losses. Perhaps Lucas Sims better fits that mold going forward.

Sims, who was part of a trade between the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves back in 2018 has blossomed into a solid reliever for this year’s team. A former starter, Sims seems to have settled into his role, coming out of the bullpen nine times so far in 2020. Only Nate Jones (7.2 innings pitched) has appeared in as many games, but Sims has thrown more innings (9.1).

Lucas Sims has allowed just one earned run on the season; a home run on August 7th to former NL MVP Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers. I think we can let that one slide. In fact, Sims has supplanted Michael Lorenzen as the the Reds right-handed setup man, setting the table for Iglesias in the ninth inning.

Next. 3 Reds who'll benefit from postponed games

Sims ERA is sitting at 0.96. He has 13 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.750. Oh yeah, his ERA+ is 508! I think that’s pretty good. Hopefully the absence from the field will be more of chance for Sims to recharge his batteries. Only the Reds starting rotation has thrown more innings than Sims this season.

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