3 biggest winners, 2 biggest losers from Reds Opening Day

Reds biggest Opening Day loser: The pitching staff

Cincinnati Reds starter Hunter Greene did not do David Bell any favors on Opening Day. Whether or not you agree withe decision to pull Greene when Bell did, it was likely that the fourth inning would have been his last. Greene was sitting at 83 pitches when Bell lifted him after pitching in just 3.1 innings.

Greene had his moments, to be sure. But an inefficient outing like that is going to put the ballgame into the hands of bullpen much too early. Alexis Diaz is about the only reliever that I actually trust, though Derek Law pitched well in relief. But if this team is going to find any measure of success, the Reds starters must go a minimum of five innings.

It's probably fair to second-guess Bell's decision to pull Greene, but let's not overreact and suggest that he made the wrong move based on the pitcher he turned to. Fernando Cruz pitched very when called up last season, but the right-hander just didn't have it on Opening Day.

Cruz could only get one out, and that was due to a heads-up play by Spencer Steer. Cruz walked in two runs and a wild pitch allowed the Pirates to a take a three-run advantage in the fourth inning.

Alex Young settled things down, the aforementioned Law pitched very well, Buck Farmer let a free pass be his undoing, and even Ian Gibaut walked a batter in the ninth inning. In the end, the Reds pitching staff struck out 11 batters, but they also surrendered nine free passes. That's a quick way to lose a lot of games.