Not everyone is a believer in the Runnin' Redlegs
Cincinnati's brilliant offense is robbed of All-Star honors
Happy Independence Day, everyone! Or at least, those brilliant readers who are located in the United States. To everyone else, happy Tuesday! And to my British readers: sorry, not sorry.
The MLB All-Star Game is fast approaching! Inevitably, this time of year, my thoughts begin drifting to the midsummer classic. Whether the Reds are good, bad, or indifferent — and they’ve been all three within the last twelve months, right? — I’m a sucker for this dumb baseball exhibition game that was born way back in 1933.* I just love it, okay?
*The tradition of the Reds only having one representative in the All-Star Game was also born that year. Cincinnati’s sole representative in the first ASG was left fielder Chick Hafey. He did hit cleanup for the National League, and went 1-for-4.
I’ve loved it for as long as I can remember. How many of you sat in the red seats at Riverfront Stadium as a kid, punching out the bubbles on the old paper ballots and stuffing the ballot box for every Red? If so, you probably experienced the same outrage I did when Barry Larkin was robbed of at least four All-Star starts when Ozzie Smith was chosen by ill-informed fans. Today the voting is done largely on phones, but I still get a kick out of the discussion over who gets picked and who gets snubbed.
Related: I think the reason I fell in love with the ASG as a kid was the introduction of the players. I loved seeing our lovable Redlegs feted on the national television broadcast. The less seasoned among you may not remember the olden times when we didn’t get to watch every Reds game. It was a big deal to see Danny Jackson and Bo Diaz and Jack Armstrong and Bip Roberts and and Roberto Kelly and John Smiley wearing their Cincinnati uniforms and standing on the same baselines as the Rickey Hendersons, George Bretts, and Dave Winfields of the world.
This season, we have been fortunate to witness one of the most exciting Reds teams in many years. They have one of the most high-powered offenses in the game, featuring power, speed, and aggressive play. On most days, the Reds are dangerous from 1 to 8 in the lineup. Opposing pitchers quake in their boots* at the sight of Cincinnati’s lineup card.
*That’s a nod to our British cousins.
So of course, the lone Cincinnati representative in this year’s All-Star Game will be a pitcher. It appears that not everyone is a believer in the Runnin’ Redlegs. How dare the voters snub some deserving hitters? I’m outraged! Outraged, I tell you!
Okay, maybe that’s overstating the case. Alexis Diaz was selected for his first All-Star berth, and it is well-deserved. I wrote about him back in May, and he’s continued to dazzle in the weeks since. He’s 3-1 with a 2.13 ERA; Diaz’s 24 saves are tied for the major league lead. He’s absolutely a star.
But with the Reds playing so well and sitting atop the NL Central standings (tied with the Brewers as I write this, alas), I was hopeful that at least one more Cincinnati player would be selected. And you can make a case for several players.
First among those is TJ Friedl, who is hitting .309/.378/.477 (125 OPS+) and leads Reds position players with 2.2 bWAR. Twitter is still anti-Substack, so I can’t embed these tweets, but my friend Joel Luckhaupt has done an excellent job summarizing the case for Friedl. (Go here and follow him.) Joel points out a few helpful leaderboards:
TJ Friedl's ranks among NL CF (min 200 PA)
AVG - .313 (1st)
OBP - .379 (1st)
SLG - .486 (1st)
OPS - .865 (1st)
and
For you modern metrics people:
OPS+ - 127 (2nd to Nimmo)
wRC+ - 128 (2nd to Nimmo)
bWAR - 2.3 (tied for 1st with Nimmo)
fWAR - 2.4 (2nd to Nimmo)
Further, as Joel notes, only Corbin Carroll and Trea Turner are better-rated base runners in the NL than Friedl among all position players. It’s hard to argue with the NL’s starting outfield: Ronald Acuña Jr., Mookie Betts, and Carroll (3.6). Juan Soto also is deserving, and I’m happy to see our old friend Nick Castellanos selected for the second time (even if his WAR trails Friedl’s). But Friedl should be there over Lourdes Gurriel Jr. I mean, what are we even doing here.
And then there’s Spencer Steer, who is hitting .282/.372/.498 (128 OPS+) with a team-leading 14 home runs, 19 doubles, and 50 runs batted in. I don’t know where you put him on the NL roster — 1B, 3B, outfield — but it would have been nice to see him on the team as a rookie.
There are some other rookies who deserve a mention. Matt McLain is hitting .305/.366/.535 and leads the Reds with a 135 OPS+. Elly De La Cruz (.280/.327/.470) is mesmerizing every time you see him on the field. But McLain only has 45 games under his belt, while Elly has only played 25.
De La Cruz, in fact, was invited to Seattle to participate in the Home Run Derby. That would have been an incredible spectacle and, selfishly, I really wanted to see Elly hitting light-tower bombs against the best sluggers in MLB. But he declined to participate, and I can’t argue with his reasoning. I imagine we’ll be seeing Elly De La Cruz in the Home Run Derby at some point in the future.
Of course, there’s still a chance we’ll get to see Steer or McLain or Friedl in the All-Star Game. There are always injury replacements in the days leading up to the exhibition. But if Diaz is the only player on the National League’s roster next week in Seattle, I guess we’ll just have to be content with watching the Runnin’ Redlegs steamroll through the league in the second half of the season.
I guess that’ll be okay.
This week at Cincinnati Magazine: The Runnin’ Redlegs are Lapping the Field
Well, June was a fun month, wasn’t it? After going 18-9 during the month, Cincinnati’s record stood at 44-38 on July 1. It’s been a remarkable run since May 25, when the Reds were in last place in the National League Central division, six games out of first. Since then, the Reds have won 25 of their last 35 games, and nine of eleven series they’ve played, vaulting into a tie for first place.
How did they do it? Well, we talked about the offense last week, and that’s the quick and easy answer. In June, Cincinnati scored more runs than every other team except Atlanta, and you’re going to win a lot of games when you score 153 runs in 27 games. The Reds were also third in the majors in home runs during the month.
But how is the offense actually doing it? Sure the home runs and the timely hitting and the never-say-quit attitude up and down the lineup are primary drivers of the run scoring surge, but there’s another reason: speed. Read the rest of this week’s Reds column over at Cincinnati Magazine.
What’s Chad Watching?
Not much to report this week, as I began a rewatch of Mad Men with the lovely Mrs. Dotson. But this I can say with certainty: It’s Wes Anderson Time!
Director Anderson’s new movie, “Asteroid City,” is in theaters now, and it’s outstanding. Here’s the plot, such as it is:
Set in a fictional American desert town circa 1955, the itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
It’s way, way more than that, as it’s crafted as a stage play inside a television show inside a motion picture. As usual, Anderson has attracted an incredible cast: Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman, Bryan Cranston, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum…along with newcomers to the Anderson-verse Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, and Maya Hawk.
Your mileage may vary depending on how fond you are of Anderson’s films. I need to see it again, as soon as possible. My rating may change after a second viewing.
In the meantime, a rewatch of Anderson’s canon is imminent. Beginning with the short film “Hotel Chevalier.” Next up is likely the most underrated of Anderson’s filmography: “The Darjeeling Limited.”
Also, Mad Men is still brilliant.
The World’s Most Dangerous Podcast: These Reds Are For Real!
After testing their mettle against the teams with the second and third best records in the league - we can finally feel good knowing that these young Cincinnati Reds are the real deal! Nate was joined by Tim Daniel of Late Night Reds and wiffle ball legend Carlos Guevara to hash out the week that was for our beloved Redlegs. They covered the standout performers in both series; Why David Bell should NEVER pinch hit for Joey Votto; the Luke Weaver experience; and SO MUCH more in this nearly 90 minute episode.
You can find The Riverfront wherever you download podcasts (Apple, Spotify, etc.), or you can click here to subscribe (for free!). If you don’t do the audio thing, we have a YouTube channel, too!