The Reds are coming off a three-game sweep of the Chicago White Sox and are now tied for third in the NL Central at 9-6 on the season. They will now go west to face the 6-10 Seattle Mariners, who just lost a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs by a score of two games to one. Nick Lodolo has returned to the rotation, while Matt McLain and TJ Friedl have yet to return to the field. Jeimer Candelario has been playing third base for the Reds this season because Noelvi Marte was suspended for using a banned substance. This leaves Christain Encarnacion Strand with the most of the job at first base.The difficulty right now is that neither of these two is hitting the ball well to begin the season. Jeimer is slashing.So far this season, he has 190/.250/.379 with a.629 OPS. CES is hitting.192/.197/.329 with a.526 OPS on the season. Now, I’m sure if TJ Friedl had been healthy, Spencer Steer would have earned a few starts at third, but for the time being, he’s needed in left field and is hitting well.
3B: Evan Longoria
I realize he’ll be 39 years old in October, but this veteran third baseman could be worth a one-year, low-paying contract to fill the void and serve as a solid bench player for this young Reds club. Longoria spent last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He appeared in 74 games and had 211 at-bats last season. He scored 25 runs, had 47 hits, nine doubles, 11 home runs, 28 RBI, 23 walks, and 73 strikeouts. Last year, he hit.223/.295/.422 for the Diamondbacks, with an OPS of.717. He appeared in 16 postseason games for the Diamondbacks last year, recording three doubles, four RBIs, and three walks.He is still a reliable defender in the hot corner. Last year, in 14 games at third, he had 34 chances and a flawless fielding %. I can see him being a fantastic mentor to Noelvi Marte once he returns from suspension and a great bench player for the squad as the season progresses.
Wrap Up: The Reds are unlikely to pursue Longoria because to his age, but he might serve as a mentor for rising prospect Noelvi Marte.
I would have loved to see the team sign Tommy Pham, who recently agreed to a minor level contract with the White Sox. Pham could’ve been signed at the end of Spring Training and moved to the outfield after the first week, allowing the organization to move Steer to third. This is all retrospect, of course. I don’t think anyone expected Jeimer to struggle at the plate like he has this season.I don’t want to panic just yet, but sitting fourth in the Central isn’t ideal when clubs like the Brewers and Pirates are playing well early in the season and have extended their lead over you.The squad has two batters with batting averages higher than.300. Spencer Steer is hitting.317, while Jake Fraley is hitting.425 to begin the season. They have six hitters with an.200 or worse batting average this season (CES, Jonathan India, Candelario, Santiago Espinal, Luke Maile, and Bubba Thompson). Despite having only played 17 games, they still have a 9-8 winning record. These statistics are still alarming; they do have a +14 run differential, but aside from playing the Brewers, whom they lost in the series, they have only faced the Phillies as the only strong club, and they won that series 2-1. The remainder of the games have been against the Washington Nationals, New York Mets, and Chicago White Sox. As the schedule becomes more difficult, so will the pitching, and if these bats cannot get going, no matter how excellent the pitching is, the run differential number will decrease as the record suffers.
Prediction
The Reds will not sign Longoria and will instead wait for players like Matt McLain, TJ Friedl, and Noelvi Marte to return from injury or suspension. I believe Longoria might help this team in the short term on the field, and as a leader, that role appears to be missing with the loss of Joey Votto. I simply hate to see these bats suffer as management waits for people to get healthy, because it will be another 4-6 weeks and the hole may be difficult to climb out of when the schedule gets tougher in April and May. They’ve already lost the first two games to the Mariners.They receive a break against the Angels, but then face the Texas Rangers, Phillies, and Padres to finish the month.
