Cincinnati Reds Bats FINALLY WAKE UP! Reds Get Much Needed Win vs Chicago White Sox | Chatterbox G45

Cincinnati Reds Bats FINALLY WAKE UP! Reds Get Much Needed Win vs Chicago White Sox | Chatterbox G45

All right, Nick. Top of the knife. Top of the knife. Can you believe it? It’s It’s uh It’s a nice thing to watch sometimes. A baseball team that looks like they actually know how to play. Uh my voice, for whatever reason, is not at full strength. So, I’m going to start off by saying if it sounds like I’m talking like this and whispering in a room, it’s because my I’m just trying to baby this thing the best that I can. So, um I’m sure as people come in, they’re going to think that I’m talking very, very softly. Maybe I can bump my microphone up a little bit. That might help. But anyways, I’m very happy the Reds are winning. It doesn’t want I don’t want to sound like uh I’m saddened by it, but I know that my voice and my my in my dialect, would that be the right word? dialect doesn’t sound like I’m excited, but I am. Oh, Luis May, look at that [ __ ] I must make a confession. Usually I turn the TV on. I got to get in my into the streaming options and all that. I came Oh no. Oh no. I came down here. I came down here and I opened up game day. I was like, I I hope that I don’t really need to watch this last inning. So, um Luis May outing though. Uh if I have to turn it on, I will, but uh I prefer not to do that. Well, I mean, you can now. I mean, you’ve committed. You’ve committed. You definitely can. It’s just like it’s like a five minute It’s a fivem minute process I didn’t feel like doing. All right. All right. Also, turns out I must have left the dunk cam. I must have left the uh I I’m gonna actually do that now. I don’t even know where stuff is in real time. Maybe we take the day off of that. Well, I’ll do two of them on Sunday if they win. Take the season off on that. Well, I don’t care about your dunks. You can do those. Well, you know, feel like it’s a right of passage at this point. Um, anyways, you need to remind me, Nick. I know that I I probably should be an adult and remind myself, but maybe later tonight if I can remember, I need to buy another one of those fulltime battery chargers for this secondary camera that I have in here. Got you again. It got me. Yeah, I I must have left it on the night that I thought they might win and they just didn’t win. So, shout out Sully. Yep. Yeah, that was a nice guy. That one of the best professional tips I think I’ve ever been given. Yeah, it was a nice tip. Meanwhile, he’s all pissed off at Quail Hollow I seen on on X. At least he’s not mad at me. That’s a positive. Quail Hollow. That’s the golf course they’re currently playing the PGA Championship in. He’s not a big fan of the way they’ve laid it out, I guess. Just uh Yeah, he wasn’t He’s been He’s been chirping him a little bit, which is fine. All right. Hey, I respect it. Yeah, it feels like bad golf shots are not getting punished. And you know, he’s probably right. I don’t know. Not watch the tournament yet. What I am going to watch is hopefully a baseball game that we win. How many outs we got, Nick? Three. Well, Vince just made a nice running catch in the ball game. Thank you. All right, folks. Uh I’m not saying we’re back, but we’re closer than we than we were before. All right, we’re not all the way back, but damn, we are a little bit closer. Uh and you know what that means? We’re going to be back in just a couple minutes. The bench to bench change in the air to deep right field and the chase. Get out of here, baseball. It’s gone. Oh my god. Can you believe it? Donnie B has tried it out. The Cincinnati Reds win the World Series in force. It was a sweep in the dirty wild the game. That ball is fair. Cincinnati’s ahead. Two games to welcome Joe to Cincinnati. Adam Dunn has done it again. Benzinger backing and calling. And the 1990 World Championship. belongs to the Cincinnati Reds. Yes, this is Adam from Milwaukee. Hey, Adam, how you doing? I’m good. How are you? Good. Do you think that is a good player? Done up there with the bases loaded. The outfield deep and around toward right to the 10 on the way to the plate. Swing on. Long drive right field and to the rim. And a high drive back into deep right field. Junior has just knocked the door down to the 500 club. Vincent scores home run is a oneoff winner. The ball had a family and Da Cruz is Oh my goodness. Look at this kid run. My oh my, that is a triple. Then Mlan’s first big league pop. Spencer Steer’s first big league hit is a home run to straightaway center field. Joey Botto’s done it again. the pitch. Botto swings high in the air, right field. Yes. He pointed to the dugout to say, “I told you.” That is Joey Bono’s 315th career. Go ahead, Revy. Only Johnny Bench had more as a Red. And I can’t tell you how much it means to play in front of everyone here in Cincinnati as a Red. What a gift. What a tremendous gift. So, thank you. Thank you. I think I can speak for all of Red’s country. Joey MTO, thank you. High five. Left center field racing back to Bjan. The Reds are National League Central Division champions. In the air, left center field. Get it. Get it. Begin. Begin. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] You win the right field [Music] line for a three run day by Ramon Hernandez. Strike away and out away is Homer Bailey. Round ball to third. Frasier Glo for the second time in his major league career. [Music] [Music] in the air. What a dream to career Bruce. All right, welcome into a Chatterbox Reds edition, a businessman special, if you will. Uh, Reds win. Reds win. Reds win. uh final line 7-1 and um Nick that doesn’t mean they’re back. Doesn’t mean that that the things that we have seen in the past week and a half aren’t still present. Um but at least if nothing else, it was a sign that there’s possibly light at the end of the tunnel. And I say possibly very very in bold exclamation points after it. Um, but a lot of the guys that we need to start playing well and and providing some pop and some power, uh, they did so today. And hopefully it’s a it’s a sign of things to come. Everything feels better when you hit three home runs. Yeah, that’s it’s the story of of the season really in some ways. But yeah, look, a nice win. This team desperately needed it today. Still haven’t got swept this year. I guess that’s the one thing that’s keeping them afloat right now is that somehow as bad as they’ve been at times, they haven’t got swept in a series. Uh you try to flush it down and you got a big big series against the Guardians this weekend, one of the best teams in baseball right now. We’ve seen it enough to to not think it’s not possible for the Reds to do something stupid this weekend. Yeah. I mean, that’s the thing that actually uh when I was at the depths of of the bottom here, uh I I don’t want to say say hell, but I mean, when we were at the depths of fandom, if you want to call it that, which was last night, I mean, the fact that you still have uh you know, a couple big series with the Cubs, you know, sometimes you can look at that as like a negative in the sense that, oh man, if you you know, if the if the Cubs take care of business, you’re completely out of it. But the Reds have kind of gotten themselves in a position where you’re already starting to feel like they’re out of it. That’s kind of a a get out of jail free card if you play really good baseball over that stretch of the time and you do something crazy like you sweep them, maybe you take five of six from them. Um, so, you know, not all hope is lost, but I think the reason to to want to keep tuning in to this baseball team if nothing else, Nick, is the success hopefully of what we thought this core was going to be. And I think that’s probably why I’ve been I’ve been as as disheartened as as anybody. Um it’s it’s not just the record, it’s not the losses, but it was more or less what what these guys were looking like. You know, Matt Mlan just did not look like the guy that I that I thought that he was for a long time. Um Will Benson wasn’t getting any opportunities. Seemed like they were kind of just casting him off. um and he was going to, you know, ride off into the sunset and maybe get kind of a a couple sparing opportunities here and there and then get DF8 or get traded. Um and that was disappointing because in 2023, Will Benson was one of the main cogs. And I keep reiterating that because I feel like it’s it’s somehow got lost in the shuffle, Nick, that that of all of the players that we were supposed to be excited for, Will Benson wasn’t one of them. Will Benson was one of the main reasons that they kind of went on the run that they went on and I don’t know if people respect that enough. So, I’m going to continue to keep reiterating that. I don’t know if Will Benson’s going to keep having success in the big leagues. Nick, I have no idea. But I do know without a shadow of doubt that we have at least been somewhat proven worthy of banging that drum of he should get opportunities because these other guys are getting opportunities and they’re terrible or they’ve been terrible yet we don’t give the opportunity to the one guy that has shown a very high ceiling in the major leagues for what was at least at least if nothing else half of a season. So, that’s my final thing about Will Benson. I’m I’m excited that that he played really well today. We’ll get into it, I’m sure. But I guess sadly, if and and I’m not trying to be rude, but like if Connor Joe hit three home runs today and the Reds won 10 to one, I wouldn’t be nearly as thrilled as what I am by seeing the at bats that Benson had, seeing the at bats that Mlan had, and seeing the home run that Ellie hit. That’s why I’m actually excited. take the score out of it. I I I I just say that that is the hope of this franchise and um it’s nice to see. I’m I’m not going to try to go over the board and say it was a big deal, but it was just nice to see. I’ll leave it at that, Nick. Yeah, 100% with you. And look, I’m as sick as everyone about kicking the can down the road. But if this ser if this season does completely go down the crapper, it matters what Matt Mlan and and Ellie de la Cruz and Will Benson look like, you know, in terms of having any hope next year. Um, and again, like I just said, I I I I’m exhausted with that that thinking, but it does still matter. So that’s why you tune into these games. Um, that’s the hope. But yeah, I mean this felt like this felt like a 2023 game and man feels like we have seen very very few 2023 games really for the last year and two months at this point. Yeah. No, I agree. Um all right, let’s jump into the deep drive of the day. We’ll get into obviously all the the the uh the proper things of the folks that played well in this game and maybe even more. But before we do all that, we’ll jump into the box score recap presented by yours truly, Nick Kirby. And if you don’t have it, that’s fine, Nick. Just run with whatever you got. Of course, you got it. All right, Reds taking on the White Socks. Red’s trying to avoid getting swept. Nick Martinez up against Bryce Wilson. Reds scored just one earned run off Wilson in 13 in the third innings last season when he was on the Milwaukee Brewers. Nick Martinez impressive first inning one, two, three, striking out Josh Rojos and Luis Robert. And then the Red’s offense got cooking right away. Gavin Lux with a leadoff walk. Santiago Espanol a bunt single followed by an Ellie de la Cruz opposite field single. Loaded the bases. Austin Hayes had a sack fly to put the Reds up one- nothing. But both Espanol and Ellie tagged up and moved up a base on the play. And that would prove to be important because after steer weekly lined out, Will Benson smacked a single at 103 off the bat to put the Reds up three nothing. Ellie de la Cruz homered for a third time in five games in the third inning to put the Reds up 4 nothing. Matt Mlan doubled and came around to score in the fourth to make it 5 nothing. And then Will Benson cranked a home run at 105 off the bat, his first of the season in the fifth inning to make it 6 nothing. Matt Mlan then destroyed a baseball 107 off the bat in the six to make it 7 nothing. And that was more than enough for Nick Martinez. He was absolutely brilliant. Uh once again, uh Martinez through seven innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, three strikeouts. Martinez now over his last start, last four starts has a 1.88 erra with two walks and 17 strikeouts. That’s actually three consecutive uh outings for Nick Martinez where he has not allowed a walk. Reds would go on to win seven to one. Reds now improved to 21 and 24. Reds pick up a half game in the NL Central with the Cubs off now four and a half back in the NL Central. All right, we got a deep drive of the day. Came off the bat of Matt Mlan. That’s going to disappoint Honest fan for sure, but it did. came off the bat of Matt Mlan. 106 off the bat, 406 feet. That’s his sixth home run of the year. Would give the Reds a 7 to nothing lead. The win probability would jump a whopping 6/10, not 6% but 6/10 to 99.4%. But DSC, they are a leader in renewable commodities for bofuel production, specializing in used cooking, oil collection, aggregation, and sales. Visit www.deepsouthcommodities.com for more information. All right, let’s jump into it. Um, start off with Will Benson. I think clearly he was the story of the day. It’s weird that how the whole universe works. I don’t even know if Will Benson gets all that many opportunities if T.J. Fredel doesn’t get hurt. I I I don’t I’m crazy. Um, but I really don’t think that he was. And now he’s kind of forced the hand a little bit, hasn’t he, Nick? It’s It’s like you got a plan now. The only thing I would say is like he better get some leash here. Like this better not be like, oh, he goes 0 for eight in the next two games. The next thing you know, he’s sitting again. I’m I’m I I’ve seen enough now to where it’s like, let’s just stick him out there for a while. Give him a a plenty of opportunity and let’s see if it sticks. Yeah, he’s probably going to strike out more than more than Facebook would like him to. All right. I I I 100% understand that, but he’s gonna hit the ball out of the ballpark, and this team needs that more than they need guys putting the ball in play. I hate I hate for people to maybe think that that might not be the case. Um I’m I’m much of an advocate of putting the ball in play to be clear, but if you’re putting the ball in play one through eight, uh or one through nine and you’re not hitting the ball over the fence, you got a problem. Um this team’s not built on being able to pass the baton to one guy to the next because they don’t have enough good hitters. Hate to say that, but that’s how I feel. They don’t have enough good hitters. They need some guys that can hit over the fence. Will Benson did that today and and he looks good in the in the field. Um has had two back-to-back games where he’s kind of shined a little bit to be honest. Nick, used both of my points there. Uh not leaving anything left. Not even leaving any crumbs for Will Benson to talk about. Come on. Go ahead. Say it over again. Twice. People need to hear it twice. You can say it again. Say it again. No, but no, it’s you’re you’re spot on, though. I mean, he deserves some lease. Like if he goes 0 for 12 against the Guardians this weekend, he should still be in the lineup on Monday. Period. End of story. I don’t want to hear anything else other than that. I mean, Benson has the same amount of extra base hits as Blake Dunn had on the roster the whole season. He has one less extra base hit than Jammer Candelario in uh quick uh Liberty math here. Uh 60 no 62 less at bats. I mean, like give this guy a chance. And he’s looked really good in the field. It’s a small sample. Don’t want to go overboard on that, but he looks like he’s put in some work there. That that’s what I I I felt watching that. And looks like he could play a serviceable center field, which, you know, that was probably part of the reason Blake Dunn was on the roster because the Reds kind of wanted a legit backup center fielder with not having Fairchild. And if he could play, you know, a legitimate center fielder, at least in in in spots, uh that adds a lot of value to him on this roster. So, really exciting to see from Will Benson. um a guy that is is as easy as any player ever in this Red’s organization to root for. Um he deserves an opportunity to play and uh I’m glad he’s at least I think earned himself a leash. Worst case scenario for me uh is Will Benson and Reese Hines platoon. That’s worst case scenario. And I and I don’t I know that there’s going to be maybe that I’m preparing my heart for that not to happen. Um, I’m sure that I’m going to see Connor Joe get like 600 at bats this year or something. I I I I’ve already penciled that into my brain. But I I got to tell you, Nick, like I really hope that that’s what happens because I feel like that’s got a chance to be at least a little bit of like there’s some longevity to that to that that platoon. Uh there’s there’s a chance that when this team is actually in a spot where they are genuinely one of the better teams in the National League, if we ever get to that point, that could be a serviceable option, which is which is Will Benson and Ree Hines platooning in right field. Um don’t know if that’s obviously going to pan out. Uh certainly when TJ Fredel comes back, I don’t know what all this looks like. Um, I I just hope, you know, and like if nothing else, I hope people give us not not that not that we not that I’m looking for us people give us credit, but I I would hope that you kind of at some point when we bring these guys up and we continue to try to fight and say, “Hey, like, you know, there’s there’s other options here. Let’s let’s try these other options.” There’s at least some respect to that because I felt like for the longest time when we brought up Reese Hines and Will Benson on this show, it was like, “Oh, what do you want to bring them up so they can strike out 400 times?” Rearranging deck chairs, rearranging 4A players. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And it’s like, listen, you you don’t 100% know that yet. And I would I would actually understand that sentiment if these guys were 31 years old and they were retreads and they’ve been to six six organizations. That’s not the case with these guys. Um there’s there’s every bit of an opportunity. As much as as much as you could say that Will Benson’s not going to be a major league player and he’s not very good, I would argue that you could you got just as good of a chance to say that he’s going to have a pretty good big league career, whatever you want to make that out to be. Six, seven, eight year big league career where he’s a where he’s a serviceable player. Uh I would say that the chances of both of those things happening are like split 50/50 to me. So, of course, I want to see if there’s a chance because I’m tired of running out what we’ve been running out. And it’s no offense to the Jake Frillies of the world. It’s no offense to Connor Joe’s of the world, but I I’ve seen enough of that. I have, you know, and with all due respect, I hope this opens people’s eyes to saying maybe 300 at bats in 2024 wasn’t really a fair total opportunity for a guy to say he’s a big leager or he’s not, you know. Um, that’s all I have on Will Benson and I hope he keeps playing well, but I’m here to say whether he plays well or doesn’t play well, you can’t deny the fact that he earned an opportunity and deserved an opportunity a long time ago to play on this baseball team. I’ll leave it at that. Yeah, I mean, I don’t love the idea of Reese Hines just being completely negated to a platoon player on the wrong side where he doesn’t get to play a lot. If you go that route though, you you have to start him when you have opportunities like today instead of Connor Joe. That that’s just these are just I feel like at that point you’re just really stunting this guy’s development. And I I don’t know. I mean I guess if if the Reds are really if the Reds do platoon Hines and just straight put him into that role, I hope it’s because they really just don’t have any belief in him that he can develop anything more than that. But if they think if they believe that he could develop more than that, right, I think they should they need to this is not the right role for him. He’s your first bat. Yeah. Yeah. But I think he’s your first bat off the bench. I mean I I when I say he doesn’t he doesn’t play, you know, against against right-handed pitching, which is obviously the vast majority of the time. I’m not suggesting that he can’t come in in the sixth or seventh inning after you pinch hit him in a in a spot. Well, he would have today. He would have today. Benson wouldn’t have got that at bat. under I not not faulting Tito at all when Ben has had a great day and the Reds are up seven runs, right? But yeah, he would have certainly pinched it against the lefty in the sixth or seventh inning. You would like to think, but you never know. I mean, I’m not trying to be disrespectful to Tito, Nick, but you’re giving him a lot of credit right now for I don’t I don’t know if he would have. I’m just being honest with you. It could have been a one and let’s just say it was a three to2 game. I don’t think Will Benson’s getting hit for right there because I think the other night the Reds were down two runs and Gavin Lux in the top of the eighth inning to lead the inning off he’s hitting. He’s hitting lefty on lefty. So, I’m I I I do appreciate you’re being nice right now and you’re giving Tito the benefit of the doubt by saying that it was seven to one and and and uh Will Benson’s had a good day, so let’s just kind of let him keep going out there. He did walk to be fair to Will. He did walk, but I’m not going to give credence or or credit, I guess, to the idea that that Tito would have pinch hit there. So, I I’m just openly saying don’t be shocked the next time that happens and he doesn’t get pinched. I don’t think he I don’t think he likes Benson as much as he likes Lux either. So, Well, that’s a fact. Yeah, that’s a fact. And I and I and and you know what? That’s what sucks about some of this stuff. I I don’t I don’t know exactly what you know, it’s just weird. Sometimes you get put in a box as a as an athlete that you’re this player no matter what. And you might not actually be that player and then eventually you either are so good that you break out of it and you show that you are uh a different player or you or you just never given the opportunity to showcase that you’re better than what they think you are. And I I hope for Reese Hines’s sake that’s not what happens to him, but it feels like that that’s the path that we’re going to go down, which is Ree Hines at best is going to get opportunities perhaps in a platoon situation or he’s going to get sit down back down to Triple A. Um I just it just seems like they look at these guys as lottery tickets like they’re not well-rounded good baseball players. And I hate to tell this to the Reds the Red’s front office and the Reds franchise, but I got news for them. They’re not going to have that many well-rounded, great baseball players walk through the door all that often as a prospect uh that that’s going to perfectly fit the mold. They’re going to have to live with some of the bad. And Ree Hines is going to strike out. They’re going he’s going to strike out, but they’re going to have to live with that a little bit. And if he goes, like I said before, the guy could go two for two for 14, but if he hits two home runs in those 14 at bats, he’s providing a significantly better value than the vast majority of some of these guys. So, we’ll leave it at that. All right, Matt Mlan, nice to see him today obviously get off the snide a little bit. Uh, starting to look like himself. I also felt like there was a play towards the back end of the game that was like a, in my opinion, a smart baseball play. The Reds had like a what it was seven to one a six-run lead and um Barry Larkin was suggesting that he could have charged it, tapped the bag and try to get the out at first base for a double play. I’m just telling everybody like maybe I’m giving uh uh um Mlan way too much credit, but he’s like he knows time and score. He he he’s making sure he gets the out at second base 100%. So instead of trying to risk a chance of making an error to make the ultimate play, which is a double play, just take the out. I had no problem with that play. I know Barry brought that up, but um I don’t know. What do you have to add with Mlan? I don’t have much more than I just hope he gets going because we need him. Well, numbers look a lot better now. Up to an 82 WRC plus. So, he’s slowly climbing that long hill back up. Uh Chris brought out a brother in the chat. Mlan is walking a lot. Uh he’s up to a 13.4% walk rate, which he was only at 7.7 in 2023. So, as bad as he’s been offensively, he actually has a 308 on base percentage. So, um that that’s the most positive sign with him is that he is overall um you know, laying off pitches, drawing walks, and he has six home runs. So, he obviously needs to to, you know, make more. But al also though, is it too crazy to say that that Matt Mlan’s also had some pretty bad luck this year that if a couple of these balls I mean in 157 played appearances, four or five more hits, your entire stat lines look different. So, um yeah, I mean like Matt McLean right now has a 231 uh batting average on balls in play. uh it was 385 in 2023. Both of those numbers are are unsustainable. I think what he the 2023 numbers are probably unsustainable. This he at some point is going to get probably closer to that middle. And uh I think I think Matt Mlan is probably not I think it’s unlikely Matt Mlan is ever that 127 well above average W wrc plus guy. But I think that he’s a he’s going to settle into a guy that’s probably above average. Um maybe a little bit more than that. But again, man, you factor in his defense, his base running, and then if he does continue to to draw more walks, it can he can climb his numbers a little bit. He’s just a very valuable player. You just need good players to go around that mlay. Yeah, fair enough. All right, moving on. Uh, Game Time, if you’re in the market for tickets, please download the Game Time app today. It’s the official ticketing partner of Chatterbox Reds. If you do download the Game Time app, be sure to put in the code CBOX. That’s CBOX. You can get $20 off your first purchase. Terms do apply. Uh, schedule release for the NFL just came out. Obviously, maybe you’re making plans for that. Perhaps you’re looking to go down to the ballard. The weather’s starting to turn around this parts, isn’t it? Isn’t it a chat? The weather’s starting to warm up around here. Uh, feels great outside. If you’ve not been outside, do yourself a favor and and get outside at some point today. Um, maybe you’re looking to go down to the ballard, get some uh, ice cream, maybe a cold beverage or two, if you know what I’m saying, and enjoying it. And if you do that, you can get your tickets on the Game Time app. Use the code CBOX. That’s CBOX. You can get $20 off your first purchase. Wait till the last minute. always score on some last minute tickets with game time and uh it’s also a very very easy user intuitive app. So check it out. All right. 988 text and or call uh day or night. It’s anonymous hotline to uh to at any point to get help and it’s okay to not be okay is 988. And maranther theapy.org obviously is always a resource. So check that out if you need it. All right, Nick. U back half of the rundown. I’m trying to obviously kind of make sure that my voice continues to stay intact here. So, I’m going to do my best to uh to rally the troops here. Uh Nick Martinez obviously started the game. Nick Martinez has been a little topic of conversation just because of of the one-year deal that he signed and um today threw the ball really really well. And and you know what’s funny about this is like I don’t think he’s going to get a whole lot of credit for it because it was the White Socks. Um but this is kind of what you’re supposed to do, right? if you’re a decent pitcher, like you’re you’re you’re supposed to go out and do your job. And and uh as much as like we wanted to be disheartened by the way that the Reds played against the White Socks, uh I would say the opposite is like when you actually play well or you do your job against them, you should deserve some credit. Nick Martinez deserves his credit on a day like today. Yeah, he’s pitching really well. I just it’s so refreshing just to have a pitcher that can go three straight starts without walking anyone. Um you just don’t see that very often. So, yeah, he’s pitching really well. Um, this is a start where, man, you just needed to shut down. I mean, fortunately, he got seven runs of support, but, uh, probably weren’t expecting that coming into the game given the fact that the Reds have really struggled against, uh, uh, Bryce Wilson and threads have struggled in general. So, yeah, this is a big start from Nick Martinez. And um again, like if you don’t have Nick Martinez right now in this rotation, I’m assuming the starter would probably be Aaron Wilkerson. And if you don’t know who that is, that’s my point. Uh so it would be it would be rough on that front, too, if you didn’t have Nick Martinez. So again, we’ll we have to let this play out. We have to really see what this looks like over 162 games before I say, “Hey, I’m right. They should have signed Nick Martinez.” Or you say, “I’m wrong. they should have signed a hitter because it’s we’re nowhere close to having any sort of idea how this how this works. Um, but we’ll see. We’ll find out at the end of the season whether it was probably a smart move or not. And no walks is a good point by you again. Uh, just something that we’ve kind of taken for granted a little bit with the starting pitching staff. In fact, you just mentioned it’s nice to have a guy that can go three straight outings without giving up a walk. Um, oddly enough, there’s two guys in the rotation that I know of at the top of my head that can do that. Andrew Abbott’s another guy that has an opportunity to do that with his next start. So um you know obviously we’ve given love to this this pitching staff um a lot and deservedly so and if they continue to throw the ball well you’d like to think this offense can figure it out at some point. Are they this bad? I don’t think so. But man, it’s it’s it’s felt like we’ve kind of been saying that for a long time. So I’m wondering if we are but uh we shall find out. All right. Um you got Ellie de La Cruz obviously on the rundown. Um, nice day obviously from him as well. From an X-factor perspective, Nick, it feels like Ellie’s probably the biggest one, man. Um, I I keep wanting to try to figure out if there’s another another guy on this team that could elevate them to a level that uh that would get you excited, genuinely excited, and I don’t know if that exists. You know, I I think Ellie’s he just he just has a ceiling above so many other guys that if he gets going and also today played pretty good shortstop. Um seems like we gloss over that too. I’m not saying we, but as a fan base we’ll probably gloss over that. um you know what do you what more is there to say other than really Ellie and and Matt Mlan are the two guys that have to get going for this team to be relevant and it’s nice to see both of them I guess today play well. Yeah, I mean three home runs in five games is a pretty big uh trend. Uh that that’s for sure. I know there’s a lot made about his ground ball rate early in the year. Um, and it was it was at a level it had never been. But I I I I noted uh back on May 9th, really not that long ago, um that Ellie last year um from opening day through May 26, so a little bit longer, had a 54% ground ball rate and then after May 27th through the rest of the season, it was down to 43%. So I don’t know. It’s probably some sort of combination of two things. Obviously, the the summer and the ball carrying um and also just Ellie playing in warmer weather. I guess three things, warmer weather, and the Ellie just maybe being a little bit of a slow starter in that regard. So, um I’ll be interested to see what his power numbers look like, but it feels like he’s not shown anywhere close to the power we hoped and he still has eight home runs. So, I mean, we’re what a a fourth of the way through the season. Um, so that’s a almost a 24 home run pace. I’m trying to do math here on the fly. Not my strong suit, but I mean, you don’t really have to squint too hard to say that could get up to 30 pretty quick if he gets hot. Yeah, it requires him to get hot. And that’s I guess that was the whole the whole question mark of this whole thing was is Ellie actually going to get hot or not? And and I know that that might at the end of the season that’s always kind of an easy thing to look back and laugh upon, right? It’s like, oh, we what do we we expected him not to get hot. He looked his numbers are very much the same as they were the year prior, if not better. We just don’t have enough guys on this roster yet, Nick, that I think that you could just kind of, as I said before, you could just settle in and believe wholeheartedly that no matter what happens, no matter how bad it looks, they are going to find, you know, the their level. um they’re going to find their their numbers. It’s going to happen. When where you don’t know, but I don’t feel that way for many of these guys. And I guess Ellie’s trending in that direction where I start to feel like, yeah, you’re going to get that out of them at some point. But that wasn’t a guarantee either. So, um it’s just nice to see. And I guess that’s the storyline of the day. It’s is it was a very very good day from an optimistic and hope standpoint and what this team can become. They’re not there yet, but they need the guys that played well today to be factors moving forward for not just for this season, but for for for seasons onward. And I know that we don’t really like talking about that. People hate when we talk about, oh, you’re always talking about next season. I’m not trying to talk about next season. I’m just being realistic and saying that if Ellie, Matt Mlan, Will, and I’ll use some other ones, but Will Benson, Reese Hines, um, Marte, CES, if he’s ever going to play, I don’t know. If those guys aren’t good, then then we’re cooked. Like, then we’re wasting our time here. I I and I I don’t mean to be overly ridiculous about it, but this franchise is cooked. like for for four or five straight years they’re going to be absolutely horrendous if those specific guys aren’t good baseball players and that’s the core focus when I watch these games more times than not is how do these guys look we can get excited about Austin wins we can get excited about uh I guess Trevvinho now has a little bit of staying power but even you add Connor Joe oh Jake Frillley has a game or two here that looks nice I’ll throw in Espanol you know you you have all these players that we obviously hope do Well, but the truth is is that they’re not going to be main factors in us cheering on a team that’s trying to win postseason baseball games in my opinion or series down the line. So hopefully people kind of understand that. Yeah, I mean they they they stopped the bleeding today. I mean that that’s that’s really all they did. Um and they gave themselves a chance to get back on track. Um, so it was much needed for everyone’s sake. The fan base, for the players, for Terry FCota, for the ownership, for Nick Crawl. It’s just a big big day for everyone just to kind of say, “All right.” Right. We didn’t get swept by the White Socks. We didn’t get swept by the White Socks. All right. We we lived to fight another day. Let’s let’s let’s try to get hot. That’s doubt. Yeah. The cease the ceasefire the ceasefire seemed to work. You know, there we we we we calmed we calmed everybody down. Let’s see if we can’t find a way to to negotiate some peace here and start playing some better baseball within this fan base. All right. Um I know that on a day like today, Reds MLB isn’t going to be the most fluid and the most easy thing to do probably, Nick, but um I guess you could just run through who, what, when, where, and why in a way. Uh and then obviously for those that are wondering podcast version as always, you probably get a little bit more snippets and some more nuggets. But uh Nick, go ahead and take it away on Red’s MB. Yeah. Uh, only Louisville in action so far today. They fall 74 to Indianapolis now 19 and 22 on the season. That Louisville lineup has really got depleted. Uh, Blake Dunn out of the lineup today after getting hit in the head. Man, poor Blake Dunn. Uh, Jacob Herabies 0 for four did walk. He’s now hitting a buck 27 uh down at Triple A. Von Johnson 0 for four with a walk as well. Herbies did steal a base though, his sixth of the season. Uh Wade Miley uh pitched today. Three innings, six hits, three runs, no walks, two strikeouts. So a better outing from Miley, but still certainly nowhere close to being a uh big league contributor. Uh and that was really about all the nuggets from this game. I’ll try to do a little more digging for the podcast tomorrow. Uh some exciting stuff though tonight uh with the Reds uh minor league system. Jose Akuna who’s been incredible starting for Chattanooga. He’s got a 1.95 RA. Lookout’s trying to get back on track. They’ve actually lost five straight games, but they’re only a game and a half out of their uh division race. Um Dayton, they have the number 30 ranked prospect. Just actually got put on the the Red’s prospect list. Luke Hayden, eighth round pick last season. He’s got a 1.88 ERA so far. So, he’ll be starting for Dayton. That’s a 7:30. Uh Daytona at 635. Ovisor, uh the return for Lucas Sims getting the start. And then the ACL Reds. Uh not enough space for them to make the graphic, but they’ll be at nine o’clock. Obviously, no TV for them. Uh Tyson Lewis show. We’re on Tyson Lewis watch our New Hope and Savior. I like it. I like it. Well, I mean, he was a second round pick that was out of high school. So, like you don’t have to squint to go, okay, I mean that that’s the the profile of a of a guy that you pick that has upside that that could have easily should have been a first round pick, but he he I came from um is it Nebraska? I think he came from Nebraska and he was the highest high school pick ever in that state. So, it’s like has all the makings of a guy that that could be like that top end talent that you missed on. So, um pretty exciting. I don’t know if you did you see the video Baseball America posted it of his home run now. Go find it. I retweeted it, man. The sound off that bat. Oh, it’s good. And Cam Collier is uh was uh put a a chain or something on him in the dugout. So Cam Kier, he I don’t think he’s been in any games, but he is at he is with the ACL Reds in the dugout every day. So hopefully that means he’s close to uh getting back in action. All right, that’s good to hear. Reds as always. We have uh more baseball on the way. Just to be clear, obviously uh me and Nick will be back on Sunday night, but uh support the Phillips Brothers as they do uh the shows obviously and helping us out throughout the summer. Obviously, I need some help. My voice is uh is what it is at this point. So, um who, what, when, where, and why, Nick. And then I think I got some uh things squared away. I might have to find where this basketball is. It’s been so long, but I think I’m good to go. So, uh take it away, Nick. All right. Reds will start a three-game series on Friday night against the Guardians. Uh Guardians come with the second best record in the American League at 25 and 18. Um only behind the Tigers. So unfortunat they’re three and a half games out of their division and they’re 25 and 18. That’s uh uh that’s pretty tough. Reds have not won the Ohio Cup since 2014. So is this finally the year? We shall see. Uh that Guardians lineup. I was doing a few notes on them last night. My god. Stephen Quan, Jos Ramirez, they’ve got some dudes that are absolutely uh raking right now. All right, Friday night’s pitching matchup. Brady Singer uh comes in 4-2, 4.97 against Tanner Bbeby, three and three, 3.80 RA. BB’s had a really impressive first uh two and change seasons of his big league career. Put up three plus wins above replacement in each of his first two big league seasons. Um he’s made eight starts this season. In six of those eight, he’s allowed two earned runs or less. The other two starts, he got blown up a little bit. Actually got four home runs in one start and three home runs in another start. Um last start though, seven innings, one run against the Philadelphia Phillies. Uh Bby relies on six pitches, a four seamer, cutter, sinker, sweeper, change up, and curveball. Fast ball averages 94.6. That sweeper has been his most dominant pitch this season. Made two career starts against the Reds, both last season. 3.65 65 RA 18 Ks and three walks. Unfortunately, Jandelario won’t be in the lineup because he had a his biggest home run probably as a Red was a three-run home run against Bayiew when he was absolutely dominating that the Reds would go on to win 42. Uh other Reds, Benson’s one for two, Fredel two for five, Steer one for five, Ellie de la Cruz 0 for six with five strikeouts. So if there’s ever a day maybe to give Ellie off, maybe it’s that one. But obviously he’s hot so probably not gonna happen. All right, for the Reds, Brady Singer coming off a rough start. Uh, nine hits, seven runs against the Houston Astros. Uh, that was the first time or that was the first time he’d allowed seven earned runs since 2023. ERA went from 3.66 to 4.97. Singers faced the Guardians a lot. 13 starts, 4.84 RA. There are some ugly numbers though. Active Guardians hitting 418 with an OPS over a,000 against them. Jos Ramirez is 12 for 27 with three homers. Quan nine for 23 with a homer. Kyle Menzardo four for five. And the most damning one, Austin Hedges is 4 for 16 with two homers off Brady Singer. I don’t even know how I didn’t need to hear that. I didn’t need to hear that. It sounds like every single one of those players all out there. I’m getting it all out there. My goodness. Uh sounds like the basically the whole entire roster uh at this point their favorite player to uh to go up against is Brady Singer. So, we’ll sign. Uh, one thing that uh that I that I kind of let slip through the cracks all the way to the end of the show, and I must I must u submit my formal apology to Honest Fan. Uh, he’s been on the bandwagon, has always been on the bandwagon. In fact, I think he drives the bus uh which is the bandwagon bus, train, whatever term you’d like to use, uh, of the Will Benson uh, fandom. And that is his super chat coming in at uh, a big time 1999. William Buchanan Benson. That’s what he says. And uh yeah, maybe it’s his day. Maybe he’ll get back on track. I do know this uh there’s at least a semblance of hope now. That’s nice. And what else is nice is that, you know, when it’s been so long since I’ve dunked, I got to go through kind of the the the rigors here of trying to remember what exactly I’m supposed to do in all this. So, I don’t know if this is going to work because it’s been so long, but we’re going to give it a shot. And I just want to tell everybody before we go, like the stream if you haven’t already. Nick, any final parting thoughts before we head out into the sunset? Let me add this honest fan. Hopefully makes you uh uh appreciative a little more for for your super chat that we didn’t get to. The only reason I didn’t see your super chat was because I switched to my personal account so I could talk about Will Benson. So, it goes with with the whole Will Benson uh love that that me and Honest fans share. So, yes, you were you were fighting the fight in the chat today with him. You were fighting the fight with him. Yes. And uh I think he was with you too. He he was trying to he was he was trying to provide you with some words of encouragement as well, which is a good thing. And I’m glad that we’re all uh singing Kumbaya together, holding hands, and we all feel great as a Red’s fan base. Um but you know what? It’s that time of the show. It’s time to go. And uh before we go, we’ll see if I can’t uh do [Music] something. Halfway. [Music] [Music] Oh, heat, [Music] heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] [Music] Heat up [Music]

00:00 Watching the 9th Inning
07:15 Full Game Recap
09:55 Will Benson’s High Ceiling
12:49 Box Score Recap
14:55 DSC Deep Drive of the Day
15:35 Will Benson pt. 2
25:05 Matt McLain is coming around
29:02 Nick Martinez 3rd straight start with NO walks
31:45 Elly De La Goat, the X-factor
37:07 Reds MiLB
38:59 TYSON LEWIS SHOW!
40:22 Up Next
45:05 Athlete, Like the Show

The Cincinnati Reds face the Chicago White Sox on May 15, 2025, at Great American Ball Park, with first pitch scheduled for 12:40 p.m. ET. This series finale follows two White Sox victories, leaving the Reds desperate to avoid a sweep. The matchup, broadcast on MLB Network for out-of-market viewers and Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) locally, pits Reds’ right-hander Nick Martinez against White Sox righty Bryse Wilson in a battle of pitchers looking to stabilize their seasons.

The Reds (20-24, fourth in NL Central) are struggling, having dropped nine of their last 11 games, including 5-1 and 4-2 losses to the White Sox on May 13 and 14. Injuries have decimated their roster, with key players like Christian Encarnacion-Strand (back), Jake Fraley (calf), and Noelvi Marte (oblique) on the injured list. Offensively, Elly De La Cruz remains a bright spot, leading the team with seven home runs and 30 RBIs, though his 435-foot homer on May 13 wasn’t enough to spark a rally. Gavin Lux (.282 BA) and TJ Friedl (.276 BA) provide consistency, but the Reds’ lineup has been inconsistent, scoring just 198 runs in 44 games. Martinez (2.66 ERA in his last four starts) has been a stabilizing force, allowing no homers and just four walks in 23.2 innings since April. Right-handed hitters have hit well against him, which could challenge a White Sox lineup featuring Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Vaughn.

The White Sox (14-29, fifth in AL Central) are riding high after winning four of their last five, including a series against the Marlins. Their offense, led by Miguel Vargas (three-run homer on May 13) and Lenyn Sosa (solo homer on May 14), has shown pop, while Robert Jr. (.267 BA, 2-for-4 on May 14) remains a threat. The Sox have leaned on a pitching strategy using openers, but Wilson, a traditional starter, takes the mound. His 4.15 ERA reflects inconsistency, but he’s shown flashes of command, critical against a Reds team prone to striking out (8.5 K/game). Chicago’s bullpen, anchored by Mike Vasil (first career save on May 14), has been reliable, a key factor in their recent success.

Betting odds favor the Reds at -225, with the White Sox at +185. Cincinnati is a 1.5-run favorite (-113), and the over/under is set at 9 runs, reflecting the Reds’ offensive struggles and the Sox’s modest 139 runs scored this season. Weather in Cincinnati (85°F, partly cloudy) should pose no issues.

For the Reds to win, Martinez must limit hard contact, and De La Cruz needs support from Lux and Friedl. The White Sox will rely on Wilson’s control and timely hitting from Vargas and Robert Jr. Expect a close game, with the Reds’ home crowd and Martinez’s recent form giving them a slight edge to salvage the series.

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Andrew Abbott, Julian Aguiar, Graham Ashcraft, Scott Barlow, Emilio Pagán, Fernando Cruz, Alexis Díaz, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Nick Martinez, Tony Santillan, Carson Spiers, Brent Suter, Rhett Lowder, Brandon Williamson, Tyler Stephenson, José Trevino, Jeimer Candelario, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Matt McLain, Elly De La Cruz, Santiago Espinal, Jonathan India, Noelvi Marte, Edwin Ríos, Will Benson, TJ Friedl, Jake Fraley, Stuart Fairchild, Austin Hays, Spencer Steer, Jacob Hurtubise, Blake Dunn, Cooper Bowman

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