It’s Getting Real for the Cincinnati Reds

It’s Getting Real for the Cincinnati Reds

[Music] All right, Chaz, let’s get right to it. It was supposed to be Sacramento. On paper, it was that series against the last place A’s in a minor league ballpark when the Mets were busy losing eight in a row. That’s when the Reds were supposed to make their move. Instead, when they were in California, they got swept and they waited. They waited for a four-game series against the playoffbound Cubs and then those up and down you never know what you’re going to get Reds played some of their best baseball of the season and they made their move Chaz against the Cubs. So after 6 months and 156 games, you basically start over. The Reds have a sixgame season to make the playoffs. Chaz, I ask you, how did we get here? I really do think it kind of comes down and boils down to this small sample size that we’re looking at because coming off that a series it seemed unrealistic. Um, even like Hunter Green’s complete game on Thursday that had the context of, “All right, nice moment. Reds stay alive, but it didn’t start to to really feel real until Saturday.” And there was some of it on Friday, too. But Saturday was a ratcheting up point. Sunday obviously was the huge one. And now the beauty of it is now Tuesday, it’s going to be kind of going to be firing on all systems go from that perspective. It’s going to be a fun series. It’s going to be a big week, but when we look back at the Reds and the story of this season, I feel like at the end of the day, it’s just going to kind of start last Thursday with Hunter Green’s complete game shutout and then end however it ends. We always look for points. You you call them turning points or uh whatever you said it ratcheted up against the Cubs. I agree with that and I think you’re exactly right. You know, the Reds don’t have a lot of four game sweeps on the books in the last 10 years or so. It just doesn’t happen much. But they got one that matches their longest winning streak of the season at five games and they got that at the time they absolutely needed it the most. Welcome to Power Stacks, proud members of the Growler Podcast Network. Coming up on the show, we talked about him a lot. We talked about him at the start of the season, but the conversation right now at the moment, that conversation is very different about Spencer Steer. That’s coming up in just a bit. Also, Hedo likes to play cards. We know that. Well, now he also has a few aces up his sleeve in the Red’s bullpen. We dive into that topic as well. And Chaz has a message for Red’s country. And although he probably won’t get this reference, when Chaz talks to Red’s country, Red’s country should listen. That’s a good tease as as we get started on the show today. But first, before we do that, a winning weekend at Great American Ballpark. And Chaz, that means Tito got to hear some tunes. We covered last time out how Tito loves to hear the music in the clubhouse after a Red’s win. And it turns out two guys there there are two guys in there who basically run the show. One you would probably expect and the other probably not so much. So when the Reds win and they get to that postgame winning playlist, here’s closer Emilio Pagan on exactly how all that with the postgame music works. Scott Barlo is probably the best DJ I’ve ever been around. I mean, he’s got he’s got songs that obviously everybody knows, but then deep tracks that nobody knows and they are always good. Um, he kind of always has a good feel for what the vibes need to be. Um, so I would say he’s probably the main guy. Um, and then whenever he’s busy, I’ll throw a few songs on um, and just go from there. But you got some standards, right? Like you said, Pink Floyd Money is kind of the one that kicks it off. And you got some other standards mixed in. Yeah, that’s the that’s the song when we first come in. Um, I think the second song is a Big X the plug or I’m not I’m maybe Cowboy Cowboy Killer. Uh, Mexican OT. That’s who it is. Okay. Um, I don’t I don’t know any of his music other than that one. Um, and that’s just because we played in here, but yeah, I mean Scotty B. Um, I think we refer to him now as MC Scotty B. I mean, he’s he’s the best. So, uh, he he does a great job. There’s a certain amount of pressure though that there has to be to accommodate the various musical tastes that you have in a room like this, right? Is there some pressure involved? Yeah, for sure. Um, you know, it it sounds silly saying there’s pressure, but um, you want to try and get everybody in the right mindset to go compete and go play a game. And so, um, you know, you can’t just stick to one genre. Um, you know, obviously if you’re getting on a roll with one playlist or a certain group of songs, you try to stick to those, uh, until they stop working. Uh, not that we’re superstitious at all, but uh, but yeah, you know, you try and find the ones that, you know, gets the locker room going and and then go from there. But I try to mix in genre, all different types of genres because, you know, people had different taste in music. So, if it was me, I would listen to Morgan Wall and Luke Combmes all day every day. Uh, but I think people would get tired of that. So, uh, you know, that’s it is what it is. All right. So, the point is the point is the music was on this weekend at Great America Ballpark and that’s how it happens. But I I’ll say this after Pink Floyd, he lost me. Uh Cowboy X or whatever else that was, I was out on that. But I love the fact that those guys do that. MC Scotty B, would you have ever guessed that Scott Barlo was the guy they looked to to satisfy all these various musical tastes? You know what? I’m not that surprised. He’s known for kind of being one of those fun, goofy, smart personalities. Um, has one of the best nicknames on the team. I believe this was his nickname in Kansas City. It hasn’t carried over, but Scoots McGoots. So, DJ Scoots McGoots kind of has a nice ring to it. Um, and that’s kind of the beauty of it, too. It really does take all 26 now 28 guys on the roster. All right, that’s good. DJ Scoots McGoots or MC Scotty B. I talked to him. He says he does not have any musical gifts of his own. He does not play or sing or perform. He’s just got a good catalog, got a deep catalog and an appreciation for different types of music and likes to do that in the postgame clubhouse. So that just kind of sets the tone for where we are right now with the Reds. They’re winning and right now they may or they at least have the opportunity to win their way to the wild card in the National League such as my bell didn’t work. Oh wow, that’s a total malfunction. As we shift gears now to the leadoff spot and we talk about this team and where they are right now, let’s do this. I love this story and I’m going to let you tell it, but I love this story because Spencer Steer now leads a team in home runs. had three in two days against the Cubs and this is a much different place and a much different conversation than we were having about Spencer Steer six months ago coming out of spring training. How did it start and how did we get where we are now? Well, I think it started in the offseason when the Reds needed were interested were trying to find that powerhitting right-handed bat and they did end up with Austin Hayes, but this isn’t as much about Austin. where the Reds really ended was a place where they needed that that type of player to come from within and there was a lot of expectations the wrong word but responsibility I think is where I’m going for thrown on to Spencer Steer to be that guy and then I don’t know that that many guys from an injury perspective have kind of had more thrown on their plate than Spencer Steer did this season for a guy who’s never been on the injured list. So he he played through that shoulder injury for all of or for most of 2024. Came back up in in spring training. He couldn’t throw. He talked his way onto the opening day roster. He’d play every day as the DH while he was relearning how to throw kind of in the early afternoons before going about his his his game his his game prep. Um and those first three weeks were terrible. But as Terry Francona says, and he’s he’s right, you know, since he started playing the field again, it’s about a 777 OPS for Spencer Steer, flat out solid. But but it hasn’t been that straightforward, you know, he’s been banged up all summer with the leg. Now it’s a rib issue he’s dealt with. There’s been a neck that’s popped up. It’s been a bunch of little things. It’s been a bunch of highs and lows. There was the point we heard him say, “I wonder if I’m just not that good anymore.” The power was zapped. Um, and the power really was zapped was gone for the first two months of the season plus. But for Steer to heat up the way he is at this unbelievably meaningful juncture of the year, when I think of this run that got the Reds back in the race, Ste’s going to be right at the top of that list of people who got them there. I keep going back to the fact how many times did we hear Tito say he probably shouldn’t be playing? He said that about a couple of guys, but he said that about Steer right from the start and the interview that you did with him early in the season that we ran on this show where he said, “I’m learning I’m I’m having to teach my body how to throw because when I throw the way I threw previously, my body freaks out and shuts down because of the injury. So, I’m learning how to throw, I shouldn’t be playing, but I’m going to DH and then I’m going to play first base.” And then it got better and then you get to the point in the season after he wondered whether he was good or not that he now leads the team in home runs. And I loved about the series against Chicago, you know, Frank Kona always says when we ask about this point in the season, he says, “Look, you can’t change who you are at this point of the season. You are who you are as a team or individually.” But what the Reds did, they kind of did change because they’re not a home run hitting team. But across two games, they hit eight home runs. Steer had three of them and now he’s got 21 on the season and looks like he’s someone who could help the Reds pull this thing across the finish line if he continues to swing it the way that he has and you know the respect and the leadership that he carries in the clubhouse mostly quietly but to see him battle through what he’s done all year and there’s a couple of guys who’ve done that but to see him do that that’s like you said showing up at the right time for this team. Let’s preview a 2026 podcast topic. Do it. Um, we know who we know who the leaders of this team are. Lux Trevino and then um Austin Hayes Pagan, Nick Martinez, etc. Especially like Hayes Pagan Martinez. They’re going to be free agents. And I believe there are a couple other of the Reds veterans who are going to be free agents as well. And because of maybe some potential payroll limitations because of a lot of these guys who debuted in 2023 are going to start to make some more money in arbitration, the Reds might kind of be reached the point where all right like these guys are going to have to kind of lead themselves. And Spencer Steer to me is the top of that list in terms of just natural leaders in that clubhouse who it kind of could become their team from a perspective in terms of running the room. And he certainly has that respect in there in the clubhouse. Yes, he does. And you brought up Pagan and and his status over the weekend, you know, after he closed out a couple of those games against the Cubs and was asked about the situation, where the Reds are, the time of year, the crowd. He said, “This is why I signed here to to feel this here to to help achieve this for this group and this city.” and he’s enjoying this as much as anybody because everyone thought this was possible, but a few weeks ago no one did. Now it’s possible and you’ve got guys doing things like they’re doing and saying things like that that Amelio Pagan said after one of those games against Chicago. Tito’s take now and it doesn’t always happen. We know this. It doesn’t always happen the way you draw it up. But for the Reds bullpen, it might because I’m trying to imagine the conversations, you know, probably months ago, but for sure weeks ago when you talk about the possibilities of one, what we’ve been talking about all season about what you can and can’t do with Nick Martinez, but that’s mostly a can do conversation with Martinez who was in the rotation, dipped into the bullpen, back to the rotation, and then you look at the options you have with him for this type of run late in the season with Martinez back at the bullpen. And then you also realize the ability of having Chase Burns join some of the standards. Graham Ashcraft who looked better. Zack Maxwell hasn’t pitched as much, but he’s been there. He’s a newer option. And now you mix the wild card of Nick Martinez with a new option in Chase Burns and then old reliable in the eighth and ninth innings of Tony Santion and Ailio Pagan. What did you see in the Cub series as Tito kind of for the first time played through those options and played the cards the way that he played them? Uh, pardon the pun. He managed it differently. It was pretty cool. It was it was it was very well done managing the game aggressively with the starter to get the ball to Burns on Saturday, Martinez on Sunday because those guys are as aside from Santine and Pagan and you can make the case they’re right up there with them in terms of reliability in terms of dynamic ability dynamic ability in terms of just what we’ve seen from them. You want to get the ball in those guys hands, but it’s about all right, if you do it today, what does it mean for tomorrow? Well, we’ve reached the point in the season where today was the focus. And there was even a small thing with Chase Burns. They were giving him three days rest at first, then in between relief appearances, then they gave him two days rest when he pitched on Saturday. So, it’s creeping up. And you know, Burns wasn’t perfect on Saturday, but being the bridge that he was, being the option against left-handed hitters that he was, he’s clearly continuing to get more comfortable. Again, he faded a bit uh down the stretch in his outing on Saturday, but then there was Santan right behind him like Tony always is. Just a terrific like I’m going to say allstar caliber season from Tony like but not a half when you look at the whole season. Um, but kind of the the moving pieces, the wild cards like you said are Burns and Martinez. We know that Martinez is up for whatever, but they have to manage Burns. They have to be careful with Burns. And also, Burns is still learning what he’s doing. Here’s Chase Burns talking about what his role is and how he’s approaching it. What have you learned about how you warm up and how you kind of get hot in the bullpen and hasn’t figured that out? Um, I mean, I did a little bit in college, so there’s nothing crazy, but I mean, honestly, just giving yourself enough time. um couple innings before just kind of like mentally preparing and then obviously like with fully b just stretching and then they’re still good. Are you like I know I understand a lot of guys do different thing they do fly balls they run they scratch like what are you doing during the game? Yeah I mean it’s just normal pretty much everybody else posts um I’ll do some fly balls do some some bands kind of just like what I do my starting routine just kind of shorten it and in a smaller time break. You gotten any advice from a guy like Graham? He’s done it. Or you got a couple former starters in there. Uh yeah, I always ask Martinez to start around. He’s done both. So he’s always coming up to me telling me, you know, hey, move around a little bit or you know, stay ready, stuff like that. You know, you showed some fire after the I think the strike out in the seventh yesterday. Like kind of what is the bullpen hype amped upness that that you feel out there? I mean, uh honestly, I did a lot in college. Um and Martinez is trying to bring it out of me. So, um, it’s just it just comes out naturally. So, what did Nick tell you? Uh, now we have a handshake where like we just like high five and then yell at each other. And so, he’s always telling me to bring the dog out. So, I’m I’m trying to slowly get comfortable enough to be able to do that. So, I believe in that. You believe in that? Maybe. We’ll see. Here. Happy. Thanks, Chase. Appreciate you. There are the clips. Look up the clips of Chase Birds’s wild celebrations in college. And Mick Martinez has been like, “Where is that man?” Like, “Let’s go. Let’s get bullpen Chase Burns right here.” And so, like you heard, I thought this was hilarious. The handshake, but they just high five and then yell at each other. And you saw that some on um I want to say Burns had a strike out in the seventh inning on Wednesday in St. Louis against Jordan Walker where he let it rip a little bit and they want him to keep going, keep building on that cuz the stage is about to get big. I’ll say this too, like I remember the first things I heard about Chase, you know, from guys like Joe Kuskum when the Reds drafted him was this guy this guy rises and he he enjoys the moments and he’s in some moments right now and the Reds are showing some unbelievable trust and confidence and faith in him. Now, the key will be how they use him. You know, like he pitched on Saturday. Is he available on Monday or I guess Monday’s off so should be available on Tuesday. But but keep going through that schedule. We’ll see. They’re taking it very day by day. Derek Johnson said, you know, hey Chase, we’re checking in. How you feeling? How you recovering? What do you feel like you can offer? They do want to keep it a multi-ining role. Um but in huge games, Chase is the guy or a guy clearly they’re trying to get the ball to. Yeah. And I wanted to be clear about that. You said you talked to DJ and they don’t want to just bring him in for an inning if they can help it. and he was dominant in the one inning, the first inning that he was in over the weekend against the Cubs. Yes, the next one wasn’t quite as smooth, but DJ told you what about that. Yeah, DJ said that um it’s very difficult this process cuz you know to borrow Terry from Con line like there’s no playbook. There really isn’t. Um DJ said we weren’t going to be able to get him all the way built up completely as a starter. We felt like this was the best way to build him up. He said wanting to keep multiple innings was going to be a priority for them as they manage this going forward. Um, but it’s also again very fluid checking in how you feeling, how’s your recovery going, how you feeling catch play, all that kind of stuff is a part of the whole stew of when and how to use Chase Burns, which is a very inexact science. It is. But I love that Martinez said bring that dog out. Almelio Pagan said postgame after one of the wins against Chicago, he said Burns is a savage. So he’s already made this impression and as you’ve said and we’ve noted, there are going to be situations, last six games, maybe the postseason when that’s a weapon. And I think that’s what the Reds envisioned all along is they managed his starts, managed the time on the injured list, and now you have this availability. You have these bullets left with Chase Burns down the stretch. And I say fire away with Chase Burns with whatever you got. I want to ask you a quick question before we leave the bullpen conversation. I was asked the other day about the season, hey, who who’s the Red’s MVP? Who would that be for you? And after I ran through some of the names in my head that maybe at the start of the season or different points of the season that I thought might be that guy, I I kept circling back to to to pitchers and I kept thinking um in terms of consistency and the magnitude of the situations in which he performs and what he’s done for this team. I’m not ready to make this a slam dunk, but if we’re having the conversation based on how some other guys seasons have gone, can we make a short list that includes Tony Santion for one of the most valuable players on this team? I love it. Um, you know how I feel. You know, this is a very pro Tony Santium podcast. I And I want to make a point. You said earlier in the year, this is the best story no one’s talking about. We dug into that. The story’s got a few more chapters to it now with what he’s done now consistently down the stretch. I’d still give it to Abbott, the MVP, just because it’s about a hundred more innings. But here’s how here’s what I’d say. Nobody on the Reds has been better at their job this year than Tony Sant. Great. An unbelievable performance at his job every single time. Maybe not every single time, but you get the point I’m making. Um, it’s felt truly like every single time you need him. Tony Santine has delivered and, you know, right up there with, you know, the Peanut guy and, uh, you know, anybody who who who does a job at Great American Ballpark, you’d be hardressed to find someone who’s done it better in 2025 than Tony Santi. I like the way you I like the way you framed that about no one’s been better at his job. Uh, and again, we keep coming back to appearances. As we record this, tied for the big league lead in appearances on the season, and it’s always a big spot in the Cub series. Twice in the eighth inning, once to get the final out in relief of Chase Burns when there’s a man on in a one-run game. Got out of that, came back the next inning, and then by the end of that series when Pagan is down, Santion has to go close out the game. and he walked the first batter he faced and found a way out of it because of the way he pitched. And so that’s our guy Tony Santion. Pro uh pro Tony Santion on the power stacks. No doubt. All right, the bell is broken. The bell is currently on the injured list. If I had the bell right now, I would ring it to signify that we’re moving on to the Red’s milestone moment of the week. And this week’s milestone moment is Hunter Green. Chaz the CG the first complete game nine ining complete game shutout for Hunter Green of his career absolutely dominant against a good Cubs lineup before we move on from the moment your thought on Green showing up in that moment and doing what he did against the Cubs. Well, that’s that’s the game, right? And the idea is that he does it again, I believe, on Wednesday and that he does it uh he does it again on Tuesday, you know, in Los Angeles. Like, that’s the whole point of all this. The whole point of all this is that one day maybe hand the ball to a guy who on any given night can be the best player on the field. what Hunter Green’s complete game shutout reminded me of, to bring it back a second, it reminded me of when I went to see Chase Burns pitch in Triple A and Chase pitched so well that they had to call him up. Now, of course, there’s nowhere else to call Hunter up, but there was just an ease and a smoothness and I’m not even going crazy over exertion. I’m just kicking back and pitching. And that’s what Hunter did. And it was it was it was what it’s all about when you have a talent like Hungary. And that of course is this week’s Red’s Milestone Moment of the Week brought to you as always by the good folks at Glennville A. Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, moms, and dads, listen up. Go to Glennville A for the baby blanket designed by parents who wanted something better. Who doesn’t want better? We all want better. In this case, it’s that’s right. In this case, it’s softer. It’s safer. It’s bigger. Grows with your child. I know we’re talking about a baby blanket. So, to get a real concept of what this is, you need to go to the website. That’s glennville llc.com. glenville llc.com. There’s pictures, video, more descriptions about exactly what the product is and why it’s the best product out there. Glennville A uh every week supports our milestone moment of the week for the Reds and they’ve been supporting us all season long. Chaz, we thank the good folks at Glenville A for their support as always. All right, into Charlie’s notebook now. that tattered, torn, worn, well-loved. It’s not pretty. It is not a pretty sight, but it’s 156 games in plus probably spring training. But we get into the notebook and I see Tyler Stevenson’s name based on the Cubs series based on couple of previous series. I see Tyler Stevenson’s name. What’s written by Steo’s name right now that merits discussion now on Power Stacks? We talked about him, talked about him a bit on Friday’s show and kind of about some of the misconceptions about what Stephvenson’s season’s been and he didn’t even know. I said, you know, Tyler, you’re uh you’re in the top 10 percentile and all MLB and barrel rate this season. And now we didn’t talk about this as much, but he he he said he had no idea. We didn’t talk about this as much. He’s actually also in the bottom, I believe, five percentile in all of MLB and strikeout rate. So, he’s kind of been that it hasn’t all or nothing’s the wrong way to put it because he’s still hit for average relatively. Um, but he is one of the more true volatile sluggers in the Red’s lineup in 2025. He said there hasn’t been a big adjustment. What this season’s been for him is missing time with two injuries and coming back and trying to get comfortable and then going through the process of getting really his feet under him, working those at bats. But when he has those feet under him, I mean, the stats show he’s just doing some really strong damage. Um, and I mean, the big three kind of in September were that homer uh against the Padres’s, that bases clearing double to wrap up a win over the Cardinals, and then that putaway homer in the win over the Cubs on Saturday. I talked to Stevenson on Friday. There were still two of those moments to talk about kind of just about the hitter he is and the season he’s had. I know I started off really slow and like I like almost like what I was saying like you can kind of do so much and I got to play a couple weeks of spring training and then miss a month and a half like they’re trying to play catch up and then trying to force things because these guys have been playing for a month plus and just you want to get back up to speed and um so I don’t I’m just trying to put good swings and um terms of catching just continuing to grow and trying to lead these guys as much as I can and take pride in in catching and trying to call good games to give us a chance to win. Like I was very fortunate at a young age had a had a coach that being a catcher, yes, you want to make an impact offensively and try to try to win the games, but you have to flush it because even if you have a bad game hitting, there’s still eight other guys in the lineup that can help provide. But once you get out there, it’s you and the pitcher. Like it’s in your hands. So just trying to flush it whatever happens. and hey, even if I have a bad day, I’m hitting and stuff. I I got I’ve got an opportunity to win game and help these guys pitching and stuff. So, um to hear that when I was 17 and 18 years old, obviously it’s it’s still stuck with me. So, I try to take pride in that. One more thing, when I think of the September, the positives from September and like the big moments that have kept you in the race, you know, obviously you start with your homer in San Diego, you had that huge double the other day in St. Louis. How have you felt in the clutch and how do you kind of approach the clutch? Yeah. Um just one swing away. Just try to be ready to hit and try not to put too much pressure on ourselves in those situations and um yeah, I was just slowing the game down like in those situations like yeah, San Diego was huge crowd and um against a really good closer. Um, I think I told Jim when I was interviewing like kind of that night before I came in and hit and we’re next rings and I faced him and I lined up in the shortstop and was upset just cuz I didn’t get the job done with and and trying to get the run into third and stuff. So, um, kind of like in a little extra motivation in that situation to try to get the job done, find a way to score. And um what comes to mind to me is I I have all these, you know, oh yeah, I remember Nick Costiano was talking about, man, when Stephvenson one day ends up in that big spot, Nick said that in 2021, there’s just a polish that when he’s himself, he’s going to show. And in September, especially because he wasn’t, again, his feet just weren’t quite under him with the at bats that he missed due to different injuries. But recently we’ve been seeing Stevenson look like Stevenson and and again in addition to to Steer there are a couple others as well. He’s been one of those guys having those big moments. Am I correct? He’s the longest tenur red at the moment. Yes. Yes. So put that context around Stephvenson’s season as well. He’s been on some bad teams. He’s he’s been a good player on some bad teams. He’s been a big part of the future for the Reds that to this point hasn’t shown up much. And so I’m thinking about this time of the season. I’m thinking about these six games for Tyler Stevenson who’s played essentially unfortunately about half a season this year and the moments that he’s had, the moments that I hope he still has um because of the time that he’s put in because of having been here and been that guy for as long as he has. Kudos to Steo for for battling the way that he has the injuries. And I’m I’m certain even now that the thumb still is an entirely unpleasant experience. And somebody caught him on a follow through the other night on the glove and I thought, “Oh man.” Cuz you saw him double over and shake his hand and I thought, “The guy’s got a fractured thumb still and he’s back there doing what he’s doing.” So it’s been great. It’s been great to see. um in in terms of the lineup and we’ve talked about the the options and the cards that Tito can play in the bullpen. What about the lineup? Because Austin Hayes missed a couple of games in the Chicago series with back spasms. Tito said on Sunday hopefully, you know, they worked on him all day Saturday, all day Sunday. He gets the off day Monday, so they hope he’s okay to be back in the mix when they start the next series, the final series at Great American Ballpark. But we didn’t see a ton of South Stewart in part because Steer got hot and was back at first base on a regular basis. But what is what is Sal Stewart’s role do you think in these allimportant games down the stretch? That’s the question, right? Um Terry Francona talking about managing uh urgency verse patience and consistency with some of the guys who had been with the team all season. It seems like they’re going to want to give Cabrian Hayes as many chances as possible at third base even though he has cooled off valuing defensively kind of coming back full circle with that point. Um Lux has had some nice moments but but the spot for Stewart would be Steer’s spot at first but now Ste’s hot or Lux. Um and they they’ve stuck with Lux. They prioritize his polished presence at the plate. But the question to me is, do they start to use Salar as a pinch hitter? That’s kind of like the final piece of the puzzle here with the Terry Fran Kona aggressiveness matrix and he did it some on Saturday. But when you prioritize defense in your lineup, is there still a point in these games where you would sub in a right-handed hitter for another right-handed hitter? That to me is a fascinating development to track from a management perspective over the next week. Well, Tito’s been doing this a long time. You know, Tito’s won more than 2,000 games in some World Series rings. Um, but we’ve already seen everybody manages a little bit differently when it’s this tight the way that it is. Whether it’s a little bit quicker hook for your starter, whether it’s, you know, getting Miguel on Duhar midame to the plate to face a lefty, which he did in the Cubs series, what else is it going to be, like you said, as they weigh Sal Stewart and maybe his place? Because the guy, you know, we’ve seen what he can do with pitches in the zone and he’s not afraid. I don’t think anything’s too big for him. I don’t think that’s a concern as you evaluate how to use South Stewart uh down the stretch here. Um what about the rotation? They’re going to be teams, you know, Chicago’s going to have this opportunity, Milwaukee is going to have this opportunity to kind of set up things the way they’d like them to look for the postseason. But with the Reds with six games to go, not in yet, how do you think the rotation will be handled in the final six regular season games? Certainly it changes if they, you know, win the first four potentially, but what do you think the thought process is? Well, Terry Frona said they’re going to stay true. So that means Singer on Tuesday, Green on Wednesday. When initially asked about Green, he spoke about, oh, well, Green threw a lot of pitches in his most recent start. I believe he was up over 100. Um, so with that being said, that means Green pitches on Wednesday and that pushes him back to game one of the playoffs as opposed to game 162, leaving Singer be the guy who pitches game 162. I guess also LDLo technically in theory would be an option for the first playoff game, but it’s lined up to be green. I would expect they would use Hunter in that spot after he threw a lot of pitches on Thursday. Again, it sounds like they’re gonna they’re going to prioritize that extra day being a tool to put Green in the best position to be successful. So, it’s a part of the decision-making process there. Um, Latell would who would then not be skipped would be scheduled to pitch on Friday. But assuming that game has a lot of meaning, I would be very confident that just like Saturday, it’d be a Nick Martinez Chase Burns situation where there’d be a quick hook with him. Heck, would it even be a bullpen game? like you’d be at that point of the year by that point. Um, a lot to to weigh there, but it but it’s it’s been straightforward for the Reds in terms of what they’ve said their approach is going to be. And not to jump too far ahead, but you mentioned Green and the start on Wednesday at Great American Ballpark. Um, that’s going to be Hunter Green and Paul Skins. Oh, yeah. I didn’t know that. Barring something changing, the second game of the series against the Pirates will be Hunter Green and Paul Skins. Sam Lur described that as a high octane matchup. Doesn’t mean a lot for the Pirates. Probably means a lot for Skins because of the competitor that he is, but it means a lot for the Reds. And so that Wednesday game in that matchup, if for no other reason, uh, sign me up. Which brings us to this. The rundown says Chaz has something he wants to say. I’d like to hear what you have to say. I might add a little bit, but this is the floor is yours, Chaz. And Red’s country and the stacks backers, they’re all listening. I’ll start with like myself. No one cares about me. I I get a question a lot. It’s like, are you like I don’t know. How do you feel about bandwagon fans? Because I’m sure you’re more interested in the people who are who are there every day and listening to the show every day and reading your work. And I always tell them when I’m asked about that and how kind of the audience changes over time, I I look at it the complete opposite. I think anyone who engages with with sports or a sport or a team for a second, that’s a precious thing. And however is look at what we do is we’re here whenever you are. Whether that’s for a week, whether that’s for a day, whether that’s for a moment or whether that’s for 162 because there’s something really cool about just being able to pick up a team wanting to learn more about them and kind of going in. And this isn’t about us, but the point I’m making is that how I’ve always viewed it is it doesn’t matter what your experience has been before. It matters if something catches your interest now. And if you are, that’s pretty cool. And that’s where the Reds are at. And kind of my my feeling heading into this series against the Pirates, the Red’s final home series of the regular season, it really doesn’t matter if you you haven’t been to a Red’s game or if you’ve been to the Red’s game and you’ve booed them because you didn’t like this decision or or that approach or this whatever. Um, doesn’t matter if you’ve complained about the home run swings. It doesn’t matter if you’ve uh given up on the team, you know, five times this season and said they have no chance to make the playoffs because if the Reds teach us one thing over the last 25 years, it’s that these moments are pretty precious and to not take them for granted. Um I feel that way when I cover it, you know, it’s a big opportunity to cover these types of stories that the Reds don’t get enough of and they they truly have it this week and that’s cool. That’s something to get excited about. That’s something to kind of have its moment in the spotlight this week. And there’s a place for everyone here to kind of step right in and and follow the Reds. It’s a great baseball town. Um I’ve been telling the Reds all year for years that man, you should see this place when it really gets going and I think this week has the potential to be that. Um so I’m hopeful to see that and it should be fun. I can’t tell you the number of times on the postgame show, a couple of times in this most recent series against the Cubs and then certainly throughout the year when there have been bigger crowds and the energy is there in the ballpark. Players point it out and and they don’t just say it, you know, they’re not trying necessarily to communicate a message. They just can’t help themselves. When you’re in it and you feel it, you want to acknowledge it and acknowledge what a difference it makes. And that’s what they’ve said. That’s what they said. this week against the Cubs when on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, crowds were good. Wasn’t packed. Uh I think it was anywhere from 25 to 31 across those three days, but the crowds were into it because of what it meant. Every time they put up the Mets score when the Mets lost in the middle of a game, those are those kind of things that you want in your ballpark where you’re all pulling together for the same thing and the players acknowledge that. Sam Lur on the postgame show who pitched in those atmospheres tries to put it into words and tries to give us the context to help you know people like you and people like me understand. And it he just can’t really do it. But it’s a difference. I’m always in the camp never telling anybody else what they should and shouldn’t do. You do you. Uh you pay to come to the ballpark when you want to and when you don’t you don’t. But we hear a lot, you know, you get a lot of feedback on on the coverage you do. We get feedback, a lot of it’s face to face down at the pre and postgame set where people say they complain about this and they complain about that, but they say if they would just do this, you know, I I can’t wait or I’m Well, here’s your chance. As you said, here’s your chance. You got three home games and the Reds after 156 games of some frustrating games at times and some frustrating moments, your Cincinnati Reds now control their playoff destiny. If they win, they get in. If they don’t and the Mets win more, they don’t. But these are three games as as you said, I would recommend taking this in and coming and tasting and experiencing something that we can all be a part of. And you hear the guys in the clubhouse talk about it. I’m not trying to sell tickets. I’m not trying to be a homer. I’m just saying we all love sports and these games and these moments have the opportunity to be great sports memories and moments in Cincinnati. And again, it’s not just for the dieards. It really doesn’t matter what your prior previous 2025 Red’s experience is. The beauty of of baseball, right, not to quote Field of Dreams, but like you can pick it up after 10 years. you know, you hadn’t watched the Reds since the the 2013 wild card game. Well, here they are. They’re here. They’re a constant presence, and you’d like more moments where you could come in and make that splash looking at the Reds in their recent history. Um, but this is one of them, and it’s pretty cool. All right, so here’s what’s left. The Chase picks up on Tuesday. As we said, the Reds get the Pirates for three games at home. Pittsburgh has had that E by their name for eliminated in the standings for a long time now. Uh they did win two of three over the weekend at home against the A’s, but before that they’d lost a bunch. I mean, it’s it’s what you would expect for the Pirate. Great players, Paul Skins and some others. You never underestimate anybody, but they’ve been in kind of what you expect a team in that position to be in at this point in the season. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. And again, Brady Singer, who’s been as good as anybody in the Red’s rotation for the last two months, kicks things off. Hunter Green and Paul Skins, your marquee matchup on Wednesday. The Mets are also off on Monday. They play the next three games Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and they play their final six games all on the road. But they start at Wrigleyfield in Chicago against a Cubs team that obviously is already in, but I would suspect is also quite irritated by how things played out being swept in four games in Cincinnati. I think that’s a factor for what the Mets will see and what they’ll compete against when they get to Chicago. And it’s a point too where it’s funny like the Reds I don’t feel like their schedules is relevant because they’ve done great against the bad teams and they excuse me they’ve done great against the good teams. They haven’t lived up to expectations against the bad teams on their schedule. The Mets I think the Marlins are a sneaky bad matchup for them. But are the Mets team whose schedule’s even relevant right now because of how they’ve been controlling their own whatever this mess is going on with them feels self-inflicted. So, I don’t even know how to look at these very small sample sizes in terms of series because of these teams involved and what their resumes tell us. I’m fired up. Uh, good show, Chaz. We’ll see you at the ballpark. Thanks to producer Kent for all the hard work as always behind the scenes. It is late September and Power Stacks has got it covered for you. Thanks for listening or watching and we’ll see you next time. [Music]

The Cincinnati Reds control their own destiny, and Brian and Charlie look at how they turned around their September to get to that point and break down the sweep of their season. Hear from Scott Barlow, Chase Burns and Tyler Stephenson.

#cincinnatireds #reds #baseball