Nick Lodolo shuts out Washington Nationals, Reds avoid sweep
Cincinnati Reds LHP Nick Lodolo (8-6, 3.08 ERA) pitched a 4-hitter to beat the Nationals and avert a sweep for the Reds July 23.
Once the MLB trade market got going ahead of the July 31 deadline (6 p.m. ET), it really got going.
The Seattle Mariners on July 24, made what felt like the first big move of the annual trading frenzy, and that seemed to serve as prelude to more big moves across baseball July 25. Both New York clubs made moves, with the Yankees acquiring Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon and the Mets grabbing left-handed reliever Gregory Soto.
Also, more hype and conversation built up around former Reds slugger Eugenio Suarez’s status (he’s still an Arizona Diamondbacks player for now).
The Cincinnati Reds (53-50), now at two games back of the third National League Wild Card spot entering play of July 25, haven’t made a move yet. It remains to be seen if and how the Reds might involve themselves in the trade-deadline activity.
One thing is almost guaranteed for the Reds regardless of whether they make moves or not: As dominoes continue to fall in the trade market, the Reds clubhouse will endure a potentially tense period as players wait to see how any possible moves might affect their lives.
Reds manager Terry Francona said he’s trying to keep the focus on the actual games in order to try to head off some of the likely tension ahead of deadline day.
“I think when you know you’re like a seller, there can be distractions,” Francona said. “I get it. I mean, you’re uprooting people’s lives and their families. I think the more you can just keep it on baseball, the better everybody is. What I care about is us winning. Those guys upstairs (in the front office), I know they’re making phone calls like every team does. For probably for every hundred or 200 things you hear about, one happens, so I think you’re better off just trying to win.”
While the Reds are within striking distance of the Wild Card places in the standings, and there’s ample incentive for Cincinnati to legitimately chase those positions in every way possible, Francona said he concerns himself primarily with his players.
You won’t see or hear Francona stumping for a move between now and when the trade window closes.
“I like our guys. I think I’ve been pretty open about that,” Francona said. “You’ll never hear me say, ‘we need this’ or ‘we need that’ because I think it’s directly saying that somebody out there (in the clubhouse) isn’t good enough. I’ll never do that… My responsibility is these guys in this room and I’ll keep it that way.”