Hunter Greene talks about his struggles and those of the Reds
Cincinnati Reds starter Hunter Greene lasted just 2 1/3 innings in the shortest start of his career Saturday against the Athletics.
ST. LOUIS – Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona stopped short of calling it a shakeup of his lineup.
But trying to squeeze the most out of his lineup and come up with a way to help Elly De La Cruz bust a slump without sitting him, Francona dropped the two-time All-Star from the No. 3 spot in the order for the first time this season, to No. 7 as the Reds opened a critical three-game series against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
“I value consistency so much I think sometimes that can run into stubbornness,” said Francona, who described thinking through solutions at 2 and 3 in the morning in the wee hours Sept. 15.
“I believe in Elly so much. And I don’t want people pointing fingers at him,” Francona said. “Because we’re going to do things as a ballclub – good things and when they don’t go so well. But I do think this can take a little bit of the glare off him.”
De La Cruz, who surged in the first half toward his second All-Star selection in as many full seasons in the majors, hasn’t missed a game this season despite dealing with hamstring and quad issues and with the emotional toll of the May 31 death of his sister.
He has struggled much of the second half, especially lately, hitting just one home run since June 23 and looking fatigued at times as his error total has climbed.
Francona has resisted giving De La Cruz a day off, especially as the calendar shifted to September and the stakes on the season have risen.
“I don’t know that that puts us in the best position to win,” said Francona, who pointed out that De La Cruz’s increased sprint speed right now belies the fatigue question. “We’ve got, what, 13 games left? We need to play.”
And they’ve never needed De La Cruz to hit like an All-Star more than now, as they entered the series trailing the Mets by 2 1/2 games for the final playoff spot – with the Giants and Diamondbacks also in front of them.
“I think he’s feeling it. I think he understands, like, his responsibility to our club is huge. Especially for a kid who’s so young,” said Francona, who had high praise for De La Cruz’s daily work and preparation. “I think it’s human nature where you don’t want to let your teammates down.
“He actually amazes me. He bounces back (mentally) every day.”
De La Cruz, who was unavailable to media before the game, was just 8-for-49 (.163) this month in 12 games before the drop in the order — with three walks, two extra-base hits, a .212 on-base percentage and .224 slugging percentage.
The Reds were 5-7 in those games.
He’s hitting just .206 with a .534 OPS since his last home run, July 31.
“I think lately he’s gotten to where it’s almost like he’s swinging with two strikes right from the get-go,” Francona said. “He’s just in-between. (Hitting coach Chris Valaika) could give you a lot of technical things to talk about, but he’s just kind of in-between right now.
“When you talk to hitters that are going good, you hear them say, ‘I’m just seeing the ball and hitting it.’ Because that’s what they’re doing,“ Francona added. “When you’re not going good, it’s like you can see the vendor out in left field. It’s unbelievable. When you see a hitter ask somebody to move, more often than not they’re just not locked in. It’s amazing. This game can be a little fickle. You’ve just got to fight through it.”
Part of De La Cruz’s ups and downs all season might be the fact that few hitters in the game get more fastballs to hit this year than he does, which generally means fewer pitches in the zone to drive.
“It certainly could be,” Francona said, “because you miss a pitch, or you start to guess. That’s human nature. All hitters go through it. He’s just kind of got himself into a bind.
“I know there’s not a ton of time left,” Francona added. “He’s too big a part of what we do. I’d rather spend time thinking about how we get him going than sitting him or resting him. He’ll rest here pretty soon.”