WHY THEY CAN WIN IT ALL IN 2020
Reds boast top-notch starting pitching and powerful batting order.
One player remains from the last Cincinnati Reds team to finish the regular season with a winning record and reach the playoffs: first baseman Joey Votto.
Votto was 29 in 2013 when the Reds won 90 games and lost the wild-card game to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He turns 37 in September. Even if his best individual seasons may be behind him, his best season with the team may be right in front of him.
That will be the hope anyway as the 60-game, pandemic-shortened 2020 season begins at 6:10 p.m. today with the start of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers at Great American Ball Park.
Votto is the face of the franchise but he doesn’t carry the weight of its recent history — six straight losing seasons and 29 straight seasons without a World Series championship — on his shoulders.
“We do everything together,” Votto said. “Mike Moustakas was a part of a World Series-losing and a World Series-winning team in Kansas City, but I wouldn’t put the responsibility of teaching us or carrying us through the playoffs and into a World Series on his shoulders, either. We’re going to do this collectively, and there’s going to be (as many) big moments from the 26th man on the roster as there will be from the first man on the roster. We’re
very, very excited. Everybody behind the scenes is putting in everything they can: the strength coaches, the training staff, the front office, the coaching staff. Everybody recognizes that this is a wonderful opportunity for the Reds to win their sixth championship.”
Here are three reasons the Reds can do just that and not only advance to the playoffs but claim their first title since 1990:
1. The starting pitching: Reds starters ranked fifth in the National League last season with a 4.12 ERA. That was a major improvement over 2018 when they ranked 14th out of 15 teams with a 5.02 ERA.
The addition of Sonny Gray, who led the staff with a 2.87 ERA last season and will start the opener tonight, made the biggest difference. The new addition this season is Wade Miley, who was 14-6 with a 3.98 ERA last year for the Houston Astros.
Gray, Miley, Luis Castillo, Trevor Bauer and Anthony DeSclafani give the Reds the third-best rotation in baseball, according to Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.
“It starts with the pitching,” said Bauer, whom the Reds acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Indians last July. “I think everyone’s aware of how good the pitching that we have is from top to bottom.”
Staying healthy during the short season will be key, and the rotation took its first hit Thursday when the Reds placed DeSclafani on the 10-day injured list with a mild right teres major (upper arm muscle) strain.
2. Made for the DH: With the National League adopting the designated hitter for 2020, manager David Bell won’t have to make as many tough decisions about playing time in the outfield. A deep group that includes newcomers Shogo Akiyama and Nick Castellanos and returners Phillip Ervin, Nick Senzel and Jesse Winker can split time between the field and DH spot.
“I think the DH is probably a very helpful option for us,” Votto said.
3. Powerful lineup: The Reds ranked seventh in the league with 227 home runs last season when third baseman Eugenio Suarez hit 49. Castellanos hit 27 last season between Detroit and the Chicago Cubs, while another offseason free-agent acquisition, Mike Moustakas clubbed 35 for the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Reds provided a glimpse of their potential Tuesday in a 9-7 exhibition victory against the Tigers. Akiyama, catcher Tucker Barnhart, shortstop Freddy Galvis, Suarez and Winker all homered.
“We’ve got depth in the lineup,” Moustakas said. “We’ve got guys that are going to be able to come off the bench with some pop. It’s just going to be a lot of fun. The sprint’s going to be tough, but we’re going to have a good time.”
Contact this reporter at 937-244-7400 or email david.jablonski@coxinc.com.