Loveland, Ohio – On this week’s all new Queen City Sports Podcast Chris rides solo and discusses the approach Nick Krall took for the Reds at the trade deadline and how it was a safe play given the state of the team. But was it the right play? Also, the Ja’Marr Chase situation drags on for the Bengals in training camp, along with some concerning injuries. Finally, Chris hits on the 2024 Loveland Tigers Football schedule and some of the best matchups to look for this fall!
Have a listen and don’t forget to leave your comments and feedback!
_______________________
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – The Reds were in a difficult position in the days leading up to the July 30th MLB trade deadline. They were near the bottom of the division but only a handful of games out of the last Wild Card spot, one of seven teams within 8 games of that last playoff position. Though losing two out of three from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (themselves heavy sellers at the deadline) certainly put a damper on things, statistically speaking their hunt for the postseason was not officially over yet.
There were certainly arguments to be made that the Reds could either buy or sell at the deadline, but there was no question that whatever moves were going to be made, they needed to have an impact. If the Reds were looking to contend, those moves had to bring in players that could close the gap in the playoff race in the second half. If they sold, the return on the players they traded needed to be substantial and with an eye towards helping them contend immediately in 2025 or in 2026 at the latest.
Ultimately, Nick Krall attempted to split the middle. The Reds didn’t acquire any immediate-impact difference makers, but they did not dismantle the club either. The moves made at the 2024 deadline will ultimately take time to pass judgment on, but here is a rundown of how it played out.
“Our goal was not just dismantle this team. We did that in ‘22 when we went through a full rebuild.” Reds president of baseball ops Nick Krall summing up 2024 trade deadline pic.twitter.com/zozwtCfTK2
A trade that could show an immediate impact was the one that sent Frankie Montas to Milwaukee for relief pitcher Jakob Junis and outfielder Joey Wiemer. Montas was supposed to be a key signing for the Reds this year, but it did not pan out. He was 4-8 with a 5.01 ERA. His contract was for 1 year at 16 million dollars with a mutual option for 2025, so getting at least some of that salary off of the books is an additional benefit.
Junis is the player with the most big-league experience and promise. This season he’s appeared in 10 games, including one start. In 26 innings he’s amassed a 4-0 record while striking out 19 and walking 5. With the trade of Lucas Sims (discussed below) Junis could step into the bullpen right away and pitch meaningful innings for this team.
Wiemer is a bit more of a project. He is just 25 and was a highly valued prospect in the Brewers farm system, though he’s yet to fully capitalize on his talent. For Milwaukee’s AAA team he hit .242/.387/.358. His power numbers are below projections but he’s playing much better in July, slashing .333/.494/.517, certainly trending in the right direction. If he is on the cusp of playing in the big leagues, the Reds are a team that can use all of the outfield bats they can find.
Also, the Reds traded reliever Lucas Sims to the Boston Red Sox for young right-handed pitcher Ovis Portes. Fangraphs has Portes as the Red Sox 38th ranked prospect at just 19 years old. This year for Boston’s A-level minor league team he has pitched 21 innings, allowing 17 hits and 8 earned runs. He’s been a bit feast or famine with his control, striking out 25 while walking 15 in 7 appearances, 5 of them starts. Portes certainly has potential, but it’s likely going to be several seasons before Cincinnati fans see that play out at Great American Ballpark.
In addition, the day before the deadline, the Reds acquired first basemen Ty France from the Seattle Mariners. France hit .223 with 8 home runs and 31 RBIs. According to Baseball Savant, France is above average in terms of barrel %, and walk rate, showing a patient eye at the plate. However, his average his dropped each season in the majors since 2021 when he hit .291 for Seattle. Perhaps a change of scenery and new opportunities in the Queen City will help France get back on track.
As Nick Krall emphasized, the Reds can still contend with the team they have. None of their key players who were performing well (apart from perhaps Sims) were shipped. Montas clearly was not going to work out and Lucas Sims had just one year left on his contract. As of the publishing of this, the Reds have taken the first two games of their series against the Chicago Cubs and have shown life on offense and have gotten contributions from a wide variety of players.
That's the first four-hit day for Santiago Espinal in his career!
— FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati (@FanDuelSN_CIN) July 31, 2024
While the 2024 MLB trade deadline didn’t bring Cincinnati players that will drive them to the playoffs this year, it didn’t result in the front office waiving the white flag, either. And so, Reds fans can only soldier on and hope that the team has enough to string together enough wins to give it a go in August and September.
———————-
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – On this week’s all new Queen City Sports Podcast Chris and Mark discuss the Reds’ plans for the trade deadline: do they buy, sell, or stand pat? And can they finally put it all together and make a push towards one of the wild card spots? They also talk the start of Bengals’ training camp and the issues facing the team as they work to extend star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, and just how important he is to them going forward. And the guys finally get to the outlook for the 2024 Michigan Wolverines football team and the challenges they must overcome to get back to the College Football Playoff.
All this and more, including some interesting Olympics takes, on The Queen City Sports Podcast, have a listen and don’t forget to leave your comments and feedback!
_______________________
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – For the Reds the All-Star break was supposed to be a time to regroup, recharge, and focus on making a run at contention. They have several injured players hoping to make a comeback but who need time to recover. An opening series against the Washington Nationals seemed like an excellent opportunity to start the second half of the season on a positive note.
Those hopes all fell apart in the nation’s capital this past weekend as the Washington Nationals swept Cincinnati in three games.
In the first matchup of the series, Frankie Montas struggled mightily, giving up 7 earned runs on 6 hits in just 4.2 innings. The Reds could only muster a single run on 3 hits against Patrick Corbin, whose ERA over his last 20 starts is 5.35. Cincinnati attempted to rally and scored 4 runs in the top of the ninth, but the rally ultimately fell short. In the second and third games the Reds had razor thin leads but in game 2 Fernando Cruz blew a lead by surrendering a double to Lane Thomas before Justin Wilson allowed the game winning run via a single to Jacob Young. The bullpen again fell apart for Cincinnati in game 3 when, in a tied 2-2 in the 8th inning, Lucas Sims allowed 2 hits (one a bunt single) before being replaced by Justin Wilson once again. Wilson promptly served up a belt-high fastball that James Wood launched for a 404 foot 3-run home run that put the game out of reach.
It was an ugly sweep that has become a hallmark of a Reds team that has lost ugly games it needed to win, against teams that were (on paper at least) statistically less talented. The usual suspects struggled once again this series. Frankie Montas is 1-4 with a 6.17 ERA in his last 7 starts and is trending in the wrong direction in almost every statistical category. He is a lock for the number 4 position in this rotation for this team and he is not going anywhere as of yet, but he is below the league average in several important categories including ERA, FIP, and WHIP. Fernando Cruz, once known as a high-level stopper who could be dropped into crucial situations to defuse them, has now lost 7 games on the year. Over his last 9 innings pitched he has allowed 10 hits and given up 8 earned runs.
This was a series that the Reds could ill afford to lose. But to be swept, and to play so poorly at a point in the season when they had a real chance to make up ground in their attempt to get back to .500 is yet another frustrating episode in a season full of them. The Reds are not mathematically eliminated and there are still games to play, but it’s understandable to question whether Cincinnati has the players, the focus, and the drive to make a real push towards postseason relevance in 2024. An upcoming series in Atlanta against the Braves, who currently stand at 54-44 and have the best pitching staff in all of baseball, is hardly an environment conducive to getting back on track. Although the Reds play up to the toughest competition in the league, it’s not a recipe for sustained success. The last thing this team can withstand is a losing streak of any length, and if they leave Atlanta losers of 5 out of their first 6, or heaven forbid 6 straight games to start the second half of the year it might be a hole that is simply too deep to climb out of.
Following the loss and the sweep to the Nationals, David Bell talks errors made and how they can pick themselves up and move on to the next series. #Redspic.twitter.com/gjqBsaeEij
— FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati (@FanDuelSN_CIN) July 21, 2024
———————-
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – It’s time for yet another new episode of the Queen City Sports Podcast! On this week’s episode, Chris and Mark fight through the summer doldrums and discuss what happened with the Reds’ two All-Stars, Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Greene. They also look forward to the Reds’ second half and which players are under pressure to perform, and which need to improve. They also reminisce about the glory days of Corey Dillon and how happy they are to see him as part of the Bengals Ring of Honor. To finish it up they hit on the outlook for the 2024 Bearcats on defense. And click here to read the tweet the guys referenced on all of Corey Dillon’s career accomplishments.
All this and more on The Queen City Sports Podcast, have a listen and don’t forget to leave your comments and feedback!
_______________________
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – As the first half of the 2024 Major League Baseball season is in the books, the Cincinnati Reds sit at 47-50, 8 games out of first place in the division and 3 games out of the last wild card spot in the National League. Its certainly not the half season that most Reds fans were hoping for, but then again, the circumstances have been far from ideal. When you factor in all of the adversity this team has gone through, sitting just 3 games under .500 and still within striking distance of a postseason birth may not be all that devastating.
Injuries have undoubtedly played a role in the team’s struggles. TJ Friedl has just 97 at bats, Christian Encarnacion Strand had just 116 before being injured. Ian Gibaut has not yet pitched this year, Matt McLain has not seen the field, and Nick Lodolo has missed several starts. All of this is on top of Noelvi Marte’s suspension, which has unquestionably impacted his ability to contribute positively to this team.
While it is true that teams like the Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers have also been negatively impacted by serious injuries to key players, the Reds are honestly a step behind both those contending clubs in terms of roster depth. A great deal of things were going to have to go right for Cincinnati to be towards the top of the division this year, most of that focusing on staying healthy and having players perform at or above their 2023 numbers. The Reds simply have not been able to do the former this year and with their bench players underperforming and their younger players (for the most part) not yet ready for the major leagues, they have struggled to be consistent, especially hitting.
The Reds are 26th in batting average, 20th in on base percentage, and 16th in slugging. Their ability to hit the baseball hard has helped them to score 432 runs (good for 14th), and their speed on the basepaths (they lead the major leagues with 134 stolen bases) have kept them in many games this year. Although we all remember the various base running issues that have also cost them at times, the speed of this team is an important component of their success that cannot be ignored.
You cannot mention speed without acknowledging the potentially generational talent on display in the Reds’ All-Star Elly De La Cruz. At just 22 years old he has an astonishing 4.4 WAR and WRC+ of 127, which is very good in terms of comparable major league players. All of this has resulted in a .256 batting average with 17 home runs (with 42 total extra base hits) and 43 RBIs. And he leads the league with 46 stolen bases and has made plays at shortstop that most players can only dream of executing (he is an amazing 8 outs above average on defense). We are truly watching the creation of a legend for this team if Elly’s progress continues on this trajectory, and he is perhaps the most electrifying Reds player to wear the uniform in the past 20 plus years.
There have been other aspects of the Reds offense to be thankful for, none other than Jonathan India. Many thought it was the same story on Cincinnati’s second baseman to start the year as he filled in for Matt McLain. India batted just .228 in March/April and then .220 in May. But no one could imagine the June that he would have, batting .380 with 16 RBIs. He raised his average over 40 points during the course of his first half, and currently has a 2.4 WAR and a 125 WRC+, numbers that are excellent for a guy many expected to be a platoon bat and not an everyday player.
There are a lot of honorable mentions to be made, including Spencer Steer (.242/.337/.441) and Tyler Stephenson (.245/.317/.438). Both have shown flashes of great offense at times though they’ve also had their fair share of struggles. Getting a healthy TJ Friedl and Jake Fraley back will no doubt have a huge impact as well.
But the major wild card in all of these is the level at which rookie phenomenon Rece Hinds can continue to produce in the outfield for the Reds. You’ve heard all the stats and records, but here it is again in brief. 7 games, a .423 batting average, 11 hits, 3 doubles, a triple, and 5 home runs. 11 RBIs and a 1.192 slugging percentage. These are unreal numbers that have generated a 341 WRC+ in that small sample size (as a reference, Aaron Judge has a WRC+ of 207 over the entire season). If Hinds can capture even a small fraction of that lightning in the second half of the season Cincinnati’s major problems in the outfield might get a little less complicated to solve.
Photo: Cincinnati Reds on X
Another saving grace of the 2024 Reds’ first half has been its starting pitching. Overall, they are 12th in team ERA and 11th in batting average allowed. Hunter Greene is leading the way in establishing himself as the team ace. Greene is 6-4 with a 3.34 ERA. His advanced metrics show a WAR of 2.6 and FIP of 3.63, both very solid numbers that show he is improving over prior years. His whiff rate (30.1) and strikeout rate (27.6) are very good and not surprising given how powerful he is. Andrew Abbott is right there with him, posting an eye-popping 9 wins in the first half of the year. Nick Lodolo has also made a very strong showing, going 8-3 with a 3.33 ERA.
The 2023 Reds went on a tear prior to the All-Star break and that break may have cooled them off a bit. In 2024 the story is different, as injuries abound and the rest as a result the Midsummer Classic may aid in their return. When the season starts again, the lineup and rotation are relatively set in terms of the major players who will be there to contribute. The health of those players and whether they can remain consistent from game to game or even series to series will be the most important building blocks of getting back into contention.
Getting back to .500 is in reach, and getting above that number is absolutely possible if the Reds avoid prolonged losing streaks that plagued them at times in the first part of the year. With so many great starters it means that Cincinnati should almost always at least have a foundation to be competitive on any given day. If the bats can do just enough to get runners on, the team’s speed and power should be enough to get the wins we need to get back into things.
The Reds face the 15th ranked remaining strength of schedule, in the middle of the league. Their opponents have a .502 winning percentage. While it’s no cakewalk, it does mean that there are favorable matchups ahead that could help them creep back towards a wild card spot.
Let’s hope the Reds take the rest they need because the second half of this year is calling, and it’s time to throw caution to the wind and go for broke in 2024.
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – Welcome to another week of the Queen City Sports Podcast! On this week’s episode, Chris and Mark discuss another up and down few weeks for the Cincinnati Reds, and the impact that Rece Hinds could have on the team as it gears up for the stretch run in the second half of the season. They also talk Bearcats basketball and the impact that Day Day Thomas and Jizzle James will have in the backcourt next season. The Big 12 media ranked the Bearcats 14 out of 16 in the conference next year and we get Mark’s reaction on whether they got it right. Finally, the guys speak about Joe Burrow’s recent comments about expanding the NFL season to 18 games.
All this and more on The Queen City Sports Podcast, have a listen and don’t forget to leave your comments and feedback!
_______________________
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – The Reds season isn’t over, but after being swept by the Detroit Tigers this weekend, the outlook certainly felt bleaker than ever. After taking three straight games from the New York Yankees, one of the better teams in all of baseball, expectations were high that this Reds club had perhaps turned the corner (yet again) and could reach .500 or better by the All Star break. Detroit was 1-6 in its last 7 games prior to this series. But once again the Reds showed that they simply were not up to the task and could not string together any sort of momentum.
The Tigers beat the Reds in a variety of ways. Whether it was the long ball or hammering the bullpen Cincinnati simply could not find a way to close out Detroit and win any of their three games in the series. Multiple Reds comebacks fell short in those matchups which made each losses all the more frustrating, including Blake Dunn being thrown out at home plate in what was ultimately a very questionable call to send him in contact in the bottom of the ninth.
Hunter Greene pitched another gem (7 innings, 3 hits and he gave up no earned runs) after struggling in his previous two starts only to see Fernando Cruz and his bullpen implode shortly thereafter to take the loss. Cruz has really struggled of late. In his last 26 innings prior to Monday night’s game against the Rockies he allowed 23 hits and 17 earned runs for an ERA of 5.88, going 2-5 in that stretch. He’s gotten the Reds out of some jams that is true and he’s sent in for very high pressure situations, but the performance just hasn’t been there overall recently. He pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning against Colorado which was a welcome relief and something of redemption as he protected a gem turned in by another young Reds starter in Andrew Abbott who went 7 innings, struck out 8, and allowed just 3 hits, giving up no runs.
Even Graham Ashcraft did his part in his start in game 3 against the Tigers, giving up just one earned run before the Reds relievers once again let the bottom fall out. This time the culprit was Alexis Diaz who allowed three runs (although none of them ended up being earned) which ultimately put the game out of reach on Sunday.
It’s been one step forward and two steps back for so much of this 2024 season.
And yet, at this point the Reds have a lot to be optimistic about. Spencer Steer is having one heck of a July. Going into Sunday he had 3 home runs and a 1.214 OPS in July. But he also hit .280 in June and had a .783 OPS.Elly De La Cruz is an All Star and an absolutely electric player at just 22 years old. He has posted a .251 batting average with 15 home runs, 40 RBI and an .804 OPS. He also has 45 stolen bases. Jonathan India is another bright spot. In his last 30 games the Reds second baseman is hitting an insane .369 with a .451 OBP and a .583 slugging percentage. With the potentially season ending injury to Matt McLain, it’s tough to imagine a better scenario than India stepping in to do as well as he has.
On Monday night we got to see the stellar debut of Reds outfielder Rece Hinds who did nothing less than launch a galactic 449 foot home run after making an athletic play in the outfield and legging out a hustle double. Elly De La Cruz scored a run on a contact play from third base, a series of events that was nearly identical to the out made by Dunn just a few days ago. It’s a microcosm of this season for Cincinnati: two of the same plays, with an entirely different result.
The concern is that the flaws in this team are growing too large to reasonably ignore. Injuries or not, Stuart Fairchild, Nick Martini, and Will Benson have been staples in the outfield for large chunks this season. Unfortunately they are batting .224, .212, and .187 respectively. There is simply no way to be a serious playoff contender with those numbers in your lineup on a regular basis. Though trading for a reliable outfield bat would be an important way to show fans that this team is serious about trying to contend, but to be honest one bat may not be nearly enough.
Things have not gone to plan in 2024, that is an understatement. But this season has shown that the Reds cannot win without more help in the outfield/the bottom third of their order, and significant development from their young players. The good news is that there are two more series against the two worst teams in the National League (Colorado and Miami) before the All Star break that could stop the bleeding.
And the Reds big win on Monday night could be the start of some good things for this ball club. It had everything that is electric that the fans love to see: breathtaking speed by Elly, home runs by young players just called up, lights out pitching, and an offense that scored when it counted most. In the end though, Reds fans have seen wins that got Great American Ballpark rocking, and they’ve seen sweeps. But they’ve yet to see a real, sustained turnaround from this club. Let’s hope one still might be in the cards because games like last night’s win against the Rockies was the type of baseball this city and its fans truly deserve on a consistent basis.
———————-
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – In this week’s podcast episode, we talk more about the Reds and what factors are preventing them from consistently playing as well as they did on Thursday night, beating the rival St. Louis Cardinals 11-4. We also discuss the Cavaliers’ signing of head coach Kenny Atkinson and the challenges he faces in getting the team ready for the 2024-2025 season. We also break down the impact of the Cavaliers’ first round draft pick Jaylon Tyson and discuss what the Lakers’ will do now that they’ve drafted Bronny James, LeBron James’ son.
All this and more on The Queen City Sports Podcast, take a listen and don’t forget to leave your comments and feedback!
For further reference, the article discussed in the podcast regarding the evolution of pitching in major league baseball can be accessed by clicking here. You can see the post laying out all of the injuries that the Atlanta Braves have suffered, and overcome, by clicking here.
_______________________
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Loveland, Ohio – Loveland Magazine is very excited to announce that we are expanding our sports social media experience to encompass Facebook, X, and even Instagram.
After you are done browsing our hard-hitting sports articles at Loveland Magazine, head on over to The Loveland Magazine Sports Desk. There, across all three platforms, we will be bringing you some more concise and up-to-the-minute updates on all of the sports teams you follow every day. Whether you’re watching a Reds or Bengals game in real-time and want to weigh in, or if you drop by the day after the game to check in on what happened and give your thoughts, you now have three more ways to get into the game and get the discussion going! We also look forward to bringing you local Loveland sports stories about all your hometown teams, including Loveland football and more.
We appreciate your ongoing support and comments, so look forward to seeing you across the social media universe!
To follow The Loveland Magazine Sports Desk on Facebook, click here.
Instagram is also a great way to post pictures of local Loveland sports, and we hope to have more content there very soon, but for now feel free to check in on our progress and give us a follow at this link.
However you get in contact with us, we are happy to have you and look forward to a lot of fun together this summer and onward.
Hey readers… have an opinion about sports? How about a topic you’d like to see written about in Loveland Magazine or a thought about one of our articles?
Just need to vent and get out your frustration about the Reds, Bengals, or any other sports issues?
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.
by Chris Ball
Even Graham Ashcraft did his part in his start in game 3 against the Tigers, giving up just one earned run before the Reds relievers once again let the bottom fall out. This time the culprit was Alexis Diaz who allowed three runs (although none of them ended up being earned) which ultimately put the game out of reach on Sunday.
On Monday night we got to see the stellar debut of Reds outfielder Rece Hinds who did nothing less than launch a galactic 449 foot home run after making an athletic play in the outfield and legging out a hustle double. Elly De La Cruz scored a run on a contact play from third base, a series of events that was nearly identical to the out made by Dunn just a few days ago. It’s a microcosm of this season for Cincinnati: two of the same plays, with an entirely different result.
The concern is that the flaws in this team are growing too large to reasonably ignore. Injuries or not, Stuart Fairchild, Nick Martini, and Will Benson have been staples in the outfield for large chunks this season. Unfortunately they are batting .224, .212, and .187 respectively. There is simply no way to be a serious playoff contender with those numbers in your lineup on a regular basis. Though trading for a reliable outfield bat would be an important way to show fans that this team is serious about trying to contend, but to be honest one bat may not be nearly enough.
