And WHY did he start Kessinger at 1B the other day instead of Diaz????? Defense? But then he had Diaz at 1B anyway, in the late innings. It’s not smart managing. Edit: maybe that was yesterday, I dunno
At least the batting order seems reasonable. Chas batting 5th is really good. He gets some protection with Abreu. I would like him to be sandwiched between Tucker and Alvarez.
How many times has Chas batted 7th or lower? Someone should post how many times he’s been in each spot in the order. He led off a few times early. Never bats 2,3,or 4. Just started hitting 5th recently. 6th a few times. 7-9 like 80% or higher I bet. Lots of games in the 8 hole. Dude has an OPS over .900 and was batting 7th the other day behind Abreu and his awful OPS. That’s pretty normal. Dusty hates Chas.
Let me google that for you... https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=mccorch01&year=2023&t=b#all_lineu
Oh cool I’m off ignore today! it basically says what I said. Heavy concentration of 6-7-8 and 2 starts at #9 lol
" My No. 1 complaint above all else when looking at the Reds, my No. 1 reason why I don't think they'll win the World Series, won't go deep into the playoffs and won't win the division is the man with the toothpicks in his mouth. Dusty Baker is the Achilles' heel of this team. Baker's stubborn adherence to his classic techniques is killing this team. He's the reason why Jay Bruce, despite having more hits, walks and home runs than Brandon Phillips, is still not batting cleanup. He's the reason why Zack Cozart was hitting at the top of the lineup for so long. He's the reason why Choo is still going out there to face lefties who are simply dominating him. He's the reason bullpen moves are often too late and make little sense. He underutilizes his bullpen's X-factor in Aroldis Chapman and feigns surprise when a rookie like Curtis Partch blows the game. How is this guy still in baseball? The San Francisco Giants couldn't win a World Series with him despite a loaded roster, and now? Two World Series wins since Dusty's departure. It is really hard for us as fans to know what things he brings to the club, but I don't think many of those things are positives. Yes, the Reds have the best record in baseball going back to the start of last season, but I'm telling you they could be even better with a simple change in batting order. How much longer does he have in Cincinnati?" https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1720226-cincinnati-reds-a-pessimists-guide-to-the-2013-redlegs
When last season ended with a World Series title, I thought it was awesome, beyond description. But I also knew Dusty was getting a free ride comin' next year. I think most clubs would take a ring along with an additional year of mis-management as a two year outcome.
They’ve had full strength for a little over a week. Thursday was the game the offense really should have done much better than it did.
Every team just knows “hey throw out our 6+ era lefty against the stros.. dusty will freak out and keep his best hitters on the bench and at worst we see a .220 maldy”
Y. Diaz will have only played 1 or 4 full games against the Yankees. He homered in that one game. He pinch hit in another game and got a hit...the second overall team hit the entire game. Astros are 6-0 in the last 6 games Diaz has started at catcher, and 1-5 in Maldonaldo's last 6 games at catcher.
Only one "best hitters on the bench" so I'd consider that as some sort of tactically genius move as far as Dusty's concerned
This is pretty much how I felt in the afterglow of the championship. I didn't really care at the time about the possible outcome of 2023 at all. I was gratefully soaking it in... ... While I still remember back then thinking ahead to 2023 as "Dusty's Free Ride Into The Sunset", now that we're now, it's a little harder to digest - to put it mildly. We're so close to cementing one of the great dynasties in sport. It sure would be a tragic waste if that Dust-bin sun were to set early on the Stars. The trade off was appetizing until I got hungry again.
