The season’s second half begins!
This is a 4th place Cincinnati Reds team at the moment.
Despite all the fanfare of the Terry Francona hire and the excitement of Elly De La Cruz in the heart of the batting order, this is a Reds club that has still struggled to kick off the training wheels and actually pick up some speed.
There’s abundant talent on this roster, particularly in the arms available for their theoretical starting rotation. There’s also a wealth of potential around the diamond behind them, though too few of them have been able to put it all together at the same time enough to begin a true playoff push.
They’re 3 games over .500, and while that’s infinitely better than they’ve so often been at this point of the season for much of the last generation, it’s still not great at all. They sit 2.5 games back of the final National League Wild Card spot, and must jump each of the St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres to claim that. And to even remain that close to even the final playoff position, they’ve got to navigate a gauntlet between now and the trade deadline that looms at the end of July.
That begins in New York against the Mets, who currently occupy the 2nd NL Wild Card position with a 55-42 record. They, too, are doing their best to whip any and all opponents between now and the deadline in order to prompt their front office into buying, so the Reds will be up against a team throwing everything it has against them.
That’ll begin with lefty Sean Manaea, who’ll toe the rubber in Friday night’s series opener opposite fellow lefty Nick Lodolo. The Reds will then roll out Nick Martinez and Andrew Abbott, respectively, for starts on Saturday and Sunday – they’ll be opposed by Clay Holmes and David Peterson.
First pitch Friday is set for 7:10 PM ET, while they’ll tussle in matinee fashion with a 4:10 PM ET start time Saturday (and 1:40 PM ET on Sunday).
Go Reds. Do some winnin’ to prompt Nick Krall to make some additions!