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Cincinnati Reds 2019 season (Black Hole)

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Mike80 said:
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Trying to extend him to finalize the actual deal but appears to be headed to Cincy (poor bastard).

So with Gray, Wood and Roark they have a solid #3, #4 and #5 in the rotation.

Lineup is pretty good other than the perpetual black hole in CF

They are still 2 good starters short and the bullpen sucks dead donkey dick.

Maybe a .500 team but it's ben so bad for so long, Reds fans are actually happy about it.

Fucking sad
 
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Desclafani is a solid rotation guy, too. And with Lorenzen, Hernandez, Hughes, and Iglesias, they have 4 good bullpen arms. Pair those with a decent rotation and maybe the bullpen won't get their collective arms thrown off before August for once.
 
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Sonny Gray traded from Yankees to Reds, where he lands a three-year, $30.5M extension


And that ends it — Gray’s near 200-inning gig as a Yankee, the 4.51 ERA that seems low in retrospect, the uptick in hits and walks and home runs and suspense, the discontent at Yankee Stadium, and the rising suspicion that Gray and the Bronx, for whatever reasons, would never be a fit.

Of his final nine appearances for the Yankees, those across August and September, seven were out of the bullpen, to which he’d been demoted. He did not appear in the postseason, as he was not on the roster. In 11 starts and four relief appearances at Yankee Stadium in 2018, across 59 1/3 innings, his ERA was 6.98, a number that rather exposes an organization’s next inclination..........



In early November Yankees general manager Brian Cashman spoke openly of the inevitable trade of Gray, telling reporters then, “Once we feel comfortable with the return, we’ll make the decision to move him. But the plan is to move him because I don’t want to keep going through the process of something that won’t work here.”

The Reds, meantime, seem intent on ending the organizational malaise that has presented itself over four consecutive last-place finishes in the National League Central. Attendance at Great American Ball Park has fallen in each of the past five seasons. In 2018, the Reds ranked 13th in attendance among the 15 NL clubs, ahead of only the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Marlins.

To that end, the Reds have hired a new manager (David Bell), traded for starting pitchers Tanner Roark, Alex Wood and Gray, and traded for outfielders Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig. All but Gray are scheduled to be a free agent at the conclusion of 2019, and every one of them could be traded before then, if 2019 goes the way recent seasons have. But, for a team whose team ERA was next-to-last in the National League, and whose starting pitching was especially poor, the Reds do appear hopeful of putting up a fight. Some of that will depend on Gray and whether he can be a sturdy starting pitcher again.


https://sports.yahoo.com/sonny-gray...nds-three-year-30-5m-extension-214013848.html
 
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I'll give Reds ownership credit.

They have so effectively Stockholm Syndrome'd the fanbase that people are genuinely excited and positive because the team has decided to put effort into going from wretched to somewhat average.

"Best off season in Reds team history" is a quote that about made me spit my coffee out from RZ the other morning.

Reds ownership makes me appreciate the Buckeyes every goddamn day.
You pull this kind of half assed nonsense after decades of sucking in C'bus and people are going to be killed.
Literally.
 
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CFPBuckeye said:
Groundball rate!1!!!1

I mean, Yankee Stadium isn’t a pitchers park but he sucked ass there and GABP is definitely better for pitchers than Yankee Stadium.
Click to expand...

I certainly hope you are correct -- I just can't remember the last starting pitcher that came to Cincy and performed better than at the previous stop.
 
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Gray: Joining Reds 'just felt right the whole time'
RHP excited by new team's offseason moves, reunion with college pitching coach
By Mark Sheldon MLB.com @m_sheldon
1:49 PM EST
CINCINNATI -- It was no secret all offseason that the Yankees were trying to move starting pitcher Sonny Gray, and the Reds were long part of the rumors. Gray didn't have the leverage to turn down Monday's trade between the two clubs.

However, Gray's decision to sign a three-year, $30.5 million contract extension with Cincinnati as part of the deal was entirely his.

"For me, I've got a lot of relationships in Cincinnati," Gray said. "It's obviously notable, too, what the Reds have been doing. I've got a really good feeling that we're trying to turn the corner here and start winning some baseball games. That's exciting for me. That's exciting for sure. It just feels right to me. It felt right the whole time."

A former All-Star with the Athletics, Gray was unable to put it together in New York. Last season in 30 games (23 starts), the 29-year-old was 11-9 with a 4.90 ERA. In 15 games (12 starts) away from Yankee Stadium in 2018, he compiled a 3.17 ERA compared to a 6.98 ERA at home.

Gray could not explain why he struggled while pitching in the Bronx.

upload_2019-1-22_14-35-57.png

"That's the question, isn't it? I'm not going to lie," Gray said. "I felt comfortable taking the mound. I felt good. It just didn't work out. I don't know. I don't have an answer."

The Reds not only liked Gray's overall track record -- 59-52 with a 3.66 ERA over six big league seasons -- but felt comfortable acquiring him after analyzing tracking data.

"We really didn't see anything that was diminishing in terms of the velocity and spin rates and things like that," Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams said. "From a physical standpoint, everything appears to be there. We think he's still, at his age, got plenty of upside. He shouldn't have any problem recapturing where he was."


According to Statcast™, this was the average velocity of Gray's four-seam fastball dating back to 2015:

2018: 93.3 mph
2017: 93.5 mph
2016: 93.5 mph
2015: 93.7 mph

And this was the measured spin rate of Gray's curveball:

2018: 2,852 rpm
2017: 2,891 rpm
2016: 2,818 rpm
2015: 2,605 rpm

With the available data, most experts note that breaking balls are tougher to hit when they possess higher spin rates.

Yankee Stadium, especially with its short porch in right field, isn't considered a great spot for pitchers. There could also have been some bad luck. Gray's home weighted on-base average (wOBA) was 33 points higher than his expected wOBA, the 14th-biggest gap out of 146 pitchers who faced at least 200 hitters at their home park. His road xwOBA, meanwhile, was .269 -- the 10th-best figure among starters.


With its tighter dimensions overall, Great American Ball Park's reputation as a haven for hitters is even more notorious. But there are reasons to believe that Gray's stuff will play in Cincinnati.

According to FanGraphs, only five pitchers in 2018 had 100-plus innings, at least a 20 percent strikeout rate and at least a 50 percent ground-ball rate. One of those pitchers was Gray (21.1 percent strikeout rate, 50 percent grounder rate).

Gray did not factor the Reds' home ballpark at all in his decision.

"I'm not huge into that type of stuff," he said. "You can pitch, and you're comfortable pitching somewhere, you can go out and get the job done for sure."

One factor that Gray said was important was his relationship with new Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson. When Johnson was the pitching coach at Vanderbilt University, Gray was one of his pitchers from 2008-11 before he became Oakland's first-round Draft pick in '11. Both still spend their offseasons in Nashville, Tenn.

"I've known D.J. since I was 14 years old," said Gray, who has thrown two bullpen sessions this winter with backup Reds catcher and former college teammate Curt Casali. "He knows what makes me go. He definitely knows what I'm about."


Johnson believes that Gray's makeup will help him succeed with the Reds.

"I really think that Sonny's best attribute is how competitive he is," Johnson said. "You're talking about a guy who ... blew through the Minor Leagues and became a quality Major Leaguer early. I think it's not only a testament to his ability, but also his drive, his competitiveness. He's almost a born leader. It shows on the field, and I'm just really excited about those traits coming back out and him doing his thing."

The Reds are banking on Gray being a big producer in their revamped rotation that includes fellow trade acquisitions Tanner Roark and Alex Wood along with holdovers Luis Castillo, Anthony DeSclafani, Sal Romano and others.

Gray feels like learning how to deal with the adversity he endured in 2017 and '18 has made him a better pitcher.

"It's no secret [last] year didn't go as good for me as you would like," Gray said. "But at the end of the day, I showed up every day and was ready to put in the work. I honestly think you can go through some hardships at times and come out the other end better than you ever were. That's honestly how I feel. I learned a lot [last] year."


https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/sonny-gray-discusses-trade-to-reds/c-302973688
 
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