Good Vibes Only sent a (one-day) message that he’s back. Back to what, we’re not sure. Back to 2019, when he mashed 49 homers, hit to a .930 OP
S and had a .271 batting average? Back to the streaky slugger who strikes out more than once every four plate appearances?
Eugenio Suarez’ 3-run jack in KC last night won the game for the Reds. He projects to 33 homers, 94 BI and 200 Ks. His career, 162-game averages are 31-89-167. His batting average is .178, following .202 last year. But we’re told batting averages don’t matter. Until MLB started cracking down on gunkballs, if you were hitting .230 you were damned near Tony Gwynn. Suarez is one very good month from hitting .230.
He has hit leadoff nine times, and everywhere but 2nd and 8th. That didn’t work. He has played shortstop. That really didn’t work.
David Bell gave him two days off at the end of June. In four games since, he has four hits, 4 RBI and the homerun. Maybe in October, we’ll look back on that brief timeout the way we look at Joey Votto’s three-game respite last year, ie favorably.
The more often the Reds win, the more credit Bell should get for knowing what his players need. His steadiness is part of the reason the players didn’t lose focus when things got dicey. The Reds are 22-12 since May 29. On that day, the Cubs thumped them, 10-2. Four relievers combined for 3 innings and 6 runs allowed, Luis Castillo dropped to 1-8. The Club fell to a season-low six games under .500.
Worse, there didn’t seem to be any fixes. Michael Feliz, recently released by the Pirates, mopped up and allowed 3 runs in the 9th. When your solution to bullpen issues is Michael Feliz, you’ve got nothing going on.
Bell stayed the same. Good vibes only. His words could sound ridiculous in the moment. But they weren’t designed for one moment, but for several months of moments. If you’re having trouble keeping your confidence and your manager bails on you, what have you got?
Understanding that a baseball season is impossibly long is vital to success. Maybe that’s what happened with Suarez those last few days in June when Bell sat him. You have a better explanation?
Regardless, a Suarez who hits to his career averages the rest of the way would be a formidable presence in an already stout lineup. At the least, he could cover for the inevitable regressions of Winker and Castellanos. We’ve seen what he can do when he’s hot.
Now, then. . .
AS LONG AS WE’RE PASSING OUT ROSES, how ‘bout a few for Nick Krall? Brad Brach, Heath Hembree and Art Warren have kept the bullpen from spinning into chaos. The Reds bought Warren from the Texas Rangers in January. Brach was unemployed as recently as April 30. Hembree signed as a free agent in March, a week before the Reds broke camp.
Krall has had enough misfires – Feliz, Cionel Perez, Cam Bedrosian – you could make a case the Reds GM has been throwing stuff against the wall and hoping something sticks.
So?
To a certain extent, that describes every GM in the game. Krall has been good with it this year. Meantime, the minors have productive. Gutierrez and Santillan have kept games winnable.
MEANWHILE, THE CUBS HAVE LOST 10 IN A ROW, and here’s all you need to explain that:
By the time the Cubs’ 10th consecutive loss devolved into a 13-3 blowout against the Phillies on Monday night, infielder Eric Sogard was on the mound for his third pitching appearance during the streak.
Over the same 10 games, closer Craig Kimbrel has one. (NBS Sports)
They’ve gone from players to traders. Craig Kimbrel would look nice in somebody else’s uniform. I can’t stand to watch the guy. It’s not his pitching, which this year has been very good. It’s that stupid, pre-windup staredown thing he does. I mean, c’mon, dude.
GROSS, DISGUSTING. NATURALLY, WE CAN’T STOP WATCHING. Joey Chestnut broke his own unfathomable world record by eating 76 hot dogs in 10 minutes at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest for his 14th career title. However, few were able to see the clinching bites as ESPN's broadcast cut out in the final seconds, leaving viewers of the Fourth of July tradition frustrated.
Somehow, I missed this unforgettable triumph this year. It’s not the hot dog inhaling that incites my gag reflex. It’s dunking the buns in water and slamming them apart from the dogs. Yuck.
SHORT STUFF today. Better tomorrow.
TUNE O’ THE DAY. . . One from the Who’s best.
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