The Reds have gone five straight seasons having losing records and not making the playoffs. The attendance last year was at a all time low ever since great American ball park opened up in 2004. The fan base has lost their patience and all eyes are on the reds front office for this years winter meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada. What’s the trend on Reds twitter this off season? #GetThePitching. I like to compare stats within the NL Central rather than Major League Baseball. If you’re wanting to compete for the NL Central crown, you have to match up against the Cubs, Brewers and the Cardinals. The Reds pitching staff finished last in ERA, FIP, and WAR (5.02, 4.88 & 4.2). What stood out the most? A team ground ball rate of 43.9%. Cody Reed lead the team in that department with a 65.6% ground ball rate while Michael Lorenzen was behind him posting 62.2% ground ball rate. The rest of the pitching staff was under 50%. 43.9% in Great American Ball Park just speaks for itself. The Reds need pitchers that can fit to their ballpark or in other words, ground ball pitchers. Other than relying on their farm system, it’s time for the reds to trade some of their assets for controllable arms. Here are a couple of pitchers that the Reds can realistically acquire:
Marcus Stroman
Yeah we all know Stroman struggled for his standards in 2018. He’s in a division where the long ball is very evident and it’s no question he’s playing in one of the toughest divisions in baseball. What makes Stroman such a fit for Cincinnati? He rolls a lot of ground balls. His career ground ball rate is 60% and if you put him on the Reds right now he would have the 2nd best ground ball rate (compared to last year’s 62.5%). Want to hear another interesting stat? If you put Stroman on the reds now he would have the highest WAR as a starting pitcher (2.4). The Reds would get a guy that’s competitive, fearless and passionate. He would be a instant fan favorite in Cincinnati plus a really good complement to Luis Castillo as the number 1 and 2 starters.
Sonny Gray
This scenario is similar to what the Reds did this summer by trading for RHP Matt Harvey. But this time around, there’s a connection between Sonny Gray and the Reds, new pitching coach hire Derek Johnson. Johnson coached Sonny Gray while Gray was in College at Vanderbilt! But putting that connection aside, let’s look why Sonny Gray could be a much better pitcher if he gets dealt by New York. Sonny Gray posted a 6.98 ERA while pitching in Yankee Stadium during the 2018 season. While he was pitching away from Yankee stadium, his ERA was only at 3.17 in 71 innings pitched. When you look at it from that perspective, it’s worth trading for Sonny Gray and bet on a hope that he returns to pitching dominance. What makes this even better for the reds, they realistically don’t have to give up much in terms of value to get him since Gray only has one year left on his contract.
