It Is Always Sonny In Cincinnati (Or The Phoenix Area) - edeadstroke's Blog

edeadstroke's Blog

It Is Always Sonny In Cincinnati (Or The Phoenix Area)

Posted on February 5, 2019 at 03:05 PM.

(0)

It Is Always Sonny In Cincinnati (Or The Phoenix Area)

Thought that saying was pretty clever when I described our Sonny Gray acquisition from the Yankees, so I had to retread it for this title as Sonny Gray started today against the Kansas City Royals and their starting pitcher Jake Junis.

Today was the Reds fifth Spring Training ballgame so far this season, ownership and management were excited to see what they got in SP Sonny Gray. Skyline Chili must be agreeing with Gray as he allowed just 1 Hit and striking out 6 in 3 innings in his start to get the W, as the Reds won 7-1. Royals lone score came off that bat of Lucas Duda as his solo home run was against Brian Finnegan in relief in the bottom of the 4th inning. The Reds were already up 5-0. The Reds finished with 13 hits and 17 strikeouts.

Both batting and pitching Dynamic Difficulty levels are getting real close to my normal Veteran / Veteran levels, so I am a little surprised that I am still batting and pitching as well as I am...maybe it is because it is Spring Training and I am geeting to see more of their bullpen arms.

Other than Joey Votto still struggling at the plate, his BA has dipped below .100, even after giving him a day off. Everyone else seems to be doing well. Both RPs Tony Cingrani and Kevin Quackenbush each struck out the side each in an innings worth of work in the 7th and 8th respectively.

Some roster changes were made this evening to bring some fresh players in, Finnegan and Stephenson were assigned back to AAA Louisville to bring back Jon Moscot and Tyler Mahle. Quackenbush also was sent down to AAA to make room for J.J. Hoover. Phil Gosselin for Alex Blandino and Adam Rosales for Brandon Dixon. Now in no way are these permanent moves, just getting some of the younger guys some action. For those waiting to see if Top Prospect 3B Nick Senzel is going to get an invite to Spring Training this year, manager Aaron Boone had this to say, "we'll see". Wow, thanks Boonie, what insight.

So tomorrows game against the Chicago White Sox the Reds we experiment with Relief Pitcher Matt Belisle starting the game for at least a couple innings and then bringing in SP Louis Castillo. Both RPs Matt Belisle and Michael Lorenzen have been putting in some extra simulated training to boost their stamina. Lorenzen has also been seen in the evenings in the batting cages working either with Casey or Junior. We think this could mean something big this year for Michael. Maybe Ohtani and Lorenzen compete in this year's All Star Home Run Derby?