The Cincinnati Reds currently hold a record of 21-36. That’s good enough for the second worst record in the National League in front of only the miserable Atlanta Braves. However, in the past week, the Reds were able to go 5-2 with a run differential of +9 which is especially impressive considering the Reds suffered a 17-4 loss in Colorado. This week showcased a lot of improvement, and a lot of optimistic signs looking forward to the rest of the season, and we are analyzing these “glass half-full” signs in the Reds Week 9 Review.
Adam Duvall On Fire: Cincinnati Reds Week 9 Review
First and foremost, Adam Duvall has been on fire. In the past week, Duvall has hit five home runs and increased his total season slugging percentage to .608, which is good for second in the National League behind only Daniel Murphy. In total for Duvall, he has a WAR of 2.0 this season which is 2nd best for Cincinnati behind Zack Cozart and good for 13th in the NL. That’s a pretty good return just for sending Mike Leake to the Giants for a few months.
In other news with hot bats, Jay Bruce has done a good job lately of making himself a particularly desirable trade target. In the past seven days Bruce has hit four home runs and improved his BA from .262 to .280. This solid week of power hitting adds to Bruce’s already sizzling seasonal totals of a .591 slugging percentage (4th in the NL), 13 HR (tied for 8th), five triples (leads all of baseball!), and a .311 isolated power number (5th in the MLB). Eugenio Suarez has also began getting back in his groove by hitting four home runs and improving his BA to .218 to .239 in the past week, although he did strikeout eight times.
The Reds also saw some solid performances on the mound, both from the rotation and the bullpen. Despite Ross Ohlendorf‘s horrendous start to the season, he has steadily found a rhythm and was able to lower his ERA from 4.57 to 4.21 in four appearances in the last week. Even though Ohlendorf has allowed 1.5 HR/9 this year, he has walked just 2.2 batters per nine innings and has a strikeout rate of 9.5 K/9 to go with an impressive WHIP of just 1.01. Tony Cingrani has had a very up and down season, but in three innings this week he was able to lower his ERA from 4.43 to 4.07 and earn his fifth save of the season against the Washington Nationals on Saturday. Cingrani has a high WHIP of 1.44, but that is mostly due to a high BB/9 of 6.3. Cingrani has also been striking out fewer batters at 8.8 K/9, but he has a 14:6 ground ball to fly ball ratio since May 15th, which should help out with his struggles in giving up home runs this season. While Dan Straily didn’t turn in a great outing in power-friendly Coors Field, he did produce a quality start Saturday facing Stephen Strasburg and the Nationals; pitching 7.0 innings, allowing just two earned runs, and two total hits. Straily’s 2016 total figures of a 3.34 ERA and 1.13 WHIP has been a pleasant surprise for the Reds, and he has possibly worked his way into being a sneaky trade target come the July 31st trade deadline.
The Reds currently await the return of promising arms such as Michael Lorenzen, Caleb Cotham, Raisel Iglesias, and big-money earner Homer Bailey. However, with a young core, led by Adam Duvall, making improvements at the plate, and the historically terrible bullpen looking better by the day, Week 9 in Cincinnati left the Reds feeling a little better about the coming months of play.
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