Well, color me surprised. Even a couple of days ago, I was ready to be angry as the Cincinnati Reds trotted out an Opening Day roster with too many guys no one wanted and not enough of the young players we’re supposed to get excited about. And then they cut loose a couple of players who needed to be cut loose. And now, well, I have a hard time getting upset about what I’m seeing.
As of this moment, there seems to be one position player spot up for grabs as the Reds figure out who to have up when Joey Votto starts the year on rehab, but the talk seems to indicate that we might see Stuart Fairchild back up on the team. And I was lobbying for that anyway.
On the position player side of the Roster, the Reds are set to field team where the only members of the 30 and over club will be: A Hall of Famer, gone by August (Wil Myers), a backup shortstop, and two backup catchers. And that is absolutely completely 100 percent fine. Jose Barrero Barrero is gonna get a real shot and looks ready for it. That’s fun. We’ll see what Will Benson, Jake Fraley, TJ Friedl, and Spencer Steer can really do. That’s also fun!
Three games out of every five, there’s going to be a pitcher on the mound you want to watch and all three of them are plenty young. Heck the eighth and ninth innings might even be okay this year.
Now listen. I’m happy, but I’m not necessarily totally optimistic. While I’m glad that eleventy-billion 20-somethings are gonna get real at bats, there is also not a single player position player on this team who’s going to take the field without a serious question mark by his name. Some of them will give us the answers we want. Others, very much will not. But at least we can finally begin the process of knowing and start to move past last year’s heinous disassembly.
And yes, a lot of the bullpen and 40 person of the starting rotation (assuming the big 3 stay healthy) is going to be very tough to watch. But relievers are capricious anyway, so really, who the heck knows?
Is this team going to be great? Nope. That would be real miracle. But are they giving us something worth paying attention to, including, based on his quotes, a very determined Joey Votto? Yes. They are.
Given the Reds unwillingness to spend like they should, I find myself unable to argue with what they’ve done with the resources on hand. And that is a small thing to feel good about as the season begins.
