Cincinnati might be Bengal country now, but the Reds franchise has called the Queen City home for over 140 years. Where are you gonna go?
How about Riverfront Stadium, where the Reds won five pennants and three World Series from 1970 to 1990.
Hall of Fame manager Bill McKechnie might not be a household name to most baseball fans, but the names in Cincy's All-Time starting lineup surely are.
No changes necessary here. How about the reserves?
Four more Hall of Famers on the bench. There's room for improvement, however. Cincy doesn't have a natural third baseman- which they might need more than a backup for Joe Morgan.
It's tempting to go with Groh here, and McPhee's best asset is his speed (which, again, Morgan has covered.) Let's come back to this.
Ken Griffey was in camp to compete for a fifth outfielder spot, but the incumbents stay in place.
Huge shout-out to Gregory at Nine Pockets for the Noddles Hahn custom |
The Reds' rotation is one of the weakest in this series, and upgrading options are limited. If Luis Castillo had stayed longer, he'd have a real shot at the fifth starter role.
Instead it's a two-man battle between Dolf Luque and Bucky Walters, the 1939 National League MVP.
McKechnie has a little more to work with in his relief crew, around Aroldis Chapman and the "Nasty Boys".
I really tried to use as many relievers from the pre-specialization days as possible, but their numbers rarely compare favorably to more recent relief pitchers.
Borbon wasn't nearly as dominant as Williamson, but look at that number on the right. 217 games is likely the lowest number of anyone on any All-Time team.
Backup infielder and fifth starter aren't significant enough upgrades to make a change. But Raisel Iglesias has to get in this bullpen somehow. Scott Williamson's brief-but-dominant stay in Cincinnati isn't long enough to stay here.
Looking ahead, the Reds signed starter Hunter Greene to a six-year extension after just one year with the big club. He'll certainly stick around long enough to compete for a spot in a very thin All-Time rotation. Fellow first-rounders Nick Lodolo (starting pitcher) and Jonathan India (middle infield) are possibilities as well.
TL; DR: One change from the original roster.Williamson out, Iglesias in.
No, not Fluffy :p |
Come back Thursday for our next All-Time Team, the Milwaukee Brewers.
Thanks for reading!
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Nice to see Fluffy!
ReplyDeleteNot much to add to my comments the first time around...Cincy has a bunch of all-time creme de la creme offensive players, but for an original franchise their pitching is not up to par. If they could make some trades....
Phew, I was sweating on McPhee for a second there. Good to see the local guy stick around.
ReplyDeleteThat batting lineup is loaded! It must have been a blast watching The Big Red Machine in the 70's.
ReplyDeleteFluffy will be a contender for the Dodgers!
ReplyDeleteGrowing up the Reds were my team after the Cubs, so I'm pleased at the solid lineup. But yes, the pitching is quite sub par.
They might be in the top-5 for starting lineup and bottom-5 for starting rotation.
ReplyDeleteModern baseball sorely needs another guy nicknamed "Noodles"...
ReplyDeleteWhere's Schottsie? Just kidding.
ReplyDelete