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“Do You Believe in Magic?” Great song by the Lovin Spoonful. Look it up kids. And it could be the theme for the 2023 Reds. How else can you explain what this team is doing? This is a team that lost 100 games last year and was widely considered as bad or worse this year. And the season started like that. The Reds were 7-15 and eight games out on April 23. They are 37-23 since, the third-best…

I was trying to figure out how many Reds I’ve covered. I know it is somewhere north of 3,000. It never covered one lquite ike Friday’s night. This sentence sums it up:Joey Votto hit two home runs, drove in four runs, and was completely overshadowed by Elly De La Cruz. It all happened in the Reds’ 12th straight victory, 11-10, over the Braves before a raucous sellout crowd of 43,086 at Great…

I promised myself a while back: If the Reds win 11 straight games, I would shave my head or start posting my Fay on The Reds blog again. Given that some rounds of chemo left me bald a few months ago, I felt the blog was the better option. My shining oversized cranium tends to frighten children. So here we go with my first offering since Opening Day: Let’s go back to June 6, better known as…

No one has ever doubted Hunter Greene’s stuff. He came out Monday throwing 100-plus in every fastball. His slider was nasty. But Greene is also only 23 years old, and Monday was just his 25th big league start. So he still has a lot to learn. Monday’s 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates before a regular-season record crowd of 44,063 was a learning experience. “Today’s a tough day,” Greene said.…

Based on my walk through downtown and The Banks, Cincinnati still loves baseball and drinking beer — not necessarily in that order. It looked like a perfectly normal Opening Day. Folks were enjoying the sunshine and talking Reds. The sidewalks along the parade route were packed. (Personal note: It’s the first time I’ve witnessed the parade. I was always already at the ballpark chronicling the…

The Reds could meet expectations, albeit low expectations, if a lot of things fall their way.

I spent a week at Reds, which isn’t enough time to jump to the conclusion I’m about to. The question I’ll try to answer: Will they meet or exceed expectations? Now, let’s define those expectations. The Hard Rock Casino has the win total at 65.5. And fangraphs.com’s ZIP predictions has them going 70-92. Not a high bar in either case. But this team went 62-100 last year, and they shed three of…

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — When I was interviewing Joey Votto the Sunday, he mentioned that this was his 17th big league camp. That gave him the confidence to sing Selena’s “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom” at”Reds Got Talent.” “Beautiful song,” he said. “It was quite the ballad.” The 23-year-old Joey Votto would probably not have risked the humiliation in front of his teammates. The 39-year-old Joey Vottlo is much…

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Thanks to Matt McLain’s walk-off home run with one out in the ninth, the Reds won the spring opener, 4-3, over the Cleveland Indians in a crisp 2 hours and 23 minutes. One game isn’t small-sample size; it’s tiny-sample size. But for at least one day, Major League Baseball’s new rule accomplished the main goal: A quicker pace of play. Reds manager David Bell noticed. “It was…

Elly De La Cruz, the most interesting player in Reds camp, does interviews with the aid of interpreter Jorge Merlos. But when the question concerns De La Cruz’s desire to remain at shortstop, he doesn’t need any help. “Of course,” he says. The only reason any questions De La Cruz’s chances of sticking shortstop is his height. He’s 6-foot-5 — not the prototypical size for a shortstop. But…

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The Reds are counting on their young core to get them back to contention. But how little that core has proven at the league level is scary. That core includes Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft and Alexis Diaz. Stephenson, with two years and 56 days in the big leagues, is the veteran of that group. India has two years in the bigs. The…

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — The Reds are counting on their young core to get them back to contention. But how little that core has proven at the league level is scary. That core includes Jonathan India, Tyler Stephenson, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft and Alexis Diaz. Stephenson, with two years and 56 days in the big leagues, is the veteran of that group. India has two years in the bigs. The…

GOODYEAR, Ariz. — I’m a doctor, nor have I played one on TV.But I’m pretty confident in this diagnosis: The Reds are suffering from long COVID. COVID is defined as “a condition that is marked by the presence of symptoms (such as fatigue, cough, shortness of breath, headache, or brain fog) which persist for an extended period of time (such as weeks or months) following a person’s initial recovery…

Arroyo got the Reds Hall of Fame honestly

Congratulations to Bronson Arroyo on his election to the Reds Hall of Fame. Richly deserved. Arroyo was a huge part of the turnaround that led to the Reds’ good run from 2011 to 2013. Arroyo for Wily Mo Peña rates as one of the most lopsided trades in Reds history. Arroyo went 108-110 with a 4.18 ERA with the Reds. In his first stint, he pitched 200 innings or more seven times in eight seasons.…

Priority 1 for Reds: Sign Cueto, no really spend a little get a lot for now and later

I’m back after a long ride on the “What are you going to say about the Reds?” bus. But about a month and 25 or so losses ago, I thought of one player the Reds could feasibly add to make an impact for 2023 and beyond: Johnny Cueto. Forgive me if someone wrote this already. The Reds were not on my later summer reading list. Anyway, I started to write it several times, but apathy, an extended…

How good was haul for Castillo? We’ll know in ’25 or ’26

The Reds are getting rave reviews over the haul from the Luis Castillo trade. “There’s your King’s Ransom,” a scout texted Lance McAlister. The King’s Ransom in this case? Two top 50 prospects and two other prospects with big-league potential. To evaluate the deal, you must delve into the past prospect ratings. More on later. The key to the trade was Noelvi Marte, a 20-year-old shortstop who…

Naquin trade says the Reds are looking at a long rebuild

So it begins. The Reds traded Tyler Naquin to the Mets for a pair of teeny boppers. Jose Acura, a 19-year-old right-hander, and Hector Rodriguez, an 18-year-old center fielder, may have bright futures. But those futures — at least at the big-league level — are likely four or five years down the road. That tells you that the Reds aren’t looking at a quick turnaround. That could change as the…

Castellinis’ best PR move? Keep Castillo, skip playing the Prospect Lottery

The Reds have a PR opportunity sitting on a platinum platter. Phil Castellini and/or Nick Krall should gather the local beat writers and say this: We’re not going to trade Luis Castillo. We’re not that far from competing, and having Luis at the top of the rotation gives us the best chance to get back to contention quickly. So we’re going to make an effort to sign him. Will the Reds do this?…