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Bleacher
Report
Off season
problems facing the Reds
CINCINNATI- After another season of Cincinnati Reds baseball, the team
is moving into the offseason looking to upgrade in hopes of making a
run at a World Series in 2013.
The Reds have three big problems to address this offseason.
The first is the leadoff spot in the order.
All in all, nine different players occupied the first spot in the Reds
lineup. Those nine players hit a combined .208/.254/.327 with 16 HR, 38
RBI and 83 runs scored.
Everyone seems to single in on Drew Stubbs for this problem and while
he didn't do well batting there, it was Brandon Phillips and Zack
Cozart who had the most at-bats in this slot.
Phillips and Cozart combined for 557 of the team's 703 leadoff at-bats
and batted .219/.260/.362 with 16 HR, 33 RBI and 65 runs scored.
The two can hit for extra bases, as shown in their 47 extra base hits;
however, the two struck out 105 times and walked only 27 times.
When you look again at all of the Reds leadoff batters this season,
you'll note that they strike out a lot (147 times) and walk very little
(37 walks).
The most telling stat of the Reds leadoff woes is their 2.67 runs
created/27 outs.
That's dead last in the National League and for those wondering where
the Reds offense went this year, and particularly this postseason, it
was swallowed up by the first spot in the batting order.
Even with a poor showing for Phillips leading off, he could still be
the answer for the Reds.
In his career, Phillips has started 149 games hitting leadoff. In
those games, he's compiled 631 at-bats slashing .265/.325/.426 with
with 21 HR, 63 RBI, 91 runs scored and 27 doubles.
Although these are far better than this season's leadoff platoon,
Phillips is a much better hitter when batting second or fourth.
Phillips is a .279/.322/.427 hitter in the two hole and a
.282/.331/.454 hitter when batting fourth.
The answer either needs to come from somewhere else in the lineup or
via free agency or a trade.
The Reds fifth spot in the rotation may be another area of concern for
the Reds.
Mike Leake was the Reds' fifth starter this year and we all know how
that went.
Read the rest of the article at Bleacher Report
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