The Cincinnati Reds would have had a better shot to beat the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday if Matt McLain were playing second base, Spencer Steer were in right field and Will Benson were on the bench.
Instead, McLain and Steer were on the bench, and Benson was on his way to Triple-A.
In McLain’s place at second base was Edwin Arroyo. While this play technically didn’t end up being charged an error on Arroyo and was ruled catcher’s interference, he threw the ball from second base to the first base dugout for the second time in three games. In the fourth inning, a potential double play ball got by Arroyo. While Nick Lodolo escaped the jam, the mistake racked up his pitch count on a day where Lodolo got banged up with a wrist contusion.
Holding runners when the Reds are on defense has been a big issue for the team recently, and adding to that problem is the fact that Arroyo has failed to catch the ball three times over his last two starts at second base.
Arroyo, a defense-first prospect, hasn’t been a consistent defender in the big leagues at second base, which is a position that he only played 32 times in the Minor Leagues.
“He’s just got to remember to move his feet,” Terry Francona said. “When he moves his feet, his arm angle gets back up where it needs to be.”
In a 2-0 win for the Brewers on Tuesday, Milwaukee scored one of its runs when a ball rolling down the right field wall got by Noelvi Marte in right field. After Marte failed to pick it up, Andrew Vaughn (who ranks in the 13th percentile in average sprint speed) scored from first.
“I know it went around the bend and Noelvi didn’t get it,” Francona said. “It’s really hard for me to see that from where I’m sitting. I think if he comes up with that cleanly, they don’t score there.”
Offensively, Arroyo and Marte combined to go 0-for-6.
Why Arroyo and Marte were in the lineup raises some questions about what the Reds’ plans are right now.
On Tuesday, the Reds activated Elly De La Cruz from the injured list and optioned Will Benson to Triple-A. Benson could have helped the Reds on Tuesday. In the ninth inning, down by two runs against All-Star Brewers closer Trevor Megill, Jose Trevino and Arroyo took at-bats. Benson would have been a better option with his ability to draw a walk or hit one over the fence (he has a 1.284 OPS in 16 pinch-hit plate appearances this year).
By optioning Benson, the Reds took away some of their flexibility on the bench. The construction of the Reds’ bench right now doesn’t look optimal.
They also created a logjam. The roster has redundant pieces.
Right now, it looks like there are three spots in the lineup for five players: Steer (he should play just about every day but has received more off days during a June slump) McLain, Arroyo, Marte and leadoff hitter Blake Dunn. Before Tuesday’s game, Francona was asked about the plan at second base, where McLain, Arroyo and Steer are all options.
“I don’t know,” Francona said. “That’s just being truthful. We talked extensively for a while knowing Elly was coming back. Arroyo can move around, as we’ve seen. Just because we did this today doesn’t mean we need to stay like this. We’ll see how this works out.”
When De La Cruz was on the IL for three weeks, Francona mixed and matched. Steer started 17 of the 19 games while getting some off days as he had a very unproductive month at the plate, McLain started 17 of the 19 games, Arroyo made 14 starts in 19 games, Marte was called up on June 5 (replacing TJ Friedl) and made 12 starts in a 15-game stretch and Dunn played 16 of the 19 games.
De La Cruz’s return takes a regular every day spot in the lineup at shortstop.
With the All-Star shortstop back, McLain could be the Reds’ starting second baseman. Arroyo could be. Steer could play there to open up right field for Marte. They could give Marte another shot in center and give him starts over Dunn there with Steer in right and Arroyo or McLain at second.
What do the Reds want to be? A pitching and defense team that sticks with its veterans — which Francona typically does, saying that guys get as hot as they do cold — or a development team?
Arroyo and Marte already weren’t playing every single day before De La Cruz was active, and now there’s one fewer spot in the lineup.
Francona said about Arroyo on Tuesday, “We don’t want this kid just sitting. We’ll see how it works.”
Marte fits into the same boat as a young guy with talent who needs reps and needs to be a more consistent player.
How will Francona go about divvying playing time between this group of guys who already weren’t every day players?
“I try to look ahead as much as I can to see what fits, what doesn’t fit or when would be a good day,” Francona said. “We don’t want these guys to sit the bench. That’s not developing.”
While Benson was barely playing, he still had a role on the team as a left-handed pinch-hit bat and as a backup center fielder.
On Tuesday, Francona didn’t use his bench. McLain and Steer didn’t enter the game. McLain, Arroyo and Dunn aren’t really pinch-hitter types, and Marte is 1-for-9 in his career as a pinch-hitter.
Rotating these guys in and out of the lineup on a day-to-day basis is far from ideal.
As Francona said, “Just because we did this today doesn’t mean we need to stay like this. We’ll see how this works out.”
Unless the Reds want to go into more of a developmental emphasis with the way they build their lineup, McLain should play at second base over Arroyo. McLain’s struggles have been well-documented, but his OPS on the season (.656) and in June (.807) is better than what Arroyo has done over his first three weeks in the big leagues (.552 OPS) — McLain is having another bad week with a .111 average over his last seven games after a good start to the month of June.
Arroyo is picking up singles down the line, but he’s not hitting for power or drawing walks. Also, McLain is the better defender and base runner. He gives the Reds a better shot to win now.
Marte has a .815 OPS in June, he has been able to cut down his chase rate across the board for every pitch type and his power production feels like a very good sign. His defense hasn’t been good enough yet. Being able to play center field would help, but he had a bad defensive game there last week.
Chasing Marte’s offensive ceiling by playing him on a semi regular basis may be a bet the Reds need to take as the offense could use another hitter with the skill set to catch up to a high-velocity fastball. Marte should mix in along with Steer, Dunn and maybe even a slumping Eugenio Suárez at DH.
One more question to consider as Francona plots out the lineup is whether or not De La Cruz will need off days as he returns from a hamstring injury.
“I don’t know,” Francona said. “If you know, tell me. There’s no crystal ball. If he doesn’t get any hits, he’s probably going to play every day because he’s not on base running and diving. I hope he is. We’ll keep an eye on him.”
Who plays and how much among the group of hitters competing for regular spots in the lineup will show a lot about the Reds. Historically, we’ve seen Francona go all-in on the veterans who entered the season as starters (the position that Steer and McLain are in right now). Playing Arroyo and Marte more would be a big shift toward development.
One more thing about the Reds’ offense
The biggest weakness of the offense right now is how much it’s struggling against fastball velocity. That was the case again on Tuesday as Brandon Sproat carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and as the Reds got shut out again.
The Reds have the worst OPS (.596) in all of MLB against pitches 95 mph+.
Against pitches above 98 mph, the Reds have a .491 OPS (the fourth-worst in MLB).
“It’s something that starts in the minor leagues, making it a priority,” hitting coach Chris Valaika said. “Spin is up in the Major Leagues. You see stuff getting better and better and velocity getting bigger and bigger. It’s something we talk about. It’s something we’re stressing. We have to be accountable for it, take it in stride and continue to get better. It has been a weakness of ours. Teams are going to exploit that until we flip the narrative.”
When asked about the trend, Francona stressed the importance of the drills that Reds’ hitters do against velocity machines before games.
Valaika also emphasized the importance of the hitter’s “mentality.”“You have to be ready that you’re not going to get beat on a fastball,” Valaika said. “It’s ok to look silly swinging through a breaking ball, but you’re not going to get beat consistently on fastballs. We do have to do some searching on that.”
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