As I have stated week after week over the last few months, there is a lot to be excited about in the Queen City. The anticipation is building and the Reds are no longer expected to just surprise us with some wins, as in 2024, it is going to be expected. Sophomore slumps will happen from young players who shined last year, injuries will occur, but Reds ownership and the front office has been putting together a team with more depth than any Reds roster in my lifetime. David Bell loves being a “players-coach” and he’ll get the opportunity to make changes often throughout games with the depth of this rotation and lineup throughout 2024.

To add to this, right when Krall said no more major signings were going to happen, Cincinnati turns around and signs the hometown kid, Brent Suter. At age 34, it was a dream come true for the Moeller graduate to get the chance to represent his city. He attended Harvard University after High School and later was drafted by the Brewers before going to Colorado in 2023. One statistic when looking at Brent stood out to me from 2023. In Colorado (the most hitter friendly ballpark), he ranks in the top 99% of average exit velocity (2nd best in all of baseball). Welcome home Brent, let’s go win the Central!

Cincinnati Reds Trivia (Answers at the bottom of the Article)

Considering that it is January 14th and the Bengals didn’t make the playoffs, now felt like a good time to do some Reds Trivia!

1. What Cincinnati Reds player in history has a career OBP with runners in scoring position ranking only behind Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, and Ted Williams?

2. Who is the oldest batter in the history of baseball to have 5 hits in a game (45)?

3. Which current Red is related to both John Calipari and Sean Miller?

4. What current actor had two different tryouts with the Cincinnati Reds before giving up on his baseball dreams?

5. Who were the top 4 players on the Cincinnati Reds roster in 2007 to lead in home runs? (40, 30, 30, 19)

6. How many gold gloves did Brandon Phillips win during his MLB Career?

7. How old was Joe Nuxhall when he made his MLB debut for the Reds?

8. What player had the most errors in the 2023 regular season?

9. In 2004, who made major league history by becoming the first grandfather-grandson combination to hit for the cycle?

10. Who was the National League wins leader and strikeout leader in 2006?

Is this Reds rotation really top 5 in baseball?

Many current projections across baseball seem to have Cincinnati as a top 5 team regarding their starting rotation. In some type of mix, the Reds rotation will include Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Graham Ashcraft, Frankie Montas, Andrew Abbott, Nick Martinez, and Brandon Williamson. I will without a doubt say that this rotation is deep and they have room for injuries, missed starts, and interchanging. However, I cannot forget that Nick Lodolo practically missed all of last season, Graham had injuries and a very rough stretch, and Greene even had injuries to go along with some inconsistencies. I think calling this a top 5 rotation is certainly stretching it, but I do think they have the ability if healthy to develop into such. We also can’t forget that Rhett Lowder could possibly make an impact in Spring Training and eventually join this staff at some point in the year as well. The future is bright and I am very hopeful for this young pitching staff, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Answers:

1. Joey Votto

2. Pete Rose

3. TJ Friedl

4. George Clooney

5. Adam Dunn, Brandon Phillips, Ken Griffey Jr., Josh Hamilton

6. 4

7. 15 years old

8. Elly De La Cruz (14)

9. Gus Bell/David Bell

10. Aaron Harang

This column appears in several newspapers in southwest Ohio.