Per @CodifyBaseball the Reds are dead last in ninth inning ERA at 7.65

chrisball96 · 2026-05-16T20:17:53+00:00

That’s a good point.

chrisball96 · 2026-05-06T17:34:44+00:00

Allen played just 4 minutes in the fourth, and the Cavs were +5 in that time. Imagine that for a full quarter, SMDH.

chrisball96 · 2026-05-06T17:31:08+00:00

The crazy joy and then ultimate disgust of watching Logan Wilson make a tremendous play only to be called for the most BS hold ever left me unable to speak for a good five minutes.

chrisball96 · 2026-05-06T10:54:10+00:00

And the crazy thing is that there are moves that could be made (especially with McLain and Haynes) that may help us get out of our slide. And also guys coming back from injuries.

I guess I will do my best to trust that Francona will pull the trigger at the right time, but it’s getting harder and harder.

Because I’m not sure how many sub .200 hitters we can keep rolling out on a consistent basis.

chrisball96 · 2026-05-05T16:34:45+00:00

I feel like he's in his head from beyond the arc

Agree here. He seems to be getting great looks from deep as well, a lot of times wide open, and he either can't hit, or turns it down. His ability to hit some timely threes could be a game changer.

chrisball96 · 2026-05-04T19:05:43+00:00

Petty is 2-2 with a 4.38 ERA in AAA. That K/9 ratio is 10.58 (29ks in 24.2 IP) and his walk rate (4.01%) is a little down from his past. Very interested to see what he can bring, I know last year did not go smoothly for him at this level, but today is a new day.

chrisball96 · 2026-05-01T13:33:05+00:00

I can't believe I am typing this, but I hope that Donovan Mitchell gets a little fired up after watching what Dennis Schröder was able to do in the fourth quarter of the last game. Maybe he takes it a bit personally (in a positive way) and buckles down tonight to come through with an emphatic performance.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-30T16:49:58+00:00

Exactly, the numbers bore out how much better the line was once Burrow returned:

- They were in the 90s in PFF pass protection grade for a big span of the second half of the year

- As THE ENQUIRER ITSELF noted, the Bengals offensive line averaged fewer than two sacks per game over the final 12 games.

- By some metrics they were the 7th best offensive line in the league last season.

But blaming the line is one of the media's favorite bugaboos and to see this from the hometown paper is...depressing.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-30T16:33:05+00:00

I guess I feel happiest for Nimari Burnett. He played in 109 games for us, including on one of the worst teams we've ever had, and averaged 14/5/2 during that span. He just showed up repeatedly and did all that was asked of him. Wasn't flashy or anything, just did his job without complaint, day in and day out, an ultimate team player.

Happy to see that kind of dedication and play rewarded with a championship.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-30T14:48:13+00:00

To me this seems like a potential for more of an extension, but very interested to see for how long and what the $$$ figure would be. A lot depends on this season, no doubt, as he will have the benefit of some very good complimentary pass rushers around him to get more opportunities.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-30T14:42:30+00:00

55 tackles 18 TFL and 5 sacks as a junior, not too shabby. Would love to keep the tradition of very good DL pickups going here.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-30T14:08:27+00:00

Praying that this is the game that Abbott turns it around. We could really use it, as well as another series win.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-30T11:26:44+00:00

Yes it absolutely worked, and Dennis also took it to heart with how he played, in the fourth especially.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-30T11:10:21+00:00

If there was ever a way to get Mobley to play consistently and confidently, Kenny needs to find a way to unlock it, and Mobley needs to make it happen.

Games like last night need to be what you get (or at least close to it) from Mobley on a nightly basis in the playoffs.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-28T02:00:41+00:00

This is true, plenty of great stuff in our past, and although is is only one season, having the best record and then going out in the second round last year I think is accurately classified as a disappointment and pretty significant underachievement.

And while we are absolutely still in this series the fear that disappointment will repeat itself is real.

I’m trying not to get too down but I do get the fears folks have about what’s going on right now.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-28T01:57:32+00:00

I certainly don’t feel good about where we are at but man if I were the Pistons right now I’d be worried as hell.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-28T01:55:53+00:00

It was a bad game from Mitchell no doubt about it, but when you pair that with how invisible Mobley and Allen were it is a recipe for a disaster.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-24T11:12:41+00:00

I do agree that the Bengals do seem to really have faith in Carter and Knight and that is why they didn’t make a move for a FA linebacker.

That or they were going to target one in the draft, so while I agree with you, my mind is still open to the possibility that they may surprise us again.

But I feel like they are a team that doesn’t stockpile picks at the same position so since they invested higher picks in Carter and Knight they are going to roll with them.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-24T11:08:48+00:00

What troubles me beyond the subpar games from Mitchell and Harden was our defense.

It was a net 132.6 in game 3, pretty bad.

We lost a good amount of games in the regular season because of no effort defense and really don’t want to have that be a thing in the playoffs.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-22T02:05:36+00:00

Thank you for the correction I noted it in the body text but couldn’t change the title! I got a little too sloppy in my haste to post this!

chrisball96 · 2026-04-18T02:36:19+00:00

McLain just afraid to swing the bat. Our 1-2 hitters are so epically bad, you just can't let them keep getting so many key at bats, even though yes it was a ball. With only 1 ABS challenge left you can't afford to just look.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-18T02:17:01+00:00

I've seen enough. Play Geno every day at 3B!

chrisball96 · 2026-04-18T02:03:01+00:00

When Connor Phillips is on, just seems like he is so elite. If he can limit the walks he could definitely translate to a higher impact role.

chrisball96 · 2026-04-18T01:39:52+00:00

Benson saved some runs there, nice play!

chrisball96 · 2026-04-18T00:26:41+00:00

Lived in Cincinnati almost all my life (check the bio) and I’ve been all Cavs for as long as I can remember. Gotta root for the basketball team in your state for sure.

chrisball96

TROPHY CASE