BallKnower88

@RedsFan_Brandon He should be but I can accept it’s a more ceremonial game

It’s Opening Day. I’m not going to complain about Dane Myers not being in the lineup. Won’t even mention his career 126 wRC+ vs LHP. #Reds

@RedsInFour @red40reds Feels like a fade Spencer steer prediction

@red40reds Benson didn’t steal at all last year. Friedl’s speed is waning, he didn’t steal much last year, and didn’t attempt any this spring.

Some bold #Reds predictions - Will Benson outperforms Noelvi Marte - 5 RPs have 3+ SVs (only Pagan + Santillan had more than 1 last year) - Elly has >30 SBs, McLain has >20… Sal Stewart is the only other player who has 10+ - *Nick Lodolo* is a rock for an injured rotation

@CatsandCanes @elitetakes_ This is true but at the same time I think tackle is a little different. There’s a consistent overpay of mediocre tackles because they’re hard to find so it’s rare someone slips through the cracks like this.

@Vottosmop @elitetakes_ I remember when the eagles got Zach baun for nothing because "he wasnt good" and then he was an all pro, smart GMs take advantage of bad GMs bad evaluations. Time will tell.

HOW did you pull off this wizardry sir

@elitetakes_ I think the real eval for him will be 2027. Obviously this year matters a lot and they can get a real grasp of what’s going on but he’s gonna be the starter the next 2 years unless he’s just awful. I know people get excited about ‘27 QBs but the truth is you never know anything

Emotions aside, I think the trade return for Waddle was more than adequate I’ve just been struggling all day to understand the plan on offense around Malik. They have to go offense-heavy early in the draft, or else I don’t think you can properly evaluate him in 2026

@Lastname_Baker Got way better but then got worse

Are we ever going to discuss about what happened to the Dolphins after Flo left?

@JLucroy20 @dalsubfan Easily foulable? The pitch several inches below the zone after seeing 102 a few times in a row? Sure it’s possible but I think it’s way way more likely that’s a whiff

I guarantee you the hitter is thinking he should have fouled that off and lived to see another pitch. Did he have a great take? Yes, but again, if I’m catching. I’m calling that exact pitch to get the hitter to expand and chase. He didn’t and got screwed. But, that pitch was easily foul-able. What I’m saying is that the pitcher could hang the very next pitch. If it was me up there I’m choking up, and fighting off anything close. I’m going down fighting. If he makes a mistake, then I’ll be in a position to take advantage.

2k rule #1: Never put the result of your at bat in the hands of an umpire. That means that we fight off close pitches. Yes that pitch was a ball, but it was too close to take. You never know, he could have fouled that off, and got a hanger next pitch and hit it out. I’ve seen it happen many, many times. Before 2k don’t swing at that pitch. With 2k, you fight off anything that’s close, because pitchers make mistakes ALL the time. Even big leaguers.

@Jwright47 @LJ8MV3 @JLucroy20 It was much more likely to be called a ball some models even had it as low as .5% to be called a strike because it never is

Then why did he step to the dugout and not first if his first thought was a ball? I think it was more ball than strike but you don’t take that pitch, you foul it off and live to see another. He got froze on a slider, and got rang up for looking for a heater. That wasn’t the first low ball that ump called in the game either.

@KingOfPhinland Based on how they moved forward as an org it seems they identified where responsibility fell. That’s why Shore answers to Ross now instead of the GM because of these contracts

At some point Brandon Shore has to be held accountable for this too right?

@alsodanlowe @Jomboy_ This is disingenuous this isn’t a called balls vs strikes chart just where the pitch was and what the actual result was. Yes it got called once or twice doesn’t mean it’s not completely wrong and it shouldn’t happen

@Jomboy_ The replies about it being a strike all night might be right

"a ball that's about 4 inches down. too close to take" - A-Rod in the post game haha thats a wild sentence

@SleeperReds @TJStats Are you sure this isn’t 2025 cause that’s what it says

LOOK AT THESE SPRING TRAINING NUMBERS FROM SAL STEWART *22 years old btw*

@OmarKelly I mean that’s fully on Grier. McDaniel can vouch all he wants but Grier is the adult who’s supposed to check the head coach that’s essentially what his job description is. Not going about it that way is a large part of why things didn’t work out

That is a Mike McDaniel special. I’m not letting anyone else take the bullets for that.

@MDtheG1 @tangotiger They have completely different arm angles and are doing very different things. Skubal leans on a cut ride fastball and elite changeup yeah he throws other pitches but it’s really built around that. Skenes is just pitch maxing and has a low slot that lets him do some fun things

@Vottosmop @tangotiger Yes, really

Interesting how both Skubal and Skenes have no curveball

@MDtheG1 @tangotiger Not really

@tangotiger Kinda looks like the same thing just inverted

@k_heidgerken @zack_cozart Why? your entitled to feel however but I struggle to understand why so many people are exit velocity adverse. No one defines success by exit velocity but they can help use it to define good process. Those are two different things

@zack_cozart I am tired of hearing about exit velocity.

Exit velo on a hr I can deal with but a double play??? Congrats on hitting it hard

@zack_cozart That last part is exactly right, I feel like you would know better than most that all a hitter can do is hit it hard whether that ball is right at the fielder or just out of his diving range isn’t really on the hitter. It’s good process working towards being a better hitter!

@SotoC803 Is this big league ball?

To put into perspective how INSANE this is.....the best combination I see of IVB and FB velocity belongs to SDP Jeremiah Estrada who checks in at 98mph, and 19.6 IVB.

@AndThatsBB @TJStats One of those curveballs the one with slight arm side had a super low spin rate so I’m wondering if it was a different pitch

Ohh look who knows ball

@JonPgh It’s possible the burns one is legit but it also coincided exactly when they needed to limit his innings and shift to the pen so everyone was pretty on board with phantom IL situation

The new scariest words in baseball to me are "elbow flexor strain" There are guys who it doesn't derail - Nick Pivetta had one April 2024 - Logan Gilbert had one April 2025 Both guys missed a little bit of time and returned without further issue (re-injury wise, at least) But it has plenty of victims the last two years - Sandy Alcantara February 2024 - Josiah Gray April 2024 - Robert Gasser June 2024 - Braxton Garrett July 2024 - Drew Thorpe August 2024 - Trevor Williams September 2024 - Nestor Cortes September 2024 - Ryan Weathers March 2025 - Jackson Jobe May 2025 So you don't like to see this:

@CharlieG__ Not a huge deal but a kick change would move pretty similarly to a sinker just with less vertical movement. The “opposite of a sinker” sorta implies something that moves glove side. Kick changes (changeups in general) almost always go arm side and down

Get to know the prospects in Reds' big league camp. -Cam Collier's physical transformation -Chase Petty's new kick-change -The emphasis for Héctor Rodríguez -Edwin Arroyo in the WBC -Jose Franco's power on the mound -Leo (not Leonardo) Balcazar charlieschalkboard.substack.com/p/notes-on-the…