The crack of the bat and the sound of baseballs thumping catcher’s mitts will soon signal the beginning of a new season, with the promise that the frigid temperatures of an Ohio Valley winter will be coming to its conclusion soon as well.
Pitchers and catchers for MLB teams will be reporting to Spring Training sites in Arizona and Florida in the middle of February, with the Cincinnati Reds heading to Goodyear, Az. In just 20 days.
Spring is a time of hope for all 30 big-league teams as they prepare for another long season, and the Reds have several reasons for optimism. They’re coming off a surprisingly successful 2023 campaign, raising the level of expectations for the team’s loyal fanbase. Many are expecting the team to contend for the National League Central Division title, and make a playoff run.
Some of the so-called experts aren’t as optimistic, but they were wrong last year, and there’s an excellent chance their predictions will again be off base. The front office has made some excellent moves in the offseason and the hope is the Reds’ young players will continue to progress and prove the pundits wrong again.
The biggest question marks heading into the season — which gets underway in 64 days, when Nick Senzel and
the Washington Nationals visit Great American Ball Park on March 28 — surround the pitching staff, especially the team’s young starters. There’s little doubt that the group possesses a world of potential; it’s keeping them healthy that has been the primary issue. The club is hopeful the free agent signings of starter Frankie Montas, swingman Nick Martinez, relief pitcher Emilio Pagan and the most recent acquisition, lefthanded reliever Brent Suter, will significantly improve the staff as well.
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REDS CARAVAN VISITS MAYSVILLE – As we continue to dream of warmer days in the not too distant future, the Cincinnati Reds is doing its best to get fans thinking of the upcoming baseball season. The offseason events begin in December with Redsfest, before another annual event is conducted in late January to shift our thoughts to the National Pastime, the Reds Caravan.
There are five separate routes that visit numerous stops throughout Reds Country, featuring current and former Reds players, top minor league prospects, broadcasters, front office staff, and team mascots, who make appearances at various locations. Public events are held at malls and other destinations, designated as the Central, West, East, North and South Tours. Fans are able to get up close and personal by participating in Q&A
sessions, enjoy autograph and photo opportunities, and learn more about the upcoming season.
The Central Tour of the Caravan made its first stop on Monday morning, when the group paid a visit to one of its longtime Reds on Radio affiliates, WFTM Radio (Sports1240) at the Events Center in downtown Maysville. It has become a tradition for one of the Caravan groups to stop in Maysville before embarking on other visits during their busy itinerary. Sports Director Travis Scaggs conducted several interviews with the attendees, which will be aired on WFTM-FM (Soft96) on Friday morning. Additional stops for the various tours include special appearances at schools around Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia, as well as businesses, community centers and radio affiliates.
Three of the Reds’ top prospects – centerfielder Jay Allen II, shortstop Edwin Arroyo and pitcher Chase Petty — were among the group that visited Maysville. Other Central Tour members included the aforementioned Suter, former Reds catcher and currently the team’s minor league catching coordinator Corky Miller, broadcasters John Sadak and Brian Giesenschlag, Vice President of Player Development Shawn Pender, and mascot Mr. Redlegs.
We got the opportunity to chat a bit with Suter, Miller and Sadak before the group departed for its next stop.
Suter, who has carved out an outstanding career as a lefthanded reliever with Milwaukee and Colorado, is an extremely well-spoken individual, which you would expect from a Harvard grad. The Anderson Township resident, who played high school baseball and basketball at Moeller, said he’s “excited” to be a part of his hometown team and “loves” the arms currently manning the Reds bullpen. Suter added that he and the Reds had been in discussions to make a deal for some time, and he’s looking forward to helping the team win any way he can.
Miller, who is considered to be an excellent managing candidate in the near future, was as cordial as ever. He noted that the Reds have several outstanding catching prospects in the organization, including Michael Trautwein, Mat Nelson and Logan Tanner. The Reds also signed a pair of veteran catchers in the offseason – Austin Wynns and P.J. Higgins – for added depth, in case of injuries to either Tyler Stephenson or Luke Maile.
We also had an interesting chat with the personable Sadak, who has kept busy in the baseball offseason by calling college basketball games on the CBS Sports Network. When asked if there were any surprise teams to keep an eye on, the play-by-play voice for the Reds on Bally Sports said that the University of Dayton has been
one of the most impressive teams he’s covered this winter.
“I don’t guess you can really call Dayton a surprise team, since they’re at the top of the league, but they’re outstanding,” Sadak said. “Daron Holmes II does it all for them, he’s a great scorer, a good defender, and now he’s even stepping out and making threes.”
The Flyers, who play in the underrated Atlantic 10, have been making a steady rise in the polls, currently riding a 12-game win streak, and UD is 15-2 overall. Sadak also mentioned 15-1 Princeton and 15-3 South Carolina as his “darkhorse” picks at this point of the season.
“Princeton has some great athletes, and they’re not the same kind of Princeton team they were under Pete Carril,” said Sadak. “They also have one of the rising coaching stars in college basketball, Mitch Henderson.”
The Reds broadcaster is also impressed with how well South Carolina has been playing.
“I believe they were picked to finish last in the SEC, but they’re farther along than most expected them to be,” Sadak said. “Their coach, Lamont Paris, does a great job there, they’re deep and talented, and he has them playing as a connected unit.”
(The Gamecocks were scheduled to play Kentucky on Tuesday night, after this was written.)
The Central Tour group genuinely enjoyed their Maysville visit, with several in the entourage lauding the extensive menu items, catered as always by David and Diana Case, who are also rabid Reds fans.
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BIG Z STEALS THE SHOW – You may recall that it was mentioned recently in this space that the crowd in Rupp Arena was rather subdued during Kentucky’s 90-77 win over Mississippi State last Wednesday.
Well, it was a completely different atmosphere in downtown Lexington this past Saturday.
The primary reason was the debut of 7-foot-2 freshman Zvonimir Ivisic, who has become known as “Big Z.” The 21-year-old Croatian dazzled the folks in Rupp and on national television by coming off the bench to score 13 points, grab five rebounds, dish out a pair of assists, and block a couple of shots in just 16 minutes of playing time. It was not just the eye-opening stats that were impressive. It was the way Big Z played, with joy, flair and confidence. His behind-the-back pass to an open Antonio Reeves for a corner three sent the crowd into a frenzy. He drained three 3-pointers with relative ease, and he demonstrated his ballhandling skills as well during his 16-minute stint on the court.
When Big Z entered the game early in the first half to a thunderous ovation, he wasted little time showing his
impact. As we mentioned months ago when UK was still recruiting Ivisic, NBA scouts already knew all about the talent the young man possesses. He has been on their radars since 2019, when he debuted on Croatia’s U16 Euro Championship team, averaging 13.9 points and 8.9 rebounds. His play overseas showed he’s another skilled big man with a feathery shooting touch, which is a common trait among European big men.
Big Z has also been a valuable teammate and will undoubtedly become one of the most popular players to ever wear the blue and white, even though his time at Kentucky will most likely be short. If not for the ridiculously slow NCAA dragging its heels to rule Ivisic eligible to play, folks could’ve gotten much more time to enjoy watching him play. It will be interesting to see how he progresses and how Coach Cal uses him in his rotation.
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DEFENSE STILL NEEDS WORK – The only downside to Kentucky’s 105-96 win over Georgia was the team’s defense, or lack thereof. After building a 96-68 lead on a Reed Sheppard 3-pointer at the 7:55 mark, the Cats were outscored 28-9, largely due to a lackluster defensive effort.
As wonderful as the team’s offensive efficiency is, there is real concern about the defense. One improvement is
the defense at the rim, which you would expect when you can run three different 7-footers onto the court. The perimeter “D” is another story however. UK players often get beaten off the dribble, and for this team to truly be special, the defense must get better. One of Kentucky’s best defenders and most active rebounders, Adou Thiero, should be returning to action soon after having back spasm issues, giving a much-needed boost to the defensive end.
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ON THE ROAD AGAIN – The Cats played Tuesday night (after this was written) at a place that has given them fits in recent years.
South Carolina has also been one of the most surprising teams in the country, and brought a 15-3 record into the fray. The Gamecocks were expected to finish at or near the bottom of the SEC standings, but they have shown that to be yet another wrong prognostication. They’re coming off a 77-64 win at Arkansas, a team UK will visit this Saturday.
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MASTIN PLAYING WELL – Centre College won its third consecutive game Sunday afternoon at home in Danville to improve to 8-10. The Colonels nipped rival Rhodes 66-64 on a driving layup from freshman Landen Hamilton.
Hamilton, a Conner High graduate, dished out a game-high 10 assists in the win.
Freshman Riley Mastin, who played varsity basketball at St. Patrick, Augusta and Mason County, scored 15 points and hauled down a game-high 10 rebounds for Centre.
Mastin is averaging 11 points and leads the Colonels with nine boards per game.
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“Spring training means flowers, people coming outdoors, sunshine, optimism, and baseball. Spring is a time to think about being young again.” – Baseball Hall of Famer Ernie Banks
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“Baseball is the very symbol, the outward and visible expression of the drive, and push, and rush of the struggle of the raging, tearing, booming nineteenth century.” – Mark Twain
