Photo: Getty Images
I put Reds hitters into three tiers of expectations
1. Young players are a box of chocolate. You never know what you are going to get in their sophomore season. You can't bet on the performances of Spencer Steer, Elly De La Cruz, CES, Will Benson.
2. Bench players/injury call ups are what they are...back ups. As Sparky Anderson once said, "play a bench guy long enough and you will see why they are a bench player." Luke Maile, Santiago Espinal, Stuart Fairchild, Nick Martini, Bubba Thompson.
3. Veterans with a track record to point to (1,000+ MLB plate appearances). Jeimer Candelario, Tyler Stephenson, Jonathan India and Jake Fraley. Other than Fraley, this is group is hitting a combined .206. Brutal.
The return of TJ Friedl, will help. But, if the most veteran group does not hit, it's going to be a long, long season. Because you just don't know what the young guys will offer as sophomores and you have no reason to expect much from the bench/backups.