By Conrad Clowers
Herald Sports Editor
Whether the Cincinnati Reds end up in the playoffs or not no fan can say the 2023 team didn’t provide thrills. The team started as expected. The path to 100 loses was paved for the Redlegs. As injuries started and underachieving took place, young studs in the minor leagues began coming up one by one. All of a sudden the team was playing lights out baseball with rookies. Eventually the rookies woke up and remembered they were rookies. All eventually fell back to earth and the losses started to mount. Like a boxer being knocked down for the 10 count, the team woke up and began fighting for the 2023 season. They refused to play for the future.
No matter what happens, this is what the 23 season will be remembered as. Some young players who had no business gelling as fast as they did playing the way they did.
The team is currently in a logjam tied for the final wild card spot. Cincinnati, Arizona, Miami and San Francisco are four teams fighting for No.1 spot. All are either tied or within 1 game of the final playoff spot.
Reds manager David Bell received a new contract extension during this season. Reds ownership would not have extended Bell, if they didn’t feel the team was going in the right direction.
Much has been made of the “super youth” group the Reds have now. Rookies Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Andrew Abbott, Elly De La Cruz, and Matt Mclain will go down in Reds history. The talented foursome have led the way to a magical season, and the story is not yet over.
Cincinnati does have a favorable schedule the rest of the way. Cincinnati has seven games remaining with the last place St. Louis Cardinals. The team has four games remaining with two fourth-place teams in the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates. Never has the taking been more prime than the present to make a statement.
Cincinnati recently showed second-place Chicago Cubs they aren’t going anywhere, as the teams split a four-game series.
This time next month, we’ll know how the Reds came out of the 2023 season. One thing is for sure. Bell’s ballers have shown they are not quitting until they’ve played their final game of the season.