If you saw any of the Cincinnati Reds’ summer camps, you saw a lot of stunt doubles in the RF corner of Shogo Akiyama’s bat. That surely matched the reputation he created through years of success in Japan, and it certainly seemed to back up manager David Bell’s earlier statements that he was likely their leader when he was in the lineup.
Well, tonight’s showcase game (6:40 PM ET on Reds.com) seems to give an indication that Bell has settled on that concept forever, as Shogo is leading what appears to be a balanced new Reds lineup. . Bobby Nightengale of the Enquirer relayed the news.
#Reds line for tonight’s exhibition game:
Akiyama 7
Vote 3
Suarez 5
Moustakas 4
Castilians 9
Winker DH
Galvis 6
Senzel 8
Barnhart 2
Lodolo throwing– Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) July 21, 2020
You don’t have to squint too much to think that this is how Bell will hope to complete the regular lineup card against RHP. Jesse Winker in the role of DH was largely predictable, and provides an opportunity to boost the OF defense by placing Shogo in LF alongside speedy Nick Senzel, who has seen himself as a true CF in his second year in the job.
You can expect to see Curt Casali looking for Tucker Barnhart when there is an LHP scheduled to start, and the same can be said for Phil Ervin and Jesse Winker. They may also see Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos flip-flop on that stage, one that the Reds will face on their actual Opening Day when the Detroit Tigers are expected to send left-hander Matt Boyd to the mound. So while the above lineup isn’t technically what the ‘Opening Day Lineup’ will be, it’s the one I’ll expect to see regularly against RHP, who are obviously the majority of the Reds’ likely opponents.
The usual caveat will wrap around this post, which is that this explosive pandemic will make focusing on anything trivial for the next few months much harder than usual. Baseball, of course, is well below the order of importance, but if Major League Baseball is going to try to move at full speed, we will surely see it and do our best to cover it. With that preface in mind, this Reds lineup surely seems to have a chance to do very, very special things, and this is our first real insight into how it will take shape.
