Jessie Winker Stars in Reds' Promising Start
With the new season now well under way, Jessie Winker leads the Reds in batting average, hits, and home runs, knocking an impressive 9 balls into the stands in just 20 games. The Reds seemed happy enough with Winker's contribution to the team's 2020 campaign, but lacked sufficient trust in their Designated Hitter to avoid fortifying the position during the off-season. Veteran addition, Nelson Cruz, has quickly found himself relegated to the bench, taking to the field only when the team has faced a left-handed starting pitcher. With only two years left on the deals of aging outfielders Shogo Akiyama, and Starling Marte, Winker will be hoping that his spectacular start continues, and that a breakout season will force the Reds to make him a permanent feature in the lineup going forward.
In addition to Jessie Winker's outstanding performances, the team has been able to rely on offensive stalwarts in Eugenio Suarez, Nick Castellanos, and Mike Moustakas to reliably give them a lead. The Reds were always going to put up runs this season. If anything is going to prevent the Reds from contending this year, it's going to be their lackluster defense. However, the remedy for a below average defense is often an above average pitching staff - if the ball is never in play, the holes in the defense can never be exposed - and that's exactly what the Reds appear to have again this season. Sonny Gray continues to dominate from the mound, Luis Castillo looks like a bonafide ace, new additions Dinelson Lamet and Alex Wood have each made excellent starts, and Tyler Mahle continues to take strides. The Reds appear to have filled the void created by Trevor Bauer's surprise exit quickly and effectively.
At 13-7, the Reds lie a game and a half behind the Cubs, whose recent form has seen their early lead already begin to slip. After the Reds put out below par performances in each of their two early season series versus their division rivals, the Cubs looked as if they might leave the Central Division in their dust. However, with convincing series victories over the Mets and Nationals in recent weeks, the Reds are right back in the hunt for top spot.
**This is only second franchise update post that I've ever made, so rest assured they will improve over time. I plan to write them this way going forward - kind of a quick hitter, blog style post that you might find on a sports news aggregation site. I'll make sure that I'm in front of my PS in future, though so that I can be more specific about game scores, player stats, etc. Thanks for reading!**
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