Does Nick Krall not understand defense is important?

[NebraskaRed]

On the other hand, I attended my first game of the year yesterday. I grabbed a hot dog and walked over to one of those self-checkout things they have now.

When I scanned it, it rang up for far less than the posted price.

Nick Krall is the greatest.

[cumberlandreds]

I bumped my knee at GABP. All Krall’s fault.

Sue baby sue!

[REDREAD]

This team is a trainwreck of a defensive team. A good HS team would not make the defensive mistakes that the Reds make. Overall, I think Nick Krall is a good GM. But he has a blindspot when it comes to understanding the importance of defense in baseball.

It's a fair criticism.
When I say "he" , I mean Bell, Krall, the entire front office.. I don't want to debate who is responsible for what.

He choses to play India at 2b instead of DH (most of the time) , despite having that glove guy from Toronto.
If McClain was healthy, McClain would be at 2b instead of SS. McClain is a much better SS than Ely.
Ely.. it's debatable whether he is ready for the major leagues, defensively and offensively.. yet he was handed the SS job. (Regardless of injuries, he would have been the starting SS).
Failure to get a real CF after Friedl went down, so they play Benson there often, when that is clearly a struggle for him.
Steer in LF is not ideal.

It's clear the Reds do not emphasize defense. This dates back to before Krall was here, although Walt seemed to value defense (If I'm wrong, that's fine, I don't want to argue, just saying it seemed that Walt valued defense more).

[Chip R]

It's a fair criticism.
When I say "he" , I mean Bell, Krall, the entire front office.. I don't want to debate who is responsible for what.

He choses to play India at 2b instead of DH (most of the time) , despite having that glove guy from Toronto.
If McClain was healthy, McClain would be at 2b instead of SS. McClain is a much better SS than Ely.
Ely.. it's debatable whether he is ready for the major leagues, defensively and offensively.. yet he was handed the SS job. (Regardless of injuries, he would have been the starting SS).
Failure to get a real CF after Friedl went down, so they play Benson there often, when that is clearly a struggle for him.
Steer in LF is not ideal.

It's clear the Reds do not emphasize defense. This dates back to before Krall was here, although Walt seemed to value defense (If I'm wrong, that's fine, I don't want to argue, just saying it seemed that Walt valued defense more).

The Gold Glove guy from Toronto was one of the culprits yesterday with the poor defense. I'd rather see EDLC at 3rd than SS and CF rather than 3rd. Steer isn't a good fielder but one of the best bats so should he be sat down? Fairchild is supposed to be very good defensively but he's had a few brain farts out there which weren't necessarily errors. I think you can improve players's defense. I remember an article in ESPN in the early 00s about how former Twins manager had a defensive drill called "Good Morning" where it's basically 2.5 intense hours of throwing and ground balls. But that's something you usually do during spring training. CES seems a little stiff at 1st but he's clearly in the llineup for his bat even though that hasn't been very evident this year. Votto was never the best 1st baseman but he was fairly adept there and 1st isn't a position where you are going to put your top defender. The defense is a work in progress until Friedl and Marte and McLain come back. Even then it may not magically improve overnight. I certainly don't believe that they aren't serious about their defense. The day after EDLC had his terrible defensive day I saw clips of him working on fielding ground balls from a coach. But we have to realize these guys have limitations. No amount of coaching could make Sean Casey into a fast runner. No amount of coaching was going to make Juan Castro into a great hitter. I think they know there are things they can improve on - especially mentally. A lot of improvement in that are just comes with experience which is something most of our guys lack.

[Kc61]

It's a fair criticism.
When I say "he" , I mean Bell, Krall, the entire front office.. I don't want to debate who is responsible for what.

He choses to play India at 2b instead of DH (most of the time) , despite having that glove guy from Toronto.
If McClain was healthy, McClain would be at 2b instead of SS. McClain is a much better SS than Ely.
Ely.. it's debatable whether he is ready for the major leagues, defensively and offensively.. yet he was handed the SS job. (Regardless of injuries, he would have been the starting SS).
Failure to get a real CF after Friedl went down, so they play Benson there often, when that is clearly a struggle for him.
Steer in LF is not ideal.

It's clear the Reds do not emphasize defense. This dates back to before Krall was here, although Walt seemed to value defense (If I'm wrong, that's fine, I don't want to argue, just saying it seemed that Walt valued defense more).

I think we have to give team defense some time. It’s the least developed aspect of the Reds.

The injuries hurt. The youth of some players hurt. Eventually there will be development and changes.

Reds do have speed which is a helpful tool defensively.

I wouldn’t be making immediate, major defensive changes after 9 games. The main need right now is a RHH since the lineup against lefties is shallow. Bottom half is weak.

[GAC]

I always thought when the CFer calls you off - you yield?

[Marc D]

I think Krall has to wait and see how some of these bats turn out before he makes a call on their usefulness with their defense included.

I don't think Steer, India, CES or Stephenson are ever going to be good defensive players. They may not ever be just average. How do their bats end up playing?
ELDC and Marte strike me as having the athleticism but simply suffer from concentration lapses like young guys do.
Benson, I just can't figure out. To the naked eye he looks like a god awful defender but then again, he uses his athleticism to get there and make the catch a lot of times so I would just defer to the advanced defensive metrics on him.

Maco-point with all of them is how do they end up developing and how much dead leather can you carry based on that development? Only time will tell but I do not for one second think Krall is oblivious to the defensive element of run prevention. I just think it was random luck that a bunch of really good hitters all came together but have so many defensive issues. It will take time to remake the roster and find the right balance. It isn't a finished product yet.

[Tony Cloninger]

If they had the 2012-13 pitching staff they could value defense more and not need as much offense. Of course those pitchers would not be used the same way either. They don’t have strong enough pitching to pick more defense over offense. Not yet.

[camisadelgolf]

I always thought when the CFer calls you off - you yield?

This is generally the rule. Look at the center fielder as the captain of your outfield. Sometimes it's okay for the captain to yield to others, but it happens at the captain's discretion. This is an example of where communication is key. The communication part is easier when you have teammates who have been playing with each other for a long time.

[Kingspoint]

How about that Defense in Right Field by Fairchild?

[PuffyPig]

It's a fair criticism.
When I say "he" , I mean Bell, Krall, the entire front office.. I don't want to debate who is responsible for what.

He choses to play India at 2b instead of DH (most of the time) , despite having that glove guy from Toronto.
If McClain was healthy, McClain would be at 2b instead of SS. McClain is a much better SS than Ely.
Ely.. it's debatable whether he is ready for the major leagues, defensively and offensively.. yet he was handed the SS job. (Regardless of injuries, he would have been the starting SS).
Failure to get a real CF after Friedl went down, so they play Benson there often, when that is clearly a struggle for him.
Steer in LF is not ideal.

It's clear the Reds do not emphasize defense. This dates back to before Krall was here, although Walt seemed to value defense (If I'm wrong, that's fine, I don't want to argue, just saying it seemed that Walt valued defense more).

I expect that when he went shopping at the CF store the shelves were empty of CF who can hit and play defence.

That glove guy from Toronto is a spare part, not a regular.

If McLain was not injured India would be the DH.

[Z-Fly]

I expect that when he went shopping at the CF store the shelves were empty of CF who can hit and play defence.

That glove guy from Toronto is a spare part, not a regular.

If McLain was not injured India would be the DH.

I mean Harrison Bader cost $10M, so I would agree with the CF store being TP in the grocery during the pandemic type empty.

[boxseat]

That Milwaukee first baseman last night was struggling mightily catching routine throws in the infield. It's not that bad.

[Ron Madden]

'This catch just ain't Fair': MLB tweets Stuart Fairchild Milwaukee-Cincinnati HR robbery

The Cincinnati Reds' series-opening win against the Milwaukee Brewers at Great American Ball Park was one to remember for phenom Elly De La Cruz, who homered from both sides of the plate, one traveling 450 feet and the other an inside-the-park job.

But the defensive play of the game for the Reds in the 10-8 win was arguably their most impressive of the season so far. Right fielder Stuart Fairchild robbed the Brewers' Willy Adames of what appeared to be a home run with his leaping catch at the wall with nobody out in the top of the 6th inning.

"That was a great defensive play," Reds manager David Bell told reporters after the game. "Stu continues to do a lot for us really. But, yeah, great play. Timed it up perfectly. And, you know, we know how important those defensive plays are. They take a lot of runs off the board."

Watch Here

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...n/73256456007/

[Dave C]

So... we must live in a reality where no one gets better... has a bad stretch....or adjusts ever again. But then... certain underperforming players are "young" and will be great... just wait.