It’s time to pour a big cup of traderade and start the sippin’!
Shoutout to our good friends over at FanGraphs. That’s how this article deserves to begin, seeing as I’ve been pouring over their stats and leaderboards for the last hour in an attempt to concoct this. A subscription over there would do you well, if baseball statistics are your sort of thing.
Anyway, a quick perusal of their team rankings of wRC+ against right-handed pitching (RHP) this season will show you that three – and only three – teams have a worse mark than the Cincinnati Reds. At just 87 overall, they sit tied with the Miami Marlins, with only the Pittsburgh Pirates (81), Chicago White Sox (78), and Colorado Rockies (76) below them.
That’s even after the team’s rip-roaring hot streak of late. You may also notice that that fearsome foursome includes the perennially woeful Pirates and a trio of last-place teams in the Marlins, White Sox, and Rockies. Not exactly good company to keep.
The Reds have been buoyed by their pitching, which has been generally rock solid. I should probably also point out that while I’m highlighting their work vs. RHP as being the problem, their mark vs. left-handed pitching (LHP) ranks just a tad bit better – at a 98 wRC+, they’re just below average and 16th overall. Not great, but not the total drag their work vs. RHP has been.
If the Reds are going to make the most impactful addition to their club for a run at the playoffs this season, it sure seems reasonable that they’d target a bat that can do damage against RHP – the larger half of the platoon system they’ve generally deployed. Making that even more complicated will be the looming return of Noelvi Marte to the mix in two weeks, especially since he’s hit RHP as well or better than LHP at most stops in his professional career so far.
Here are two ideas for additions that may make the Reds better vs. RHP, and therefore the Greatest Team in the History of Baseball™.
LaMonte Wade, Jr., 1B/OF – San Francisco Giants
Let’s get this started with a guy who’s out injured, shall we?
Wade hit the IL about two weeks ago with a hamstring injury, and it’s likely that he could be out for another two weeks, too. So, why exactly am I leading with him?
The Giants sit at 33-35 right now with a -29 run differential, and in Rob Manfred’s age of allowing terrible teams to make the playoffs, that actually has them making the playoffs as the final Wild Card team right now. But with Wade out – and he’s so key to their workings that I want the Reds to add him! – the next few weeks could see that standing slide.
Among the 304 MLB players who have logged at least 80 PA against RHP so far in 2024, Wade’s .400 wOBA ranks 13th. He’s hit a robust .333/.463/.427 in 147 PA against them – good for a 166 wRC+ that ranks 12th among that group – and that’s on the heels of a rock solid 125 wRC+ in 438 PA against RHP last year.
His 19.0% walk rate is the single best among that 304 player sample, as is his .463 OBP. That’s precisely the kind of proclivity the Reds could use in their lineup vs. RHP, and Wade’s versatility as a 1B/OF could allow him to slot in while keeping the rest of the team’s best hitters vs. RHP in the lineup, too. Add in the news that Christian Encarnacion-Strand could be out for the year, and Wade’s versatility becomes that more paramount.
An addition of Wade would see Jonathan India take a seat more often against RHP, his .299 wOBA against righties the 9th best among Reds hitters so far this year. Marte would, in theory, take over at 2B, the resident lefties could man the OF, and Wade, Spencer Steer, and Jeimer Candelario would take the 1B/DH/3B duties accordingly.
Wade’s making $3.5 million this year and is arb-eligible for the final time in 2025 before free agency, so he’d come with the kind of additional team control that would a) make him a nice piece for the near future and b) also cost a little bit more to acquire.
Danny Jansen, C – Toronto Blue Jays
Regardless of position, Jansen can flat out hit. He’s the owner of a .247/.329/.489 line since the start of the 2022 season, good for a 128 OPS+. His .350 wOBA in that time ranks as tied for 33rd best in all of baseball (min. 650 PA), tied with Brandon Nimmo and better than Manny Machado (.349), Alex Bregman (.347), Vlad Guerrero, Jr. (.346), Christian Yelich (.346), Nolan Arenado (.346), and Julio Rodriguez (.345).
As a catcher, though, that’s simply outstanding. His .348 mark since 2022 has been bested by only Willson Contreras (.380) and Sean Murphy (.376).
Tyler Stephenson, atop the Reds catching depth chart, has not been a problem at all this year. He’s the owner of a slightly better than league average .313 wOBA against RHP, and prior to his injuries in 2022 actually posted a better OPS vs. RHP (.853) than against LHP (.852). A acquisition of Jansen has nothing to do with sitting Tyler Stephenson; rather, it has everything to do with getting both in the lineup more often.
If CES is done for the year, leaning again on Stephenson’s ability to play some 1B (and to DH) to keep his bat in the lineup would be the premise here, with the obvious caveat of Danny Jansen’s bat would be in the lineup almost every day, too being critical. This would likely come at the expense of Luke Maile’s roster spot or, if the Reds opted to lean back on their three-catcher roster construction, booting Santiago Espinal’s wet noodle bat off the active roster altogether.
Jansen’s Toronto club sits at 33-34 and in 4th place in the AL East, though they’ve seemingly hit a wall as a club despite the presence of one-time burgeoning superstars in Guerrero and Bo Bichette. Neither of the latter have signed contract extensions, nor has Jansen – who’s set to be a free agent at season’s end at age 29. Perhaps that means another few weeks of languishing would prompt the Jays to sell off a few pieces, and Jansen might well be the best strategic fit for the Reds if that were to happen.