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Roster moves
The Arizona Diamondbacks made the following roster moves:
- Reinstated RHP J.B. Wendelken from the injured list.
- Optioned RHP Luis Frias to Triple-A Reno following last night’s game.
That’s a boost to the bullpen, though after Thursday’s off-day, and Mark Melancon being the only arm used last night, they should be in better shape than they were after a certain umpire goaded Madison Bumgarner into an early bath.
Elsewhere, I want to talk about the Cincinnati Reds, who came into play today with a record of 3-22. That’s on pace for a 19-143 record at the end of the year. While they probably won’t continue to lose at that rate - they already won the first game of their double-header in Pittsburgh this afternoon - they still seem to have a shot at replacing the D-backs, as the worst record in the National League in the past half-century. Right now, that mark belongs to the 2004 team, who went 51-111, and were the worst on the Senior Circuit since the 1965 Mets lost one game more. Three teams since then have also dropped 110 contests, most recently of course the 2021 Diamondbacks.
But even giving them credit for this afternoon’s victory, the Reds are still the first team in National League history to lose 22 of their first 26 contests. Only two previously have lost more than twenty. The 1952 Pirates went 5-21 (indeed, they ended up going 5-28) on their way to a final record of 42-112, back in the days when the season was only 154 games. There was also the 1907 Brooklyn Superbas, who won just one of their first seventeen games on their way to a 4-21 and one tie record, but who positively rebounded thereafter, finishing at a mark of 65-83 with five ties. Right now, the Reds would need to go 48-88 to surpass the 2004 D-backs.
While they have been better than their record suggests. their run differential is -80, even after the 9-2 victory today, meaning Cincinnati’s Pythagorean win percentage still sits at a feeble .273. If they play at that rate going forward, over the remaining 136 games, the team will get 37 more wins, and finish with a record of 41-121. That would surpass any of the expansion Mets teams in the early sixties (who “peaked” with 120 losses in 1962, albeit in two fewer games). It’d give them the most losses of any major-league team since the infamous 1899 Cleveland Spiders (20-134), whose team was strip-mined of all talent for the other franchise their owner had.
Historic times, indeed...
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