Next Reds Game: Sat, Feb 22, 03:05 PM EST vs. Guardians (19 days)

^^^Posted: ^^^02/03/2025 ^^^05:00:00 ^^^AM ^^^EST

Thank you, mods of r/Reds, for giving us permission to post here!

Have you ever wanted to experience a league similar to Road to the Show, but multiplayer? Check out the PBE and join the draft class for our 53rd season!

The PBE is an online simulation league, where you, along with 400 other members, will create a baseball player and simulate their career! You can earn points to upgrade them by doing weekly tasks in less than 30 minutes per week. All players in the league are created by real people and the teams are managed by league members too.

We are completely free-to-play with no pay-to-win aspects and use the Out of the Park Baseball engine to simulate our seasons. Games are streamed on our Twitch channel 4 days a week.

When you join, you will get scouted and be drafted to a minor league team, and then a season later to your major league team where you will sign your first contract! You will also be welcomed into locker rooms (team Discord servers) for each team where you can discuss the season, team strategy, or anything else and get to know your teammates. Many people join the PBE because they love sports or baseball, but stay and become involved because of how great the community is!

If you are interested in joining and creating a player or just learning more, we highly recommend joining our Rookie Discord https://discord.gg/JSvajeBF. Here, there will be a team of mentors to help you with anything you need and you can get to know the other players in your draft class!

Links: Rookie Discord - https://discord.gg/JSvajeBF

Player Creator Tool - http://www.pbesim.com/creator/

League Index (Stats from 50+ seasons!)- http://www.pbesim.com/

Player Creation Guide on our Forum - https://probaseballexperience.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=15372

Go Redlegs.

Go Redlegs.

I was looking at the remaining free agent list and there are actually some pretty good players (outfielders) out there that might fit our budget...

Randal Grichuk
BA: .291
OBP: .348
SLG: .528

Ramón Laureano
BA: .259
OBP: .311
SLG: .437

Alex Verdugo
BA: .256
OBP: .291
SLG: .400

Mark Canha
BA: .242
OBP: .344
SLG: .346

Jason Heyward
BA: .211
OBP: .288
SLG: .412

I’m excited to see it

Go Redlegs.

2,731

The Reds last year had 2,731 plate appearances go to players who had performances that were well under league average. The best OPS+ there is Candelario with 90(10% under league average). All of these guys are either coming back healthy this season, will have a reduced role or won't be on the team. The fact that around 1,000+ of these plate appearances will immediately go to McLain and Hays is a SIGNIFICANT improvement.

Friedl, CES, Candelario, Marte and Benson all likely bounce back from last season(they can't get worse).

Fairchild 233

Benson 388

Friedl 341 (injured)

Candelario 463 (injured)

Ty France 195

Maile 154

Marte 242 (suspended)

CES 123 (injured)

Espinal 391

Martini 163

Ford 68

Bubba Thompson 18

Hurtubise 68

Rosario 59

Blake Dunn 29

Dominic Smith 29

The Reds have been making some solid moves, and I’m starting to feel optimistic about the future. With Terry Francona stepping in as manager and young guys like Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Noelvi Marte developing fast, there’s a lot to like. The pitching staff still has question marks, but Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo have the potential to be a solid 1-2 punch.

That said, I think 2025 (maybe 2026) is the year they start making real noise. I see them finishing top two in the NL Central this season, probably snagging a Wild Card spot, but I just don’t think they have the experience for a deep October run yet. Feels like 2012 all over again—good enough to get there but not quite built to last.

So my question is: how long until we’re a real, consistent contender? Are we looking at 2026-27 as the window? Or do we still need more pieces before we can even think about being relevant again?

Would love to hear what everyone else thinks. Are we closer than people realize, or is this just another tease before we fade back

Go Redlegs.

So after the Rogers move, I was trying to piece together what the bullpen will look like when the season starts. Assuming they go 5 man rotation with 8 man bullpen, here's how it lays out for the 8 spots, with 6 as virtual locks and the rest of the candidates for the other 2 spots:

Virtual Locks

Diaz

Rogers

Pagan

Suter

Moll

Ashcraft

Rotation options

Martinez- I still think with what they're paying him, he's starting. But could still go back to flex.

Abbott/Lowder- Depending on who gets the rotation spot (Assuming Martinez gets one) Abbott could go in the pen. 90+% chance Lowder would just start in AAA is he loses out, but small chance they put him in the pen.

Others on the 40 man

Mey

Richardson

Santillan

Legumina

Spiers

Zulueta

Phillips

Minor League Deal/Other- Chance I could be missing one here, feel free to correct if I am

Shaw

Gibaut

Young

Antone (if he can recover for part of the season)

Abreu

If I had to place a bet on it, I'd still go with Abbott and Shaw. I still feel like the Reds will let Lowder start the year in the rotation, with Abbott being a 4th lefty in the pen who would step in to start when an injury hits. Francona's familiarity with Shaw makes him a favorite as well, and gives them a vet in the clubhouse that knows how the manager wants things done.