Cincinnati Reds' manager happy with the players performance – MLB News
While the Winter Meetings have a lot to offer in terms of free agent players, one team that has its roster almost complete without much to worry about is Cincinnati Reds. Things remained hectic on Monday, December 3, but manager Dusty Baker had his focus on the players that remained instrumental in the team’s triumph in National League Central.
"You want to see some more growth in some of the other guys, and you want some of the other guys to do what they've been doing -- the Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips," Baker said. "You'd like to see Cozart get better.”
Zack Cozart was a good addition to the Reds. The batting performance remained decisively good for the team this past season. Equally solid, it goes without saying, was the Reds' pitching.
Johnny Cueto was one of the most successful starters in the National League and Homer Bailey proved to be equally daunting in the rotation, winning 13 games in the season.
The remarkable performance in rotation and bullpen speaks volume for the Reds’ success. It was pitching – among other things, that helped them be the National League Central title winner. The case will not be different in the coming season as well.
"When you see [a guy] like Frazier, you're curious about how he's going to make the adjustment to next year, but you really see the growth of [Johnny] Cueto and the growth of Homer Bailey," Baker said. "He's probably grown as much as anybody we have on our team, I mean, as a young man and as a ballplayer and as a pitcher."
There has almost been an endless debate on what role the Reds are going to assign to Aroldis Chapman. Speaking on the subject, Baker said he could be used both as starter and closer – depending, of course, on the success in the respective roles.
With some of the best pitchers at the disposal of the Cincinnati Reds, they will surely be an intimidating combination in the upcoming season. All the aforementioned pitchers, especially the yet-to-be-decided Chapman’s, role will be a crucial game-changer.
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