Even with an extra day to think about it Friday, the Cincinnati Reds didn’t come up with any new magic answers to solve the no-closer problem that bit them in the aft quarters as soon as they opened the season Thursday.
So the Enquirer sought help from the faithful Saturday, searching for an answer to the Reds’ ninth inning in an ultimate crowd-sourcing effort to come up with the closer Reds manager Terry Francona should use next time he has a lead in the ninth.
“We can’t get Aroldis Chapman back?” said Justin Griffin of Guilford, Indiana.
“I know who I think he shouldn’t use: Ian Gibaut,” said Nathan Trout of Waverly.
“We’re pissed at Gibby. You can put that down,” said Trout’s pal, Joe Anderson of Deer Park.
“Francona doesn’t have one. That’s a problem,” said one fan who didn’t want to give his name.
Or, as Matt Vaughn of Miamisburg succinctly summed up: "Crap shoot either way."
So maybe the magic closer answer doesn’t exist for the Reds anywhere right now.
In fact, our highly scientific, reliable and utterly amateur survey of about two dozen fans at Saturday’s game found that fewer than half were willing or able to provide the name of a current active Reds reliever.
Six current Reds relievers received votes, none more than Brent Suter’s 2 1/2 (Ben Heinrich of Ketteridge likes the idea of a lefty-righty closer combo of Suter and Graham Ashcraft).
Emilio Pagán (two), Taylor Rogers (two), Ashcraft (1 1/2), Tony Santillan and Sam Moll also received votes along with starter Hunter Greene (two), former Reds Fernando Cruz and Chapman, and the guy who’s on the injured list, Alexis Diaz.
Keith Schierloh of Glandorf didn’t like any of them.
“The best thing they could do is hope for nine innings out of the starter or go get another closer,” he said.
It’s no wonder Francona and pitching coach Derek Johnson were among the last to leave the ballpark after Thursday’s stinging season-opening loss to the Giants.
“Me and DJ were here for a while the other day,” Francona said.
Not that it got them any closer to determining a better course to take than they did Thursday or a more effective route for their next late-inning lead after Ian Gibaut’s disastrous turn Thursday.
“Nobody shoots for losing in the ninth,” Francona said, “but I was OK with how we did it.”
How they did it was use their best options successively with a one-run lead to get it to the ninth, hoping for ...
