A: Your questions always leave me in stitches. Of course they wouldn’t. Why should they? The only numbers they know are the number of zeros at the end of their salary. Do I know? Of course. There are 216 stitches of waxed red thread hand-sewn. I looked it up.
Q: With the young Cincinnati Reds’ pitchers on an innings limit, doesn’t a six-man rotation make sense if you want guys like Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder available for the playoffs? — KEVIN, Springboro.
A: I haven’t heard that any Reds pitchers have innings limits. And you are making a big assumption by mentioning Reds and playoffs in the same sentence. Actually, I proposed a six-man rotation in a piece I wrote last week. By using Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer, Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder every sixth day those innings wouldn’t pile up and it would save wear and tear on those young arms. It makes too much sense, so it won’t happen.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Q: Why would Max Scherzer, after a successful 19-year career, sign with the Toronto Blue Jays for only $3 million with nothing to prove with the Hall of Fame already a lock? — CHRIS, Waynesville.
A: And with the rate of exchange and taxes that $3 million dwindles. But the contract is stuffed with incentives and Scherzer could make an additional $10 million. When he reaches 65 innings he makes an extra million and a million more for each additional 10 innings (75, 85, 95, 105,115, 125, 135, 145 and 155), I suspect at this stage of his career money is not an objective. He is a competitor, he loves the game, and even though he turns 42 in July it is too soon for him to send his glove to Cooperstown.
Q: The Cincinnati Reds were predicted to win 83 1/2 games before they signed Eugenio Suarez, so now how many games are you predicting for them to win. — BILL, Villa Hills, Ky.
A: It depends on what website you read and what you believe because predictions are mere guesses. I’ve seen everything from 79.9 (PECOTA, FanGraph) to 83 (BetMGM). As for me, I predict the sun will rise in the east, tourists will see bears near Gatlinburg and it won’t rain in Death Valley. If the Reds obtained Shohei Ohtani, I wouldn’t make a win prediction. There are just too many variables in baseball.
Q: The MLB players union is expecting a lockout after the season, so how long do you expect a lockout to last given the players’ unanimous opposition to a salary cap? — GEORGE, Morton Grove, Ill.
A: If the players don’t agree to a salary cap, they should lock them out forever and use another key to lock up the stadiums. Baseball is on the precipice of collapse. A few teams have all the money and win and the rest are just along for a bumpy ride, knowing they’ll never make it to the front seat. Unfortunately, players want every dollar they can squeeze out of the owners to the detriment of the overall health of the game. How is it fair that the Los Angeles Dodgers will pay Shohei Ohtani $70 million and Kyle Tucker $60 million this season and the combined $130 million for two players is more than 10 teams’ total payroll last season?
Q: What are your expectations for the 2026 Cincinnati Reds? — RYAN, Englewood.
A: I wrote down 83 wins during the off-season, but with the acquisition of Eugenio Suarez I’ve increased it to 88. He can make a five-win difference. To get there, my expectations are for him to hit 35 home runs and drive in 100, I expect Matt McLain to bounce back big, I expect 20 home runs from Sal Stewart and Rookie of the Year. I expect 35 homers and 50 stolen bases from Ely De La Cruz and less than 20 errors. But those are just my expectations and perhaps I’m shooting too high. Those players don’t care about my expectations, but they all would love to reach my lofty numbers.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Q: Are the Reds going to wear those hideous black uniforms this year? — PAT, Middletown.
A: Only for Friday night home games, same as last year. And I’m with you. They look like the black-pajama Viet Cong guerrillas. Those are their City Connect uniforms and they even screwed up the wishbone ‘C.’ Baseball uniforms should be white. Black is for softball teams and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Q: Did you ever interview John Adams, Cleveland’s rally drummer, or Rollen Stewart, the John 3:16 guy with the rainbow hair or Mike Brito, the Dodgers scout seated behind home plate wearing a Panama hat? — DAVID, Kettering.
A: No, no and no. Nor did I ever interview the Philly Pfanatic, slapstick first base coach Max Patkin nor anybody from the Savannah Bananas. I was a baseball writer, not a circus writer. But after some bad games, writing about one of those sideshows might have been more interesting.
Q: I know you played tennis on the road with some coaches and players, so who were your top three most challenging opponents? — MICHAEL, Beavercreek.
A: The biggest mistake I ever made on a tennis court was challenging Paul O’Neill. He used to hold his own against touring pro Jim Courier. If I successfully returned two of O’Neill’s bullet train serves, I don’t remember. Former Reds General Manager Murray Cook was a better ball retriever than my dog Parker. Everything I hit came back. And former player/broadcaster Richie Ashburn would only play me on clay because it slowed down my serves and forehand. I never beat him until I got him on a hard court one day and I whipped him. He never played me again.
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