The Reds Report: April 23

by:Eric Roseberry•04/23/17
[caption id="attachment_220883" align="aligncenter" width="600"]Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports[/caption] Every team hits a few bumps in the road during the baseball season. The Reds hit their first bump of 2017 this week. The team dropped series to Baltimore and Chicago, and they ended the week with a 2-4 record. However, it's April 23 and they're still just a half game out of first. Even though there weren't many wins on the field this week, there was plenty to keep fans entertained. Let's get to this week's Reds Report.

Two Thumbs Up for the Bandwagon Cam

You can always expect quite a few Cubs fans to make the trip to Great American Ball Park when Chicago is in town. Fortunately, the team was ready for them, and they unleashed "The Bandwagon Cam."

Tyler Mahle's Perfect Game

The most impressive performance of the week didn't come from anyone on Cincinnati's major league roster. On Saturday night, Tyler Mahle pitched a perfect game for the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos. This feat was made more impressive by the fact that he finished the game throwing only 88 pitches. Wayne Cavadi of Minor League Baseball has a helpful breakdown of the performance. FanGraphs rated Tyler Mahle as Cincinnati's 16th best prospect prior to the 2017 season. You can check out the final out from last night below.

More Player Debuts

The Reds have given several players the opportunity to debut at the major league level this season. This week, Phillip Ervin joined that list. Ervin was the Reds first round draft pick in 2013. He was hitting .286/.352/.531 with 3 HR and 11 RBI for Triple-A Louisville this season. Over the weekend, Ervin received one at-bat. It came in the 7th inning of Sunday's game, and he reached on an error. Wick Terrell had a helpful breakdown of Ervin's call up over at Red Reporter.

Devin Mesoraco Update

It looked like Devin Mesoraco was going to join the team this week, but the Reds decided to leave him at Double-A Pensacola over the weekend. It now sounds like Mesoraco will join the team either in Milwaukee or St. Louis. C. Trent Rosecrans provided a helpful update on Mesoraco's status. Mesoraco did recently make one of the more athletic plays you'll see a catcher make. There was some fear that he injured his knee on this play, but Mesoraco was able to catch a full game the following day.

Tony Cingrani Hits the DL

Cincinnati was unable to get through an entire week without another pitcher hitting the disabled list. The Reds sent Tony Cingrani to the 10-day DL following their game on Thursday night. Unfortunately, Bryan Price mentioned to Mark Sheldon that Cingrani's oblique injury will likely keep him out for four to eight weeks. You can read more about the team's expectations for Cingani here.

Cody Reed Gets His Chance to Start

On Saturday, Cody Reed received his first opportunity to start for the Reds in 2017. Unfortunately, it wasn't a very encouraging outing. Reed gave up 7 runs in 2 innings of work. Zach Buchanan provided a helpful summary of the performance and what this might mean for Reed the rest of the season. Of course, if the whole baseball thing never works out, he could try and convince Sacha Baron Cohen to relaunch the Ali G show. Tomorrow the Reds head to Milwaukee for a three-game series with the Brewers. Over the weekend, they'll head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. You can read Eric’s writing all season long at Red Reporter and Baseball Prospectus. He also hosts the On Baseball Writing Podcast and appears on the Red Reporter podcast.

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