Opening Day | Photo by Adam Campbell | The Wright State Guardian
After finishing the 2022 season with a demoralizing 62-100 record, the Cincinnati Reds returned home to host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday, March 30 for Opening Day.
The upcoming team
The 2023 Reds are hoping to continue its efforts in establishing a rebuild that will set the team up for sustainable success over the coming seasons.
In 2022, the club traded away several key players, featuring Luis Castillo, Jesse Winker, Eugenio Suárez, Sonny Gray, Tyler Mahle, Amir Garrett and Tyler Naquin. Following the trades, the team shifted its focus to developing players within the minor leagues.
2023 new features
The 2023 Major League Baseball season features newly established rule changes. First, all four infielders must remain in the infield dirt while having two on each side of second base.
An increase in base size from 15 square inches to 18 square inches has also been put into place.
The MLB is attempting to speed up game times by instituting a pitch clock, where the pitcher has 15 seconds to pitch with bases unoccupied and 20 seconds with runners on.
Opening Day in Cincinnati
On a perfect spring afternoon, 44,063 fans filled Great American Ballpark in what was a regular season attendance record for the opening game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Hunter Greene had a very strong start to the game, throwing three and one third innings and notching eight strikeouts.
In the bottom of the first inning, Tyler Stephenson recorded a first RBI of the season after grounding into a double play.
In the top of the third inning, Oneil Cruz tied the game after launching a 425-foot home run that took momentum from the crowd.
In the top of the fourth inning, Cincinnati went to its bullpen after Greene had a high pitch count. Fernando Cruz came in with two runners on base and walked the next three batters along with a wild pitch. The Reds would go on to give up three runs in the inning to go down 4-1.
“Hunter started off strong,” manager David Bell said during a postgame interview. “83 pitches in three and a third is quite a few. Hunter is going to get plenty of opportunities to go deeper in the game, we have a long way to go.”
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Spencer Steer hit a 435-foot homerun to cut the lead in half and keep the fans hopeful.
“One swing can change a lot of things,” Steer mentioned following the loss. “I felt that was kind of a spark plug for the offense; I think we had really good at-bats all day, just fell a little short.”
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Jason Vosler ripped a two-RBI triple that tied the game and got the crowd rocking. Vosler is the current replacement for Joey Votto, who is playing in the minor leagues to continue rehabbing from a surgery on the first baseman’s labrum.
“It was definitely a special moment,” Vosler added. “I’m just going to go out there every day and do what I think I can do.”
The game would remain tied until the top of the eighth inning, where Cruz tallied a second RBI on the game with a sacrifice fly.
The Reds would try to tie the game again in the ninth inning after Jonathan India hit a one-out double to start a rally. Cincinnati was unable to capitalize on the double and would ultimately fall to the Pirates on Opening Day by a final score of 5-4.
Buck Farmer was credited with the loss after he gave up the second RBI to Cruz.
Room to grow
Although the first game of the season did not go in the Reds favor, the team has a lot of young players who have a lot of opportunity to grow over the season and begin molding what the future of the franchise could offer.
The Reds would go on to win two games and claim the series against the Pirates. The club faces the Chicago Cubs this week for a three game series.
