Cincinnati Reds: The 2010s All-Decade Team

Joey Votto and Aroldis Chapman are the obvious leaders among the best Cincinnati Reds players at each position during the 2010s

The Cincinnati Reds experienced more than a few moments of glory through the second decade of the 21st Century. The Reds claimed two National League Central championships (in 2010 and 2012), added a 2013 wild card berth and placed six starters on various National League All-Star teams.

At the same time, four Reds teams finished at the bottom of the NL Central, and the team’s decade won-lost record was seventy games below .500, at .478.

Cincinnati fans enjoyed cheering one of the game’s most consistently high-performing players, first baseman Joey Votto. He batted .304 with occasionally exceptional on-base averages that translated to a 150.9 OPS+.

But they only rarely found a rotation starter capable of performing with any consistency at all, and on the few occasions when they did – notably Johnny Cueto – they couldn’t afford to keep him. Cueto was traded to Kansas City, where he helped lead the Royals to the 2015 World Series victory.

The Reds’ emphasis on an offensive approach is largely a reflection of their home field, Great American Ballpark, which remains recognized as one of the game’s most prominent offensive sites. Statistically, Great American favored batters in each of the past five seasons.

The Reds All-Decade team is an interesting mix. Of the eight offensive positions, the choice at one is obvious, and there’s a fairly strong consensus at two others.

But there are reasonable arguments to be made for multiple candidates at five of the positions, including three indistinguishable candidates at catcher, third base and left field.

On the mound, the No.1 starter and the closer are both obvious picks. Deeper into the rotation, however, the selections are less clear.

Here’s a position-by-position look.

All-Decade Cincinnati Reds Infield

Ryan Hanigan, Catcher

• Years: 2010-2013
• HRs: 15
• Average OPS+: 92

The Reds featured three catchers for most of the decade, and the resume of each has drawbacks.

Devin Mesoraco enjoyed the longest calendar tenure, playing from 2011 through 2018. Reds scouts almost always projected Mesoraco to have star potential. He showed that potential in 2014, batting .273 with 25 home runs and 80 RBIs.

But Mesoraco really only had two healthy seasons, 2013 and 2014. In four of his seasons, he played fewer than 25 games, hobbled by injuries to his hip, foot, shoulder and also by concussions.

Tucker Barnhart has caught since 2014, and he’s been regular since 2016. But Barnhart has never hit above .270, his career average is .252, and his prime seasons 87.75 OPS+ is decidedly below-average.

That leaves Hanigan, the incumbent backstop at the start of the decade, who became regular in 2009. He’s hardly an inspiring choice. Still, in four seasons as a semi-regular, he did average 85 games and in his best season, 2010, he did bat .303. Hanigan’s .270 batting average and 103 average OPS+ are hardly inspiring, but they’re the best of the logical candidates and they’re at least above average.

All-Decade Cincinnati Reds Infield

Brandon Phillips, Second Base

• Years: 2010-2016
• HRs: 103
• Average OPS+: 99.

Awards: All-Star: 2010, 2011, 2013. Gold glove: 2010, 2011, 2013. Silver Slugger: 2011.

Phillips is the logical selection at second base…but he’s not quite the runaway pick Votto is alongside him at first.

He was regular from his acquisition in 2006 through a 2017 trade that sent him to Atlanta. Phillips had some big seasons, delivering 18 home runs annually from 2010 through 2013 and averaging 71 RBIs for the seven seasons this decade that he played in Cincinnati.

His three All-Star selections included selection as a starter in 2013 when he batted .261 with a personal best 103 RBIs. In 2012 he finished 13th in Most Valuable Player voting although – curiously  — two teammates (Jay Bruce and Aroldis Chapman) finished ahead of him.

Phillips isn’t a slam dunk because his successor in the Reds infield, Scooter Gennett, performed credibly. Coming from Milwaukee as a waiver pickup prior to the 2017 season, Gennett enjoyed a solid two seasons, averaging 25 home runs and a .300 batting average.

In the end, Gennett takes a back seat to Phillips on the basis of duration: His two best seasons may have been better than any of Phillips’s, but Brandon’s tenure is impossible to overlook.

All-Decade Cincinnati Reds Infield

Zack Cozart, Shortstop

• Years: 2011-2017
• HRs: 82
• OPS+: 97.14

Awards: All-Star, 2017.

Cozart enjoyed five seasons as a regular, making him the most veteran candidate for the Reds’ All-Decade team. The statistics are not overwhelming, but they’re plausible: a .265 average, plus three seasons with an OPS+ of 108 or better. In his best season, 2017, he hit 24 home runs, drove in 63, batted .297 and made the All-Star team.

Beyond that, the only competition is the incumbent, Jose Peraza. But Peraza, who won the job when Cozart left for free agency in 2018, hit only .239 in 2019.

Eugenio Suarez, Third Base

• Years: 2015-2019
• HRs: 143
• Average OPS+: 116.6

Awards: 2018 All-Star team

With 49 home runs and his second consecutive 100+ RBI season, Suarez blossomed into one of the game’s legitimate threats in 2019. If the Reds are on their way to contending status in the NL Central, he’s the reason.

The downside to Suarez is that he led the league in just one category in 2019…and it was strikeouts (189). The upside is that he still produced a 930 OPA and 134 OPS+, making him about one-third more valuable than the average National League third baseman.

Suarez’s competition may be better known but lacked that consistent offensive production. Todd Frazier held down third from 2011 through 2015. He did hit 108 home runs and he did make the 2015 All-Star team. But Frazier never bettered a .273 batting average and never topped 90 RBIs.

Scott Rolen played third in 2010, was an All-Star in 2011, and shared the position with Frazier through 2012. But after his 20 home run, .285 2010 season, Rolen was essentially through.

All-Decade Cincinnati Reds Outfield

Adam Duvall, Left Field

• Years: 2015-2018

The Reds have always like left fielders who could slug, and they didn’t much care about other essentials like baserunning, average or fielding. That explains Adam Dunn. It also explains Duvall, who topped 30 homers in both 2016 and 2017.

But Duvall is the pick largely because his competition is so average.  Ryan Ludwick held down left from 2012 through 2014, and did peak at 26 home runs. But that 2012 season, which also included 80 RBIs and a .275 average, was it.

How about Chris Heisey? He saw part-time action from 2010 through 2014, but never topped 20 home runs and was a career .247 hitter in Cincy.

Drew Stubbs, Center Field

• Years: 2010-2012
• HRs: 51
• Average OPS+: 84.6

As his 84.6 average OPS+ suggests, the case for Stubbs is weak and is best summed up in one sentence: The alternative is Billy Hamilton.

Of the two, Stubbs wins all three slash line data points. His decade batting average in Cincy was just .237, but that’s still 10 points higher than Hamilton. He had an unimpressive .309 on-base average, but Hamilton’s was .281. And his .380 slugging average, while mediocre, beats Hamilton’s .355.

With 277 stolen bases, Hamilton fared better in his specialty. But Stubbs was no slouch, stealing 40 in 2011 and 30 each in 2010 and 2012. Beyond that, Stubbs’ .813 steal success percentage actually tops Hamilton’s .775.

Jay Bruce, Right field

• Years: 2010-2016
• HRs: 190
• Average OPS+: 126.8

Awards: All-Star 2011, 2012; Silver Slugger: 2012, 2013

Unless you’re a Scotty Schebler fan, Bruce is the obvious choice. He held down the position for the decade’s first six and one-half seasons, averaging 152 games between 2010 and 2015. For the first four of those seasons, he was a solid contributor, averaging 30 home runs and 94 RBIs. Out of contention in mid-season 2016, the Reds traded Bruce to the Mets for a couple of prospects who proved to be non-prospects.

All-Decade Cincinnati Reds Rotation

Johnny Cueto is the undisputed ace of a so-so staff that is probably the team weakness. Between 2010  and his 2015 mid-season trade to Kansas City, Cueto went 72-38 with a 2.76 ERA. In 2014 he led the league in workload at 243.2 innings. Cueto was a 2014 All-Star selection, finishing second in Cy Young Award voting that season to Clayton Kershaw.

The memory of Homer Bailey, a Red through 2018, is colored by injuries and poor performances during his final four seasons. But from 2011 through 2014, Bailey ranged from good to very good.  He threw two no-hitters, and in those four seasons averaged 10.5 wins with a 3.77 ERA.

From his 2010 debut through his 2015 mid-season trade to the Giants for Adam Duvall, Mike Leake averaged 10 wins and a 3.87 ERA in 163 starts. In 2013 he went 14-7.

Bronson Arroyo was sometimes better known for his flowing locks and carefree manner. But from 2010 through 2013, he averaged 17 wins and 32 starts. In Cincinnati’s ill-fated 2012 NLDS appearance, Arroyo picked up one of the team’s only two post-season victories during the decade.

The record on Luis Castillo is hardly complete, but it looks good so far. In three seasons, Castillo has averaged a 12-12 record and 3.68 ERA while striking out an average of 163 batters per season. The 2019 season was his best yet, with a 15-8 mark, a 3.40 ERA and 226 whiffs.

All-Decade Cincinnati Reds Bullpen

Aroldis Chapman, Closer

• Years: 2010-2015
• Saves: 146

Awards: All-Star 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

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There’s no question who gets the ball in late-game situations. Nicknamed the Cuban Missile for his 100 mph fastball and equally devastating slider, Chapman’s save total in Cincinnati was depressed only by the Reds’ lack of save opportunities. In six seasons as closer, he averaged just three blown saves per season.

Chapman was the personification of a ‘stuff’ pitcher in Cincinnati. Between 2012 and 2015, he faced 1,014 opponents and struck out 45 percent of them. The value of ERA+ as an assessment tool is marginalized for elite closers, given the specialized situations in which they work. Nonetheless, Chapman’s average 213 ERA+ between 2012 and 2015 fairly screams dominance.

Raisel Iglesias, Right-Handed Setup

• Years: 2015-2019
• Saves: 98

Iglesias has been Cincinnati’s primary closer since 2017, averaging 31 saves per season in that period.

He’s a reliable competitor, averaging 62 appearances and in 2019 finishing a league-high 55 games. He may lack Chapman’s consistent strikeout touch, but Iglesias has still whiffed more than one-quarter of the batters he has faced across his still-developing career.

Tony Cingrani, Left-Handed Setup

• Years: 2012-2017
• Saves: 17

When Chapman was traded, Cingrani briefly inherited the closer’s job from the man he had spent his first four seasons setting up. He had a 1.25 WHIP and in his best year, 2013, struck out 120 of the 401 batters he faced.