C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

The Blog Above Replacement a daily look at the Reds, their minor leagues and whatever else is on the mind of Enquirer Reds beat writers, C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan. You can follow them on Twitter (@ctrent and @ZachENQ), Facebook (C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan) and Instagram (ENQReds).

I wasn’t watching the first couple of innings in Monday’s Reds’ game in Pittsburgh, but I did check in on my phone and saw something rather odd:

And then what surprised me, even more, was yesterday morning, I wanted to see if that play was on the highlights. On my MLB At-Bat app, I saw a highlight of Billy Hamilton’s big night, so I was sure it’d be there. Instead, it was filled with other highlights. Perhaps the reason it wasn't included is the play wasn't even particularly close.

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That’s how fun Hamilton is to watch — he can tag up and go from second to third on an infield popup and it’s not even considered a highlight.

In the latest Reds Beat Podcast, Zach Buchanan and I discuss just how many interesting storylines this Reds team has a week into the season, including the silliness that is Billy Hamilton.

How to listen:

• In the podcast section of the Cincinnati.com Reds app, available on iTunes and Google Play

• Subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher Radio

• Subscribe on Audioboom

• Or simply hit play below

ICYMI

• For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction — and while the Reds’ bullpen has been great so far this season, Bryan Price desperately needs his starters to go deeper in games here pretty soon. Starters have gone 36 2/3 innings this season, relievers have 34 1/3 innings. That’s not a recipe for long-term success, no matter how many relievers they’re carrying.

• I think we’ve all had a case of Foggy Goggles before.

MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

Triple-A: Toledo 2, Louisville 0: Reds RHP Sal Romano pitched seven scoreless, allowing just four hits. He struck out five and walked none. RF Sebastian Elizalde had three of the Bats’ 10 hits. C Chad Wallach added two. [Box]

High-A: Daytona 2, Jupiter 1, 15 innings: LF Daniel Sweet singled in DH Reydel Medina in the 15th. 2B Shed Long drove in the other run with a sac fly in the sixth. RHP Robert Stock picked up the win, pitching three innings in relief, striking out five and giving up just one hit. Tortugas pitchers struck out a total of 21 on the night. [Box]

Low-A: Dayton 3, West Michigan 2: The Dragons used back-to-back sacrifice flies from CF T.J. Friedl and RF Jose Siri in the 8th to take the lead. C Tyler Stephenson also drove in a run. RHP Tony Santillan struck out six in 5 1/3, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk. RHP Ryan Hendrix pitched two scoreless to get the win. [Box]

THE ROTATION

1. The Marlins game had a cat delay. [FTW]

2. Twins second baseman Brian Dozier has priorities:

3. MLB unveiled this year’s special uniforms, including those for the All-Star Game in Miami. [Big League Stew]

4. Toledo’s Boba Fett uniforms are amazing. [MLive.com]

5. R.I.P. John Geils [NPR]