Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

The Blog Above Replacement is 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.

Wednesday's loss to the Chicago Cubs will be remembered more for the pitching struggles the Reds had, but on the offensive side there was something worthy of early attention. And not the good kind.

The Reds grounded into three double plays, bringing their season total to 11. They'd already hit into the second-most double plays in the National League entering the game. In fairness, only one of them occurred while the game was within reach.

What is more alarming is who is hitting them. Cincinnati had a few inexperienced hitters in its lineup, especially with Zack Cozart and Devin Mesoraco sitting, but the double-play culprits Wednesday were the heart of the order -- 3-4-5 hitters Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce, respectively. Throw in Mesoraco, who has grounded into two double plays, and the team's most accomplished and veteran hitters have accounted for eight of the 11.

The good news is this will probably even itself out over time. Bruce, Votto and Mesoraco have never been particularly double-play prone. Votto only hit into 11 last year and is on pace for nearly 61 this season. That's not going happen. Neither will the team maintain its current pace of grounding into 222 double plays, which would blow the big-league record out of the water by 49.

Still, the Reds wouldn't mind if they turned it around sooner than later.

Reds' Anthony DeSclafani looks ready for a rehab start

Schebler can move

Scott Schebler is no Billy Hamilton, but he's way faster than his build would lead you to believe. Just look at his seventh-inning triple as an example.

I could not find immediately available Statcast data for that hit, so I did some math of my own. I timed Schebler from home to third, a jaunt he completed in 11.14 seconds. That means he averaged 16.5 miles an hour around the bases, and that's for a guy who slowed down as he approached third without a throw. He probably peaked at higher than that.

We'll see if he can be a big-league regular, but he's got some interesting physical tools with his combination of speed and power.

Minor-league roundup

Triple-A: The Louisville Bats won both games of a doubleheader against the Columbus Clippers on Wednesday to even their record at 2-2. In Game 1, LHP Cody Reed gave up two runs on four hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings, striking out six in a 5-4 win. SS Jose Peraza went 3 for 4, but made an out on the bases. [Box] In Game 2, RHP Josh Smith gave up just one unearned over five innings in a 6-1 victory. Peraza played center and went 1 for 3 with a walk. [Box]

Double-A: The Pensacola Blue Wahoos took a 2-1 loss to the Jacksonville Suns on Wednesday, giving up two runs in the ninth to break a scoreless tie. LHP Amir Garrett tossed six scoreless frames with one walk and seven strikeouts. RHP Kyle McMyne coughed up the winning runs in the ninth. [Box]

High-A: The Daytona Tortugas also lost 2-1 on Wednesday, falling to the Palm Beach Cardinals. RHP Tyler Mahle surrendered one run in 5 2/3 innings. OF Aristides Aquino threw out two runners and went 1 for 4. [Box]

Low-A: The Dayton Dragons gave up seven runs in the seventh inning -- half a frame after scoring six for themselves -- and lost 11-6 to the Lansing Lugnuts on Wednesday. The Dragons committed three errors that led to five unearned runs. The seventh-inning damage came off RHP Jake Johnson, who gave up all seven runs on six hits. Two were unearned.

And since you made it this far...

- Conan O'Brien and his famous String Dance starred in a K-Pop music video. Steven Yeun from The Walking Dead was there too. The song is pretty catchy.

- It's odd and uncomfortable to see an agent publicly go after his own client like Drew Rosenhaus did with Johnny Manziel. There's a difference between helping a guy and putting him on blast.

- The police rescued a duckling. I once rescued a sparrow. It pooped in my hand. I probably goosed Purell's stock 20 points that day.

- Today in Zach Watches Too Many Movies and TV Shows: I'm about ready to add another show to my ever-crowded DVR -- Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. I keep seeing her segments online the day after the show airs, and they're so bitingly good. Between her show and John Oliver's success at HBO, I really wonder what the hell Jon Stewart was thinking handing The Daily Show to Trevor Noah. What was once appointment viewing has become almost forgotten.

- Did you download the Reds app yet or follow me on Twitter and Facebook? I'm going to keep asking you.