Doc’s Morning Line: Now’s the time for the Cincinnati Reds to button up sloppy play – The Cincinnati Enquirer

Its time for the Reds to start playing consistently tight baseball, and we dont mean choking. A week into September is not the time to get sleepy on the bases and play first base like a matador. The Reds dont want to look back on games like the one Monday in Chicago and lament, thats one we should have won.

If they dont make the playoffs, theyll have only themselves to blame.

Sixth inning yesterday. The hot Cubs started playing like the Cubs, gifting the Reds runs like it was Christmas at the corner of Waveland and Sheffield. Walk, wild pitch, two hit batters. Reds score 3 on two hits. On the wild one, Suarez neglected to move from second to third. How come?

It looked like Geno just kind of froze up, DBell said, which is as hard as hell ever come down on a player.

That cant happen in September when youre fighting for October and already not playing well. Schrock doubles, which would have scored two and given the Reds the lead, had Suarez moved up on the wild pitch.

Meantime, A. Cabrera allowed two grounders to get past him because he didnt put his body in front of the ball. Maybe in May, this isnt a big deal. This isnt May. Its OK occasionally to lose because the other team was better. Its not OK to lose in September because your mind is drifting.

More: Cincinnati Reds' slide continues with loss to Chicago Cubs in series opener

Four-and-nine in the past two weeks, against clubs theyre leading in the standings. Time to pull their heads out.

The series against Detroit over the weekend was instructive. Riddle me this, if you watched: Which team looked like the playoff-hopeful and which looked like the team waiting for a bus?

SCOFF IF YOU LIKE, but the Reds remain in the wild card drivers seat. Twenty-three games left, nine v. Pirates, four v. the Nats. The Padres have lost 15 of their last 22 and play their next nine against LA and the Giants. Only the Phillies have an easier road than Cincinnati. They play 10 games v. last-place teams and four more v. Colorado. The Phils are a game behind the Reds and two behind San Diego.

AND REMEMBER THIS. . . If the Reds dont play Game 163 this year, their window starts to close. Its very likely were seeing the best right now from Naquin, Miley, Votto, and getting surprisingly good years from India, Stephenson, Gutierrez and Farmer. Castellanos is the soul engine and he very likely wont be here next year.

Its now or never for this crew.

Now, then. . .

BEFORE WE GET TOO DEEP into sports, a moment for Michael K. Williams. You might know him as Omar and if you dont, you should. Omar Little was the best character in an all-star ensemble of them, on The Wire, IMO the best show ever to grace our TVs.

He died Monday. Police are investigating it as a drug overdose.

In the show, Omar was the consummate badass, a loner in a culture of joiners, defined by the sawed-off shotgun that hung from his belt. In real life, he grew up an insecure kid in a rough neighborhood. The NYTimes:

He didnt care what anyone thought about him, Mr. Williams said of Omar, inan interview with GQ in 2020.He had a huge moral compass and he wasnt afraid to express it. I was the complete polar opposite. I was frightened a lot of times growing up. I had a very low self-esteem and a huge need to be accepted. The only thing I knew that I shared with Omar was his sensitivity and his ability to love, and his ability to love deep. I knew that I had that in me.

Im trying to think of another TV character who owned the sway of Omar Little, ever. None comes to mind. Absolutely none. If you never saw The Wire and you appreciate TV drama at its finest, TML sez ckitout.

THE BENGALS. . . This is traditionally the time of year I make the prediction for the Mens season. Most years, its not that difficult to do. Divide the season into fourths, assume the Bengals will lose twice to at least one of their division rivals and take it from there.

This year?

Ive called it the Verge Season for Cincinnati. As in, On The. . .

The gate swings dramatically one way or the other for the Bengals this fall. Either the O-line holds up, Burrow builds on last year and the team wins about eightgames, or the line lacks, Baltimore and the Browns feast, the Bengals dont approach .500 and Zac Taylor and his staff lose their jobs.

Im not worried about JaMarr Chase dropping the ball. Im worried about Joe Burrow getting dropped on his back. The Bengals in the offseason did not do all they could to protect him. Despite the deserved pre-year excitement, they have not shown that they arent, in the immortal words of Carson Palmer, OK with being OK.

More: My confidence never went anywhere, I got hard on myself: JaMarr Chase discusses drops

Their guards are, well, OK. The rookie who was supposed to start immediately, wont. One tackle is nearer the end of his career than the beginning and has never made a Pro Bowl. The other, beset by injuries, remains an unopened package.

Sounds OK to me.

There are ways to scheme around a porous line. But in so doing, you limit the QBs weapons. What good is a deep threat at wide receiver if the QB doesnt have time to get him the ball?

Burrow showed a veterans smarts and poise in his nine-game debut last year. He can keep rushers from teeing off by checking down and limiting the deeper routes. Burrow ranked 25th last season among starting QBs in yards per attempt. His 6.7 YPA was only slightly better than Andy Daltons 6.5.

Thats OK when your defense is limiting opposing TDs. Will the Bengals D be that good this year?

You might like the secondary. Do you like the linebackers? Will the pass rush be better with a full season of Reader pushing the middle? I think their kid kicker Evan McPherson wins them a game they would have lost last year.

Does Joe Mixon block like Gio Bernard blocked?

Their schedule seems to be soft. But who knows about schedules in preseason? Cincinnati should beat the Jets, Jags and Lions. But what if any is better than expected by the time the Bengals play them? What if the Packers are worse?

With all that in mind. . .

The Men will lose twice to either Cleveland or the Ravens and split with Pittsburgh. (Roethlisberger still plays for the Stillers, right?) Division record: 2-4.

More: The Bengals offense has a clear focus for the 2021 season

Non-division games they should win and probably will: Home with Jacksonville, at Detroit and the Jets. (5-4)

Games they should lose and probably will: Home with the Packers and Chiefs. (5-6)

Pick em: Home with the Vikings, Bears, 49ers and Chargers. Road with the Raiders and Broncos. I say they start fast v. Minnesota, stumble in Chicago, beat Las Vegas and lose to the 49ers, Chargers and Broncos. (7-10)

Seven-and-10. Clip and save.

UC STARTS FAST. AND A WORRY. . . Good teams dont assume Ws, the Bearcats certainly didnt Saturday at Nippert v. Miami. They have another softie this week, home against Murray State. Will that be sufficient prep to go on the road and win at Indiana the following week?

More: No. 8/10 Cincinnati Bearcats thump rival Miami RedHawks in season-opener, 49-14

Will it ready them for Oct. 2 in South Bend, in the programs biggest game since the Sugar Bowl Jan. 1, 2010?

HOPE YOUSE HAD A NICE LABOR DAY. . . I thought of my dad Monday. He worked 25 years for the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. He was a smart guy, an economics degree from Amherst College, a masters in economics. He was of a generation that believed working for the federal government was an honorable and worthy way to spend a career.

But he didnt like it much.

By the time I was in high school, I decided Id never have a job that (1) required I wear a coat and tie to work (2) commute 9-5, five days a week, 50 weeks a year, to an office and (3) be unhappy with my work a majority of the time.

Since 1979, Ive never worn a tie to work, I walk to my office down the hall in my house when Im not at a game and the worst days I have are still better than any days Id spend in a cubicle eating my lunch out of a brown sack.

That said, Jim Daugherty never missed a day of work. Not one, in 25 years. Among the many things I admired about my dad, that ones way up there. Work never defined him. That's a healthy way to be.

Thats why they call it work, hed say, as he trudged out the door not feeling especially great or facing a long day full of boring meetings. Id like to think Im as conscientious as he was. But that wouldnt be true.

TUNE O THE DAY. . . Before he wrote songs with Cheeseburger in their titles, Jimmy Buffett was a pretty fair country twanger. Living and Dying In Time was a very fine set. This one included.

More here:

Doc's Morning Line: Now's the time for the Cincinnati Reds to button up sloppy play - The Cincinnati Enquirer