There’s absolutely nothing wrong with Santiago Espinal playing for the Reds. I feel pretty confident that there’s a team out there that’d part with a decent prospect to add him to their team even. And now to the issue…the actual issue. Terry Francona and his stoneage managerial thinking. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest news first!
The Lineup
Any team out there worth a darn is utilizing their best hitter in the 2 hole. The Cincinnati Reds aren’t. Now, to be fair, the Reds were banking on Matt McLain to come back and be a force, and he just simply hasn’t. It pains me to cite his prepostorous 65 wRC+. Yes, 65. So far below average it’s painful to read. In comes…SANTIAGO ESPINAL!
The Santiago Espinal usage in the 2 spot is actually my reason for being half out on the Cincinnati Reds for the remainder of the Tito Francona era. It’s seriously so inexcusable. Santiago is slashing a mere .273/.333/.658 with an 85 wRC+ and even though the average is…okay…the methodology isn’t. If you dig even deeper under the hood it gets worse, especially when you acknowledge the fact that Santiago Espinal has hit 2nd against RHP way too frequently.
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Right Handed Pitching Woes
Espinal has taken 103 PAs so far against a RHP starter, mainly in the 2 hole, and he’s slashing .240/.296/.536 (OPS) against them. IN THE 2 HOLE. Now, his K% is extremely low so it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb, but the data is there – he is not good against RHP and he never has been. In total, in 2025, he’s taken 108 ABs against RHP slashing .240/.296/.240/.536, that’s good for a 56 wRC+. Not someone you want in the 2 hole to say the least in any capacity against them.
Now…LHP is a totally different story. Santiago Espinal has proven to be able to hit them and hit them well. He’s slashing .333/.400/.481/.881 against LHP in 60 PAs which is great, especially his 138 wRC+ against them.
Boomer Tendencies
Nevermind Santiago Espinal in the 2 hole, the manager, Terry Francona, whom we were all excited for, has yet to prove he is going to manage with both the data and the feel. On numerous occasions he’s let the wrong hand go to bat late into games, and maybe there’s no proof of it causing a loss, but there’s certainly correlation and that leads to causation.
We need to see some change in managerial tendencies from him going forward; the data is your friend, he can’t keep ignoring it. Once Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand are back, it’s likely Santiago’s usage goes down a bit…or is it? Like Tony La Russa did with the White Sox, Terry Francona is starting to show a loyalty line to those who ‘show up every day with a good attitude’ instead of the better, younger talent. That’s an issue, and there’s been more issues that I haven’t gone into on this article. Fix it, Terry, it’s 2025 and you’re no longer retired. Fix it.
