The Cincinnati Reds are slowly but surely rebuilding their season and one of the authors of that success is a man that was cast aside by most Reds fans in the first month of the season.
Right now, according the all-encompassing hitting statistic OPS+, Jeimer Candelario is the Reds best hitter. In fact, batting average and OPS also agree. Despite a dismal April, Candelario is proving to be worth the signing. Just in case you are unfamiliar with the stat, OPS+ is a number that brings together the offensive stats of baseball and puts it on a scale where 100 is league average. That is the average hitter in the league so this is different from WAR. Where WAR takes everything into account, this is just hitting, and Candelario has been a valuable hitter.
He’s hitting .356 in the month of June, so far, and has a 1.090 OPS. Six of his 12 homers have come in this month and he’s had only one game where he didn’t record a hit. He’s been the consistent force for this lineup as it has inched closer to being what we expected. The Reds signed Candelario to a three-year, $45 million deal in December. That investment has paid off over the past six weeks.Postgame Takeaways: Cincinnati Reds fall to Cleveland Guardians 5-3Watch: 16 Years Ago: Ken Griffey Jr. Hits Home Run No. 600Veteran Mike Ford Becomes Free Agent After Being Outrighted to Triple-AJeff has hosted the only daily podcast covering the Cincinnati Reds since 2018. He’s been a life long fan of the Reds. He was at Clinchmas and the 2015 Home Run Derby.