CINCINNATI —Two pitches after Cincinnati Reds center fielder Will Benson hit a two-out, two-run home run to tie Sunday’s game against the Washington Nationals, Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a ball so hard that his opponents didn’t even watch the path of the ball, but just walked off the field with their heads down.
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Benson’s 411-foot homer tied the game 5-5, Encarnacion-Strand’s shot that was 113.3 mph off the bat gave the Reds the 6-5 victory, but both spent much of their postgame press conference talking about Jonathan India and his 10-pitch at-bat off of Nationals closer Kyle Finnegan ahead of Benson that ended in a double and kept the game going.
“His whole aura is leader,” Benson said. “We had some of these conversations on the rides in spring training, understanding that he’s a natural leader. You can tell by the way he plays and how hard he plays, those things ooze into the team.”
Benson said India told him he wasn’t trying to be a leader. He may not try, but everyone still looks to him. That’s because what he does — play hard, play hurt, pump up his teammates — is exactly what made this team successful last season and will make them successful this season. If they play like Jonathan India, they may not win every game, but they’ll compete on every pitch.
“Nobody loves to play more than Jonathan,” said Reds manager David Bell, a noted scrapper in his playing days.
Ball, foul, ball, ball, foul, foul, foul, foul, foul, double. @JonathanIndia's 10-pitch AB that started it all. pic.twitter.com/lpoPbPOnNu
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 31, 2024
India also has a strong belief in himself and his abilities. That was part of the message India gave Encarnacion-Strand throughout the game. The second-year player has been in the third spot in the lineup for all three games. He was 0-for-4 with a strikeout in each of the first two games of the season. Sunday was even worse, striking out in each of his first two at-bats on the day and then grounding into inning-ending double plays in his next two. Each time, India was in his ear, telling him he was going to be fine.
“Hey dude, your time is coming, bro,” India said he told Encarnacion-Strand during the game. “This struggle is 12 at-bats. You’re going to do something crazy for our team. It’s coming. Stay the course and stay focused.”
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India won the National League Rookie of the Year in 2021, battled injuries each of the last two seasons and spent much of last year hearing about how the Reds had better players and he would need to be traded. The Reds didn’t trade him, planning on him moving around to different positions. A suspension to third baseman Noelvi Marte and an injury to Matt McLain changed those plans and an injury to TJ Friedl moved India back into the leadoff spot where he thrived as a rookie.
India said he likes being a leadoff man, just grinding and battling to get on base any way he can. After two quick outs to start the bottom of the ninth, India came up against Finnegan and was quickly ahead 3-1 in the count before fouling off five straight pitches, including one that dribbled down the line and just rolled foul.
Two pitches later, he doubled to left, setting up the heroics.
“Maybe halfway through that at-bat, you could feel something happening,” Bell said.
Sunday was Encarnacion-Strand’s 66th big-league game, it was his second career walk-off home run and third walk-off hit in that short of time. Still, it was India that everyone was talking about afterward.
“That at-bat was incredible,” Encarnacion-Strand said. “It doesn’t get better than that.”
Remember those Rally Reds? Yeah… they're so back. #ATOBTTR pic.twitter.com/YV2dEAkdtF
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 31, 2024
Saved by the C-flap
In Spencer Steer’s first game with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod League in 2018, he saw a player get hit in the face with a pitch.
The Firebirds had some batting helmets with a C-flap, the hard plastic piece that extends from the ear flap over the jaw, so Steer tried it out. He could see fine and has worn that style of helmet — from college at Oregon through the professional ranks — ever since.
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That decision may have saved Steer a lot of pain — and playing time — on Opening Day. In the eighth inning, Nationals reliever Tanner Rainey’s 0-1 fastball came straight at Steer’s head. He tried to get out of the way, but the ball grazed off the C-flap. Steer looked a little stunned at first but got up and walked with manager Bell to first base and stayed in the game.
“I think everyone should wear one, honestly,” Steer said. “There’s no point not to wear it with how much damage you can do.”
Wilson’s debut
Reds left-hander Justin Wilson said he didn’t let himself think too much about what he’d just accomplished when he ran out of the bullpen in the fifth inning of Saturday’s loss to the Nationals, but after he got the second out in the next inning and Bell came to get the ball from him, it sunk in a little.
The appearance was Wilson’s first since April 23, 2022, when he was pitching for the Reds. Shortly after that outing, he underwent Tommy John surgery. After the season, he signed a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. Wilson made it back from his rehab assignment and was warming up to enter a game in Atlanta last July when he suffered a lat injury and was unable to take the mound and missed the rest of the season.
That’s why Saturday was such a big deal, even if Wilson didn’t want to treat it that way. Entering with two outs and two on in the fifth, Wilson needed just two pitches to get out of that inning.
He stayed in for the sixth and gave up a hit (on a ball that was initially ruled an error) and got a strikeout before giving way to Fernando Cruz, who got out of the inning unscathed.
“Truthfully, I think spring training got all the jitters out of me — it’s the same but not the same,” Wilson said. “It was a little bit of a sense of relief coming out of the game and knowing I am healthy and competing in the big leagues.”
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Trautwein continues to impress
Catcher Michael Trautwein may have made a bigger impression on the Reds than any other player in spring training. The 24-year-old out of Northwestern played in High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga last season, hitting .248/.360/.384 between the two stops. This year he’s at Triple-A Louisville and Saturday he hit a walk-off home run for the Bats.
TRAUTWEIN CALLS GAME‼️
Clip of the Game ╳ @GreatClips pic.twitter.com/P34XPPIsnA
— Louisville Bats (@LouisvilleBats) March 30, 2024
“I think the first thing I ever heard about him was how great he is on a team, how much his teammates like him,” Bell said. “I think it comes out in the way he catches, which is a great trait for that position.
“That was the first thing, and then I think the way he was playing caught up to that. He finished great and had a great Arizona Fall League. He couldn’t have made a better impression in spring training in all of those areas.”
The week that was
If the Reds defense had an average day — not a good day — Saturday, they would be undefeated. That said, heading on the road for the first time this season with a 2-1 record is a better feeling than going to Philadelphia having just dropped a series to the Nationals, who are predicted to finish last in their division. The Reds dominated on Opening Day and came back to win on back-to-back homers Sunday, but Saturday was a warning sign about how the defense suffered with the losses of Friedl, McLain and Marte. It also didn’t help that Alexis Díaz struggled to get strikes called, but a walk-off win had a way of helping everyone’s spirits.
The week ahead
The Reds hit the road for a three-game series against the Phillies, with Graham Ashcraft and Andrew Abbott scheduled to make their season debuts. There is rain in the forecast for Philadelphia this week. After an off-day Thursday (both teams have the day off, if worse comes to worst), the Reds host the New York Mets for three games.
Injury updates
• LHP Nick Lodolo (left calf tenosynovitis) made a rehab start in Louisville on Sunday, allowing just two hits over five innings. One of those hits was a home run. It was the lone run he allowed. He walked three, hit one and struck out eight. He threw 77 pitches, 49 for strikes. He’s scheduled to pitch again this week and if all goes well, he’ll start on April 10 for the Reds.
• LHP Sam Moll (left shoulder impingement) appeared in two games for the Bats, Friday and Sunday. On Sunday he gave up a run on two hits with a strikeout in an inning of work. On Friday Moll allowed two runs on three hits with one strikeout in an inning. Moll allowed just two runs in 24 2/3 innings for the Reds last season.
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• SS Matt McLain (left shoulder surgery) is still in California and is expected to have a follow-up from his surgery this week.
Minor league report
• Triple-A Louisville (2-1): Rece Hinds didn’t homer Sunday — the first time you could say that this season — but he did hit a single. Hinds, 23, is 6-foot-4 and has elite power. He homered in each of the first two games of the season. Last year Hinds hit 23 home runs for Chattanooga and was added to the 40-man roster after the season.
• Double-A Chattanooga: The Lookouts open the season Friday at Birmingham (Chicago White Sox) for a three-game series before their home opener against Tennessee (Chicago Cubs) on April 9.
• High-A Dayton: The Dragons open at home Friday against Lansing (Oakland Athletics).
• Low-A Daytona: The Tortugas open the season Friday at St. Lucie (Mets) and then host Palm Beach (St. Louis Cardinals) starting April 9.
(Photo of Jonathan India celebrating Will Benson’s home run: Katie Stratman / USA Today)
