With a right-hander on the mound for game 1 of the MLB season, the Cincinnati Reds elected to bench outfielder Adam Duvall. There was talk of him batting lead-off since he has the best overall offensive game aside from first baseman Joey Votto. Instead, he is on the bench against right-hander Max Scherzer.
This is great news. The Reds have finally put a premium on getting runners on base instead of speed and speed. Originally it looked like BIlly Hamilton would bat lead-off, but he ended up batting ninth.
Jesse Winker didn’t have the best game leading off, but he did what the Reds needed him to do.