{"id":191563,"date":"2025-04-07T21:57:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-08T02:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=191563"},"modified":"2025-04-07T21:57:39","modified_gmt":"2025-04-08T02:57:39","slug":"random-thoughts-baseball-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/04\/07\/random-thoughts-baseball-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: baseball, more"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s installment of Random Thoughts centers around the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Guardiana, a big contract extension, ballpark foods, UConn, primetime vs. afternoon, Travis Hunter and Ohio State\u2019s quarterback race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good news\/bad news<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As far as the Cincinnati Reds are concerned, there\u2019s good news and bad news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The good news is that entering Monday night, the Reds have allowed just 38 runs, by far the fewest in the National League Central Division. The bad news is Cincinnati has scored just 39 runs, the second fewest in the division. Before an 11 run outburst on Saturday, the Reds scored 2, 2, 0, 0 and 0 runs in their other five games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t help things will pick up at the plate sooner instead of later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cleveland Guardians<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Reds fans upset about the team\u2019s offensive production, keep in mind it\u2019s worse in Cleveland right now. The Guardians have scored just 34 runs, second fewest in the AL Central and have allowed 51 runs, most in the division.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cleveland is 3-6 and is playing its home opener against the White Sox today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Big extension<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the front office have agreed to a 14-year, $500 million contract extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t begrudge anyone making money, but this just makes me wonder how long it\u2019ll be until the first $1 billion contract is announced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ballpark foods<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hot dogs, peanuts and popcorn may be traditional baseball food items but there are so many more options now. Personally, I\u2019m fine with a hot dog or two at a game but I enjoy seeing the new creations ballparks around MLB offer each year. Here are two I would happily try this year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Daddy Mac Dog (Houston Astros) \u2013 A footlong beef frank with macaroni and cheese, barbecue sauce, crispy dill pickle and chopped brisket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Broomstick Burrito (Texas Rangers) \u2013 It\u2019s made with a 26-inch tortilla filled with rice, beans, seasoned taco meat, nacho cheese, pico de gallo, lettuce and sour cream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UConn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I sort of expected UConn to defeat South Carolina during Sunday\u2019s NCAA women\u2019s national championship game. I didn\u2019t expect an 82-59 blowout or anything close to that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime time vs. afternoon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I saw a Tweet (an X? What do we call these?) about how the women\u2019s national championship game should have been in prime time, like the men\u2019s game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How about this \u2013 why not have the men\u2019s national championship game on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon too? Maybe I\u2019m getting old but it\u2019s much easier to watch a game like that in the afternoon instead of prime time. Who really wants an 8:50 p.m. tipoff?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travis Hunter<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word is the Cleveland Browns are leaning toward taking WR\/CB Travis Hunter of Colorado with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft. A lot of fans are excited about a two-way player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regardless of which team picks him, has it occurred to anyone else that he won\u2019t be a two-way player in the NFL? He projects primarily as a cornerback. Oh sure, he may get some snaps at wide receiver but how long does anyone think he\u2019d hold up going both ways in the NFL?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a reason there aren\u2019t full time two-way players in the NFL and haven\u2019t been for decades. As talented as he may be, Hunter almost certainly won\u2019t break that streak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSU QB battle<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said Julian Sayin and Lincoln Keinholz are neck-and-neck in the quarterback race. What else is he going to say? Any mention that one is ahead of the other will likely send the one who\u2019s not ahead to the transfer portal. Remember, he did the same thing with Kyle McCord and Devin Brown two years ago. A lot of coaches do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I\u2019m very intrigued by Keinholz. To me, even with very little game prep or reps, he looked light years ahead of Devin Brown in the ill-fated Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri in 2024. I know, OSU, scored a grand total of three points in the game. He still showed some encouraging flashes. It won\u2019t be a shock, at least to me, if he eventually wins the QB battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, if you have thoughts or comments on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports This week\u2019s installment of Random Thoughts centers around the Cincinnati Reds, the Cleveland Guardiana, a big contract extension, ballpark foods, UConn, primetime vs. afternoon, Travis Hunter and Ohio State\u2019s quarterback race. Good news\/bad news As far as the Cincinnati Reds are concerned, there\u2019s good news and bad news. The good news is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-191563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-04 08:25:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191563"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":191580,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191563\/revisions\/191580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}