Kuzul

The Cincinnati Reds are entering the break as one of the hottest teams in baseball and have several deserving All-Star candidates. Cincinnati has gone 20-10 over their past 30 games, improving their record to 43-39.  

The cast representing the Reds at the 2014 All-Star Game will have a different look this season. Cincinnati’s usual suspect of Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto will all likely be watching the game at home. 

Only one of the Reds’ five candidates on this list has appeared in an All-Star Game. While it is unlikely that all five of these players make it, each player has made a strong case to be included.

These players are ranked from the least likely to make it to guaranteed. Johnny Cueto is a mortal lock, but Devin Mesoraco and the others are on the bubble and could fall either way. 

Here are the Reds’ top five All-Star Game candidates.

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The Cincinnati Reds‘ top 10 prospects had a pretty mediocre week as a whole. The bats of Yorman Rodriguez and Tucker Barnhart were particularly cold.

One would think Barnhart‘s year could not get any worse, but he continues in a downward spiral. He finished the week off at just 1-for-14.

However, there were some positive results as well. Jesse Winker continued to swing the hottest bat in the Reds farm system—launching three more home runs.

This week includes the games played from June 2 through June 8.

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It does not feel like baseball season outside here in the Midwest, but Opening Day is now under a month away. 

If you have not already, it is time to start researching for the upcoming fantasy baseball season. Pitching wins championships in both real and fantasy baseball. 

A popular strategy used to be picking up different starting pitchers every week to win both wins and strikeouts. However, this strategy has been taken away by max pickup rules. 

Now you need to research starting pitchers to win your league. 

This ranking is focused on NL-only leagues. It will look at the top 25 pitchers to target for the 2014 season. The rankings take into consideration both past success and potential. 

These rankings are based off the standard fantasy stats used for starting pitchers: wins, ERA, WHIP and Ks. 

**All stats from baseball-reference.com and rankings are NL-based unless noted otherwise. 

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2013 ended with another disappointing first-round loss for the Cincinnati Reds. It led to the firing of Dusty Baker. Outside the big bats of Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, which players will be instrumental to the Reds’ advancing deeper in the postseason? 

Ranking Criteria

To rank the players, I used past statistics as well as potential upside. A player who has been a consistent producer could be behind a player who could be a game changer for the Reds for that reason.

Included are five positional players and five pitchers. The Reds will need both to advance further in the postseason.

Honorable Mention

Mike Leake, Devin Mesoraco and Zack Cozart will all be important to the Reds, but just missed the cut. 

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