The 2010s: Cincinnati Reds all-decade team features hot pitchers, cool left fielders and Joey Votto,

There are two ways to interpret the idea of an all-decade team — which players were the best for the Reds over the cumulative 10 seasons from 2010 to 2019, or what were the best individual seasons at each position from 2010 to 2019.

So, what did I decide to do? Because I tend to make things tougher on myself than they need to be, I went with both.

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The early 10s are so long ago it’s easy to forget (and many do) that the Reds had a lot of success early in the decade, going to the playoffs in three of the first four seasons. It’s also easy to forget that because of the rebuilding that followed, averaging more than 92 losses a season after the 2013 wild-card game appearance.

C — Ryan Hanigan

The Reds had an All-Star catcher and a Gold Glove-winning catcher in the decade, but the best combination may have been Hanigan, an unheralded player who was signed as an undrafted free agent. Hanigan first reached the big leagues in 2007 and played a career-high 112 games in 2012. He started 295 games from 2010 to 2013. Known for his defense, he hit .261/.358/.344 during that period. The Reds traded him before the 2014 season, sending him to Tampa Bay in a three-team deal that brought lefty David Holmberg from Arizona.

Single season: 2014 Devin Mesoraco

The Reds made a blockbuster trade before the 2012 season acquiring Mat Latos to bolster the team’s rotation. Latos pitched for the Reds for three seasons before being traded himself. But it was that trade where the team made a decision on the future of the franchise, choosing Devin Mesoraco over Yasmani Grandal. It looks like the wrong choice in retrospect as Grandal will be the most sought-after free-agent catcher on the market this offseason after stops with the Padres, Dodgers and Brewers. But the 2014 season showed why the Reds made the deal, as Mesoraco made the All-Star Game and was rewarded with a multi-year deal after the season. That year he hit .273/.359/.534 with 25 homers and 80 RBI. That would be his peak, dealing with injuries for the rest of his career.

1B — Joey Votto

The best first baseman in baseball over the decade played in Cincinnati. That’s sometimes overshadowed because of the unfair criticisms of Votto locally for not conforming to stereotypes of the position. It’s important to remember that he was indeed the best at the position in a decade that could feature several Hall of Fame players at first base like Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera, as well as the likes of Anthony Rizzo, Paul Goldschmidt and Freddie Freeman. Some of those have had — or will have — a better 10-year stretch, but for these selective endpoints, none has been better than Votto. He led the National League in on-base percentage in seven of the 10 seasons.

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Single season: 2017 Joey Votto

Votto won the MVP in 2010, but 2017 is arguably his best season, although you could make an argument for the MVP year or even 2015. The 2017 season stands out because he had 36 homers and hit .320/.454/.578. He also started 162 games.

2B — Brandon Phillips

Acquired by Wayne Krivsky the same week the former GM got Bronson Arroyo in 2006, Phillips is a future member of the Reds Hall of Fame, spending 11 seasons in Cincinnati. He played in more than 1,000 games for the Reds from 2010 to 2016 and hit .281/.325/.451 with 103 homers, 89 stolen bases and countless defensive highlights.

Single season: 2011 Brandon Phillips

Phillips hit 30 homers and stole 30 bases in 2007, but 2011 may have been the best offensive season of his career (and you can throw out the defense, it was consistently great). The Reds underachieved in 2011, but Phillips didn’t, hitting .300/.353/.457 with 18 home runs and 14 stolen bases. His average and on-base percentage that year were the best of his career.

SS — Zack Cozart

Just as the Reds faced a decision between Grandal and Mesoraco, they had a similar decision early in the decade between shortstops Zack Cozart and Didi Gregorius and chose Cozart. The Reds included Gregorius in a three-team deal that brought Shin-Soo Choo to Cincinnati (and also sent future Red Trevor Bauer from Arizona to Cleveland). Cozart played parts of seven seasons with the Reds, though two injuries cut short his 2011 and 2015 with the team.  He hit .254/.305/.411 over those seven years, but most of his value came defensively where he wasn’t the highlight film of his double-play partner, but he was very good.

Single season: 2017 Zack Cozart

Cozart’s final season with the Reds was his best. Before reaching free agency, he not only earned the starting spot in the All-Star Game for the National League, but his teammate Joey Votto got him a donkey when he made the team. Cozart hit .297/.385/.548 with 24 home runs before signing a three-year deal with the Angels.

3B — Eugenio Suárez

This was one of the toughest choices — two All-Star third basemen, both with big power and engaging personalities. It’s really pretty much a coin flip. In his five years with the Reds, Todd Frazier was really the team’s primary third baseman three years, from 2013 to 2015, making the All-Star Game in 2014 and 2015. For those three years, Frazier hit .255/.320/.457 with 83 home runs. In four seasons as the team’s primary third baseman, Eugenio Suárez has hit .265/.352/.493 with 130 homers. I initially had Frazier, but the 130 home runs pushed me toward Suárez. Either is a good choice.

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Single season: 2014 Todd Frazier

Another toss-up and this time I’m going with 2014 Todd Frazier over 2019 Eugenio Suárez. Frazier put together his best season, hitting .273/.336/.459 with 29 home runs and put up a 5.2 bWAR. Suárez hit 49 homers this year and had a 4.5 bWAR to go with his stellar .271/.358/.572 slash line. Both a 4.4 oWAR with Frazier’s defense is the difference in overall value. Again, another that could just as easily go the other way.

LF — Adam Duvall

The Reds’ left fielder is kind of like Spinal Tap’s drummer — they have to have one, but you never know what’s going to happen to them. Here are the players who have played left field for the Reds in the decade: Jonny Gomes, Laynce Nix, Chris Heisey, Chris Dickerson, Jim Edmonds, Willie Bloomquist, Fred Lewis, Dave Sappelt, Yonder Alonso, Jeremy Hermida, Todd Frazier, Ryan Ludwick, Xavier Paul, Willie Harris, Derrick Robinson, Donald Lutz, Shin-Soo Choo, Skip Schumaker, Jason Bourgeois, Roger Bernadina, Yorman Rodriguez, Ramon Santiago, Kristopher Negron, Marlon Byrd, Ivan De Jesus, Adam Duvall, Brennan Boesch, Chris Dominguez, Ryan LaMarre, Scott Schebler, José Peraza, Tyler Holt, Tony Renda, Steve Selsky, Kyle Waldrop, Patrick Kivlehan, Scooter Gennett, Phil Ervin, Jesse Winker, Arismendy Alcantara, Preston Tucker, Dilson Herrera, Mason Williams, Brandon Dixon, Phil Gosselin, Rosell Herrera, Alex Blandino, Josh VanMeter, Matt Kemp, Derek Dietrich, Brian O’Grady and Michael Lorenzen. But despite all of those, the Reds have actually had an All-Star left fielder, Duvall in 2016, his first full season at the position. Duvall played for the Reds for parts of four seasons, hitting 64 homers in 2016 and 2017 combined. Duvall struggled with hitting the ball consistently, but as he showed this postseason with the Braves, when he hit it, he hit it far. Although he played both corner infield spots with the Giants before being traded to the Reds for Mike Leake, he took to left field, where he consistently graded out as one of the game’s best defenders there.

Single season: 2016 Adam Duvall

Duvall hit 33 homers in his All-Star season. His average (.241) and on-base percentage (.297) were low, but he shined with defense and dingers.

CF — Billy Hamilton

This is where the difference in philosophy of picking the All-Decade team is magnified. If it’s one season, the pick is easy, but if it’s a larger scope, well, Billy Hamilton was the team’s starting center fielder for half the decade. He was thrilling on the bases and in the field during that time but managed just a .298 on-base percentage in his time with the Reds. He still stole 264 bases over that time, a number that would have been much greater had he been on base more.

Single season: 2013 Shin-Soo Choo

The Reds have searched for a leadoff man during the decade and only in 2013 did they have it figured out when they traded for Choo to play center field and lead off. Choo put up a .423 on-base percentage that year, trailing only Votto (.435) in the National League. With those two on all the time, Brandon Phillips (103) and Jay Bruce (109) each knocked in more than 100 runs that year. Choo’s 107 runs that season were the second-most in the National League.

RF — Jay Bruce

Bruce never quite lived up to the huge expectations he set in the minor leagues, but he still had a very good career with the Reds and should be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame someday. He hit 190 homers in the decade for the Reds and made three All-Star teams.

Single season: 2010 Jay Bruce

Heck, give him this just for the best moment of the decade — his walk-off clincher against the Astros (back when they were in the National League) to capture the division title in 2010. Bruce hit .281/.353/.493 with 25 homers that season. He hit 30 homers and drove in 109 in 2013, another season under consideration.

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SP — Johnny Cueto, Homer Bailey, Mike Leake, Mat Latos, Luis Castillo

The Reds started and ended the decade with good starting pitching only to see dismal pitching for the middle years. The brightest star, undoubtedly, was Johnny Cueto. The kid signed out of the Dominican Republic came up through the system in the shadow of Homer Bailey, but in 2008, he struck out 10 in his debut. He had a 2.72 ERA with the Reds from 2010 to 2015. He struggled with injuries in 2013, but in 2012 and 2014, he was as good as anyone in the game (other than Clayton Kershaw).

Bailey, like Bruce, never lived up to his billing, but that also seems to overshadow what he did do with the team. In addition to his two no-hitters, Bailey was 46-37 with a 3.86 ERA from 2010 to 2014 before injuries derailed his career. He 33-27 with a 3.61 ERA from 2012 to 2014.

Leake, taken in the first round of the 2009 draft, was expected to make it to the big leagues quickly, but he exceeded even those expectations, making the club out of his first spring training in 2010. The right-hander was 62-47 with a 3.87 ERA in parts of six seasons with the Reds.

Latos was acquired to be the final piece of the puzzle for the 2012 season. He went 14-4 with a 3.48 ERA that year and in his three years with the Reds, he was 33-16 with a 3.31 ERA. He burned bridges on his way out, but while he was with the Reds, he was a very good pitcher.

The final spot goes to Luis Castillo barely over Anthony DeSclafani. DeSclafani has 25 more starts than Castillo, but Castillo’s impact in his three years has been great. He’s 28-27 with a 3.68 ERA in 78 starts, including an Opening Day nod this year.

Single season: 2014 Johnny Cueto

Cueto just happened to pitch at the same time as Clayton Kershaw or he may have picked up that elusive Cy Young. Kershaw won the award unanimously, but Cueto led the league in starts (34), innings (243 2/3) and strikeouts (242), finishing 20-9 with a 2.25 ERA. He picked up his 20th win on the final day of the season, driving in the go-ahead run and pitching eight innings for the victory over the playoff-bound Pirates.

CL — Aroldis Chapman

Whatever else you say about Aroldis Chapman, he was electrifying. Dude threw 105 mph. Seriously. The closer spot is overrated, but his entrance at Great American Ball Park was an event. He had 146 saves, a 2.17 ERA and struck out 15.4 batters per nine innings in six years in Cincinnati.

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Single season: 2012 Aroldis Chapman

Chapman’s first year as the team’s closer was his best. He put up a 1.51 ERA and recorded a career-best 38 saves (he’d match it in 2013). He also pitched in a career-high 71.2 innings. The Reds may have been the best team in baseball that year and they’d finish off games in style with Chapman on the mound throwing gas.

(Top photo of Johnny Cueto: Dustin Bradford / Getty Images)

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