# 2003 Cincinnati Reds season

The 2003 Cincinnati Reds season was the 134th season for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their first season at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. They failed to improve on their 78–84 record from 2002.

## Offseason

* November 18, 2002: Ryan Freel was signed as a free agent by the Reds.
* December 15, 2002: Elmer Dessens and cash were traded by the Reds to the Arizona Diamondbacks as part of a 4-team trade. The Toronto Blue Jays sent Felipe López to the Reds. The Diamondbacks sent Erubiel Durazo to the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics sent a player to be named later to the Blue Jays. The Athletics completed the deal by sending Jason Arnold (minors) to the Blue Jays on December 16.
* January 22, 2003: Josías Manzanillo was signed as a free agent with the Cincinnati Reds.

## Regular season
### Season summary

The Reds finished in fifth place in their division, nineteen games behind the division winner, the Chicago Cubs. They finished with a record of 69-93 and a winning percentage of .421. The Reds finished eighteen games behind the second place team, the Houston Astros. They finished sixteen games behind the third place team, the St. Louis Cardinals. They finished six games behind the fourth place team, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and one game ahead of the sixth place team, the Milwaukee Brewers.
In the middle of the season, the Reds fired manager Bob Boone and promoted Louisville Bats manager Dave Miley to interim manager.

### Season standings
#### National League Central

vteNL Central :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Chicago Cubs | 88 | 74 | .543 | — | 44‍–‍37 | 44‍–‍37 |
| Houston Astros | 87 | 75 | .537 | 1 | 48‍–‍33 | 39‍–‍42 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 85 | 77 | .525 | 3 | 48‍–‍33 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | 75 | 87 | .463 | 13 | 39‍–‍42 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 69 | 93 | .426 | 19 | 35‍–‍46 | 34‍–‍47 |
| Milwaukee Brewers | 68 | 94 | .420 | 20 | 31‍–‍50 | 37‍–‍44 |

#### Record vs. opponents

2003 National League recordvte Source: :
| Team | AZ | ATL | CHC | CIN | COL | FLA | HOU | LA | MIL | MTL | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | AL |
| Arizona | — | 2–5 | 2–4 | 7–2 | 10–9 | 2–5 | 5–1 | 10–9 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 9–10 | 5–14 | 3–3 | 11–4 |
| Atlanta | 5–2 | — | 4–2 | 3–3 | 6–0 | 9–10 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 12–7 | 11–8 | 9–10 | 7–2 | 6–1 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 10–5 |
| Chicago | 4–2 | 2–4 | — | 10–7 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 9–7 | 2–4 | 10–6 | 3–3 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 10–8 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 8–9 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 2–7 | 3–3 | 7–10 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 5–12 | 2–4 | 8–10 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 5–4 | 5–11 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 9–7 | 7–5 |
| Colorado | 9–10 | 0–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 7–12 | 5–1 | 3–4 | 2–5 | 2–4 | 3–6 | 12–7 | 7–12 | 4–2 | 9–6 |
| Florida | 5–2 | 10–9 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 2–4 | — | 1–5 | 2–5 | 7–2 | 13–6 | 12–7 | 13–6 | 2–4 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 9–6 |
| Houston | 1–5 | 1–5 | 7–9 | 12–5 | 4–2 | 5–1 | — | 4–2 | 9–8 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 2–4 | 10–6 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 11–7 | 11–7 |
| Los Angeles | 9–10 | 2–4 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 12–7 | 5–2 | 2–4 | — | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 2–5 | 5–1 | 8–11 | 6–13 | 4–2 | 11–7 |
| Milwaukee | 3–3 | 2–4 | 6–10 | 10–8 | 1–5 | 2–7 | 8–9 | 2–4 | — | 0–6 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 10–7 | 5–1 | 1–5 | 3–13 | 5–7 |
| Montreal | 2–4 | 7–12 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 4–3 | 6–13 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 6–0 | — | 14–5 | 8–11 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 7–0 | 1–5 | 9–9 |
| New York | 2–4 | 8–11 | 1–5 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 7–12 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–6 | 5–14 | — | 7–12 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 1–5 | 5–10 |
| Philadelphia | 2–4 | 10–9 | 5–1 | 4–5 | 4–2 | 6–13 | 4–2 | 5–2 | 2–4 | 11–8 | 12–7 | — | 2–4 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 8–7 |
| Pittsburgh | 3–3 | 2–7 | 8–10 | 11–5 | 6–3 | 4–2 | 6–10 | 1–5 | 7–10 | 3–3 | 2–4 | 4–2 | — | 4–2 | 2–4 | 7–10 | 5–7 |
| San Diego | 10–9 | 1–6 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 7–12 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 11–8 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 2–4 | — | 5–14 | 2–4 | 8–10 |
| San Francisco | 14–5 | 4–2 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 12–7 | 5–1 | 4–2 | 13–6 | 5–1 | 0–7 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 4–2 | 14–5 | — | 5–1 | 10–8 |
| St. Louis | 3–3 | 2–4 | 9–8 | 7–9 | 2–4 | 3–3 | 7–11 | 2–4 | 13–3 | 5–1 | 5–1 | 2–4 | 10–7 | 4–2 | 1–5 | — | 10–8 |

### Notable transactions

* July 30, 2003: José Guillén was traded by the Reds to the Oakland Athletics for Aaron Harang, Joe Valentine, and Jeff Bruksch (minors).
* August 24, 2003: Scott Service was signed as a free agent by the Reds.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Jason LaRue | 118 | 379 | 87 | .230 | 16 | 50 |
| 1B | Sean Casey | 147 | 573 | 167 | .291 | 14 | 80 |
| 2B | D'Angelo Jiménez | 73 | 290 | 84 | .290 | 7 | 31 |
| SS | Barry Larkin | 70 | 241 | 68 | .282 | 2 | 18 |
| 3B | Aaron Boone | 106 | 403 | 110 | .273 | 18 | 65 |
| LF | Adam Dunn | 116 | 381 | 82 | .215 | 27 | 57 |
| CF | Ken Griffey Jr. | 53 | 166 | 41 | .247 | 13 | 26 |
| RF | José Guillén | 91 | 315 | 106 | .337 | 23 | 63 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Juan Castro | 113 | 320 | 81 | .253 | 9 | 33 |
| Austin Kearns | 82 | 292 | 77 | .264 | 15 | 58 |
| Ray Olmedo | 79 | 230 | 55 | .239 | 0 | 17 |
| Rubén Mateo | 74 | 207 | 50 | .242 | 3 | 18 |
| Felipe López | 59 | 197 | 42 | .213 | 2 | 13 |
| Kelly Stinnett | 60 | 179 | 41 | .229 | 3 | 19 |
| Russell Branyan | 74 | 176 | 38 | .216 | 9 | 26 |
| Wily Mo Peña | 80 | 165 | 36 | .218 | 5 | 16 |
| Ryan Freel | 43 | 137 | 39 | .285 | 4 | 12 |
| Reggie Taylor | 100 | 130 | 39 | .217 | 5 | 19 |
| Brandon Larson | 32 | 89 | 9 | .101 | 1 | 9 |
| Tim Hummel | 26 | 84 | 19 | .226 | 2 | 10 |
| Dernell Stenson | 37 | 81 | 20 | .247 | 3 | 13 |
| Stephen Smitherman | 21 | 44 | 7 | .159 | 1 | 6 |
| Eric Valent | 18 | 42 | 9 | .214 | 0 | 1 |
| Corky Miller | 14 | 30 | 8 | .267 | 0 | 1 |
| Mark Budzinski | 4 | 7 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dane Sardinha | 1 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jim Chamblee | 2 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Danny Graves | 30 | 169.0 | 4 | 15 | 5.33 | 60 |
| Paul Wilson | 28 | 166.2 | 8 | 10 | 4.64 | 93 |
| Ryan Dempster | 22 | 115.2 | 3 | 7 | 6.54 | 84 |
| Jimmy Haynes | 18 | 94.1 | 2 | 12 | 6.30 | 49 |
| John Bale | 10 | 46.1 | 1 | 2 | 4.47 | 37 |
| Aaron Harang | 9 | 46.0 | 4 | 3 | 5.28 | 26 |
| Jimmy Anderson | 8 | 38.2 | 1 | 5 | 8.84 | 13 |
| Seth Etherton | 7 | 30.0 | 2 | 4 | 6.90 | 17 |
| Jeff Austin | 7 | 28.1 | 2 | 3 | 8.58 | 22 |
| José Acevedo | 5 | 27.0 | 2 | 0 | 2.67 | 23 |
| Josh Hall | 6 | 24.2 | 0 | 2 | 6.57 | 18 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Todd Van Poppel | 9 | 35.2 | 2 | 1 | 4.54 | 25 |
| Dan Serafini | 10 | 30.0 | 1 | 3 | 5.40 | 13 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Scott Williamson | 42 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 3.19 | 53 |
| Chris Reitsma | 57 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 4.29 | 53 |
| Félix Heredia | 57 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3.00 | 41 |
| John Riedling | 55 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4.90 | 65 |
| Scott Sullivan | 50 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3.62 | 43 |
| Kent Mercker | 49 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2.35 | 41 |
| Brian Reith | 42 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4.11 | 39 |
| Gabe White | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3.93 | 23 |
| Ryan Wagner | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.66 | 25 |
| Phil Norton | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.45 | 7 |
| Scott Randall | 15 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6.51 | 25 |
| Juan Cerros | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.85 | 9 |
| Josías Manzanillo | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12.66 | 7 |
| Matt Belisle | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.19 | 6 |
| Joey Hamilton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12.66 | 7 |
| Joe Valentine | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 1 |
| Mark Watson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 2 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Louisville Bats | International League | Dave Miley and Rick Burleson |
| AA | Chattanooga Lookouts | Southern League | Phillip Wellman |
| A | Potomac Cannons | Carolina League | Jayhawk Owens |
| A | Dayton Dragons | Midwest League | Donnie Scott |
| Rookie | GCL Reds | Gulf Coast League | Edgar Caceres |
| Rookie | Billings Mustangs | Pioneer League | Rick Burleson and Jay Sorg |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Billings