2016 Cincinnati Reds Bobbleheads Predictions Part 1

Since that the 2015 season has come to a close for my beloved Cincinnati Reds, I think that now would be an appropriate time for some 2016 predictions. I am not predicting how the Reds will do next season but rather what bobbleheads I think the team will give out to fans. There will be two parts to this post. First will be the bobbleheads that I believe the team will give out, and second will be the bobbleheads that I believe the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum will give during the regular season.

After promoting a total of nine bobbleheads for the 2015 season, the number was later altered to eight after the final bobblehead was changed to a figurine. While eight is still a lot and the most that the Reds have ever given away in a season, the choice in players could have been better as a lot of them were repeats. With the team undergoing a youth movement and period of reconstruction, it is possible that the 2016 line will feature fresh faces as bobbleheads. I think that Reds will reduce the number from eight and go back to five bobblehead giveaways, and with that in mind, let’s begin with bobblehead number one.

The biggest event for the Reds in 2015 was the Major League Baseball All-Star Game as they were the host team for the game and its activities. Todd Frazier and Arolids Chapman both made the team, and Frazier won a dramatic Home Run Derby in front of an electric Cincinnati crowd. Therefore, bobblehead number one of the 2016 season will be a special Todd Frazier bobblehead in which is he decked out in the All-Star game uniform while holding the Home Run Derby trophy.

Bobblehead number two will be of Rasiel Iglesias. The undoubtedly 2015 Rookie of the Year for the Reds was the best pitcher in a young rotation. He flirted with a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves before giving up a hit in the 6^th inning, and he recorded over 30 strikeouts through three straight games. He is the future ace of this team, and I believe the Reds will capitalize on that by giving out a bobblehead of him.

The third bobblehead will feature Aaron Boone. Boone was one of the most popular players for the Reds during his time with the team, and with 2016 being an induction year for the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, I believe that Boone will be on the ballot and inducted. The Reds always feature a bobblehead of a Reds Hall of Fame inductee, and I believe that Boone will be the one chosen to be immortalized as a nodder.

Fourth is Zack Cozart. He was having the best season of his career in 2015 before an ugly knee injury ended his otherwise All-Star worthy campaign. He has been with the team since 2011 and the starting shortstop since 2012, and I believe it is time for him to be honored with a bobblehead.

The fifth and final nodder of the 2016 season will be Joey Votto, who had an incredible second half of the 2015 season. While I am not thrilled that this will be the final bobblehead, the Reds just do not have enough young stars on the roster that deserve a bobblehead, and based on what he did in 2015, I think the team will go to the “Votto well” once again.

Those are my predictions of the bobbleheads that the Reds will give out in 2016. While there is the potential for a lot of the new young players to be featured as bobbleheads, the fact of the matter is that those guys are not as popular with the fans as some of the older and more established players on the Reds, and when it comes down to who will be featured as a nodder, the main influence is whose bobblehead will result in the most ticket sales. If my predictions are correct, then I plan on going to the Iglesias game, the Boone game, and the Cozart game, as those are players who have never been featured as Reds stadium giveaway bobbleheads. I will go to the Frazier game only if he is in the All-Star uniform, and I will pass on the Votto game. Hopefully the Reds decide to go with players who have never been featured as bobbleheads so I can go to all of the bobblehead games!

Stay tuned for part two!