The Stuttgart Reds had to give up some important players before the season that started this weekend, but they also made strong signings. Now the new team has to prove itself.
Two years in a row, the Stuttgart Reds have reached the play-offs in the Bundesliga and as a result it’s back on the team’s agenda ahead of the start of the season this weekend. However, the fans still have to be patient if they want to attend a home game – due to the construction of the stadium on the Schnarrenberg, the TV Cannstatt baseball players only play twice away. This Saturday we’re going to the Haar Disciples in Munich, and the following week we’re going to Mannheim. Four clubs reach the knockout stages in the southern group, where the reigning champions Heidenheim Heideköpfe and the legionnaires from Regensburg are the favourites, but behind them the other teams from Mannheim, Mainz, Munich, Tübingen and Ulm are arguing with the Reds for the coveted play-off tickets.
Read from our plus offer: This is how the stadium on the Schnarrenberg is being rebuilt
But the Stuttgart have a heavy burden to bear, the team has a changed face. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep the successful team of the last two years together,” admits Reds team manager André Fink. The club have lost their pitcher and junior international Marcel Giraud to the Mannheim Tornados, while batsman William Germaine, one of the league’s best attacking players, has moved to close rivals Tübingen Hawks. In addition, the two Croatians Toni Horvatic (Olimpija Karlovac) and Kruno Gojkovic (Dornbirn Indians) will not return to the Schnarrenberg. “We hope that we could replace them with their compatriots Andrija Tomic and Jose Mendoza on an equal footing,” says Fink. As a substitute for Giraud, the Stuttgart team now has a Spanish junior international in their ranks, José Pimentel (18) joined the Reds from Genoa and should be the starting pitcher.
Read from our offer: The Stuttgart Reds ten years ago
The Reds have high hopes for newly signed Marco Cardoso. The national player is considered one of the greatest German talents in baseball, in winter the 22-year-old was invited to a training camp in the Caribbean by MLB top club Boston Red Sox and was able to show himself to international scouts there – nothing happened (for the time being) with one career overseas. Born in Paderborn, he was looking for a new challenge and wanted to play in the supposedly stronger southern Bundesliga, where his path now led to Bad Cannstatt.
If you want to see the new Reds team in action in Stuttgart, you have to wait until the home game starts on April 16 (2 p.m.), when it’s time to play against Heidenheim Heideköpfe. There are no tickets in advance, tickets can only be purchased at the box office.
