Jeff Suppan
Paul Maholm
Ian Snell
Tom Gorzelanny
Ryan Dempster
Jeff Suppan
Yovanni Gallardo
Chris Sampson
Jack Cassell
Jonathan Sanchez
Joel Piniero
Braden Looper
All of the above pitchers have made the Reds' offense look helpless so far this season. This is just a poor offensive club. It's a team based on hitting three-run homers, and none of the home run hitters are hitting them right now. The Griffey-Phillips-Dunn triumverate is just killing them in the middle of the order. Dusty has to find a way to move Votto and Encarnacion up in the order until the big three above start hitting. Baker was supposed to be the guy to finally stand up to Griffey's pride, but it sure hasn't happened so far. Cincinnati (12-17) jumped out to a 2-0 lead Wednesday afternoon but that unfortunately was all they would get for a typically solid Aaron Harang. What a hard-luck year his 2008 is turning into. It's got to be even more frustrating for him to live as it is for us to watch. The Cardinals whittled away at the lead while the Reds' offense was snoozing and that was that.
This loss wasn't a total embarassment like Tuesday night, with the horror of Cueto leaving every 2-strike pitch up and over the middle, that ridiculous Keppinger rundown and Dunn throwing the ball behind his head trying to get the ball home. But even the positives are clouded by the spectre of more of the same lurking just around the corner. Yes, they put up two runs early... but Looper's just the kind of mediocre starter the Reds love to fall asleep against. Griffey just feels like an automatic routine out right now. He really isn't hitting the ball hard to any direction, just lazy flyballs to mid-range outfield spots. Brandon Phillips' freeswinging works great when he's golfing balls into the front row in right field, but when he's strking out on pitches that start low and break into the dirt, as a fan you just want to pull your hair out. Save for Votto, Encarnacion and (gulp) Bako there is no bright light offensively, just a bunch of dim bulbs. No one at the top of the order can consistently get on base and score runs. Leadoff continues to be a joke. What was a good start to the series has been pissed away.
The shame of it is this team has the makings of a very good pitching staff. Harang and Volquez have been fantastic all year. Cueto's stuff continues to be electric even when he has location issues. Everyone knew he would be up and down anyway. Arroyo looked like he was really getting it together his last start, and Belisle has the ability to be a servicable fifth starter, even if he hasn't shown it at the major league level in his two starts. The bullpen has been very good, Mercker's poor outing today notwithstanding. With Coffey gone there are no arms in that bullpen where you write "game over" when they come into the game. Bill Bray was fine Tuesday night in mopup duty. Mike Lincoln and Jeremy Affeldt have been solid in middle relief, Burton has been up and down but overall good and Cordero has looked to be worth the money despite his lack of chances.
The offense, however, has been so bad it's hard to not scream for a move just for the sake of doing something different. Adam Dunn hasn't been hitting for two months if you factor in the spring. Could someone so laid-back and already rich be feeling contract year pressure? Reds fans have said a lot of things about him but "thoughtful" isn't a word I've seen applied to a guy nicknamed "Donkey." This lack of production out of Phillips, Griffey and Dunn can't continue. It won't continue... will it?
As far as leadoff/center field goes, it's hard not to scream for Jay Bruce when they keep throwing Ryan Freel and Corey Patterson out there. All I know about Bruce is the hype, but he can't be a worse major leaguer than Ryan Freel at this point in his career. It's an old baseball saying that you can't steal first. Dusty Baker had best be learning that.
From here, the Reds go to Atlanta to face the Braves. It's Matt Belisle's scheduled turn Friday but he's been moved to Saturday to keep Volquez and Cueto pitching every five days. Volquez faces Tim Hudson in the opener Friday night. First pitch is listed on MLB.com as 7:30, which is weird. But that would be 4:30 here in Padreland. Peace.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Game 28: Cardinals 7, Reds 2
The less said about Tuesday's game the better, so a haiku in the name of brevity:
Cueto got destroyed
Dunn homered
But the Reds got beat
Tomorrow gets underway in the afternoon Eastern, in the morning here. Thanks!
Cueto got destroyed
Dunn homered
But the Reds got beat
Tomorrow gets underway in the afternoon Eastern, in the morning here. Thanks!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Game 27: Reds 4, Cardinals 3
The Reds won their third straight game Monday for the first time in 2008 in a 4-3 win at St. Louis.
Two key defensive plays by Edwin Encarnacion, including a diving seventh-inning grab resulting in the third out and a sliding catch under Paul Bako to end the game, sealed the deal on a night when the Reds seemed destined to lose an early 4-0 lead. Edwin also drove in two of the team's four runs, one on a second-inning double and one on a third-inning double.
On the pitching side, Bronson Arroyo looked like the good Bronson for the first time all year. His delivery looked more sidearm/three quarters than it has all year, he did a great job changing speeds and his curve had a ton of bite coming from the strange angle. He wound up allowing three runs in six innings but really pitched much better than that. Jared Burton, Jeremy Affeldt and Francisco Cordero also had a scoreless inning of work each to finish things up, although Burton made it interesting, allowing two hits and forcing Edwin to save the day on a hard smash to third from Yadier Molina.
This was a fantastic win for the Reds to open the series in St. Louis. Beating the team in first always helps you, obviously, and Busch has been a bit of a house of horrors since the place opened (7-11 since it opened). It seems like every year the Reds blow a few games at that park and it was nice getting an early lead and more importantly, holding on. If Bronson can keep up his quality starts, this rotation is going to be in great shape.
Offensively, Ken Griffey Jr., Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn each had two hits, another reason for encouragement. I'm telling you, the pitching has been good enough that if the Reds can get it going at all offensively they're going to make some noise in this division.
PLAYER MOVE!!!!!
No handwringing on this one: Toddrick Coffey is a Louisville Bat once more, and The Honourable Sir William of House Bray has been called up. The move gives the Reds three lefties in the bullpen, but all accounts have been that Bray has been lights-out in AAA, and he looked very good down the stretch last year. Exchanging a useful arm for a black hole? Works for me.
So far this is the only move that has come out of the big Jocketty Meeting with front office officials.
TOMORROW
Johnny Cueto vs. Joel Piniero lock up as the Reds try to ensure a series win. First pitch 8:15 Eastern, 5:15 here in paradise. Peace!
Two key defensive plays by Edwin Encarnacion, including a diving seventh-inning grab resulting in the third out and a sliding catch under Paul Bako to end the game, sealed the deal on a night when the Reds seemed destined to lose an early 4-0 lead. Edwin also drove in two of the team's four runs, one on a second-inning double and one on a third-inning double.
On the pitching side, Bronson Arroyo looked like the good Bronson for the first time all year. His delivery looked more sidearm/three quarters than it has all year, he did a great job changing speeds and his curve had a ton of bite coming from the strange angle. He wound up allowing three runs in six innings but really pitched much better than that. Jared Burton, Jeremy Affeldt and Francisco Cordero also had a scoreless inning of work each to finish things up, although Burton made it interesting, allowing two hits and forcing Edwin to save the day on a hard smash to third from Yadier Molina.
This was a fantastic win for the Reds to open the series in St. Louis. Beating the team in first always helps you, obviously, and Busch has been a bit of a house of horrors since the place opened (7-11 since it opened). It seems like every year the Reds blow a few games at that park and it was nice getting an early lead and more importantly, holding on. If Bronson can keep up his quality starts, this rotation is going to be in great shape.
Offensively, Ken Griffey Jr., Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn each had two hits, another reason for encouragement. I'm telling you, the pitching has been good enough that if the Reds can get it going at all offensively they're going to make some noise in this division.
PLAYER MOVE!!!!!
No handwringing on this one: Toddrick Coffey is a Louisville Bat once more, and The Honourable Sir William of House Bray has been called up. The move gives the Reds three lefties in the bullpen, but all accounts have been that Bray has been lights-out in AAA, and he looked very good down the stretch last year. Exchanging a useful arm for a black hole? Works for me.
So far this is the only move that has come out of the big Jocketty Meeting with front office officials.
TOMORROW
Johnny Cueto vs. Joel Piniero lock up as the Reds try to ensure a series win. First pitch 8:15 Eastern, 5:15 here in paradise. Peace!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Game 26: Reds 10, Giants 1
Any concern that the Reds were completely unable to hit any lefty with a pulse was alleviated Sunday afternoon. Cincinnati jumped all over a helpless Barry Zito and pounded the Giants, 10-1 to earn a series victory.
The Reds started Ryan Freel, Corey Patterson and Scott Hairston in the outfield and still had a 6-0 lead before Zito managed to get the second out of the first inning. From there really it was academic with Edinson Volquez having his 'A' stuff working for the Reds on the hill. On the day he threw seven innings, striking out ten and walking three, allowing one run and five hits. The Giants lineup isn't something to be feared generally but it still was a fantastic performance.
I almost feel bad for Barry Zito. He's got to feel like he's stealing money at this point. The loss put him at 0-6 for the year with a 7.53 ERA. It's almost like Milton's 2005 so far, except if Milton had seven more years on his deal instead of two. Zito's making so much money they have to keep throwing him out there unless he's hurt, but they have no chance when he's on the hill most of the time.
For the Reds, this is the second straight game where their struggling offense put up ten runs. Brandon Phillips had two homers and three RBI, Ryan Freel drove in two, and Joey Votto, Jeff Keppinger and Volquez each had one RBI. We'll see a much better indication of whether this outburst was a result of the Reds pulling it together or if the Giants are just that bad when the Reds open a three-game set at division leading St. Louis Monday. Bronson Arroyo takes the hill looking to turn things around for his 2008 season for the Reds (11-15), while righty Todd Wellemeyer toes the rubber for the Cardinals. Game time is 8:10 Eastern, 5:10 here in paradise. Peace.
The Reds started Ryan Freel, Corey Patterson and Scott Hairston in the outfield and still had a 6-0 lead before Zito managed to get the second out of the first inning. From there really it was academic with Edinson Volquez having his 'A' stuff working for the Reds on the hill. On the day he threw seven innings, striking out ten and walking three, allowing one run and five hits. The Giants lineup isn't something to be feared generally but it still was a fantastic performance.
I almost feel bad for Barry Zito. He's got to feel like he's stealing money at this point. The loss put him at 0-6 for the year with a 7.53 ERA. It's almost like Milton's 2005 so far, except if Milton had seven more years on his deal instead of two. Zito's making so much money they have to keep throwing him out there unless he's hurt, but they have no chance when he's on the hill most of the time.
For the Reds, this is the second straight game where their struggling offense put up ten runs. Brandon Phillips had two homers and three RBI, Ryan Freel drove in two, and Joey Votto, Jeff Keppinger and Volquez each had one RBI. We'll see a much better indication of whether this outburst was a result of the Reds pulling it together or if the Giants are just that bad when the Reds open a three-game set at division leading St. Louis Monday. Bronson Arroyo takes the hill looking to turn things around for his 2008 season for the Reds (11-15), while righty Todd Wellemeyer toes the rubber for the Cardinals. Game time is 8:10 Eastern, 5:10 here in paradise. Peace.
Barry Zito
This may end up looking really dumb if the Reds lose, but good Lord has Barry Zito looked awful so far today. If it isn't two feet out of the strike zone it's a hanger right down the middle. Mechanical adjustments, indeed. Poor Giants fans. The Reds are playing their AAA lineup and it's 6-0 with one out gone in the first. Paul Bako just got his THIRD triple of the year. Ridiculous.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Game 25: Reds 10, Giants 9
The Reds held on to win a back-and-forth slugfest Saturday night, 10-9 over San Francisco.
Cincinnati was paced by a three-RBI night from Brandon Phillips, who went 2-for-6 with a double. Paul Bako had the Reds' lone homer, and Joey Votto had three hits. The action largely came against San Francisco's bullpen after starter Kevin Correia left after a third of an inning with a strained muscle in his left side. Brad Hennessey, Keiichi Yabu and Jack Taschner gave up a combined nine runs in six and one-third innings, giving the Reds a 10-5 lead headed to the top of the ninth. There, Todd Coffey immediately gave up two hits and eventually was charged three runs without getting an out. Francisco Cordero gave up a run making it 10-9 before nailing it down for his third save.
For the Reds, Matt Belisle was better than his first start in the sense that he didn't get completley bombed, but he still was somewhat short of good, allowing four runs in five innings. He still got way too much of the plate at times, but it was closer to acceptable than his last start. Mike Lincoln allowed a run in two innings and Jeremy Affeldt pitched a scoreless inning before the ninth.
Todd Coffey is so unreliable, and was so unreliable last year that it's hard to see him staying up much longer. There has to be someone in AAA who can get outs with some level of consistency. He came in tonight and almost blew a five-run lead singlehandedly. It's just ridiculous. There are way too many black holes and guys the Reds can't count on with this roster. Coffey can't be trusted with anything but a five-run or more deficit. There is one too many catcher and a first baseman who isn't particularly skilled at pinch-hitting. The center field options are all disasters and getting any playing time for Hairston if he isn't in center involves benching a key cog of this team's offense (Keppinger, Encarnacion, Phillips). Walt Jocketty is apparently going to meet with key members of the front office in St. Louis. Changes might be coming.
Cincinnati (10-15) and San Francisco (11-14) lock up in the rubber game of their three-game set tomorrow. Edinson Volquez gets the ball for the Reds, while Barry Zito starts for the Giants. Tomorrow's game will perhaps be the ultimate test of the Reds' ability to hit lefties; Zito has been awful his entire Giants tenure. If the Reds can't get anything going against him, they may not hit anyone. Game time is 4:05 Eastern, 1:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Cincinnati was paced by a three-RBI night from Brandon Phillips, who went 2-for-6 with a double. Paul Bako had the Reds' lone homer, and Joey Votto had three hits. The action largely came against San Francisco's bullpen after starter Kevin Correia left after a third of an inning with a strained muscle in his left side. Brad Hennessey, Keiichi Yabu and Jack Taschner gave up a combined nine runs in six and one-third innings, giving the Reds a 10-5 lead headed to the top of the ninth. There, Todd Coffey immediately gave up two hits and eventually was charged three runs without getting an out. Francisco Cordero gave up a run making it 10-9 before nailing it down for his third save.
For the Reds, Matt Belisle was better than his first start in the sense that he didn't get completley bombed, but he still was somewhat short of good, allowing four runs in five innings. He still got way too much of the plate at times, but it was closer to acceptable than his last start. Mike Lincoln allowed a run in two innings and Jeremy Affeldt pitched a scoreless inning before the ninth.
Todd Coffey is so unreliable, and was so unreliable last year that it's hard to see him staying up much longer. There has to be someone in AAA who can get outs with some level of consistency. He came in tonight and almost blew a five-run lead singlehandedly. It's just ridiculous. There are way too many black holes and guys the Reds can't count on with this roster. Coffey can't be trusted with anything but a five-run or more deficit. There is one too many catcher and a first baseman who isn't particularly skilled at pinch-hitting. The center field options are all disasters and getting any playing time for Hairston if he isn't in center involves benching a key cog of this team's offense (Keppinger, Encarnacion, Phillips). Walt Jocketty is apparently going to meet with key members of the front office in St. Louis. Changes might be coming.
Cincinnati (10-15) and San Francisco (11-14) lock up in the rubber game of their three-game set tomorrow. Edinson Volquez gets the ball for the Reds, while Barry Zito starts for the Giants. Tomorrow's game will perhaps be the ultimate test of the Reds' ability to hit lefties; Zito has been awful his entire Giants tenure. If the Reds can't get anything going against him, they may not hit anyone. Game time is 4:05 Eastern, 1:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Bengals draft...
I'm not really a Bengals or NFL fan anymore. I find most games I do watch to be dull and the product is overrated. I enjoyed college football this past year more than I've enjoyed the NFL since about 2000. Still, I do keep up on the Bengals. Here's a sampling of thread titles on their website after day one of the draft:
- I'm Sick!
- The Bengals Have Cancer
- Mike Brown Stupid Thread
- I don't know how much more I can take...
- After we go 6-10 this year, I don't want to hear...
Looks like it's business as usual with Cincinnati's other team, too!
- I'm Sick!
- The Bengals Have Cancer
- Mike Brown Stupid Thread
- I don't know how much more I can take...
- After we go 6-10 this year, I don't want to hear...
Looks like it's business as usual with Cincinnati's other team, too!
Games 23 and 24
The continued inability to score runs doomed the Reds to their second and third straight defeats Thursday and Friday, losing 5-3 to Houston and 3-1 to San Francisco.
Thursday the Reds got all their runs early but couldn't sustain the early success against Astros starter Jack Cassell. The offensive hibernation from the third on combined with a shakier-than-usual start from Johnny Cueto to earn Houston a two-game series sweep.
Friday the Reds opened a tough nine-game road trip in San Francisco, a club they really need to beat if they're going to contend. Unfortunately the Giants threw a lefthanded starter with a pulse (Jonathan Sanchez in this case), so the Reds were helpless offensively all night. Their only run came on a ninth-inning solo shot from pinch hitter Brandon Phillips, who inexplicably got a day off against a lefty. I know he's struggled at the plate this year but his performance against lefthanders is what takes his numbers from average to special, and sitting him against southpaws isn't really an advisable way to get him out of his slump.
Winning in these big west coast ballparks (SF, LA, SD) has been difficult for this group over the last few years. They've never had the kind of offense that strings together four or five hits in an inning, and that's what you have to do when the longball becomes more difficult to get. The way they're going now, with no one hitting the longball or even really getting much solid contact, the outlook isn't so good for Saturday and Sunday.
The two losses put the Reds record at 9-15 on the year. During April it's usually advisable to say "it's early," but the year is roughly fifteen percent gone and this team has shown very little sign of coming out of its offensive struggles. The Reds are another 2-7 roadtrip away from thinking about 2009. They've been that bad. I'm not normally prone to hyperbole, and it really is such a long season. I know offensively they're missing contributions from three guys (Griffey, Dunn and Phillips) whom they assumed coming into the year were going to carry them. If those three were going things would be better. History shows the problems with lefties probably isn't going away, though. Most teams have a lefthanded starter or two in their rotation. At some point you have to have someone who is capable of hitting them.
The Reds take on the Giants again tonight. Matt Belisle tries to recover from his first disastrous start for the Reds, while San Diegan Kevin Correia gets the ball for Frisco. Game time is 9:05 Eastern, 6:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Thursday the Reds got all their runs early but couldn't sustain the early success against Astros starter Jack Cassell. The offensive hibernation from the third on combined with a shakier-than-usual start from Johnny Cueto to earn Houston a two-game series sweep.
Friday the Reds opened a tough nine-game road trip in San Francisco, a club they really need to beat if they're going to contend. Unfortunately the Giants threw a lefthanded starter with a pulse (Jonathan Sanchez in this case), so the Reds were helpless offensively all night. Their only run came on a ninth-inning solo shot from pinch hitter Brandon Phillips, who inexplicably got a day off against a lefty. I know he's struggled at the plate this year but his performance against lefthanders is what takes his numbers from average to special, and sitting him against southpaws isn't really an advisable way to get him out of his slump.
Winning in these big west coast ballparks (SF, LA, SD) has been difficult for this group over the last few years. They've never had the kind of offense that strings together four or five hits in an inning, and that's what you have to do when the longball becomes more difficult to get. The way they're going now, with no one hitting the longball or even really getting much solid contact, the outlook isn't so good for Saturday and Sunday.
The two losses put the Reds record at 9-15 on the year. During April it's usually advisable to say "it's early," but the year is roughly fifteen percent gone and this team has shown very little sign of coming out of its offensive struggles. The Reds are another 2-7 roadtrip away from thinking about 2009. They've been that bad. I'm not normally prone to hyperbole, and it really is such a long season. I know offensively they're missing contributions from three guys (Griffey, Dunn and Phillips) whom they assumed coming into the year were going to carry them. If those three were going things would be better. History shows the problems with lefties probably isn't going away, though. Most teams have a lefthanded starter or two in their rotation. At some point you have to have someone who is capable of hitting them.
The Reds take on the Giants again tonight. Matt Belisle tries to recover from his first disastrous start for the Reds, while San Diegan Kevin Correia gets the ball for Frisco. Game time is 9:05 Eastern, 6:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Krivsky Firing/Game 22: Astros 9, Reds 3
Another awful start by Bronson Arroyo and another Reds loss were overshadowed by the shocking firing of General Manager Wayne Krivsky Wednesday.
Reds owner Bob Castellini made the call Wednesday morning, naming former Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty as the replacement for Krivsky, who’d been hired in February 2006. Obviously the timing of the move is a little strange; the Reds were just twenty-one games into the 2008 season, and while the bats have yet to awaken for the most part, it’s not like they’re 5-16 or anything. Speculation has the amount of dead money the Reds are paying to people that aren’t even with the team before as being a factor. Others blame the Kearns-Lopez trade with Washington, although that was nearly two full years ago, and it’s time to let that go, man. Krivsky managed to alienate much of the existing front office personnel very early in his tenure, and his seeming lack of people skills may, in the end, have doomed him. The timing of the move is so strange it seems there almost has to be something besides the team’s record causing it.
While the move is oddly timed, the move itself isn’t a complete shocker. Castellini comes from being a part-owner of the Cardinals, and since he brought Jocketty in as a special consultant the whispers have been rampant that he was next in line for the GM seat. I’m a little concerned that Cast is all rhetoric and doesn’t know how to get the results, however. I think he was way too quick on the trigger to dismiss Krivsky. If he was so disturbed by his performance, why did he let him go through the entire offseason as GM? Why did he allow him to expand the payroll if he had no confidence in him? How does the Reds performance in the first 21 games reflect on his performance as GM? If the Reds have the type of owner that has to fire someone after a bad 21-game stretch, I fear this regime will be just as ineffective as Carl Lindner’s, just in a different way. Lindner didn’t care about the team winning as long as he broke even; Cast cares so much he has no patience. This is two straight GMs that were fired before they were even able to see their labors come to fruition, for better or for worse. We’re just now seeing the excellent drafts from the Dan O’Brien era pay dividends, and he’s two GMs ago.
Castellini just keeps saying again, and again, and again that “we’re tired of losing” and “too much losing” and “change the culture” but if kneejerk reactions are going to be the proof of that, I don’t know if the Reds are going to get better any time soon.
On the brighter side, Jocketty knows how to build a market like Cincinnati from his time in St. Louis, and he’s Castellini’s guy, which may mean he’s going to have more rope and more time to make things better. I don’t think 21 games is enough to convince me everything is broken, though.
Day-to-day, though, this move won’t have that much effect in the short term, most likely. It certainly didn’t produce a different result Wednesday from starter Bronson Arroyo, as Houston pounded the Reds, 9-3. Tonight’s start was his worst of the season, a year that could charitably be called “challenging” so far. Bronson didn’t get through the fourth, lasting three and two-thirds innings, allowing ten hits, eight runs (all earned), walking one and striking out five. That, my friends, is getting shelled. Actually watching the game, though, he made some pretty nice pitches, as the strikeouts show, but when he left the ball up he left it way up and over the plate. Houston is not a particularly good-hitting team but any major league team is going to punish mistake after mistake after mistake. Arroyo just doesn’t seem to have a good feel for exactly where the ball is going right now, and when you’re a finesse pitcher it’s hard to get away with poor location in the zone. He lives off his control, and he just doesn’t have it.
Offensively the Reds had a solo shot from Ken Griffey Jr., number 597 on his career. Edwin Encarnacion had another dinger as he is just on fire, and Brandon Phillips had a couple of doubles and looks to be coming out of his funk. Jerry Hairston Jr. had a two-hit day and CP23 had an RBI. Not much else to tell; once again the Reds looked mostly helpless against an average-at-best starter (Chris Sampson) and defused any thought the Reds offense was generally emerging from its funk.
It’s possible that Johnny Cueto’s season has looked all the better because he’s been following Bronson Arroyo in the rotation lately. Hopefully he can turn things around and earn a split with Houston tomorrow afternoon. For the Astronomicals, Jack Cassell makes his first appearance of 2008. I know nothing about him, nor do I want to. I lived in San Diego last year and he started four games for the Padres, not that I follow them any more closely than I do any other non-Reds team. I still have very little recollection of that name. But like it or not, tomorrow there’s gonna be all kinds of Cassell in the house. Like with most weekday afternoon games, I won’t even start watching til at least 8 PM eastern, so it’ll be very old news by the time I get started. I’ll be here anyway, though.
Game time is 12:35 PM Eastern, 9:35 AM here in paradise. Peace.
Reds owner Bob Castellini made the call Wednesday morning, naming former Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty as the replacement for Krivsky, who’d been hired in February 2006. Obviously the timing of the move is a little strange; the Reds were just twenty-one games into the 2008 season, and while the bats have yet to awaken for the most part, it’s not like they’re 5-16 or anything. Speculation has the amount of dead money the Reds are paying to people that aren’t even with the team before as being a factor. Others blame the Kearns-Lopez trade with Washington, although that was nearly two full years ago, and it’s time to let that go, man. Krivsky managed to alienate much of the existing front office personnel very early in his tenure, and his seeming lack of people skills may, in the end, have doomed him. The timing of the move is so strange it seems there almost has to be something besides the team’s record causing it.
While the move is oddly timed, the move itself isn’t a complete shocker. Castellini comes from being a part-owner of the Cardinals, and since he brought Jocketty in as a special consultant the whispers have been rampant that he was next in line for the GM seat. I’m a little concerned that Cast is all rhetoric and doesn’t know how to get the results, however. I think he was way too quick on the trigger to dismiss Krivsky. If he was so disturbed by his performance, why did he let him go through the entire offseason as GM? Why did he allow him to expand the payroll if he had no confidence in him? How does the Reds performance in the first 21 games reflect on his performance as GM? If the Reds have the type of owner that has to fire someone after a bad 21-game stretch, I fear this regime will be just as ineffective as Carl Lindner’s, just in a different way. Lindner didn’t care about the team winning as long as he broke even; Cast cares so much he has no patience. This is two straight GMs that were fired before they were even able to see their labors come to fruition, for better or for worse. We’re just now seeing the excellent drafts from the Dan O’Brien era pay dividends, and he’s two GMs ago.
Castellini just keeps saying again, and again, and again that “we’re tired of losing” and “too much losing” and “change the culture” but if kneejerk reactions are going to be the proof of that, I don’t know if the Reds are going to get better any time soon.
On the brighter side, Jocketty knows how to build a market like Cincinnati from his time in St. Louis, and he’s Castellini’s guy, which may mean he’s going to have more rope and more time to make things better. I don’t think 21 games is enough to convince me everything is broken, though.
Day-to-day, though, this move won’t have that much effect in the short term, most likely. It certainly didn’t produce a different result Wednesday from starter Bronson Arroyo, as Houston pounded the Reds, 9-3. Tonight’s start was his worst of the season, a year that could charitably be called “challenging” so far. Bronson didn’t get through the fourth, lasting three and two-thirds innings, allowing ten hits, eight runs (all earned), walking one and striking out five. That, my friends, is getting shelled. Actually watching the game, though, he made some pretty nice pitches, as the strikeouts show, but when he left the ball up he left it way up and over the plate. Houston is not a particularly good-hitting team but any major league team is going to punish mistake after mistake after mistake. Arroyo just doesn’t seem to have a good feel for exactly where the ball is going right now, and when you’re a finesse pitcher it’s hard to get away with poor location in the zone. He lives off his control, and he just doesn’t have it.
Offensively the Reds had a solo shot from Ken Griffey Jr., number 597 on his career. Edwin Encarnacion had another dinger as he is just on fire, and Brandon Phillips had a couple of doubles and looks to be coming out of his funk. Jerry Hairston Jr. had a two-hit day and CP23 had an RBI. Not much else to tell; once again the Reds looked mostly helpless against an average-at-best starter (Chris Sampson) and defused any thought the Reds offense was generally emerging from its funk.
It’s possible that Johnny Cueto’s season has looked all the better because he’s been following Bronson Arroyo in the rotation lately. Hopefully he can turn things around and earn a split with Houston tomorrow afternoon. For the Astronomicals, Jack Cassell makes his first appearance of 2008. I know nothing about him, nor do I want to. I lived in San Diego last year and he started four games for the Padres, not that I follow them any more closely than I do any other non-Reds team. I still have very little recollection of that name. But like it or not, tomorrow there’s gonna be all kinds of Cassell in the house. Like with most weekday afternoon games, I won’t even start watching til at least 8 PM eastern, so it’ll be very old news by the time I get started. I’ll be here anyway, though.
Game time is 12:35 PM Eastern, 9:35 AM here in paradise. Peace.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Game 21: Reds 8, Dodgers 1
For at least one night Jerry Hairston Jr. was the solution to the puzzle that has been the leadoff spot for the Reds.
A 3-for-5, 2 RBI night for the Reds center fielder powered Cincinnati to an 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night, earning them a split in the brief two-game soiree at Great American Ball Park.
Hairston set the table in the first with a leadoff single, doubled in the third to create a two-out rally that eventually led to the Reds’ tying score, and doubled in two more in the fourth to break open the game, putting the Reds up, 4-1. Hairston’s only major hiccup came in the field, when his inability to track down a second-inning blast from Rafael Furcal led to an RBI ground-rule double, plating LA’s only run.
While one game is perhaps the puniest of sample sizes, it was refreshing to see some contribution offensively from the top spot of the order. More importantly, though, Edinson Volquez showed great signs of progress, pitching seven innings of sparkling baseball.
The concern coming into this start was Volquez’s inability to pitch deep into games so far this year. Again, three starts isn’t a gigantic sample size, but of his first three starts, just one went into the sixth (his last start at Cubs), and he only got one out in the sixth in that one. In each game he’d exited with an elevated pitch count for that early in the game (to be fair, his second start in Pittsburgh was shortened by a rain delay, but he still had 75 pitches in five innings). Tonight he only really got into trouble in the third, and only allowed one run in that frame. Overall he allowed three hits and four walks (still with the walks…), striking out seven and throwing 105 pitches. Just superb.
BRANDONIE!
The Great Brandonie’s bat even awoke with a big league Jim Jackson to left! If he could get going it would be huge for this lineup. The Reds’ starting eight is a beast ready to strike! Houston had better watch out! Phillips has looked miserable at the plate and even looked awful in his first couple of at-bats tonight, and yes, I’ll concede that maybe it was an Esteban Loaiza lollipop that contributed more to the homer than Brandonie’s re-emergence. Still if he could get going, this offense could really start scoring.
LOAIZA
Isn’t Esteban Loaiza like forty? Why was he wearing like four gold chains outside his uniform shirt? Who does that?
DAVE ROSS
The Reds are due for a player move tomorrow as rehab is over for David Ross (injury rehab, not a twelve-step rehab, although that may have been involved, too, I don’t know). I don’t see Ross taking the starting spot from Bako, at least not now, considering that Bako is really hitting better than I expect Ross to, and the pitching has really been pretty good with Bako behind the plate. Big Dust really seems to favor Valentin as the team’s top pinch-hitter, so will we be seeing the dreaded Threeheaded HydraCatcher? That was supposed to be Narron’s gig, and it got him turfed in the ‘Nasti. Can Valentin really contribute enough (read: get enough pinch hits) to justify his spot? He’s a switch-hitter which ostensibly adds flexibility but he’s so bad from the right side that he’s only a switch-hitter in the same way I’m a switch-handwriter: terrible. The Reds already have a lefthanded bat off the bench in Hatteberg. Assuming HydraCatcher will be a reality, here’s the bench:
Valentin, Ross, Freel, Hopper, CP23, Hairston, Hatteberg
Hate to say it, but see ya, Norris. CP23’s got a big league deal now and is your fourth outfielder, Hairston will likely start in center for at least a few days, Freel’s your supersub and the only guy who can play middle infield if Hairston starts in center, and you have to have a backup 1B and Hat’s not going to the minors anyway. Hopper’s the only guy of the above group with a realistic chance to be sent down... unless the Reds go to eleven pitchers, in which case it could still be curtains for Coffey, but they seem bound and determined to give him as many chances as possible to get his stuff together (he pitched the ninth tonight, walked a guy but didn’t give anything up). This is what happens when you have a 90-plus MPH fastball and have shown potential anywhere, ever.
So Hopper probably goes when Ross comes back, assuming they keep 12 pitchers. What gets really interesting is thinking about what they’ll do when Gonzo comes back. Keppinger is one of the few guys who’s hit consistently since the start of the year. Encarnacion is producing too much to spell very often at third. Kepp has two games career in the outfield and you sure aren’t going to put him in center. The Reds already have one first baseman who can’t get any playing time, and you aren’t going to sit Brandon twice a week to open a spot for Keppinger. The Reds also already have a supersub (Freel) they can’t find at-bats for.
Gonzo, though, doesn’t seem to be getting much better physically. It might be a long time before he’s back, so maybe by then they can swing a trade or this situation will have worked itself out (they usually seem to) and it won’t be an issue. It’s fun to play with the puzzle that is the roster, though, and having too many players deserving playing time is much better than last year, when it was “bring someone up from Louisville, install them into lineup immediately” down the stretch.
UP NEXT
Exit Los Angeles, enter Houston. The Reds (9-12) and Astros (9-12) hook up for the first time in 2008 with a two-game set starting tomorrow at Great American. Bronson Arroyo looks to improve on his first four outings for the Reds, while Chris Sampson takes the hill for the Astronomicals. This three-team, seven-game homestand is starting to seem incredibly brief with one against H-Town tomorrow then the finale Thursday afternoon, then it’s out to the coast to contend with Frisco. Could it almost be the end of April already? Yes, it could.
First pitch tomorrow is 7:10, 4:10 here in paradise. Peace.
A 3-for-5, 2 RBI night for the Reds center fielder powered Cincinnati to an 8-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers Tuesday night, earning them a split in the brief two-game soiree at Great American Ball Park.
Hairston set the table in the first with a leadoff single, doubled in the third to create a two-out rally that eventually led to the Reds’ tying score, and doubled in two more in the fourth to break open the game, putting the Reds up, 4-1. Hairston’s only major hiccup came in the field, when his inability to track down a second-inning blast from Rafael Furcal led to an RBI ground-rule double, plating LA’s only run.
While one game is perhaps the puniest of sample sizes, it was refreshing to see some contribution offensively from the top spot of the order. More importantly, though, Edinson Volquez showed great signs of progress, pitching seven innings of sparkling baseball.
The concern coming into this start was Volquez’s inability to pitch deep into games so far this year. Again, three starts isn’t a gigantic sample size, but of his first three starts, just one went into the sixth (his last start at Cubs), and he only got one out in the sixth in that one. In each game he’d exited with an elevated pitch count for that early in the game (to be fair, his second start in Pittsburgh was shortened by a rain delay, but he still had 75 pitches in five innings). Tonight he only really got into trouble in the third, and only allowed one run in that frame. Overall he allowed three hits and four walks (still with the walks…), striking out seven and throwing 105 pitches. Just superb.
BRANDONIE!
The Great Brandonie’s bat even awoke with a big league Jim Jackson to left! If he could get going it would be huge for this lineup. The Reds’ starting eight is a beast ready to strike! Houston had better watch out! Phillips has looked miserable at the plate and even looked awful in his first couple of at-bats tonight, and yes, I’ll concede that maybe it was an Esteban Loaiza lollipop that contributed more to the homer than Brandonie’s re-emergence. Still if he could get going, this offense could really start scoring.
LOAIZA
Isn’t Esteban Loaiza like forty? Why was he wearing like four gold chains outside his uniform shirt? Who does that?
DAVE ROSS
The Reds are due for a player move tomorrow as rehab is over for David Ross (injury rehab, not a twelve-step rehab, although that may have been involved, too, I don’t know). I don’t see Ross taking the starting spot from Bako, at least not now, considering that Bako is really hitting better than I expect Ross to, and the pitching has really been pretty good with Bako behind the plate. Big Dust really seems to favor Valentin as the team’s top pinch-hitter, so will we be seeing the dreaded Threeheaded HydraCatcher? That was supposed to be Narron’s gig, and it got him turfed in the ‘Nasti. Can Valentin really contribute enough (read: get enough pinch hits) to justify his spot? He’s a switch-hitter which ostensibly adds flexibility but he’s so bad from the right side that he’s only a switch-hitter in the same way I’m a switch-handwriter: terrible. The Reds already have a lefthanded bat off the bench in Hatteberg. Assuming HydraCatcher will be a reality, here’s the bench:
Valentin, Ross, Freel, Hopper, CP23, Hairston, Hatteberg
Hate to say it, but see ya, Norris. CP23’s got a big league deal now and is your fourth outfielder, Hairston will likely start in center for at least a few days, Freel’s your supersub and the only guy who can play middle infield if Hairston starts in center, and you have to have a backup 1B and Hat’s not going to the minors anyway. Hopper’s the only guy of the above group with a realistic chance to be sent down... unless the Reds go to eleven pitchers, in which case it could still be curtains for Coffey, but they seem bound and determined to give him as many chances as possible to get his stuff together (he pitched the ninth tonight, walked a guy but didn’t give anything up). This is what happens when you have a 90-plus MPH fastball and have shown potential anywhere, ever.
So Hopper probably goes when Ross comes back, assuming they keep 12 pitchers. What gets really interesting is thinking about what they’ll do when Gonzo comes back. Keppinger is one of the few guys who’s hit consistently since the start of the year. Encarnacion is producing too much to spell very often at third. Kepp has two games career in the outfield and you sure aren’t going to put him in center. The Reds already have one first baseman who can’t get any playing time, and you aren’t going to sit Brandon twice a week to open a spot for Keppinger. The Reds also already have a supersub (Freel) they can’t find at-bats for.
Gonzo, though, doesn’t seem to be getting much better physically. It might be a long time before he’s back, so maybe by then they can swing a trade or this situation will have worked itself out (they usually seem to) and it won’t be an issue. It’s fun to play with the puzzle that is the roster, though, and having too many players deserving playing time is much better than last year, when it was “bring someone up from Louisville, install them into lineup immediately” down the stretch.
UP NEXT
Exit Los Angeles, enter Houston. The Reds (9-12) and Astros (9-12) hook up for the first time in 2008 with a two-game set starting tomorrow at Great American. Bronson Arroyo looks to improve on his first four outings for the Reds, while Chris Sampson takes the hill for the Astronomicals. This three-team, seven-game homestand is starting to seem incredibly brief with one against H-Town tomorrow then the finale Thursday afternoon, then it’s out to the coast to contend with Frisco. Could it almost be the end of April already? Yes, it could.
First pitch tomorrow is 7:10, 4:10 here in paradise. Peace.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Game 20: Dodgers 9, Reds 3
A disastrous first outing from Reds starter Matt Belisle sent the Reds to their eighth defeat in their last ten games, falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers 9-3 Monday night.
From his second pitch to LA leadoff man Rafael Furcal (a no-doubt dinger to right) to his final delivery to Matt Kemp (an RBI double making it 6-0) Belisle mainly pitched to one part of the zone: right down the middle of the plate. Los Angeles (8-11), coming off an awful start to the season offensively, saw its bats awaken at Great American, as so many teams do.
Belisle’s final line was four-plus innings, twelve hits, seven runs (five earned), three strikeouts and a walk. It was almost as bad as Fogg’s two disasters, much as I hate to say it, although I’d give him another couple of starts to right himself. If Fogg got three starts, Belisle should, too. Maybe he was trying too hard to impress or something, although I would think that would lead to wildness rather than fastballs right down the middle.
It does raise the question, though: if Belisle does right the ship to, say, last year’s performance level, and Bailey keeps pitching well in AAA, how long do you keep Bailey in Louisville? The question, to me, depends on how Bailey is going about piling up his numbers. If he’s still primarily getting guys out with a rising fastball that’s really wild in the zone and appears to have no clue where it’s going, you have to leave him down. If he’s getting guys out and throwing his breaking pitch for strikes, it becomes a different story. That’s another question for another day, though.
In relief Jeremy Affeldt got the outs in the fifth after Belisle exited with two on, one in and none out. He allowed one run to score on a groundout for out one, making it 7-0. Josh Fogg relieved him in the fifth, promptly reminding fans why he was lifted from the rotation to begin with and hitting Russell Martin and serving up a dinger to Nomar Garciaparra. He did recover to pitch a 1-2-3 sixth, however. Todd Coffey looked OK in pitching a scoreless eighth although he did walk a guy, while Kent Mercker allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth.
Two of the only positives for the Reds (8-12) were absolute blasts off the bats of the hot-hitting Edwin Encarnacion (two-for-four, two runs scored) in the seventh, along with a titanic shot to dead center off the riverboat by Joey Votto. It was a truly Dunn-esque homer. Unfortunately the two homers made the score 9-2 and 9-3, but it’s hard not to grasp at straws when a team gets skunked.
Monday felt like a throwback game, one we saw all too often from 2001-2007, where a horrible starting performance led to the team being out of the game from inning one. For the sake of the team, the bullpen and my sanity here’s hoping they can get more out of Edinson Volquez tomorrow. Volquez’s last two starts have both resulted in five innings and a whole lot of pitches. If his control problems continue, this threatens to become a staff that has to use its bullpen quite a bit between Volquez, Arroyo and whoever the fifth spot ends up being, and three five or six-inning starts a week will burn out a bullpen quick. He faces Taiwanese lefty Hong Chih-Kuo in the finale of this brief two-game series tomorrow. First pitch is 7:10, 4:10 here in paradise. Peace.
From his second pitch to LA leadoff man Rafael Furcal (a no-doubt dinger to right) to his final delivery to Matt Kemp (an RBI double making it 6-0) Belisle mainly pitched to one part of the zone: right down the middle of the plate. Los Angeles (8-11), coming off an awful start to the season offensively, saw its bats awaken at Great American, as so many teams do.
Belisle’s final line was four-plus innings, twelve hits, seven runs (five earned), three strikeouts and a walk. It was almost as bad as Fogg’s two disasters, much as I hate to say it, although I’d give him another couple of starts to right himself. If Fogg got three starts, Belisle should, too. Maybe he was trying too hard to impress or something, although I would think that would lead to wildness rather than fastballs right down the middle.
It does raise the question, though: if Belisle does right the ship to, say, last year’s performance level, and Bailey keeps pitching well in AAA, how long do you keep Bailey in Louisville? The question, to me, depends on how Bailey is going about piling up his numbers. If he’s still primarily getting guys out with a rising fastball that’s really wild in the zone and appears to have no clue where it’s going, you have to leave him down. If he’s getting guys out and throwing his breaking pitch for strikes, it becomes a different story. That’s another question for another day, though.
In relief Jeremy Affeldt got the outs in the fifth after Belisle exited with two on, one in and none out. He allowed one run to score on a groundout for out one, making it 7-0. Josh Fogg relieved him in the fifth, promptly reminding fans why he was lifted from the rotation to begin with and hitting Russell Martin and serving up a dinger to Nomar Garciaparra. He did recover to pitch a 1-2-3 sixth, however. Todd Coffey looked OK in pitching a scoreless eighth although he did walk a guy, while Kent Mercker allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth.
Two of the only positives for the Reds (8-12) were absolute blasts off the bats of the hot-hitting Edwin Encarnacion (two-for-four, two runs scored) in the seventh, along with a titanic shot to dead center off the riverboat by Joey Votto. It was a truly Dunn-esque homer. Unfortunately the two homers made the score 9-2 and 9-3, but it’s hard not to grasp at straws when a team gets skunked.
Monday felt like a throwback game, one we saw all too often from 2001-2007, where a horrible starting performance led to the team being out of the game from inning one. For the sake of the team, the bullpen and my sanity here’s hoping they can get more out of Edinson Volquez tomorrow. Volquez’s last two starts have both resulted in five innings and a whole lot of pitches. If his control problems continue, this threatens to become a staff that has to use its bullpen quite a bit between Volquez, Arroyo and whoever the fifth spot ends up being, and three five or six-inning starts a week will burn out a bullpen quick. He faces Taiwanese lefty Hong Chih-Kuo in the finale of this brief two-game series tomorrow. First pitch is 7:10, 4:10 here in paradise. Peace.
Juan Castro DFA'd
The Reds designated Juan Castro for assignment Monday, promoting Jerry Hairston Jr. from Louisville to take his place.
Obviously the move eliminates a black hole on the Reds' bench, something that was long overdue. I figured Castro would at least make it to whenever Alex Gonzalez is well enough to come back, which wasn't good because it looks like it might be a while before Gonzo is back. This move ostensibly gives the Reds a righthanded power bat off the bench, although Hairston would have had a big league job in the spring if he was that great. He tore it up in spring and was off to a great start in Louisville, though, which is better than the alternative.
The Reds won't be looking for Hairston to save the season, but at the plate he'll be a better alternative than Ryan Freel or Norris Hopper as the RH PH and will bring more to the table than, well, nothing, which is what Castro was bringing. This is a good move that was long overdue.
Obviously the move eliminates a black hole on the Reds' bench, something that was long overdue. I figured Castro would at least make it to whenever Alex Gonzalez is well enough to come back, which wasn't good because it looks like it might be a while before Gonzo is back. This move ostensibly gives the Reds a righthanded power bat off the bench, although Hairston would have had a big league job in the spring if he was that great. He tore it up in spring and was off to a great start in Louisville, though, which is better than the alternative.
The Reds won't be looking for Hairston to save the season, but at the plate he'll be a better alternative than Ryan Freel or Norris Hopper as the RH PH and will bring more to the table than, well, nothing, which is what Castro was bringing. This is a good move that was long overdue.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
One more thing...
There was one more thing I neglected to mention in my post about today's game.. how horrible was the decision to send Dunn in the bottom of the fourth on Keppinger's double? Here's the sequence of events as it played out in my mind, watching:
"Man, Keppinger hit that pretty well, that should be a double."
(Shot of Braun tracking down the ball)
"Man, I hope they don't send Dunn."
(Braun throws, followed by shot of Dunn slowing up as he gets to third, then speeding back up as Berry sends him home)
"Oh, no."
(Dunn is out by ten feet, and that is a generous estimate)
"[expletive deleted]."
I know all third base coaches are going to get burned a few times a season, but the hit wasn't even that deep into left-center. At the time the Reds couldn't get anything going and were only down one, but being that stupidly aggressive on the bases is going to make the chances of scoring even less. If this had turned out to be a loss, that play would have been much bigger, but with the win I forgot to mention it earlier.
"Man, Keppinger hit that pretty well, that should be a double."
(Shot of Braun tracking down the ball)
"Man, I hope they don't send Dunn."
(Braun throws, followed by shot of Dunn slowing up as he gets to third, then speeding back up as Berry sends him home)
"Oh, no."
(Dunn is out by ten feet, and that is a generous estimate)
"[expletive deleted]."
I know all third base coaches are going to get burned a few times a season, but the hit wasn't even that deep into left-center. At the time the Reds couldn't get anything going and were only down one, but being that stupidly aggressive on the bases is going to make the chances of scoring even less. If this had turned out to be a loss, that play would have been much bigger, but with the win I forgot to mention it earlier.
Game 19: Reds 4, Brewers 3 (10 Innings)
The Reds came back from a 3-1 deficit in the tenth to down Milwaukee 4-3 Sunday at Great American.
After a disastrous error on a potential double play ball extended the Brewers tenth and allowed them to score two runs, Edwin Encarnacion and Paul Bako led off the bottom of the tenth with solo homers off Brewers closer Eric Gagne to tie it. Manager Ned Yost gave Gagne the hook after he walked Scott Hatteberg. Brandon Phillips moved him to second with an infield single off Salomon Torres, and Ken Griffey Jr. ended it with a one-hopper off the wall in right to score pinch runner Ryan Freel.
ON HARANG
Harang looked very sharp today. Eight innings, four hits, one run allowed and if this offense had any chance against Gallardo he would have gotten a win. As it is, he was stuck with a no-decision. You can tell how deceptive his stuff can be by looking at the kind of pitches hitters take for called strikes (fastballs right down the middle, etc.). He’s good at varying speeds on his fastball and he can throw his breaking ball to any part of the zone. Watching him almost makes you think that pitching effectively in the majors really isn’t that complicated; it’s all control, moving the ball around, throwing strikes, getting ahead and varying pitch and location to keep guys off-balance. Harang doesn’t throw 95 (he tops out low-90s but most of his fastballs seem to stay in the high-80s) and he doesn’t have an unhittable breaking pitch. Then you see other pitchers who can’t do what he does and you really appreciate him.
Milwaukee’s first run came when Harang made a rare (for today) mistake, leaving a fastball up that J.J. Hardy deposited into the left-field seats to open the Brewers fourth that put the Reds down 1-0. Edwin Encarnacion knotted the game at one apiece with a no-doubter on a 3-1 inside fastball from Gallardo that he must have been waiting for. Edwin just turned on it and punished it.
ONE THING
While the Reds offense was quietly being sat down by Gallardo (basically every inning except for the fifth) I looking at this recent skid, starting with the Pirates series last weekend. By my basic calculations (didn’t really double-check this but I think it’s right), the Reds have played 83 innings over the last nine games. They’ve either been tied or behind at the end of 74 of those innings. They’ve only led going into ten out of 83 innings. That’s what’s been so frustrating about this skid; they’ve hardly ever even led and in nearly every game the opposition has scored first. It’s made the whole string of games seem even worse than it actually has been.
OH, EDWIN
Encarnacion’s tenth-inning error couldn’t have come at a worse time. The only way it could have been a worse outcome was if it had gotten past him and gone into left field. He likely would have turned a 5-3 double play and ended the inning tied at one, but got ahead of himself and booted the grounder. Jared Burton managed to ensure the error would cost the Reds runs by promptly throwing a fifty-five footer to the backstop, removing all doubt that the Reds might get out of it.
I’m kind of an Edwin booster but it’s getting so rough for him in the field that I’m not sure you don’t try to find some other position for him. I don’t know how much longer we can watch this. Of course, he hit two dingers today. Keep him, kill him, he’s had the most up and down first 19 games I’ve ever seen.
COFFEY REMAINS?
David Weathers’ injury may have earned Todd Coffey a stay of execution. Everyone knew a roster move was coming with Matt Belisle making the start tomorrow, and the assumption was that Coffey was going to Louisville. Weathers’ elbow issues open a spot for Belisle to slide into the rotation.
Neither the Reds nor Todd Coffey are helped by his remaining in the majors. They obviously have zero confidence in him (what justification has he given them for having any trust?) and he still can’t get outs consistently in any situation, much less pressure situations. It’s possible Coffey is still headed out, so we’ll see.
GAGNE
I laughed when Milwaukee gave Gagne all that money considering that by the end of the year in 2007 Boston was afraid to even consider using him in a high-leverage situation, and he’s been just terrible. This is the second game in just over a week he’s blown a save against the Reds alone. He nearly blew Friday’s game, and today didn’t even get an out. Yost has to be losing confidence in him after lifting him so soon today, and for good reason. It will be interesting to see if Milwaukee, a franchise not commonly known for signing splashy free agents, sticks with him at closer much longer, or if organizational pressures end up forcing Yost to stick with him longer than he would have liked. This Brewers team is very good, and has a real chance at the playoffs, but games like this one will come back to haunt you when you’re a couple of games back in September.
UP NEXT
The win improves the Reds’ record to 8-11 on the year, while the Brewers fell to 11-7. Thankfully Milwaukee is now leaving town (good riddance to Bill Hall especially, but their whole lineup is dangerous, even Kendall so far this year). The Reds won’t see them again until July. The Reds stay home for games Monday and Tuesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team that’s also off to a disappointing start at 7-11. Monday Matt Belisle makes his 2008 major league debut against Dodgers ace Brad Penny. Runs again will likely be tough to come by for the Reds; let’s hope they bring their ‘A’ games.
First pitch is 7:10 Eastern, 4:10 here in paradise. Peace.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
David Weathers
Per Fay, David Weathers underwent an MRI after the game today, but the results came back normal. So much for there being an injury-related reason for his struggles this year.
Game 17 and 18
Game 17, Brewers 5, Reds 2
Game 18, Brewers 5, Reds 3 (10)
Any hope of a sustained offensive turnaround for the Reds after Thursday’s rout in Chicago was snuffed out after two straight losses to the Brewers Friday and Saturday.
Friday Milwaukee’s ace Ben Sheets was dealing, and there wasn’t much the Reds could do about it through five. Sheets was lifted after five due to tightness in his throwing arm, certainly reason for concern for such an injury-prone starter who has gotten off to such a great start. At that point the Reds trailed 4-0 after Arroyo’s poor starting performance.
Saturday the Reds again looked helpless against Jeff Suppan, just an average big league starting pitcher, before finally coming back to tie it in the seventh. Johnny Cueto was again superb, this time against a team that was seeing him for the second time, definitely an encouraging sign. However David Weathers allowed the winning runs to score on a Bill Hall double in the tenth, and the Reds have lost seven of eight.
IT”S OFFICIAL
It’s time to be concerned about Bronson Arroyo. He just doesn’t seem to have confidence in his stuff at this point. He clearly was trying to nail every corner Friday night, just being way too fine with his breaking ball, and he got pounded because of it. He’s had four starts and his performances seem to be getting progressively worse. One of the thing that’s so great about watching Cueto, Harang and Volquez is they really attack the zone and generally throw strikes (Volquez had some control issues his last start but still made nasty pitches in the zone). Another issue with Arroyo’s performance Friday was that when he missed, he missed up. Bill Hall’s homer still hasn’t landed yet, and it’s late Saturday night. He didn’t miss in the dirt, he missed Bako’s target right into the hitting zone.
IT’S ALSO OFFICIAL
Be concerned about David Weathers. He’s been shaky all season and doesn’t seem to be confident to throw strikes in the zone. If you’re flipping breaking balls and piddly fastballs outside the zone, hitters will eventually figure it out and wait for you to throw something they can hit. Stormy has eight walks in seven and a third innings this year to go with nine hits. That’s a WHIP of 2.32. He took the loss today, pitching a terrible tenth and being victimized again by Bill Hall, the Reds killer. I look for Mike Lincoln to get more innings in high-leverage situations before the 9th in the coming games along with Jared Burton. I have nothing against Weathers; when the Reds got him I never thought they would get as much out of him as they have, but he looks like his goose is cooked.
ROTATION CHANGE
Starting Monday the Reds will no longer be guaranteed a loss every fifth day, as Josh Fogg has been demoted to the bullpen. Matt Belisle will start Monday’s game against the Dodgers after looking superb in three minor league starts. The move is not completely unexpected but I still give them credit for pulling the plug before he did any more damage. From the start Fogg felt like a true throwback in the Reds rotation: a guy who was only there because he’d had a little success in the majors in the past, who had completely outlived his usefulness, and whose best-case start was five innings, three runs and not getting shelled. The only difference is that in the past, it felt like the Reds’ entire rotation was made up of guys like that, whereas now they’ve actually got a few pitchers who can get guys out. The presence of Harang, Cueto and Volquez made Fogg’s awfulness stand out all that much more, though.
Belisle is a guy who’s had his ups and downs in his time with the Reds. He arrived as a former highly-touted prospect out of the Atlanta organization, but several times guys who Atlanta trades away don’t end up working out (as Bruce Chen, Jung Bong and Rob Bell showed the Reds in the past), but Belisle had times last year when he looked like he was really putting everything together. He certainly can’t do much worse than the guy he’s replacing.
POOR AT-BATS
Poor at-bats, especially from the top of the order, are really hindering the Reds’ ability to get into the bullpens of teams. When things aren’t going well at the plate the Reds aren’t even making the opposing starters work for it. It appears Dusty is already souring on the Corey Patterson experience. He’s a leadoff man who nearly always swings at the first thing he sees that even remotely resembles a strike. Freel and Hopper also go up hacking pretty much every time up. The offense has continued to struggle against even league-average starting pitching, but even when you’re not getting a lot of hits, making the opposing pitcher throw more than two pitches per hitter can help you get to the soft underbelly of every pitching staff, the 5th-6th-7th inning middle relief. There are guys on the team that realize this; Griffey made a point of seeing a lot of pitches and giving Volquez a bit of a breather in the Thursday game at Chicago when Hopper and Freel saw two pitches in making the first two outs in the top of the fifth.
Joey Votto had a game-tying dinger in the Saturday game, which is one element this team needed to get going offensively. The void at the top and bottom of the order (Patterson, Bako) is really hurting, though. Dunn still isn’t doing much. Griffey only has three homers but he’s always going to be a power threat even when he isn’t going good, so I’m not all that concerned about him. How long can they look at getting little to no production out of center field before the temptation to bring up Jay Bruce becomes too great?
The two losses put the Reds record at 7-11 on the season, while Milwaukee improved to 11-6. The Reds try to salvage the series in Sunday’s finale. Aaron Harang looks to rebound from a poor outing for the Reds, while Milwaukee still showed TBA as of Saturday night. Yovani Galardo may get the ball, as he is eligible to come off the DL Sunday.
Game time is 1:15 Eastern, 10:15 AM here in paradise. Peace.
Game 18, Brewers 5, Reds 3 (10)
Any hope of a sustained offensive turnaround for the Reds after Thursday’s rout in Chicago was snuffed out after two straight losses to the Brewers Friday and Saturday.
Friday Milwaukee’s ace Ben Sheets was dealing, and there wasn’t much the Reds could do about it through five. Sheets was lifted after five due to tightness in his throwing arm, certainly reason for concern for such an injury-prone starter who has gotten off to such a great start. At that point the Reds trailed 4-0 after Arroyo’s poor starting performance.
Saturday the Reds again looked helpless against Jeff Suppan, just an average big league starting pitcher, before finally coming back to tie it in the seventh. Johnny Cueto was again superb, this time against a team that was seeing him for the second time, definitely an encouraging sign. However David Weathers allowed the winning runs to score on a Bill Hall double in the tenth, and the Reds have lost seven of eight.
IT”S OFFICIAL
It’s time to be concerned about Bronson Arroyo. He just doesn’t seem to have confidence in his stuff at this point. He clearly was trying to nail every corner Friday night, just being way too fine with his breaking ball, and he got pounded because of it. He’s had four starts and his performances seem to be getting progressively worse. One of the thing that’s so great about watching Cueto, Harang and Volquez is they really attack the zone and generally throw strikes (Volquez had some control issues his last start but still made nasty pitches in the zone). Another issue with Arroyo’s performance Friday was that when he missed, he missed up. Bill Hall’s homer still hasn’t landed yet, and it’s late Saturday night. He didn’t miss in the dirt, he missed Bako’s target right into the hitting zone.
IT’S ALSO OFFICIAL
Be concerned about David Weathers. He’s been shaky all season and doesn’t seem to be confident to throw strikes in the zone. If you’re flipping breaking balls and piddly fastballs outside the zone, hitters will eventually figure it out and wait for you to throw something they can hit. Stormy has eight walks in seven and a third innings this year to go with nine hits. That’s a WHIP of 2.32. He took the loss today, pitching a terrible tenth and being victimized again by Bill Hall, the Reds killer. I look for Mike Lincoln to get more innings in high-leverage situations before the 9th in the coming games along with Jared Burton. I have nothing against Weathers; when the Reds got him I never thought they would get as much out of him as they have, but he looks like his goose is cooked.
ROTATION CHANGE
Starting Monday the Reds will no longer be guaranteed a loss every fifth day, as Josh Fogg has been demoted to the bullpen. Matt Belisle will start Monday’s game against the Dodgers after looking superb in three minor league starts. The move is not completely unexpected but I still give them credit for pulling the plug before he did any more damage. From the start Fogg felt like a true throwback in the Reds rotation: a guy who was only there because he’d had a little success in the majors in the past, who had completely outlived his usefulness, and whose best-case start was five innings, three runs and not getting shelled. The only difference is that in the past, it felt like the Reds’ entire rotation was made up of guys like that, whereas now they’ve actually got a few pitchers who can get guys out. The presence of Harang, Cueto and Volquez made Fogg’s awfulness stand out all that much more, though.
Belisle is a guy who’s had his ups and downs in his time with the Reds. He arrived as a former highly-touted prospect out of the Atlanta organization, but several times guys who Atlanta trades away don’t end up working out (as Bruce Chen, Jung Bong and Rob Bell showed the Reds in the past), but Belisle had times last year when he looked like he was really putting everything together. He certainly can’t do much worse than the guy he’s replacing.
POOR AT-BATS
Poor at-bats, especially from the top of the order, are really hindering the Reds’ ability to get into the bullpens of teams. When things aren’t going well at the plate the Reds aren’t even making the opposing starters work for it. It appears Dusty is already souring on the Corey Patterson experience. He’s a leadoff man who nearly always swings at the first thing he sees that even remotely resembles a strike. Freel and Hopper also go up hacking pretty much every time up. The offense has continued to struggle against even league-average starting pitching, but even when you’re not getting a lot of hits, making the opposing pitcher throw more than two pitches per hitter can help you get to the soft underbelly of every pitching staff, the 5th-6th-7th inning middle relief. There are guys on the team that realize this; Griffey made a point of seeing a lot of pitches and giving Volquez a bit of a breather in the Thursday game at Chicago when Hopper and Freel saw two pitches in making the first two outs in the top of the fifth.
Joey Votto had a game-tying dinger in the Saturday game, which is one element this team needed to get going offensively. The void at the top and bottom of the order (Patterson, Bako) is really hurting, though. Dunn still isn’t doing much. Griffey only has three homers but he’s always going to be a power threat even when he isn’t going good, so I’m not all that concerned about him. How long can they look at getting little to no production out of center field before the temptation to bring up Jay Bruce becomes too great?
The two losses put the Reds record at 7-11 on the season, while Milwaukee improved to 11-6. The Reds try to salvage the series in Sunday’s finale. Aaron Harang looks to rebound from a poor outing for the Reds, while Milwaukee still showed TBA as of Saturday night. Yovani Galardo may get the ball, as he is eligible to come off the DL Sunday.
Game time is 1:15 Eastern, 10:15 AM here in paradise. Peace.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Game 16: Reds 9, Cubs 2
The Cincinnati Reds’ 9-2 win over the Chicago Cubs turned into the Joey Votto show.
The Reds’ first baseman had a three-run double and a two-run homer to power the Reds to victory. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and sent the Reds home with a 7-9 record. With the loss the Cubs fell to 9-6 on the season.
Cincinnati fell behind 1-0 early after Edinson Volquez walked pitcher Ted Lilly with the bases loaded to score Aramis Ramirez. Volquez wasn’t his usual pinpoint self he’s been so far this season, but still only allowed one run in six innings of work. In a way it was just as encouraging a performance as he’s shown when he’s “on”; one of the keys to long term major league success is to be able to gut it out and not allow a ton of runs even when you don’t have your best stuff. His location wasn’t the best today and he allowed baserunners nearly every inning (four walks and four hits in five innings), but still only allowed one run.
The 1-0 margin held til the fourth. The Reds loaded the bases with one out on an Adam Dunn walk, Jeff Keppinger single and Edwin Encarnacion walk. Votto then smashed a liner to deep left-center field to clear the bases. Fitting that the Reds’ first clutch hit in what seems like ages came from a guy whose slow start was a major factor in the team’s early offensive struggles. Both Votto and Encarnacion (two doubles) look like they’re coming out of their funks in a major way, which should lead to much better pitches to hit for Dunn and Brandon Phillips (who had the afternoon off) above them in the order.
The 3-1 lead lasted til the 6th, when Votto crushed a no-doubter to right center off Lilly to make it 5-1. Strangely, Edinson Volquez hit for himself, then was replaced by Jared Burton pitching in the bottom of the inning. Burton went two, allowing a run in a shaky sixth that saw Daryle Ward at the plate representing the tying run. Burton got him on a flyout, though, and settled down to pitch a fine seventh.
Cincinnati’s offense struck again in the top of the seventh with Ken Griffey Jr.’s 596th homer of his career, a bomb to right-center that scored three and put the game out of reach at 8-2. In one of those statistical oddities that only happens in baseball, catcher Paul Bako tripled in the eighth, his second three-bagger in five days. Before this past Sunday he had only nine on his entire career, and now he has two in the last five days. Ryan Freel drove him in for the final run of the game. David Weathers and Todd Coffey finished things up for the Reds in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
The loss closes the first road trip of the 2008 season for Cincinnati. They finished it 3-6 after a 2-1 start, but the important part is they won today and go home on a winning note. The five-game losing streak was disappointing, and I’m starting to get concerned about the bullpen getting overworked. Save for Harang going eight innings in the start before last the Reds really haven’t had a starter go deep into a game in quite a while. The good part is they appear to have bullpen depth, with a number of guys capable of coming into the game and pitching effectively.
The Reds welcome the Milwaukee Brewers into Great American to open a seven-game homestand starting Friday night. The Brewers come off losing two of three at surprising St. Louis, although they did take the series finale in extra innings Thursday afternoon. Ben Sheets faces Bronson Arroyo in the series opener. Arroyo hasn’t lasted past the sixth yet in three starts, going just five in two of his appearances, and hasn’t looked particularly good overall. Sheets, on the other hand, has been outstanding so far this year, allowing just 12 hits and four walks in 23 innings and striking out twenty. Sheets used to be one of the best young pitchers in the National League but has been derailed by injuries as of late, but his performance so far this year has been superb.
The season series advantage goes to the Reds, who took two of three from Milwaukee the week before last to open the road trip. Game time for the opener is 7:10 Eastern, 4:10 here in paradise. Peace.
The Reds’ first baseman had a three-run double and a two-run homer to power the Reds to victory. The win snapped a five-game losing streak and sent the Reds home with a 7-9 record. With the loss the Cubs fell to 9-6 on the season.
Cincinnati fell behind 1-0 early after Edinson Volquez walked pitcher Ted Lilly with the bases loaded to score Aramis Ramirez. Volquez wasn’t his usual pinpoint self he’s been so far this season, but still only allowed one run in six innings of work. In a way it was just as encouraging a performance as he’s shown when he’s “on”; one of the keys to long term major league success is to be able to gut it out and not allow a ton of runs even when you don’t have your best stuff. His location wasn’t the best today and he allowed baserunners nearly every inning (four walks and four hits in five innings), but still only allowed one run.
The 1-0 margin held til the fourth. The Reds loaded the bases with one out on an Adam Dunn walk, Jeff Keppinger single and Edwin Encarnacion walk. Votto then smashed a liner to deep left-center field to clear the bases. Fitting that the Reds’ first clutch hit in what seems like ages came from a guy whose slow start was a major factor in the team’s early offensive struggles. Both Votto and Encarnacion (two doubles) look like they’re coming out of their funks in a major way, which should lead to much better pitches to hit for Dunn and Brandon Phillips (who had the afternoon off) above them in the order.
The 3-1 lead lasted til the 6th, when Votto crushed a no-doubter to right center off Lilly to make it 5-1. Strangely, Edinson Volquez hit for himself, then was replaced by Jared Burton pitching in the bottom of the inning. Burton went two, allowing a run in a shaky sixth that saw Daryle Ward at the plate representing the tying run. Burton got him on a flyout, though, and settled down to pitch a fine seventh.
Cincinnati’s offense struck again in the top of the seventh with Ken Griffey Jr.’s 596th homer of his career, a bomb to right-center that scored three and put the game out of reach at 8-2. In one of those statistical oddities that only happens in baseball, catcher Paul Bako tripled in the eighth, his second three-bagger in five days. Before this past Sunday he had only nine on his entire career, and now he has two in the last five days. Ryan Freel drove him in for the final run of the game. David Weathers and Todd Coffey finished things up for the Reds in the eighth and ninth, respectively.
The loss closes the first road trip of the 2008 season for Cincinnati. They finished it 3-6 after a 2-1 start, but the important part is they won today and go home on a winning note. The five-game losing streak was disappointing, and I’m starting to get concerned about the bullpen getting overworked. Save for Harang going eight innings in the start before last the Reds really haven’t had a starter go deep into a game in quite a while. The good part is they appear to have bullpen depth, with a number of guys capable of coming into the game and pitching effectively.
The Reds welcome the Milwaukee Brewers into Great American to open a seven-game homestand starting Friday night. The Brewers come off losing two of three at surprising St. Louis, although they did take the series finale in extra innings Thursday afternoon. Ben Sheets faces Bronson Arroyo in the series opener. Arroyo hasn’t lasted past the sixth yet in three starts, going just five in two of his appearances, and hasn’t looked particularly good overall. Sheets, on the other hand, has been outstanding so far this year, allowing just 12 hits and four walks in 23 innings and striking out twenty. Sheets used to be one of the best young pitchers in the National League but has been derailed by injuries as of late, but his performance so far this year has been superb.
The season series advantage goes to the Reds, who took two of three from Milwaukee the week before last to open the road trip. Game time for the opener is 7:10 Eastern, 4:10 here in paradise. Peace.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Game 15: Cubs 12, Reds 3
The Reds lost their fifth straight Wednesday night, dropping a 12-3 decision to Carlos Zambrano and the Cubs.
The loss was the worst yet. The Reds were never in it. Josh Fogg couldn’t get an out in the third, and wound up with a simply abysmal line: 2+ innings, seven hits, nine runs (all earned), two walks, three Ks. He just tosses slop, plain and simple. His fastball moves but it’s 84 MPH and he doesn’t have Greg Maddux’s control. You just feel going into a game he’s starting that the only way you have a chance of getting even an OK pitching performance is if Fogg is on fire, or the other team just isn’t seeing the ball well. His maximum outcome in a start is like the game in Milwaukee he started: five innings, three runs, one earned, gives up some hits, strands some runners, and you’re so relieved when he’s finally lifted it’s ridiculous.
From a fan’s perspective, it’s hard to be really angry at Josh Fogg himself. It’s not like he has a million dollar arm with a ten-cent head. You can’t think to yourself, “he doesn’t know the gameplan” or “he isn’t doing his best.” He didn’t put himself in that situation, the Reds did. What can one reasonably expect out of a guy whose repertoire is so weak? Did Reds management really think they could throw him out there against opposing lineups and everything would be fine? Did they really think he could get through the Cubs order, or the Phillies order, or, hell, anybody’s order, and not get knocked all over the park more often than not?
When people brought up the subject of Kyle Lohse in the offseason, Marty Brennaman said things to the effect of, “there’s no way he’ll be back this year, and thank God for that,” with the implication being that he was a primadonna or a clubhouse cancer or something. Well, after seeing Fogg and remembering some of Lohse’s performances last year, all I can say is, Lohse must have raped puppies on his offdays, because this has just been brutal.
There’s an easy answer to the problem if I’m Wayne Krivsky: send Todd Coffey to Louisville, bring up Matt Belisle to take Fogg’s place in the rotation (at least, as long as he didn’t tear his rotator cuff or his elbow didn’t explode in his start for the Bats tonight) and put Fogg in the bullpen. These moves would rid Dusty of the inclination to use Coffey in something resembling a close game (such as last night), put someone who has a slightly better chance of not getting shelled in the rotation, and gives the bullpen an actual long man, instead of having to pitch Mike Lincoln, whose performance so far has warranted something better than entering games in the third inning down 7-1. Of course, he was awful tonight, so maybe he should go down to AAA, too.
POSITIVES…
Jeremy Affeldt looked good in two meaningless innings of work, including striking out the side in the fourth. Joey Votto had two hits and an RBI, although the RBI came on a windblown ball Mark DeRosa had no chance on in left. The Reds will take them any way they can get them at this point. Maybe this performance will finally get Fogg booted from the rotation. I guess that’s good. Reds couldn’t do much with Zambrano; they typically have issues with him and tonight was no exception. Dunn had a garbage-time homer. Not much else worth mentioning. I had the Red Sox-Yankees game on the picture-in-picture view and it was a good game, unlike this one. Yeah, we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
The Reds (6-9) and Cubs (9-5) lock up tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. Edinson Volquez gets the start for Cincinnati against the Cubs’ Ted Lilly. He’s lefthanded, but hopefully Dusty will resist the urge to start Castro, Freel and Hopper in the same lineup, thereby negating whatever slim chance the Reds had of scoring any runs. Volquez has been very good so far this season; we’ll see if it continues against a pretty dangerous Cubs lineup. It would be nice if he could pitch deep into the game after the bullpen had to go six tonight. A road trip that began with so much promise threatens to send the Reds home with a 2-7 mark, definitely not what they were hoping for. The hope coming out of the sweep in Pittsburhgh was that their performance was an aberration, that the Bucs are a tough matchup for the Reds with all their lefthanded pitching, while the Reds normally play pretty well in Chicago. Instead, facing a club that’s expected to contend has only magnified the issues shown in the Pittsburgh series. Was the performance in the first ten a mirage, or are the Reds just in a funk?
Game time tomorrow is 2:20 PM Eastern, 11:20 AM here in paradise. Peace.
The loss was the worst yet. The Reds were never in it. Josh Fogg couldn’t get an out in the third, and wound up with a simply abysmal line: 2+ innings, seven hits, nine runs (all earned), two walks, three Ks. He just tosses slop, plain and simple. His fastball moves but it’s 84 MPH and he doesn’t have Greg Maddux’s control. You just feel going into a game he’s starting that the only way you have a chance of getting even an OK pitching performance is if Fogg is on fire, or the other team just isn’t seeing the ball well. His maximum outcome in a start is like the game in Milwaukee he started: five innings, three runs, one earned, gives up some hits, strands some runners, and you’re so relieved when he’s finally lifted it’s ridiculous.
From a fan’s perspective, it’s hard to be really angry at Josh Fogg himself. It’s not like he has a million dollar arm with a ten-cent head. You can’t think to yourself, “he doesn’t know the gameplan” or “he isn’t doing his best.” He didn’t put himself in that situation, the Reds did. What can one reasonably expect out of a guy whose repertoire is so weak? Did Reds management really think they could throw him out there against opposing lineups and everything would be fine? Did they really think he could get through the Cubs order, or the Phillies order, or, hell, anybody’s order, and not get knocked all over the park more often than not?
When people brought up the subject of Kyle Lohse in the offseason, Marty Brennaman said things to the effect of, “there’s no way he’ll be back this year, and thank God for that,” with the implication being that he was a primadonna or a clubhouse cancer or something. Well, after seeing Fogg and remembering some of Lohse’s performances last year, all I can say is, Lohse must have raped puppies on his offdays, because this has just been brutal.
There’s an easy answer to the problem if I’m Wayne Krivsky: send Todd Coffey to Louisville, bring up Matt Belisle to take Fogg’s place in the rotation (at least, as long as he didn’t tear his rotator cuff or his elbow didn’t explode in his start for the Bats tonight) and put Fogg in the bullpen. These moves would rid Dusty of the inclination to use Coffey in something resembling a close game (such as last night), put someone who has a slightly better chance of not getting shelled in the rotation, and gives the bullpen an actual long man, instead of having to pitch Mike Lincoln, whose performance so far has warranted something better than entering games in the third inning down 7-1. Of course, he was awful tonight, so maybe he should go down to AAA, too.
POSITIVES…
Jeremy Affeldt looked good in two meaningless innings of work, including striking out the side in the fourth. Joey Votto had two hits and an RBI, although the RBI came on a windblown ball Mark DeRosa had no chance on in left. The Reds will take them any way they can get them at this point. Maybe this performance will finally get Fogg booted from the rotation. I guess that’s good. Reds couldn’t do much with Zambrano; they typically have issues with him and tonight was no exception. Dunn had a garbage-time homer. Not much else worth mentioning. I had the Red Sox-Yankees game on the picture-in-picture view and it was a good game, unlike this one. Yeah, we’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel here.
The Reds (6-9) and Cubs (9-5) lock up tomorrow afternoon in the series finale. Edinson Volquez gets the start for Cincinnati against the Cubs’ Ted Lilly. He’s lefthanded, but hopefully Dusty will resist the urge to start Castro, Freel and Hopper in the same lineup, thereby negating whatever slim chance the Reds had of scoring any runs. Volquez has been very good so far this season; we’ll see if it continues against a pretty dangerous Cubs lineup. It would be nice if he could pitch deep into the game after the bullpen had to go six tonight. A road trip that began with so much promise threatens to send the Reds home with a 2-7 mark, definitely not what they were hoping for. The hope coming out of the sweep in Pittsburhgh was that their performance was an aberration, that the Bucs are a tough matchup for the Reds with all their lefthanded pitching, while the Reds normally play pretty well in Chicago. Instead, facing a club that’s expected to contend has only magnified the issues shown in the Pittsburgh series. Was the performance in the first ten a mirage, or are the Reds just in a funk?
Game time tomorrow is 2:20 PM Eastern, 11:20 AM here in paradise. Peace.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Game 14: Cubs 9, Reds 5
The Reds dropped their fourth in a row Tuesday night, losing 9-5 to the Cubs at Wrigley.
For the first time this year Aaron Harang wasn’t lights-out. That fact combined with a poor bullpen performance spelled the fourth straight defeat for Cincinnati. The team that looked so efficient and solid in taking two of three from Arizona and Milwaukee seems like a completely different group from the one that had the nightmare weekend and the start to this series.
Offensively the performance tonight was marginally better, but still not good enough to win. The Reds managed to get just one run out of a bases loaded, no out situation courtesy of a Ken Griffey Jr. double play. He did provide the Reds’ second and third runs of the night with his second homer of the year, however, putting the Reds on top 3-2 at the time.
However, Harang wasn’t Harang. He was close on his pitch locations but if you look at the replays of the homers by Mark DeRosa in the second and Derek Lee in the fifth, Harang just missed Bako’s target, but missed into the hitting zone rather than missing outside. It’s amazing when you watch where mistake pitches go versus where the catcher framed it, how often the pitcher just barely missed the target. I wouldn’t say Harang was terrible; he wasn’t walking guys and didn’t make a ton of mistakes, but the Cubs have a good lineup. Everybody’s going to give up dingers to Derek Lee. Mark DeRosa, though, is not a guy you want beating you.
Lee’s homer made it 5-3. The Reds got one back in the top of the seventh to make it 5-4 on Jeff Keppinger’s fielder’s choice where he was robbed of a hit by Cubs 2B Mike Fontenot, playing there due to Alfonso Soriano’s weird leg injury in the first forcing Mark DeRosa to move from second to left field. Griffey’s double play ended the inning, the rally and effectively the night for the Cincinnati offense.
Joey Votto had a dinger leading off the ninth, his first of 2008. The end of the Milwaukee series and the Pirates series made it look as if he was coming out of his funk, and Dusty has rewarded him with regular starts. Votto didn’t seem to be seeing the ball well from Cubs starter Ryan Dempster; he had three poor at-bats off the Chicago starter, first striking out on three pitches, second getting behind 0-2 before fighting back to a full count and flying out, then grounding into a double play. So on the night… maybe he’s coming out of it, maybe he isn’t.
The bullpen had a rough night. The usually-nasty Jared Burton came into a one-run game in the seventh and gave up two runs in two-thirds of an inning. Aramis Ramirez and DeRosa had the RBIs in the Cubs’ rally. Jeremy Affeldt got Felix Pie to end the inning, but the damage was done. The Cubs would get more in the eighth.
I don’t see how Todd Coffey can possibly be long for this team. He’s been just terrible this year, came into tonight with an ERA in the 7s and promptly gave up a two-run dinger to Ryan Theriot, the guy he’d relieved Jeremy Affeldt to face with one gone in the eighth. He’s got a good fastball with a lot of movement, but he’s really prone to mistakes, and it just killed him tonight. It’s getting to be an issue of how much the Reds are willing to put up with before saying enough is enough. Were I Dusty I wouldn’t have any confidence whatsoever inserting him in any situation other than a complete blowout game, either winning or losing side. It’s the only situation he seems to be able to consistently get batters out.
The loss drops the Reds to 6-8 on the year, losers of four straight after the solid start. Tomorrow Josh Fogg takes on Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano in one of the great pitching mismatches of all time. If the Reds are going to get a win in the Windy City, though, it had better come Wednesday; Thursday afternoon the Cubs throw a solid lefty in Ted Lilly, and you know what that means. Cincinnati is now in fifth place, four back of the Cardinals for the division lead.
Game time tomorrow is 8:05 Eastern, 5:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Game 13: Pirates 9, Reds 1
The Reds concluded a disastrous weekend series Sunday, losing the finale 9-1 to the Pirates.
The loss earned the Pirates their first home sweep of the Reds in four years, and put the Reds back under the .500 mark on the year at 6-7. The story Sunday was similar to the first two games of the series: still, again and again the Reds squandered chances with men on base. Four times in the series Edwin Encarnacion made the final out in innings with the bases loaded. There is talk from John Fay that he may be headed to Louisville if he doesn’t right the ship soon. How much truth there is to that assertion, I’m not sure. It’s not clear whether Fay heard the news from somebody or if it’s guesswork.
Simply put, this team struggles against even mediocre lefties. First Paul Maholm and company shut them out Friday, and today Tom Gorzelanny went 6 1/3 and allowed a run. The Reds left nine men on base today bringing the series total to 32.
Let that number sink in for a minute. Thirty-two men left on base in three games. What a frustrating series this was. Today Dusty tried to generate some offense by playing his righthanded lineup, which consists of putting Keppinger at first, playing Castro at short, and Freel and Hopper both getting starts in the outfield. Dunn sat to try to clear his head before the Chicago series. My assertion from earlier that he looked like he was getting it together really looked silly the first two games of the series. He’s still scuffling.
The RLOB issue, though, eventually will probably clear itself up. The Reds have some good hitters and are capable of scoring, one bad weekend in Pittsburgh doesn’t change that. The issue of performance against lefthanded pitchers, though, is a problem of roster construction and constitution.
All the power bats in the lineup are lefties who can’t hit lefties, with the exception of Phillips. This is echoing what Marty Brenneman said on the broadcast, but he’s right: this offensive team had issues all season in 2007 with hitting lefties, so what made them think bringing back the same cast of characters would magically solve the problem? It’s true that you’re more likely to face righthanded pitching than lefthanded, but they need some righthanded power off the bench if this “righthanded lineup” is ever going to have a legitimate shot at winning a game. Marty seems to think Jolbert Cabrera will be the savior; anyone saying that is kidding themselves, but he is hitting in Louisville and has to bring more to the table than Juan Castro at this point, and he’s righthanded with a little pop.
The final score may give the impression this game was a blowout; it was close into the sixth. Johnny Cueto was again very good through five. The first run came on a second inning solo shot by Ryan Doumit. They added another in the third when Luis Rivas doubled, scoring Nate McLouth (who had a great series, by the way, he was an absolute pest the entire weekend). Norris Hopper horribly misjudged the ball and had he gotten the right break on it he may have caught it.
Cincinnati blew chances to score in the first (first and second, none out; first and third, one out) and the sixth (bases loaded, two out) before Pittsburgh blew it open against Cueto in the bottom of the sixth. A Ryan Doumit sac fly made it 3-0 plating McLouth then Xavier Nady crushed a curve breaking right into the hitting zone to make it 5-0. The Reds got their lone run in the top of the seventh on a Ryan Freel RBI single. They had two on with one out but neither pinch hitter Corey Patterson nor Ken Griffey Jr. could convert for more runs off new Bucs hurler Franquelis Osoria. Todd Coffey relieved and gave up four in the bottom of the seventh. It should have been none; Brandon Phillips dropped a certain double play ball allowing one run to score, and Jason Bay crushed a three-run homer to left to make it the 9-1 final margin.
The Reds came into the series having played really well against some very good teams in Arizona, the Phillies and the Brewers, but all that momentum feels like it was a very long time ago. It would be one thing if they had been scoring runs and losing, or just being shut down by ace-quality pitchers, but having chance after chance and just not being able to push runs across is just frustrating to watch. The Bucs are just a tough matchup for them with so many lefthanded pitchers. At this point, this is what the team is: they’re going to struggle against lefties.
Luckily in Chicago only one lefty is scheduled to face the Reds. Tuesday Ryan Dempster is scheduled to face Aaron Harang in the series opener. Josh Fogg is being pushed back to Wednesday to keep Harang on the same schedule and not giving him an extra days of rest. Wednesday Fogg will face Carlos Zambrano (how’s that for a mismatch) and the series finale Thursday pits Cubs lefty Ted Lilly against Edinson Volquez. Chicago seems to be a place where the Reds generally play pretty well, unlike Pittsburgh, so hopefully they can get things right, push across some runs and get back in the win column.
First pitch Tuesday is 8:05 Eastern, 5:05 here in paradise. Peace.
The loss earned the Pirates their first home sweep of the Reds in four years, and put the Reds back under the .500 mark on the year at 6-7. The story Sunday was similar to the first two games of the series: still, again and again the Reds squandered chances with men on base. Four times in the series Edwin Encarnacion made the final out in innings with the bases loaded. There is talk from John Fay that he may be headed to Louisville if he doesn’t right the ship soon. How much truth there is to that assertion, I’m not sure. It’s not clear whether Fay heard the news from somebody or if it’s guesswork.
Simply put, this team struggles against even mediocre lefties. First Paul Maholm and company shut them out Friday, and today Tom Gorzelanny went 6 1/3 and allowed a run. The Reds left nine men on base today bringing the series total to 32.
Let that number sink in for a minute. Thirty-two men left on base in three games. What a frustrating series this was. Today Dusty tried to generate some offense by playing his righthanded lineup, which consists of putting Keppinger at first, playing Castro at short, and Freel and Hopper both getting starts in the outfield. Dunn sat to try to clear his head before the Chicago series. My assertion from earlier that he looked like he was getting it together really looked silly the first two games of the series. He’s still scuffling.
The RLOB issue, though, eventually will probably clear itself up. The Reds have some good hitters and are capable of scoring, one bad weekend in Pittsburgh doesn’t change that. The issue of performance against lefthanded pitchers, though, is a problem of roster construction and constitution.
All the power bats in the lineup are lefties who can’t hit lefties, with the exception of Phillips. This is echoing what Marty Brenneman said on the broadcast, but he’s right: this offensive team had issues all season in 2007 with hitting lefties, so what made them think bringing back the same cast of characters would magically solve the problem? It’s true that you’re more likely to face righthanded pitching than lefthanded, but they need some righthanded power off the bench if this “righthanded lineup” is ever going to have a legitimate shot at winning a game. Marty seems to think Jolbert Cabrera will be the savior; anyone saying that is kidding themselves, but he is hitting in Louisville and has to bring more to the table than Juan Castro at this point, and he’s righthanded with a little pop.
The final score may give the impression this game was a blowout; it was close into the sixth. Johnny Cueto was again very good through five. The first run came on a second inning solo shot by Ryan Doumit. They added another in the third when Luis Rivas doubled, scoring Nate McLouth (who had a great series, by the way, he was an absolute pest the entire weekend). Norris Hopper horribly misjudged the ball and had he gotten the right break on it he may have caught it.
Cincinnati blew chances to score in the first (first and second, none out; first and third, one out) and the sixth (bases loaded, two out) before Pittsburgh blew it open against Cueto in the bottom of the sixth. A Ryan Doumit sac fly made it 3-0 plating McLouth then Xavier Nady crushed a curve breaking right into the hitting zone to make it 5-0. The Reds got their lone run in the top of the seventh on a Ryan Freel RBI single. They had two on with one out but neither pinch hitter Corey Patterson nor Ken Griffey Jr. could convert for more runs off new Bucs hurler Franquelis Osoria. Todd Coffey relieved and gave up four in the bottom of the seventh. It should have been none; Brandon Phillips dropped a certain double play ball allowing one run to score, and Jason Bay crushed a three-run homer to left to make it the 9-1 final margin.
The Reds came into the series having played really well against some very good teams in Arizona, the Phillies and the Brewers, but all that momentum feels like it was a very long time ago. It would be one thing if they had been scoring runs and losing, or just being shut down by ace-quality pitchers, but having chance after chance and just not being able to push runs across is just frustrating to watch. The Bucs are just a tough matchup for them with so many lefthanded pitchers. At this point, this is what the team is: they’re going to struggle against lefties.
Luckily in Chicago only one lefty is scheduled to face the Reds. Tuesday Ryan Dempster is scheduled to face Aaron Harang in the series opener. Josh Fogg is being pushed back to Wednesday to keep Harang on the same schedule and not giving him an extra days of rest. Wednesday Fogg will face Carlos Zambrano (how’s that for a mismatch) and the series finale Thursday pits Cubs lefty Ted Lilly against Edinson Volquez. Chicago seems to be a place where the Reds generally play pretty well, unlike Pittsburgh, so hopefully they can get things right, push across some runs and get back in the win column.
First pitch Tuesday is 8:05 Eastern, 5:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Game 11: Pirates 1, Reds 0
I had a bunch of stuff written about Friday's loss to the Bucs but Internet Explorer crashed before I published it, so I'll just say it sucked and I hope they win tomorrow.
Game time is again 7:05 Eastern, 4:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Game time is again 7:05 Eastern, 4:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Game 10: Reds 4, Brewers 1
Edwin Encarnacion had the day off yesterday and spent the day taking batting practice. Apparently he put all that extra BP to good use.
Encarnacion's two-run homer in the seventh put the Reds (6-4) on top for good Thursday afternoon, powering them to a 4-1 win over Milwaukee.
While Encarnacion's power ultimately provided the winning margin, it was ace Aaron Harang's fantastic perfomance that kept the Reds in it long enough for them to get there. He went eight innings, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out three. He threw ground ball after ground ball, especially after the third, when he got the ball elevated a bit. Only one of his hits allowed came after the second inning, when Milwaukee (6-3) got its only run. It's just such a secure feeling when you know Harang is dealing. Usually when he's throwing like he did today you know it's just a matter of time before the Reds break through and it'll be over.
Today wasn't quite as secure as usual, though, because for six innings Brewers starter Carlos Villanueva was better. Both starters did a great job of pounding both sides of the zone, mixing up pitches and keeping hitters off-balance. Villanueva had a no-hitter through 4 1/3 before Scott Hatteberg (2-3, 2B, BB, R... Votto gets more firmly entrenched on the bench by the day, I fear) had a seeing-eye grounder single to right. Paul Bako then tied the game with an RBI double.
Then came the first major strategic issue I've had with Dusty. After Bako's double, Harang came up with runners on second and third with one out. CP23 was on deck, he had looked bad against Villanueva in his first two ABs but prior to today has been one of the hottest hitters on the team. He has Hatteberg run and Harang try a squeeze. Harang misses, Hatteberg is tagged out, Harang strikes out and that's the inning. Keep in mind the infield was up, any moderately-hit grounder in the right spot scores two runs. I know Harang isn't the best-hitting pitcher, but with the infield in, if the ball is hit where a fielder can get it, the runners would have been able to get back before being tagged (no force outs on the field other than at first) and you have CP23 at the plate with two out and two on. Instead you get nothing in what was at the time a 1-1 game.
Even if the move had worked, I would have said it was stupid, but I was glad it worked. As it was, in a game when runs were at a premium, you can't deliberately take the bat out of the hands of one of your hottest hitters, and I think they would have had just as good a chance of plating one had Harang been swinging for a ground ball through the infield. Hell, he did just that the next inning, hitting a grounder past the drawn-in 3B Bill Hall for a single. If he does the same in that situation it's two runs. If he does that and Hall fields the ball, Harang is out at first and no harm done. Just reckless and stupid.
But Harang kept cruising and the Reds came up against Villanueva in the seventh. After touching him up in the fifth you could feel the breakthrough coming, but it started in an unusual way. Adam Dunn led the inning off with a check-swing single just over J.J. Hardy's head and into left. Then came Encarnacion's homer. It was obvious he was sitting on Villanueva's breaking ball, which had been giving hitters fits. This one broke right over the plate between the knees and waist, just a perfect pitch to hit and he crushed it to left-center. Hatteberg doubled, Bako singled him home (2 RBI for him today, he's still hitting) and it was 4-1. Harang cruised through the seventh and eigth, and Francisco Cordero nailed things down in the ninth for win #6 on the young season for the Redlegs.
CORDERO'S RECEPTION...
Somewhat less than warm in his Milwaukee return. I was a little surprised, but I really didn't have any idea what Milwaukee thought of him before he signed with the Reds. Maybe they saw him as moneygrubbing since the Reds' offer wasn't that much higher than the Brewers. Maybe it's just that he signed with a divsion rival, although with the Reds' recent lack of success it's hard to see anyone viewing us as their rival, except maybe rivaling Pittsburgh for last the Central. If I traded Cordero for Gagne in the closer's spot, I'd be mad, too. Still, it was surprising.
KEPPINGER...
... at shortstop makes me nervous. He has that David Eckstein thing of looking like he's throwing it as hard as he possibly can even on routine throws. Still, he didn't have any errors and generally hits (although he was 0-4 with an IBB today) so you can't complain too much.
WITH THE WIN...
The Reds clinched a series win over Milwaukee. Cincinnati has now won two of three series outright on the year (two of three from Arizona, split with Phillies, two of three from Brewers) and head to Pittsburgh for the first of 344 meetings with the Pirates Friday night. The Buccos (tm George Grande) have predictably been struggling this year, coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cubs at home. They're 3-6 on the year thus far. The Reds really can't go in there assuming anything, though; it was against the bottom half of the league that they really struggled last year, and the Pirates have a little starting pitching now. In the opener tomorrow, Edinson Volquez takes the mound for his second Reds start after a fantastic debut last Sunday. His opponent will be Pirates lefty Paul Maholm.
First pitch is 7:05 Eastern, 4:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Encarnacion's two-run homer in the seventh put the Reds (6-4) on top for good Thursday afternoon, powering them to a 4-1 win over Milwaukee.
While Encarnacion's power ultimately provided the winning margin, it was ace Aaron Harang's fantastic perfomance that kept the Reds in it long enough for them to get there. He went eight innings, allowing just four hits and one run while striking out three. He threw ground ball after ground ball, especially after the third, when he got the ball elevated a bit. Only one of his hits allowed came after the second inning, when Milwaukee (6-3) got its only run. It's just such a secure feeling when you know Harang is dealing. Usually when he's throwing like he did today you know it's just a matter of time before the Reds break through and it'll be over.
Today wasn't quite as secure as usual, though, because for six innings Brewers starter Carlos Villanueva was better. Both starters did a great job of pounding both sides of the zone, mixing up pitches and keeping hitters off-balance. Villanueva had a no-hitter through 4 1/3 before Scott Hatteberg (2-3, 2B, BB, R... Votto gets more firmly entrenched on the bench by the day, I fear) had a seeing-eye grounder single to right. Paul Bako then tied the game with an RBI double.
Then came the first major strategic issue I've had with Dusty. After Bako's double, Harang came up with runners on second and third with one out. CP23 was on deck, he had looked bad against Villanueva in his first two ABs but prior to today has been one of the hottest hitters on the team. He has Hatteberg run and Harang try a squeeze. Harang misses, Hatteberg is tagged out, Harang strikes out and that's the inning. Keep in mind the infield was up, any moderately-hit grounder in the right spot scores two runs. I know Harang isn't the best-hitting pitcher, but with the infield in, if the ball is hit where a fielder can get it, the runners would have been able to get back before being tagged (no force outs on the field other than at first) and you have CP23 at the plate with two out and two on. Instead you get nothing in what was at the time a 1-1 game.
Even if the move had worked, I would have said it was stupid, but I was glad it worked. As it was, in a game when runs were at a premium, you can't deliberately take the bat out of the hands of one of your hottest hitters, and I think they would have had just as good a chance of plating one had Harang been swinging for a ground ball through the infield. Hell, he did just that the next inning, hitting a grounder past the drawn-in 3B Bill Hall for a single. If he does the same in that situation it's two runs. If he does that and Hall fields the ball, Harang is out at first and no harm done. Just reckless and stupid.
But Harang kept cruising and the Reds came up against Villanueva in the seventh. After touching him up in the fifth you could feel the breakthrough coming, but it started in an unusual way. Adam Dunn led the inning off with a check-swing single just over J.J. Hardy's head and into left. Then came Encarnacion's homer. It was obvious he was sitting on Villanueva's breaking ball, which had been giving hitters fits. This one broke right over the plate between the knees and waist, just a perfect pitch to hit and he crushed it to left-center. Hatteberg doubled, Bako singled him home (2 RBI for him today, he's still hitting) and it was 4-1. Harang cruised through the seventh and eigth, and Francisco Cordero nailed things down in the ninth for win #6 on the young season for the Redlegs.
CORDERO'S RECEPTION...
Somewhat less than warm in his Milwaukee return. I was a little surprised, but I really didn't have any idea what Milwaukee thought of him before he signed with the Reds. Maybe they saw him as moneygrubbing since the Reds' offer wasn't that much higher than the Brewers. Maybe it's just that he signed with a divsion rival, although with the Reds' recent lack of success it's hard to see anyone viewing us as their rival, except maybe rivaling Pittsburgh for last the Central. If I traded Cordero for Gagne in the closer's spot, I'd be mad, too. Still, it was surprising.
KEPPINGER...
... at shortstop makes me nervous. He has that David Eckstein thing of looking like he's throwing it as hard as he possibly can even on routine throws. Still, he didn't have any errors and generally hits (although he was 0-4 with an IBB today) so you can't complain too much.
WITH THE WIN...
The Reds clinched a series win over Milwaukee. Cincinnati has now won two of three series outright on the year (two of three from Arizona, split with Phillies, two of three from Brewers) and head to Pittsburgh for the first of 344 meetings with the Pirates Friday night. The Buccos (tm George Grande) have predictably been struggling this year, coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Cubs at home. They're 3-6 on the year thus far. The Reds really can't go in there assuming anything, though; it was against the bottom half of the league that they really struggled last year, and the Pirates have a little starting pitching now. In the opener tomorrow, Edinson Volquez takes the mound for his second Reds start after a fantastic debut last Sunday. His opponent will be Pirates lefty Paul Maholm.
First pitch is 7:05 Eastern, 4:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Game 9: Reds 12, Brewers 4
The Reds blew open a close game with big innings in the sixth, seventh and eigth to down the Brewers 12-4 Tuesday night.
Cincinnati struck first with two in the second on a Hatteberg sac fly with men on second and third. Phillips tagged and scored, and Corey Hart's throw went into the stands, allowing Adam Dunn to score as well.
Milwaukee made it 2-1 on a 4th inning Ryan Braun solo shot, one of few major miscues by starter Josh Fogg, who pitched much better. His stuff was the same but he seemed to have a far better feel for locating it than he did in his first start. Someone with his kind of stuff is always going to be walking a tightrope with little margin for error, but he was really good tonight, going 5 innings and allowing three runs, one earned.
Milwaukee briefly took the lead in the fifth on a Brandon Phillips error with the bases loaded on what likely would have ended the inning. He pulled up a little early on a grounder right to him, and it went right through his legs into right. The play was a disappointing lapse for him on a night when things generally went right for the Reds, unlike Tuesday.
Cincinnati retook the lead for good in the sixth on a Dunn sac fly and RBI singles from Keppinger and Valentin to make it 5-3. The Reds added two more in the seventh with Adam Dunn's two-run dinger that deflected off center fielder Gabe Gross's glove, went over the fence, and caromed back onto the field. Fortunately the umpires ruled correctly and it was 7-3.
From there it was just piling on. Seth McClung had what could charitably be considered a bad night, going two innings, allowing five runs, all earned along with five hits, three walks and a no-doubt dinger to CP23, his fourth of the season. He faced 14 batters and threw 65 pitches in two innings. Yikes!
A REAL FIND?
Mike Lincoln again looked great in two innings of one-hit baseball. He's starting to look like a revelation in the bullpen. With Lincoln, Burton, Weathers and Cordero all looking very dependable, this pen is really shaping up. It is still really early, but I like what I see. Kent Mercker was fine in garbage time tonight as well. I thought the two scrap-heap pickups making the pen had "disaster" written all over it, but it's worked out so far. Granted, it's so early it's hard to make sweeping judgments, but so far, so good.
THE BATS
Griffey continues to quietly swing the bat well. He's making good contact despite his one homer of the year, and he was 2-4 with an RBI and three runs scored tonight. Dunn continued to show signs of breaking out, homering and driving in three. Keppinger, too, had a hit and a pair of RBI, one coming on a sac fly. Brandon Phillips was 2-5. Overall, the bats were alive and well, as the twelve runs on the board would indicate.
COMING UP
The win moves the Reds to 5-4 on the year, while the Brewers fall to 6-2. The rubber game of the series pits Reds ace Aaron Harang against Carlos Villanueva for the Brew Crew.
Game time is 1:05 PM eastern, 10:05 AM here in paradise. Peace.
Cincinnati struck first with two in the second on a Hatteberg sac fly with men on second and third. Phillips tagged and scored, and Corey Hart's throw went into the stands, allowing Adam Dunn to score as well.
Milwaukee made it 2-1 on a 4th inning Ryan Braun solo shot, one of few major miscues by starter Josh Fogg, who pitched much better. His stuff was the same but he seemed to have a far better feel for locating it than he did in his first start. Someone with his kind of stuff is always going to be walking a tightrope with little margin for error, but he was really good tonight, going 5 innings and allowing three runs, one earned.
Milwaukee briefly took the lead in the fifth on a Brandon Phillips error with the bases loaded on what likely would have ended the inning. He pulled up a little early on a grounder right to him, and it went right through his legs into right. The play was a disappointing lapse for him on a night when things generally went right for the Reds, unlike Tuesday.
Cincinnati retook the lead for good in the sixth on a Dunn sac fly and RBI singles from Keppinger and Valentin to make it 5-3. The Reds added two more in the seventh with Adam Dunn's two-run dinger that deflected off center fielder Gabe Gross's glove, went over the fence, and caromed back onto the field. Fortunately the umpires ruled correctly and it was 7-3.
From there it was just piling on. Seth McClung had what could charitably be considered a bad night, going two innings, allowing five runs, all earned along with five hits, three walks and a no-doubt dinger to CP23, his fourth of the season. He faced 14 batters and threw 65 pitches in two innings. Yikes!
A REAL FIND?
Mike Lincoln again looked great in two innings of one-hit baseball. He's starting to look like a revelation in the bullpen. With Lincoln, Burton, Weathers and Cordero all looking very dependable, this pen is really shaping up. It is still really early, but I like what I see. Kent Mercker was fine in garbage time tonight as well. I thought the two scrap-heap pickups making the pen had "disaster" written all over it, but it's worked out so far. Granted, it's so early it's hard to make sweeping judgments, but so far, so good.
THE BATS
Griffey continues to quietly swing the bat well. He's making good contact despite his one homer of the year, and he was 2-4 with an RBI and three runs scored tonight. Dunn continued to show signs of breaking out, homering and driving in three. Keppinger, too, had a hit and a pair of RBI, one coming on a sac fly. Brandon Phillips was 2-5. Overall, the bats were alive and well, as the twelve runs on the board would indicate.
COMING UP
The win moves the Reds to 5-4 on the year, while the Brewers fall to 6-2. The rubber game of the series pits Reds ace Aaron Harang against Carlos Villanueva for the Brew Crew.
Game time is 1:05 PM eastern, 10:05 AM here in paradise. Peace.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Game 8: Brewers 3, Reds 2 (10 Innings)
The Reds squandered chance after chance, snatched life from lifelessness, then lost in the end anyway, dropping a 3-2 extra inning decision to the Brewers Tuesday night.
In what is perhaps most important long-term development out of this one, Johnny Cueto was excellent again. 6 1/3 innings, five hits, two runs, eight strikeouts. Milwaukee made more contact off him than Arizona did, but this was in the dome instead of a cold drizzle and Milwaukee is a better-hitting team than Arizona anyway. He still didn't walk anyone although he did (gasp!) hit three-ball counts a couple of times. I just checked the numbers... yes, it was twice all night. He's thrown 16 1/3 innings in the majors, allowed two runs and six hits, and run to three balls on TWO batters.
Early on, you got the feeling it just wasn't the Reds' night. Adam Dunn was robbed of base hits twice by -- get this -- Prince Fielder. The plays were nearly identical. He continued to hit the ball hard off a pitcher he's hit .550 off of career, and had nothing to show for it. Cueto's first big-league run allowed came on the littlest of little flares off the feeble bat of Jason Kendall. Keppinger timed his jump as well as he possibly could have, and just couldn't quite get it. A deep drive to right by Phillips in the sixth was caught in an area where, if it had been five feet to the right, it would have been gone.
But after a night of every little break seemingly going wrong, CP23 tied it up with a baseknock to right just out of Weeks' reach in the top of the 7th, driving home Joey Votto and knotting it at one. Surprisingly, Big Dust let Cueto hit with Votto on, and he did manage to move the runner from second to third with a ground ball to the right side. Then CP23 got jobbed on the call trying to steal second, ending the inning and bringing out Big Dust to give blue a piece of his mind. Yeah!
After about four replays I'm still not sure if he was safe or not. Honestly, if the ball gets there ahead or at the same time as the runner, I think the ump is going to call "out" most of the time, regardless of the tag. One angle made it appear Patter's body was blocking the umpire's view of the tag to begin with.
Milwaukee took the lead back in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff batter Bill Hall made it 2-1 with a solo dinger to right. Cincinnati had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the following frame. With two out and Griffey on first, Dunn and Encarnacion drew walks, leading to Ned Yost lifting reliever Guillermo Mota and bringding on sidearm left Brian Shouse. Big Dust countered with Norris Hopper. Nothing like a game-deciding situation and having a guy at the plate you're almost certain has no shot at getting a hit. He took a strike then tapped out to Fielder at first.
There was still hope headed to the ninth; Gagne isn't the closer he was with LA. Understatement of the year, I know. Freel strikeout, Valentin takes two very hittable pitches then feebly grounds out on a two-strike pitch far worse than either of the pitches he just took (and the strike one pitch was nearly identical to the strike three pitch to end the game Monday; may want to start swinging at that one, Javy). And then, on a 2-2 pitch, CP23 takes Gagne deep to right. Amazing.
After Kep singled, Griffey struck out to send it to the bottom of the ninth. Plate umpire Laz Diaz was giving Gagne the outside corner so wide it was ridiculous, and it led to Griffey getting a called strike he shouldn't have and swinging for strike three on a ball that, in the words of one of my Little League teammate's dads Officer Schoolcraft, "he couldn't have reached with a telephone pole."
Stormy Weathers got Milwaukee 1-2-3 in the ninth. The Reds couldn't score in the tenth. Dusty surprisingly stayed with Weathers instead of going with Cordero, who was ready to go and hasn't pitched since Saturday, and Weathers ended up getting the loss when Bill Hall singled past a drawn-in infield to drive in J.J. Hardy with the game-winner. Hardy led off the inning with a hit, was sacrificed to second, then JASON KENDALL GOT HIS THIRD HIT OF THE NIGHT to move him to third, forcing the Reds to bring the infield up, and that was that.
The loss drops the Reds to 4-4 on the season. Milwaukee is now 6-1.
PROPS TO BIG DUST...
... or whoever was responsible for playing the outfield up in the fifth with a man on second and Kendall up. Griffey playing so close saved a run when Kendall again got a base hit off Cueto. Props again in the tenth when JASON KENDALL GOT HIS THIRD HIT OF THE GAME. I mean, are you serious with this? Really?
I'M CONCERNED ABOUT EdE...
Encarnacion's struggled continued early as well. He came into tonight with a .100 average and honestly, lightning strike me down, I feel maybe he should start being a little more aggressive at the plate. He looked like he was hoping for a walk in his first at-bat off Suppan, and that is a true sign of a guy that's struggling. In the sixth he popped out on the first pitch he saw with men on first and second and two outs. The first eight have been truly disappointing for EdE, whom many people thought was poised for a breakout year.
Jared Burton was lights-out again, going 1 1/3 innings, relieving Cueto and getting the last two outs of the seventh, and getting the first two of the eigth. After walking Gabe Kapler he was pulled in favor of Kent Mercker to face Prince Fielder. A scary matchup espectially after he ran the count 3-0, but Fielder fouled out to EdE to end the inning.
Extra inning games are weird; you feel so elated with a win and it feels like such a waste of time with a loss. The Reds left 11 runners on base tonight, so they had their shots at runs. It just wasn't happening. Besides Patterson no one could come up big. Edwin is a big zero in the six spot right now. Twice Milwaukee was able to pitch around Dunn with no fear of EdE hurting them. The Reds lineup is highly dependent upon him getting it going, and right now they're getting nothing.
The loss puts the Reds behind the 8-ball in the series, because tomorrow it's getting Foggy in here. Josh Fogg was terrible in his first start against Philadelphia in the Friday loss. His performance was so bad there was talk on the radio broadcast Saturday that Belisle had looked good in his single-A start and could be called upon already if Fogg has another bad outing. I'm not sure if this start is do-or-die for his future in the rotation, but he definitely has to strap it down if the Reds are going to have a shot tomorrow. Unfortunately Weathers' two innings of work likely deprives us of the most-anticipated moment of the season, when Stormy Weathers follows Foggy Weathers on the hill.. Milwaukee's hurler tomorrow also had some issues in his first start; Dave Bush, owner of the Brewers' only loss, gets the ball for the Brew Crew.
Game time is 8:05 eastern, 5:05 here in paradise. Peace.
In what is perhaps most important long-term development out of this one, Johnny Cueto was excellent again. 6 1/3 innings, five hits, two runs, eight strikeouts. Milwaukee made more contact off him than Arizona did, but this was in the dome instead of a cold drizzle and Milwaukee is a better-hitting team than Arizona anyway. He still didn't walk anyone although he did (gasp!) hit three-ball counts a couple of times. I just checked the numbers... yes, it was twice all night. He's thrown 16 1/3 innings in the majors, allowed two runs and six hits, and run to three balls on TWO batters.
Early on, you got the feeling it just wasn't the Reds' night. Adam Dunn was robbed of base hits twice by -- get this -- Prince Fielder. The plays were nearly identical. He continued to hit the ball hard off a pitcher he's hit .550 off of career, and had nothing to show for it. Cueto's first big-league run allowed came on the littlest of little flares off the feeble bat of Jason Kendall. Keppinger timed his jump as well as he possibly could have, and just couldn't quite get it. A deep drive to right by Phillips in the sixth was caught in an area where, if it had been five feet to the right, it would have been gone.
But after a night of every little break seemingly going wrong, CP23 tied it up with a baseknock to right just out of Weeks' reach in the top of the 7th, driving home Joey Votto and knotting it at one. Surprisingly, Big Dust let Cueto hit with Votto on, and he did manage to move the runner from second to third with a ground ball to the right side. Then CP23 got jobbed on the call trying to steal second, ending the inning and bringing out Big Dust to give blue a piece of his mind. Yeah!
After about four replays I'm still not sure if he was safe or not. Honestly, if the ball gets there ahead or at the same time as the runner, I think the ump is going to call "out" most of the time, regardless of the tag. One angle made it appear Patter's body was blocking the umpire's view of the tag to begin with.
Milwaukee took the lead back in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff batter Bill Hall made it 2-1 with a solo dinger to right. Cincinnati had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the following frame. With two out and Griffey on first, Dunn and Encarnacion drew walks, leading to Ned Yost lifting reliever Guillermo Mota and bringding on sidearm left Brian Shouse. Big Dust countered with Norris Hopper. Nothing like a game-deciding situation and having a guy at the plate you're almost certain has no shot at getting a hit. He took a strike then tapped out to Fielder at first.
There was still hope headed to the ninth; Gagne isn't the closer he was with LA. Understatement of the year, I know. Freel strikeout, Valentin takes two very hittable pitches then feebly grounds out on a two-strike pitch far worse than either of the pitches he just took (and the strike one pitch was nearly identical to the strike three pitch to end the game Monday; may want to start swinging at that one, Javy). And then, on a 2-2 pitch, CP23 takes Gagne deep to right. Amazing.
After Kep singled, Griffey struck out to send it to the bottom of the ninth. Plate umpire Laz Diaz was giving Gagne the outside corner so wide it was ridiculous, and it led to Griffey getting a called strike he shouldn't have and swinging for strike three on a ball that, in the words of one of my Little League teammate's dads Officer Schoolcraft, "he couldn't have reached with a telephone pole."
Stormy Weathers got Milwaukee 1-2-3 in the ninth. The Reds couldn't score in the tenth. Dusty surprisingly stayed with Weathers instead of going with Cordero, who was ready to go and hasn't pitched since Saturday, and Weathers ended up getting the loss when Bill Hall singled past a drawn-in infield to drive in J.J. Hardy with the game-winner. Hardy led off the inning with a hit, was sacrificed to second, then JASON KENDALL GOT HIS THIRD HIT OF THE NIGHT to move him to third, forcing the Reds to bring the infield up, and that was that.
The loss drops the Reds to 4-4 on the season. Milwaukee is now 6-1.
PROPS TO BIG DUST...
... or whoever was responsible for playing the outfield up in the fifth with a man on second and Kendall up. Griffey playing so close saved a run when Kendall again got a base hit off Cueto. Props again in the tenth when JASON KENDALL GOT HIS THIRD HIT OF THE GAME. I mean, are you serious with this? Really?
I'M CONCERNED ABOUT EdE...
Encarnacion's struggled continued early as well. He came into tonight with a .100 average and honestly, lightning strike me down, I feel maybe he should start being a little more aggressive at the plate. He looked like he was hoping for a walk in his first at-bat off Suppan, and that is a true sign of a guy that's struggling. In the sixth he popped out on the first pitch he saw with men on first and second and two outs. The first eight have been truly disappointing for EdE, whom many people thought was poised for a breakout year.
Jared Burton was lights-out again, going 1 1/3 innings, relieving Cueto and getting the last two outs of the seventh, and getting the first two of the eigth. After walking Gabe Kapler he was pulled in favor of Kent Mercker to face Prince Fielder. A scary matchup espectially after he ran the count 3-0, but Fielder fouled out to EdE to end the inning.
Extra inning games are weird; you feel so elated with a win and it feels like such a waste of time with a loss. The Reds left 11 runners on base tonight, so they had their shots at runs. It just wasn't happening. Besides Patterson no one could come up big. Edwin is a big zero in the six spot right now. Twice Milwaukee was able to pitch around Dunn with no fear of EdE hurting them. The Reds lineup is highly dependent upon him getting it going, and right now they're getting nothing.
The loss puts the Reds behind the 8-ball in the series, because tomorrow it's getting Foggy in here. Josh Fogg was terrible in his first start against Philadelphia in the Friday loss. His performance was so bad there was talk on the radio broadcast Saturday that Belisle had looked good in his single-A start and could be called upon already if Fogg has another bad outing. I'm not sure if this start is do-or-die for his future in the rotation, but he definitely has to strap it down if the Reds are going to have a shot tomorrow. Unfortunately Weathers' two innings of work likely deprives us of the most-anticipated moment of the season, when Stormy Weathers follows Foggy Weathers on the hill.. Milwaukee's hurler tomorrow also had some issues in his first start; Dave Bush, owner of the Brewers' only loss, gets the ball for the Brew Crew.
Game time is 8:05 eastern, 5:05 here in paradise. Peace.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Game 7: Phillies 5, Reds 3
The Reds squandered a chance to take 3 of 4 from the defending NL East champions Monday afternoon, dropping a 5-3 decision to the Phillies.
Philadelphia (3-4) got on the board first with a Jimmy Rollins solo shot, then went up 3-0 after Pat Burrell's first of two homers on the day. The Reds answered with two in the bottom of the inning, the first coming on a bit of a brainfart by Pedro Feliz; with men on second and third the runners were off at the crack of the bat, Brandon Phillips grounded to Feliz at third, and he went to first for the force instead of home, somewhat inexplicably. Castro scored the Reds second run on Keppinger's single.
Burrell made it 4-2 in the third with his second homer of the day, this one to left. Arroyo grooved a fastball that dropped right over the plate on the outer half and Burrell was ready. It's not like it didn't move at all, it just moved right into the area where Burrell wanted it. Geoff Jenkins followed his homer with a Jim Jackson of his own, also to left. I questioned the Jenkins signing when they did it, but he performed well this series.
Philadelphia threatened in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs. Jeremy Affeldt came in with two on and promptly walked the first man he faced, but got Victorino on a groundout to third to end it. The Reds got two on with two out in the bottom of the frame, but Paul Bako grounded out to end that threat.
The game stayed 5-2 til the ninth. Brad Lidge came on for the Phillies, retiring the first two (Encarnacion drove a ball to the wall in left for the first out) before walking Bako. Corey Patterson reached on a So Taguchi error in left; he tried to make a fancy basket catch near the foul line and dropped it. Pinch hitter Ken Griffey Jr. drew an intentional walk, bringing up PH Javier Valentin. A wild pitch brought home the Reds third run of the game, but Valentin took a 3-2 pitch that looked high and outside for strike three to end the game.
Valentin complained postgame about the call, and he was likely warranted, but you can't take anything close in that situation, considering strike three ends it.
God, am I glad to see the Phillies leave town. Jimmy Rollins continued his torture of the Reds. He's just so dangerous. You don't want to just put him on in that situation, because of what he can do on the basepaths.. plus he's got all those guys behind him. He's got power to the gaps and over the fence. I know the Phillies didn't play the best this series, but I came away very impressed with their lineup.
I think one thing that makes them so good is that two of the first three hitters, Rollins and Chase Utley, can hit anything you throw up there. Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell have a lot of power, but Rollins and Utley you almost feel like you can't throw a strike to without them killing it. Howard and Burrell you can get out. They're going to murder mistakes, but they'll also chase things. Arroyo particularly shook off the Howard and Burrell bombs to strike out both with a man on in the sixth, one of the few particularly solid segments of his start today. But Rollins and Utley are really tough, Victorino is no slouch either, so you face the power bats with men on nearly every time, which maximizes mistakes and makes you be extremely fine with them. Trying to be fine is what leads to those balls they murder. Just a really tough lineup to pitch to.
Cole Hamels was also very impressive. He's just a tall lanky dude who throws real free and easy. Not a hitch in that motion and he brings it 90 MPH plus. If I went to a speedpitch and emulated that windup it would go about 35. As opposed to my hard fastball which would go about 55. Anyway, he looked really good and the Reds never really got much going against him.
Comcast threw up an interesting stat (not that they invented it, I just hadn't commented on it here before) that Arroyo had an extremely unfavorable split between day and night games in 2007. Perhaps the big curve doesn't look as deceptive in broad daylight, or maybe he's just not a morning guy. I know all pitchers tend to have better numbers in night games, because despite the lights there's still better visibility in the daytime. Career, his splits aren't that extreme, so I would think the chances of him turning that around are good. The turnaround clearly didn't start today, though.
On the negative side of Comcast's telecast (keep in mind I didn't have the sound up, preferring to listen to Rockies-Braves) , it looked like they were framing the main pitcher-batter centerfield angle specifically for HD, making the angle WAY too closeup and making it look really claustrophobic. The top of the frame on the standard picture display sometimes cut off the top of the hitter's helmet and bat. I know HD is the bomb and everything, but the vast, vast majority of fans watching at this point are not going to have an HD set.
Castro batting second? I know it's a weekday afternoon getaway, but that is just ridiculous. I don't really care how much he hit in the spring, against Hamels he's just going to be severly overmatched. "But he had a walk and scored a run!" Shut up.
THE KEPPINGER PROBLEM
Keppinger just keeps hitting. How much does he have to hit before he isn't considered a guy who can be easily benched? If I were Edwin I would be sweating. Once Alex Gonzalez comes back there won't be an easy spot for Keppinger in the lineup other than benching EdE. Kep can't catch, they already have a logjam at first (maybe send Votto down and make it a Kep/Hat platoon? That won't give Kep enough at-bats though, I don't know that the splits make that work out). Trade Hat and make it a Votto/Kep platoon? I don't love that either, it gives you the same problem. If Votto is in the majors he needs to play every day. The supersub role doesn't work either, the Reds already have one supersub (Freel) they're struggling to find ABs for. Phillips is entrenched at second. Maybe they can find a way to flip Gonzo. Keppinger isn't the infielder Gonzalez is, but he'll give you so much more at the plate, I could live with it. Gonzo will have to be playing effectively for at least a few weeks before anyone will think of trading for him, though.. with the issues he had last year (not his fault and totally more important than baseball) and a knee issue this season, he's missed a lot of games. That's part of the reason this Keppinger issue started in the first place.
We probably got a preview of how Dusty is going to handle it today, with Keppinger at first against a tough lefty. That doesn't solve the problem because how often are you going to face a really tough lefty, but it could help.
BRANDONIE
Phillips looked lost against Hamels, which really shows you how good he was today; Brandon usually murders lefties. He had the previously-mentioned groundout that shouldn't have driven in a run in the first, and he looked awful on a three-pitch strikeout in the bottom of the fifth.
Jeremy Affeldt is still showing some control issues, he instantly fell behind and walked Rollins upon coming into the game in the sixth. Granted, I'd rather face Victorino than Rollins any day. His fastball seems to have a "darting" dropping kind of action that sometimes just guides it right into the dirt. It's the kind of pitch where the same thing that makes it tough to hit makes it tough to catch (Scott Williamson's slider is the best Reds example of this... impossible to lay off of, impossible to hit, impossible to not have a hitter reach on a strikeout). It'll be worth keeping an eye on, especially when he comes into games with men on in key situations.
Coffey didn't allow any runs in 1 2/3 innings (I wouldn't say he looked great, but he was okay) and Dusty brought Kent Mercker in to face Utley (probably just to get him in a game). He got him out, so that was good.
Overall a mixed-bag loss. The pen again looked okay, but it's frustrating when the Reds got so many breaks in the ninth and couldn't make it happen. Next they'll travel to Milwaukee for the opener of a three-game set. Game One is Tuesday at 8:05 Eastern. Johnny Cueto gets his second career start after a sensational debut, while Jeff Suppan gets the ball for the 5-1 Brewers.
Philadelphia (3-4) got on the board first with a Jimmy Rollins solo shot, then went up 3-0 after Pat Burrell's first of two homers on the day. The Reds answered with two in the bottom of the inning, the first coming on a bit of a brainfart by Pedro Feliz; with men on second and third the runners were off at the crack of the bat, Brandon Phillips grounded to Feliz at third, and he went to first for the force instead of home, somewhat inexplicably. Castro scored the Reds second run on Keppinger's single.
Burrell made it 4-2 in the third with his second homer of the day, this one to left. Arroyo grooved a fastball that dropped right over the plate on the outer half and Burrell was ready. It's not like it didn't move at all, it just moved right into the area where Burrell wanted it. Geoff Jenkins followed his homer with a Jim Jackson of his own, also to left. I questioned the Jenkins signing when they did it, but he performed well this series.
Philadelphia threatened in the sixth, loading the bases with two outs. Jeremy Affeldt came in with two on and promptly walked the first man he faced, but got Victorino on a groundout to third to end it. The Reds got two on with two out in the bottom of the frame, but Paul Bako grounded out to end that threat.
The game stayed 5-2 til the ninth. Brad Lidge came on for the Phillies, retiring the first two (Encarnacion drove a ball to the wall in left for the first out) before walking Bako. Corey Patterson reached on a So Taguchi error in left; he tried to make a fancy basket catch near the foul line and dropped it. Pinch hitter Ken Griffey Jr. drew an intentional walk, bringing up PH Javier Valentin. A wild pitch brought home the Reds third run of the game, but Valentin took a 3-2 pitch that looked high and outside for strike three to end the game.
Valentin complained postgame about the call, and he was likely warranted, but you can't take anything close in that situation, considering strike three ends it.
God, am I glad to see the Phillies leave town. Jimmy Rollins continued his torture of the Reds. He's just so dangerous. You don't want to just put him on in that situation, because of what he can do on the basepaths.. plus he's got all those guys behind him. He's got power to the gaps and over the fence. I know the Phillies didn't play the best this series, but I came away very impressed with their lineup.
I think one thing that makes them so good is that two of the first three hitters, Rollins and Chase Utley, can hit anything you throw up there. Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell have a lot of power, but Rollins and Utley you almost feel like you can't throw a strike to without them killing it. Howard and Burrell you can get out. They're going to murder mistakes, but they'll also chase things. Arroyo particularly shook off the Howard and Burrell bombs to strike out both with a man on in the sixth, one of the few particularly solid segments of his start today. But Rollins and Utley are really tough, Victorino is no slouch either, so you face the power bats with men on nearly every time, which maximizes mistakes and makes you be extremely fine with them. Trying to be fine is what leads to those balls they murder. Just a really tough lineup to pitch to.
Cole Hamels was also very impressive. He's just a tall lanky dude who throws real free and easy. Not a hitch in that motion and he brings it 90 MPH plus. If I went to a speedpitch and emulated that windup it would go about 35. As opposed to my hard fastball which would go about 55. Anyway, he looked really good and the Reds never really got much going against him.
Comcast threw up an interesting stat (not that they invented it, I just hadn't commented on it here before) that Arroyo had an extremely unfavorable split between day and night games in 2007. Perhaps the big curve doesn't look as deceptive in broad daylight, or maybe he's just not a morning guy. I know all pitchers tend to have better numbers in night games, because despite the lights there's still better visibility in the daytime. Career, his splits aren't that extreme, so I would think the chances of him turning that around are good. The turnaround clearly didn't start today, though.
On the negative side of Comcast's telecast (keep in mind I didn't have the sound up, preferring to listen to Rockies-Braves) , it looked like they were framing the main pitcher-batter centerfield angle specifically for HD, making the angle WAY too closeup and making it look really claustrophobic. The top of the frame on the standard picture display sometimes cut off the top of the hitter's helmet and bat. I know HD is the bomb and everything, but the vast, vast majority of fans watching at this point are not going to have an HD set.
Castro batting second? I know it's a weekday afternoon getaway, but that is just ridiculous. I don't really care how much he hit in the spring, against Hamels he's just going to be severly overmatched. "But he had a walk and scored a run!" Shut up.
THE KEPPINGER PROBLEM
Keppinger just keeps hitting. How much does he have to hit before he isn't considered a guy who can be easily benched? If I were Edwin I would be sweating. Once Alex Gonzalez comes back there won't be an easy spot for Keppinger in the lineup other than benching EdE. Kep can't catch, they already have a logjam at first (maybe send Votto down and make it a Kep/Hat platoon? That won't give Kep enough at-bats though, I don't know that the splits make that work out). Trade Hat and make it a Votto/Kep platoon? I don't love that either, it gives you the same problem. If Votto is in the majors he needs to play every day. The supersub role doesn't work either, the Reds already have one supersub (Freel) they're struggling to find ABs for. Phillips is entrenched at second. Maybe they can find a way to flip Gonzo. Keppinger isn't the infielder Gonzalez is, but he'll give you so much more at the plate, I could live with it. Gonzo will have to be playing effectively for at least a few weeks before anyone will think of trading for him, though.. with the issues he had last year (not his fault and totally more important than baseball) and a knee issue this season, he's missed a lot of games. That's part of the reason this Keppinger issue started in the first place.
We probably got a preview of how Dusty is going to handle it today, with Keppinger at first against a tough lefty. That doesn't solve the problem because how often are you going to face a really tough lefty, but it could help.
BRANDONIE
Phillips looked lost against Hamels, which really shows you how good he was today; Brandon usually murders lefties. He had the previously-mentioned groundout that shouldn't have driven in a run in the first, and he looked awful on a three-pitch strikeout in the bottom of the fifth.
Jeremy Affeldt is still showing some control issues, he instantly fell behind and walked Rollins upon coming into the game in the sixth. Granted, I'd rather face Victorino than Rollins any day. His fastball seems to have a "darting" dropping kind of action that sometimes just guides it right into the dirt. It's the kind of pitch where the same thing that makes it tough to hit makes it tough to catch (Scott Williamson's slider is the best Reds example of this... impossible to lay off of, impossible to hit, impossible to not have a hitter reach on a strikeout). It'll be worth keeping an eye on, especially when he comes into games with men on in key situations.
Coffey didn't allow any runs in 1 2/3 innings (I wouldn't say he looked great, but he was okay) and Dusty brought Kent Mercker in to face Utley (probably just to get him in a game). He got him out, so that was good.
Overall a mixed-bag loss. The pen again looked okay, but it's frustrating when the Reds got so many breaks in the ninth and couldn't make it happen. Next they'll travel to Milwaukee for the opener of a three-game set. Game One is Tuesday at 8:05 Eastern. Johnny Cueto gets his second career start after a sensational debut, while Jeff Suppan gets the ball for the 5-1 Brewers.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Game 6: Reds 8, Phillies 2
For the second time in a week, the Reds were treated to a sensational debut from a Dominican starter.
Edinson Volquez more than lived up to the hype, allowing one run and striking out eight in five-plus innings of work, and the Reds (4-2) downed the Phillies 8-2.
Lots of positives to take from this one:
Edinson Volquez was superb in his five-plus innings of work. I can see the comparisons between Volquez and Cueto; both can pound hard fastballs with tons of movement on either side of the plate in any count, and mix in effective changes and breaking balls. Volquez showed more control issues than Cueto, but if the Reds can get consistently good starts from he and Cueto along with the usual from Harang and Arroyo, they're going to contend for the division deep into the 2008 season. It's amazing how different it feels to have Reds pitchers with really great stuff, instead of retread nibblers and guys that, let's face it, just didn't have much talent. Every inning hasn't seemed like disaster about to strike, and it's really refreshing. Let's hope it keeps up.
The bullpen again pitched really well. Philadelphia mounted a threat in the sixth, putting two on, but Jeremy Affeldt got Geoff Jenkins to ground out, and Jared Burton got a huge K on Pedro Feliz to end the threat in what was then a 4-1 game.
In the bottom of the inning, Philadelphia reliever Clay Condrey had the inning from hell, allowing a walk, single, wild pitch, double driving in two, walk, infield single, and a single driving in a run before getting an out. An Edwin Encarnacion double play brought home the Reds' fourth run of the inning.
Mike Lincoln gave up a run in two innings of work, and Todd Coffey finished with a scoreless ninth.
Griffey hit his first homer of the year, 594 on his career, in the first. It was a picture-perfect no-doubter on a ball that sunk right into his wheelhouse from Myers. I watched the game with Marty on audio on the web, and they speculated Myers wasn't locating his fastball properly today, which would explain all the offspeed stuff he threw in later innings. He definitely didn't have his best stuff.
The Paul Bako lovefest continued with Marty today. He's been talking about how Bako should start whenever he is physically capable even when David Ross comes back pretty much every time the subject of Bako is brought up. I don't have a lot of insight as to how much Bako held Cueto and Volquez's hands through their starts Thursday and today, but I would argue it is more the skill and stuff the pitchers have shown so far that accounts for the Reds' success than it is having Bako behind the plate. Bako has hit so far, but history tells me eventually he will prove to be a zero with the stick, and I don't think the Reds can afford to have many of those in the lineup. Despite all this, the Reds got another great performance from the pitching staff, and Bako was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.
I really hate to say this, because I cringed when the Reds signed him, but so far, I like what Corey Patterson brings to the table. He's looked like a decent hitter, he's played a pretty good center field and he's shown a little pop. He had a bunt single to kickstart a rally and drove in a run. The bunt single, especially, is what will make Reds fans really take to him. It's when he starts to depend on bunt singles to get hits at all (*coughNorrisHoppercough*) that we should be worried. Always frustrating, though, to have Marty/Thom (whichever one it was) talk about how the bunt single really showed the new approach Patterson talked about in Spring Training. Yes, let's try not to hit home runs and instead bunt. This has been articulated much better by other bloggers, but it boggles the mind when people who should know better talk about home runs like they're a bad thing.
Adam Dunn hit the ball hard, despite only having a single to show for it. He struggled through all of spring and hadn't looked comfortable at the plate so far in the regular season, but looked today like he's coming out of it.
On the negative side, Joey Votto showed absolutely no indications of coming out of his season-long funk in his three at-bats. He struck out with bases loaded in the fifth, when the outcome was still very much in doubt, and looked pretty bad in his other at-bats. Brett Myers was not good today, and it would have been nice to see Votto break out of the slump a bit. He certainly isn't giving Dusty any reason to play him at the moment, but it is difficult to get your rhythm as a hitter when you're only playing every other day or so. Later in the game he was removed as part of a double switch.
The only other negative I can really think of is Edinson Volquez's bunting; he bunted foul and it was caught by Phils catcher Carlos Ruiz in his first at-bat, and the second AB he had a really lame attempt at just jabbing the bat at the ball before getting it down successfully with two strikes. Looked like he very much was not used to having to lay one down.
But when the starting pitcher's bunting is one of the two big negatives you can think of, it was a pretty good day. Weekend afternoon wins are always really fun because the game's over, you won and you have an entire day to think about how awesome your team is. The Reds have assured a split in the series, and go for three of four tomorrow in a Businessman's Special at 12:35. Bronson Arroyo takes the hill for the Reds against Phillies lefty Cole Hamels. Arroyo's last start came Wednesday in the last at-bat win against Arizona. He went five innings, allowing four hits and two runs but walking three, earning him an early exit. Hamels went eight and allowed one run in getting the hard-luck 1-0 loss to Washington this past Wednesday. The Reds will have their work cut out for them; Hamels is about as tough as they come.
EI has the game, but I won't even start watching it til around 5 PM eastern or later, so it'll be a late update from me. I'll try to keep blinders on to keep from spoiling the result.
UPCOMING GAMES AND REDS PROBABLES
Tomorrow Bronson Arroyo vs. Philadelphia, 12:35
Tuesday Johnny Cueto at Milwaukee, 8:05
Wednesday Josh Fogg at Milwaukee, 8:05
Thursday Aaron Harang at Milwaukee, 1:05
Edinson Volquez more than lived up to the hype, allowing one run and striking out eight in five-plus innings of work, and the Reds (4-2) downed the Phillies 8-2.
Lots of positives to take from this one:
Edinson Volquez was superb in his five-plus innings of work. I can see the comparisons between Volquez and Cueto; both can pound hard fastballs with tons of movement on either side of the plate in any count, and mix in effective changes and breaking balls. Volquez showed more control issues than Cueto, but if the Reds can get consistently good starts from he and Cueto along with the usual from Harang and Arroyo, they're going to contend for the division deep into the 2008 season. It's amazing how different it feels to have Reds pitchers with really great stuff, instead of retread nibblers and guys that, let's face it, just didn't have much talent. Every inning hasn't seemed like disaster about to strike, and it's really refreshing. Let's hope it keeps up.
The bullpen again pitched really well. Philadelphia mounted a threat in the sixth, putting two on, but Jeremy Affeldt got Geoff Jenkins to ground out, and Jared Burton got a huge K on Pedro Feliz to end the threat in what was then a 4-1 game.
In the bottom of the inning, Philadelphia reliever Clay Condrey had the inning from hell, allowing a walk, single, wild pitch, double driving in two, walk, infield single, and a single driving in a run before getting an out. An Edwin Encarnacion double play brought home the Reds' fourth run of the inning.
Mike Lincoln gave up a run in two innings of work, and Todd Coffey finished with a scoreless ninth.
Griffey hit his first homer of the year, 594 on his career, in the first. It was a picture-perfect no-doubter on a ball that sunk right into his wheelhouse from Myers. I watched the game with Marty on audio on the web, and they speculated Myers wasn't locating his fastball properly today, which would explain all the offspeed stuff he threw in later innings. He definitely didn't have his best stuff.
The Paul Bako lovefest continued with Marty today. He's been talking about how Bako should start whenever he is physically capable even when David Ross comes back pretty much every time the subject of Bako is brought up. I don't have a lot of insight as to how much Bako held Cueto and Volquez's hands through their starts Thursday and today, but I would argue it is more the skill and stuff the pitchers have shown so far that accounts for the Reds' success than it is having Bako behind the plate. Bako has hit so far, but history tells me eventually he will prove to be a zero with the stick, and I don't think the Reds can afford to have many of those in the lineup. Despite all this, the Reds got another great performance from the pitching staff, and Bako was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored.
I really hate to say this, because I cringed when the Reds signed him, but so far, I like what Corey Patterson brings to the table. He's looked like a decent hitter, he's played a pretty good center field and he's shown a little pop. He had a bunt single to kickstart a rally and drove in a run. The bunt single, especially, is what will make Reds fans really take to him. It's when he starts to depend on bunt singles to get hits at all (*coughNorrisHoppercough*) that we should be worried. Always frustrating, though, to have Marty/Thom (whichever one it was) talk about how the bunt single really showed the new approach Patterson talked about in Spring Training. Yes, let's try not to hit home runs and instead bunt. This has been articulated much better by other bloggers, but it boggles the mind when people who should know better talk about home runs like they're a bad thing.
Adam Dunn hit the ball hard, despite only having a single to show for it. He struggled through all of spring and hadn't looked comfortable at the plate so far in the regular season, but looked today like he's coming out of it.
On the negative side, Joey Votto showed absolutely no indications of coming out of his season-long funk in his three at-bats. He struck out with bases loaded in the fifth, when the outcome was still very much in doubt, and looked pretty bad in his other at-bats. Brett Myers was not good today, and it would have been nice to see Votto break out of the slump a bit. He certainly isn't giving Dusty any reason to play him at the moment, but it is difficult to get your rhythm as a hitter when you're only playing every other day or so. Later in the game he was removed as part of a double switch.
The only other negative I can really think of is Edinson Volquez's bunting; he bunted foul and it was caught by Phils catcher Carlos Ruiz in his first at-bat, and the second AB he had a really lame attempt at just jabbing the bat at the ball before getting it down successfully with two strikes. Looked like he very much was not used to having to lay one down.
But when the starting pitcher's bunting is one of the two big negatives you can think of, it was a pretty good day. Weekend afternoon wins are always really fun because the game's over, you won and you have an entire day to think about how awesome your team is. The Reds have assured a split in the series, and go for three of four tomorrow in a Businessman's Special at 12:35. Bronson Arroyo takes the hill for the Reds against Phillies lefty Cole Hamels. Arroyo's last start came Wednesday in the last at-bat win against Arizona. He went five innings, allowing four hits and two runs but walking three, earning him an early exit. Hamels went eight and allowed one run in getting the hard-luck 1-0 loss to Washington this past Wednesday. The Reds will have their work cut out for them; Hamels is about as tough as they come.
EI has the game, but I won't even start watching it til around 5 PM eastern or later, so it'll be a late update from me. I'll try to keep blinders on to keep from spoiling the result.
UPCOMING GAMES AND REDS PROBABLES
Tomorrow Bronson Arroyo vs. Philadelphia, 12:35
Tuesday Johnny Cueto at Milwaukee, 8:05
Wednesday Josh Fogg at Milwaukee, 8:05
Thursday Aaron Harang at Milwaukee, 1:05
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Game 5: Reds 4, Phillies 3
For the second time in four days the Reds won in their last at-bat, overcoming a late deficit to down Philadelphia, 4-3.
Paul Bako's infield single off Chad Durbin with one out drove in Ryan Freel, giving the Reds (3-2) the victory. Cincinnati jumped on Adam Eaton early, taking a 2-0 lead after two. Marty and Brantley said Eaton was having issues with his front foot catching on the mound right before releasing the ball, giving him control issues. Whatever problems he had cleared up after the second; he would throw scoreless innings in frames three through seven. Again Cincinnati had early opportunites to add more runs than they did, having two on with none out in the 2nd but only getting a run out of it.
Philadelphia (2-3) got a run in the top of the third, with all the action coming with two outs. A Victorino triple followed by an Utley double made it 2-1. They tied the game in the sixth when Pat Burrell's double sent Utley home. That top of the Phillies' order is just deadly. Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Burrell. You just feel like no matter who is on the mound, you're holding your breath with every hitter, and there are just no breaks. Harang pitched pretty well overall, despite the no-decision (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO).
The Phils took the lead in the top of the 8th when Ryan Howard hit a solo bomb off Kent Mercker. The lead was short-lived, however, as Corey Patterson responded in the bottom of the inning with a dinger. Philly went 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th against winning pitcher Francisco Cordero, and the ninth gave the Reds the win.
I only had radio for this one, so no greater impressions than that... I'm really glad they got this one, and that we'll be back on TV tomorrow as Edinson Volquez makes his Reds debut against Brett Myers.
Paul Bako's infield single off Chad Durbin with one out drove in Ryan Freel, giving the Reds (3-2) the victory. Cincinnati jumped on Adam Eaton early, taking a 2-0 lead after two. Marty and Brantley said Eaton was having issues with his front foot catching on the mound right before releasing the ball, giving him control issues. Whatever problems he had cleared up after the second; he would throw scoreless innings in frames three through seven. Again Cincinnati had early opportunites to add more runs than they did, having two on with none out in the 2nd but only getting a run out of it.
Philadelphia (2-3) got a run in the top of the third, with all the action coming with two outs. A Victorino triple followed by an Utley double made it 2-1. They tied the game in the sixth when Pat Burrell's double sent Utley home. That top of the Phillies' order is just deadly. Rollins, Victorino, Utley, Howard, Burrell. You just feel like no matter who is on the mound, you're holding your breath with every hitter, and there are just no breaks. Harang pitched pretty well overall, despite the no-decision (7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO).
The Phils took the lead in the top of the 8th when Ryan Howard hit a solo bomb off Kent Mercker. The lead was short-lived, however, as Corey Patterson responded in the bottom of the inning with a dinger. Philly went 1-2-3 in the top of the 9th against winning pitcher Francisco Cordero, and the ninth gave the Reds the win.
I only had radio for this one, so no greater impressions than that... I'm really glad they got this one, and that we'll be back on TV tomorrow as Edinson Volquez makes his Reds debut against Brett Myers.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Game 4: Philadelphia Phillies 8, Cincinnati Reds 4
Friday night's game against Philadelphia came just a day after Johnny Cueto's gem Thursday afternoon, but the starting pitching performances the Reds received couldn't have been more different. After Thursday's too-good-to-be-true gem , Reds fans were subjected to a sight all too familiar: the starter being lifted after four innings, having given up six runs, in a vain effort to keep the team in the game.
Josh Fogg was predictably awful. His numbers last year in Colorado were not good. He won some big games for them down the stretch, but some people overlooked the fact that his numbers were really terrible, and it wasn't beacuse of Coors Field. That ballpark has a reputation for being a hitters' paradise, but in recent years it has actually not been a particularly high-scoring ballpark. Whether due to the humidor, more athletic players making it easier for the Rockies to cover all that ground in the outfield, or Colorado just plain not being as good an offensive club, Coors isn't a horrible place for pitchers anymore.
Nibble, nibble, nibble, gopher ball. That's basically what you missed from Fogg if you skipped this one. It's clear he's not dealing the best stuff in the world out there, and his location isn't perfect. He's just... bad. People had expressed concerns before the season even started about Fogg going against the Phillies, and their fears were definitely realized. You can't go up and nibble, nibble, nibble and not throw something up there someone in that lineup isn't going to crush. Jimmy Rollins made it look like BP in his ABs off Fogg, and Pat Burrell and Chase Utley's bombs were the definition of no-doubters. It's going to be difficult watching all his starts this year. The big problem is that the most obvious alternative for the rotation, Jeremy Affeldt, didn't look good in his inning of work, either, allowing Chase Utley's second homer of the night.
The poor pitching early obscured a nice effort from Jared Burton. He looked to be in 2007 form again, throwing the heater with authority in two scoreless innings.
Offensively, Griffey had a couple of good swings off Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick. He did an excellent job staying alive and protecting the plate in the first until he got something he could go the other way with, driving in the Reds' first run. Later he added a double to drive in Jeff Keppinger (who continued to hit, by the way) to pass Reggie Jackson on the all-time RBI list. In the "mixed-bag" department, Edwin Encarnacion showed great discipline in his two walks, although ball four on one of them could easily have been strike three, but he looked awful in his eigth-inning AB against Rudy Seanez. Joey Votto had a hit and absolutely scorched a ball Jimmy Rollins had to leap for a nifty grab on in the eigth as well.
Curious to see the Phillies bunting Shane Victorino with men on first and second with none out in the fourth inning, considering the Phils hadn't had any issues scoring or getting solid contact off Fogg up to that point in the game. Even stranger to see Dusty pull the infield in that early when they were already behind. I didn't particuarly agree with either move; why would you bunt your number three hitter, and why would you run the risk of pulling the infield in that early in the game? It's not like it was the tenth inning.
But in the end, with a loss like this, a complaint like that is just picking nits. The starting performance was just too bad for the Reds to overcome against a good team like Philadelphia. The Reds won't have much time to dwell on this one, either; Game 2 of the series and Game 5 on the season starts tomorrow at 1:10. Aaron Harang goes for the Reds against Adam Eaton for Philadelphia. Not sure how much I'll have to say about this one; it's one of the few this season that won't be on Extra Innings (thanks, Fox), so I'll be in the dark save for radio.
Josh Fogg was predictably awful. His numbers last year in Colorado were not good. He won some big games for them down the stretch, but some people overlooked the fact that his numbers were really terrible, and it wasn't beacuse of Coors Field. That ballpark has a reputation for being a hitters' paradise, but in recent years it has actually not been a particularly high-scoring ballpark. Whether due to the humidor, more athletic players making it easier for the Rockies to cover all that ground in the outfield, or Colorado just plain not being as good an offensive club, Coors isn't a horrible place for pitchers anymore.
Nibble, nibble, nibble, gopher ball. That's basically what you missed from Fogg if you skipped this one. It's clear he's not dealing the best stuff in the world out there, and his location isn't perfect. He's just... bad. People had expressed concerns before the season even started about Fogg going against the Phillies, and their fears were definitely realized. You can't go up and nibble, nibble, nibble and not throw something up there someone in that lineup isn't going to crush. Jimmy Rollins made it look like BP in his ABs off Fogg, and Pat Burrell and Chase Utley's bombs were the definition of no-doubters. It's going to be difficult watching all his starts this year. The big problem is that the most obvious alternative for the rotation, Jeremy Affeldt, didn't look good in his inning of work, either, allowing Chase Utley's second homer of the night.
The poor pitching early obscured a nice effort from Jared Burton. He looked to be in 2007 form again, throwing the heater with authority in two scoreless innings.
Offensively, Griffey had a couple of good swings off Phillies starter Kyle Kendrick. He did an excellent job staying alive and protecting the plate in the first until he got something he could go the other way with, driving in the Reds' first run. Later he added a double to drive in Jeff Keppinger (who continued to hit, by the way) to pass Reggie Jackson on the all-time RBI list. In the "mixed-bag" department, Edwin Encarnacion showed great discipline in his two walks, although ball four on one of them could easily have been strike three, but he looked awful in his eigth-inning AB against Rudy Seanez. Joey Votto had a hit and absolutely scorched a ball Jimmy Rollins had to leap for a nifty grab on in the eigth as well.
Curious to see the Phillies bunting Shane Victorino with men on first and second with none out in the fourth inning, considering the Phils hadn't had any issues scoring or getting solid contact off Fogg up to that point in the game. Even stranger to see Dusty pull the infield in that early when they were already behind. I didn't particuarly agree with either move; why would you bunt your number three hitter, and why would you run the risk of pulling the infield in that early in the game? It's not like it was the tenth inning.
But in the end, with a loss like this, a complaint like that is just picking nits. The starting performance was just too bad for the Reds to overcome against a good team like Philadelphia. The Reds won't have much time to dwell on this one, either; Game 2 of the series and Game 5 on the season starts tomorrow at 1:10. Aaron Harang goes for the Reds against Adam Eaton for Philadelphia. Not sure how much I'll have to say about this one; it's one of the few this season that won't be on Extra Innings (thanks, Fox), so I'll be in the dark save for radio.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Game 3: Reds 3, Diamondbacks 2
Johnny Cueto is for real.
Highly-touted Reds prospects so rarely have lived up to the hype in recent years. After a strong debut last year the bloom is already off the rose for Homer Bailey. Austin Kearns had a strong rookie campaign but never quite lived up to the early promise he showed, although to be fair by 2006 he'd established himself as a solid major leaguer. Wily Mo Pena had flashes of brilliant power offset by strikeout after strikeout, and his indifferent play in the field made you forget how great an athlete he could be at times. Brandon Larson killed the ball in AAA but couldn't get out of his own way at the major league level.
With that recent history in mind, Cueto's performance Thursday just seemed too good to be true. The reports out of Spring Training were so good I almost didn't want to believe it. A 96 mile per hour fastball, a killer change and a breaking ball that falls off the table? Scouts saying he should be the ace right now? It was exciting, I'll admit, but it was hard not to try to temper that excitement. "Let's see what happens when the games are real," I thought.
Well, Thursday was a real game, although it didn't feel like it at times. GABP looked so empty it seemed like a scrimmage just for friends and family of the team. The Arizona broadcast saw fit to "interview" Mr. Redlegs for what seemed like three innings. The sky was the kind of gray you forget even exists when you live in California.
The economy of pitches! He never got behind. He hit the corners with authority. Time and time again he popped a 96 on the FSN gun. He threw the breaking ball with two strikes with confidence. He had Conor Jackson, Eric Byrnes and Orlando Hudson just shaking their heads after called strike three. Against a very solid big-league lineup, he was perfect through five.
Bailey's run last year was exciting, but I remember his last start before his shutdown, also against Arizona. He pitched fairly well but you knew his luck was going to run out. Nearly every pitch he threw was a rising fastball you could tell he could barely tame. He got through five, wound up getting hung with a no-decision, and just like that he was gone til September. That was a type of success I enjoyed, because he did do well, but you knew it wouldn't last. Watching Cueto today the word on my mind was Phenom. He could be a sensation this year. He could end up packing the park every time out. His stuff was that good... just electric.
I confess I actually knew the Reds won before I even watched the game. I worked a half day, then went to the Padres-Astros game, foolishly thinking I could avoid looking at the out-of-town scoreboard the entire game. Of course, as soon as I got to my seat, I looked at it. Reds were up 3-1 in the 7th. All right, Cueto must have done OK, I thought. Coming back watching it on the DVR I couldn't believe my eyes. Seven innings, one hit? You have got to be joking me! He was one mistake away from a no-hitter through seven!
I'm the type that looks forward to every single game. I roughed it with MLB.tv until like July last year. When I bought Extra Innings, the Reds were like 30-52 or something. I love a home game on a Tuesday in August against the Bucs when both teams are a combined 55 games back. I love every game because every game is a chance for something sweet to happen. I used to really love the Bengals, but I got tired of sixteen chances for something good to happen, twelve of which would come up crappy, then eight months of Geoff Hobson rationalizing every move made and every move not made on their website. I've gotten so excited about mediocre teams and crummy players on the Reds. Now that I've seen someone really exciting, I can't wait until Tuesday in Milwaukee to see how he does.
2 of 3 is pretty sweet especially after the opener. Now let's go get the Phillies.
You know what, no. One more time.. This win was f'n beautiful.
OTHER THOUGHTS...
- Tough outing for Stormy, he'll be alright though.
- I don't mean to rag on the Mr. Redlegs interview, it was really like a half-inning and consisted of the Arizona broadcasters asking him things and the sound of him clapping (that's really all the sound he can make). It was actually pretty funny.
- Nice to see Junior not have a hitless series.
- Mike Lincoln cleaning up the mess in the eighth! Clutch. If I had to pick a guy most likely to be released early in the year, he was my pick. Still could happen, but he came up big today.
- The Reds had chances to break the game open early. Doug Davis allowed several baserunners in the third and fourth after giving up runs in the first and second and the Reds just couldn't get any runs across. Third, they had two on and one out and Hatteberg and Paul Bako struck out looking in back-to-back at-bats. Mercifully FSN AZ didn't have shots of Dusty with a look of consternation on his face. Fourth, they had two on with one, then two out and couldn't get anything.
Highly-touted Reds prospects so rarely have lived up to the hype in recent years. After a strong debut last year the bloom is already off the rose for Homer Bailey. Austin Kearns had a strong rookie campaign but never quite lived up to the early promise he showed, although to be fair by 2006 he'd established himself as a solid major leaguer. Wily Mo Pena had flashes of brilliant power offset by strikeout after strikeout, and his indifferent play in the field made you forget how great an athlete he could be at times. Brandon Larson killed the ball in AAA but couldn't get out of his own way at the major league level.
With that recent history in mind, Cueto's performance Thursday just seemed too good to be true. The reports out of Spring Training were so good I almost didn't want to believe it. A 96 mile per hour fastball, a killer change and a breaking ball that falls off the table? Scouts saying he should be the ace right now? It was exciting, I'll admit, but it was hard not to try to temper that excitement. "Let's see what happens when the games are real," I thought.
Well, Thursday was a real game, although it didn't feel like it at times. GABP looked so empty it seemed like a scrimmage just for friends and family of the team. The Arizona broadcast saw fit to "interview" Mr. Redlegs for what seemed like three innings. The sky was the kind of gray you forget even exists when you live in California.
The economy of pitches! He never got behind. He hit the corners with authority. Time and time again he popped a 96 on the FSN gun. He threw the breaking ball with two strikes with confidence. He had Conor Jackson, Eric Byrnes and Orlando Hudson just shaking their heads after called strike three. Against a very solid big-league lineup, he was perfect through five.
Bailey's run last year was exciting, but I remember his last start before his shutdown, also against Arizona. He pitched fairly well but you knew his luck was going to run out. Nearly every pitch he threw was a rising fastball you could tell he could barely tame. He got through five, wound up getting hung with a no-decision, and just like that he was gone til September. That was a type of success I enjoyed, because he did do well, but you knew it wouldn't last. Watching Cueto today the word on my mind was Phenom. He could be a sensation this year. He could end up packing the park every time out. His stuff was that good... just electric.
I confess I actually knew the Reds won before I even watched the game. I worked a half day, then went to the Padres-Astros game, foolishly thinking I could avoid looking at the out-of-town scoreboard the entire game. Of course, as soon as I got to my seat, I looked at it. Reds were up 3-1 in the 7th. All right, Cueto must have done OK, I thought. Coming back watching it on the DVR I couldn't believe my eyes. Seven innings, one hit? You have got to be joking me! He was one mistake away from a no-hitter through seven!
I'm the type that looks forward to every single game. I roughed it with MLB.tv until like July last year. When I bought Extra Innings, the Reds were like 30-52 or something. I love a home game on a Tuesday in August against the Bucs when both teams are a combined 55 games back. I love every game because every game is a chance for something sweet to happen. I used to really love the Bengals, but I got tired of sixteen chances for something good to happen, twelve of which would come up crappy, then eight months of Geoff Hobson rationalizing every move made and every move not made on their website. I've gotten so excited about mediocre teams and crummy players on the Reds. Now that I've seen someone really exciting, I can't wait until Tuesday in Milwaukee to see how he does.
2 of 3 is pretty sweet especially after the opener. Now let's go get the Phillies.
You know what, no. One more time.. This win was f'n beautiful.
OTHER THOUGHTS...
- Tough outing for Stormy, he'll be alright though.
- I don't mean to rag on the Mr. Redlegs interview, it was really like a half-inning and consisted of the Arizona broadcasters asking him things and the sound of him clapping (that's really all the sound he can make). It was actually pretty funny.
- Nice to see Junior not have a hitless series.
- Mike Lincoln cleaning up the mess in the eighth! Clutch. If I had to pick a guy most likely to be released early in the year, he was my pick. Still could happen, but he came up big today.
- The Reds had chances to break the game open early. Doug Davis allowed several baserunners in the third and fourth after giving up runs in the first and second and the Reds just couldn't get any runs across. Third, they had two on and one out and Hatteberg and Paul Bako struck out looking in back-to-back at-bats. Mercifully FSN AZ didn't have shots of Dusty with a look of consternation on his face. Fourth, they had two on with one, then two out and couldn't get anything.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)