The afterglow of the Reds 5-3 win over the Floridians Tuesday was dampened somewhat by what could be a devastating injury.
Per the Reds television broadcast Jeff Keppinger is out indefinitely after breaking his kneecap during a second inning at-bat.
With the injury the Reds lose more than their everyday shortstop; they also lose one of their only dependable hitters so far in 2008. With the rest of the lineup either struggling on and off (Brandon Phillips, Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey Jr., Edwin Encarnacion) or doing nothing thus far (anyone playing center) Keppinger and Joey Votto had proven themselves the only go-to bats for what little offense this team has been able to generate.
Now the Reds have to decide what to do about the shortstop problem. Brandon Phillips could slide over, with Ryan Freel or Jerry Hairston Jr. taking second. Phillips, though, has only five games at short in his career. Second is Hairston's natural position. He's played just nine games career at short. Freel has never played short, but has 99 games at second.
The easiest thing would be for Alex Gonzalez to just get better and come back, but he has stress fractures in his knee and can't be rushed back. Louisville's everyday shortstop is Paul Janish, a twenty-five year old righty who's OPS'd .740 on his minor league career. He's having a pretty good year for him at Louisville but still nothing great.
If the solution is moving Phillips over and Freel/Hairston to second, an outfield spot would open. Seems like an awfully convenient time to bring up Jay Bruce, install him in center and see how the kid does. He's killing the ball in Louisville lately. One factor to consider is that if Bruce is brought up this early and sticks the rest of the year, after 2009 he'll achieve "Super 2" status and be eligible for arbitration already. But if this team is interested in winning at the major league level, the Bruce callup is clearly the right move.
The Keppinger injury aside, Tuesday was a nice win. Edinson Volquez allowed one run in six innings of work, and again was fantastic. His only bugaboo continues to be pitch efficiency; he threw 110 pitches in the six innings. Florida just couldn't hit the ball hard, despite having seven hits and baserunners in nearly every inning. Volquez is just nasty, plain and simple.
Offensively, Keppinger had an RBI walk in the AB when he was injured. Joey Votto had a solo homer, David Ross had a brilliantly-placed bunt single, Freel had an RBI infield single and Dunn drove in a run on a groundout.
Florida starter Mark Hendrickson is a strange dude to watch; he's six-nine, lefthanded and a soft tosser on the mound. His only plus pitch seemed to be a fastball that bores in on righthanders and saws them off. Other than that, I'm not sure how he's having such a good year thus far. His walks are around where they've always been, he's just not allowing as many hits. He's not striking out any more guys, but less fly balls are leaving the yard and he's allowing less line drives. Part of his performance may have come from the teams he's faced in his first eight starts: the Mets the second game, Pittsburgh twice, Atlanta when they were struggling offensively, Milwaukee twice who hasn't been scoring much, Washington and the light-hitting Padres.
Tomorrow, Florida throws righty Ricky Nolasco against short-rested Bronson Arroyo, who was excellent in the second game of the doubleheader against the Mets Saturday. Consistent with his rubber-armed reputation Arroyo has actually been good on short rest the three times he's done it before, with an ERA around three. Still, I'm concerned that against a hungry and talented Marlin lineup nothing but his best will be good enough. With a win the Reds can clinch a series victory; tonight's win guaranteed at least a split. Game time is again 7:10, 4:10 here on the wessyde.
HERO OF THE GAME
EDINSON VOLQUEZ
The Volquez-Hamilton deal so far might be the most even swap ever. I still can't believe the Rangers dealt Volquez when they've struggled for pitching since I was about ten (I'm twenty-six now). Viva Volquez!
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