National League central

This seems to be one of the best divisons in baseball. With the cardinals starting off with a absoulty great season and the cubs power hiting offense along with the brewers. I would say if the reds were in any other divison i think they would do alot better. By playing in this division it only makes us better. When we get to compete against some the best pitchers in the league and some of the most best hitting teams its ridicilous. Along with being one of the better divisions in baseball, we have the most amout of teams in hte division. Some divisons only have 4 teams to compete with which i think it a bunch of bullcrap because its easier for them to win the it is for us. If we dont win the conference we have to compete for a wild crad. I think we should be about to get 2 teams out of our division. Its tough to not have 2 teams in hte playoffs from our division. Its like the NCAA. The best teams should be in the playoffs. THis means more teams from one conference then another. If the reds contuine to pick up there hitting i think by te end of the year we will be in a close race for the top positon and for once in mylifetime i will be able to root for my home team coming down the stretch.

Bruce

I think he can hit 40 but I don't want him to change his approach to do it. I'm sure he'll have some 40 HR years in his career.As long as he's healthy, he'll hit 40. He won't have to change his game to do it either. Power is his game despite his youth. If he tries to hard then no. If he continues to swing the way he is right now then yes. He showed yesterday that he has enough power to hit it out to LF and also crush one to RC. If he takes the approach of driving the ball to LC, like Votto does, then Bruce will likely be in the 40 HR range. If he starts the Edwin pull everything then he will likely be a 30 HR guy. Bruce is a guy that i would be tempted to bat in the 4 hole. Votto and Bruce back to back on righty days? How can that be a better duo. I can see them being split up on days where leftys pitch but when you have a righty on hte mound why not have taveras, phillips, votto, bruce. Talk about a frekin heck of a starting linup. Phillips has always batter up in the linup to even the 1 hole. Hes just now starting to get his bat back why not change things up and put him back into the roation where he belngs.

Owings as a pinch hitter?

Question...when is the appropriate use of Owings going to be?? 1st PH off bench, to avoid burning a position player??...late game power??...specialized use??I ask for I was desperately hoping to get to the 1-hole in the 9th inning last night so Owings could PH against K-Rod...yet Hanigan was on deck when the game ended. With so many hitter on the bench i dont think owings gets enough swings as a regualr everyday player. Why not pinch hit hanigan? Hes s right weith just as much power and owings and i think hes a little bit better at hitting. Owings should stick to hit pitching role and contuine that. Hes struggling right now on hte mound so why take your best role and try to do things at one. Try to get better and get as good at you can at one thing and not medoker at two things. With the rest of the season someing up i still think that they will mak ea trade through the middle of the season to get a power hitting left fielder or a 3rd baseman. This would possibly send edwin to the pinch hitting hole and leave a extra riht handed batter o nthe bench so he could ive certin infirlders the day off of maybe if he could hit certian pitchers better.

Lincoln

i suspect he can't be sent to AAA without his permission. why not pull him aside and say 'lets get you down to AAA & work on whatever the problem might be'. right now nobody is going to give you a major league spot. we have to pay you whether you pitch in Cincinnati or in Louisville. lets see if we can get you pitching better then we'll call you back up.

8.1 IP
14 hits
2 homers allowed
10 walks
3 KOs
whip 2.9
ERA 15.1

Those are not very strong stats what so ever. I still think with weather and rhodes and burton what is the point on us keeping lincon. Why not bring up baily and put him i nthe middel roation. Alot of pitchers start in the middle roation then go the starting role. I just think were wasting talent in the minor leaugue of a player that should not be on the team. If we could bring up baily this would give us possibly a 6 starter if one of our startes is stuggling.

Cueto

I can't say enough great things about Johnny Cueto's start last night. How impressive was that? Seven shutout innings against one of the toughest offenses in baseball and it was on the road. On top of his great pitching, he was 2-for-2 at the plate. That bunt single he dropped down was a thing of beauty. Kid is a great athlete. I'd say Cueto is one of the five fastest players on the team. I've been tracking Cueto since 2006 and I've always thought he was going to be something special. I think the sky is the limit with this kid. All he's lacking at this point is experience. I think he'll improve this season but he'll still have some ups and downs. With another year of experience under his belt, I expect 2010 to be his breakout season.When he's "on," he amazes and when he's "off" or loses his temper, he's horrid. Maturity will come eventually. I still belive that this year he will be a very good assest to this team. If edison could have half the year he had last yr and cueto have a better year. I still belive its one of the best pitching rotatons in the MLB.

Lance Nix.

Anyone else think Laynce Nix should start every day vs RHP, at least until he cools off? If he does. After tonight, Nix is hitting .310/.355/.621 - .976 with six extra-base hits in 29 atbats. He's always had the ability, but injuries have held him back. Who knows, maybe he's the next Ryan Ludwick or Nelson Cruz. I'm a big Dickerson fan, but Nix should get the bulk of the starts in left field vs right handers. Dickerson becomes the 4th outfielder and gets some starts in CF. Also, it's time for the Reds to find another right handed bat to platoon in left field. Jerry Hairston Jr. just isn't getting it done. Jonny Gomes and Wes Bankston are probably the best in house options at this point.One other thing, if Adam Rosales plays well at third base for the next three weeks, I'd start having EdE work out in left field. I really like what Rosales brings to the team. This is a guy that wants to be here. He shows entheusm everytime he gets a basehit or makes a good play. I really like what he brings to the field. Hes a player that not very many people know about hes hes a player that resembles ryan freel in the hustle aspect part of the game. He always wants to be there and play hte best he can.

Bonds?

The Reds have a severe offensive void in LF.Barry Bonds refuses to retire, and will reportedly sign for the league minimum. I belive thes two statements have any relevance to each other. If the reds would sign Barry Bonds you are on the verge of something big and another power bat might help push you over the top. There are about 2-3 teams in MLB where I think that move would make sense. i'm not a barry fan, but if you want this team to instantly become better, it'd be hard to argue signing him (for league minimum). he's not a long term answer, but for now? he would help give the reds a BETTER chance. The only problem with signing bonds would be because hes another lefty. I dont think the reds would want 3 lefties batting i nthe top of the linup. This would be a big killer when you get a lefty picther. we can alrleady see then when team thorw lefties we struggle big time. Its just a matter of time when we trade one of our young bucks for a big right handed hitting left fielder. Not only is left field an issuse i think the reds should ytrade for a better hitting and fieldering 3rd baseman. Bonds has been out of the game for a while and with his steroiids crap i just dont think he would be on top of his game. This is like brining back a sammy sosa. He would be a better bench player for the younger genteration then an on the field player.

Bronson 3-0

Bronson continued his very strong pitching last night as the reds came away with a 4-3 victory. He pitched 7 innings concluding 6 strikeouts and 1 walk. Rhodes came in to relieve him but seems to struggle a little bit. He had hte bases loaded and gota huge strikeout with a full count to hunter pence who is pitched it seemed to be like 15 pitches. It was actually 9 but sitll thats a lot. Votto had another big hit wit ha 2 run rbi off the left field wall that allowed the reds to take the lead. I said before the season started that votto was going to have a breakout year and hes priving this so far this year. Votto had a few quotes that i liked about the game." The best part about it is I don't think a single player on that bench was concerned," Votto said. "There was a real confidence feeling because, combined with a strong bullpen, there are guys on this team that believe in us. The reds now have a 7-5 record with only trailing a half game to te cubs. Here we come CUBBIES!

Willy

The last couple of games have made me think about a stat (not even sure it is really a stat) that I never considered before the homers by Hairston and Dickerson the last two evenings. How much of an effect does Willy being on base have on the hitter's at bat? It's been obvious that the pitcher's have been very concerned about Willy on the basepaths and the hitters have got good pitches to hit that have led to home runs. I have always thought that speedsters are better suited for near the bottom of the lineup, where the hitters behind them have lower SLG. Why steal second in front of a guy like Howard or Berkman?. If he does get a hit, he is almost as likely to drive you in from first as from second. If you steal second in front of a hitter like Janish, it gives him a chance to drive you in that he probably would not have with you at first. If it does help the hitters, why not help the hitters who need the most help?Hairston was talking about this the other night when he was being interviewed after hitting his early game HR. He said that with a guy like Willy on base pitchers often revert to what he called a slide step. When they start doing that they are more likely to leave a pitch high in the zone. If you've got a batter that can take advantage of that there is no doubt that if what Hairston is saying is true this would translate into more flyballs and more HRs. I'm sure pitchers are more focused on getting through their motion faster, and even getting the ball to home faster. With a guy like Taveras out there, the difference between a fastball and curveball will make the difference between making a play at 2nd and a no throw as we saw a few days ago.

Close win

The Reds last night came away with a 4-2 victory. They still seem to be very shaky in my certin area. Specially in the hitting catagory. Micha owings had a clutch 2 rbi single inthe 7th drving in harriston and hernanzez. The only reason that owings pich hit was becuase of the lack of right handed bench prescence they had along with jay bruce being still sore. He was only able to pinch run. McDonald later added a pinch-hit triple in the ninth and scored an insurance run on Willy Taveras' sacrifice fly. I thought i was going to see the old reds when Reds closer Francisco Cordero threw a 32-pitch bottom of the ninth in which he allowed two walks, a single and a sacrifice fly. The winning run was at the plate when Kaz Matsui flied out to end the game. This was corderos 4th save of the year. Volquez piched 6 and 2/3 innings allowing 1 earned run and 3 hits. This should be a be confident booster for him. Hes needs to get on a good track for the reds to be a contention team. With him being able to produce this will be a very strong aspect for the reds this spring season.

Hitting Issues

The reds are coming into tonights game with 5 people batting below .200. This is not good what so ever. They reds will need to Start producing more runs or its eventually goin to catch up with them. As i can see it, with have a winnign record with the the amount of runs we have scored its simply amazing. This proves that the pitchign staff is doing an outstanding job. If we could keep every team below 2 runs i think we could have a excellent season. Possibly a winning season. When it comes to hitting, the reds deffentailly dont have a power hitting team, so they rely on little ball to produce runs. So far this seaosn i have seen no little ball. This is whats weird because its not like we are scoring 1 run here and 1 run there its like 4 or 5 in one inning because of a a big homerun or errors. With bruce stuggleing batting below .200 this is causing problemes i nthe midlde fo the linup. 5 of the starting players are batting blelow .200. This ia major issue. Votto is the only one producing along with his 10 rbi.s and batting over .300. I still think have brandon phillips in the 4 hole is astill a major issue and i bleive bruce or someone else should take his spot and but brandon i nthe 2 hole.

update

I know its been a while since i have updated but here we do. The Reds have started out to a 4-3 season with 3 wins in a row. They are in 3rd place in the division with only being back by 1 game. I feel that the strong pitching has alot t odo with this years success so far. Back in the days when the reds would get out fot here startes and start into there middle rotation i would always be pissed and turn the game off because i knew it was going to be a loss. Now when the reds get into the bullpen i actually have trust that they will come through with the victory. When strong performances from rhodes and corders and weathers i believe this is one of the most potent relievers a team could get besides the mets. With votto starting out with 9 rbi's this is a great sign. I told everyone before there season started that votto was going to have a breakout season. Hes going to put up big numbers. The only thing i dont agree with is still the discrepency for left field. As far as i can see it i all of the left fielders that are competing have the ability to start. I really like lance nix. Hes a player that i never really paid much attention to but he seems really confident up at the plate. Hes a very strong guy that seems like he can rip the cover off the ball. Im not much of a harriston fan but hes seems to be producing very greetly. Dickerson should be the starting left fielder in my opinion. If we have such a great outfield set up why not look for a strong shortstoop . gonzalaz has not got a hit yet this season. They finally realized this and put yahish in the field. I think hes better anyways.

First Spring Training Game Interview

Click the link below to hear my interview about the first spring training game.

http://www.box.net/shared/610dm494p9

Winning or losing season?

There are so many people out there are wondering what is going to happen this year. Will the younger players step up and be the backbone for the team? will they fall and not produce and be even wrose then last year? There are so many different things to consider when talking about a winning or losing season. With the few new additions that we have made taking author rhodes for one. Hes getting old and he will add veteran leadership to this team along with weathers. To be honest i think we have one of the best pitching staffs in baseball. Not comparapabe to the yankees who have a pitching staff that should never loss a game. It certina players can step up just a little bit and votto and volquez have aroudn the same year they did last year i think the reds will be a +500 team. The big question is who is going to fulfill the role in left feild. I honestly think harriston has wraped that position up. With the amout of experience that he has had in the majors i think he has proved to us that he can produce runs. He did a excellant job batting leadoff but think about him around 7 in the linup. He would be able to drive in the middle of the linup. He didnt ahve many rbis last year because of his injury and batting leadoff but he could be a big positive to this team. But then again dickerson showed big potentioal to be a big star in the outfield. With all of this being said i would say we end the season with just a little bit better then a .500 record. Which would still be a improvement from the past 10 years.

First Spring Training game

I got a chance to watch the first spring trainging game for the reds. Of course my man joey votto was the first person to get a hit. Duhh because hes the best. Phillips and bruce then continuted with singles. One of the interesting things that hit me was when Jerry harriston hit a grand slam. I was very supried because he does not have that much power. He is proving himself that he has the potential to start in the left field position. Volquez started and looked very strong. He only allwed 2 hits and a walk in 3 innings. Cueto followed volquez with 3 more scorless innings. These are two pitches that i think are going to run this team this year. Of course Homer Bailey looked good even though i hate him. He always seems to do good when it doesnt count. He tears it up i nthe minors but when he gets into the pros shit hits the fan and he gives up 10 runs a game. I dont know how many chances they are going to give him but i would have allready canned his ass 2 years ago. The next game for the reds will be against the twins. Im going to try to tune in.

Trades/Free Agents

I think by the end of this spring training we will have a True power right handed hitting left fielder. One way or another Baker will realize that the offense is not going to produce as many runs as last year without the big batts inthe linup. It just donesnt make sense to me why you would havea linup without barley any power in a HOMERUN ball park. I can see this being the case possible in boston but why would you want non homerun hitters in a frekin homerun ballpark it just doesnt make any sense. I thought Jockety was all into homerun hitters. He was with the cardinals why not stay the same. I just think its going to be another bullshit season and wer going to trade all out good pitchers away for hitters. When you have such a good pitching staff such as the one we have now, i dont see why you couldnt go over the budget a little bit and please what everyone has been wanting not for about 10 years. a WINNING team. you would be able to increase revenue because even though the reds suck they still have a great amount of fans that still comet o the games. Even some games sell out. Yes this is true they sell out. Think about the revenue they would bring in if we actually had a winning team. More people would join the "bandwagon". I just Jockety is taking the wrong rout. It might me a slow process in his mind but look at the Rays. They went from the worst team to oneof the leagus best. The reds should clearly make trades before the start of the season or i will guarantee you we are going to see a repaeat of the 2008 season. SUCKY

Phillips Batting 4th?

Dusty Baker said that Brandon Phillips will hit fourth at least at the start of the year.“The way the lineup is right now, yeah,” Baker said. Phillips' numbers were down last year from 2007. He hit .288 with 30 home runs and 94 RBI in '07. Last year, he hit .261 with 21 homers and 78.“in my opinion Brandon will have a good year," Baker said. In baseball sometimes You struggle, sometimes a little bit in third or fourth year. Brandon will readjust. Sometimes they wouldn’t throw Brandon a lot of strikes. Sometimes when you’re in the middle of it, you can’t see it. I think brandon will take some time away and you step back and see things.This ticks me off. Phillips hitting cleanup vs LHP. Fine. Against RHP? Absolutely not. This offense is already going to have some problems scoring runs and it doesn't help matters that our manager can't fill out a decent lineup. Phillips need to either hit second where he'll maybe stop swinging for the fences, or sixth. Brandon Phillips is not a cleanup hitter and it's a shame Dusty Baker doesn't realize this. I see Edwin taking on the clean up role shortly after the season starts. I dont Baker doesnt want to pressure him or put him back in the swing for the fences mindset. But I can see him settling there soon enough. I belive it Would be great to move Brandon down to 2 hole. Still use his speed on the bases for Votto and Bruce.

Spring Training

With so many people blogging now I figured it would be a good idea to start a thread just for Spring Training updates. Mid 70s with a nice breeze, you couldn't ask for a more pleasant day to start Spring Training on Saturday. The 29 pitchers and seven of the eight catchers hit the field after morning physicals on the report day. It was basic stuff, pitchers doing PFP drills (fielding practice), bunting drills and bullpen sessions. Aaron Harang, Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey were among those that threw in the pen. Some of the observations from day one:Cueto looked in better shape than last year. He looked to be throwing pretty well too. His catcher, Ramon Hernandez was praising the Volquez after several of the throws. As for Arroyo: I feel like He will throw 200 innings and hopefully win 15 games. The Pitchers threw of a mound for 10 minutes Saturday and after Homer Bailey’s first eight minutes catcher Ramon Hernandez turned to a catcher next to him and said, “Does this guy every throw balls out of the strike zone. So far every pitch has been a strike.” Even though many people talk so highly of Homer Baily I dont like him as a player. He has had several opportunites to prove that he is a professional pitcher and he has not proven anything to me. With so many young pitchers out there i think he should be the least of our worries.

micah ownings?

Micah Might he be the best option for LF (from an offensive standpoint) if he wasn't competing for the 5th spot in the rotation?Where should he bat in the lineup on the days he pitches? I realize the Reds will bat him 9th and I'm Ok with that.What I am not Ok with is the likely answer to:Will Dusty ask him to bunt when runners are on base? Owings is by far the most interesting player this year. Can he pitch well enough to be a starter? Just how good of a hitter could he be?Owings is a better hitter as a pitcher than he would be as an every day player. If he plays every day, his bat will disappoint a lot of people. Bank on Owings batting 9th. Dusty won't want to bruise any feelings of his regulars so he wouldn't dare bat a position player 9th.Will Dusty ask him to bunt with runners on? Depends on the situation. Less than 2 outs, I would think he's laying down a bunt. Some ppl think He is waaaaaay more valuable to this organization as a pitcher, especially given what he's done in the minors. Left fielders are a dime a dozen so long as you got the money and there's plenty of other options coming down the pipe. Pitchers are hard to find.

pitching

I know pitching & defense are linked but I want to limit this discussion to the Reds pitching. I think it will be a lot better in 2009.Volquez: Most seem to think he will slip. Why I am not sure. I am going to pencil him in for a repeat of 2008. If he does 2/3 of what he did last year it will be a productive year for him. One year stronger & wiser.He may not increase his IP due to his pitching in the WBC this spring. Bullpen: I am going to pencil in a slight improvement. Cordero is healthier. Burton is healthy. Bray is a year older. Lincoln is one more year out from his last surgery. I'll say 5 ER less.Overall estimate: 118 less earned runs!As always with pitching: the sky's the limit. You can never have too much and there's no end to how good it can make a squad. think Cueto will improve a bit and Arroyo to be much as he's been in the past.Harang is a big ? to me right now because of his health. Lets assume the 5th starter can put up an ERA of 4.50 .(I think this is possible with the quality of 5th starter candidates we have).With the above math that means 50 less runs given up by the Reds in 2009.This number is big because in 2008 our 5th starters were just awful.

The Trio

In Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce, the average age of the middle portion of Cincinnati's lineup is just 24 years old. With thirty-somethings Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn gone, the keys to the Reds offense is in the trio's hands. Cincinnati will need all the help scoring runs it can muster. Last season, the club ranked 12th in the National League in runs scored. Cincinnati's .240 team average with runners in scoring position ranked at the league's bottom.Reds fans grew used to a steady diet of veteran hitters and stars like Barry Larkin, Sean Casey, Dunn and Griffey over the past several years. Starting with the short-lived regimes of former general managers Dan O'Brien and Wayne Krivsky, the organization revamped its farm system and focused on bringing the Reds towards a more promising future to stem years of losing.

Bruuuce

Bruce this year will have120 Rbi's with 35 Hr's. I will bet you any amount of money he will have a breakout season. With a full season he will become one of the most prominate baseball players of this era. He ended his 2008 season with 52 rbis and 21 hrs in only half or less then half the season. He has had a season on his belt and the only way to go is up. He will be put some monster numbers. Just watch! With bruce along with votto and phillips in the linup, this looks to be a very strong top of the linup. It might not be exactly a griffy, dunn and hamiliton setup but a different approach to which i liike alot better. less strikeouts. I would much rather see someone get up there and make contact with the ball then strike out 2 times and game.

Too cheap??

The Reds owner is just too cheap. I would think alot of fans have to agree with me on this bullshit.I have always thought that this quote I heard a long time from the Yankees owner was the best quote for signing players. "If your willing to pay the price, then the price you pay will eventaully be rewarding" I mean look at the yankees. This huge ass payroll and there in the playoffs every year. I just think we should expand of bankroll posiblly get co ownership if possible. We need to do something the gans are getting tired of having losing season. I mean if the bengals can have a descent one time in 10 years the the reds can have a descent season one time for god sake.

Guaranteed a contender!

The reds owner has guaranteed the reds fans that they will be right there at the end of the season. He told the fans over a press conference that there will be a winning season in 2009. He said that if it doesnt happen they can play the tape right back in his face and shove it right back at him. I know I will sure be one of those guys that will be pissed of and so will most of the rest of the fans if this is not true. With the young tallent that they have its only a matter of time before they all click, but what everyone wonders is when it's going to happen.

Reds are done signing...

Whats up with this? We waited all this time for the reds to sign a power hitting left fielder and nothing has happend? To almost signing Dye to looking ar Abru? whats up with all this shit?Why they dont shopping for the winter. They NEED a power hitter.. By giving up Dunn and griffey that combined for more homeruns then the whole team combined. We need a left feilder with either power or a strong hitter that is good on defense. No if's ands or butts about it.