Loading ...Looks like Bobby Livingston will be sticking around:
Livingston can rest easy for the next couple of days – he’s penciled in to start Saturday’s game in Florida. If he does well then, he could make his Great American Ball Park debut on July 24 against the Milwaukee Brewers. Although Livingston is in his third stint with the Reds, he’s only spent a single day in the clubhouse at Great American Ball Park.
“I can only speak for myself, but he’s certainly earned (a right to stay up),” Mackanin said. “They’ve got some good right-handed batters in their lineup and he made some of them look bad. You don’t see that often. I was impressed.”
I don’t have a problem with Livingston making another start. He’s a decent back of the rotation prospect, and he’s still young. Plus, the guy can hit.
My problem is that we’re seeing my prediction come to pass: they’re going to leave Homer Bailey in AAA indefinitely. Which makes no sense whatsoever. They told us that they were just sending Bailey down for the All-Star break, so he could keep on his schedule. Most of us had an idea that that was not quite true. Looks like we may have been correct.
On the other hand, if Bailey continues to pitch poorly (or barely tread water like last night) even in AAA, why bother bringing him back up?
Yet this doesn’t excuse the lack of forthrightness on the part of the front office. I wonder if the story they told Homer was any different than the one they fed the press.
I’m more and more unnerved by the reports from Bill, Doug, and others that the Reds have no plan for their prospects, no set ideas of what they need to do to earn promotions etc., and no communication with prospects regarding what they need to work on to improve their overall game.
Oh, and Livingston earned a lot of credit with his last start. Good for him for earning his way into the rotation. He’s basically just a soft-tossing lefty, but a solid one who seems to know what he’s doing.
Homer got enough taste of the big leagues. I think he’s shown he isn’t ready yet. Livingston has been more successful in his starts and he deserves the roster slot.
It will be interesting to see what happens. To ship back Livingston and recall Bailey would not be fair to BL. He is 2-0 with a very good ERA 3.18. BL has earned another shot at cracking the Reds rotation.