Loading ...Please give a warm welcome to YOUR OPENING DAY CENTERFIELDER, Corey Patterson:
Reds outfield prospect Jay Bruce got the news Thursday he was hoping he wouldn’t get this spring.
The top-ranked prospect in all of baseball was told he was one of five roster cuts and that he would start the regular season at Triple-A Louisville. Manager Dusty Baker and general manager Wayne Krivsky informed Bruce he would be sent down.
“I knew what they’d tell me when I went in there,” Bruce said at the Reds complex in Sarasota. “You don’t want to get sent down. It’s disappointing. But I will feed off of it, go to Louisville and play well.”
Bruce, 20, who was named the No. 1 prospect in 2008 by Baseball America, was seeking to become the Reds’ starting center fielder in a battle that started with Ryan Freel and Norris Hopper.
The race tightened when veteran center fielder Corey Patterson was signed on the urging of Baker. Like Bruce, Patterson is a left-handed hitter.
“When they signed Patterson, I knew the writing was on the wall,” Bruce said. “They have an idea of what they wanted to do. I’ll keep doing my thing and try to force the issue this season and see them soon.”
Sheesh. I can understand sending Bruce to AAA to start the season; I didn’t want it to happen, but I understand and can’t even argue too much with it. The frustrating thing is knowing that we’re going to have to watch Corey Patterson’s sub-300 on-base percentage in the leadoff spot in the lineup. It’s just disgusting. And if this demotion lasts more than a couple of months, we’ll know Dusty Baker’s reputation for favoring veterans may be more than just idle talk.
In other news, Marcus McBeth, Drew Anderson (I don’t know which one), Josh Roenicke, and Tom Shearn were sent to the minors, as well. I’m particularly disappointed about McBeth; I had hoped he would earn a spot in the bullpen coming out of the spring.
u must remember Patterson did bad as a rookie and with Baltimore…
so i like him
but Bruce should still be there
If you think that’s disappointing, check this out. One of the most frustrating and least surprising things that’s ever happened to me in a video game.
http://img.hawkeye411.com/main.php?g2_itemId=15649
I hope this is a learning experience for Bruce. MLB is a pressure cooker especially when your manager wants you to fail.
Patterson was below average in both his rookie season and in Baltimore, and I very clearly remember that. He’s a terrible lead-off hitter. Alex Gonzalez is the only potential regular on the team with a worse career OBP, and it’s just barely at that. There is no intelligent reason for him to bat higher than 7th ever.
I’m not a big fan of Hopper or Freel but both are far superior to Patterson from an offensive standpoint. As long as Bruce is out of the equation, I’d much rather see either of them start with Patterson as the defensive replacement than anything else.
We have revived two other former top prospects when nobody else wanted them (Phillips, Hamilton). Who knows maybe Patterson can finally realize his potential in Cincinnati like the other two….. No probably not.
What game was that, Jared?
That really sucks Jared, please tell me that Jeff Conine was a defensive sub and not starting for you in RF ,if you started him there then I have no remorse for you lol…
lol i agree with joey…
and i think patterson could be good
I think you all are overlooking the importance of keeping the bases from being clogged up.
Let’s not blow this out of proprtion. Truth is Patterson looks real good so far in ST.. and yea I know we can’t put too much weight on meaningless games, but Bruce made a bunch of rookie mistakes on the basepaths and didn’t hit the way he can. No reason to just hand him a job. Pretty sure Patterson will now have to fight Freel and Hopper for playing time (barring a trade) and even then if he flops Bruce will not be that late of a call up if his bat is desperately needed. I just don’t think there is a reason to hit the panic button yet. Patterson is young and def. looks like a different hitter so far since the 2nd half of last year. Maybe it clicked.. and if not and he reverts we have other options. No manager, not even Dusty wants a sub .300 obp in the leadoff spot.
Are you kidding me with this talk of Patteron finally figuring out how to be an every day starter let alone a lead off guy. Rule of thumb is, look at the back of any guys baseball card that has played in the majors for 4 years or more and that is exactly what you will get out of him ! Funny how that works, isn’t it ?
My expectations have been adjusted so far downward that this doesn’t faze me a bit.
“not even Dusty wants a sub .300 obp in the leadoff spot”
Direct quote from Baker as Cubs Manager in 2004 “I think walks are overrated unless you can run. If you get a walk and put the pitcher in a stretch, that helps, but the guy who walks and can’t run, most of the time he’s clogging up the bases for somebody who can run.”
Dusty again as the Reds manager in 2008
“On-base percentage, that’s fine and dandy. But a lot of times guys get so much into on-base percentage that they cease to swing. It’s becoming a little bit out of control”
Hmmmmm…. I think were in trouble………..
Chris wrote
My expectations have been adjusted so far downward that this doesn’t faze me a bit.
I was afraid this was going to happen. Chris, you unfortunately are not the only one who feels this way !
This hole situation (pun intended) in the outfiled and lead off spot could have been averted by simply retaining the services of one Josh Hamilton.
I know, I know ,Volquez this and Volquez that, pitching lah,blah,blah
A wise man once said, “never trade a player that can help you win everyday for a player that can help you win every 5th day”
I think both Patterson and Fogg will be OK and a tad better than mediocre. That’s as much of an endorsement as I am prepared for. They won’t completely blow chunks. Of course, I thought Saarloos was going to be a suprise last season….
Maybe I’ll just stick to my NCAA brackets.
I don’t get it, Baker wants to play Votto over Hatteberg. Wants Cueto and Volquez on this team. Yet if the team and he decide that Bruce isn’t ready yet and they send him down it proves he likes veterans over young guys?
As far as Patterson goes, I’d rather they stick with Norris and Freel. However he is on this team and he’s more than likely made it to the starting centerfield job. While he’s a “Dusty guy” remember Wayne Krivsky hired him. You can’t blame everything on Dusty when it was more than one person aboard that idea.
The difference between Hamilton/Phillips and Patterson’s beginnings in Cincy is that Hamilton and Phillips were welcomed.
That was MLB 2k7 on Xbox 360. I added myself to AAA and the next game Griffey got hurt, and I was letting the CPU do all the roster movements and it was doing some retarded things. The game before that, Hatteberg was at catcher, but my pitching was so good that I didn’t mess with it. (As it turns out, keeping Conine in after the start of the game helped me keep the last pinch hitter that scored my go-ahead run in the 21st). Oi. My wife walked in front of the screen after Eckstein grounded to second and he got on and scored the first run in the 8th
Bruce only has played 60 games and 250 at-bats in a level higher than A-ball. Him going to AAA is not a huge deal to me. For our the talk of stats, Bruce is a 20-year old player who had 15 walks and 48 K’s in 187 AAA at-bats. There is some indication in those numbers that he’d have a difficult time, at least initially, in the big leagues. Spending a little more time in AAA is not a bad idea.
I’m don’t agree that Patterson is the best idea in CF, but I wouldn’t want to bring up Bruce too early because they couldn’t find someone better than Patterson.
Not a big fan of this move. I realize that Bruce is only 20, but his upside is so much better than Patterson’s. Why not let the kid play?
Here’s a nice image of what we can expect. You know, metaphorically.
Everyone cried for Homer to be rushed to the majors, including Manager Narron, with the exception of Wayne Krivskey. How has that worked out so far? Maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe management knows what they are doing.
How did rushing Corey Patterson to the majors work for him when he was the Cubs’ touted prospect like Bruce?
I think Doc Rogers made the best comment on WLW last week when he said that he was against rushing Adam Dunn to the bigs because he wasn’t completely ready. He also said players learn to win in the minors not the majors. He certainly was correct on these two. Dunn is a great power guy now but what might he have become with another half season to learn defense, baserunning, work ethic and teamwork.
This is the best move possible for Jay Bruce and the Reds. A Patterson/Hopper platoon might even be a starter that is a better fit the way the roster is currently set-up.
A guy over on Hal McCoy’s blog made a good point. If Patterson is such a great find then why did Baltimore ditch him and want Hamilton and Bruce so badly?
The issue with ever bringing Patterson into camp is that Baker has demonstrated an inability to be objective. He should have come into this camp willing to take Bruce under his wing and help him achieve the success that awaits him and the team. Instead he subjected a 20-year-old to intense pressure by making irrational and nonconstructive criticisms of him.
Don’t panic. It’ll all work out. Bruce gets playing time in Louisville and next year the outfield of Dunn, Patterson and Bruce.
I love that WLW found a way to indict Adam Dunn in this. Classic.
Yeah, Dunn’s rookie year was a total bust (only 19 HR and a 136 OPS+ in 66 games), and he’s turned out to have a crappy career (238 HR and 130 OPS+). But boy, what lousy “teamwork” he shows.
That Doc Rogers (whoever) is on to something).
FWIW, I can live with a Bruce demotion. It’s Patterson in the leadoff hole that’s going to grate on me.
Patterson period grates on me. The guy is a loser.
Y-city Jim – the half dozen or so interviews I’ve heard with Baker, he’s spoken well of Bruce.
Listened to today’s pre-game. Sounds like Bailey is still in the mix for a rotation spot. Thom didn’t ask about Volquez. I see he only pitched 2 innings last night. Seems like a short outing for someone making a bid at the rotation. (unless he just pitched a couple of days ago?)
The likely opening day lineup is playing today’s game vs. Pirates:
Corey Patterson cf
Jeff Keppinger ss
Ken Griffey Jr. rf
Brandon Phillips 2b
Adam Dunn lf
Edwin Encarnacion 3b
Joey Votto 1b
Javier Valentin c
Aaron Harang p
Does Volquez have a 3rd (or 4th) pitch? I’ve been wondering whether they’ve been considering moving him to shar 7th/8th inning responsibilities with Weathers instead of Burton.
That picture of Patterson surely isn’t as bad as people are implying. If you’ll notice, in addition to being two feet south of his glove, the ball is also about two feet behind it. Figure it was falling at around 45 degrees and it couldn’t have been too far off.
NEWS FLASH!!
Patterson draws his first walk of the spring!!!
Actually it was due since his career average is one every eight games. Today was his 9th game
Greg- Baker has publically criticized his outfield play, his base running, and called him injury-prone It is one thing if he wants to take him aside and talk about some aspects of his game but entirely another when he feels the need to blab it to the media.
Wait I thought people wanted Girardi as a manager because he gets heated and yells and would speak his mind? Now that Baker is here and does it in a very low-key nonoffensive way it’s bad? Injury-prone…let’s see is that such a wrong label? He’s an extremely young player who has had multiple leg injuries so far. Having him cover the ground between Dunn and Griffey would probably be murder. It’s hard enough for the speedy guys we do have. Still not saying Patterson is the guy I want on the opening day lineup card but there really ain’t much you can do about it just support the team and hope for the best.
Hey Chris get ready for your Fantasy Draft. You can use your extensive baseball knowledge there.
Multiple leg injuries? Define multiple. Two? More than two? Define injury. One week? Two weeks? Longer? That quad “injury” this spring wouldn’t have even put him on the DL. Baker-hype.
As for a manger speaking his mind. Speak to the individual not the first microphone he can spot. I don’t see Leyland, Cox, or any of the other good managers rushing to spout off to the media about everything under the sun. Along with the other criticisms there have been about Baker, it has been overlooked that he is such an obsessive attention seeker.
Sounds to me like Dusty Baker pissed in your cheerios or something.
He did!
GregD, Volquez throws a fastball, slider, and changeup, I believe. I’m certain about the change, but it’s possible that he throws a different breaking pitch than the slider.
volquez has an above ave fastball… above ave change-up and a good curve… i read somewhere he has another pitch and the article said he can throw all pitches for strikes at any time…
bruce being sent down was good… he’ll be back in the middle of may or june tho… freel will be traded in a package deal for a catcher… so until bruce is up it’ll be hopper & patterson platooning..
volquez has an above ave fastball… above ave change-up and a good curve… i read somewhere he has another pitch and the article said he can throw all pitches for strikes at any time…
bruce being sent down was good… he’ll be back in the middle of may or june tho… freel will be traded in a package deal for a catcher… so until bruce is up it’ll be hopper & patterson platooning..
i believe leyland put his players in their place 2 yrs ago … and …. oh ya they had a great year (i’m not saying the reds will do great but… you get my point)
Do you read the Detroit or Atlanta newspapers or listen to their local radio stations? Every team has beat writers that follow the team every day, and interview the managers every day. Team wins, get quote from manager. Team loses, get quote from manager. Player’s demoted, get quote from manager. Pretty much how it is in the other 29 major league cities.
I’ve heard Baker’s pre-game shows after each of the roster cuts this spring. Thom or Marty asks why someone was sent down, and Baker has given a reason for each player. They need to work on this, they need to work on that. He praises what they can do and says that the player will be up later in the year.
He’s not been any harsher or softer on Bruce than he was with anyone else, IMO.
And thanks GC!
Hello, I came across this Reds site on MLB traderumors. I am wondering if there are any Reds fans out there who would be willing to sell tickets to the Mets/Reds game on 7/19 if anyone had any to spare.
Thanks
reds fans, your team was consigned to defeat at the whim of a lousy manager. That’s right, a lousy manager who has no wisdom and no vision for a winning team. The direction starts at the top and you see the direction Baker intends to go, not with youth, not with possibility, but with a washed up no good vet who couldn’t even make it with another sup-par team.
Patterson is better now. He raised his contact rate and takes more walks. Hes good now, you’ll see