Does this team need to go back to eleven pitchers seeing how Dusty was running short on position players yesterday? Is Chris Speier not keeping him informed or is Dusty just not listening?
Y-City-What did you want him to do differently? Not his fault EE got hurt and that is what put them in a bind. There is plenty of stuff to complain about without making stuff up.
I’m interested in your thoughts on Shea. I always rank it last – actually 10 spots below last – any time I put together a list of favorite ballparks. What a dump that place is.
off topic but- is anyone else having a problem witht he doubletalk thread being displayed? I’ve tried 3 different pcs and can’t see anything from “Then today, this nonsense: ” on down
I survived my trip to Yankee Stadium yesterday. I ended up in the bleacher section (wearing a Reds hat of course). By my count, there were about 5 or 6 other Reds fans in my section of the bleachers. Yankee fans were surprisingly amicable, although plenty of them gave me a nasty look when they saw my hat.
As for the stadium itself (my first visit there), I wasn’t impressed. I know there is a lot of history there, but the stadium itself isn’t all that impressive. (It is better than Shea, the dumpiest ballpark I’ve ever been to, including minor league stadiums).
Miller Park is a gem. Make sure you get there a couple hours before game time to tailgate. Those cheeseheads have it down to an art form. The Rosie Reds usually do a bus trip up there this time of year. As for good seats, this time of year they’ll be harder to come by than in April when I sit right behind the bench for half price. Get on it if you haven’t already. Anywhere in the lower level is good obviously, and the second tier is equally as good. The Reds are on the third base side. The right field bleachers are fun because you get the added value of watching the Reds relievers horse around. Keep an eye on Ebay for tix overlooking the bullpen. As for the food, it’s excellent (hot dog, polish, brat, italian, chorizo). I hope you like mustard–crazy-ass Germans love their mustard. Keep an eye out for a kiosk that features many of the tasty microbrews from up there. Lastly, there’s a fun kids area on the lower level out in right field. No hotels w/in walking distance that I know of, but many just a few miles east (downtown) or west (burbs). Enjoy!
I really think Dusty needs to let Valentin catch more as well. I really respect what Bako has done for Volquez and Cueto, but Valentin needs more ABs. Having an offensive black hole at catcher isn’t a problem on teams with good lineups, but right now, the Reds do not have a good lineup. Valentin’s bat would be a good boost for the team. And if he isn’t going to catch, then it’s really a waste of roster spot to have 3 catchers.
i saw the yanks and red sox
i wasnt impressed by the park and i was in the bleachers also
we wore yanks hats so no one would kill us.
and ended up on espn the fan cams lol
we did see a guy get thrown off of a upper deck for wearing a boston hat.
Also: I’ve looked at the schedule from now till the break. They have to go 11-8 over the next 19 games. They can do it. Split 3/3 against Toronto and Cleveland. Take 5/7 at home against Pittsburgh and Washington. Split 3/3 against Milwaukee and Chicago on the road. If they don’t go 11-8, they are officially dead.
I hate to beat a dead Donkey, but does anyone have statistics on what Dunn hits w/ two strikes vs. the league average? Ultimately, it’s irrelevant since the guy is a finished product, but it doesn’t make me any less nuts. All you have to do is watch Bruce and Votto to see the proper approaches–making adjustments w/in an AB. Cueto is quietly regaining his footing–that gives us 4 quality starters (Arroyo being the 4th). That alone gives me hope for the remainder of the season, especially in the dog days. Thompson’s line wasn’t noteworthy, but I’ll withhold judgement until he gets a few more starts. That first one is an out of body experience.
Thanks for the tips on Miller Park, Sultan. I was wondering about the bleachers. I love the sun/moon deck at GABP. I definitely wanted to avoid the upper deck, and it sounds like anything other than upper deck is good.
We’re actually in Indy, and we’re following the Reds to Wrigley (July 9 and 10) and Miller Park (July 11). We have family in Milwaukee, so we don’t have to worry about hotel. No kids either.
This team is killing me, literally giving me chest pains.
I wish we were able to trade Dunn, Griffey, Arroyo, weathers, etc. and bring up kids. THis mix of old/new is not going to work. And I am realy tired of watching a bad product. Which it is.
In response to Chris at #4, tonight is my first trip to Shea, but if it is a bigger dump than old Veterans Stadium in Philly, I’ll be shocked and dismayed.
2) I was in Miller Park for a game several years ago. All was well for about one inning until the power went out at the stadium. After a couple hours of sitting in the dark, they did the sausage race and sent us home. Despite this horrible bias, I still would say that it is a very nice park. I was sitting in one of the first rows of the upper section and I don’t remember having any complaints.
Dunn in 08 .131/.283/.568
Dunn career .150/.273/.576
Dunn strikes out a lot, so I wasn’t surprised to see his batting average lower than the MLB standard, but, by the same token, I wasn’t surprised to see his higher than average OBP and OPS. his numbers are about what you’d expect.
For comparison, I looked at Votto and Bruce.
Votto in 08 .227/.295/.595
Votto career .237/.299/.595
Bruce in 08 .222/.276/.665
Your supposition about Votto being a good two strike hitter looks like a sound one. He’s only had 160 PAs when the count has gotten to 2 strikes, but his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is an incredible .402. One of the bright spots this season is that Votto looks like a good and fairly consistent hitter.
Bruce has only 60 PAs in this situation so far, so small sample size warnings should apply (to Votto as well, to be honest). Bruce hasn’t been quite as good about getting on base as Dunn has with two strikes, but his OPS looks good.
Alex:
I’m not going to defend Dusty’s lineups, his insane personnel fantasies or his roster construction with regard to catchers, but Javier Valentin’s offensive reputation probably benefits from his lack of use.
Leaving aside that he’s a mediocre to poor defensive catcher (his defensive liabilities worsen as he’s moved behind the pitcher), he’s bad enough as a right-handed hitter –.219/.295/.590 — that he should probably just stop hitting right-handed against LHPs. His line as a left-handed hitter — .257/.309/.728 — is not awful, but when added to his troubles as a backstop, he probably shouldn’t be on the roster.
Despite all this, I really love the Latin Love Machine and sort of don’t begrudge him wasting a roster spot. He’s one of the problems with this roster, but probably not the most glaring one, especially when the manager has allowed one of the ten worst offensive position players in MLB bat lead off in 28 games this year.
I’ve mentioned it before (much to the dismay of Annapolisred, I don’t know why)but Ben Jukich is a LHP with high ground ball and SO #’s at AA with a 2.8 ERA at about 25 years old. Would be nice to throw him in the RHP mix but he needs some more seasoning at AAA.
It’s still technically an off day, so I wanted to give some good news. Corey Patterson is not on track to have the worst season ever by a player appearing in at least 75% of the games in a season.
That would go to 2b/SS Al Weis of the Chicago White Sox. He batted .155, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 50 strikeouts in 129 games with an OPS+ of 27.
More good news is that that team finished over .500 that year!
Whoo hoo! lol
p.s. Ryan Langerhans in 2007 might have had the 2nd worst season ever.
oh and I’m using my own way of categorizing “worst” seasons using B-R’s Play Index
just curious. does anyone have a link to the banana phone call from bruce who lost his horse? Lance Mccallister was talking about it yesterday but I never heard the call.
Annapolis: I have mentioned him on several occasions…along with Darryl Thompson before he came up (another you also complained about me remarking on several times). What do you think of Thompson now? Yeah, pretty good. Nobody else here complains about what others say or do so who are you to be complaining? He’s a good fit for the team just as Thompson is.
Careful on Thompson – he managed to weave his way through some pretty big jams of his own making against the Yankees, but I think there are going to be struggles at times where the other team turns those same situations into big runs. He’s still only had a dozen or so starts above single-A, and I have to believe that’s going to be evident at some point.
That said, I hope he becomes Voltron Jr. and puts up a 1.90 ERA the rest of the way.
Miller Park is a nice covered stadium without a lot of character. It does have an immense amount of space around it for tailgating, said to be the largest in MLB. It seemed to me to be a cheaper version of Safeco Field in Seattle.
2009 stats: Sarasota 2-1 8 Games 8 Games Started 42.1 IP 4.89 ERA 1.44 WHIP
Carolina 3-2 6 Game 6 Game Started 36 2/3 IP 2.95 ERA 1.09 WHIP
Louisville 2-2 5 Game 5 Game Started 29 IP 2.48 ERA 1.21 WHIP
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The Big Board -- In-Depth Reds Organizational Depth Chart (updated 2/23/10)
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Does this team need to go back to eleven pitchers seeing how Dusty was running short on position players yesterday? Is Chris Speier not keeping him informed or is Dusty just not listening?
Y-City-What did you want him to do differently? Not his fault EE got hurt and that is what put them in a bind. There is plenty of stuff to complain about without making stuff up.
On that note, why won’t Dusty let Valentin catch? He has caught a total of 58 innings.
I’m interested in your thoughts on Shea. I always rank it last – actually 10 spots below last – any time I put together a list of favorite ballparks. What a dump that place is.
I’m going to see the Reds in Milwaukee on 7/11. Anyone been to Miller Park? Have any tips for where to sit/parking/etc.?
off topic but- is anyone else having a problem witht he doubletalk thread being displayed? I’ve tried 3 different pcs and can’t see anything from “Then today, this nonsense: ” on down
I survived my trip to Yankee Stadium yesterday. I ended up in the bleacher section (wearing a Reds hat of course). By my count, there were about 5 or 6 other Reds fans in my section of the bleachers. Yankee fans were surprisingly amicable, although plenty of them gave me a nasty look when they saw my hat.
As for the stadium itself (my first visit there), I wasn’t impressed. I know there is a lot of history there, but the stadium itself isn’t all that impressive. (It is better than Shea, the dumpiest ballpark I’ve ever been to, including minor league stadiums).
Shane: I’m having the same problem with it.
Miller Park is a gem. Make sure you get there a couple hours before game time to tailgate. Those cheeseheads have it down to an art form. The Rosie Reds usually do a bus trip up there this time of year. As for good seats, this time of year they’ll be harder to come by than in April when I sit right behind the bench for half price. Get on it if you haven’t already. Anywhere in the lower level is good obviously, and the second tier is equally as good. The Reds are on the third base side. The right field bleachers are fun because you get the added value of watching the Reds relievers horse around. Keep an eye on Ebay for tix overlooking the bullpen. As for the food, it’s excellent (hot dog, polish, brat, italian, chorizo). I hope you like mustard–crazy-ass Germans love their mustard. Keep an eye out for a kiosk that features many of the tasty microbrews from up there. Lastly, there’s a fun kids area on the lower level out in right field. No hotels w/in walking distance that I know of, but many just a few miles east (downtown) or west (burbs). Enjoy!
I really think Dusty needs to let Valentin catch more as well. I really respect what Bako has done for Volquez and Cueto, but Valentin needs more ABs. Having an offensive black hole at catcher isn’t a problem on teams with good lineups, but right now, the Reds do not have a good lineup. Valentin’s bat would be a good boost for the team. And if he isn’t going to catch, then it’s really a waste of roster spot to have 3 catchers.
i saw the yanks and red sox
i wasnt impressed by the park and i was in the bleachers also
we wore yanks hats so no one would kill us.
and ended up on espn the fan cams lol
we did see a guy get thrown off of a upper deck for wearing a boston hat.
Also: I’ve looked at the schedule from now till the break. They have to go 11-8 over the next 19 games. They can do it. Split 3/3 against Toronto and Cleveland. Take 5/7 at home against Pittsburgh and Washington. Split 3/3 against Milwaukee and Chicago on the road. If they don’t go 11-8, they are officially dead.
I hate to beat a dead Donkey, but does anyone have statistics on what Dunn hits w/ two strikes vs. the league average? Ultimately, it’s irrelevant since the guy is a finished product, but it doesn’t make me any less nuts. All you have to do is watch Bruce and Votto to see the proper approaches–making adjustments w/in an AB. Cueto is quietly regaining his footing–that gives us 4 quality starters (Arroyo being the 4th). That alone gives me hope for the remainder of the season, especially in the dog days. Thompson’s line wasn’t noteworthy, but I’ll withhold judgement until he gets a few more starts. That first one is an out of body experience.
thanks preach, nice to know it’s not only me
Thanks for the tips on Miller Park, Sultan. I was wondering about the bleachers. I love the sun/moon deck at GABP. I definitely wanted to avoid the upper deck, and it sounds like anything other than upper deck is good.
We’re actually in Indy, and we’re following the Reds to Wrigley (July 9 and 10) and Miller Park (July 11). We have family in Milwaukee, so we don’t have to worry about hotel. No kids either.
Watch out for the mouse droppings at Miller Park. I guess they are one of the ball parks with a significant pest problem.
Article here
This team is killing me, literally giving me chest pains.
I wish we were able to trade Dunn, Griffey, Arroyo, weathers, etc. and bring up kids. THis mix of old/new is not going to work. And I am realy tired of watching a bad product. Which it is.
For the first time I am not patient. I am sick of this crap. This team is going to be the death of me.
In response to Chris at #4, tonight is my first trip to Shea, but if it is a bigger dump than old Veterans Stadium in Philly, I’ll be shocked and dismayed.
If anyone else is having trouble with the “Doubletalk” thread, let me know. Should be working fine now.
Chad, the doubletalk thread is still cut short for me (and nothing shows below it either).
I’m experiencing the same thing as CeeKeR.
1) I’m also unable to read said article
2) I was in Miller Park for a game several years ago. All was well for about one inning until the power went out at the stadium. After a couple hours of sitting in the dark, they did the sausage race and sent us home. Despite this horrible bias, I still would say that it is a very nice park. I was sitting in one of the first rows of the upper section and I don’t remember having any complaints.
Sultan of Swaff:
After 2 strikes:
MLB in 08 .186/.259/.538
Dunn in 08 .131/.283/.568
Dunn career .150/.273/.576
Dunn strikes out a lot, so I wasn’t surprised to see his batting average lower than the MLB standard, but, by the same token, I wasn’t surprised to see his higher than average OBP and OPS. his numbers are about what you’d expect.
For comparison, I looked at Votto and Bruce.
Votto in 08 .227/.295/.595
Votto career .237/.299/.595
Bruce in 08 .222/.276/.665
Your supposition about Votto being a good two strike hitter looks like a sound one. He’s only had 160 PAs when the count has gotten to 2 strikes, but his batting average on balls in play (BABIP) is an incredible .402. One of the bright spots this season is that Votto looks like a good and fairly consistent hitter.
Bruce has only 60 PAs in this situation so far, so small sample size warnings should apply (to Votto as well, to be honest). Bruce hasn’t been quite as good about getting on base as Dunn has with two strikes, but his OPS looks good.
Alex:
I’m not going to defend Dusty’s lineups, his insane personnel fantasies or his roster construction with regard to catchers, but Javier Valentin’s offensive reputation probably benefits from his lack of use.
Leaving aside that he’s a mediocre to poor defensive catcher (his defensive liabilities worsen as he’s moved behind the pitcher), he’s bad enough as a right-handed hitter –.219/.295/.590 — that he should probably just stop hitting right-handed against LHPs. His line as a left-handed hitter — .257/.309/.728 — is not awful, but when added to his troubles as a backstop, he probably shouldn’t be on the roster.
Despite all this, I really love the Latin Love Machine and sort of don’t begrudge him wasting a roster spot. He’s one of the problems with this roster, but probably not the most glaring one, especially when the manager has allowed one of the ten worst offensive position players in MLB bat lead off in 28 games this year.
What browser are you guys using?
Just tried something, and it’s now working for me in Firefox and IE. Let me know…
I think Chris is trying to crash RN.
It works for me now too. (I use an IE knockoff called Maxthon for what it’s worth.)
I was wondering where “LLM” came from and meant when referring to Valentin. Thats hilarious…who started that?
I believe that was a Red Hot Mama creation.
Nathan in Muncie, what other “kids” are left to bring up? They’re all here, except for Homer, who just was.
According to ESPN.com, we’re one of three teams (A’s and Rangers) to be favored to sign the 16 year old Dominican pitching prospect Michael Inoa.
I’ve mentioned it before (much to the dismay of Annapolisred, I don’t know why)but Ben Jukich is a LHP with high ground ball and SO #’s at AA with a 2.8 ERA at about 25 years old. Would be nice to throw him in the RHP mix but he needs some more seasoning at AAA.
mhopp-Because you mention him every day and you act like he is Cy Young.
I agree with Man Mountain, catching Valentin would be a disaster and he probably shouldn’t be on the team. He is not a good offensive player.
It’s still technically an off day, so I wanted to give some good news. Corey Patterson is not on track to have the worst season ever by a player appearing in at least 75% of the games in a season.
That would go to 2b/SS Al Weis of the Chicago White Sox. He batted .155, 0 HR, 9 RBI, 50 strikeouts in 129 games with an OPS+ of 27.
More good news is that that team finished over .500 that year!
Whoo hoo! lol
p.s. Ryan Langerhans in 2007 might have had the 2nd worst season ever.
oh and I’m using my own way of categorizing “worst” seasons using B-R’s Play Index
p.s. Al Weis also won the World Series MVP award a few years later for the NYMets
Okay, for those who are interested, Shea IS a dump. But it’s not even close to being as bad as Veteran’s Stadium. And RFK was even worse than that.
That’s called damning with faint praise.
RFK is a GREAT FOOTBALL stadium, but a woeful baseball stadium. Not a stadium louder than RFK for a Redskins game (and I hate the Redskins).
just curious. does anyone have a link to the banana phone call from bruce who lost his horse? Lance Mccallister was talking about it yesterday but I never heard the call.
Annapolis: I have mentioned him on several occasions…along with Darryl Thompson before he came up (another you also complained about me remarking on several times). What do you think of Thompson now? Yeah, pretty good. Nobody else here complains about what others say or do so who are you to be complaining? He’s a good fit for the team just as Thompson is.
Careful on Thompson – he managed to weave his way through some pretty big jams of his own making against the Yankees, but I think there are going to be struggles at times where the other team turns those same situations into big runs. He’s still only had a dozen or so starts above single-A, and I have to believe that’s going to be evident at some point.
That said, I hope he becomes Voltron Jr. and puts up a 1.90 ERA the rest of the way.
Miller Park is a nice covered stadium without a lot of character. It does have an immense amount of space around it for tailgating, said to be the largest in MLB. It seemed to me to be a cheaper version of Safeco Field in Seattle.