Loading ...News and notes from around the interwebs, as we contemplate how to endure yet another day with no Reds:
–Bill Bray is hurt again. In related news, the sun rose in the east this morning.
–Mark Sheldon notes some early trends, including this:
The Reds offense is ranked 16th out of 16 NL teams with a .222 team average.
The Reds are fourth in walks with 40 and eighth in team OBP with .333. They are 12th in runs scored.
and this:
Although counted on to be the biggest strength of the team, (pitching) has yet to get into a groove. There have been just two quality starts. It has pitched five innings or fewer four times and into the seventh twice. It came into Thursday ranked 10th out of 16 National League teams with a 4.82 ERA, eighth with 46 2/3 innings pitched and ninth in strikeouts with 37. The staff’s overall ERA is 5.32, also ranked 10th.
Below average offense, below average defense, and the team has been outscored by the opposition. Yet, the Reds are .500. Ain’t baseball grand?
–Doug Gray’s assessment of Drew Sutton, just acquired in the Jeff Keppinger deal:
Sutton would not make my Reds Top 25 prospects. He is a slightly lesser version of Adam Rosales to me. Thats certainly not a bad thing, but he is a bit older and is just a solid kind of guy with no outstanding tools that stand out.
Sounds reasonable.
–John Fay has the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2009 Reds so far.
–A human face on the steroids subject. You must read this.
–We’re facing Roy Oswalt and the Astros tomorrow. I’m scared. Really scared. Oswalt’s record against Cincinnati in his career? 23-1.
Yes, you read that right. Be very afraid.
Here is to Roy Oswalt developing a nasty hang nail in warm ups and having to miss a start. But if not, we are due…. right?
I really really dislike that (insert redneck epithet). He hit his current peak with me when he plunked Phillips (in Houston, 1st Season?) after phillips had been eating his lunch the whole game. Still waiting for somebody to plunk him back, but to my dismay nobody ever has. LOL, I must be a bit of a masochist because I always look forward to facing him. I have this undying hope that someday we’ll destroy him one of these days before that &$%^& retires.
What is an interweb?
Haha
Kurt i believe he is reffering to the online connection on which we interact with eachother over websites
This could be reffered to technically as The “Interweb”…
23-1?!?!?!?!?
it wasn’t that long ago when he was I think 18-0 and had the record for most wins against a team without a loss. In fact he might still be up there for best winning percentage against a team.
Thank God our bullpen has been excellent so far or we’d be worse than 4-4. Yet, 4-4 seems right. It’s not like anyone has cleaned our clocks. We’re just as competitive as anyone else, although we’ll need the starting pitching to heat up before our series next week vs. the Chubbies. It’s also time when our fascination with Danny Herrera has to morph into something resembling confidence. Extended looks like this are when you become a true major leaguer or you don’t. No pressure, kid.
23-1? Wow, I keep blocking that. This is a good time for HAVOC!!!! Let’s slap some stuff into the ground and beat it out, might be our best chance.
Given the Alex Gonzalez frustration around here, what will happen if Kepp goes 3-4 against the Reds? I’m just glad there’s been less heat on Brandon Phillips lately. Gonzo deserves the scrutiny much more, no matter which opinion you have.
The Reds have to be due for a win against Oswalt. Right?
Yup… just like the sun is due not to rise tomorrow morning…
A look back at “The Trade” now shows that in the end it was pretty much a wash.
Kearns hasn’t really blossomed. Lopez is gone from DC. The Magic Man fell on his face and Bray is always hurt…. and Leatherpants is awaiting indictment.
Jeff Keppinger has been hitting well for the Astros and getting some starts at second. He got a game winning hit against the Cubs last week.
By odds, the Reds are well overdue to clock Oswalt. He definitely has not been pitching that well.
Well and that’s why Kepp isn’t here anymore. He was more of a second baseman than ss and the Reds already have a good one. We need someone who can handle all both middle infield spots. that’s why we have janish.
Apparently, the Houston papers and fans are in a tizzy over giving up Sutton for Keppinger, and after looking further into the matter, I can definitely see why.
Other than MLB experience in Kepp’s favor, this is almost an absolute wash for the Reds in that they basically got the same player back, except for the fact that he’s younger and has more power. The guy was their 2-AA player of the year for crying out loud, and on top of that, if Kepp ended up having a good year, just think of the $ he could have made in arbitration!
Nice work by Jocketty on this one. The Reds didn’t need Keppinger and got a very nice little prospect in the bargain.
Of course, it’s true that Sutton basically fits the profile of a lot of other guys already in our system that have similar capabilities and can probably only be truly effective at 2B in the majors anyway (ala Kepp). Still, with a glut of quality guys already in that position, that’s plenty of trade bait.
I think Jocketty deserves some credit for this one.