Loading ...The Reds have lost 8 of 11 and things are starting to spiral out of control. I don’t think it’s an understatement to say that it would be a disaster to lose three of four at home to start the second half.
The good guys will try to avoid just that fate this afternoon. Discuss it here.
W Taveras CF
J Hairston Jr. SS
J Votto 1B
B Phillips 2B
E Encarnacion 3B
C Dickerson LF
J Gomes RF
R Hanigan C
J Cueto P
I thought last night was probably the most depressign loss of the year. They lost it in the first inning when our best hitters, Votto, Phillips, and Encarnacion, came up empty. At least Votto got the runners over…but when your 4 and 5 guys Phillips and Encarnacion strike out with guys on 2nd and 3rd against a young pitcher who was clearly laboring, your team just is not good.
Parra was not that good. To let him dominate like that after throwing 30 pitches in the first inning was embarrassing. Harang didn’t pitch terrible, but he was outpitched by a rookie in an important game.
After last night’s game, our future looked bleak to me. We may be a few years away from being a contender.
Sorry, this is my venting thread! But honestly, I don’t think it matters much if we win today. We should have won last night. It’s time to start assessing how to improve this team for next year.
I think Jocketty actually did a good job in the Dunn and Griffey trades getting Owings and Masset, 2 guys who I think have helped this team this year.
On today’s game…Is Hernandez injured?
Question on yesterdays game. I was with the family at a minor league game and didn’t get to see it, but checking on the phone I believe it was the bottom of the fifth and we eneded up with a guy on second, no outs and the pitcher up. Dusty had us sac, which resulted in an error and a run scored, but did anyone else think that was way too conservative a call down four runs? I know we had only gone 5 innings, but right after the break what about pinch hitting and going for the big inning and letting the pen handle the rest?
And yes Henrnandez is injured, knee problem. Supposedly that is the reason he did not slide and was tagged out going home a couple games ago, which in my mind raises a real question of why he was playing in the first place. Nice to see Hannigan get some ABs, though I hope it is not too serious for Hernandez. I do not think he should be playing as much as he is, but he worked hard for us when Votto was out.
And I am at the point I would move a starter plus reliever if that is what it took to get a real SS prospect. Angles, Detroit, Atlanta maybe?
Why does FS Ohio insist on having their radar gun detect the speed of a pitch when it reaches the plate? No one, and I mean no one, does that; it’s when the pitch leaves the pitcher’s hand. I’m pretty sure scouts wouldn’t say Cueto’s fastball tops out at 89-90 mph. It’s frustrating because you can’t really detect how good a pitcher’s stuff is on a given day, at least from a speed standpoint.
Well, that was a nice throw by Hanigan after a really difficult pitch to nab the runner. Well done.
JerBear – Hernandez has a degenerative problem with his knee that could potentially land him on the DL. Of course, the Reds won’t put him on the DL until he’s already been out for 12 days.
Matt – Of all the players that I wouldn’t want to go to the DL it is Hernandez. Castillo is on the 60 day DL so what catcher would the Reds bring up? The answer is probably Corky Miller. I’d rather have Hernandez be able to PH late and not catch (with the obvious strategic implication that maybe he could catch) than have Miller on the 40 man roster.
Nice hit by Phillips to knock in Hairston and Taveras. 2-0, Reds!
Yeah, I agree with you, David. Hernandez still is a good bat off the bench, even if he can’t catch. It sucks that he had to get hurt now because this is all likelihood means he can’t be traded at the deadline.
I actually was just thinking how weird it would be to see Miller back on the Reds roster. And not the good kind of weird.
I really hope that Taveras can keep up his “hot” streak. He’s hitting .291 in July and .348 in his last five games. I understand that the OBP is what everyone will notice as he has drawn 2 walks in all of July, but we can get by with Taveras hitting .300 at the top of the lineup.
Not a good play by Gomes right there at all.
MRI on Hernandez is scheduled. He’ll probably land on the DL tomorrow with Miller getting called up. Surgery is possible according to the radio broadcast.
Will the Reds use this as a sign to go out and get Victor Martinez?
I’m tired of balls dropping in front of trotting outfielders. Looks very little league.
I’m tired of the left side of our infield being Hairston and E5.
Nice job by Cueto to keep his cool with some bad defense that inning.
Looks like dam little league
HAVOC!
This game is going sloooow
The Reds got a break on that one. It didn’t look like Hairston ever had control of the ball. The inning should be over, nonetheless. More mental mistakes by the Reds. I just hope it doesn’t cost them here.
And it did cost them. Unbelievable.
Yep, the hope that Cueto will be a great pitcher is over for this year. He’ll have to make improvements next year. This is the most frustrating team to watch.
I predict they’ll finish at 75-87 for the year. I had it right on their finish last year at 74-88
EE couldn’t deflect that “bad hop” with his gloved hand?
Willy Taveras continues to bounce back from his major slump. For the month of July he actually has 4 more hits than Brandon Phillips and only 2 fewer than Joey Votto.
They have got to move Travis Wood up to AAA this season…he’s mowing down Chattanooga through 4 with 3hits and 0 runs…only 48 pitches with 35 of them strikes! He’s 22 years old and a lefty :love:
Great play by Harriston!
…all 3 syllables of him
David, why go for Martinez? I love his bat, but his catching is average at best. Why not play Hannigan to see if he can become a regular and add a backup type for next season? If we are going to trade prospects for a player (and the Indians will not let Martinez go cheap given his contract) I would much rather see a shortstop or corner outfielder.
By the way, did anyone else the McCoy article where he said Phillips would “love” to go back to SS provided it was a permanent move? That is the opposite of everything I ever heard before.
If a ball goes over 300 feet, it automatically has a chance of going out, according to George Grande.
It worked, but we seem to really love the sacrifice over the PH (maybe understandably given our bench right now).
Great AB Willie, just great.
I really am developing a dislike for him that I never had for Patterson.
And we relieve Cueto after letting him bat. I understand the sac worked, and maybe it would have been the right play regardless, but it at least says something about the bench.
I know Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Arroyo says thay all want to play well “so they won’t think about trading us” — but do you ever wonder which guys are wishing they’d be traded to a good team (pains me to even type that)?
OBP vs. RISP
To show how much more important on-base-percentage (OBP) is than the much talked about average with runners-in-scoring-position (RISP) here are the latest standings in MLB.
Here are the top five teams in MLB in RISP. In parenthesis is their ranking in runs scored, which is really the most important bottom line statistic.
1. Baltimore Orioles (16th)
2. LA Angels (3rd)
3. NY Mets (21st)
4. Boston Red Sox (4th)
5. Chicago White Sox (13th)
So you can see that RISP – average with runners in scoring position – is very poorly correlated with runs scored. So the obsession on RISP by those in the media (and some managers, like Dusty Baker) is completely misplaced.
Compare that to these numbers for OBP:
1. NY Yankees (1st in runs)
2. Tampa Bay Rays (2nd in runs)
3. LA Dodgers (8th in runs)
4. LA Angels (3rd in runs)
5. Boston Red Sox (4th in runs)
As you can see, OBP is extremely tightly correlated with runs scored. That argues for putting a premium on players with a high OBP in the lineup, which is something Dusty Baker seems reluctant to do.
BTW, the Reds are 24th in OBP, and 27th in runs scored.
25. Cincinnati Reds
Hey.. nice inning from D.W*******
Whatever eventually happens, Gomes has earned a sombrero picture for this one.
Great post Steve. OBP is one of the reasons I really like our outfield prospects, both Stubbs & Heisey have high on-base percentages (Todd Frazier also has a high OBP).
Nice win for the Reds. Good enough starting pitching, shut down bullpen for three innings. Solid hitting from different parts of the lineup.
Hernandez needs surgery and is going to miss 4-6 weeks. Tatum, not Miller, though is going to replace him on the roster.
Would a Alonzo for Yunel Escobar trade be agood one?
the threads definitely get much shorter since the reds are falling further off the wagon
South, yep, i noticed that too. perhaps some posters are restraining themselves from ranting online being so frustrated.
i was listening to Doc on wlw after the game and he insists reds should make a move, even if its a minor/platoon type player to help improve the reds. I am fine with that view but from the few offers some callers made about moving a bullpen guy for help, he kept shooting them down. which was annoying as he never offered up any ideas on what players he thinks reds can trade. Now the reds-cursed west coast swing
. Can they finally break the jinx and move back into contention instead of being on the fringe of being “in” the race.
Go Reds!
Fay had a good article about the trade deadline today. I thought he was right on.