Loading ...Tonight at Great American Ballpark, game three of the most-watched series in all of baseball! The powerhouse Washington Nationals come to town looking to continue their recent hot play. They’ll have to deal with the great Cincinnati Reds, however, a team that will fight to the finish to defend their home turf.
Washington. Cincinnati. Baseball Fever. Catch it!
(Here’s the BR game preview, if you’re interested. And I know you are!)
Looks like the Reds signed Leake and Boxberger
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/08/reds-sign-top-two-picks.html
C Dickerson RF
W Taveras CF
J Votto 1B
B Phillips 2B
L Nix LF
A Rosales 3B
R Hanigan C
J Cueto P
Lineup via John Fay’s blog.
He also asked Baker why Balentien hasn’t been playing.
Chris Dickerson rf
Willy Taveras cf
Joey Votto 1b
Brandon Phillips 2b
Laynce Nix lf
Adam Rosales 3b
Ryan Hanigan c
Paul Janish ss
Johnny Cueto p
Enquirer link on draft signings including details from Baseball America.
Fay asked Baker if Balentien was hurt:
“He’s playing tomorrow,” Dusty Baker said. “You can’t play everybody. He was supposed to play yesterday, then (Jonny) Gomes) hit three home runs (Thursday). Nix has been swinging good and guys we’re facing are a lot better against right-handers than left-handers, especially this guy today. That kind of answers that. I go with the matchups who I think can hit certain guys and their greatest chance to succeed against that particular guy.”
It’s good that we signed Leake and Boxberger. Tonite’s Nat’s starter (who can remember their names ?) is tough on righties while lefties are batting over .400 against him. This was Dusty’s explanation for not having Balentien in the lineup. I go by matchups, he said, except for Votto and Phillips. How about Taveras ? He doesn’t match well against anyone, yet he plays every day. If the Nats pitcher can’t get lefties out, why isn’t Sutton in the lineup ? He could be at 3rd instead of Rosales. Better yet, CDick could be in CF and Sutton in LF, with Taveras’ butt on the bench.
I’m glad to see Hannigan in the lineup.
I have a feeling Cueto is going to give up a few dingers tonite. I predict that Dunn hits one of them.
Is Dusty ever going to argue or just go out there and talk things over?
I’m in Pittsburgh so no Reds broadcast. What on Earth did Taveras do to get called out on batter’s interference?
Same question as Jim. If he lays down a sac bunt, we score a run on Phillips’ fly.
I hate it when I’m right (7).
That batters interference was questionable, looks like his back foot was still in the box, but the bunt sucked enough to put him in that position
Better yet, why is he even playing?
It’s Dunn. No one but the Dunn haters would be surprised.
I hope the Dunn haters are happy with our new OF, the worst in baseball.
According to GaameDay, Rosales just swung at two sliders that were about a foot outside, grounding out weakly to first on the second one.
I ask aagain: If this guy can’t get lefties out, why isn’t Sutton in the lineup ?
2 horrible calls.
Now Janish is out on batter’s interference ? And it’s another bad call ? Dusty should not leave the field without getting tossed.
If Dusty backed up his mouth with action, the line-up would be jammed with lefties. His WHIP against LH is 1.97.
That was a lightning fast second for the Reds. Shame I’m missing seeing it. George and Chris tonight on TV?
George and Brantley.
Morgan rocked that ball off the wall, styled and wound up on first. If he was on my team, the patented VL right cross would be waiting for him when he came back in.
Grande and the Cowboy.
(to the tune of “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”)
It ain’t pretty, it’s a Reds game.
Cueto in trouble. Needs a veteran leader “pep talk” I bet.
Cueto getting rocked again. It never occurs to them to let him skip a start.
I think the Veteran Leader is unable to make pep talks due to his concussion.
I’m sure I should know the answer but why the misspelling of Nationals?
Tequila makes his glove fall off.
If Rolen can’t talk, then Dusty should wheel him out there so he can give him a VL “glare”. More than one way to skin the cat.
It’s a God damn circus out there !
This isn’t a real game, is it? I’m dreaming this, aren’t I?
Put a tent over this (circus).
I’ve been to 2 county fairs and a donkey show and never saw anything like this.
Cueto should have never made this start. He will end up hurt before the year is over.
Is Walter Matthau our bench coach?
Buttermaker would’ve been thrown out in the 1st inning.
I think next up we’ll have a Gypsy queen, in a glaze of vaseline, performing a guillotine. That’ll be some scene.
It’s at this point that a Veteran Leader would turn on the sprinklers and steal the handles. Has no one on this team seen Bull Durham?
Just like I said last night. Cueto will not make it 3 innings. It is embarrassing the way our idiot manager handles the pitching staff. Everything Cueto has shown for the past two months has said he needs to skip a start. He comes out of his last start with a minor injury. Why is he pitching? Is getting to 51-65 that important to anyone?
I checked into that, but seems Castellini has the “even day” water plan. Oh well.
I think it’s time to start passing out beers in the dugout. How much worse could that make this?
Against the team with the worst record in baseball, and a starter who can’t get lefties out, we’re out of the game by the 3rd inning.
Cueto reminds me of Mario Soto after he hurt his arm. They could sit on his changeup and still catch up on his fastball.
The manager and his coaches should be run out of town.
I draw the line at Kip Wells, good nite.
When I read the description of the Willingham hit I couldn’t begin to fathom it. “Willingham singles on soft ground ball to Ryan Hanigan, deflected by Johnny Cueto.”
There is no reason at all why Cueto started this game. It is amazing how poorly run this organization is.
The Yankees are in a pennant race, and their top young pitcher is on a innings pitched watch. Not starting for 7 days. The Reds run their young started out there after being hurt in his last start, pitched winter ball, and the WBC.
Oh, well… thanks VL. All I can say is, thank God for the Kentucky Speedway Racin’ Report. There’d be no reason to tune in without that.
Y-City, what happened was a little nubber to Cueto, he tried to come up with the ball and run toward home and tag out the runner in one motion. He didn’t come up with the ball, it came out of his glove when he tried to pick it up. I don’t think he was going to get the runner anyway. It was almost like a sacrifice bunt. Brantley said he couldn’t come up with it because his glove laces were loose. I didn’t notice that, but whatever. Veteran leaders always have laces tied as we all know.
It’s more than Cueto’s glove laces that are loose.
Votto gets himself thrown out going to second while Taveras stays at 3rd ? How in the H ?
And the beat goes on.
Dunn draws a meaningless walk, so glad we don’t have to put up with his nonsense anymore.
Kip Wells?????? seriously. Does the Reds ownership even care anymore?
The Reds ownership ? “No more losing !” I heard Castellini say in a spring training interview that the Reds would win 90 games this year.
It’s not a lack of care from the top, it’s just rampant stupidity starting at the top, and going all the way down to the GM, manager, players, coaches, batboys ?
This team is falling apart quick. I’ve been in denial for awhile. We’re going to go from a team who had a chance to contend at the beginning of the season to the worst record in baseball by the end of the season. Fire Baker. Fire Pole. Fire Jacoby. I’d like to see Soto and E. Davis hired for the coaches, no idea on a manager.
Rosales couldn’t even come close to hitting Martin’s “slider of death” so Martin throws him a fastball right down the middle ?
Grande : “Scott Rolen is not the type of player who will stand in the middle of the clubhouse and give a speech”
Pfft. What kind of veteran leader is that? Giving speeches, any veteran leader knows that’s a huge part of veteran leadership. Where the hell did Rolen go to veteran leadership school ?!
Why can’t we just have a steady line up of Hanigan, Votto, Phillips, Janish, Rolen/Sutton, Nix/Gomes, Dickerson, Balentin (not actual lineup order). Run the same lineup out there everyday and see what happens. Can’t get much worse.
The worst team in ml baseball and prolly not as good as some aaa teams……
An alert Uncle Walt in the luxury box. Was he looking jovial there?
#27 Y City Jim
Haha The reason the mispelling of nationals
is cause on opening day
Adam Dunn and Ryan Zimmerman’s Jerseys read “Natinals” across the front
That’s right. I knew I should have known why.
I’ve been saying for a month that this team could use a good ol’ bench-clearing brawl. This could be the night.
If they have one if would be nice to see a few missed punches land on Baker’s jaw.
How come Phillips came out of the game?
he took a pitch on his wrist
He got HBPed in the wristal area.
oh yeah, combined with the fact that its 10-1
Who would have thought that we would be counting on Justin Lehr as being our stopper?
Lannan, despite being a LHer, allows LH hitters to hit about 40 points higher.
Does Barker start tomorrow to give Votto a day off?
looks like the plate umpire is giving Dusty an earful
Is Gomes on the bench because he didn’t hit 4 homeruns yesterday?
Only down by 7 runs now!
5
Sutton homers…. he won’t play for awhile now
Well, y’know, Dusty can’t play everybody.
woulda been a DP if Gonzo had been playing
And Dunn walks again who needs a .400 OBP when you have a guy who once stole 60 bases in a season!!
Dunn only walks so much because he’s too lazy to swing
How did Clint Hurdle ever get him to even attempt 60 steals?
Oh but when he has enough energy to swing…
well……………… yeah
“Just like I said last night. Cueto will not make it 3 innings. It is embarrassing the way our idiot manager handles the pitching staff.”
Kyle I remember reading you saying that and nodding to myself in agreement. You were right. His velocity has been down the last handful of starts, his back was bothering him and then his hip (even if later Dusty said it was only a cramp). 1 skipped start probably would have done him wonders
and as someone else already stated, if you look at a team in a heated pennant race, they are resting their young pitcher. The Yanks are not only rich, they are smart. The Reds play baseball like it’s 1983 and that is mostly because of Dusty. Gee, Dusty played for LA in 83. Surprise surprise.
Shut Cueto down for the season.
He’s already at high risk to have have the same surgery as Volquez, IMO.
No winter ball. Hopefully back healthy next spring.
Was last night just the 4th time the Reds have been shut out this season? That is amazing considering how horrid this offense is.
Taveras was actually productive tonight. The top of the line-up was actually productive.
only 4 shutouts yes
but they that doesn’t make it any better
The Reds have been held to 1 run 14 times this season
and held to 2 runs an amazing 21 times
the team is 3-33 in those games
12 of those losses by 1 run
oops that should have said 12 of those losses by 2 runs or less
Cueto has been dreadful. I have NEVER seen such a fall off since all-star break. Should he even be in the rotation?
intestinal fortitude!!!!!!
Cueto’s ERA in the 1st half was 3.62 and in the 2nd half it’s 6.93 not counting today
that is a stunning drop. But it’s obvious, his velocity is down
does the Reds pitching coach even know his velocity is down?
The Angels are interested in Cordero. Could be a great salary dump. Can we pray for Brandon Wood?
How often is Gammons (the source of the Cordero rumor) right?
Jockettey will most likely tell them no and try to swing Jay Bruce for Vlad Guerrero.
Any word on Phillips yet?
“Do the Angels have an old ex-Cardinal? If not, then we’re not interested.” — Uncle Walt
GregD-I agree, shut Cueto down.
How many people on here are going to say trade for Brandon Wood. The Angels would not include him in a deal for Roy Halladay, they ain’t trading him for Cordero.
How are the Phillies not interested in Cordero?
The stupidity of starting Cueto every 5th game gets more and more annoying. A bad back bothered him for 2 starts, then there was the leg “cramp” the last start.
He’s a serious arm injury waiting to happen. And it’s not like he’s helping the Reds win – right now the difference in speed between his fastball and his changeup is not enough for him to be effective.
That was real bright of Dusty to “stack the deck with lefties” but leave Sutton out of the starting lineup.
“How are the Phillies not interested in Cordero?”
Too much salary.
Annapolis I understand about Wood and no way in hell are you getting a top prospect for a closer. We could probably throw in our top prospect and still not get Wood.
But with that said, prospects are a funny thing…
Just a little reminder of prospect volatility.
Here is a little sample from just over a year ago of the top position player prospects in 2008 and where they were shortly into the 2008 season. Think about this along with where each of these players is right now
1) Jay Bruce, OF, Cincinnati Reds: Destroying Triple-A, .364/.393/.630.
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, Boston Red Sox: Hitting .290/.390/.428 with 19 steals in the majors.
2) Evan Longoria, 3B, Tampa Bay Rays: Hitting .246/.319/.472. Good power, the rest will come.
3) Colby Rasmus, OF, St. Louis Cardinals: Struggling in Triple-A, .186/.280/.301. Too young to give up on, but needs a good second half.
4) Joey Votto, 1B, Cincinnati Reds: .259/.324/.519 in the majors. Good power.
5) Andy LaRoche, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers: Injured, now back in action in Triple-A and hitting .263/.471/.491. Blake DeWitt has moved past him.
6) Cameron Maybin, OF, Florida Marlins: Hitting .239/.363/.403 with 10 steals in Double-A. Strikeouts are very high.
7) Matt Wieters, C, Baltimore Orioles: Monster season, .348/.435/.617 in High-A.
9) Andrew McCutchen, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates: Hitting .282/.374/.446 with 14 steals in Triple-A.
10) Jed Lowrie, SS, Boston Red Sox: Horrible spring training and slow start in Triple-A, but has hit .310/.340/.476 in 17 games for the Red Sox.
11) Carlos Gonzalez, OF, Oakland Athletics: .294/.346/.429 in Triple-A.
12) Chase Headley 3B, San Diego Padres: .297/.363/.520 in Triple-A.
13) Jeff Clement, C, Seattle Mariners: .386/.526/.727 in Triple-A, .167 in 15 games for the Mariner. He just needs to play.
14) Brandon Wood, 3B, Los Angeles Angels: Strikeouts are eating him up and stock is dropping. .270/.321/.557 in Triple-A but with poor peripherals. Needs change of scenery.
the punchline? Despite knowing some of these players were still going through the minors and there was no expectation of them producing at the major league level by now do you know which player on this list has produced the most compared to the position they have played in the bigs?
I would have guessed Longoria
Votto is the answer
RCAP in the bigs for the above players that have made it
30 Votto
20 Longoria
13 McCutchen
2 Maybin and Lowrie
1 Ellsbury
0 Rasmus and Weiters
-3 Clement
-6 Headly
-12 Bruce
-15 Gonzalez
-17 Wood
-32 LaRoche
I’m not saying any of these guys won’t make it I think it’s clear they all will but at the beginning of 2008, the players ranked 4th has been the most valuable. Well you could argue that the player rank #2 has been the most valuable when adding defense but Wood has struggled.
you still won’t get him for a reliever and I doubt you’d get him for Votto straight up.
oh and in case you are curious here is a little better comparison of the best of the best
WAR (2008 & 09 totals) (includes defense)
10.6 Longoria
6.0 Votto
4.4 Ellsbury
2.3 Rasmus
2.1 McCutchen
1.8 Lowrie
1.5 Bruce
.6 Maybin and Weiters
-.4 Wood
these guys are young and the best of the young players so the sky is the limit for all of them but it’s fascinating how hard it is to predict who will end up producing the most
Baker’s pre-game comments about how it’s his job to look for the best matchups was inane, even by his own words.
If the Natinals SP was worse against LH batters, then Sutton over Rosales is a no-brainer.
In what world is Taveras a better matchup against either LH or RH pitching, especially vs. Balentien.
The beat writers might be turning on Baker a bit. Hal McCoy is brutally critical of playing Taveras. John Fay was the one who asked about Balentien tonight – he had posted earlier in the day that “Balentien must be hurt” since he was our second best hitter in SF and hadn’t started for two days.
And fwiw, Brantley said on TV tonight that Dickerson was obviously the best CF and ought to be playing every day.
Another shaky outing for 27-year-old Josh Roenicke.
Steve, Every time I listen to Thom and Brantley, which isn’t often, they complain about Dusty’s lineups. One nite it was Taveras-Gonzalez batting 1-2 and Dickerson-Hanniagn 7-8 and they wouldn’t stop talking about how, in terms of OBP, Dickerson-Hannigan should have been 1-2. And they said explicitly how Tony LaRussa and Lou Piniella have a different “approach” to the 1-2 hitters, that it’s about how often they get on base, not their speed. And this was a month ago.
As for Taveras, Brantley apparently implied the other nite that he doesn’t have the “gonads” to steal bases. His bad route a fly ball was mentioned in Sheldon’s game column the other nite, mlb.com game columns don’t usually get into that kind of criticism. Taveras has played so poorly that any expert who comments on the Reds (not many bother) bring up how much Taveras is hurting this team. It’s no big secret, but who’s going to convince Dusty ?
Baker on Cueto: “We’ve got to go back to drawing board. His velocity is good.”
He’s always saying “back to the drawing board” ? Just what does that mean in a case like this ?
Everyone else in the world (except myabe Dick Pole) knows that his velocity is not good.
Baker doesn’t need a radar gun. He can tell how fast a pitch is thrown by listening to it hit the catcher’s mitt.
I don’t know what Wood’s value is. The Blue Jays named 4 Angels that they wanted in the proposed Halladay deal, 3 I believe were already in the majors. Wood was one of them. 1 year two months of Hallady vs. 2 years 1 month of Cordero.
Mike-I totally agree with you. I am just saying the Angels aren’t trading Wood, at least not for any of the Reds players.
Good column by Jon Fay
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090815/SPT04/308150012/-1/NLETTER02/Getting+restless+for+Reds+to+get+younger?source=nletter-sports