Loading ...October is here and the Reds are still playing!
Okay, maybe there isn’t as much to be excited about as I’m pretending, but the good guys do have a chance to sweep the hated Cardinals today. That will be difficult, since Chris Carpenter is on the mound, but I believe in Kip Wells!
Discuss the game here. Also discuss the rumor that the Reds will be pursuing Rick Ankiel in the offseason.
Yes! What the team needs! Another OF with an OPS below .700.
I’d rather re-sign Jonny Gomes…
Ankiel was a great success story; then there were other questions, and next year he’ll be 30…let the Pirates take the chances while we make good decisions…
I didn’t expect to see this, but Kip Wells has outpitched both Justin Lehr and Matt Maloney in their time with the Reds.
Beware the homeruns allowed by Lehr and Maloney. Lehr has allowed 13 in 59 innings; Maloney has allowed 9 in 40 innings. Kip Wells has actually pitched much better than I expected. He’s only allowed 32 hits and 4 homers in 44 innings. He’s walked 21, but his ERA is under 4.
I love that the headline on cincinnatireds.com is about the Reds having a lot of OF options, and then this is a name that gets linked to Cincy interest. Gomes for sure over Ankiel. If the Reds are serious about getting an OF, my advice is “go big, or go home.”
Like Manny, Ankiel hasn’t done much since the HGH wore off. This is a ridiculous notion, about as ridiculous as Dave Duncan’s whiny-ass accusation last night.
I hope the Reds pound the Cards today. I would seriously like to see a ball completely covered in mud given to Carpenter to start the game.
If they aren’t going to go after a big RH power bat for LF, they may as well go with what they have.
The Ankiel rumor looks pretty bogus. Started from a random twitter without any substance whatsoever. It’s pretty amazing what gets perpetuated once tweeted.
GO REDS!
Larussa may be a great manager but he’ll always be a punk in my eyes..Not sure if this is of any intrest to any of you.
http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/commishs-hot-stove/commishs-hot-stove/cardinal-beat-updates/2009/10/3092/
1. CF 2. SS. 3. 1B= Great Success! (in best Borat impersonation).
Dick Pole had the right comeback. Well done, sir. LaRussa is trying to save face and find something to motivate his guys. Pretty weak item to latch onto.
Wells whole thing has always been control. His stuff is great–3 pitches, 2 of them plus, but his career K/BB ratio doesn’t lie. As for the #5 spot in the rotation, I like to have two or 3 options and ride the hot hand. It’s self defeating to anoint a guy the #5 starter because by definition he’s unreliable and rarely if ever can give you 30 starts.
Haha! Nice, Matt.
I’d say the Cardinals are embarrassed to be beaten so badly by the Reds so they’ve got to come up with excuses. Smoltz is the worst kind of sore loser…I read where he challenged a friend who was a champion at ping-pong to a ping-pong match, then beat him and challenged him again to do it with one hand behind his back…quite arrogant and competitive
1-0 Cardinals and Carpenter has a 2.39 ERA…
Wow ………I know Bruce should have caught that ball but Wells has to pitch thru errors and not fgall apart.
Ouch, giving up a grand slam to the opposing pitcher is not good….
Clearly the bat was corked right Tony LaRussa? But the Cardinals would never suffer such gamesmenship. Silly me.
Wells’s performance today has somehow evened out the stats for the four fifth starting hopefuls: Wells, Owings, Lehr, and Maloney. Owings and Wells can’t throw strikes; Lehr and Maloney throw gopher balls…
if any of you were reading the yesterday’s game thread and saw some of the #s I posted from Arroyo’s career, well someone else noticed Arroyo’s somewhat unique performance this season.
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/a-comparison/
I found this quote so simple but so right
The reality is that pitchers are remarkably inconsistent. Arroyo never was as bad as he pitched in the first half, while he’s also not as good as he’s pitched in the second half.
Not sure where to post this, but I found this in an article in Baseball Prospectus. (The article is mostly about the improved Rangers defense, based on defensive efficiency, but actually the most improved team in baseball this year is the Reds!)
“The Rangers aren’t the only team to show wholesale defensive improvement over last year. The Reds have the largest improvement thanks chiefly to the additions of shortstops Alex Gonzalez and Paul Janish and center fielders Willy Taveras and Drew Stubbs to the lineup; the team has gone from allowing 4.94 runs per game last year to 4.49 this year, improving from 13th in the league to eighth. Alas, the improvement from the defense has been mooted by the decline of the offense. The since-traded Gonzalez (.195 EqA), Janish (.221), and Taveras (.214) couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat, and all have done their share to hamper an offense whose .249 EqA ranks second-to-last in the league.”
That about sums it up, doesn’t it?
I wish I was wrong, but Janish will never hit. Give me JJ Hardy. A .240, 18HR season from him is perfectly achieveable. They’re gonna demand pitching, though, and I don’t know if I’m willing to part with Leake or Wood to get him.
I would love for them to get Hardy. That would tell me they are trying to win and that the front office has some sense. I was pulling for this move last winter. He would be a fantastic addition. Now, I am fantasizing about this:
1. Stubbs
2. Rolen
3. Votto
4. Bruce
5. Gomes/Platoon Partner
6. Phillips
7. Hardy
8. Hanigan
Man, that is not a bad lineup at all.
I like that lineup a lot–it’s got some depth to it. Good call on Rolen. He has no power anymore but good bat control. An ideal #2 guy.
you aren’t wrong, which is too bad
with players like Janish (and Taveras, Castro, etc) I wonder if there is anything drastic they could try. Like NOT SWINGING or something.
Janish at ages 24 and 25 put up this line in AAA
.240/.306/.360
how do you think a line that terrible is going to translate to the bigs?
so far it’s translated to this
.208/.290/.294
if he could just get on base….
here is an odd comparison
EQA
.274 Dickerson
.273 Phillips
.267 Average CF
.266 Average 2B
.263 Stubbs
.255 Average SS
.252 Hanigan
.252 Average C
.246 Hernandez
.215 Janish
.209 Taveras
.190 Gonzo
80 pitches thru 4 for Carpenter. I can’t imagine them leaving him in there for more than another inning. We’re not dead yet.
I’d bet if you asked them, the Reds to a man would say they really want to catch the Brewers and sneak into 3rd. At least there’s some dignity in that.
Wow. Janish really is terrible with the bat. I’d send him wherever Bruce is going to play some winter ball…….and hit the weight room. If he can make some adjustments to improve his eye, I’d let him compete for a job. Otherwise, I’m calling Doug Melvin.
I really wish we would have at least got something useful in return for Dunn
? for any in the know..Do the Reds consider Todd Martin to be a ss in the majors & when might he be given a chance if they do.
6 RBIs for the pitcher. Great job, fellas.
My mistake Todd Frazier.
The Reds don’t believe Frazier will be a shortstop. He’s spent most of the season in LF; he’s being tried at 2b right now; he’s also played some 3b
I don’t understand the man-love for Hardy. He’s expensive and no one knows if he’s ever going to hit again. Trading for him is an experiment the Reds can’t afford.
The organization’s refusal to move Philips to short and at least TRY Frazier at second is just ridiculous.
Hardy’s too expensive. Won’t happen. Plus, Janish is a better defender and practically free. If the Reds spend any money for a bat, it will probably be in the outfield. Probably Gomes and maybe another lefty like Nix. I could see them shelling out for a catcher, but I don’t see them going after Hardy. And I don’t see the Brewers dealing within the division.
I agree. Hardy could be a decent experiment, I think, but at $4 million plus, and at whatever it would cost to get him – no thanks. If the Red Sox are interested, then we don’t want any part of this.
I agree about Phillips to SS. They should at least TRY it. Why not? It’s just another example of how conservative, by-the-book, and risk-averse this whole franchise is.
(And, to be clear, I am NOT saying that Phillips would make a good SS. I’m saying, I DON’T KNOW if he would or not! No one knows! Let’s try it and find out… and not in spring training, in real games, in September.
But… whatever. The Reds aren’t this clever or open-minded or whatever you want to call it. They’ve already decided it won’t work without even trying it. So we’re going to be stuck with Janish as a regular at SS, rather than, say, Sutton or Frazier at 2B — two guys who MIGHT hit.)
Only 1 time since 1954 has a pitcher gotten more than 4 RBI vs the Reds
In 1966 Dave Guisti had 6 RBI vs the Reds
Only 4 times since 1954 has a pitcher had 4 or more RBI vs the Reds
no Reds pitcher since 1954 has had more than 4 RBI in a game
I’ve been screaming to move Phillips for over a year. I agree, the combination of him and Frazier would be a good one, but thinking progressively is not what this franchise does well. Hence, going the conventional route (trade). With time, I think Hardy’s numbers would’ve ended up pretty close to where his career averages have been. I guess it all depends on what the asking price is.
OK, I’m no fan of platooning. Hate it, in fact.
But here’s what I was thinking: what if, instead of naming a “5th starter” next year, you kept Lehr, Maloney and Owings (and heck, maybe even Wells) as long reliever/starters using whoever matches up better against a particular lineup/whoever’s hot at the time as the #5 guy?
Go easy on me – I’m on vacation, and I’ve had a few brewskis. Life is good…
Wow…
Oops… sorry for the bad formatting there. And I have not even had a few brewskies…
My comment starts with “Where are you” above.
I’ve wondered for a long time if some team has tried something similar
What I’ve wondered is if a team kept 2 5th starters, one left handed and one right
Then the pitcher who gets to start is the one the team they are taking on does worse again
For example Stl and SD don’t do well against lefties but Milwaukee and Philly crush them
Would Frazier being a rookie produce anymore at the plate then Janish would? Also you moving Brandon to a position he has not played in a while when you know the kind of defensive player he is at 2nd and Janish is at SS. Leave them alone with Stubbs in CF and you have 1 major key to a winning team and that is a strong D up the middle.
Anyone else realize that Joey is SECOND in the NL in runs created/game?
http://espn.go.com/mlb/stats/batting/_/league/nl/sort/runsCreatedPer27Outs/type/sabermetric/order/true
YES.
Janish (minors) – .261/.351/.382
Janish (AAA) – .240/.306/.360
Frazier (minors) – .296/.367/.491
Frazier (AAA) – .302/.362/.476 (very small sample)
Frazier is a better hitter today than Janish will ever be.
I’m home now, kicked back on the couch – was up by Lake Erie from weekend thru yesterday.
And yeah, it’s probably not workable for 3 or 4 guys. But still, I think it’s a ginchy little idea to have rotating #5 starters…
Here’s what Janish is hitting since becoming the starter: .210/.290/.325 (approximately).
I’m willing to throw out the stats from when he got a start once a week, if that, b/c that’s hard. But he’s playing every day now and that’s what we’ve gotten.
I’m hoping for some improvement, sure, and I wouldn’t even mind if he were just a little below average with the bat, b/c he is great w/ the glove. But I’m afraid he’s a LOT below average w/ the bat, and in this day and age, I can’t think of any good teams that routinely put someone like that in the lineup.
I’m not ready to give up on Maloney. He’s pitched very well in his last 3 starts….recovering from the blister problem. He’s only 25…
Yup, I totally agree. He’s a good-looking pitcher except for the HR rate.
that was the worst shutout loss by the Reds since 2006
In August 2006 the Reds lost 14-0 to Houston
Maloney will be fine. He’s really progressed well during the season.
Guess I’m glad I missed it today.
Strange collection of guys with the five hits – Rosales with two of them?
For Rosales, it’s all down to that “evil Spock” goatee he’s sporting now.
Although, as goofy looking as he is, he might want to consider the full Grizzly Adams.
Look at those references – man, I’m old.
Yeah – I was thinking the other night it made him look a bit more intimidating at the plate.
Totally agree on the Ankiel idea. I would rather go with Gomes or other internal options than spend the money there. Any dissenters?
The notion of 2 fifth starters like Owings/Maloney is an interesting one, especially if you are willing to use them as long reliever 3 inning plus guys in relief if needed. Would we be flexible enough in our usage of the pitching staff to get the benefit of that though, or would we just be burning a roster spot?