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The Reds won yesterday. Is it possible that maybe, just maybe, the season isn’t over after all?
This afternoon, the Reds will try to make it two in a row. Bronson Arroyo will pitch for the current Reds. He’ll face a former Red, Travis Wood.
Discuss the game here. Go Redlegs.
Looks like Joey Votto will be out an additional seven to ten days. Since the original 3-4 week estimate was already over the early end, I’d guess it’s at least 10 more days without the MVP.
Hopefully, the team responds in a similar manner as they did last time they learned of Votto’s extended absence from the line up. But, that was with a healthy Rolen.
Rolen out again today.
Why hasn’t Rolen been put on the DL? Jocketty’s roster management has been sorely lacking this year.
Why not sign Mike Fontenot. His slash line is .289/.343/.340.
They can’t keep going with Miguel Cairo, can they?
I said that the day the Phils released him.
In all seriousness, when can we start panicking?
If they lose the next two, I think it would be understandable.
What are the Amazing Todd Fraziers chances of winning rookies of the year?
Just posted on the Votto thread, at this point, a low-cost signing really seems reasonable. Rolen can’t play every day, he’s just going to keep getting hurt. Votto out through August probably. That means lots of Cairo and Valdez, who are both well below replacement level.
Go replace them.
Shouldn’t the first commandment of batting leadoff be “THOU SHALT NOT SWING AT THE FIRST PITCH”?
The Cubs anouncers were laughing that one of them didn’t even get to say a word before the first out…
I would like to see him in the 2 hole with a little bit of DONT SWING at everything coaching!
@Boneill1621: Well, I don’t think he’ll win both awards, though I wouldn’t put anything past him really :).
In all seriousness, I think Todd Frazier will be voted the most valuable rookie position player in the NL, but there are too many good pitchers for him to with ROY I think.
Stubbs average is in freefall.
@eric nyc: I thought the same thing. Cozart just isn’t built for this role. I love his pop, but it would be great if he was batting 7th.
@RedForever: Can you provide any evidence for that statement?
Stubbs 5 for his last 26.
As usual, 3 lousy at-bats.
I really don’t know why it would be so hard to say “Zack, don’t swing at the first pitch no matter what. Half of your job is to make him throw a bunch of pitches.” This has been going on for months.
@RedForever: Stubbs is in a 4-game mini-slump where he has gone 2 for 19. But his average at the end of July was .233 and his average now is .231.
@RedForever: losing 2 points on your batting average in 10 days is hardly freefall.
Dusty: “It’s way too early to tell if Rolen could go to the DL.”
Yeah…wouldn’t want to play with more than 23-24 guys for more than a week or two before you made that decision.
The follow up was that he is no where near ready to play. WTF?
So JV has had another surgery. Not good….Not good at all…
It was VERY minor surgery. Not a scope. Adds a week to his recovery time.
@hydeman: It’s just not what our coaches preach. We preach aggression. If I were managing this team, or signing players, I would offer incentives for seeing pitches as the leadoff hitter. If there was money on the line, you can bet Cozart would take a few.
@eric nyc: They have done this all season with the DL. I just don’t know why and how it benefits the team. Someone smarter than I must see different angles
@eric nyc: Exactly my thinking. I think Dusty relishes these situations so he doesn’t have to choose between who plays or sits, because as we all know, everyone has to play to stay fresh.
Super Todd, slapping baseballs all year long.
5 pitches in 4 batters. Are you kidding me?
Cubs announcers just said that the Reds have a good bench. What they really mean is that Todd Frazier is good. Cairo and Valdez have hit worse than I’ve ever seen two players hit while staying on the big league team.
Travis Wood throws a 50-pitch shutout.
2 more terrible at-bats. Valdez is about as bad as Cairo.
I was just thinking that – whatever MINIMAL advantage you get with Valdez on offense has to be negated by Cairo’s defense at 3rd. But both of them need to be gone.
I wonder if Wood will hit 60 pitches today. I have no reason to think he will.
@wally mo: Not sure how that would work..Cozart is a Good Rookie…But asking him to leadoff for what we hope will be a championship team is just too much at times….a lot of times….
It actually makes me a little nauseous to think that Valdez is going to be getting extended ABs because we know damn well this team isn’t going to make any moves.
@eric nyc: Still not good…Its a setback. I’m not a dooms-dayer but my guess is he is done for August…
I said from the moment he went down I was expecting him back September 1st and if he came back a day sooner it would be a bonus. I still think there’s a chance he makes it back for the last week of the month.
@hydeman: Totally agree. I’m thrilled with Cozart overall. He’s on pace for a 3-win season right now, he’s playing for peanuts, and he’s probably going to get better.
As far as incentives go, I don’t really know how it would work either. But I do know that players have all kids of incentives in their contracts for different stats. If I wanted a guy to leadoff, that would be one stat that I would put an incentive in for.
Does making roster moves cost extra money or something? There has to be some reason as to why they refuse to utilize minor league players.
Bronson has become very hittable in the 2nd half.
His pitches are becoming pretty predictable. After sneaking a fastball inside, I’m sure everyone on the planet was thinking the next pitch was some sort of curve on the outside. How about throwing two consecutive fastballs at least once a game?
There seems to be a pervasive “do nothing” attitude with this team, from the top on down, which I don’t think any of us can understand. They don’t like to put injured players on the DL, don’t like to order MRIs for injured players (or even rest them when they’re not performing), don’t seem interested in upgrading the bench, don’t seem interested in getting low OBP out of the leadoff spot, don’t seem willing to tell anyone to take a pitch now and then, don’t seem willing to tell anyone to run out ever ground ball and fly ball, don’t want to convert Chapman to a starter, don’t like bringing up guys from the minors even when they appear to be ready for the majors, etc. etc. I’ll grant that a lot of us are probably a little too impatient, but it just seems to take this organization FOREVER to notice and/or take action to address even the most glaring problems.
Could be another looooooooooong day.
@zippy: I think that really says it all. I agree that fans are usually a little impatient, but this team takes patience with problems to a pretty ugly extreme.
Wind is just killing Bronson’s breaking pitches.
So at what point does Dusty stop getting away with “Well we’re winning so I must be doing something right”?
@zippy: It’s not a bad observation. When it comes down to it you’ve got a front office full of people whose day to day jobs are much easier if they as a group decide to “just roll with it.” I think there is definitely some complacency going on in those offices.
That’s probably a big part of it. Making a change brings attention to yourself, and seems like sticking your neck out a little, because it allows people to compare the “before” and “after.” Ironically, NOT making a change is sometimes the riskier strategy, but it’s harder to pinpoint who’s responsible for nothing happening. Walt can always say “there weren’t any good deals available,” and how can we prove otherwise? Baker can always claim “so-and-so can’t hit leadoff,” or “we’re better off being aggressive at the plate,” and how can we prove it wrong? He’s never tried anything else, so there’s basically no smoking gun to prove he’s wrong.
Reds bottom of the order is just killer. When you add in how bad Stubbs has been, that only leaves 5 guys to do all the hitting.
@eric nyc: Probably a week after Votto gets back and he is still trying to get back into the swing of things…and they are fighting for the wild card.
The day that Votto gets more surgery isn’t a good one, I’ll give you that. But let’s not get carried away. We’re 3.5 games up on the division, and we are still a good team.
We’re 16-8 since Votto went down. It’s happened in a weird way, where we won a ton and then lost a bunch, but 8 games over is 8 games over. Most people here were talking about trying to stay over .500 while he was gone. Well, it would take an 8 game losing streak starting today to get to .500, and I don’t see that happening.
@Mwv: Yeah, and the light air up in Colorado makes it hard to spin….Blah Blah Blah….He just needs to tighten up!
Do you remember when Bronson was pitching against the Yankees? Wind was blowing the other direction and his pitches were breaking so nasty it was crazy.
Travis Wood making the Reds look like minor leaguers…oh, wait, some of them are.
It’s too late to make the move this year, but Bruce Jacoby has no business being employed by this team next season.
Wood will probably pitch a 2 hit shutout. So tomorrow, Dusty will rest Frazier and ludwick and start Cairo and Paul.
@eric nyc: During Thursday’s game, the announcers said the Cubs fired Rudy Jaramillo. He needs to be signed Day 1 of the offseason.
Part of the Reds hitting problems is that they have 2 hitting coaches. jacoby and baker. They need to hire a manager who is ONLY a manager and not a hitting coach.
Anyone notice that since the trade deadline, Stubbs is 8-37?
@nelly33: This is an astute observation.
yeah, when he felt like is job was at risk, he started playing better, now he’s not worried about losing it so he doesn’t have to be as focused.
Cubs announcer, as if on cue from RLN:
“It’s no secret that Baker is a very aggressive hitters manager. He wants to see his guys up there swinging the bats.”
@wally mo: I understand what you’re saying and I was being rash. But they seem to be relying on the fact that Votto will come back and save everything.
But what if he comes back and isn’t that good? What if he doesn’t come back this season at all? I think the remarkable run gave the FO a false idea of how good this team is. It still has the same flaws, it was just masked by an unbelievable string of starting pitching and Ludwick playing out of his mind.
Todd Frazier likes Chicago.
Frazier is the savior.
I know the stat is available for individual hitters, but is there any place to find the team’s batting average on 0-0 counts? I’m willing to bet it isn’t good. And if it isn’t good, then there’s absolutely no advantage to Baker’s “be aggressive” strategy.
Frazier!
Super Todd comes through once again.
However, there’s something to be said for NOT taking pitches when you’ve got 2 strikes and a runner on third. What is wrong with this team’s brain?
That has to be one of the worst at-bats I’ve ever seen…the one by Heisey.
Downhill until you get to #8, who has the highest OBP of all the starters.
Sorry. Quoted the wrong comment. I was commenting about the lineup going downhill after Frazier.
Our lineup goes downhill after Frazier. Kinda painful to watch.
@nelly33: I agree with all of that. I still think the Reds have a decent chance to win the division even if Votto is out for the year, but if he is their WS hopes are toast.
Should have made a move to help the offense, but the winning streak took the wind out of the sails for that.
That Heisey AB was just inexcusable. How do you not protect the plate and at least TRY to put the ball in play there? You know you have Valdez on deck behind you. It’s the ONE time you shoudl be hacking at everything and instead he looks at 3 straight strikes. Horrible.
Stubbs now 1 for his last 19. Yeah, his average IS in free fall.
It’s in a free fall, and then after another 20 ABs or so he’ll figure it out and go on another tear. He’s been doing it for years. I just wish they would either figure out how to STOP it or at least move him to the bottom of the order when he’s not hitting. But Baker doesn’t seem to pay much attention to the games. He’s got his theories, and what’s happening on the field is irrelevant.
Does EVERY post have to be negative? I mean every one. You have posted a negative comment in 56-straight posts. You are the Joe Dimaggio of negative posting.
I really hope by next year Cozart is down in our lineup. If so he could become a very good player for us for a long long time.
Right now you have Heisey, Stubbs, Valdez, Cairo and Bruce not hitting a lick. And Rolen is out indefinitely. We know now why the Reds are struggling so badly to score.
wouldn’t mind seeing a couple minor leaguers called up. the easy thing to do is change up line up
Two pitches out of zone to Heisey and third pitch was perfect with late movement. Still would have liked to seen an effort to foul it off. That won’t get him playing time.
like to see this line up when back heathly
phillips-2b
hanigan-c
votto-1st
ludwick-lf
frazier-rf
bruce-cf
cozart-ss
rolen-3b
It’s just a good thing Hanigan isn’t getting on base in front of BP, Ludwick and Frazier. He’s slow, after all, so what would be the point. Better to have in on base for three guys who never get hits.
Stubbs 0-3 with 3 Ks. And I don’t think management really cares.
What is WRONG with our hitters? First they can’t lay off a pitch now they don’t want to swing at fastballs right down the middle? What are you even arguing about, Stubbs? on’t tell me you haven’t seen a strike 3 call before.
That was clearly strike three Stubbs, why the argument?
It is a beautiful day here. low 80′s after being in the 90s for a long time.
At least the streak is over.
LOL!
Don’t worry, he already lost his bet so come Monday the negatives stop. Let him get them all out till then.
I’m a man of my word.
When I see some positives, I will post some positives. Right now this game is full of negatives.
Give Wood credit, he has great location and stuff seems to be breaking late.
@jas_428: I don’t know, those strike 3′s to Stubbs and Heisey were strikes ALL the way on 2-strike counts. Our hitters have horrible discipline. Votto is the only hitter on the team that knows how to protect the plate.
It’s really beyond belief the way this team refuses to be patient when there’s no pressure to swing, and refuses to swing when they can’t afford to be selective. And Dusty will continue tolerating it — if not encouraging it — I guess because he feels it would be rude to interfere.
I thought Drew was gonna disappear into that ivy.
That was a good catch. Stubbs may not be great on balls hit in front of him, but he’s good at going back.
Eric,
I think Phillips also protects the plate well. He swings for the fences until he gets two strikes and then just tries to make contact. Ludwick and Frasier can also display two stike discipline on occasion.
BP has been having some really good ABs lately. He’s one of the few who actually seems to be making OBP a priority.
there are those pitches again
That strike 2 pitch was actually REALLY good. Hard to swing at that. But you can be selective at 3-1. Not at 0-2.
Good AB by Frazier. Reds need more of that.
Todd Frazier is easily the best hitter on this team at the moment and it’s not even close.
NOW he’s able to hit a fly ball. Great.
Heisey should have done that in his last AB.
I know a post a lot of the silly stuff about Frazier on these boards but man.. it is SO much fun watching him this year.
Frazier, Phillips, Arroyo, Haningan and Reds fans at Wrigley all positives today.
Anyone know Frazier’s contract status? Just curious.
He;s a rookie so he is under team control for at least 4 more years.
bronson deserves to win this. lets get some runs!
Isn’t this about the point in the game where Wood struggles?
Keith the camera man saves the day! But seriously if we cant put up runs on Travis Wood then how do we expect to win the division? He was on our team for crying outlloud.
It’s no surprise at all that Hanigan has 2 hits today.
Top of the order, 0-7 with 6 Ks. Nice.
Waitaminit! That’s not nice at all.
No, its pathetic but everyone wants me to stay positive.
i just dont get why you don’t ph for arroyo here. he’ll probably give up a few hits next inning and be taken out anyway.
great 2nd strike on Cozart…again great movement
Votto, Rolen, Bruce all out of the lineup. Stubbs back to his old ways. It shouldn’t shock anyone that we can’t score runs. This team was built for its big bats to carry it and they’re all completely silent either due to injuries or ineptitude right now. We’re going to keep losing until something changes – it might have to be waiting until Votto comes back unless Rolen can get back on the field.
Bronson keeping us in this though.
How many Baker mistakes were on display in that last inning?
1) Hitting the guy with the highest OBP 8th
2) Not pinch running for Hanigan when he (predictably) reaches base.
3) Not pinch hitting for Arroyo
4) Asking Arroyo to try to bunt when everyone is expecting it and you’ve got your slowest guy on 1st
5) Batting Cozart leadoff
Am I missing any?
Dusty being in the dugout?
I wouldn’t have used both a pinch runner and pinch hitter there.
Agree. NO need to pinch run, but I would have pinch hit for Arroyo.
Look on the bright side.. he might have pinch hit with Cairo. Double switch. Think about it.
I really wish Stubbs would put it together and bat at least .250
Time for the Redlegs to take care of business this inning. After the Server crashed yesterday I never could get RN website back. Looks like a lot of people could though, oh well. C’mon Reds
Wow, that was a single. Nice job Cozart taking advantage.
And there were people on here that wanted the Reds to trade for Soriano.
Not on this board. I didn’t see anybody post that.
Got.to.score.this.run.
Ok, let’s see how they manage to blow this.
Oops, I meant Stubbs. The fast guy. You know the one.
40,602 turned out for today’s titanic struggle, 40,602.
@LVW: Why on earth not? Saving them for the 14th?
pinch running on 1st with 1 out is not a high percentage run scoring probability increase unless Billy Hamilton suddenly got called up.
If you don’t score there, Hanigan’s spot may not even come up again in this game. If it’s the 5th inning, I agree, but that was the 7th.
2 run double, I rest my case.
You were predicting two runs in the 8th? I must have missed that comment.
Lefty on the mound- perfect time to steal 3rd if BP doesn’t move him up any.
I think Brandon closed his eyes.
That was terrible fundamentally, but amazing.
Absolutely the guy you want up right here.
It’s moot now! Baker is a genius!
Wow, tomahawked that one out into left.
Luds!!!
What can you say?
Ludwicky!!!!!!!!!!!
STUDWICK!!!!!
Ludwick, how huge has he been this year? He’s been unreal since Votto got hurt.
Frazier needs to move him over. Haven’t won yet.
What the?
Brain lock by Luddy. LOL!
I was fooled by that off Frazier’s bat, unfortunately so was Ludwick.
Ludwick would not have gotten that hit in the same situation last week with me knowing he was batting.
Can’t blame Ludwick there…The ball comes off of Todd Frazier’s bat and you just ASSUME it’s an RBI.
Ludwick was thinking Todd was going to get a hit like he usually does.
We are the very worse team in fundamentals. We don’t stress them, we don’t acre about them, and we don’t punish for not executing them. Unreal, game after game.
Shades of yesterday.
Arroyo can’t start the 8th can he? Marshall then Chapman. Can you imagine hitting against Chapman with these shadows?
It’s ok guys, Valdez will come through for us like usual.
Yup. You called it. (I’m willing to assume there was no sarcasm — I didn’t see any sarcasm font.)
@CharlotteNCRedsFan: I really don’t blame Ludwick there. That REALLY looked like it was going in the gap off the bat. If he doesn’t take off on contact he gets held up at third. Being aggressive, just caught a bad break.
I know it’s strict but I’m pass giving a benefit of a doubt on base running blunders. Frazier had his on Thursday and Luds today. I’m equal opportunity!
if only valdez could hit.
Shadows are going away pretty quick from the look of it, it’s already out past the pitcher now.
Whooooo hooooo!!!!! Yeah baby. Told you mugs it was time for the Reds to take care of bidness. (By mugs I mean peeps) When Lugwick runs the bases start playing the music from the Benny Hill Show.
Talk about the wheels falling off…
See? MValdezP. Or something.
Don’t be stealing my MVottoP! catchphrase.
Stealing 3rd with a lefty pitching- always easier than vs a righty.
dusty’s a genius. valdez is the man.
believe it or not, that was a big hit for Heisey – something he just doesn’t do very well
Sounds better with Valdez in there, little Spanish sound to it.
It sounds phony with no MVP awards on his shelf.
You can be MVP for lots of things, not just an entire season. Valdez is definitely the MVP of unexpected hits that inning.
By the way, I heard a rumor that Frazier was pitching both games of the upcoming doubleheader.. any truth to that?
Bold move by Dusty here. Genius? Madness? Only time will tell.
That sums up the season.
Why is arroyo pitching the 8th?
1 hit allowed since the 2nd inning;
Arroyo is pitching the 8th to get dejesus out.
And barney
Bronson is smelling a complete game.. will the genius let him go for one? Tune in next inning on All My Redlegs!
And fizzy. Dusty is. So smart!
Nice game by Arroyo. Now turn it over to the big Cuban.
I meant rissoles. iPad bad
Guess not. Against the Cubs I would have let him take a shot at it with Chapman warming up the whole time. Not going to see any bloop and a blasts today with that wind.
Arroyo thru 7
89 pitches
1 hit allowed since the 2nd inning
2 run lead
Broxton has been used a lot lately
Baseball common sense says let Arroyo at least start the 7th.
Castro can really throw.. that was closer than I thought.
I like the improved approach on keeping AB alive/hitting balls down and away. Maybe, just a fluke today?
its chappy time!
First pitch slider is not fair with Chapman.
Good morning, good afternoon and good night.
That is just plain unfair.
91 mph changeup.
103? Sheesh. He likes Chicago too I guess.
Is that 2 changeups in the same at bat? Wow. He hasn’t thrown that pitch since the first 6 weeks of the season.
Only one word needed…NASTY!
Is there anything more exciting in baseball than watching him pitch right now?
Chapman just can not be a human being.
All credit to Bronson though, he really pitched a great game for us today.
Johnny Ace on the mound tomorrow, I like our chances. Go Reds! Adios Amigos.