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Let’s recap tonight’s titanic struggle….
FINAL
Cincinnati 1
Pittsburgh 2
W: J. Hanrahan (5-1)
L: J. Broxton (3-2)
BOX SCORE
POSITIVES
–Mike Leake pitched six shutout innings. He gave up four hits, walked three, and struck out three. He also doubled at the plate. The kid can hit.
–Ryan Ludwick finally returned, collecting a pinch-hit double in the eighth.
NEGATIVES
–TOS.* Only seven hits and one runs.
–Jose Arredondo and Logan Ondrusek aren’t very good, and neither should be on the post-season roster, in my opinion.
NOT-SO-RANDOM THOUGHTS
–Oh well, the Pirates seemed to enjoy their little walkoff win. It happens. Go get ‘em tomorrow, Reds.
–No, I’m not particularly concerned about the Reds offense as they enter the playoffs. At least, I’m not any more concerned than I have been all season. The offense has been pretty bad lately, though.
#Reds become eighth team in Major League history with 5 pitchers with at least 30 starts in a season. Leake made his 30th start tonight.
— Reds (@Reds) September 29, 2012
@redlegnation I sure am glad Wilson Valdez is getting the most at bats this game
— Matthew Runion (@MAR61980) September 30, 2012
–Go Reds.
*This offense stinks.
Wouldn’t mind seeing the assembling of real line-ups starting with the Cards series. Maybe it wouldn’t make a difference but scoring more than 2 or 3 runs in some games would be welcomed. Reds really need to think seriously about where Drew Stubbs is going to fit in the postseason. Of the qualifiers, he is dead last in average and on-base percentage. IMO, his defensive prowess doesn’t cover the shortcoming. Just for information, Cozart is second to last in OBP.
Yet these two guys, Stubbs and Cozart, managed to get 956 of the 1337 ABs (71.5%) in the #1 and #2 spots in the batting order. It’s no mistake that our #3 hitter, who has an amazing 1.051 OPS this season in 107 G has only 55 RBI. That projects to a full season pace of 83 RBIs. Jay Bruce and his .847 OPS is sitting at 98 RBI. Bruce has most of his AB in the #5 spot. Our number #3 and #4 hitters has OBP of .426 and .339. I really hope Billy Hamilton gets a lot of time in the OF this off season, starts out next season in CF at AAA, and is soon ready to replace Stubbs in CF and bat leadoff for the Reds. Baker might actually be forced to go Hamilton, Phillips, and Votto in the top three spots. We might actually be Dusty proofed at that point.
Charlotte Howdy!.unless we are playing in Texas, Stubbs has become a liability.
Even if he is fast, i believe he is not quick. Assuming, arguendo, that his defense is in the top third of all CF’s in MLB, his offense overwhelms any plus we get from that defense.
@seat101: In fact, since 2002 only two qualifying NL batters have hit lower than Drew Stubbs current average: Pat Burrell (.209) & Mark Reynolds (.198). Burrell in 2003 and his OPS was .713, Reynold in 2010 and his OPS was .753. Stubbs current OPS is .622. Can we afford this in the postseason? Does his defense & speed make up the difference? If he does play, is there any justification of batting him anywhere higher than 8th in the order?
I agree that Ondrusek and Arredondo should not be on the postseason roster. If Arredondo is, hopefully it’s to face lefties only. Leake ought to be on the postseason roster, he is so much better than them.
LeCure is a lock isn’t he, why wasn’t he used in a tie game ? Or Hoover ?
@CharlotteNCRedsFan: Hey, Charlotte. I think we will see regular lineups starting with the Cards series. Things are falling into place, as I hoped they would, for that series to be meaningful for the Cardinals. The Dodgers are only 2 back now, and with the Braves winning, the Nats still have a magic number of 1, so they’ll start their regulars against the Cardinals tomorrow.
Also there’s going to be a good lineup tomorrow against Wandy, Speier wants to help Cueto win his 20th. The word is that Ludwick, Frazier, and BP are all starting tomorrow. Speier said Rolen, Cozart, and Bruce will be sitting. Bruce-Wandy call for a separate comment.
@pinson343: That’s good news and makes sense too. I’m not overly concerned with the offense but would like to see the starting 8 out there in the Cards series. Get back to business. I have no problem with resting of the guys over the last week or so. Wouldn’t mind seeing BP get another day off tomorrow. In fact, if they play a “B” lineup tomorrow, I would argue it is a smart thing.
Pitching and defense! Who needs offense when you have great pitching and defense?
@Hank Aarons Teammate: If I could only pick one, I would go pitching and defense but hopefully the bats will wake up just in time. I believe they will.
If only the Reds had used pitching and defense to get to 95 wins this year. Oh wait, nevermind.
Good stuff. But you missed the point of the sarcasm entirely.
When the Reds last faced Wandy on September 10, Bruce was red hot going into the game. Someone here suggested that facing Wandy would end the hot streak and start a slump for him. That nite he went 0-5 with 3 Ks, and he’s been slumping ever since.
So now he’s going to sit against Wandy tomorrow. Logic ditcates that this will end his slump, right ?
@pinson343: I would rest Jay tomorrow too. It seems after a day off, he likely takes off. If Jay hits one of his hot streaks during postseason, you really have to like our chances to go the distance.
@CharlotteNCRedsFan: Right. With Dusty returning on Monday and facing the Cards with a chance to knock them off, I think the Monday message from Dusty will be: “The playoffs start today.”
Did anyone see Mike Morse, after a review turned a single (out going back into first actually) into a grand slam home run, have to start all over at home, where he took a swing with a phantom bat at a phantom ball ?
It was hilarious, even Molina laughed.
Do you have a link?
@CharlotteNCRedsFan: Oh yeh, Speier said that Jay is resting tomorrow. And Wandy is his nemesis, that’s what I was talking about above.
Thanks to Ludwick and Rolen, the Reds weren’t shut out. Ludwick’s double was a good sign. And after the intentional walk to Votto, Rolen choked up on the bat and just poked a single, Bronson Arroyo style. Good for him. Want to see Frazier starting in the postseason though.
@CharlotteNCRedsFan:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25190649
At some point, they get around to showing the mimed GS.
@CharlotteNCRedsFan:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=25203789&topic_id=11493214
@rpa:
I guess it starts about 3:30 in that clip… the concern was apparently about touching all the bases.
@rpa: @pinson343: Thanks guys, that was awesome. Just when you thought you have seen it all………….that’s why it’s the greatest game on the face of the earth.
Did I just see the Reds are 30th in runs scored during month of September? I knew the offense was putrid but not that bad. The only reason I don’t rip into Valdez and Stubbs is because there’s nothing left to say. I know Valdez won’t play much, if at all, but you know Dusty will go with his boy Stubbs. I keep wishing, hoping Drew will start hitting. Man, it’s tough watching him. Doesn’t matter where he bats in the lineup anymore either.
Anyone feel that management has to consider the line-ups, this is more critical than setting the roster, they do not need to reinvent the wheel but this is my version of the way a line-up should look..
Lead-off(the guy most likely to get on base and score who probably is the least likely to drive in runs-it make sense if they are the fastest so they can steal a base)
2nd: best with the bat (team guy-takes walks, willing to sacrifice themselves to get lead guy to third)
3rd: Your best all around hitter
4th: Your top power hitter
work your way down to 8th (your worst overall)
Considering everything that has happened from Votto to Rolen’s back and Stubbs’s performance, who is the best lead-off candidate. I feel Phillips makes the most sense in the 3rd hole and since Votto’s power is down he should bat 2nd. There is no way they should start Stubbs but if they do, he should bat at the bottom and I think the batter that make the most sense since speed is out, is Rolen at the top. Cozart screams bottom third of the order, just curious if there are theories that make sense other than complaints of the current line-up. Hanigan at 2nd is not an option to me, more that they never have tried and his stats (high OBP) are possibly a result of hitting 8th
Valdez + Cairo =