Reds Tidbits (2008 season)

[Jaxbuck]

They tried to blow it but that 5 run lead in the 9th was just one run too many for them to gag away.

Fucktards 10 Giants 9

Worst team in MLB period.

 

[Buckeye Chris]

No, bad pitch, but Cordero came through and thats why hes the man

 

[Jaxbuck]

No, bad pitch, but Cordero came through and thats why hes the man

One bad pitch accounted for the 4 run 9th? All those guys got on base from one bad pitch?

If Todd Coffee changed his name to bad pitch I agree with you, if he hasn't you missed some of the action.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Solid to good starting pitching, solid pen, and great closer...

Solid to good offense when they are hot...

We don't just suck at one place like last year, with the pen, when they lost any game we had the lead in...

I still think we will be somewhat fine and that things will start to click for us...

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Asleep at the plate
Reds offense is in a snooze, but there are signs that they could break out soon
Sunday, April 27, 2008 3:54 AM
By Scott Priestle


The Columbus Dispatch

Darren Hauck | Associated Press
Reds outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. and his teammates are having a frustrating time at the plate this season but believe their offensive struggles are about to end.



CINCINNATI -- On a lazy afternoon a few hours before a recent game, Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn napped on adjacent recliners in the Reds clubhouse. It was a fitting metaphor for their season -- as teammates arrived and slipped into their routines, the giants of the offense lay sleeping.
Both players awoke in time to do their normal pregame work, and it is reasonable to think they will awake from their early-season slump in time to post their normal statistics. There are signs that such a breakthrough is imminent.

Continued.....

 

[Tipdogusaf]

I feel a nice winning streak coming on. If Arroyo can pitch decent the pitching matchups look good for the reds in the series with the Cards.

 

[Bestbuck36]

Anyone else notice that we've scored 10 runs in back to back games and Dunn and Griff have been conspicuosly absent from the lineup?

Volquez was awesome today. 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA now. Maybe we touted the wrong starter as our Cy nominee?!

Brandon appears to be back on track and hitting again, thats great news. Votto, Encarnacion and Keppinger continue to hit. The bullpen is Jekyll and Hyde besides Cordero. Isnt it about time we saw Billy Bray? How about Marcus McBeth? Coffey is absolutely awful but who's going to want him? DFA.

Bronson better pull his head out of his ass soon or he'll be moving. He might not be moving off of the roster do to his contract but he wont stay where he is in the rotation. If we could somehow pull off a series win vs. St. Louis, I might even consider that a reversal of fortunes.

 

[Jaxbuck]

The way I see it we have:

3/5 of a very good starting rotation
1/7 of a pen, no one outside of Cordero is outstanding

4/4 of a good young offensive infield albeit a little defensive challenged right now.
1/3 of an outfield because Dunn and JR are duplicates of the same player and CF is a black hole. CF is decent defensively the corners are a total loss.

2/2 of a decent catching platoon given the low overall quality at C in MLB today.

0/4 of a bench.

Seems easy to see the weaknesses, just hard to figure out how to plug them. A lot will be based around what they do with JR and Dunn.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I am going to be a little more optimistic than you were...

The way I see it we have:

3/5 of a very good starting rotation

Agree here and I think the potential is there for 4, if Arroyo gets his shit together or Bailey gets ready...Lots of options, just no one really wants to take charge...

1/7 of a pen, no one outside of Cordero is outstanding

Well if we are talking outstanding, obviously a 1...but how many pens even have 3 or so outstanding guys in the pen...

I give us a 2.5/7, which isn't great, but I think it is better than the .5 we had last year...

I think that Lincoln has earned at least .5, along with Burton and Affeldt...I will give you that Coffey sucks...

4/4 of a good young offensive infield albeit a little defensive challenged right now.

Agreed here...

1/3 of an outfield because Dunn and JR are duplicates of the same player and CF is a black hole. CF is decent defensively the corners are a total loss.

I agree here as well...But potential to be 2 with a solid defender in CF at some point, because I just don't see how we can go with Griffey, Dunn, and Bruce in the outfield...

2/2 of a decent catching platoon given the low overall quality at C in MLB today.

0/4 of a bench.

Obviously not going to give us a a perfect score by any means...But Freel and Hopper are the same player, and the type of player that makes a good bench guy...A guy with speed, can play good defense, will give the all out hustle and can spot start if need be...

Hairston Jr. has been pretty good since the call up...He seems to have a presence about him, that seems to be benefitial to the team...and a tiny bit of pop from the right side something that has been missing, and is still missing, but he makes the situation better than castro was doing...

Hatte/Valentin give us 1 between them two as they are both quality LH pinch hitters, Hatte can play first if need be...

So I give us a solid 2.5/5 and I know that doesn't quite add up the numbers I had, but I think a 3 is a little high, but not having that RH bat knocks us down some...But for a small market team, that is not a bad overall bench and doesn't deserve a 0/4 ranking...

Seems easy to see the weaknesses, just hard to figure out how to plug them. A lot will be based around what they do with JR and Dunn.

The thing that is kinda hard is the fact that it is hard to get rid of Dunn and Griffey if they are, and you obviously don't want to just let them walk, you want to try and get something for them...It is hard at times when our best players are LH guys, it is hard at times when we lack a true leadoff hitter, but if we brough up Bruce then we lack Defensive speed in the OF and things could get ugly at times...Bruce is not as slow as Dunn or Griffey, but he has a lot more ground to cover if he were to play in CF...

Bray might be ready, but I am sure they are just making sure he doesn't break down...He has done so far every year in his young career...

My main goals as the GM would be...Try and sure of the starting rotation...It is hard with Arroyo, but let him try and work things out...It is hard to eat his contract, and it is not a bad contract because he earned that contract...Lets also find out if everything is ok with his arm and shoulder...No reason to sign someone that doesn't belong like say a Fogg, but try and find the best option out of the guys we have...We have Thompson and Bailey that hopefully will allow us to have one of the best rotations 1-5 in the NL in a couple years...Hopefully it is not too late and Harang is still throwing well...

Bullpen...Great signing with CoCo in the offseason...now we just need a set up man...Hopefully guys like Bray, Pelland, Roenicke, Viola, McBeth, Fisher, etc. can pan out from the minors...Lots of options by the end of this season and early into next season...I say Bray is the only one ready at the moment, and I believe that Roenicke could get major league hitters out, but needs a little more work...

Find a way to move one of Dunn/Griffey, to play Bruce in one of the corner outfield spots...

Also find a way to get a leadoff hitter or a number two hitter that can cover ground in CF...I would love for this to be Drew Stubbs, as he contines to hit the ball real well in Sarasota...The only thing is he is not a leadoff man as he k's too much, and we can't have him taking more pitches than he should be...

 

[Buckeye Chris]

Volquez is the man.

 

[Jaxbuck]

Find a way to move one of Dunn/Griffey, to play Bruce in one of the corner outfield spots...

Also find a way to get a leadoff hitter or a number two hitter that can cover ground in CF...I would love for this to be Drew Stubbs, as he contines to hit the ball real well in Sarasota...The only thing is he is not a leadoff man as he k's too much, and we can't have him taking more pitches than he should be...

I'd consider this option as well....

move EE to LF
play Kepp at 3B
Bruce is you thumper in RF

move Dunn and JR for a slick fielding SS and CF who can at least OBP .300.

Now you have leather up the middle and this type of line up:

CF glove man/decent OBP man
3B Kepp R
RF Bruce L
LF EE R
1B Votto L
2b BP R
SS glove man
C Bako/Ross platoon
Pitcher


Not that far fetched when you think about it.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

I'd consider this option as well....

move EE to LF
play Kepp at 3B
Bruce is you thumper in RF

move Dunn and JR for a slick fielding SS and CF who can at least OBP .300.

Now you have leather up the middle and this type of line up:

CF glove man/decent OBP man
3B Kepp R
RF Bruce L
LF EE R
1B Votto L
2b BP R
SS glove man
C Bako/Ross platoon
Pitcher


Not that far fetched when you think about it.

That would be a good situation as well, but I am just not sure how EE's game translates to the outfield...I would think about Votto to the outfield instead of EE and putting EE at 1B...They played Votto in the outfield in AAA before he got brought up...This erases EE throwing the ball too much...Allows us to keep Kepp in the lineup...A glove man would be great, but honestly watching Kepp play this year he hasn't really done much that has made me think, if we had so and so at short he would of made that play...He is solid fundamentally, just maybe slow a foot at times...I think Frazier could be the man here by end of next season, so this isn't something that needs to be a real long terms solution...Think Gonzo could handle the situation when he gets back...

 

[CookyPuss]

Not that far fetched when you think about it.

It certainly was with WK as GM.

 

[Jaxbuck]

That would be a good situation as well, but I am just not sure how EE's game translates to the outfield...I would think about Votto to the outfield instead of EE and putting EE at 1B...They played Votto in the outfield in AAA before he got brought up...This erases EE throwing the ball too much...Allows us to keep Kepp in the lineup...A glove man would be great, but honestly watching Kepp play this year he hasn't really done much that has made me think, if we had so and so at short he would of made that play...He is solid fundamentally, just maybe slow a foot at times...I think Frazier could be the man here by end of next season, so this isn't something that needs to be a real long terms solution...Think Gonzo could handle the situation when he gets back...

If we want to be an elite defensive team we have to get rid of the limited range guys at SS no matter how well they do when it's hit right to them.

Plus defensive guys in CF and SS to go along with BP gives us that strong up the middle D we haven't had in ages. It also helps our already good pitching staff be that much better by all the balls they get to the current team can't.

I say put EE in LF because he seems more athletic and rangy than Votto but ultimately who cares, LF isn't a premium defensive position. Also I haven't seen anything to back up the school of thought that Votto is a bad 1B defensively so why move him? I'm fine with keeping EE at 3B but your giving up range at SS if you do.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

If we want to be an elite defensive team we have to get rid of the limited range guys at SS no matter how well they do when it's hit right to them.

Plus defensive guys in CF and SS to go along with BP gives us that strong up the middle D we haven't had in ages. It also helps our already good pitching staff be that much better by all the balls they get to the current team can't.

I say put EE in LF because he seems more athletic and rangy than Votto but ultimately who cares, LF isn't a premium defensive position. Also I haven't seen anything to back up the school of thought that Votto is a bad 1B defensively so why move him? I'm fine with keeping EE at 3B but your giving up range at SS if you do.

Not saying I disagree with anything you said...Just saying that a guy like Kepp isn't all that bad at SS...

And I agree about Votto's D...I think it is better than most expected...