Reds tidbits (2010 season)

[Dryden]

First place yet again and we are now into August. If we completely fold, highly possible if Votto misses much time, we've still overachieved for the season.

Yet, I am not satisfied.

This is the one reason I'm happy Walt didn't sell the farm at the deadline. I was caught up in Cliff Lee mania myself, but I'll be content with Leake, Wood, Cueto, Volquez, and Chapman for five years too. No reason to put all the eggs in one basket this year if it means sacrificing contention over the next half decade if not longer.

 

[jlb1705]

...and this one belongs to the Reds!!!

HOU beats STL 9-4. Reds are back in 1st place... in August.

 

[Bestbuck36]

This is the one reason I'm happy Walt didn't sell the farm at the deadline. I was caught up in Cliff Lee mania myself, but I'll be content with Leake, Wood, Cueto, Volquez, and Chapman for five years too. No reason to put all the eggs in one basket this year if it means sacrificing contention over the next half decade if not longer.

I have complete confidence in the pitching staff, at least the starters anyway. The bullpen on the other hand........

Very worried about Votto at the moment. Is Alonso ready to come up? Hell, since we arent going to trade him might as well play him if he's ready and see what happens. Praying Votto's wrist will heal very quickly.

 

[scott91575]

I almost left this out....Felipe Lopez looked like a little bitch at 3b late in the game. Ball hit hard right at him. He goes to one knee and reaches above his head to try and catch it. Goes off his glove into left field. If he just stands there it's an out.

 

[scott91575]

I have complete confidence in the pitching staff, at least the starters anyway. The bullpen on the other hand........

Very worried about Votto at the moment. Is Alonso ready to come up? Hell, since we arent going to trade him might as well play him if he's ready and see what happens. Praying Votto's wrist will heal very quickly.

The bullpen that has been lights out for the last month plus?

 

[Dryden]

The bullpen that has been lights out for the last month plus?

Best ERA in the NL since the break.

 

[scott91575]

Best ERA in the NL since the break.

Exactly. Outside of the implosion vs. the Phillies the bullpen has been great going back into June. That is one area where they are actually trending back to normal in a good way.

 

[scott91575]

BTW...Fay tweeted Cabrera likely to go on the DL. I am not a fan, but he has been better since the break. Oh well, Janish time.

 

[jlb1705]

BTW...Fay tweeted Cabrera likely to go on the DL. I am not a fan, but he has been better since the break. Oh well, Janish time.

The bad thing about that isn't really losing Cabrera - Janish can likely match Cabrera withthe bat and is a superior fielder. The bad part is that it likely means that we will see Drew Sutton. He's about the only guy in L'ville not hitting right now, but he plays all IF positions and is already on the 40-man roster. As long as Cabrera & Votto are out, the Reds have no IF left on the bench.

FWIW, The Dusty said in the postgame interview that he expects Votto to be available tomorrow or the day after.

 

[scott91575]

The bad thing about that isn't really losing Cabrera - Janish can likely match Cabrera withthe bat and is a superior fielder. The bad part is that it likely means that we will see Drew Sutton. He's about the only guy in L'ville not hitting right now, but he plays all IF positions and is already on the 40-man roster. As long as Cabrera & Votto are out, the Reds have no IF left on the bench.

FWIW, The Dusty said in the postgame interview that he expects Votto to be available tomorrow or the day after.

Valaika is also on the 40 man.

 

[Bestbuck36]

The bullpen that has been lights out for the last month plus?

Never said they weren't performing. I said I didnt have the utmost faith in them. Granted Masset looks like a completely different pitcher the second half but any time Cordero goes out there, the game is still in doubt, simple as that.

 

[stxbuck]

Springer is a good example of why I was frustrated with no trade deadline movement. I understand there might not have been much worth pursuing and I don't want a trade for the sake of a trade.

My concern is with all this "depth" and "lots people they could call up to help anytime they want to" argument. Who do you expose to waivers to call them up? If you wait until September they can't play in the post season.

A guy made the analogy over at RZ that he was expecting them to package up a lot of these extra pawns and sell them off for a knight or a bishop. Now they did jack [censored] and we have the world's supply of pawns and still only so many squares to put them in.

IMO,the Reds lack of movement at the deadline tells me one thing-teams aren't lusting after Alonso the way both we and Jocketty might hope. I don't think the depth at Louisvile, Chapman aside, is all that insane. Jocketty talked to seattle about Cliff Lee, but they wanted Travis Wood-Walt did the smart thing. Ideally Chapman will be the closer next year.

 

[jlb1705]

Other teams can afford to wait the Reds out on Alonso. They have nowhere to put him, and therefore little leverage when trying to deal him.

It's a shame the LF experiment didn't work out with him.

 

[Jaxbuck]

IMO,the Reds lack of movement at the deadline tells me one thing-teams aren't lusting after Alonso the way both we and Jocketty might hope. I don't think the depth at Louisvile, Chapman aside, is all that insane. Jocketty talked to seattle about Cliff Lee, but they wanted Travis Wood-Walt did the smart thing. Ideally Chapman will be the closer next year.

The minor league guys over at RZ say he's been tearing it up the last month and that coincides with 1 year after his wrist injury. Lets hope it works out that way because he's the biggest trade chip. We need the other top prospects at the MLB level (Cozart, Mesorasco, Wood etc).

When I say pawns/depth I'm talking about guys like Francisco and Frazier. Sure I'd love to see them come up and be good solid players but if they and some cash could turn into a upper level veteran MLB player their asses are on the first thing smoking if I'm GM (especially Francisco). Frazier I'd like to hold on to for when Phillips gets sent packing.

So essentially I think the farm will take care of the pen, the rotation, SS and, even though its not a huge need right now, catcher. The only spot I don't see an answer for soon is LF and that's why my off season improvement plans always focus on an established LF with OBP skills. Single biggest weakness at the MLB level the farm can't provide an answer for imo.

 

[scott91575]

The minor league guys over at RZ say he's been tearing it up the last month and that coincides with 1 year after his wrist injury. Lets hope it works out that way because he's the biggest trade chip. We need the other top prospects at the MLB level (Cozart, Mesorasco, Wood etc).

When I say pawns/depth I'm talking about guys like Francisco and Frazier. Sure I'd love to see them come up and be good solid players but if they and some cash could turn into a upper level veteran MLB player their asses are on the first thing smoking if I'm GM (especially Francisco). Frazier I'd like to hold on to for when Phillips gets sent packing.

So essentially I think the farm will take care of the pen, the rotation, SS and, even though its not a huge need right now, catcher. The only spot I don't see an answer for soon is LF and that's why my off season improvement plans always focus on an established LF with OBP skills. Single biggest weakness at the MLB level the farm can't provide an answer for imo.

Since the All Star break for Yonder....

.359 BA, .446 OBP, 1.087 OPS

only 3 HR, but all in the last 10 days