Special Ed

The last two times Edinson Volquez has taken the mound, he's allowed just two measly base hits. But what a difference a few days can make...

4/24 vs ATL: 5 IP, H, 7 BB, 7 K, 3 ER, 97 pitches
Tonight vs HOU: 8 IP, H, BB, 6 K, 0 ER, 106 pitches

In case you missed it, it was a sight to see...

The Reds finish the month of April 11-10, just 3.5 games out of first place.

Run-ning Scared

With the exception of a 7-run outburst in Chicago last Thursday and an 8-run explosion Sunday versus the Braves, this is what the Reds have done offensively the last two weeks (since April 15th) per game:

3, 2, 0, 4, 4, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1, 3

Look, no one was gonna mistake this team for the Big Red Machine coming out of Spring Training... but it's almost May 1st and it's time to start hitting. I've never bought the whole "it's early" argument -- what, do these games count any less than the ones in June or Septemeber?

And if you take away Joey Votto's blazing start... the Reds offensive numbers in April are, well, offensive.

Votto has 28 hits -- the three hitters behind him in the lineup (Phillips, Bruce, Encarnacion) have 37 COMBINED. For an in-depth breakdown of their struggles at the plate, click here.

Incidentally, I have no problem removing Phillips from the clean-up spot -- but who you gonna put there in his place? Exactly, nobody. His approach was much better last night... other than that, there isn't much else anyone can do besides wait for him to get hot.

There were much bigger concerns anyway on Tuesday, such as another shoddy defensive effort (three errors) and Aaron Harang looking very hittable. When Harang is in the middle of the plate and not hitting his spots, I literally close my eyes sometimes because I'm scared to see how far the other team is gonna hit it.

I said about two weeks ago that this team looks a lot like a .500 ballclub, and thru 20 games they're 10-10. I also keep saying that every start is a big one for Edinson Volquez, especially after that seven-walk abomination his last time out. Today is obviously no exception, especially with the off day tomorrow.

I Don't Know... Third Base?

Sorry for the two-day delay... but sadly sometimes life gets in the way of watching baseball. Perish the thought.

Sunday's win was fun thanks to Micah Owings and Jay Bruce -- last night's loss, not so much. That 0-2 pitch to Hunter Pence right down the middle still haunts me. I'll just chalk it up to a bad outing for Coco Cordero -- he was probably due for one anyway. It's just a shame that it came on the heels of another gem by Johnny Cueto, who has turned in back-to-back stellar performances. Jeff Brantley said last night we might be watching the coming-of-age of a young pitcher right before our very eyes. Normally, he's 100 percent wrong, but I think he probably nailed that one.

The big news today is Edwin Encarnacion heading to the DL with a a chip fracture in Encarnacion's left wrist. The injury was suffered on a swing during his final plate appearance last night. He'll be in a cast for one week, then re-evaluated, but could miss more than a month.

This helps explain (at least partially) why Encarnacion was 0 for his last 12 and 1 for his last 28.

Adam Rosales takes his roster spot after a red-hot start in Louisville, hitting .431 through 17 games. In case you're not familiar with Rosales, he's basically Jeff Keppinger with upside. We'll see whether he or Jerry Hairston gets the majority of the playing time at 3B with Encarnacion sidelined.

Not So Merry

Not really much to say about last night's loss... I can only imagine that this is what it must felt like watching Bronson Arroyo get bombed...

Reds will try and avoid the sweep today with Micah Owings still looking for his victory.

Basis on Balls

There's plenty to say about Edinson Volquez's calamitous outing tonight which ruined my afternoon and cost me a DirecTV controller (I can neither confirm nor deny the rumor that it was thrown across my living room with tremendous force)...

But of all the things that bothered me about his performance -- and they were numerous -- there's one thing that truly irked more than the others:

Didn't it feel like he was shaking off Ramon Hernandez multiple times on seemingly every single pitch?

This, after the following anecdote was relayed to Hall of Fame beat writer Hal McCoy by Reds pitching coach Dick Pole on the heels of Johnny Cueto's superb outing versus the Cubs on Wednesday:

“He’s learning,” Pole said about Cueto. “He’s a young man. But the big thing I noticed was that he is trusting his catcher (Ramon Hernandez). He wasn’t shaking him off as much as he had been doing.”

Wow, what a novel concept. Trust your catcher. Trust your stuff. Try not to strike everyone out. Follow those rules and maybe you can avoid pitching lines like this one:

5 IP, H, 7 BB, 7 K, 3 ER, 97 pitches

If Volquez doesn't become more pitch efficient -- and doesn't begin to embrace the notion of pitching to contact -- he's gonna be in for quite a lengthy season. And so are the Reds.

The Dance of Joy

This is what a 7-3 road trip makes me feel like...

It also empowered me to come up with some way cool stats and numbers from today's beatdown of the Cubs and the road trip in general:

-- The Reds tied a season high today with 13 hits
-- Today's win marked the first time since 2004 the Reds have won three series on the same trip
-- The Reds are three games over .500 for the first time since August 27, 2006
-- In 53 career at-bats at Wrigley Field, Joey Votto is batting .340 with five home runs and 12 RBI
-- The Reds had posted a losing record on 23 of their previous 28 road trips
-- Before today's loss, Carlos Zambrano had won five straight games against the Reds with a 0.97 ERA
-- After another scoreless inning of work, David Weathers' season ERA remains at 0.00

Yes, there's plenty to be giddy about... but has it been more smoke and mirrors than a winning baseball blueprint? The Reds are currently the only National League team with a winning record that has been outscored by the opposition so far this season (58 scored, 64 allowed). Those types of numbers usually don't bode well in terms of sustainable season-long success.

Back home to GABP tomorrow to kick off a six-game homestand against the Braves and Astros.

Oh yeah, and if it weren't for this guy, the Reds might be in first place...

Who's Johnny?

See what happens when you don't try and strike everyone out, Mr. Cueto? You throw an absolute gem which helped clinch a winning road trip for the Reds.

What was more encouraging... that he lasted seven innings and only threw 108 pitches? That he didn't issue a single walk? That he retired the last seven batters he faced? That he didn't allow a runner past 2nd base? That he matched a career-high by inducing 11 ground-balls outs? Or what about his prowess at the plate, matching his career hit total (two) coming into tonight?

Sure, all of that is fine and dandy... but how 'bout the fact that he only struck out three batters. Yes, that's a good thing. He only did it (record less than 3 K in a game) ONCE last season after the All-Star break. And tonight, he looked like a pitcher instead of a thrower. He also threw first-pitch strikes to 15 of the 26 batters he faced.

David Weathers still scares the pants off me every 8th inning whether he gets into a jam or not... but he still hasn't allowed an earned run this season so maybe I should just shut up about it. He also endears himself to me with quotes like this: "I think the good thing about it is nobody is shocked. We expected this out of ourselves. I expect us to come out and take this series tomorrow and have a 7-3 road trip."

Speaking of tomorrow, Aaron Harang might wanna think about beating the Cubs sometime soon. Last season versus Chicago he was 0-3 with a 6.29 ERA in four starts.

Kudos also to Coco Cordero, who tonight became 11th pitcher in big league history to record 100 saves in both the American and National Leagues.

Random hysterical link of the night: At least Darren O'Day was wearing SOMEONE ELSE'S jersey when he gave up the game-winning hit...

Open Micah

So it turns out an unidentified baseball insider wrote the following blurb last week about Micah Owings after his first (uninspired) start as a Cincinnati Red:

"Did he keep the Reds in the game? Sure. Is he a better option than Homer Bailey right now? Sure. But if you think he's gonna be any better than he was tonight... I wouldn't get your hopes up."

What savvy baseball mind wrote that? Oh yeah, it was me.

His 3/4 delivery isn't fooling anyone so far this season, and with no plus breaking ball to throw into the mix he's been very hittable.

But considering his career OPS as a hitter is .904, I'm not ready to jump ship just yet. Especially after stumbling upon this amazing pic of him...

Incidentally, Bailey might not be a better option but maybe Matt Maloney is... he's 2-0 down at Lousiville with a 2.03 ERA in two solid starts.

Planet Houston

Sorry for the brief one-day respite... there was a lot to get into about Monday's victory in the series finale vs. Houston... but it all really boiled down to that superb nine-pitch battle with the bases loaded in the 8th inning between Arthur Rhodes and Hunter Pence. Nine pitches, nine fastballs, my stuff against your stuff.

If you didn't like watching that -- and weren't completely and utterly captivated by it -- then maybe you should check out another blog.

Here, try this one.

Last Resort

After two full weeks of the season, the Reds are dead last in the National League in the following offensive categories:

Hits (71), Batting Average (.210), Doubles (15), Total Bases (114), Extra-Base Hits (25), and Slugging Percentage (.337).

Yet somehow they're 4-2 on their longest road trip of the season. Gotta love it. The fact remains, however, that until someone in the middle of the lineup NOT named Joey Votto starts to produce, this team will have an excessively difficult time scoring runs. Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, and Edwin Encarnacion between them have 17 hits in 100 at-bats. That's a collective .170 batting average for all you math majors out there.

Edinson Volquez was better today, but not much. He still needs to command his fastball or else it doesn't matter how good his change-up is. Yes his stuff was more formidable today, and yes he lowered his ERA more than three full runs... but he (and not Aaron Harang) needs to be the Reds stopper. Kinda hard to earn that distinction when you walk five in six innings of work.

One more game in Houston tomorrow... Bronson Arroyo versus Mike Hampton (yes, THAT Mike Hampton). He's the kind of pitcher I referred to yesterday that always seems to look way better than actually he is when facing the Reds. Let's see if my theory holds true in the series finale.

.500 Club

We're only 10 games in, but lemme guess... there's something about the Reds' 5-5 start but you can't quite put your finger on it? Something that might help explain their .500 record through the first two weeks?

Here, lemme help you... the reason they've played like a .500 team is because they ARE a .500 team. I think.

The difference between .500 teams and .600 isn't very much at all in baseball -- 10 games here or there, a fair ball on one night that was a foul ball on the other -- but the Reds still consistently do something that all .500 teams do:

They make #2 and #3 starters look like Nolan Ryan and Cy Young.

Wandy Rodriguez is a quality major league pitcher. No denying that. But he's not nearly as good as the Reds made him look today. Pretty sure he didn't throw more than like 15 pitches in any single inning,

I feel like I'm always saying this after pitchers like Kyle Lohse or Ian Snell or Jeff Suppan or John Maine or Randy Wolf go out and hold the Reds to four hits over seven scoreless innings when there's absolutely no earthly reason for it to happen in the first place. Wandy Rodriguez clearly falls into that category.

He pitched well -- I'm not trying pull a "Sandlot" and say that the dude plays ball like a girl or anything -- but my point is the Reds always seem to be really amenable to another pitcher coming out and completely shutting them down.

By the way, not for nothing, Jared Burton needs to figure out what the deal is... and quickly. I really think he's the Reds most important reliever behind Cordero, but right now he's throwing LaRosa's meatballs up there.

Postgame update: Jeff Piecoro just called Wandy Rodriguez "masterful." That bothers me. Mostly because I actually think he might be right and I'm WAY too stubborn to admit it.

Oh and in case you're wondering what kind of silly name "Wandy" is anyway... here's your answer.

Volquez goes tomorrow, trying to shrink his current 9.64 ERA. I think he'll be on his game.

9 Lives

I'm not sure how many games the Reds won last year when trailing after eight innings, but if it's more than one or two I'd be shocked. Big hit by Ramon Hernandez -- a fairly lucky hit, to be sure -- but the Reds seem to be catching all the breaks early in this 2009 campaign.

Obviously not the best start from Johnny Cueto, but I'm more interested in the two hits he allowed than the six walks he issued over 4-plus innings. That means he had good stuff even if he had zero command. In fact, in Cueto's 31 starts last year he walked three batters or less in 29 of them. So tonight's bit of wildness would seem to be the exception, not the rule.

Another great effort by the bullpen tonight, especially by the two guys who I think are the most significant liabilities among the relievers (Lincoln and Masset). They each retired all four batters they faced, so clearly, they read this blog and were inspired by the bulletin board material with which I just provided them.

By the way, Roy Oswalt has still only lost once to the Reds in his career (23-1). I still think that's one of the most staggering individual statistics in all of sports.

The Reds have now won 5 of their last 7 with Aaron Harang taking the mound Saturday night, fresh off his complete game shutout over the Pirates on Sunday. With Harang, Volquez, and Arroyo lined up to close out the series in Houston (and with Oswalt thankfully out of the picture), the Reds are poised to make some serious noise in the middle part of this road trip before heading to Chicago on Tuesday.

Next of Kinsler

Best single-game performance ever in MLB history? I'll let the readers decide... if I actually had any, of course.

6-6, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 4 RBI, 5 R, SB

And he did it right in the middle of Passover. Even more impressive.

(No) Sweep the Leg

Tonight's loss doesn't bug me too much. Why? Because even after they tied things up at 3-3, did you REALLY ever get the sense they were gonna win that game? Yeah, me neither.

Most Reds fans will likely be praising Micah Owings and cursing Jared Burton after this one. I'm gonna do the opposite.

Let's start with Burton, who simply didn't have it tonight. It happens. You make mistakes in the middle of the plate and good hitters will make you pay -- even Jason Kendall. But let's not lose sight of the fact that Burton is a well above average major league reliever who entered tonight's game with a career 2.95 ERA with 95 K in 105 IP. In 105 career appearances, he'd also given up 4 earned runs in an outing a grand total of ONE time before tonight's debacle.

In other words, he'll be fine. His track record is just too good. I cannot, however, say the same about Micah Owings.

On paper, his stats from tonight look okay: 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER. Those aren't terrible numbers from your #5 starter, especially after the Reds endured a season where they went 4-21 in starts made by their fifth starter in 2008.

Did he keep the Reds in the game? Sure. Is he a better option than Homer Bailey right now? Sure. But if you think he's gonna be any better than he was tonight... I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Yes, he was ultimately injured last season and so 2008 might not provide us with the best statistical sample... but in his final 14 starts for Arizona a year ago he gave up 4 earned runs or more in 7 -- or half -- of those outings.

He doesn't have plus stuff, and when he gets the ball up bad things happen (see also: Mike Cameron). Doesn't he remind you of another pitcher on the Reds roster (even in his delivery) who doesn't have great stuff and tries to live on the outside corner with a fastball-slider combo?

Doesn't Owings remind you of a younger David Weathers? To me, that's not a good thing.

And oh yeah, before I forget... Chris Dickerson has a chance to be really, really good. Also, what are the odds that Willy Taveras keeps getting on base (.409 OBP) at the rate he currently is? You've probably got a better chance of winning the Indy 500 with a pair of roller skates.

Off day tomorrow in Houston... then the Reds face Roy Oswalt Friday. In case you've been locked in the bathroom for the last eight years, Oswalt is 23-1 all-time versus the Reds. That's just silly.

Reds 6, Brewers 1

The Reds have a winning record. It's even less often that I'm able to say THAT.

But let tonight's win be a blueprint for the rest of the season -- solid starting pitching, timely hitting, and another strong effort from the bullpen. You wanna know how good the Reds relief core has been to start the year? If you remove Mike Lincoln and his gaudy 24.30 ERA from the equation, the numbers for the Cincy bullpen through seven games look like this:

18 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 7 BB, 14 K, 1.50 ERA

Meantime, Bronson Arroyo did what he usually does -- kept the Reds in the game and repeatedly grabbed his crotch after every delivery (especially after trying out his best flamingo impersonation -- see right). Just like most off-speed pitchers, his fastball sets up everything else and he had great command of his two-seamer tonight. Maybe Edinson Volquez should watch the tape from this one and realize you don't have to throw 95 mph or strike everyone out to be successful in the big leagues.

And oh by the way, Joey Votto is really, really good at baseball. I think it's safe to say he's seeing the ball reasonably well right now. Does anyone else laugh out loud when they're reminded of the fact that he split time at the beginning of last season with Scott Hatteberg? That's a good one. In case you're scoring at home, by the way, his OPS thru the first seven games is a ridiculous 1.130.

Then, at the other end of the Reds rainbow, there's Homer Bailey. He was ejected from his start tonight in Louisville for beaning a batter in the back after allowing two home runs in the third inning. I'm still a believer that he's gonna help the Reds this season -- and sooner than people think -- but his impressive spring performance is starting to become somewhat of an afterthought.

Note of the night: David Weathers became just the 20th pitcher in MLB history to record 900 career appearances. Very cool. And that's the only time the words David Weathers and "very cool" will ever be uttered in the same sentence.

Micah Owings makes his Reds debut tomorrow as they go for the sweep in Milwaukee before heading to Houston.

Reds 7, Brewers 6

The Reds don't have a losing record. It's not often that I'm able to say that.

Great work by the bullpen again tonight, tossing four scoreless innings. Volquez gets the win, but clearly needs to work on his mechanics before his next start Sunday in Houston. His ERA after two games is a whopping 9.64. His ERA after two starts last season? 0.87.

Either way, a nice win to start the road trip -- 10 games in 11 days, all versus NL Central opponents. Bronson Arroyo goes tomorrow and has some solid numbers against the Brewers in 13 career starts: 7-5 with a 3.59 ERA.

One more note: Anyone wanna take bets on when Alex Gonzalez gets his first hit? Before Arbor Day? Actually, when is Arbor Day? (According to some website called "Google" which I've never heard of, it's April 24th.)

I mean, I'll cut the guy a little slack because he missed all of 2008... but seriously, get a hit already. If Ramon Hernandez got one tonight, so can you.

Also, you gotta love Ohio State alum Nick Swisher tossing the 9th inning for the Yankees tonight -- he put the first two men on but then retired Gabe Kapler, Carlos Pena, and Pat Burrell. Not a small feat.

Slam Dancing

Remember what I said earlier about runs being at a premium tonight? Whoops. The Reds plate six runs in the 3rd inning with two outs, capped off by a grand slam by Edwin Encarnacion.

Now it's REALLY on Volquez to settle down and hold the lead.

Con Edinson

I'll expound more on this postgame... but someone needs to take Edinson Volquez into the clubhouse and give him a stern talking to. Two innings, a balk, a blown double play, three walks, and some dreadful pitching later it's 5-1 Brewers. No command. No poise. No mound presence. For power pitchers like Volquez, it starts with the fastball which, at present, he simply doesn't have. This is a guy who was the leader in the clubhouse for the NL Cy Young Award last year for the better part of last season. I know it's only mid-April and there's A TON of baseball left, but this is troubling to say the least.

In case you were wondering, Volquez gave up 5 earned runs or more a grand total of four times in his 32 starts last year.

And oh yeah, did I mention he's also on my fantasy team this year? Sweeeet.

Milwaukee's Best

The Reds longest road trip of the year begins tonight in Milwaukee. I embarked on a road trip of my own to San Diego this weekend so I missed Saturday's loss and Sunday's win, but you have to be encouraged by Aaron Harang's effort yesterday. Let's not get too excited because the 2009 Pirates lineup will never be confused with that of the 1998 Yankees, but he threw 80 of his 108 pitches for strikes and appeared to be in complete control, which is something you rarely saw from him last year (especially after that ill-advised relief appearance in San Diego which essentially derailed his season).

Offense could be very hard to come by tonight with Edinson Volquez matching up against the Brewers' emerging ace, Yovani Gallardo. EV was 9-3 away from GABP with a 2.43 ERA last season and needs to assert himself after getting knocked around by the Mets in his season debut. Gallardo threw seven innings of one-run ball in his only start versus the Reds last year.

The Brewers are coming off a bizarre loss last night against the Cubs, when they walked home four runs in the 4th inning. It was only the ninth time since divisional play began in 1969 that a team issued four bases-loaded walks in a single inning.

Other notes: Bill Bray appears to be rounding into form in the minors, retiring all four batters he faced Sunday for Triple-A Louisville. It won't be long before he replaces Danny Herrera on the major league roster, even though Mike Lincoln is the real weak link but is essentially untouchable in light of that ludicrous contract he signed in the offseason. Lincoln is sporting a 0/6 K/BB ratio after week one.

Random question: Anyone have a good reason why the first pitch in tonight's Yankees-Rays game is scheduled for 7:08 pm? Not 7:05 or 7:10? Anyone? Bueller? Didn't think so.

In memoriam: Harry Kalas and Mark Fidrych.

(Purple) Rain

Postponed -- no makeup date announced. Cueto will start tomorrow vs Paul Maholm. Owings will work from the bullpen in the interim with Harang starting Sunday.

So instead, please enjoy this picture of Prince.

Reds-Mets Thursday

POSTGAME: Two things to like about this win... 1) 6 of the 8 runs the Reds scored came with 2 outs and 2) The bullpen did WORK. Arthur Rhodes sure didn't seem to mind pitching on three straight days despite being 114 years old. Cordero was also impressive after an abysmal spring.

This team still needs to pitch and defend better or it's gonna be a long summer. Hopefully Johnny Cueto can pitch like he did in his first start last season (7 IP, H, 10 K) tomorrow against the Pirates.

5TH INNING UPDATE: Second misplay of the day by Phillips... Murphy scores, tied at 4-4. Keith Hernandez on SNY: "We've seen some really shoddy fielding by the Reds in this series."

News flash, Keith: It ain't just this series. See also: 1995-2009.

3RD INNING UPDATE: Joey Votto is really good at baseball. 4-3 Redlegs. Let's see if they can hang onto a lead this time around.

Incidentally, it seemingly bodes well that Oliver Perez stopped taking his anti-anxiety medication after the 2nd inning today. Is there a pitcher in baseball who is more Jekyll and Hyde than this guy?

Warning...

It occurs to me that this blog -- while quite valid and redeeming in its conceptual origins -- might be a really bad idea for me and ultimately hazardous to my health.

Why? Because watching the Reds play baseball makes me want to take a sharp object and impale myself with it in the midsection.

A two-out walk to Wright in the 3rd and it's 3-0 just like that.

Wednesday Quick Hits -- Mets 9, Reds 7

Hilarious. Another year where all we hear about in Spring Training is fundamentals and defense and making the routine play and pitching to contact... and then the team heads north from Sarasota and NONE of that happens. The Reds can't afford to lose games they should win -- and tonight certainly qualifies. When your ace falls behind early but is then staked to a two-run lead, you're supposed to win. But not when you boot the ball around, get picked off on a double steal, and make mistakes in the heart of the plate to the opposing team's most dangerous hitters. That 9th inning rally may have softened the blow just a bit on the surface, but not for me.

If this team doesn't play defense and doesn't pitch, they'll win 65 games. Tops.

One more note: Volquez was just awful tonight. He had no command of his change-up and still doesn't have a plus breaking ball, which terrifyingly turns him into a one-pitch pitcher. And when he has no command of either his two-seamer of four-seamer like he did tonight, the other team will quite simply tee off on him. If you don't believe me, just ask Carlos Delgado.

Day game tomorrow... let's hope Arroyo is up to the challenge despite his bum wrist. Famed Reds killer Oliver Perez goes for the Mets.

Wednesday Quick Hits (Pregame)

1) Big start tonight for Volquez... is it weird to say that on April 8th? His last spring outing was less than stellar (5 H, 3 BB, 3 R) and the Reds need him to pitch like he did in the first half last season to have any realistic shot of making noise in the NL Central.

Last April he was 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA in five starts. I'll take that again. He's also apparently starting to use Soul Glo in his hair this season, which can only help.

2) Willy Taveras out again with the flu...
Jerry Hairston Jr. batting leadoff and
playing CF. Thankfully it's not that Darnell McDonald guy. "They're McDonald's... we're McDowell's."

3) Jonny Gomes accepted his assignment to Triple-A in lieu of becoming a free agent... I presume we'll see him on the big league club before too long. Could be an asset off the bench with some pop, despite a career OBP under .300.

Let's Play Ball

It’s baseball season. Are there three better words in the English language? (Actually, four words if you count the contraction.)

Here’s four more that I find myself saying this year more than most: “They could be good."

No, I'm not talking about the package of Thin Mints I've had in my freezer for weeks (they WERE still good, by the way)... I speak of my favorite sports team -- fictional or otherwise -- except perhaps the Ninja Black Sox of old Nintendo "Baseball Stars" fame.

I speak of the oldest and first professional baseball team in the history of history... the Cincinnati Reds.

This blog will delve into this year's squad and so much more... hope you enjoy it once I get things up and running and the site itself looks like it wasn't designed by a Montessori student.

Thanks!

The Reds Rover