The Reds wound up winning one out of the three against the Mets, taking the Thursday game, which is pretty much what I expected to happen. Joey Votto has been carrying the load so far, as the others are still trying to get on track. The bullpen has been a nice surprise so far, and I think once everyone else gets rolling, the team will be OK.
The "much improved defense and base running" that Dusty had been talking about all during Spring Training has been anything but so far. A crucial error by Alex Gonzalez at short cost them the game on Wednesday night, and blunders on the basepaths almost led to their downfall on Thursday. In their defense though (I guess), the regular starting eight still hasn't been on the field together yet, so we'll see what happens this weekend.
They were rained out last night in the series opener against the Pirates; hopefully, they will be able to get that one started today. A makeup date was not announced for Friday’s rainout. Here are the matchups for the shortened series, as Micah Owings will be skipped; his first start will be pushed back until Wednesday of next week.:
Saturday:
Johnny Cueto vs Paul Maholm
Sunday:
Aaron Harang vs Ian Snell
ESPN MLB Scoreboard
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Game 1 Recap
The Reds lost their season opener yesterday to the Mets 2-1. The Reds had a lot of problems trying to generate any offense at all against Johan Sanatana and the new-look Mets bullpen. They did have their opportunities though in the 6th and then again in the 8th to actually break the game open, but couldn’t convert when needed to. Not being able to put any runs on the board was sort of concerning, but given who they were up against, it wasn’t really surprising. What was disheartening though were the defensive lapses and base running errors that gave the Mets opportunities, and killed Reds rallies. I have no idea why Darnell McDonald was starting in center field, but I hope to never see him there again. Even with Willy Taveras out with the flu, there are other options…like Chris Dickerson. I still don’t understand how in the world McDonald even made the 25-man roster in place of Jonny Gomes.
The Reds pitching staff gave up nine hits and seven walks, but the Mets could only muster two runs. Both were driven in by Daniel Murphy, one on a solo homer and one on a groundout. Aaron Harang looked fairly solid…bend, but don’t break comes to mind, but 114 pitches over 5-innings is not a good sign. In brutal weather, he gave up seven hits, three walks, and one run. He was able to pitch his way out of trouble on several occasions, and did get some help from Jay Bruce in the outfield., who made an amazing throw to get David Wright at the plate, leaving two Mets on base.
Reliever Danny Herrera gave up the other run by giving up a double, two walks, and a groundout while getting two outs. Mike Lincoln came in to get the last out of the 6th. Arthur Rhodes, David Weathers, and Francisco Cordero each followed with a shutout inning of relief.
The Reds managed just three hits on the day, but they did draw five walks. Jay Bruce had a double, Darnell McDonald and Joey Votto a single each. Brandon Phillips drove in McDonald for the only run with a sacrifice fly.
Today is an off day, and then the teams return for a night game on Wednesday. Edinson Volquez will take the hill in that one, going up against Mike Pelfrey.
After much speculation, Bronson Arroyo will make his scheduled start on Thursday. Arroyo, who had a flare-up of carpal tunnel syndrome during spring training, threw before the game and felt good. After the session, it was decided to let him make his scheduled start on Thursday instead of resting for the week.
Season Record: 0-1
The Reds pitching staff gave up nine hits and seven walks, but the Mets could only muster two runs. Both were driven in by Daniel Murphy, one on a solo homer and one on a groundout. Aaron Harang looked fairly solid…bend, but don’t break comes to mind, but 114 pitches over 5-innings is not a good sign. In brutal weather, he gave up seven hits, three walks, and one run. He was able to pitch his way out of trouble on several occasions, and did get some help from Jay Bruce in the outfield., who made an amazing throw to get David Wright at the plate, leaving two Mets on base.
Reliever Danny Herrera gave up the other run by giving up a double, two walks, and a groundout while getting two outs. Mike Lincoln came in to get the last out of the 6th. Arthur Rhodes, David Weathers, and Francisco Cordero each followed with a shutout inning of relief.
The Reds managed just three hits on the day, but they did draw five walks. Jay Bruce had a double, Darnell McDonald and Joey Votto a single each. Brandon Phillips drove in McDonald for the only run with a sacrifice fly.
Today is an off day, and then the teams return for a night game on Wednesday. Edinson Volquez will take the hill in that one, going up against Mike Pelfrey.
After much speculation, Bronson Arroyo will make his scheduled start on Thursday. Arroyo, who had a flare-up of carpal tunnel syndrome during spring training, threw before the game and felt good. After the session, it was decided to let him make his scheduled start on Thursday instead of resting for the week.
Season Record: 0-1
Monday, April 6, 2009
And away we go...
My favorite day of the year is finally here!
The Reds will open up a three game set with the New York Mets today at Great American. They have lost three out of their last five openers.
Taking the hill for the Reds will be Aaron Harang, who's looking to rebound from his worst season ever in the major leagues. He'll face perennial Cy Young favorite Johan Santana.
The rest of the series matchups will be:
Wednesday: Edinson Volquez vs. Mike Pelfrey
Thursday: Micah Owings vs. Oliver Perez
The Reds will open up a three game set with the New York Mets today at Great American. They have lost three out of their last five openers.
Taking the hill for the Reds will be Aaron Harang, who's looking to rebound from his worst season ever in the major leagues. He'll face perennial Cy Young favorite Johan Santana.
The rest of the series matchups will be:
Wednesday: Edinson Volquez vs. Mike Pelfrey
Thursday: Micah Owings vs. Oliver Perez
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Opening Day Roster
The 25-man roster is set and the Reds are ready to roll into opening day. There were a couple of surprises, the biggest being that Jonny Gomes didn't make the team. He got off to a great spring, but cooled off considerably during the last couple of weeks which sealed his fate I guess. Everyone had assumed he would be platooning with Chris Dickerson in left, but I guess Dusty has other plans. In his place the team kept Darnell McDonald...a 31 year old, career minor leaguer who has only 21 major league games under his belt...yeah, Dusty knows best. Also among the cuts were Adam Rosales and Homer Bailey. Bailey will probably be called up quickly though to replace Bronson Arroyo in the rotation. Arroyo is battling carpal tunnel syndrome and the Reds have moved him back from his scheduled Thursday start to Sunday. Rosales was another player who was thought to be a sure thing to make the club, but they decided to go with Paul Janish instead, who is a very good defensive SS. Maybe AGon isn't 100% after all.
Here is the entire 25-man roster...
Pitchers
SP Aaron Harang
SP Edinson Volquez
SP Micah Owings
SP Johnny Cueto
SP Bronson Arroyo
RP Francisco Cordero
RP David Weathers
RP Jared Burton
RP Daniel Ray Herrera
RP Mike Lincoln
RP Arthur Rhodes
RP Josh Roenicke
Catchers
Ramon Hernandez
Ryan Hanigan
Infielders
1B Joey Votto
2B Brandon Phillips
SS Alex Gonzalez
SS Paul Janish
3B Edwin Encarnacion
Outfielders
RF Jay Bruce
CF Willy Taveras
LF Chris Dickerson
OF Darnell McDonald
Infielders/Outfielders
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Laynce Nix
Here is the entire 25-man roster...
Pitchers
SP Aaron Harang
SP Edinson Volquez
SP Micah Owings
SP Johnny Cueto
SP Bronson Arroyo
RP Francisco Cordero
RP David Weathers
RP Jared Burton
RP Daniel Ray Herrera
RP Mike Lincoln
RP Arthur Rhodes
RP Josh Roenicke
Catchers
Ramon Hernandez
Ryan Hanigan
Infielders
1B Joey Votto
2B Brandon Phillips
SS Alex Gonzalez
SS Paul Janish
3B Edwin Encarnacion
Outfielders
RF Jay Bruce
CF Willy Taveras
LF Chris Dickerson
OF Darnell McDonald
Infielders/Outfielders
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Laynce Nix
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Spring Training news
It's been a while sice I've updated (been busy getting ready for my fantasy drafts), but there has been some minor news that has come across the wire...
2008 First round pick Yonder Alonso was one of seven cut from the big-league camp Tuesday. Joining him were outfielder Drew Stubbs, catcher Devon Mesoraco, catcher Humberto Cota, catcher Chris Denove, infielder Todd Frazier and infielder Chris Valaika. No surprises, as none of these guys were really expected to make the team.
Joey Votto returned to camp a little earlier than he had hoped as Team Canada had an early exit from the WBC, failing to make it out of the first round, even though they had "home field advantage".
After missing two games with a sore hand, Edwin Encarnacion was back in Tuesday's lineup.
That's about it for now. I'll update more later this week.
2008 First round pick Yonder Alonso was one of seven cut from the big-league camp Tuesday. Joining him were outfielder Drew Stubbs, catcher Devon Mesoraco, catcher Humberto Cota, catcher Chris Denove, infielder Todd Frazier and infielder Chris Valaika. No surprises, as none of these guys were really expected to make the team.
Joey Votto returned to camp a little earlier than he had hoped as Team Canada had an early exit from the WBC, failing to make it out of the first round, even though they had "home field advantage".
After missing two games with a sore hand, Edwin Encarnacion was back in Tuesday's lineup.
That's about it for now. I'll update more later this week.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Nine Reds to play in Classic
A total of nine players from the organization were chosen to represent their countries in the World Baseball Classic next month. Players include:
Joey Votto - Canada
Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Cordero, Willy Taveras - Dominican Republic
Jerry Hairston Jr. - Mexico...Mexico? Really Jerry? I thought you were from Illinois
Alexander Smit, Juan Carlos Sulbaran - Netherlands
Yen-Wen Kuo - Chinese Taipei
Participating players will leave camp to join their squads on March 1. The 16-team World Baseball Classic tournament will run from March 5-23.
The MLB Network will show 16 games of the tournament, along with a nightly studio show. 23 Games will be on the ESPN family of networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, its Spanish-language network, ESPN Deportes.
Joey Votto - Canada
Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Cordero, Willy Taveras - Dominican Republic
Jerry Hairston Jr. - Mexico...Mexico? Really Jerry? I thought you were from Illinois
Alexander Smit, Juan Carlos Sulbaran - Netherlands
Yen-Wen Kuo - Chinese Taipei
Participating players will leave camp to join their squads on March 1. The 16-team World Baseball Classic tournament will run from March 5-23.
The MLB Network will show 16 games of the tournament, along with a nightly studio show. 23 Games will be on the ESPN family of networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, its Spanish-language network, ESPN Deportes.
Monday, February 23, 2009
My least favorite time of the year
There I sat on another boring Sunday, trying to choose between over-hyped NBA, boring college basketball, under appreciated NHL, cars running around in circles, and another golf tournament without Tiger. While it was all mildly entertaining to some extent, it just isn't baseball. In fact, as far as sports go, there really isn’t anything quite like baseball in my opinion, and this is the worst time of the year for me as a sports fan. Winter sort of dulls the pain a bit because of football, but there is still no comparison between football and baseball for me.
I’m really looking forward to the season this year. There is a lot of negativity surrounding the team this year if you listen to some of the fans, but the optimist in me is trying to stay positive. I like the youth movement that has taken place and am looking forward to seeing some of these guys get at it this year. Last year saw a lot of playing time for the youngsters and I think it will really pay off going into this season.
The pitching is going to be a strong suit with a solid foursome in Harang, Arroyo, Volquez, and Cueto, and there’s a great battle brewing for the 5th spot in the rotation. The bullpen with Cordero, Rhodes, Weathers, Lincoln, Bray, and Burton is going to be the best the team has had in a very long time.
The everyday lineup is going to very, very different than the team we have seen for the last few year. Gone are Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn, and in their place we have guys like Jay Bruce and Chris Dickerson, who a lot is going to be expected out of in their first full year at the major league level. Some say this team is going to struggle to score runs this year, but I really don’t expect that to be a huge issue…I just think they will be scored in a different manner. There is no definitive power hitter on this team, so the runs will have to be more of the manufactured variety. The days of station-to-station baseball, and waiting for the "long ball" are over at GABP and in their place will be a more exciting brand in my opinion. I’m one of the few it seems that really like the Willy Tavaras signing and think he can do some really good things at the top of the order. I’m just hoping that we will see the Willie T 2006 version and not the 2008 one. From what I’ve read, he has been working hard so far this spring at keeping the ball on the ground and we’ll hopefully it will pay off for him. The biggest knock on him is his low OBP, but once he does get on base, he can fly around the paths. Even with an OBP of .308, he still sole 68 bases last year. Obviously, it was in jest, but a reporter asked him earlier this spring how many bases he could steal this year, and his answer was 100. No one really believes that will happen, but if he could get at least 650 at bats this year, he may come a lot closer than anyone actually believes...including himself.
I’m really looking forward to the season this year. There is a lot of negativity surrounding the team this year if you listen to some of the fans, but the optimist in me is trying to stay positive. I like the youth movement that has taken place and am looking forward to seeing some of these guys get at it this year. Last year saw a lot of playing time for the youngsters and I think it will really pay off going into this season.
The pitching is going to be a strong suit with a solid foursome in Harang, Arroyo, Volquez, and Cueto, and there’s a great battle brewing for the 5th spot in the rotation. The bullpen with Cordero, Rhodes, Weathers, Lincoln, Bray, and Burton is going to be the best the team has had in a very long time.
The everyday lineup is going to very, very different than the team we have seen for the last few year. Gone are Ken Griffey Jr. and Adam Dunn, and in their place we have guys like Jay Bruce and Chris Dickerson, who a lot is going to be expected out of in their first full year at the major league level. Some say this team is going to struggle to score runs this year, but I really don’t expect that to be a huge issue…I just think they will be scored in a different manner. There is no definitive power hitter on this team, so the runs will have to be more of the manufactured variety. The days of station-to-station baseball, and waiting for the "long ball" are over at GABP and in their place will be a more exciting brand in my opinion. I’m one of the few it seems that really like the Willy Tavaras signing and think he can do some really good things at the top of the order. I’m just hoping that we will see the Willie T 2006 version and not the 2008 one. From what I’ve read, he has been working hard so far this spring at keeping the ball on the ground and we’ll hopefully it will pay off for him. The biggest knock on him is his low OBP, but once he does get on base, he can fly around the paths. Even with an OBP of .308, he still sole 68 bases last year. Obviously, it was in jest, but a reporter asked him earlier this spring how many bases he could steal this year, and his answer was 100. No one really believes that will happen, but if he could get at least 650 at bats this year, he may come a lot closer than anyone actually believes...including himself.
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