Reds 10 Game Wrap

After 10 games, the Redlegs sit at a pedestrian 5-5, 1 game back of first place St. Louis.

The Good:

• Opened the season 4-2 against two WS favorites (LAA and Washington), with the only losses coming in extra innings.

• The team is not relying solely on Votto for offense.

• Choo! Say all you want about his bobbles, the guy can rake! By the way, the game he had with 2 errors which allowed 3 runs, he also had 3 RBIs. For those hockey fans out there, that is a wash then on the +/-.

• Cueto and Latos – Both have 2 starts, both have 2 quality starts, and both have sub 3.00 ERAs.

• Frazier – Speaking of raking, the guy is hitting .333 with 3 HRs, 10 RBIs, and 23 TBs in 9 games. Anyone miss Rolen yet?

• BP – Also raking. 4 HRs, 11 RBIs, and 30 TB is what you want from a cleanup hitter.

• Attendance – 100,000+ for the first series and 95,000+ for the second. Sure, the opponents helped that draw too, but that is approximately 36,000 more fans through the first two series from 2012, and the second series in 2012 was the Cardinals (54,000 compared to 95,000 in 2013). 22% increases are good.

• Sam Lecure – 4 GP, 1 W, 9 K/9, 1.80 ERA. What more evidence do you need regarding the power of a moustache!

• Chapman – 1 W, 2 SV, 16.20 K/9, 2 BBs, and a 0.00 ERA. That all I got to say about that (Forest Gump).

• Broxton – 4 IP, 4 Ks, 1 Hold, 0.00 ERA.

The Bad

• Leake – How long can his leash be? Especially with Tony Cingrani throwing lights out in AAA. I still believe this team was better off with Chapman starting. The team is on a 3 game slide and Chapman has not thrown a pitch. A closer is useless if you can’t get to him with a lead. The Reds are 0-2 when Leake starts. Leake has a 6.75 ERA and a staggering 1.83 WHIP (although Hoover is jealous of that).

• Bailey – 1 good start, 1 terrible start. Typically of the inconsistency we have come to know with Bailey. At the end of 2012, it looked like something may have clicked, but count me in the boat of folks that still do not trust Bailey. Reason? His issues are between his ears. That is tough to fix. When something goes wrong (i.e. an error, a bad call, a HR, etc) Bailey can’t get past it and he unravels. Don’t believe me, watch him. His last outing he was cruising, through 4, then gives up a solo HR in the 5^th and the flood gates opened. 4 runs in the 5^th, 4 runs in the 6^th, and Bailey is done. One of the most frustrating players in Reds history.

• Votto – .294 isn’t bad for the average player, but it is bad for Votto. He is collecting his walks (14 – leads the majors), but he doesn’t get paid $252M to walk. He gets paid to hit and drive in runs. Through 10 games, Votto has 0 HR, 1 2B, 1 3B, and just 2 RBI! Given those stats, it is surprising this team is 5-5. Lucky for Votto, the guys around him have been making up for his lack of run production. Generally speaking, this would not be concerning. However, ever since his knee injury in 2012, we have yet to see the Votto we are used to. Since June 24^th 2012, Joey Votto and I have the same amount of major league HRs! Including the playoffs, that is now 55 games without a HR! That is concerning.

The Ugly

• J.J. Hoover – Calling Arredondo…. Why is he pitching so much? He has pitched in 6 of the 10 games! His stats? 5.2 IP, 5 ER, 4 BBs, 7.94 ERA, and brace yourself….2.12 WHIP!! The Reds have 5 losses…Hoover has 3! Dear Dusty and Walt, don’t let the facts get in the way of your decision on Hoover.

• Heisey – Wow does he suck! I don’t understand how he does well off the bench and then sucks when he starts. Don’t get me wrong, he is still better all-around than Stubby, but, a .143 avg and 13 Ks in 9 games is not good. Every year, Dusty has a guy who sucks continue to play despite other options. In the past it has been Taveras, Patterson, Gonzalez (Janish), then Janish himself (Cozart), Stubbs (Heisey), etc. Now it’s Heisey himself playing most everyday while Paul sits on the bench with his .400 avg and 6 RBIs in 10 Abs….Heisey has 3 RBIs in 35 Abs.

• Cozart – Speaking of suck, Cozart is hitting .114! Worse yet, take away his 1 game where he went 2-4 with 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, and 2 R, and the guy would be hitting .057 with 2 R, 2 H, 0 2B, 0 HR, 2 TB, and 0 RBI! Those numbers make Paul Janish look like Tony Gwynn! While I don’t expect this to continue, the Reds need more production from Cozart.

• Hanigan - .043. The only players with an AB and a worse average are Latos, Arroyo, and Cueto (.000). Parra, Bailey, and Leake all have as many (1) or more hits than Hanigan. Hanigan has a track record of hitting, so I am not terribly concerned, but right now, the 7 and 8 hitters in the Reds lineup are giving them less than the 9 hitter.