SB Nation - Jared Burton

Heroes of the Zeros: The Bullpen

Slyde — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:00:28 -0000

As we continue our vote on the Reds All Decade Team, we look today at the bullpen. The Reds bullpen was a strength in the early aughts, but it also had some very lean periods in the middle of the decade before rebounding a bit the last two seasons. Below you will see the 28 relievers who managed to pitch 60 or more games out of the bullpen for the Reds between 2000 and 2009. The survey below will have you choose a closer, 2 right-handed relievers, 2 left-handed relievers, and 2 other relievers of your choice. Please be careful not to choose a pitcher for more than one spot as I will only count a single vote for that player.

One note before you vote, I didn't feel like doing the extra work it would take to separate a pitcher's relief appearances from his starts, so some of the stats below include starts as well as relief appearances. This mainly only affects Danny Graves (30 GS), Chris Reitsma (53 GS), and Matt Belisle (43 GS) with a couple other pitchers having a handful of starts in their numbers. Please try to take that into account when considering a player as best you can. Voting can be done after the jump.

Other ballots: Starting Rotation

Click header to sort table by column
	Years	G	W	L	W-L%	SV	IP	ERA	ERA+	FIP	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	SO/9	BB/9	HR/9
Jeremy Affeldt	2008	74	1	1	.500	0	78.1	3.33	133	3.72	.260	.323	.410	.733	9.19	2.87	1.03
Matt Belisle	2003-2008	132	16	22	.421	1	341.2	5.06	89	4.54	.302	.351	.472	.823	6.06	2.53	1.24
Bill Bray	2006-2008	111	7	6	.538	3	89.0	3.84	118	3.40	.278	.348	.433	.780	9.20	3.84	0.81
Jim Brower	2001-2002	68	9	10	.474	1	168.2	3.95	114	4.49	.250	.328	.406	.734	6.30	3.74	1.01
Jared Burton	2007-2009	154	10	3	.769	0	161.0	3.47	128	3.73	.238	.322	.368	.690	7.77	3.91	0.73
Todd Coffey	2005-2008	213	12	9	.571	9	206.1	4.62	98	4.58	.311	.366	.476	.842	5.98	2.75	1.22
Francisco Cordero	2008-2009	140	7	10	.412	73	137.0	2.76	158	3.42	.238	.329	.327	.656	8.93	4.47	0.53
Jon Coutlangus	2007	64	4	2	.667	0	41.0	4.39	105	4.57	.250	.373	.362	.735	8.34	5.93	0.66
Danny Graves	2000-2005	318	29	35	.453	147	526.0	4.16	105	4.62	.279	.331	.451	.782	4.59	2.58	1.16
Daniel Ray Herrera	2008-2009	77	4	4	.500	0	69.0	3.52	122	4.00	.283	.354	.419	.772	6.78	3.52	0.78
Mike Lincoln	2008-2009	83	3	6	.333	0	93.1	5.40	81	5.66	.269	.357	.465	.822	6.36	4.15	1.64
Gary Majewski	2006-2008	88	2	6	.250	0	78.0	7.38	61	4.73	.388	.429	.562	.992	5.31	2.54	1.15
Nick Masset	2008-2009	84	6	1	.857	0	93.1	2.31	186	3.65	.213	.276	.334	.610	7.81	2.80	0.87
Hector Mercado	2000-2001	68	3	2	.600	0	67.0	4.16	111	4.26	.262	.354	.418	.772	9.67	5.10	1.07
Kent Mercker	2003-2008	179	5	4	.556	5	142.0	3.36	129	4.72	.256	.336	.447	.783	6.91	3.99	1.27
Phil Norton	2003-2004	86	2	5	.286	0	80.1	4.59	92	4.10	.263	.359	.380	.740	6.16	4.93	0.56
Brian Reith	2001-2004	73	4	12	.250	1	127.2	5.92	73	6.16	.292	.381	.542	.923	5.99	5.01	1.83
Chris Reitsma	2001-2003	125	22	32	.407	12	404.1	4.52	97	4.57	.280	.329	.456	.785	5.19	2.52	1.20
Dennys Reyes	2000-2001	97	4	7	.364	0	96.2	4.75	98	4.74	.254	.363	.395	.757	8.19	5.96	0.93
Arthur Rhodes	2009	66	1	1	.500	0	53.1	2.53	169	3.14	.198	.276	.299	.576	8.10	3.38	0.51
John Riedling	2000-2004	200	13	12	.520	3	274.1	4.13	104	4.37	.256	.345	.385	.730	5.97	4.43	0.69
Brian Shackelford	2005-2006	63	2	0	1.000	0	46.0	4.11	107	5.20	.229	.333	.388	.722	6.26	3.72	1.17
Mike Stanton	2007	69	1	3	.250	0	57.2	5.93	78	4.26	.315	.374	.462	.836	6.24	2.81	0.94
Scott Sullivan	2000-2003	279	22	12	.647	4	338.0	4.05	111	4.21	.246	.326	.408	.734	7.96	3.49	1.14
Ryan Wagner	2003-2005	108	8	4	.667	0	119.0	4.69	90	4.38	.274	.354	.410	.764	7.64	4.24	0.98
David Weathers	2005-2009	325	20	23	.465	61	336.1	3.56	126	4.37	.239	.317	.390	.707	6.21	3.67	0.96
Gabe White	2000-2004	137	10	3	.769	1	128.2	4.34	98	4.25	.256	.289	.467	.756	6.92	1.54	1.47
Scott Williamson	2000-2003	155	13	15	.464	35	229.0	3.14	143	3.53	.209	.326	.329	.655	10.73	5.42	0.71

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/14/2009.

Trade Target: Maicer Izturis

Slyde — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:19:20 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

Is Maicer Izturis the potential answer to the Reds 2010 needs at shortstop?

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Ed Price at MLB Fanhouse is reporting this morning that the Angels could move infielder Maicer Izturis in a deal this off-season. The 29-year old Izturis is a switch-hitter who has played a mix of 2B, SS, and 3B in his big league career and he's played all 3 fairly well defensively. Offensively, he's a career .278/.343/.393 hitter, though his power has been slightly more developed over the last couple of seasons (he slugged .434 in 2009). He shows decent, though not great patience (8.7% career walk rate), but he's only struck out in 11% of his plate appearances. Since we know that he would bat 2nd for the Reds, it's nice to know that he gets on base at a good rate and that he handles the bat pretty well to be able to do the things that Dusty would ask him to do while batting 2nd.

His hitting projections for 2010 look solidly average (only have these two systems for Izturis so far):

Projection	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
Bill James	.283	.348	.392	.329
CHONE	.279	.346	.394	.331

Compare that to Paul Janish:

Projection	AVG	OBP	SLG	wOBA
Bill James	.223	.301	.319	.276
CHONE	.237	.311	.350	.298
ZiPS	.239	.310	.340

Janish's best projection still puts him about 15 runs offensively behind Izturis over 600 PA. CHONE rates them both as +5 defensively, so an acquisition of Izturis would likely bring the Reds about a win and a half in 2010.

I think Izturis is definitely somebody the Reds should pursue. One-and-a-half WAR is not a huge amount, but Izturis will likely not make more than $2.5-3 million next season, so it would definitely be a cost-effective upgrade. The question is what will the Reds have to give up. Price says in his article that the Angels are looking for a corner outfielder and bullpen help. I'm not sure if they'd have any interest in Jonny Gomes, and he's probably the most viable candidate as an outfield centerpiece to a deal.

That means the Reds probably need to go the relief route. Arthur Rhodes could be a potential candidate for dealing, and the money/contract situation would be similar (both players are free agents after 2010). Given Rhodes' age, I think the Reds should be willing to give him up in a deal since he's a definite risk to have a big dropoff any day now. I'd also consider Daniel Ray Herrera or Jared Burton available as part of a package. And of course, if the Angels wanted to take Francisco Cordero's contract, I'm sure the Reds would even be willing to chip in a couple million to make it worth the effort.

What do you think? Should the Reds pursue Izturis? Do they have a package of players to get it done?

(h/t nycredsfan)

Sabermetric Review of the 2009 Reds, Part 4: Pitching

JinAZ — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:14:43 -0000

To recap thus far, 2009 saw the offense drop considerably, the fielding improve dramatically, with a net effect being that the 2009 position players were probably at least as good, if not slightly better than the 2008 Reds squad of position players.

What about the 2009 pitchers? Since the fate of a pitcher in the boxscore is directly tied to the fielders playing behind him, we need to adjust for fielders. Here are three ways of doing that, and how the last several years of Reds pitchers have fared using each approach:

Here's what is shown above:

UZR-adj Runs Allowed is straight-up runs allowed (park adjusted), with UZR-based team fielding factored out. For example, this year, UZR rates the Reds as a +53 fielding team. So, I added 53 runs to the runs allowed total to "simulate" what would have happened with an average-fielding team.
FIP-based runs allowed uses team FIP to estimate runs allowed per game, and then extrapolates to the full season. FIP stands for "fielding independent runs," and uses K, BB, HBP, and HR rates to estimate runs allowed independent of a teams' fielders or context. I park-adjusted K, BB, HBP, and HR rates.
tRA-based runs allowed is straight-up pRAA from statcorner, summed for starters and relievers. It is based on tRA, which is billed as a sort of "FIP on steroids." It uses K, BB, and all batted ball rates (LD, FB, GB, HR/FB, all park adjusted) to estimate runs allowed in a manner that again should be independent of fielders or context. I am unclear if pRAA is based on tRA or tRA* (tRA* is the regressed version).

As you can see, the UZR-adjusted number is more volatile, which makes sense given that it's based on actual runs allowed and thus is subject to all kinds of "luck" (not to mention the volatility of a fielding stat!). The FIP and tRA stats, on the other hand, basically parallel each other, with pRAA being consistently more negative about the team than FIP. These two stats do largely the same thing (though with somewhat different input data and methods), and in my experience are usually within spitting distance of each other. So while I'm not surprised to see them running parallel, I am surprised to see such a large quantitative difference between them in RAA. It seems to me, at least over the last four years, that the "real" data (UZR-adjusted runs allowed) have more closely matched FIP, which makes me more inclined to believe FIP. Maybe pRAA is using the wrong baseline (I'm comparing to all NL pitchers), or is more severe in its park adjustments? (fwiw, while I still like tRA, I am much less enamored with it--and much less ready to ditch FIP--than I was, say, 6 months ago. This is just the latest reason).

Anyway, looking at each line individually, you can see that all three statistics point to the same thing: pitching fell off a bit this year. And, if you look at just the FIP or tRA lines, it was in its worst state since Bronson Arroyo's arrival in 2006. What happened? Obviously, the Volquez injury was huge. But that's not the only story here. Player by player breakdowns below the jump.

The table is sortable if you click in the header.

Name	IP	pLI	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	HR/F	GB%	BABIP	ERA	FIP	WARra	WARfip	WARhit	WAR
Aaron Harang	162.3	0.9	7.9	2.4	1.3	12%	35%	0.339	4.21	3.96	2.5	2.7	0.0	2.7
Bronson Arroyo	220.3	1.0	5.2	2.7	1.3	12%	45%	0.270	3.84	4.63	4.5	2.0	-0.2	1.7
Johnny Cueto	171.3	0.9	6.9	3.2	1.3	11%	42%	0.296	4.41	4.63	2.3	1.5	0.1	1.6
Francisco Cordero	66.7	1.9	7.8	4.1	0.3	3%	41%	0.301	2.16	3.10	2.8	1.6	0.0	1.6
Nick Masset	76.0	1.1	8.3	2.8	0.7	10%	54%	0.250	2.37	3.25	2.4	1.2	0.0	1.2
Arthur Rhodes	53.3	1.5	8.1	3.4	0.5	5%	41%	0.249	2.53	3.10	2.0	1.1	0.0	1.1
Homer Bailey	113.3	1.0	6.8	4.1	1.0	9%	43%	0.306	4.53	4.38	1.4	1.3	-0.3	1.0
Micah Owings	119.7	1.0	5.1	4.8	1.4	11%	37%	0.286	5.34	5.53	0.4	-0.1	1.1	1.0
Jared Burton	59.3	0.9	6.8	3.5	0.8	6%	43%	0.314	4.40	3.75	0.3	0.5	0.0	0.5
Daniel Ray Herrera	61.7	0.8	6.4	3.5	0.7	9%	50%	0.309	3.06	3.91	0.5	0.4	0.0	0.5
Josh Roenicke	13.3	0.2	9.5	2.7	0.0	0%	47%	0.355	2.70	2.03	0.4	0.4	0.0	0.4
Matt Maloney	40.7	0.9	6.2	1.8	2.0	13%	34%	0.282	4.87	5.16	0.5	0.1	0.2	0.3
Carlos Fisher	52.3	0.5	8.3	5.3	0.7	7%	44%	0.316	4.47	4.02	0.3	0.3	0.0	0.3
Paul Janish	2.0	0.0	13.5	9.0	9.0	50%	50%	0.726	49.50	14.99	-0.1	-0.1	0.3	0.2
Edinson Volquez	49.7	1.1	8.5	5.8	1.1	14%	45%	0.231	4.35	4.99	0.8	0.3	-0.2	0.1
Robert Manuel	4.3	0.2	4.2	2.1	0.0	0%	33%	0.329	0.00	2.97	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.1
Kip Wells	46.3	0.9	4.9	4.3	1.0	11%	49%	0.232	4.66	5.15	0.6	0.1	-0.1	0.0
Ramon Ramirez	12.3	0.6	5.8	2.9	1.5	11%	37%	0.183	3.65	5.03	0.2	-0.1	0.0	-0.1
Pedro Viola	7.0	0.4	6.4	3.9	2.6	18%	38%	0.253	5.14	6.43	0.0	-0.1	0.0	-0.1
David Weathers	38.0	1.6	6.4	4.0	1.7	15%	43%	0.200	3.32	5.23	1.0	-0.3	0.0	-0.3
Justin Lehr	65.3	0.9	4.6	3.9	1.9	16%	40%	0.277	5.37	6.09	0.4	-0.3	-0.1	-0.4
Mike Lincoln	23.0	0.7	3.5	7.4	2.7	23%	44%	0.283	8.22	8.75	-0.6	-0.7	0.0	-0.7

Notes on table: pLI is an indication of the leverage of the situations in which a pitcher pitched. pLI = 1 on average, pLI=2 when situations are twice as influential on game outcome as usual, pLI=0.5 when situations are half as influential on game outcome as usual. FIP is Fielding Independent Runs, with park adjustments for each coefficient (see above). WARra is Wins Above Replacement based on actual runs charged to a pitcher (park adjusted). It is calculated following Tango's methods, including the leverage adjustment. WARfip is WAR based on FIP. WARhit is an overall hitting assessment, which will be different from the last post because I discovered I was using much too low of a position adjustment for pitchers (sorry!). WAR is the sum of WARfip and WARhit.

Bronson Arroyo had the best season of the group based on traditional stats, and is our official 2009 Reds Pitcher of the Year. Clearly, he's the only one who topped 200 innings, and that has a lot of value in and of itself. Harang, in contrast, seemingly had another sub-par season, at least by his standards. This was especially true with respect to durability: thanks to his appendix, he only reached 162 innings this season, his lowest total since 2004.

But as Slyde showed recently, the major driving factor behind the differences in these two pitchers was actually some combination of fielding and luck: Harang's batted balls became hits 34% of the time compared to just 27% with Arroyo. In fact, if you look at his peripherals, Harang had a better strikeout rate (by a lot), a better walk rate, and an equivalent home run allowed rate (with identical HR/F rates) to Arroyo. Based on this, and despite his much lower innings total, Harang comes in as the more valuable pitcher this year...by a full win...over Arroyo!

I'm actually a bit concerned about Arroyo. His strikeout rate dropped considerably this year. Although he was improved in the second half, my pet belief is that Arroyo's success depends largely on his strikeout rate. Then again, he's shown large fluctuations in strikeout rate in the past, so hopefully this is just a blip. The Reds need him to be a 2-win pitcher next year if they're going to do anything.

Johnny Cueto had by most accounts a very successful season. He started strong, but seemed to taper off as the season wore on, perhaps due to workload: he pitched in both winterball and the WBC last winter, which is far too many innings for my comfort. I'd like to see him get back into the 8+ k/9 range where he was in 2008--if he does, he could be a force.

Homer Bailey had a heck of a turnaround season. Citing some changes in his delivery that occurred during the offseason, Bailey started slow, but then something seemed to just "click." The result was a tremendously successful final few months of the season. I still don't know if what we saw was real or not, but I sure hope it was. Given his playing time, he probably has the biggest error bars around his projection of any pitcher on this team, and perhaps across the entire league.

Micah Owings has probably the most interesting row on the list. As a pitcher, he wasn't very impressive. Low strikeout rate, VERY high walk rate, and low ground ball rates do not tend to lead to success. But the amazing thing is that he was able to couple that replacement-level pitching performance with hitting that clocks in right at league average. The result? A 1 WAR pitcher. You can do worse from your #5 starter. Or long reliever/pinch hitter. Whatever he is these days. Fascinating player.

Speaking of the bullpen, it sure looked excellent this year. Cordero, Rhodes, and the revelational Nick Masset combined for sub-3 ERA's and low-3 FIP's. Jared Burton (FIP 3.75), Danny Herrera (seems like the screwball works, at least on lefties), and Carlos Fisher (scary walks) also performed adequately in middle relief. If Bill Bray comes back strong following Tommy John, this could be a great young relief core moving forward. Well, minus Rhodes, because he's old.

Speaking of old, Cordero's line looks a little shaky from where I sit. His strikeout rate has gone from 12 k/9 in 2007 to 10 k/9 in 2008 to 8 k/9 in 2009. His walk rate was about where it is supposed to be, but his home run rate is artificially low, thanks to an extremely lucky HR per Fly Ball rate of 3%. I don't know if it's related, but he threw a lot more fastballs this year than last (63% vs. ~50% in prior seasons)...maybe the slider wasn't working as well as it used to? The Reds owe him two more seasons at $12M per year.

Overall, this wasn't a terrible pitching staff. But it also wasn't a pitching staff that featured any fantastic individual performances. And the rotation wasn't as strong as it has been in recent years, especially with injuries to Edinson Volquez and Harang. Volquez apparently thinks he will be back mid-next season, which could be a nice shot in the arm if the team is able to do anything with the first half. We'll see.

...

Wrap up and looking forward: So, that's your 2009 Reds. Fun in April and September, utterly forgettable in between. I don't know where this team is going, honestly. There are some good parts here. There are solid, steady contributers in Votto, Rolen, Phillips, Harang, and Arroyo. And there is youth with some nice upside in Bruce, Bailey, Cueto, Stubbs, and Volquez (when he returns). And there's more help on the way in Frazier, Alonso, and Leake. But it's also a team that is seeing some key players, especially pitchers, start to show signs of aging.

Given this, I wonder if 2010 is the year with the best window for success? And if so, can the cash-strapped Reds do what they need to do--plugging holes, mostly--to put themselves in a position to take advantage of some good fortune if it arrives?

Reds finally decide to start their season, dismantle the Astros 10-4

BK — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:24:37 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

You want a shot at the rotation next year? You're going through this man. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Matt Maloney, of course. Matty went 7 strong innings, giving up only 2 runs on 6 hits, and walked nobody. He struck out 4, and probably could have gone another inning, since he was only at 93 pitches and had an 8-run lead, but Dusty yanked him in favor of unproven bullpenners.

Key Plays

Joey Votto struck early for the good guys, hitting his 23rd home run of the season to give the Reds a 1-0 lead.
The Reds broke out in the 2nd for 5 runs in the 2nd, and ended up chasing former Red Brian Moehler (remember that?) out of the game in the 3rd, giving the Reds a 7-1 lead.
Jay Bruce's solo shot in the 5th and Wladimir Balentien's 2-run single in the 6th gave the Reds 10 runs, and free wings for Astros fans.
After Maloney left after the 7th, Pedro Viola gave up 2 runs in the 8th. That was pretty much the game.

via www.fangraphs.com

Other Notes

Matt Maloney put together another great start, and is now firmly in the conversation for the 5th starter spot next year. If he keeps pitching like he did today, he's got my vote. His ERA is 2.65 over his last 3 starts, and he put together his longest outing of the year this evening. Also, he's only walked 1 batter in those 3 starts.
The Reds 17 hits was the second highest total of the season, one less than the 18 they had in Arizona and it ties the 17 they had in Milwaukee.
6 Reds players had multiple hits, including a 3-for-5 night from Juan Francisco, who filled in for Scott Rolen, who was a late scratch. The other 5 were all names we should all start getting used to, in Drew Stubbs, Paul Janish, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and My Wladdy Balentien. Speaking for myself, it feels pretty good to see all those guys performing well on the same night.
Jo-eh drove in 4 of the Reds 10 runs.
All 9 of the Reds starters had at least one hit.
Jared Burton pitched a perfect 9th. This is a good sign, I think.
Reds win their 5th game in a row, and 9 of the last 11. Too bad the season doesn't start in September.
Rick Sweet was in uniform in the dugout as well. You may remember him as the manager who took Louisville to the playoffs this year.

Reds win 12-2, have scored 30 runs in their last three games. Totally sustainable for the rest of this season and all of next, says I.

jch24 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:28:12 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

"This is how many bases I get every time I come up these days."

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Another quickie recap:

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Joey Votto went 4-5 with two doubles, two singles, three runs scored and an RBI. In the last two nights, dude is 7-9 with 5 doubles, two RBI and six runs scored. Oh and he hit a two run HR the game before. I think it's safe to say he's back.

Other Notes

Homer Bailey is now 4-1 with a sparkling 2.00 ERA over his last seven starts, lowering his season ERA by 1.8 runs in the process. He is what we thought he was! Or at least a lot closer to what we thought he could be.
Brandon Phillips had two more RBI, tying his career high with 94 on the year. He also got plunked by Virgil Vasquez in the 9th and had to leave the game. My sources say he'll play through the pain in an attempt to reach 100 RBI.
Drew Stubbs stole second and third base in the third inning, rattling Kevin Hart and starting a three run inning that might have been more had BP not have gotten greedy.
Dusty Baker replaced Jared Burton in the eighth inning up seven runs and no one on base. But he invented the high five, so it's cool.
Abraham Philip Miller had two RBI and is now hitting within 80 points of his weight. Hernadez who?
The Reds are 21-10 when Scott Rolen starts at 3B. It's his team!
The Reds still haven't gotten that damning 82nd loss, fighting to stave off their ninth straight losing season like their lives depend on it.
John Wall will either win the Heisman or average less than 10 ppg. There is no in between.

via www.fangraphs.com

Turns out 5 days is one too many. Reds blow lead in the 9th and lose 4-3.

Slyde — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 02:33:12 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

Hit the showers, Coco. I guess we should be happy that it took so long for the Reds to lose a game that they led going into the 9th.

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Homer Bailey. 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K. Seriously, who else should it be? Dude deserved the win.

Key Plays

With two outs in the 3rd inning, Drew Stubbs singled and stole 2nd base. Drew Sutton followed with a single to drive in Stubbs, which drew applause from the crowd.
Other than that, the game was quiet until the Reds 8th inning. Sutton led off the inning with a triple and the scored on a base hit by Joey Votto, giving the Reds a 2-0 lead.
Dusty Baker felt it wise to bring in Francisco Cordero for the 5th day in a row. Not surprisingly, it wasn't. Chris Coghlan led off the inning with a low line drive to left field that Wladimir Balentien lost in the lights, allowing Coghlan to reach first. After a Nick Johnson line out, Hanley Ramirez singled and Jorge Cantu doubled, scoring Coghlan. A ground out by Dan Uggla pushed the tying run across the plate with 2 outs.
The bleeding didn't stop though. John Baker singled to drive in Cantu. Cody Ross followed with another bloop single and Cordero's night was mercifully over. Brett Carroll doubled off of Jared Burton to drive in the 4th run of the inning, a run that ended up being the most important one.
Juan Francisco ate his first major league sized child with his first career home run in the 9th inning, but the Reds went meekly in the 9th after that as Kevin Barker and Jay Bruce both struck out and Drew Stubbs lined out to right field.

via FanGraphs

I hate graphs that look like that.

Other Notes

The loss is the first loss by the Reds this season in a game in which they took the lead into the 9th inning. They were previously 57-0 in those games.
The loss ended the Reds 8-game home winning streak and 4-game overall winning streak.
You can use vinegar and baking soda to get that musty smell out of towels. Don't use laundry detergent or fabric softener.
Juan Francisco is the 7th Reds player to hit his first major league home run this season. Name the other six.
The Reds reach 80 losses for the 9th consecutive season. They must win 13 of their last 14 to not have their 9th straight losing season.
This was Homer Bailey's 6th straight start with 114 or more pitches.

Reds make thrilling late season run towards mediocrity, sweep Astros 6-5.

Brendanukkah — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:21:32 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

Thousands of red seats showed up to honor and thank Hal McCoy for his 37 years of service to the Reds and baseball. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Jeff Fulchino. He threw the wild pitch that allowed Joey Votto to score the winning run. Votto, Brandon Phillips, Drew Stubbs, and Wladimir Balentien all had big games as well.

Key Plays

The Astros made some plays and there was some exciting defense, but they lost so screw them. They're not getting recapped anymore.
Jonny Gomes hit a home run in the second inning to give the Reds the lead.
Drew Stubbs hit a home run in the third, then Joey Votto walked, went to third on Phillips's single, and scored on Scott Rolen's sacrifice fly. Two runs! Tie game!
Wladimir Balentien hit a double to lead off the fourth inning. He moved to third on Craig Tatum's sacrifice fly, and scored when Justin Lehr bunted to the pitcher, and Yorman Bazardo threw it away. Reds lead, 4-3!
Balentien scored again in the sixth inning. He singled, and Tatum bunted him to second. After Jay Bruce struck out, Drew Stubbs singled to bring in Balentien. Tie game!
Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips singled to begin the seventh inning, putting runners on the corners. Scott Rolen came up and struck out, but not before Jeff Fulchino threw a wild pitch and Votto crossed the plate with the winning run.

via FanGraphs

Other Notes

The Reds are only three games out of fourth place. Here we come!
Jeff Keppinger hit two home runs - in the same game! It was the first time he'd ever done that.
This was the second series against the Astros that the Reds have swept in Cincinnati this season. The Reds have won seven in a row against the 'Stros.
The Astros hit five home runs off of Justin Lehr, which tied a club record. The last Reds pitcher to give up five homers was Brandon Claussen on July 18, 2005.
Jonny Gomes became the third Red to reach the 20 homer mark. He's only one behind Joey Votto for the club lead.
Juan Francisco drew a walk. ZOMG! His ML walk rate of 50% is blowing away his minor league numbers.
Coco Cordero has pitched - and gotten a save in - the last three days and four of the last five. Let's hope for a blowout tomorrow.

Final - 9.16.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Houston Astros	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	0	5	12	1
Cincinnati Reds	0	1	2	1	0	1	1	0	X	6	11	0
WP: Jared Burton (1 - 0) SV: Francisco Cordero (37) LP: Wesley Wright (3 - 3)

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In "The King & I," it's referred to as "The Small House of Carnal Pleasures of Uncle Thomas." Reds win, 4-2 in extras.

Brendanukkah — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:45:29 -0000

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Micah Owings. Even though Micah cannot possibly be a starter [reasons for this pending], he stepped up with two shutout innings of relief, then got the win by being hit in the head to drive in the winning run. We hope that he's okay. Johnny Cueto also pitched six innings of one run ball and struck out nine. Drew Stubbs went 3-5 with a home run.

Key Plays

In the third inning of this pitcher's duel, Johnny Cueto led off with a single, followed by Drew Stubbs's single. Cueto came around to score on Darnell McDonald's single up the middle. With one run in, two runners on, no outs and the heart of the order coming up, the Reds looked poised to do some real damage. But Joey Votto struck out, Stubbs was caught stealing third, and Brandon Phillips grounded out.
Adam LaRoche's single in the fourth broke up Johnny Cueto's no-hitter, but he was immediately stranded.
Former Red David Ross helped level things with a one out walk in the fifth. Nate McLouth moved him to second one out later with a single, and Martin Prado doubled to bring him in.
After six stellar innings, Jared Burton came in to relieve Cueto. He immediately gave up a home run to David Ross, and a single to Kelly Johnson. Danny Ray Herrera came in and got a fly out from McLouth and a double play from Prado. Would this be the end of the Reds winning streak?
No! Drew Stubbs hit his fifth home run of his young season to tie the game with two outs in the eighth inning.
Bonus Baseball! Stubbs hit a triple in the eleventh inning, but was thrown out at the plate by Nate McLouth after he tried to score on McDonald's fly out.
In the twelfth inning, Votto drew a leadoff walk, and Scott Rolen moved him to third with a single. Wladimir Balentien also walked and the bases were loaded for Micah Owings. Kenshin Kawakami unloaded a pitch that hit Owings in the head. It was a scary moment, but the winning run came in. Corky Miller hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Rolen for an insurance run.
Not that it was needed. Francisco Cordero struck out the side for his 33rd save.

via FanGraphs

Other Notes

After getting hit in the batting helmet, Owings walked off the field under his own power.
The Reds have won their seventh straight and 12 of 14. It's not surprising that this is happening without Willy Taveras and Alex Gonzalez, though it is surprising that Justin Lehr and Kip Wells have been important parts of this hot streak.
Tim Hudson retired the last 14 batters he faced.
The Reds are now only three games out of third place in the NL Central.
Drew Stubbs has five home runs in 87 plate appearances.
The Reds have swept three of their last four series.

Final - 9.6.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Cincinnati Reds	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	4	7	1
Atlanta Braves	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0
WP: Micah Owings (7 - 12) SV: Francisco Cordero (33) LP: Kenshin Kawakami (7 - 11)

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Reds can't catch grounders, breaks. Lose to the Dodgers, 3-2 in 12 innings.

Brendanukkah — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:25:56 -0000

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Matt Kemp. He hit a home run and the game-winning sacrifice fly.

Key Plays

In the second inning, Scott Rolen singled, and Darnell McDonald hit his first major league home run. The Reds led 2-0, and would not score again for the next ten innings.
Bronson was cruising until he hiccupped in the fifth inning. He allowed a leadoff home run to Matt Kemp, and then a single to Casey Blake. He got the next two outs, but then Orlando Hudson and Clayton Kershaw hit balls to Paul Janish that went for hits, and Blake scored to tie the game.
Dusty used three pitchers (Arroyo, Rhodes, Masset) to get through the 8th inning.
Drew Stubbs and Paul Janish singled in the 8th inning with one out, but Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips were unable to drive them in.
In the eleventh inning, Scott Rolen singled with two outs. Drew Sutton came in to pinch hit for Jared Burton, and then Rolen was caught in a rundown.
Francisco Cordero came in to pitch the twelfth inning - not a save situation. He walked Manny Ramirez, and with one out, Juan Castro doubled. After an intentional walk to Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp hit a fly ball to the warning track for the game winning sacrifice fly.
The Reds did manage to get two baserunners in the bottom half of the inning before Wladimir Balentien and Drew Stubbs both struck out.

via Fangraphs

Other Notes

After being called "our smartest baserunner" by Dusty Baker, Scott Rolen was caught twice on the basepaths.
The Reds struck out 20 times. It was the most strikeouts for the Dodger pitching staff in 37 years (they struck out 22 on Aug. 8, 1972, also against the Reds. Took 'em 19 innings, though.). Joey Votto struck out four times, and Drew Stubbs and Darnell McDonald each struck out three times.
The Dodgers are now 22-4 against the Reds since 2006.
For the second game in a row, someone hit their first major league home run.
Francisco Cordero has pitched on five of the last six days. There is a doubleheader tomorrow.

Final - 8.30.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	R	H	E
Los Angeles Dodgers	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	11	0
Cincinnati Reds	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	0
WP: James McDonald (4 - 3) SV: Jonathan Broxton (29) LP: Francisco Cordero (2 - 4)

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Who loses to the losers? Reds fall, 5-4.

Brendanukkah — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:10:44 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

Though he didn't get his third win, Justin Lehr did still have a quality start. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

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Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Josh Willingham. Ryan Zimmerman hit the two run base hit to win the game, but Willingham went 3-4 at the plate with a double and a home run, scoring twice and driving in three runs.

Key Plays

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning, when Adam Dunn led off with a double, and Willingham followed with his 19th home run of the year. The Reds would have trouble getting those two out all game.
Often a lead of any size seems too daunting to overcome for the Reds, but in the fifth inning they battled back. Ryan Hanigan led off with a single and Lehr sacrificed him to second. Hanigan went to third on a groundout by Willy Taveras. Drew Sutton then walked, and Joey Votto continued to actually play baseball by hitting a single to the outfield to drive in Hanigan. Up stepped Jonny Gomes, who's been enjoying Washington pitching. BAM! Over the fence went the baseball, and a 2-0 deficit had turned into a 4-2 lead.
In the sixth inning, the Dunn-Willingham combination bit Lehr again, as they both hit doubles to lead off the inning. Dunn's run made the score 4-3, and a wild pitch by Lehr put Willingham on third base with no outs. Fortunately, he was caught stealing home, and the inning passed without further damage.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Lehr hit a double, and Willy Taveras singled, then stole second. Runners on second and third with a chance to add some Great American Insurance runs, but Drew Sutton struck out.
Dusty turned to his bullpen in the seventh inning, using Jared Burton and Danny Ray Herrera. Then in the eighth, Nick Masset came in to retire Ronnie Belliard before giving way to Arthur Rhodes. Rhodes then hit Adam Dunn with a pitch, gave up a single to Josh Willingham, and then pinch hitter Ryan Zimmerman hit a dying quail out to right field. Chris Dickerson, who replaced Gomes as part of a double switch (even though Balentien had just batted, and Gomes - our only power threat - was due to come up 4th in the ninth inning), couldn't make the shoestring catch and instead deflected the ball back in towards the infield. Drew Sutton came out half-heartedly to retrieve it and lob the ball back in, but Willingham alertly flew around the bases to take advantage and scored from first. Two runs, and the Reds had squandered the lead.

FanGraphs

Other Notes

Arthur Rhodes got the loss, his first decision of the year.
Adam Dunn was hit by a pitch twice in this game. For the series, he went 4-8 with two doubles, a home run, six walks, five runs scored, and those two HBPs.
Reds pitchers allowed no walks in this game.
The Reds only have seven more wins than the Nationals. Washington won the season series, 4-3.
Josh Willingham's 19th homer gave the Nats three players with more home runs than Reds leader Jay Bruce's 18. Dunn has 31 and Ryan Zimmerman has 24. Votto and Phillips both have 17 and Gomes's blast today gives him 15 - in 196 plate appearances. He has four in his last three games.

Final - 8.16.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Washington Nationals	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	2	0	5	7	1
Cincinnati Reds	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	4	8	1
WP: Jorge Sosa (2 - 1) SV: Mike MacDougal (13) LP: Arthur Rhodes (0 - 1)

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