SB Nation User Blog: TheC

The Drew Sutton Era Begins in Cincy (Update: Well that was quick)

TheC — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 19:44:26 -0000

According to Fay, Burton has been sent down and Drew Sutton has been called up to the Reds. Everytime I try to attach the link, my post gets screwed up, so I'll just copy it.

http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?category=blog07&plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3ae57bcc87-152a-4f72-96fb-cc08b1f396efPost%3a9e346123-b327-4cee-9fcf-b891cde7bf41&sid=sitelife.cincinnati.com

Here is part of that text:

"Sutton is the player the Reds got in the Jeff Keppinger trade with Houston. Sutton was hitting .254/.388/.492 with five home runs and 19 RBI in 130 at-bats for the Louisville. He spent time on the DL with mono right after the Reds got him. He can play all four infield positions and he's a switch-hitter."

So, is this the first of several moves? The team may be hovering not too far out of first, but as has been pointed out here, this team is also hovering not too far out of last. I don't think anyone seriously thinks this team will contend for the World Series this year. So, its time to start preparing for 2010. The next month will be interesting.

Let the debate end - Sheff's a Met

TheC — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:45:37 -0000

Let the debate end - Sheff's a Met

I think I was leaning against this move anyway. Let the young guys take over this team and let's see where that gets us.

Fay looks into Jocketty's eyes; sees his soul

TheC — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 19:01:54 -0000

Fay looks into Jocketty's eyes; sees his soul

Looks like John Fay won't be asking Walt any tough questions anytime soon - all us bloggers and stat guys be damned.

"I'm like a lot of other people: I'm not sure the Reds have enough offense to win. But I haven't put together seven playoff teams, two NL pennant winners and a world champion. So chances of Jocketty being right about this team are conisiderably better than my chances. "

But you can still do your job and ask him what the hell he's thinking!

What's not black and white and red all over in 2009?

TheC — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:38:45 -0000

What's not black and white and red all over in 2009?

Ken Griffey's uniform. He won't be with the Reds anymore, of course, and today we learn his option year won't be picked up by the Chicago White Sox for 2009. Where will Griffey end his career?

Is this what Cincinnatians woke up to in their morning paper?

TheC — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 15:03:27 -0000

I am not in Cincinnati anymore, but still check out the Enquirer's coverage of the local teams on line. Today, I was looking forward to reading about the Reds' impressive showing against the formerlly hotest team in baseball hoping to find some quotes from players and even Dusty to see if there's any evidence he's regained his sanity.

So, what do I find?

The city of Cincinnati's paper of record had to pick up the AP wire story of the game. The damn game was at home a few blocks from the paper's office and they couldn't be bothered to have someone cover the game? I hope I am mistaken and this is just an online glitch. What was in your morning paper today?

The Season hinges on this weekend

TheC — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:22:41 -0000

The first half of the season has been incredibly frustrating, mostly, because the problems we're used to having - lousy bullpen and no hope for a rotation - aren't the biggest problems, but rather the one thing we could always count on - the offense - has been. In my mind, I had written this team off. The season was over about a month ago or so. Moslty, that is due to my coping mechanisms for dealing with disappointment that won't allow me to get my hopes up too high.

But I am going to try, one more time, to get my hopes up again. And that means this weekend is the most imortant series of the year.

The Milwaukee Brewers are starting to get it together and have now added the services of C.C. Sabathia. They are looking strong. If the season were to end today, the Milwaukee Brewers are your N.L. Wildcard team. The Cincinnati Reds - winners of 5 of their last 7 games - are heading to Milwaukee for the last series before the All Star Break. The Reds currently sit at 44-49 - five games under .500. That puts the Reds 7 games out of the Wildcard spot. If the Reds can take 2 of 3 this weekend, that puts the Reds 6 games back heading to the break. If they win all 3, they are only 4 games back. But if they lose this series... well.. the math here isn't all that complex. You don't me to keep counting on my fingers for you. They'll be in trouble if they lose this series. And then I think you can officially hang it up - look for trades, start developing the youngsters, even play Corey Patterson more.

So this weekend is big. Everytime someone says that, this team seems to go out and underwhelm. I hope this time it will be different. This team seems to have gotten so used to losing the last few years. I don't expect a pennant this year, but learning how to win big games would be a nice first step.

Is Today's Lineup THE Lineup?

TheC — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:04:29 -0000

Here's the lineup from Fay. Its Reds v. Twins starting right now!

Corey Patterson, CF
Jeff Keppinger, SS
Ken Griffey Jr., RF
Brandon Phillips, 2B
Adam Dunn, LF
Edwin Encarnacion, 3B
Joey Votto, 1B
David Ross, C
Bronson Arroyo, P

I'd say this looks as good as its going to get. I wouldn't mind seeing this lineup rolled out next Monday (with Harang, of course.)

And now that I've learned how to do it, here's the Gameday link too.

Bruce has been cut

TheC — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:51:15 -0000

According to Fay.

Bet that hasn't happened to him before.

Sorry for posting two diaries in a row, but I hadn't seen anyone else put this up yet.

Roencke, McBeth and Drew T. Anderson cut as well. I think this is probably the right move. I am of the opinion that the Reds are still a year away from challenging for the division. I would love to be wrong of course. That said, this is the year you ease Bruce into it. He is not ready to be the every day CF for this team, so why rush him?

UPDATE: More from the Fay quoting Bruce.

"I'm disappointed," he said. "My goal was to make the team. But I understand they're doing what's in the best interest of me and the team. It's not a slap in the face." "I'll be back. When I am, I'll look back on this day and laugh."

ESPN on Cordero and the Reds' Bullpen

TheC — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 13:49:22 -0000

This latest piece by Jayson Stark on ESPN is certainly nothing new and we have hashed it up pretty good when the signing was made, but it is still nice to see a full length piece on ESPN about a team not in New York or Boston. And that it is about our Reds is even more intriguing.

Stark now gets around to praising the Cordero signing as one of the most significant in baseball this past off-season. A little late, but still a nice read for Reds' fans.

* This is a team that led more games at the end of the fifth inning last year (75) than the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Arizona Diamondbacks (among others). You could look it up.
* This is a team that got outscored by 71 runs after the seventh inning last season and by 92 runs after the sixth.
Ugly bullpen numbers blow up entire teams.

Ain't that the damn truth. We all know this, but as I struggle to become optimistic about the upcoming season, to see these points reiterated is reassuring. Maybe this team will compete this year. But, for that to happen, our bullpen needs to go from being a drag on this team to a real strength. Are the pieces there?

Cordero doesn't need to be a shutdown, dominant closer, but he needs to be solid. Based on his history, I think its clear we'll have a few frustrating blown saves this season, but that is ok if he can go out there and notch about 30+ for us and especially in big games against division rivals or late in the year.

Weathers needs to continue being consistent and rise to his new role as set-up man as well as he rose to the occassion last year as a fill-in closer. I have confidence in Weathers, though he is getting old and you never know when he will start to fade.

Burton needs to continue to grow into that dominant, shutdown reliever that takes the ball in the 7th and zips through that inning without a whiff of a threat. He is the key guy in all this. He has had a rough spring, but who knows why. I think he showed enough last year to make you feel optimistic.

If Bray can emerge as a solid lefty situational guy, then I can see him playing a big role getting our righty starters out of a jam as they work into the later innnings. And wouldn't it be nice to see someone like Coffey return to form?

If all this happens, what will it mean for our starters?

"When you've got 105 pitches and you've thrown six [innings]," Arroyo said, "and you feel like, 'All right. I've got the game where I want it, but maybe I don't have enough stuff right now' ... the last two years, I felt like I still had to take the ball because we had so many problems in the seventh and eighth innings. ... Now, hopefully, I'll be confident enough to come out after six innings, maybe being a little tired, and hand the ball over to the bullpen, instead of trying to muster up an extra inning."

If we can actually reduce the number of innings our starters throw (and that will be essential if we have two rookies in the rotation), then a bullpen that is a strength could really change our entire pitching outlook. I really like Harang and Arroyo. With the proper late inning support, there is no reason these guys can't win a lot of games. And Arroyo, especially, can get out while he's still ahead.

Finally, one other point that Stark didn't really address, but seems to be an important development... this team may go as far as Cueto and Volquez can keep up. It sure seems like Cordero has become an important mentor for these two and a team leader in general. It is hard to calculate the off-field value of players sometimes, but there is a chance his role in the bullpen extends beyond just recording the last 3 outs of the game.

We shall see.....

SI picks on our Dusty!

TheC — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:32:43 -0000

How dare they.. though I hesitate to mention that most here will probably agree with the article. SI's John Donovan has a column today criticizing Dusty Baker for his plans to bat Brandon Phillips fourth this year.

The problem with Phillips as a cleanup hitter -- and this is, statistically speaking, hard to argue -- is that he's miserably miscast.

This is the take-home message. Donovan argues that Phillips had one of the lowest slugging percentages (.493) and on-base percentages (.352) for a clean-up hitter in baseball last year. Those damn new stats. I still don't quite have the perspective. I see that Phillips hit 30 home runs and drove in 94 runs last year, so why is it such a terrible idea?

Then, the point was made clear to me why that reasonably nice RBI number isn't such a great indicator.

You'd kind of expect that from that position in the lineup.... Phillips drove in somewhere between 13-14 percent of the runs he had a chance to knock in (not counting himself, with home runs), which ranks deep in the bottom half of all hitters in the league. (The best player in the league least year at converting on his RBI opportunities was Detroit's Magglio Ordonez, who drove in nearly 22 percent of the runners that were on base for him.)

See... now I'm starting to get it. Sometimes RBIs is a function of what the guys in front of you do too. Now, I know those of you already comfortable with your stathood will chuckle at my realizations. But it is amazing how getting beyond just the big 3 stats does open up an understanding of the game even more. And what is wrong with that?

But back to the big, bad SI bully picking on our Dusty. He goes on to tease Dusty about the role of walks in the line-up. And then gets Phillips to admit something that may diminish (or possibly enhance) his popularity in our conservative little town.

Phillips says.... "I'm a swinger."

That's fine.... just don't go running for governor.