Good, Bad, and the Ugly

[JohnU]

The bottom half of the lineup is the reason why I am pissed at the bottom of the 2nd, the 4th, the 6th and the 9th. Where in FUCK do these guys learn to hit? Geezus H. Christo, I could go up there and do what Heisey and Cozart are doing.

 

[JohnU]

Chapman also needs to learn to listen to his catcher.

 

[HammerDown]

Chapman also needs to learn to listen to his catcher.

Was he shaking off the catcher? I didn't notice.

Padres have stumbled onto their missing offense. Just wish they could have done it against the freakin Giants.

 

[BoiseStateFan27]

The bottom half of the lineup is the reason why I am pissed at the bottom of the 2nd, the 4th, the 6th and the 9th. Where in FUCK do these guys learn to hit? Geezus H. Christo, I could go up there and do what Heisey and Cozart are doing.

^^^ Wow the bottom half of our lineup is awful right now.

12 loss by 1 run this year

 

[JohnU]

Chappy wasn't shaking Pena off but Pena wasn't set up for something in Headley's stroke zone.

the shitz of this is that I spent about 4 years being coaxed back into being a real Reds fan again after about 8 years of not much giving a damn. Now, I am finding myself only marginally upset when they lose like this. Another week and I will just pretend I give a crap.

 

[JohnU]

Was he shaking off the catcher? I didn't notice.

Padres have stumbled onto their missing offense. Just wish they could have done it against the freakin Giants.

I will say that, aside from Smith and Headley's fortunate gift, the Padres are still pretty short on the offense.

 

[redsfan03]

How many times have we heard the phrase "solid start from (insert the name of one of our starters), but offense falls short/bullpen loses lead" this season? Even if you have the best rotation in the majors, you can't consistently win games with a lineup like this. I'm not as worried about the bullpen now that guys are starting to return from injuries, but the Reds left another 10 on base tonight. It's frustrating when the offense misses so many opportunities due to poor situational/fundamental hitting. I was surprised to read a fair amount of optimistic posts on here in the past few days. I think there's virtually no chance this team makes the playoffs. Yes, the NL Central is down, but I don't see how the offense is going to magically improve. Will healthy Devin Mesoraco and healthy Jay Bruce really be able to provide the necessary run support that's been absent thus far? I doubt it.

 

[JohnU]

 

[JohnU]

I would agree ... after 40-some games, there is no real reason to believe that these guys will somehow just "get it together." They may hobble home with 85 wins this year, and if anybody says they are happy with that, get a grip. Honestly, I will be happy with .500. At least it will save me having to invest any more emotional energy in this operation.
THE WINDOW DONE SLAMMED SHUT.
But the dogs in the photo above (I snipped from the game shot) are pretty blissful. Well, maybe Rover on the right is a tad skeptical.

 

[HammerDown]

I only got to watch the second game today and will admit that Tyson Ross's slider was pure and utter filth but I've never seen Joey Votto look so uncomfortable at the plate. Ever. Those were some baaaad swings, fellas.

 

[JohnU]

Votto and all his fans can try to tell me how "let Joey be Joey" is actually working.
The guy is hitting .258 and is showing ZERO evidence that he is coming out of it.
Price can fuck around with his batting order all week if he wants. It's time to sit the King of Con down and let him stew his way out of it. Trying to take a walk every time up for a month didn't work and now he's trying something new, like swinging at an 0-2 pitch.
These guys have been in the league for 8 or 10 years and look like they ought to be playing for the Bats, who could have beaten this pathetic lineup.
Price seems to be quite confident that all these guys need is ... what, some good luck?
You make your own damned luck.
This is an 80-win team, tops ... and Price will get a pass because of all the injuries.
Roger fucking Bernadina is hitting .111 and is in the lineup.

 

[HammerDown]

Do you realize that it wasn't until Votto's 3rd PA in the second game that he took one single pitch? And those wings on the strikeout pitches were embarrassing to watch.

The dude is addled. I'd sit his ass and tell him to think about it. I honestly feel bad for him.

 

[redsfan03]

Price deserves a pass at this point. The guy who doesn't deserve a pass - Walt jocketty. It has become abundantly clear that he did not do an adequate job of building this roster as evidenced by the paltry offense. If the reds have a mediocre season around 80 wins, he's getting the axe. I think price is doing all he can with what he's been given but there are major holes in the offense and bullpen issues as well. What disheartens me, though, is that this offense looks just as stagnant and home run reliant as dusty's offense. I hate to say it, but I think this team's golden opportunity to win the World Series came and went with choo. It's too bad during that brief window we had a buffoon at the helm.

 

[HammerDown]

Price deserves a pass at this point. The guy who doesn't deserve a pass - Walt jocketty. It has become abundantly clear that he did not do an adequate job of building this roster as evidenced by the paltry offense. If the reds have a mediocre season around 80 wins, he's getting the axe. I think price is doing all he can with what he's been given but there are major holes in the offense and bullpen issues as well. What disheartens me, though, is that this offense looks just as stagnant and home run reliant as dusty's offense. I hate to say it, but I think this team's golden opportunity to win the World Series came and went with choo. It's too bad during that brief window we had a buffoon at the helm.

Coming out of St. Louis, Jocketty was pure gold. What happened?

 

[JohnU]

It's hard to evaluate Jocketty. All in all, he's done a fair job sustaining a core of regular talent.
It could be argued that a better shortstop could be found. Dunno ... Cozart can't hit.
The bench, however, puzzles me.
Emil Bonafacio was a free agent after KC clipped him free. Walt signed Bernadina. Bonafacio is leading off for the Cubs, doing better than ... um ... .111.

Jayson Nix got cut by the Phils and the Rays signed him. We have Nefi Soto, who has had exactly ZERO relevant at-bats in his entire major league career. ZERO.
I don't know why the bullpen has gone to hell. Clearly, Sean Marshall can't pitch anymore and the fact that he hasn't been used much is proof of that. I think he's probably going to be shelved pretty soon. He got racked again tonight. That shoulder is done for.
Looks like Price gave up tonight when Francis left the game. Francis made one bad pitch in 5 innings. Ondrusek threw 12 in the dirt before he was able to get the ump to raise a right arm.
Price says the bullpen is rusty. So?
Clearly, the "bench" wasn't rusty.
No, I don't let Price off the hook either. And i don't let Votto off the hook. Anybody who is numb enough to bunt like Votto did on Tuesday deserves a day off. Deserves several days off.
Put Soto at first base and see if he can catch a ball. I know he can't hit one.
Walt deserves to be on the hot seat.
So does Price.
The fans are getting screwed with this team.
And we keep getting a ration of pablum about how all will be well once our top hitter gets back.
Mesoraco. I thought our top hitter was Bruce.
Or Votto.
And our ace pitcher is still out. Let's keep shoving that lie on downstream like a warm turd. Latos has been *long tossing* since March.
Chapman is back and it will be a lot of days before we see him in the 8th inning. Like Price promised.
This team sucks.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I think the major thing that happened to Jocketty was inheriting Dusty Baker, and holding on to him while his talent window fizzled away. He should have watched Moneyball. He did oust a lot of Dusty favs from the roster, forcing the use of Bruce, Votto and Mesoraco among others, but couldn't force Chapman into the rotation, not even after getting a consensus from the dugout and signing Broxton to a closers contract. If another manager hadnt allowed lack of urgency in every non-contract year to equal a sub-.500 season, and the Reds had won hardware, pushing attendance to twice it's actual, Choo might still be here, and Ludwick would be a 4th OF making $3M. Reaching for Madson was driven by the obvious plan to use the Missile as a starter too.

I'm not saying Jocketty wasn't to blame, I'm just saying it's not all on the players he signed, it's the lousy way they were used too. Timing is everything, especially when you have a finite budget, and spend a lot of the farm on trades that require more urgency than this team was pushed for. Jocketty has signed moreong term contracts to keep Reds talent than anyone I remember. Unfortunately, it was keeping Dusty that undermined what could have been a more productive plan.

This team wasn't going to be able to trade for Miguel Cabrera and Mike Trout anyway. You can't sign the unobtainable. Dusty wasn't going to motivate anything but apathy. Price at least looks like he's trying to build an offense, albeit with less lumber. Dusty would have Bernadina in CF, Cozarts grandfather at SS, Hamilton in AAA, and Cingrani throwing 129 pitches with a sore arm...and all these guys would still be hurt, and Choo still gone.

This team will hit better with Bruce, pitch better with Latos, etc., but the best opportunity for the Reds to win is either down the road, or in the rear view mirror, and you don't get those back. Gotta move forward.

 

[JohnU]

Um ... to some end, the notion of a lack of urgency has applied to Price, though for different reasons.
I don't think Castellini was going to lean too hard on his chosen prince and Chris Welsh so much as said for sure that there would be little pressure on Price to win. Exactly why, I have no idea. Price wasn't given the AAAstros to rebuild like Bo Porter has had to face. Or Mike Redmond in Miami.

The overall injury issue has been a real problem, and it seemed to come at various stages of the jelling process, but I think that when the team gets fully healthy, it will have missed the train. When you lose a power bat like Bruce, the answer should NOT be Roger Bernadina.

That's partly Price's fault if the idea that the manager does have some control over the roster holds any water. Not going after Bonifacio shows a lack of urgency on all ends of that party line.

And Joey Votto. I am frankly quite weary of the bullshit surrounding this guy. The overt lefty shift the Padres used against him last night firmly proves they had a lack of respect for him. And guess what? They were right!

So to some end, shit rolls downstream but the Reds players are knee-deep in their own ineptitude. The dugout staff has forgotten to bring a paddle.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Votto to have MRI on left knee.

 

[JohnU]

Doesn't get much uglier than that.
Votto to the DL.
We call up Lutz? Nelson? Move Frazier to 1b?
Pena to 1b, take Mesoraco off the DL, keep Barnhart?
Or do we jettison Bernadina and bring up the ghost of Eddie Milner?
Soto awaits ... 7 years in the minors didn't hurt this guy at all

 

[eburg5000]

What the hell is it with all these injuries? I don't recall this happening so much 5, 10, 20 years ago. Like they are now.