Regular season -- 2nd half

[JohnU]

Tossing off the football score against LAD, the overall game hasn't been terrible. Baserunning continues to suck with Barnhart and Votto finding 3rd base a bit of a mystery. I tend to blame the coach for those. The team often plays like a 4th place team and sometimes like a last place team.
But the pitching is still pretty good into the 6th inning, sometimes later depending on the pen.
Still 2 years from contending at this pace.
Cozart needs to go on the DL so that we can bring up another guy who will sit in the corner of the dugout and take notes.

 

[eburg5000]

Hamilton is starting to be everything we hoped he would be. They may be some outfielders that are as good as he is, but I doubt there is any better.

 

[eburg5000]

That was a total meltdown on Monday by the pitching staff top to bottom. It was almost like batting practice for the Dodgers.... I was just wondering if they might have been stealing signs. If they did, they did a pretty good job at it, They wasted nothing.

 

[JohnU]

I think four of the pitchers the Dodgers used in that series went on the DL or were farmed out either the day after they pitched or just after they took a shower.

Bailey is inclined to have uneven outings. He needs another 6 weeks to catch up to the league.
Josh Smith is just ordinary with some streaks of OK pitching.
Jumbo just is.

But when the air is hot in Cincy, those day games are inclined to be that way with fly-ball pitchers. Odd that the Reds hit no home runs.

But yeah, the LA hitters knew what was coming.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Reds were in 4th place for a day, then the Brewers run off 4 wins in a row..... Two games back.

Most guys returning from TJ are inconsistent, so Homer has been as expected from start to start. I don't know if it's as much of catching up to the league as it is just getting back to normal. For the most part Homer hasn't pitched for two seasons having two different season ending surgeries. He's shown that the talent is still there, but hasn't maintained any carryover consistency. I'd imagine regaining the feel for pitching is the last component to return, if it ever does.

I'd agree the ball flys out of GABP on hot summer days, but the Dodgers HR DERBY Monday was on one of the coolest days of this summer. I think the temp was in the mid 70's with a slight breeze blowing in. A beautiful day unless you were rooting for the Reds. Why the HR barrage? I'd guess a lot of guys were looking for something to drive and the pitcher obliged.

I think describing Josh Smith as ordinary is as good a description as anyone needs to know. I'd put Tim Adleman in the same class. Both can show signs of a plus breaking pitch, but throw too many average ones with a hanger mixed in.

 

[JohnU]

Cutting Adleman some slack, he was never expected to be much more than filler and he has met that criteria. Unlike Straily, who brought a little more of a repertoire with him. Adleman will give a decent outing most of the time and really could have gotten a break last night had Votto turned that DP before the 3-run homer. The shot to Darvish was just a brain cramp and I'd guess the one to Desmond was out of frustration. Either way, that's a game the Reds want to win if they expect to contend in future years.

 

[eburg5000]

The Brewers have won 4 straight and they just started a 10 game home stand against a cold Rockies team. Brewers are getting hot right now. But they do have 4 with the Pirates and 3 with the Cards. The Reds have just lost 3 out of 4 and are heading to the west coast,
Losing 3 out of 4 sure dampened my misguided hopes, of getting to 70+ wins

 

[JohnU]

I think winning 1 out of 3 now will avoid 100 losses, which would be a minor victory in the grand scheme.

 

[eburg5000]

I'll be glad when Barnhart gets back because, Cabrera Is Not a good defensive catcher. In fact he seems to be below average.

 

[JohnU]

Lots of bad catchers in MLB. They get a job because nobody else can do it.

 

[JohnU]

Looks like the Reds bullpen problems are .................. well, yeah ... I guess they still pretty much suck.

 

[Redsfan1507]

So, does anyone else think that the plan isn't really to leave Iglesias IN THE PEN...just limiting his innings this year ?

Peraza looks like a starting position player to me...but I don't think BP is moving, and Cozart isn't expensive and is a damned fine SS, so what about moving Peraza to 3b, Suarez to LF and Duval to RF ? I wouldn't miss Schebler too much. Barnhart has done well behind the plate, but this team needs a bat like Mesoraco's before the bum hip, and I don't think Schebler's the guy.

I don''t think Cabrera could catch the clap in Newport, much less a breaking ball in the dirt.

I know it's early after the DL for him, but Homer looks like he's going to live up to his name. The guy looks like a thinner version of Alfredo Simon.

 

[eburg5000]

This doesn't change much, or maybe it would have. But did anyone who watched the game yesterday see when Rickie I can only hit against the Reds, Weeks slide into 3rd. It looked to me like he was out by more than a foot, but Price didn't even think about challenging the play. I slowed it down and the tag was there easily, sure looked like he was out. That would have been the 3rd out, and they scored 2 more runs after that.
Maybe the Reds replay guy had to go to the bathroom at the time, And Suarez didn't say anything. but it looked like he was out to me

 

[JohnU]

Reds are trying to soft peddle Homer's issues and they might be right about it. He doesn't seem to be emotionally ready to pitch. I guess this is the year to play through that, since the record is not the point.

Other pitching ... I see Disco, Straily and maybe Stephenson moving forward with a decent rotation. The tricks after that are with Cody Reed and probably Amir Garrett. Fillin guys like Adleman are not hard to get, and really ... he's not the worst I've seen. The odd guy out here is John Lamb, who is a lefty Bronson Arroyo if he can either cut his hair or throw a breaking ball for a strike. Bronson was able to do both off and on.

I think IF Reed can finally get people out, they may put Finnegan in the pen. I like Iglesias there for now but he is probably a starter. I think the stress on his shoulder was a legit concern. Lorenzen seems destined for the back end of the bullpen. That leaves Cingrani and whoever else isn't showing up high on the radar. Never know ... the Reds could sign another Cuban any day now.

Key to the puzzle is Reed. He has to learn to pitch or the Reds will have to make a deal. Not easy these days.

Homer, for the moment, isn't part of an equation.

BP is going to cut his own cord with the Reds and I personally think he is going to make them "pay" for the perceived slight he got on the contract. So unless Price pulls him, BP can safely say he belongs in the lineup. I think Peraza will just have to wait it out. He could play 3B and the Reds could actually make a trade for Suarez.

I don't think many people on this team are sacred cows. Hamilton may be.

I think Schebler may end up being a better version of Bruce. I like the guy a little.

Obviously our top draft picks for the last few years, Winker included, make some sense in terms of what to do with Suarez and Duvall.

 

[JohnU]

On replay, Price has gotten screwed so often on that (the Hamilton out was an example) ... I think he's decided it doesn't matter. What a fucking joke. Umps just call whatever they want and let New York do the work for them.

 

[eburg5000]

I couldn't figure out what NY saw on that play that I didn't , but hell it was one of those games AZ was destined to win anyway. every break went their way. Sometimes games just go that way

 

[Redsfan1507]

I saw a game a week or so ago- they called NY for review, and ...no one answered.. call stands because ...no one was at work.

I think replay sucks. How can they bitch about the speed of the game, and give away a half hour second guessing umpires ?

 

[JohnU]

I am OK with replay on some things like trapped balls instead of catches ... not much else. The umpires have turned the game over to the cameras and strut around like they are in charge of things. Funny thing is, I go to indy games all the time and the umpiring is brutal. All the managers can do is complain.

 

[JohnU]

Oh em gee ... Simon sucks just as bad as he ever did. Looks like the Angels knew what Straily was going to throw.

 

[eburg5000]

Straily was do to get hammered. Simons big league career, may be at its end. The Reds have been giving up runs in bunches the last 8 games. I'm starting wonder if the Reds can win 63 games this year.

I was always amazed how quickly infielders got the tag down and got the out. Now with replay and my DVR, I see that they miss the tag about 70% of the time. Until Replay, if the ball got there 1st the runners were usually out. Not anymore. But I agree they need to do something with it