Regular Season

[Hit-n-Run]

We're three games into the regular season... time to start a new thread.

Been a while since I've seen the weather this bad for the first 4 games. It's been cold, windy, rainy, and sleet tonight. Hasn't helped attendance. OD was a record 43,000 + crowd, these next three games haven't been much more than that combined.

Watching Suarez play 3B is painful. He's been charged with 2 errors in one inning tonight and nearly had another earlier in the game.

Overall, this has been a ugly game. Both teams have squandered scoring opportunities against struggling pitchers and bad defense thru 5 and 1/2.

 

[eburg5000]

Sometimes games have a feel about them, you just know its going to go bad, and last night was one of those games.
I'm not a big Hoover fan, but I don't blame him for that loss last night. He didn't load the bases, This bullpen is getting a test early,.

 

[eburg5000]

Votto is stinking the place up so far, but I'm sure he will come out of it. Not so sure about Hamilton.

Jose Peraza is playing SS down in the minors, which I think is strange. I guess if Cozart goes down its good to have someone who can step in.

 

[TKOSpikes]

Billy finally leading off..... against Garrett Coles. Nice timing.

I wish they'd just give up the switch hitting experiment. Drives. Me. Crazy!

I highly doubt Peraza is ready... why rush it. I'm sure he will play all over down there.

 

[eburg5000]

I guess my point was, Hamilton is o for the season. And I'm wondering if he will ever be able to hit ML pitching, but I love his defense. And I hope he comes around. Peraza played a lot of cf in spring.

 

[Tubbs1518]

I've been fairly impressed with this team through 5 games and that's without much help from their best player. Can they keep this up? Not likely, but their young SP and Suarez and Schebler have impressed me

 

[JohnU]

I will post here unless this becomes another one of those dreadful tomes on what's wrong with the organization and when did they finally know it.

Votto will be fine.
Phillips has lost a step on defense. Clearly.
Suarez is worse than E5 at 3B but he hits.
Cozart really is a better hitter now. So is Bruce.
Hamilton won't last long. Tyler Holt gets CF.
Barnhart is a better catcher than Mesoraco.
Hoover is not very good.
Iglesias is very good.

 

[eburg5000]

It good to see you back John.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Glad to see you back John.

Had to pass on Saturday's game...I don't do snow at baseball, thank you. We had about 2 inches slowly melting at normal time to leave for a 1 PM game.

It's always nice to get off to a good start...but I'm afraid reality might set in next week in Chicago & St. Louis...although I think St. Louis' pitching isn't the greatest right now...speaking of that, anyone notice the Pirates hitting guys in the middle of their lineup that look more like 2 hitters and 7 hitters ? I don't expect the Reds to be good this year, but it may be harder to lose 98 games this year if the Cubs are the only real top notch team in the NLC.

I don't think the Reds bullpen can compete without a much stronger Reds offense than I expect, but I like the defense other than Suarez. Most NLC teams may have a better pen, but I don't think any of them will play comparable D with the Reds...and I've always been a believer when playing with a limited talent pool, to "not beat yourself, first"- meaning play D, pitch, and try to score a few by being smarter- move runners with outs when you can't string hits- steal before you bunt and where possible, hit the first fastball strike instead of the 2 strike breaking ball in the dirt. So far, the Reds have done that very well- Bruce has went the other way against the shift, Billy has walked, and a lot of guys have hit behind runners. Votto will come around, I have no doubt.

So far, only 1 baserunning gaffe- taking off from 3b on a pulled ball to the 3b when you aren't forced is suicide by stupidity, but even on that wasted runner, the trailer moved up. Baserunning is one area the Reds could really help themselves this year regardless of the talent. Reds 3b coaching has been abysmal for years- Maybe Hatcher will be better-at least he made a living scoring runs- a welcome change from former bullpen catchers, IMO.

I live Billy, but he may be allergic to hits. I also like his early season walks, but that can't last. He's going to get strikes, more than any other NL hitter, IMO, and if he can't stop getting 2 strikes before he puts the ball in play, it lessens the likelihood he will at all. I know the prototypical leadoff hitter should see a lot of pitches, but if he isn't going to hit or walk, I have to throw that out the window. I also don't believe hitting 9th helps Billy or the Reds. He needs to bunt (to someone besides the pitcher) more, early in counts, IMO. He also needs drastically to get his hands up and get a longer flat swing plane- if Ron Oester had Billy's speed, he might have won a batting title.

I'm pretty high on Peraza, if for no other reason he is a guy that appears to put the ball in play at a respectable rate, plays good D anywhere you play him, and has 30+ SB speed. I'd strongly consider him moving to 3b and playing Suarez in the OF, when or if, the current OF group falls back to mediocrity....and of course, if Billy can't hit above the Mendoza line, Peraza can play CF. No slam on Cozart, but Peraza may be the leadoff hitter of the not so distant future. I don't think his playing SS at AAA is wasted, if he's destined to be a MLB infielder- not that much adjustment to move to 2b or even 3b from there. I think Peraza's PT conundrum was made cloudier by DuVall's good spring- DuVall can also play 3b and LF, and of course is the 1b backup if Votto needs a rest, and although he may wind up being an all or nothing hitter, he does have some power.

 

[JohnU]

Reds tried to turn Hamilton into a SH when he was in Dayton. He didn't get any better at it. Why do they think that will change? If he was learning to hit righty, maybe. Hitting lefty is tough for a right-handed thrower.

I think the deal with the Parrots is that Kang is their 3B and when he returns, Freese will drop down, when he plays. Not sure where Freese fits in with that. I think Hurdle is just winging it for now. So far, it works. Harrison is a nice player. They stuck their neck out on the Polanco contract.

I can't say that the pitching so far is any good. Nobody can throw in the cold.

Hatcher has already proven to be a better 3B coach than anyone they had since Alex Grammas.

Pacheco on the roster has already paid off with 2 pinch hit attempts by Mesoraco. That could be worth a win or two along the way.

 

[JohnU]

I hope nobody thinks Tim Melville is anybody other than Herman Melville with baseball card.

 

[Tubbs1518]

I don't care if Suarez can't field for shit, he is our best hitter so far.

 

[eburg5000]

I don't know what to think... so I'm just going to enjoy this while it last.

I wish I could put a smile on Walter.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

That's OK Eburg....everyone knows Jeff Dunham is smiling for him.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I can't remember if I've ever seen a SP throw 92 pitches in 4 innings and only give up one run. Not a recipe for victory, but it worked today.

The series was full of squandered opportunities by the Pirates. I think they were 5-35 with RISP and 34 LOB if I counted right. Kang was missing, but I don't think the Pirates are any better than the Reds offensively. The biggest difference is going to be the bullpens.

The NL-C does look to be weaker at the top than recent years. I'd be really surprised if the top three teams win as many games as last year (295).

IMO, Billy Hatcher is a lousy 3rd Base coach. He was bad in Arizona ST and hasn't been any better this week. He holds runners that should be scoring and has created confusion at times for the trail runner with late decision making. The run Brandon Phillips scored standing up Friday night, Hatcher had him holding at 3rd base with two outs. Holding a runner that should be scoring isn't as noticeable as getting runners thrown out, but they both can cost a team runs.

Billy Hatcher gets a nice round of applause when introduced as fans remember his 1990 WS feats, but I'd already fired him. This is a poor base running team and Hatcher not only coaches 3rd base, he's also the base running coach. The Reds may have a developmental base running problem, but it's not getting better when they reach the Majors.

 

[JohnU]

Agreed on Hatcher today costing the Reds a run holding Bruce on DuVall's double. DuVall didn't do himself any favors.

I remain cautiously optimistic. Holding Cozart was probably a good idea. Hatcher could be over-compensating for past criticisms. The last 2 years have been a disaster on the bases.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Bryan Price has stated in interviews that runners on 3rd are generally being given the sign to go on contact. There's been plenty of runners thrown out the past couple seasons, but a lot of the runners being thrown out are a result of the Price's philosophy and poor execution by the batter.

Other teams have simliar philosophies, but with less than two outs, I'd rather see the base runner reading the ball off the bat, not blindly running into a out.

 

[JohnU]

Well, there are multiple reasons for losing 98 games.
I will need to see this team go around the league before passing much judgment on the skills aspect of the game. Currently, I am marginally impressed with the way Price has managed the pitching, the Ohlendorf meltdown perhaps an outlier. I don't think I give Jumbo 2 innings. Cotham, maybe. I assume Finnegan is going to stay in the rotation, so the lone lefty is still Cingrani. Disco apparently is going to be out at least the rest of April.

 

[chico ruiz]

speaking of aggressive instinctive base running, watch the jackie robinson burns doc tonite if you get a chance. from way back in the days when you could slide through the base. sharp grounder / slow roller and a split second to recognize and react. there's more deking going on out there than meets the eye. the third bad coach? they're more alike league wide than you may know. all the reds need to employ the style price wants, which i like, is a couple more hitters who make consistent contact. i completely agree w/ 1507 on peraza. i understand what your saying h-n-r, but is it bad base running judgment or is it good defense? or maybe it's good base running and good defense. i hope those intersections don't continue to wane in mlb. isn't that the beauty part of the game you referenced earlier? do you send harrison on jaso's single to duvall? if i'm sofield, i do. pirate fans are probably second guessing him as well. regardless, you got to see one of the best plays of the day. mesoraco was twisted up like a pretzel and his hip held up. duvall has a average arm in left field, but made a near perfect one hop throw to home. yes, the beauty of the game. if a guy wants to be the 3rd base coach, and embraces that role, without being tentative, well hell, he's perfect for the damn job. give him a little time. you may be surprised at the results.

 

[eburg5000]

I usually agree with you guys, but I couldn't disagree more about Hatcher. To many runners being thrown out on sharp ground balls hit to left. The left fielder has the ball ready to throw by the time the runner is passing third. sending the runners like that causes to many outs to many injury's.. I'd rather be conservative on that
Now the Reds base running is just bad and has been for a while