ST thread

[JohnU]

So I see where Sean Marshall's shoulder still isn't right. What exactly about this surprises me?

As well, I read this about our top prospect. Exactly when were we supposed to learn that this kid has had a sore shoulder? It's not like a sprained finger. I tell ya, the Reds front office would be perfect for a job in the government. And this about him breaking into the rotation "at some point" .... what the fuck does that mean?

Reds' Robert Stephenson to be held back a few days

| CBSSports.com (Enquirer)

The team is holding Stephenson back for precautionary reasons. He has had bouts of shoulder soreness throughout his minor-league career, so the team wants to be sure his shoulder is strong before pushing him. Stephenson is considered the team's top prospect, and should break into the club's rotation at some point this season.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Someone is always hurt, some stay that way. A few get paid a long time for not playing. Marshall can get $250,000 a year in interest on what he's already made, and still keep his $10M the Reds have paid him, not including the MLB pension. I don't feel sorry for those guys- they could have gotten run over with a forklift making $8/hr if they weren't throwing a baseball for a living.

Bonus babies often get a couple million to sign. They should hang onto most of it until they graduate to Marshall's disability pay rate.

Non-US free agents have been paid since they were 14 in some cases.

Camp signees, 32nd round picks, and 2 year college partial ride dissapointments wind up just as crippled, at jobs they don't get paid for if they miss work. Sorry for them, but at least they gave it a shot.

I don't get the guys like CC Sabathia- who show up making $20 M/ yr, weighing 335 saying its 305 and the extra 20-40 lbs. makes him feel stronger...coming off a knee surgery he might not have needed if he avoided the buffet a few days a week.

 

[JohnU]

So we are looking at one or two spots to fill, tops.
Unless Price goes with 12 pitchers, which if he asked me, he would ... I assume Suarez and Negron have made the team. Schumaker and Pena are the lefty bench bats. I assume one other outfielder is on the short list -- Bourgeois would be the likely choice.
Would the Reds keep Barnhart on the big team?
Probably Lutz or maybe Waldrip.
Or Stormin' Yorman. I thought Boesch was a candidate. He is a camp invitee.


REDS 40-MAN ROSTER AS OF THE 23RD

NON ROSTER INVITEES

 

[Redsfan1507]

Lots of pitching spots up for grabs. A minimum of 2 rotation spots to fill, 3 if Bailey isn't healthy. Never know if Maholm or Marquis might stick...Desclafani, Corcino, Holmberg, Iglasias appear to have a shot. Chapman, Parra, Jumbo, Hoover, probably Badenhop are in...Marshall is still crippled, and there are ar least 3 other lefties including Cingrani in the mix- one of them is probable if Marshall is DL bound.

Maholm is a soft throwing lefty with 5th starter experience, but he probably isn't a great answer. Not sure there are 2 great rotation answers in camp for those spots, but someone is going to get them.

I count 11 position locks barring injury- Meso,Pena,Votto,Phillips,Frazier,Cozart, Suarez, Bruce,Hamilton, Byrd, Schumaker. That leaves 2 spots. Bourgeois is a 33 year old triple A player. Yorman, Lutz and Negron make it a 4 man competition unless they sign another hitchhiker. Barnhart is a long shot 3rd catcher unless they figure lots of non catching AB's for Meso and Pena, and I don't see that happening if Votto is healthy. I think they take 1 OF and 1INF from those guys.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Non roster list looks like cup of coffee minor leaguers of future consideration- Winkler, Stephenson, etc, and a Long Island Ducks tryout- Gregg, Marquis, etc. LeMarre used to be a prospect you heard about, but quiet lately.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

As we say every year injuries and minor league options play a role.

We should start seeing more information on the walking wounded. Marshall is the odds on pick to be moved to the 60 DL to make room on the 40 man for someone who might actually play. Homer probably won't be on the Opening Day roster. Schumacher is coming off surgery and I haven't heard much about his status.

The Reds have four players on the 40 man that are out of options. Negron, Lutz, Bourgeois, and Pedro Villarreal have to make the club or be DFA. Most of that group would clear waivers and be outrighted to Louisville if the Reds decide to make room for an non- roster invitee or a waiver wire pick up. Negron would be the one that might draw the most interest if exposed to waivers so I think he makes the cut.

Everyone else has options and as we all know the players that have the best ST don't always get invited to the dance.

 

[Redsfan1507]

True. Pitchers without sore arms usually get claimed, but I don't think that saves Villereal from getting waived. Lutz is blocked by better players at his positions 1b/LF, and not sure he's hit enough to look at as a PH. Bourgeois is too old to keep I think, unless the younger options all fail- he's probably a low level throw in trade. Negron can play INF & OF, not sure he will hit enough to stay a long time though.

Overall, I think this is the weakest camp roster in several years for our Reds. Better be healthy, or it may be a long tough year.

 

[JohnU]

I keep forgetting that Marquis and Maholm are in camp. Neither excites me but I said the same about Alfredo Pasta. I would agree that Marshall gets sent to the 60-day. I frankly see Cingrani starting the year at Lousyville.

I don't think Villarreal is a big-league pitcher unless he wants to go into long relief. As long as he doesn't cost too much, he is probably OK, just like Jumbo.



I see Negron making the roster. He achieves everything except that he isn't a Latin-speaking infielder who hits .188 with no power.

I think big Lutz will be DFA, and he'll be picked up by some left-coast outfit that is still starved for offense.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Yeah, I think the idea of finding the unknown Roy Hobbs in camp isn't likely. It's pretty rare when you get a respectable year and a half of a Jered Burton or Manny Parra type castoff. A Josh Hamilton is a once in a lifetime storytale. I'm sure successful reclamations happen all the time, but am hard pressed to remember many that benefitted the Reds past a players age of mid twenties. It's why I'm skeptical of Maholm or Marquis being more than an unflattering short term trivia answer.

 

[JohnU]

So, Cingrani is indeed going to throw a spring game.
I really don't know how much I like this guy. He just did not impress me last year.

 

[JohnU]

Not sure where this goes but Boesch clearly isn't in the running for a roster spot if he's deeking balls at first base. He's a career AAA hitter. I thought he had a better shot at the Reds.

Reds' Brennan Boesch to see time at first base this spring
-- CBSSports.com
Reds manager Bryan Price indicated Friday that outfielder Brennan Boesch would see time at all three outfield spots as well as at first base as he competes for a roster spot this spring, MLB.com reports.

Boesch struggled in limited time with the Angels in 2014 but hit .332/.381/.636 with 25 home runs, 85 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 374 at-bats with Triple-A Salt Lake.

Hamilton given green light to work on bunting in spring

Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton told reporters he feels less pressure this season now that he's entering his sophomore season in the majors, per MLB.com.

The 24-year-old hit .250 as a rookie in 2014. He also finished second in the National League with 56 stolen bases. Hamilton revealed that he's working more on his bunting this spring, after registering 15 bunt hits last season. The club has given him the green light to experiment on his bunting in game action this spring.

 

[Redsfan1507]

These guys are idiots.

I worry about the semantics of the term "green light", especially with rookies, or any players that have shown themselves to have a strikezone the size of a refrigerator. I'd like to see a cognizant coach give signals in sensible situations, and actually see players execute on demand, instead of when they feel like it.

Boesch is probably preferred over Bourgeois, who is in his 30's, or Lutz, who is large and lefthanded but can't seem to hit a flyball in a MLB park.

If they really wanted to improve the team, they should have Mesoraco taking some infield at 1b, and shagging some balls in LF. It's the only way he's going to get close to 500 AB, and personally, I'd rather have 100 more AB's from him, than from anyone on the bench. You don't see the Giants happy with Posey getting 380 AB's do you ?

 

[JohnU]

I think Hamilton's ceiling on improvement is related to his ability to recognize what he does well and what he needs to do better. But just bunting more in spring training to see if he can do it ... I am apprehensive about the strategy. I recall Price saying the team would be more aggressive last year, so he hired Steve Smith to coach third base.

 

[Redsfan1507]

There is a fine line between aggressiveness and recklessness. 21 outs at the plate speaks to which was employed more last year. Now we have a new 3b coach. Todd Frazier stole 20 bases...that's good, right ? Half of those were tributes to shear shock he was going with such a lousy jump, and the forebearance of catchers that throw like DH's. I'd say this year, he will be lucky to get 50% on such attempts.

I do think that much of Price's strategy was due to desperation caused by having 6 out of 9 guys in the lineup likely to hit under .250. Hopefully, he'll have more ammo this year. He's going to need that if Cingrani, Desclafani and Marquis are all in the rotation.

 

[JohnU]

I agree. I think Smith and whoever ran him out there tried to "make things happen" against major league outfielders who can pretty much every time throw a peg to the plate when they are running in on a ground ball.

Stupid baseball is making things happen, all right. It means the defense is trotting in because it's their turn to bat.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Mark Sheldon wrote a article toward the end of the season breaking down the at the time 27 outs at home plate. I think they ended up with 28.

Local baseball stat guy Joel Luckhaupt had 10 pegged directly to Smith's incompetence. Another 11 were attributed to going on contact from third base. The other 6 were put on the individual player.

The part that bothered me the most was Price defended Smith and the overall issue. One of his pre-season revelations was accountability. That one fell to the wayside early in the process.

 

[JohnU]

I realize we can't blame it all on the coach. Every team gets guys thrown out at the plate.
Had the team actually had more baserunners at 2nd and 3rd and better situational hitting, I might have just said 'oh well' to some of it. But situational hitting either happens or it doesn't.
There were a lot of chances to get guys to 3rd base with no outs that ended up being a guy at 2nd with 2 outs.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Yea, the cliche knock on "sacrifices" is that managers don't want to "take the bat out of the hitters hands"...but what it really means is the MLB players ego(and contract bonuses) prefer to strike out trying to hit a homer than bunt a guy over... they call them "productive outs" for a reason- you don't have to bunt, a ground ball behind the runner or a long fly usually works- although if I were a player, I'd rather bunt after a signal (obvious managerial call) than take a chance swinging into a line out-pickoff on my own, or worse, stranding the runner.

I think it's a mixed bag of no signal, and players not executing to the situation, but either way, it speaks to lack if baseball IQ that results in fewer runs. I'm not a fan, especially on a team that struggles to score, with a majority of the lineup hitting under .260.

 

[JohnU]

Prediction: Donald Lutz makes the opening day roster. Votto won't be ready. This is a load of horse-shirt.

Reds' Price: Votto's absence from lineup shouldn't last too long

-- CBSSports.com
Reds manager Bryan Price reiterated Tuesday first baseman Joey Votto's absence from the spring lineup shouldn't be a lengthy one, per theCincinnati Enquirer.

Votto, who will not play in Tuesday's spring opener against the Indians, is behind other players in drills, including lateral movement and sliding.

"I don't anticipate it being in the middle of the schedule, it's really hard for me to say an exact date," Price said. "It really comes down to getting enough reps to where we're comfortable enough to put him out there and letting him play. It's not like we're going to see a huge separation between him and the rest of the guys."

Price added the team is just being cautious with Votto, who missed 100 games last season with a left knee injury.

"He's come this far, he's put in all the work to do this," Price said. "It just didn't make sense between the medical staff and myself until he gets as many ground balls and the opportunity to slide and cut and do all the drills and do all the things he wasn't able to do before he got to spring training."

 

[Redsfan1507]

I'm not sure who is the biggest culprit- the Med staff or Votto, but this has smelled fishy for too long. He's a 1b for chrissake- if he can squat to shit, he can play 1b. Let the guy jog around the bases if he has to, gain 30lbs and do a Big Papi impersonation...but he has to try.