The second half

[steelparrot]

I can't say if the Reds pitchers are figuring it out or if they caught the Parrots scraping up the remnants of the rest of their fucked up season.

Its went to hell in a hand basket for my buccos.

The race for the cellar is getting close!

 

[JohnU]

I think it's safe to say that not many of these meathooks belongs in the big leagues.
Cody Reed needs to be released.
Rookie Davis and Jackson Stephens are AAA pitchers.
So is Hernandez, Luke Farrell, Chacin, Mella, Shackelford, Adleman and a couple of others.
I get it about shutting down guys toward the end but there is no reason a shutdown starter couldn't get a couple of high leverage relief innings in Sept. instead of hauling out 18 fuckin' losers to throw softballs to a team that is trying to win a post-season spot.
I hope the front office isn't telling itself it's impressing the fans by bringing up all these young prospects. These are not prospects. They are an insult to MLB.

 

[eburg5000]

I hope the front office isn't telling itself it's impressing the fans by bringing up all these young prospects. These are not prospects. They are an insult to MLB.

I think they are trying to get an early start to spring training. Or they are trying to fill the park up with all their families

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I think you're right on top of it Eburg. That was my thinking after game one in this series. The Reds aren't trying to win at this stage. They're evaluating talent, or in many cases the lack thereof.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Reds used their 31st pitcher of the season last night. Only two worked 100+ innings in the Majors. I'd guess about one third of the names on that list won't be around come next ST.

The rotation competition has improved. Castillo, Romano, Mahle, and Stephenson have all made strong cases as the season winds down.

What to do with the rest will be interesting to see. There's only so many spots at AAA and the MLB staff. The Reds have a log jam of under performing starting pitchers.

The bullpen remains in shambles. After Iglesias, Lorenzen, and Peralta, it's anyone's guess as to makes this club next OD.

 

[JohnU]

I think you're right on top of it Eburg. That was my thinking after game one in this series. The Reds aren't trying to win at this stage. They're evaluating talent, or in many cases the lack thereof.

I'd buy this if the numbers these guys have posted in the minors didn't already show they are marginal talents to start with. I don't know what the minors are supposed to expose, frankly, if all it yields is bringing up a bunch of guys who sit in the bullpen for 28 days. Nobody is going to be all that giddy over a pitcher who goes 2 innings, walks 3, gives up 3 doubles and lets a guy steal third on his delivery to home plate. And doesn't get to the plate to show if he can bunt. (Bring on the next guy.)
To be fair, none of this matters if we don't care about beating the Cardinals or making it tough on Boston or the Cubs. There's otherwise no real value to this farce and it's going to force MLB into making changes in how the callups are handled. The cost in company dollars isn't the issue -- it's about $90K per player, I think is what I heard.
It's just not very interesting and it's not at all productive.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I couldn't agree more John.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

It'll be interesting to see how they handle Amir Garrett next season.

Even though it seems he just got here, he's been in the system for a while. He's been slow to develop and used his third and last option year this season.

He's in the Yorman Rodriguez zone when ST rolls around.

 

[JohnU]

It'll be interesting to see how they handle Amir Garrett next season.

Even though it seems he just got here, he's been in the system for a while. He's been slow to develop and used his third and last option year this season.

He's in the Yorman Rodriguez zone when ST rolls around.

I don't think Garrett's mechanics are bad but that may be the problem. There isn't much he can do to fix things that aren't broken, meaning he's as good as he ever will be. If he can throw strikes, fine, but he isn't going to beat anybody. At worst, he probably will not have arm problems. As weird as it sounds, I think he looks more like a first baseman than a pitcher. I don't know if he can hit.

 

[JohnU]

Why am I being deluded into think the pitching on the Reds staff is going to be better next year?
Half of them are on the DL, 3 of them aren't even allowed to finish the season, and the rest of them can't get anybody out.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Reds have a press conference scheduled this afternoon to announce extending Tucker Barnhart.

The preliminary reports are a 4 yr $16M deal with a $7.5M club option or $500k buyout for 2022.

That adds1-2 years of team control depending on the option for a reasonable price.

I like adding club option years in lieu of buying free agent seasons as they did with Mesoraco. I probably don't need to elaborate why.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Why am I being deluded into think the pitching on the Reds staff is going to be better next year?

I think we're all dillusional thinking this team could accomplish the simplest of our expectations the final 12 games.

They already missed my goal of winning the season series over the Cards. They're 3 GB of the Parrots with 9 to go and 70 wins is starting to look as likely as the possibility of flying a kite to the moon.

 

[eburg5000]

The Reds playing against the Cardinals seemed like they could care less. At least the Cardinals were happy.

 

[JohnU]

The Reds playing against the Cardinals seemed like they could care less. At least the Cardinals were happy.

I kinda picked up on that. Price last week basically said he wasn't going to be stressed about it because his interest was the Reds, but he was also not unaware of the importance of the games to the other teams. After the meltdown by Stephens on Tuesday, I think Price threw in the towel.

The Barnhart deal seems like a winner for the Reds. They get a guy they need in lieu of Mesoraco and can basically find him to be cheap trade meat in 3 years if necessary. Front-loading that deal is a nice feature and I am sure Barnhart is OK with it too.

 

[JohnU]

I will be interested to see how this front office tries to sell this pitching staff over the winter.
2 of the planned starters haven't thrown 30 innings all year.
2 of the others were shut down 2 weeks ago.
1 of the others has about average stuff.
The rest of them are batting practice.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Well, at least Bronson had a nice weekend. That seemed to be more important than winning a game or two.

The Reds marketing will do anything to sell a few more tickets.

Bronson left as free agent for the money. Snubbed the Reds last year and signed with Washington. Was a middle of the rotation guy his entire career, so did he really deserve all the hoolpa?

 

[eburg5000]

Bronson left as free agent for the money. Snubbed the Reds last year and signed with Washington. Was a middle of the rotation guy his entire career, so did he really deserve all the hoolpa?

One thing about pro sports. Money is the bottom line.

Bronson was popular with the players and fans. So who knows.

 

[eburg5000]

Deck McGuire is going into the rotation Tuesday. I guess he's been in the bullpen a few weeks now. I don't know what to say. Would it have been that damaging for Castillo and Mahle to pitch a few more innings. Instead they throw just about anyone out there on the mound. talk about tanking the rest of the season.

Hell if they had anymore home games they could have a drawing, and the winner could come out of the stands and pitch.

 

[JohnU]

Price said earlier that he was aware of the pennant race enviroment but in the end was dealing with the Reds, not the Red Sox. So he was true to form on that one.

Price and the FO clearly don't care if they win any more games this season and if they say otherwise, they can just allude to the fact that '2018 is the goal.'

I think shutting down Mahle and Castillo was just that. Just do the weights, the stairs and the windsprints. Watch video and pay attention.

I really don't know if the Bronson moment was anything other than a diversion. I suppose there are very few guys in the last decade who are as endearing as Bronson. He's the rebel but he knows where his fan base lies. I had no problem with them acknowledging him but it's about selling '61' jerseys.

One could see a similar scenario for Jay Bruce.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

In this most recent era of players, you see a lot of Votto and Phillips jerseys at GABP. You see some Jay Bruce, but very few Bronson Arroyo.

Other than Votto and Phillips, you see more Bench, Morgan, and Rose jerseys than any current player. The marketing department honors the BRM at every opportunity for obvious rea$on$.

Did anyone else hear the stories of how pissy Brandon Phillips was when he came to GABP as a Braves players? He was mad beause they assigned his number 4 to Scooter Gennett. Wasn't anything to do with Scooter, just that the Reds didn't retire his number. Any thoughts on that subject?