This team can't hit

[JohnU]

Chico, the lineup is pretty easy to fix.

Choo, Votto, Phillips, Bruce, Frazier, Robinson (Paul), catcher, Cozart, pitcher.

 

[Kate Upton]

As I wrote, I couldn't care less. They did, however, report that they DO have trouble with risque avatars and asked everyone to tone them down. I just post here.

Oh I know you don't have an issue. I wasn't inferring that at all.

But like I said, I'm not exactly hiding, so if there's a problem with it, they can let me know, and I'll change it without a problem.

 

[Kate Upton]

Chico, the lineup is pretty easy to fix.

Choo, Votto, Phillips, Bruce, Frazier, Robinson (Paul), catcher, Cozart, pitcher.

I like that. It's outside the box, and they way things are going with the team right now, is probably optimal.

Where is it written that Votto absolutely MUST hit 3rd?

 

[HammerDown]

Upton, please change it.

 

[Kate Upton]

Upton, please change it.

You got it

 

[eburg5000]

Agreed that no one really likes Cozart batting 2nd. I really don't mind the left, right thing so much, but it wouldn't hurt that much when a righty is pitching. To put a left handed hitter up front in the order would it. Another words "It doesn't have to be a religion"

 

[Redsfan1507]

Personally, I like the Kate.

 

[chico ruiz]

john. that lineup would handcuff any manager in the later innings of a close ballgame, of which there are many. having choo 1 and votto 2 would allow the opposing manager to bring in a lefty to face them both and be happy with getting one of them out. also, dusty has won a couple games this year pinch hitting for cozart, w/ paul, when the opposing manager has countered with a hard throwing righty relief pitcher. actually dusty has several alternatives for that situation. but, it's probably taking phillips out of the 4 hole that is the worst idea. phillips, even when he is slumping and rolling over on pitches, hits the ball. simply hitting the ball will sometimes produce runs. there's a reason BP leads the league in RBI's. a strikeout in that position is a game loser / rally killer, and bruce has a propensity for just that. for long stretches in fact. you want BP at the plate with runners on as much as possible, and you can hide jay's short comings a little bit in the 5 hole. in addition, you're squeezing your 3 best hitters into the top of the order. you severely decrease balance with that lineup. when bruce disappears, 4 thru 8 could potentially become a dead zone. that's not a easy fix john. that's a lineup card that would get baker fired if he filled it out with regularity. maybe that's what your angling for. i can see trying the switch hitting robinson at #2, maybe.

 

[JohnU]

The best alternative would be to teach Cozart to hit. Since that hasn't happened, replacing the dugout staff would be a solution.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I agree with Chico on at least one point-Dusty isn't going to make any moves that could be held against him. He's like a doctor that never prescribes anything for an ailing patient. If the patient (lineup) dies, it's Gods will, and if it lives, his status quo was the right call. Personally, any manager that is content to never change a .200 hitter in one of the top 2 lineup spots is criminally negligent. This isn't new, it's a Dusty trademark. One thing is certain, the 2 hitter comes to the plate more often than the 8 hitter...it makes little sense to have Cozart hitting there, since damn near everyone else in the lineup is more likely to hit than he. Late inning L/R matchups wouldn't be nearly the fear for Dusty If he managed a better game for the first 6 or 7 innings. Just saying.

 

[BuckBearcat]

Someone posted a twitter feed about the Reds scoring so many runs - among the tops in the league. I know this is old news, but I still think the trend is continuing. When the Reds had played 29 games, they had scored 126 runs (something like 3rd in the league). 60 of those 126 runs, however, had come in 5 games, which means in the other 24 they were averaging 2.75 runs a game.

 

[JohnU]

I think most "team" averages are deceptive.

The Reds have done a ***little*** better lately moving people around but the reason Votto has no RBI is because Choo reaches, Cozart pops up, Votto gets Choo to third and Phillips drives him home. If anybody was paying attention, it's easy to establish why BP is the league leader in RBI.

Bruce and Frazier both strike out too much in the 5-6 spots and the 7 hole is so unpredictable as to be amusing.

I agree that just sliding everyone up in the order doesn't fix much but it doesn't break anything either. Choo isn't good against lefties and not many hitters really are. Against lefties, we just need to get more breaks.

Breaks is part of the game.

The problem isn't Cozart, per se ... it's the philosophy of the hitting coach. Cozart isn't blind and he's not useless. He can hit better than he has. So could Drew Stubbs.

 

[jdombar]

The Right/Left thing doesn't make a difference, when hitters don't work counts in innings 1-6. The Reds let far too many pitchers go deep in games because they swing early in counts at bad pitches. If you can knock a pitcher out by the 6th inning, then R/L thing works and helps to work through the bull pen. I'd like to see a stat of how many games the Reds have won in innings 7-9 against relief pitchers, my guess is it is a solid win percentage.

 

[MHubbuch]

Brooke Jacoby is the issue, Should have been fired a long time ago

 

[Redsfan1507]

I don't think Dusty's advise to Cozart to be more aggressive is going to help. The guy k's a ton and never walks now...and occasionally breaks that monotony by an infrequent homer or GB DP...not that Dusty would notice. I just think there is too much pressure on a young Glove first player to hit in the 2 spot. Currently, anyone playing LF should be a better (skills) choice, but Fustaroo doesn't ask me.

 

[JohnU]

Derrick Robinson could be the short-term solution.
Here's the deal. We need to bake cookies while the oven is hot with Choo.
This is a leadoff guy who comes along every 15 years.

 

[chico ruiz]

i don't know how much this matters, but cozart hasn't really k'd that much this year compared to 2012. he's on pace to strike-out a lot less this year. in fact, of the big 6, he's k'd the least. if he could just use the whole field, and hit to the right side with more frequency, it would improve his value significantly. hard to put runners in motion when you know zack is going to hit the ball to the left side 99% of the time. he seems incapable of hitting behind runners. i guess you can blame jacoby, if you need a scapegoat. but, it's been a league wide discussion about a lot of young hitters for the last year. being more aggressive or consistently being behind in the count? cozart doesn't do well when he's 0-2, or 1-2. being aggressive is probably the best way for him to grow, albeit slowly, and reach his full offensive potential. just maybe further down in the order.

 

[JohnU]

You blame anybody who is in a position to help the guy and doesn't get the job done.
I also noticed tonight in the first inning that Izturis, hitting .175 (and batting left as a switchie) popped up to left. After that, yeah ... now you know why BP leads in RBI.
After that, Dusty decides to run BP with 2 strikes on Bruce. Ah ... yeah, lucky Bruce fouled it off.

I ain't defendin' anybody except Bryan Price.

 

[JohnU]

So does Cesar Izturis want to win the popup award for the year?
If he bunts, the Reds have a run.
Never mind.

 

[chico ruiz]

take it easy john. no one expects you defend anybody. there's plenty of blame to go around. the reds have some weaknesses, which we've discussed ad nauseam. izturis is a very good bunter. that surprised me a little bit too, but i don't know what that has to do with bp leading the league in rbi's. i was at the game, and a couple of things stood out. frazier is struggling mightily. and bp might be the best defensive 2nd baseman i've ever seen.