This team stinks

[Kate Upton]

Ludwick had 2-1/2 good months last year, and 6 good months the prior few Sean's combined. No different that Jonny Gomes before him, except Gomes didn't get $13 million. The biggest detriment Ludwick's absence has made, is it allowed Dusty to fall of the top of the order wagon and put another 8 hitter there, and move BP back into the 4 hole, where he hits.260 trying to pull short fence HR into inning ending 2 on DPs. Meanwhile, the ONLY 30 HR capable hitter, Bruce, hits 5th so that a situational LOOGY in the 7th inning won't face back to back lefty hitters. It's insanity.

I'm confident that Ludwick could easily repeat last season with half his games in GABP.

And yes, Bruce should be hitting 4th, Phillips 2nd, and Cozart 8th or in Louisville.

This splitting up the lefties nonsense is absurd, especially when you consider that Bruce has hit lefties pretty damn well this season.

 

[Redsfan1507]

The HOF is full of lefty 3-4 hitting tandems, but not so much for managers without World Series Titles. BTW, history says that only 5 of the last 50 World Champs DIDN'T have at least 1 LHSP, and 1 of them played a team that didn't have one either. It's hard for me to fathom 50 years of sample size, with 90% verification, being ignored repeatedly by the guy assigning rotation spots on this team. I don't think Dusty wants to underperform, he just wants to win his way, and is too stubborn to admit he's doing it wrong. He is very good at making it difficult to fire him...as his 1600 plus wins ( and nearly that many losses) shows.

 

[BigBlueNation111]

Cozart stole 30 bases a season in the minors, and has had ZERO attempts. He was a 4:1 K:BB hitter, that earned his job on defense. So it's his fault he can't be successful as a 2 hitter ? You can paint a zebra brown, but you can't make him into a racehorse.

 

[JohnU]

I suppose I would like to see that something is going to materialize out of thin air that makes all my bitching seem like I am clueless. But there's no evidence that there's a Puig or a Harper or even another Gary Redus in the box.

There's nothing wrong with the Reds in the team they put on the field.
I weary of listening to announcers with their blathering about the Reds defense or their relief pitching or their HR power ... and all the while conceding that they play in GABP. As if they didn't play anywhere else.

There's nothing wrong with the ballparks, folks. A base hit in Yellowstone is the same as one in the Dairy Queen Little League complex.

Even if they decide to "get it together," it will be a product of luck, not design.

And eventually, teams that get it together by luck will be exposed as frauds.

This is what the Reds have become.

Frauds. What annoys me is that the people who are in a position to make this point are still bluttering around talking about RISP. Is that the ONLY "stat" these idiots know now?

RISP is not a stat, it's an opportunity.

 

[MilkSpiller22]

but back to my question about billy hamilton... how can cozart, heisey, robinson, and paul take a spot away from this kid... i get that he is struggling in the minors, and may not be that good, but if his speed is for real he can make a huge difference for a team that has nearly no speed...

 

[WvuDieHard]

This team will not steal bases because Dustmop doesn't believe in that. Yet I watch a thug with no great speed named Molina steal 2nd and 3B on just watching the pitchers. Cozart, Phillips, and Choo should be stealing bases. They just get instructed not to by the toothpicker. This is just stupidity working at its finest level. You don't have to be a speed demon to steal bases. You just have to be smart and pick your pitches.

 

[smokerch15]

Besides the obvious mechanical flaws in many of our "hitters," how about the general lack of common sense?

1 out, BP walks on 4 pitches. Bruce gets ahead 2-0 (count em now, that's 6 straight out of the zone)...
Bruce swings at the next 2 pitches... Meanwhile, BP gets picked off first (like he was going anywhere in the first place)

Bruce ends up walking (count em now, that's back-to-back walks)
Robinson to the plate (his first AB against this pitcher thanks to the Heisey injury)... He swings at ALL 3 pitches- inning over.

Dumb.

 

[JohnU]

I think adding Billy Hamilton to this mix would be a mistake of epic proportions. He can't hit and he won't be taught to hit. But he will hit leadoff because that's why they made him play CF. If he was left at SS, he'd have to bat second.


I agree on Molina. The Cardinals learn how to run the bases, read the pitchers, get a jump on balls in the dirt ... when was the last time a Reds baserunner (rare as they are) actually outran a throw on a ball in the dirt? I mean, if it's in the dirt, you ought to be able to make it if you move on the pitch.

Derek Robinson is showing himself to be a AAA outfielder. He's the best we have, evidently.

Cozart, the catcher, the pitcher and the LF are all outs on this team. That's 4 out of 9.
The rest of the team just needs to get lucky.
Luck doesn't happen to hitters who can't read a pitch.

These guys clearly aren't working on anything in the film room.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Earl Weaver won a lot of games with the same kind of offensive philosophy Dusty has...of course half a dozen HOF ers on the team makes that easier to swallow. Ultimately, I believe in balance, and this team just doesn't display much of it...not L/R balance but diversity of ways to score is what I mean. The real bottom line for me is winning, and the Reds media citing the W-L record while we're 5 games out in 3rd place and dropping against cellar quality teams, acting like every 3 hit performance was the result of superior pitching by teams with 5.00 ERA's, is just pissing down our backs and telling us it's raining.

If something isn't working, I'd like to at least try sonethibg else before I resign myself nothing more can be done.

I guess that makes me a site loser, huh ?

 

[JohnU]

Reds have runners at the corners and 1 out, Leake at bat.
I don't care if Leake is a good hitter for a pitcher, he's hitting .139.
So instead of bunting the guy to 2nd to let Choo bat, Dusty lets Leake GIDP.
No fuckin' wonder we are pissed off.

 

[Kate Upton]

Reds have runners at the corners and 1 out, Leake at bat.
I don't care if Leake is a good hitter for a pitcher, he's hitting .139.
So instead of bunting the guy to 2nd to let Choo bat, Dusty lets Leake GIDP.
No fuckin' wonder we are pissed off.

3 runs through 3 though...

That's uh...something.

 

[JohnU]

Leake can't throw a strike, so he grooves one.
Then walks the next guy.
This is not going to end pretty, folks.

 

[Kate Upton]

Leake can't throw a strike, so he grooves one.
Then walks the next guy.
This is not going to end pretty, folks.

Oh ye of little faith...

You're acting like that dumbass who started this thread!

 

[JohnU]

Yeah, but jus' you wait, 'Enry 'Iggins ...

In front of every silver lining is a black cloud.

 

[Kate Upton]

Yeah, but jus' you wait, 'Enry 'Iggins ...

In front of every silver lining is a black cloud.

Haha Yep...and that's baseball.

But also remember...

 

[JohnU]

And you can't just throw a chicken under a bus.

 

[Kate Upton]

Yeah? Well...

 

[JohnU]

Or a parrot

 

[JohnU]

Ah, dreaming

 

[Kate Upton]

Or a parrot