Reds thread

[Servo]

Am I the only one not looking forward to Rolen coming back? I like Frazier better at 3B just based on the offense he gives you...Rolen represents no threat at the plate and he'll get the bulk of playing time. We know Dusty loves the vets and they're not paying him millions to sit. Maybe Frazier can split time at LF and 3B when Rolen comes off the DL.

 

[cincygrad]

Am I the only one not looking forward to Rolen coming back? I like Frazier better at 3B just based on the offense he gives you...Rolen represents no threat at the plate and he'll get the bulk of playing time. We know Dusty loves the vets and they're not paying him millions to sit. Maybe Frazier can split time at LF and 3B when Rolen comes off the DL.

Bingo.... Dusty will fuck this up for all of us. Frazier has earned his spot in the line-up but good ole' Dusty will stunt his development by installing Rolen when he comes back. I suppose we can just wait for the inevitable injury.

 

[Servo]

I dont know if that's jsut Dusty, though. they pay Rolen a ton of dough. I'd imagine there's gotta be some unspoken rule that the guys making the money have to play. Even still, Dusty is a stubborn guy who definitely loves his vets (partcularly 'his guys'...which I think Rolen is). Remember that leadoff hitter that he brough over from the Cubs that he ran out night after night...or Johnny Gomes? But yeah, I think Rolen is going to be a huge hole right in the middle of the lineup. Probably in the 6 spot.

 

[Cincyfan78]

If/When Rolen comes back, you have to figure he would upgrade the bench. Assuming that Frazier can continue to hit at least .270ish, he should play everyday. Rolen's shoulder can't hold up playing 4-5 games a week. He could get a spot start once a week, and then being a PH would keep his shoulder strong enough to be ready to bat later in games. That's what I would do.

 

[bengaldoug]

Bailey: 8 quality starts in 10 tries. That's getting it done.

If Frazier can continue to hit in the .270's that will really help the offense A LOT.

Cozart really struggling. The smart thing would be to move BP into leadoff and Bruce into the 4 hole as he's starting to hit again...you know another Bruce-streak is about to happen. Moving him into the 4 hole makes too much sense to take advantage of his streak.

Recently Bailey has really started to look like a pitcher, rather than a thrower. He seems to have finally picked up on what Cueto learned last year, that he doesn't just have to throw it by everyone to get them out. He's throwing a high percentage of strikes now, and that splitter makes his 92-93 mph heater as effective as if it was 96-97, plus the apparently decreased physical effort doesn't tax his arm so badly. His problem has always been more upstairs (head) than anywhere else. Now he's looking confident out there and the results speak for themselves.

Frazier has earned the right to start at third. No he's not Rolen defensively, but he's ok, and Rolen can be his late inning caddy when we have a small lead after the seventh inning. Maybe Rolen can be productive as a pinch hitter and occasional starter (once a week) and his shoulder will hold up like that the rest of the year, after which he needs to call it a career. Of course this is all predicated on how Dusty acts when he's ready to come off the DL. Please Dusty, don't fuck this up.

I agree BP is the ideal leadoff hitter for this team, and Bruce has to go into cleanup. They just have to be willing to ride out his slumps when they come, and I wouldn't worry about the back to back lefty thing. Votto hits left handers just fine, and Bruce does ok too when he's not slumping. Another area that Dusty tends to fuck up. I would like to see Hanigan bat second when he starts, he's the best bat handler on the team, and he gets on base. Votto has way too few RBI opportunities with Cozart and Stubbs batting in front of him. Cozart and Stubbs need to move down. Cozart may eventually be a pretty good hitter, but we already know what Stubbs is, and having his anemic obp up early in the order is not allowing rallies to start.

 

[cincygrad]

Guest of Cincinnati Reds pitcher tied up, robbed inside... | www.wpxi.com

Is it me, or does Chappy seem to have a lot of strange shit happen in his life?

 

[bengaldoug]

Does anyone here disagree that Mike Costanzo blows?

 

[cincygrad]

Does anyone here disagree that Mike Costanzo blows?

I guess sooner or later, Votto needs a day off..... Can you imagine how bad they would be offensively if he were hurt?

 

[cincygrad]

Or better yet, can you imagine if we would have jettisoned Votto and held on to the golden boy Yonder Alonso? I mentioned, on a Reds forum, that I was skeptical of whether Alonso really had the power potential to be an all-star...... I was told I didn't know what I was talking about and the kid was a can't miss hitter. I think he's missing more than he's hitting right now.

 

[bengaldoug]

San Diego is where hitters go to die.....just sayin'.....and fine, give Votto a day off, but anyone but Costanzo......

 

[bengaldoug]

I see where Alonzo is hitting .286 and has 16 doubles.....in Cincy he'd probably have 8 or 9 homers......but no, he's no Votto, that's for sure

 

[Cincyfan78]

Alonso will do well. He won't hit for the power because of the park, but he'll still slug well because he'll hit a fair amount of doubles.

Bailey has been throwing his FB between 93-95 with some regularity this year. I think the shoulder improvement over the off-season has allowed him to tack on the extra MPH without strain. Agreed about the splitter. When he's throwing FB for strikes, and getting the splitter to tail down, he's going to be really tough to beat. The key is still getting his 3rd pitch over for a strike, as well as keeping his mental focus all game long.

As for the lineup, the best lineup (in my opinion) would be:

Phillips,Cozart,stubbs,Votto,Bruce,Heisey,Frazier,Hanigan. It will NEVER happen, I digress, but Phillips is our best leadoff guy, and Cozart is a solid #2 and is more comfortable there. Stubbs has hit much, much better in front of Votto...by bumping Votto to 4, you in effect create two #2 spots in which both Cozart and Stubbs have thrived. The guy with the best mental approach to hitting would slide into the vacant void that is our cleanup spot. Bruce would stay at 5, and the rest of the order can really be debated however you want it.

I know there are those purist that say your best hitter has to hit 3rd so he is assured an AB in the 1st inning, but the reality is...In some form or another, your are going to have Votto up. I'd rather have him leading off the 2nd inning with no outs than up there with 2-outs because the chances of him getting moved around to score is greater with him leading off and getting a hit than it is him getting a hit with 2 outs. If there are runners on, then the whole issue of getting him an AB in the 1st inning is moot because he'll bat. Also, he'll receive the same number of AB's in a game as he would at the 3rd spot so long as one player reaches base and is not erased before that inning is over (I.E. caught stealing/pickoff or double play).

I know this probably won't be popular, but I believe that this lineup would benefit the team the most by putting players where they would succeed the most, based on their history (albeit somewhat short histories for some).

 

[BigBlueNation111]

San Diego is where hitters go to die.....just sayin'.....and fine, give Votto a day off, but anyone but Costanzo......

lol...."Costanzo"...reminds me of that old Seinfield show..."cant stand ya,Castanza"!! Anyways,morning guys and glad we have a day off!! Hope Bruce doesn't get cold during this time,need his bat!

 

[cincygrad]

Alonso is slugging at under .400 and striking out one out of every five at bats. He's Sean Casey with a strike out problem. Not what I want out of my first basemen.

Lackluster effort from the boys last night. Lets hope the day off helps warm up the bats.

 

[Servo]

Alonso will do well. He won't hit for the power because of the park, but he'll still slug well because he'll hit a fair amount of doubles.

Bailey has been throwing his FB between 93-95 with some regularity this year. I think the shoulder improvement over the off-season has allowed him to tack on the extra MPH without strain. Agreed about the splitter. When he's throwing FB for strikes, and getting the splitter to tail down, he's going to be really tough to beat. The key is still getting his 3rd pitch over for a strike, as well as keeping his mental focus all game long.

As for the lineup, the best lineup (in my opinion) would be:

Phillips,Cozart,stubbs,Votto,Bruce,Heisey,Frazier,Hanigan. It will NEVER happen, I digress, but Phillips is our best leadoff guy, and Cozart is a solid #2 and is more comfortable there. Stubbs has hit much, much better in front of Votto...by bumping Votto to 4, you in effect create two #2 spots in which both Cozart and Stubbs have thrived. The guy with the best mental approach to hitting would slide into the vacant void that is our cleanup spot. Bruce would stay at 5, and the rest of the order can really be debated however you want it.

I know there are those purist that say your best hitter has to hit 3rd so he is assured an AB in the 1st inning, but the reality is...In some form or another, your are going to have Votto up. I'd rather have him leading off the 2nd inning with no outs than up there with 2-outs because the chances of him getting moved around to score is greater with him leading off and getting a hit than it is him getting a hit with 2 outs. If there are runners on, then the whole issue of getting him an AB in the 1st inning is moot because he'll bat. Also, he'll receive the same number of AB's in a game as he would at the 3rd spot so long as one player reaches base and is not erased before that inning is over (I.E. caught stealing/pickoff or double play).

I know this probably won't be popular, but I believe that this lineup would benefit the team the most by putting players where they would succeed the most, based on their history (albeit somewhat short histories for some).

I think the line up depends on which Jay Bruce it is that week. When he's hot...yes he absolutely should protect Votto and bat cleanup. I know Dusty wont do it because they're both lefites (which I think is ridiculous). When Bruce is cold I'd say he should hit 5th or 6th with Phillips in clean up.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I think the line up depends on which Jay Bruce it is that week. When he's hot...yes he absolutely should protect Votto and bat cleanup. I know Dusty wont do it because they're both lefites (which I think is ridiculous). When Bruce is cold I'd say he should hit 5th or 6th with Phillips in clean up.

True, but Bruce will always bring the threat of power to the plate. Slump or not.

I just think that dropping Votto would solve several issues at one time. It may not be the popular opinion, but statistically speaking, it would be the best move for the lineup.

You get your best leadoff hitter back at leadoff (phillips) you get a decent bat at #2 in Cozart, and relieve him of the stress of leading off. You keep Stubbs at #3 infront of Votto. He has enough pop to drive in runs, and while he does K too much, he has been a much better hitter this year with Votto up next.

Votto at 4 eliminates the hole in the cleanup spot. He's the only one mentally tough enough to handle it with regards to hitting. I would just keep Bruce 5th, and as I said, the rest of the order can be debated. You can make a great case for batting Hanigan 6th (or even 5th if you wanted to move a slumping Bruce down).


The whole of the short of it, however, is that we have a lot of guys that don't make enough contact through the order. No matter what you do, and rearrange, it's like moving chairs around the Titantic. Stubbs, Bruce, Heisey (Ludwick) all have too many swing and misses. It's a big reason why this team struggles when runners get on base. They struggle to move them over, let alone get them in (without a HR).

 

[bengaldoug]

3 1/2 game lead over the dirty birds now!

 

[BigBlueNation111]

Lets get the sweep today guys!! GO REDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DanBengalfan]

+1

 

[DanBengalfan]

wow, I had no idea the reds were 3.5 games ahead.

anyone know how to watch reds games online? pm me.
directtv will want 40$ more a month to give me more sports, the thieves.