Regular Season

[JohnU]

I think a Bryan Price bobblehead giveaway would speak volumes about how the fans see this team.

 

[eburg5000]

I liked Schebler the 1st week of the season. That ware off now that he has played in about 90% of the games and hasn't had a hit sense the 1st week of the season. I think there will be a bus heading to Louisville Ky with several player on it.
Was Mesoraco 2014 year a fluke? or is that hip bothering him. But how do you leave Barnhart sitting on the bench with the way he's playing. Mesoraco came up a couple of times last night with a chance to do something and failed. I'm at a loss as to what should be done with him.

 

[eburg5000]

I liked Schebler the 1st week of the season. That ware off now that he has played in about 90% of the games and hasn't had a hit sense the 1st week of the season. I think there will be a bus heading to Louisville Ky with several player on it.
Was Mesoraco 2014 year a fluke? or is that hip bothering him. But how do you leave Barnhart sitting on the bench with the way he's playing. Mesoraco came up a couple of times last night with a chance to do something and failed. I'm at a loss as to what should be done with him.

 

[JohnU]

Mescoraco can't get around on an inside pitch now, it seems. He has no pull power and pretends he does. His defense is also worse now. The hip isn't better.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Well it's back to baseball tonight and the boys are playing in beanball town. What's the over-under on hit batters for the series?

 

[eburg5000]

New York seemed to throw at a lot of players. Who knows what the Pirates will do seeing that it has become a habit every time these two teams meet.

 

[JohnU]

Reds pitchers would never be able to hit a batter intentionally. But I'd guess there will be 3 HBP tonight, 5 or so for the series.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Mesoraco isn't whiffing a ton- he's hitting 3 hoppers to infielders. IMO, that isn't timing, it's swing plane. No way to know if he has reduced power until he hits the ball in the air, so IMO, no way to tell if that's caused by the hip...Maybe they should operate on Billy Hamilton's hip. If he hit like Mesoraco, he would raise his average. Mesoraco needs to hit the ball in the air more. If he hit like Billy, he might have 8 HR.

 

[JohnU]

One thing is for sure ... Scott Schebler is a Triple-A hitter.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Scott Schebler is a Triple-A hitter.

Not a very good one, John. Unfortunately, he isn't alone on the Reds.

 

[JohnU]

Sending Hoover back out there after he has shown repeatedly that he can't get hitters out ... Welsh was right ... if there is no penalty for failure, what's the incentive to succeed?

 

[JohnU]

The damage to team morale has to be incalculable when a team goes into the 8th or 9th inning down 4 runs instead of 2 because the guy who was supposed to be the closer has an ERA of 15.5 and gives up at least one home run every single game. ... and did it again.

Worse, the manager, who is supposedly a genius at managing pitchers, apparently thinks the guy will pitch through it. I remember us panning Dusty Baker for saying "I need to get Willie going."

 

[Redsfan1507]

When there are only bad choices, you are guaranteed to make one. Maybe only psychological, but there seems to be a lot of evidence that being a decent setup man, or even a partial season closer, is no guarantee of being a successful full time closer, especially in multiple back to back seasons. It's a job with pretty poor job security.

I always believed the success of the bullpen depends more on the starting rotation than the other way around. Not letting Hoover off the hook, I always thought he looked predictably hittable, but this rotation blows chunks most games.

Just as I always expect Reds starters to go less than 7 innings, and knowing Cingrani is the ONLY lefty reliever, and expecting him to walk at least one lefty hitter, and Price to leave him in to get hit by the next righty, I suspect all opposing hitters and managers have noticed those predictable Reds trends too, and are readier and more unsurprised with Reds tactics and tools, than against teams with more and better tools.

The opposition also get more gifts and extra outs against the poorly executing Reds. The Reds defense hasn't been as reliable as usual either, and all those things after a losing streak like this one, tend to lead to decisions by players and managers that make things worse. When you fear giving up the long ball, pitchers nibble and walk more hitters, making the likelihood of the next hitter getting a grooved fastball even higher. Pitchers try to strikeout hitters instead of relying on Suarez to not back up on the next groundball, and with control an issue to begin with, they tend to make as many misses INSIDE the zone as outside.


This game is a lot easier if you can get an early lead, and hold it, rather than catching up all the time. IMO, pitching and D are primary in doing that- not offense. Great hitters make outs 65-70% of the time anyway, so the more difficult the pitching and D make it for hitters and baserunners, the more THEY try to do things they don't want to do--THE baseline goal of my game philosophy- to make THEM do things they don't want to do, as much as possible. It's why not running and bunting repeatedly against a Jon Lester that is defenseless against those tactics looks like surrender by suicide to me. Unforgivable.

Hitters down 4 runs try to hit 5 run HR too often. You often don't run as aggressively down 3 runs. Managers often pinch hit more often, burning up the bullpen more, often to no real offensive improvement. If you look at pinch hitters BA vs. guys that get 4 AB a game, they're almost always lower for the single AB- granted, if PH were better hitters, they would probably be regulars, but even regulars don't hit as well taking one swing as they do taking several.

Losing is usually LOTS of things done badly, not just one. Conversely, winning is the product of doing lots of things well. It's why I think "momentum" is interpreted the wrong way. It isn't a force of it's own, but like equally misunderstood gravity, "momentum" and losing "streaks" are a result of other remarkably predictable causal factors.

 

[JohnU]

The Reds currently also have no pitchers who qualify as a streak stopper. As of this entry, alleging they play, Simon is likely to lose badly and Price knows it. He will unload the bullpen in the 4th inning and accept a bad loss because 11-0 is no worse than 4-3.
Assuming Sunday is more of same, and the Giants with Cueto etc. coming in for a series, this streak could be 10 in a row, or close to it. There is no fixing that. You just tell the fans that the team is going to bounce back. We aren't that stupid but most of the fans who go to the ballpark for the music and nachos don't much care.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

We have a bingo!!

 

[JohnU]

Painful to watch, isn't it?

 

[JohnU]

Iglesias, shoulder problem ... not good news.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

I guess the off season conditioning/ flexibility program didn't resolve the issue. His durability is in question since joining the Reds. He throws from a lot of different arm angles which I think is asking for trouble. I'd like to see him throw more from the same arm slot.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Simon 60+ pitches with only one out in the 3rd. He's been mixing four pitches from the start and has been inconsistent with all of them. Looks like no more than 4 innings if he makes it that far.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Mesoraco scratched due to left shoulder soreness. Didn't hear why his non-throwing shoulder is hurting.