Season to date....

[Cincy the Red]

....I think the Reds have hung in there quite well given the various injuries. Luddy, Heisey, Cueto, Marshall, Broxton....we have been a mess folks. And the kicker is these are key positions we are talking about.... starting LF & good stick, #1 starting pitcher, BOTH set-up guys....wow. And yet, here we are with a top 5 record in MLB. Outside Votto's injury last year we were pretty blessed from an injury standpoint, so I guess we were due. Hopefully, this injury bug passes soon and we get back to full strength, but the nice thing is, these challenges have allowed our "youngsters" to get some playing time so we can see what they got....and overall, they have not disappointed.

Long live Reds Nation!

 

[JohnU]

Pitching has been OK, not as good as the bobblehead scribes tell us when they point out the "ERA of the bullpen." Bullpens should have a low ERA.

Aside from the lack of HR power in LF, we've endured there. I just wish Dustybucket had a clue about how to platoon. Xavier Paul has won the LF job. Put him there and leave him there.

Watching this team, though, there's a lot of same-old, same-old that suggests it won't get past the next rung. The almost abominable propensity for shutting down on offense after the first or second inning ... getting 3 hits off Yovani Gallardo, whose ERA is as high as my IQ. And striking out 19 times against the Cubs. (Yeah, I know the new strike zone is killing everybody this year.) ... All the same, the offense the Reds bring to the park is atrocious, especially against lefties. The Reds WILL face two lefties when the Parrots play them.

One of the top records in baseball is nice, and it could be 3-4 games better than it is. The Cardinals are NOT going to go into a slump in the near future and I have seen no evidence they will even lose two in a row.

I hate to say it, but I'll take the wild card and hope to get lucky. This team isn't going to win with this approach. Not a chance in hell.

So I am somewhat apprehensive, maybe as a sense of realism. I'd like to share that optimism, but the team's play this month is frustrating. And yeah, 2 out of 3 is a recipe for success. But 3 out of 6 is not.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

There's nothing wrong with being optimistic and criticism of this team isn't necessarily being pessimistic.
I'm biased at times and try to be realistic most of the time. Watching this team play day in and day out, it's hard to decide just how good this team is or isn't.

All things considered if this is the best this team can perform there chances aren't that great. They'll make the post season and like John said, they'll need some luck.

Great defense and starting pitching is only going to carry this team so far. It's hard to beat playoff caliber teams with the inconsistent run support this team provides and even tougher with the performance of the pen thus far.

 

[WvuDieHard]

I agree with JohnU in that this team wont get by the first round of the playoffs. No toughness, no discipline, and no direction. No question the talent is there but Dustmop wont lay the hammer down on these guys because he wants to be everybody's buddy. Good managers get the best out of the talent they have---those are the managers that win World Series. Do you think DUSTMOP is getting the best out of this team? I think he is getting average effort and average results. It is unfathomable to think what a good manager could do with this club. I hear all this talk about how Luddy is the difference maker--Really? Luddy is the difference maker if he comes back and hits HR's, drives in runs and hits for average at about a .290 + clip but I don't see that happening. If this club was primed to make a run in the playoffs, you would see them running off a 8-9 game winning streak. They just dont hit consistently enough to do that. I do think hitting cures all this clubs woes--it sure has worked well for the Tards. Unfortunately, we are not a patient club in the batters box. I personally have not seen a #2hole hitter swing at as many 1st pitches as Cozart. Is that who you really want up there at #2? Can't believe a hitting Coach doesn't express that more. There are so many benefits to the leadoff man and #2 batter when they take extra pitches.

Nonetheless,the Reds today are 43 and 28. 8-3 over the next 11 games will give you 50 wins at the half way mark which is not bad for a team with so many fundamental flaws in hitting and base running( or lack of). At least we are winning but doing so in a sea of mediocrity with the level of talent this squad has. The luckiest people of all this season is not the fans but SpierOgyro, Jerkoby, and Dustmop. Where else in the business world can you achieve low rates of return and keep your job?

 

[Redsfan1507]

Personally, I don't think Dusty being a players buddy means squat. How many times will he get beat by pulling his defense in and refusing to walk the 8 hitter with 2 RISP and 1b open ? 3b coaching didn't start costing the Reds runs when Speier took over, Mark Berry has been that bad for years. NOT Swinging at the first pitch after a walk or two SHOULD come up in friendly conversation shouldn't it ? If Dusty keeps pushing his trend of refusing Chapman appearances that simultaneously reduce his innings AND impact, he may be lucky to pitch at all come playoff time.

Dusty probably has a great personality. He's just not very good at the minimum technical requirements for his job title. It costs the Reds opportunities, which sometimes, means losing instead of winning. Worse, it's rare when the Reds take a lead on a Dusty move, much less win a game. I dont think Dusty has taken this team as far as THEY can go, but I think hes taken them as far as HE can.

 

[JohnU]

Dusty's attitude about Chapman sealed the deal.
He will not use the guy in the 8th inning or for more than 1 inning.
I would rather have heard: "It depends on the game."
But Dusty didn't say that.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I went to games Friday and Sunday, listened to 700 WLW down & back both days, and it seemed 90% of the talk was about how Dusty sucks. Fans in the stands weren't too kind to him either, although I refrain from open criticism at the game. I take most of my frustration of Dusty out on you guys here. My point is, It appears that lots of people see the same things I see, but none of them appear to be people in the Reds front office....at least not the ones signing Dusty. I'm cognizant of the improvement in talent and organization since Dusty has been here, but little if that is Dusty's doing, IMO, and what it's done for me is raise my expectations for the team. I have serious doubts Dusty can accommodate better than we've seen so far from his end. The mans thought process is just too narrow, and self-limiting to be more, I'm afraid.

I think the teams talent outgrew his a couple of seasons ago, and now is being held back by his limitations.

 

[JohnU]

I suppose the old adage of "be careful what you wish for" would apply here.
I think my problem is that I watch TOO MUCH Reds baseball and the shortcomings here and there are more fresh in my mind. If I just read about the games the next day, I would probably not be as embroiled in the moment.
Without going over all the reasons I dislike this philosophy, I suppose it could be worse. Being a Brewers fan or a White Sox fan this year -- brutal. Those teams expected to contend. It appears they won't. Or the Dodgers or the Angels. Or worse, the Marlins or the AAAstros.
So we are in a divisional race, evidently to stay again this year. I would like to run away from the Birds and hide, but I already lived that fantasy in 1975.
Still, Dusty could make me happier by doing some things that would make sense.
Like scrapping Brook Jacoby and bringing in Eric Davis.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Relying on the media who are often under a non-written gag order, for how a manager is doing is about as complete as looking at the standings. In fact, I'd say 90% of popular opinion is based on just that. If the Cubs had the Reds record, they would be clammoring for a 5 year deal for their manager...it's about expectations being met or not.

Managers in general do less now than I ever remember, and the old addage about if you don't use it you lose it applies. IMO, most managers dont stick their necks out farther than ot takes to blame players or GM's, and if they all are so inclined to passive mediocrity, and GM's are willing to keep retreading them, there is safety in "parity" among them. Fans watch their teams...and express their dissatisfaction even if the W-L is "competitive" if their expectations are unfulfilled.

Tigers fans are frazzing Leyland for sticking with Valverde. The Dodgers may fire Mattingly for the Dodgers losing with a huge payroll full of underperforming ex stars with questionable desire, he didnt hire himself. Jim Tracy got the Rockies axe last year, with no pitching and 1/2 of their star players (Tulowitzki) on the DL. No one is ripping Joe Maddon (Rays)or Charlie Manuel for (Phils) underperforming though. I've heard more Brewers fans ripping ownership than the manager, like Miami's fans... while Cubs fans seem to be fine with Theo Epstein's "vision" that includes losing 100 games for the foreseeable future.

It depends on where you sit, what you see, and what you are willing to pay for.

 

[JohnU]

I agree that Cubs fans are more tolerant of Sveum because they bit on the lie that Theostein is planning to rebuild the team to its former glory. Um ... whatever. But Cubs fans can't really blame Sveum when they still want to blame Hendry. They always have a rainbow painted on the side of that mausoleum where they play -- which is the biggest problem the Cubs have.

Brewers fans seem OK so far with Roenicke even though my personal observations put him in the lower third of all the managers. I haven't paid much attention outside the NL. A lot of teams -- and I mean a LOT of them -- have too much payroll, bad scouting, bad managing and lame talent. I think a lot of these GMs have a strategy of playing just well enough to make a wild-card and then hope for lightning in a bottle.

Parrots fans are still eager to see their pitchers throw at Brandon Phillips. Beyond that, they are brain-dead, so blaming anybody but the "troublemaker" is outside their scope of vision.

I honestly don't care what the Birds fans think.

 

[eburg5000]

And just think. Dusty will be in the Hall of Fame. Both Reds and Coopers town. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a Dusty fan at all. But that's where he's headed.