Um ...wait till next year...

[JohnU]

The sorry-ass numbers for the Fab Four in the pen.

BA/ WHIP /ERA
Gregg .273/1.38/9.00 (9 hits, 2 walks in 8 innings)
Jumbo .265/1.32/9.72 (9 hits, 2 walks in 8.1 innings)
Badenhop .457/2.71/14.53 (16 hits 3 walks in 7 innings)

The three have given up 29 runs, 34 hits, 8 homers, 7 walks in 23.1 innings.

Hoover sucks almost as bad ... 5.19 ERA / 1.38 WHIP
7 walks, 5 hits, 6 runs in 8.2 innings (no HR yet)

So here's the deal ... how bad does it get for Badenhop, who signed as a FA? How bad does it get before Price simply has no choice but to not use him? If that's the case, it's a 24-man roster.

 

[JohnU]

BTW Cingrani was one double-play ball from a complete meltdown on Thursday.

 

[Redsfan1507]

It's been a 24 man roster, effectively, or less. Mesoraco's non-DL spot, Cingrani dissapears from Prices notice for long time. Badenhop will get the entire season to figure it out or suck, IMO. Gregg and Marquis and Boesch were non-40 man signees that moved other Reds personnel-unless Marshall or similar comes off the DL demanding his job back, and there are no other DFA's more pressing, they'll go a long time trying to not look stupid for signing them.

Badenhop has gotten trashed, but they hit Gregg harder. Jumbo too. They (situational relievers)all have flaws or they'd have bigger roles and contracts. A team needs a mop up late innings guy and a long man for blowouts. Unfortunately, we have about 6 guys that only qualify for that role. Could LeCure REALLY be worse than these guys ? Really ?

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Cingrani gives you the same thing Coco Cordero did....a ulcer if you keep watching.

Cingrani doesn't give up a lot of hits, it's the free passes that hurt. It's hard to settle in and hit when you know the pitcher doesn't know where the ball is going....strike zone or ear hole isn't the sort of pitch recognition that aids the batter's BA....it could save your life though.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The early AAA results for LeCure haven't been incouraging. He pitched a couple scoreless innings last time out dropping his ERA below 5. His velocity is still down and he has a 50% balls to strike ratio. Loss of velocity and command....sounds a lot like the right handed active roster guys.

 

[JohnU]

LeCure didn't get sent down to get better. He got sent down to get ready for his new career -- as a baseball fun guy who does what Jim Day does.

As for use of the roster, one of the problems is that the Reds just don't play well enough to let other guys play. The front line simply has to be in there more, maybe because -- as I can understand Price's thinking -- the reason the team sucked last year was because the starters weren't in there. By gawd, that's not gonna happen again.

Boesch, Negron and Schumaker all have to understand that. Pena certainly does. Barnhart probably would like something of a guarantee on his immediate future. I think he knows what's up with Mesoraco. What I found interesting about Barnhart was the comments last night about how he and Leake work so well together. There's simply NOT enough history for those guys for anyone to make that statement out of authenticity. But the statement was made by the broadcasters, who picked it up from the clubhouse.

Make of it what you will.

As for Cingrani, my advice would be to approach every hitter like you're a loogy. Gotta get this one guy out so somebody can finish off the inning. After you get that guy out, pretend the next hitter is the same situation. One hitter at a time, instead of going 0-2 and then seeing if you can get some kind of "out" somewhere. Had he not gotten the DP (well, that's baseball!) last night, we'd have seen a total meltdown inning, probably a loss.

I agree that middle relievers all were and will be what they are -- guys who can't do anything else. I don't know of a pitcher who ever signed a contract who wanted to be a 6th inning guy in Cincy, though it's better than going 12-11 for the Birmingham Bolts.

Truthfully, the only hope the Reds have is to learn how to score 6 runs a game. Todd Frazier made that seem unlikely last night, and with Byrd in the lineup, all rallies are off the charts.

But Bruce hit three ropes last night. Not sure what that means.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Bruce may be going to have his early 3 weeks of up time in May. If so, his next one might be September. He's a yearly roller coaster with only 2 peaks.

Got to get Frazier from waiving at the 55 foot bouncer. When our pitchers throw those, no one ever swings. Maybe we need to trade Frazier to the Cardinals. If we did that, we'd throw him nothing but belt high fastballs. BP can't stop trying to pull pitches low and away.

Some teams have a "thing". An organizational signature. The Redsox hit off the green monster. The Rockies hit into the Rockies. The Braves pitch. The Dodgers spend money and celebrities. The Giants win in even numbered years. The Cubbies are waiting till next year, the Yankees have pinstripes, the Brewers have sausages, the A's play Moneyball, the Royals run. The Astros lose.

The Reds are stupid. Its their thing. They own the patent on LOB, unforced outs on the bases, ignored opportunities, and leadoff walks by pitchers.