All in all, the Reds got their groove on again tonight, the Dusty-Jacoby hitting machinery that everyone seems to think will be all better when Ludwick gets back. Yeah, Tyson Ross ... America's answer to AAA pitching ... you'd never guess it.
Hannahan gets off the hook in the first inning if Votto plays 1B instead of matador.
After that, it was just ... let's see how many lame ass ground balls we can whack at the infield.
Reds have to many games that they throw away. Every team has games like this , but the Reds have one almost every week. Seems to me like they show up at the park not prepared to play baseball. That can only be blamed on the coaching staff.
The Reds can not afford to have these kind of games. They had a chance to pick up a game on both Pittsburgh and St Louis and threw it away.
Well, I don't think that Irish Day at the park is a good enough reason to play Hannahan, while the Reds are behind by more games than fingers on one hand. It was X-Paul's turn in the Bafoon platoon, but what signal was Billy Hatcher giving him with his thumb up his ass on that tag play on the popup ? I stated yesterday Parra was herpes in remission-I was wrong, he's back to being a full fledged handicap now...and Cozart returned to the 3 hole. Looks like Dusty fell off the losaholic lineup wagon, again too.
Brantley and Marty said after the game, the team had to take winning every day as a priority...no shit. Maybe someone besides a radio host needs to notice that.
You just can't go out there against a guy you haven't seen without having something of a scouting report. If the Reds had one against Ross, think how bad it could have been. Twice through the order and they are in the 7th inning. I'd rather have seen Paul thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double. The odds were better than later on, trying to invent a play. Getting thrown out on the bases is part of aggressive baseball but there was no doubt that Denorfia was going to hit a cutoff man.
Apparently the only righthander starter the Reds ever go against is Bob Feller, and the only lefty is Koufax. That's who they make these generic guys look like, anyway.
They go up there and are completely clueless.
They take fastballs down the middle on 1-2 counts, swing at pitches in the dirt ...
Does Cozart even attempt to see what's coming plateward?
I know I'm always looking to pick a scab Dusty created, but I DO get tired of getting beat with an unnecessarily compromised lineup, just because Dusty thought it was a good idea. Granted, when he goes with the same failed lineup, people bitch. When he plays some player to be released later, people bitch. When a baserunner gets tossed out looking at the guy throwing him out from 30 feet, people blame the runner, even when the base coach is doing his best impersonation of a birdbath.
Dusty has never had a bullpen that wasn't exhausted, and I have to think at least part if that is not paying more attention in the first 9 innings, and avoiding the next 4 extra innings a little more. I know the roster only contains ONE .300 hitter, and arguably may only have FOUR legitimate everyday MLB hitters, but is it too much to ask that all 4 be in the first 4 lineup spots, so we at least have a chance to score in the first inning more than once in a blue moon ? I know Dusty thinks the lineup is just a salad, so why doesn't he ever toss it ? The 2 spot has become what most teams 8 spot is, except our 2 hitters are never intentionally walked.
I make disparaging comments about Dusty all the time, but have come to this realization: he HAS learned how to keep a job. He limits his opportunities to get blamed.
Personally, I admire a little more passion in a manager...a guy that shows some emotion occasionally, and is willing to shake the tree sometimes, instead of being a guy that just picks up whatever fruit falls from the tree. Lou Pinella was a sharp fundamentals guy that DEMANDED sometimes. Billy Martin wore his emotions on his sleeve. Bobby Cox got tossed more than anyone-that's not what made him a good manager, but it showed he would get exited. I'm no LaRussa personality fan, but his wheels were always turning. Dick Williams was an a-hole, but the guy usually got everything he could from players. Walt Alston was baseballs John Wooden- a low key guy that quietly demanded perfection, and would just as soon beat you with pitching and a squeeze play as a solo homer. Joe Torre handled egos and the media about as well as situational defense, and his protege, Mattingly is having to learn that now, too. I think in a less exploitive media environment, Ozzie Guillen would have been a good manager- he just couldn't shut up in front of a camera.
Dusty just isn't a guy that sticks his neck out putting on a play. He doesn't have a bold move, other than occasional sheer suicide on the bases. Players used to say that no one could play for Billy Martin more than a few years because "Billy ball" would just burn you out... Sometimes I think the opposite is true of Dusty- that he's so easy to play for, players just get complacent and lose that hunger that makes the difference in crunch time. Dusty isn't going to allow a loafer to make him look bad, but he isn't going to make him get a bunt down or steal a base, or practice hitting a groundball behind a runner either. He isnt a teacher, hes a spectator. He isn't going to try to turn a Chapman into a SP, because he has nothing to gain-if it is successful, people will ask why it took so long, and if it fails, or worse, Chapman blows an arm- they'll all blame Dusty. He'll play a veteran with low ceiling but with a MLB sample size over risking playing a higher upside rookie that no one knows enough about to complain he's not playing. SAFE is for protecting a lead, not necessarily the best tactic for GETTING one...IMO. Those kinds of more risk/ reward guys DO get fired more often than Dusty though.