Let's see how Dusty handles "The Cuban Missile Crisis" - REDS 2013

Well the biggest question going into this season for the Reds and the one that has lingered over the club for a couple of years is the use of Aroldis Chapman in the starting rotation. All accounts is that GM Walt Jocketty and pitching coach Bryan Price are all for the movement, but pretty much half the articles and tv features you see on the club is that there are 'misgivings among players and some coaches' on moving The Missle out of the closer role into the rotation.

I think considering Chapman's obvious talents, it's definitely worth a try, as 150 innings of good pitching is worth twice as much as 70 innings. That said, I do not think The Missile is as near polished to be a regular starter like other recent phenoms like Strasburg, David Price, Chris Sale, etc. I think some of the defensive skills you need more as a starter are weaknesses in Chapman's game. Chapman is also a bit inconsistent on his slider and changeup, which as a starter, he is going to have to have. I'm not sure he has the endurance to go 6-7 innings either. Even as a closer if used for 3 days straight, that third day his velocity seems to drop and over time, he wore down both of the past two years. Good thing was that after being sat for a couple of weeks when his arm tired, Chapman seemed to come back recharged.

One good thing the Reds currently have is that they have some good young depth in the starting rotation, as Mike Leake is a pretty decent #5 starter as is and there are some vying that Sam LeCure, who has pitched good in relief last year and was a starter in the minors could be used to pair up with The Missle to keep his innings under control.

it is amazing that chapman's arm is still attached.

what would the rotation look like if chapman is in?

latos,chapman, cueto, bailey, leake...arroyo?

i find it amazing that they apparently haven't decided about chapman yet? wtf

“I’d like to decide soon and get my team together,” Baker said. “I don’t like having guys in the middle. That’s a bad situation when you’re in the middle of anything. An unknown. Then everybody else is in an unknown situation. That’s unfair to him or us — the situation he’s been put in. He was in that same situation last year.

“I’d like to make a decision in the next week or so, so I can get my team together. The decision is not only mine, it’s ours. But I got my opinion.”

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/spring-headlines-reds-still-unsure-aroldis-chapman-role-082420720--mlb.html

Well with innings limitations, it would most likely be that Chapman will spend part of the year in the bullpen either way. I suppose the model being something similar to what the Braves did with Medlen last year. Of course this was the plan last year until the Reds bullpen had Ryan Madsen, Bill Bray and Nick Masset get hurt then Dusty lost confidence very quick in Sean Marshall just a couple of weeks into the season.

This is a cool interview with Bronson Arroyo some of you might like.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/qa-bronson-arroyo-master-craftsman/

yeah, that's great

Same guy did an earlier one with Ryan Hanigan too and what's funny is he references the two fingers for all calls with Arroyo in his interview.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/qa-ryan-hanigan-underrated-red/

clutch pitching by Cueto in the 7th there

if Votto doesn't end it here, they may finish the game in front of 800 fans.

“I chose not to make outs any more.”

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/joey-votto-on-hitting

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/3/28/4157312/cincinnati-reds-mvp-ernie-lombardi-award

What happened with Rich Aurilia in 2006? Why was he so popular?

That team like a few in that decade got off to a good start and was in contention in a very weak NL Central up until Griffey went down and the pitching faded in the last six weeks. Those clubs were fugly in the bullpen and with the glove.

Rich Aurilla's appeal on that Cincy club was the fact that he would get his uniform dirty (which Cincy fans/media are a sucker)and the fact that he was a true utility player that started quite a bit around the diamond.

That would be my guess.

HR: T Frazier 2 (3, Bot 2 off D Haren, 0-0, 1 Out, None on; Bot 7 off Z Duke, 3-2, 1 Out, 1 on); Z Cozart 2 (2, Bot 2 off D Haren, 0-0, 1 Out, None on; Bot 3 off D Haren, 0-1, 2 Outs, 2 on); S Choo (2, Bot 4 off D Haren, 2-1, 1 Out, None on); X Paul (1, Bot 7 off H Rodriguez, 2-1, 2 Outs, Gr. Slam)

louisville strikeout fiend tony cingrani (26 ks in 14.1 ip) has been pulled after two innings today; guess he'll be coming up for cueto

I think the Reds thought Tony Cingrani was ultimately closer to being a starter than Chapman. Cingrani didn't have a great spring, but he has tore up the minors in the past couple years and he looked ok in the couple games I saw him pitch out of the pen with the Reds last year.

Real genius bullpen management by Dusty this week. Don't use your setup man or closer for a week a week into the season out of spring training, keep putting the same young guy in some key 'non-save' situations he has failed in, so when you get to your '8th' inning situation the guy comes in looking really cold and gets f'ing clobbered. It might have happened anyway if say Broxton threw an inning on Tuesday or Thursday, but then again, maybe not.

Joey Votto:

12 - Games
20 - Walks

= 270 for year pace

Kinda nuts. Marty B. is already scowling a bit on taking all the walks a bit "he's here to drive in runs". Of course from what I have been seeing, teams are pretty much totally pitching around him. Phillips has actually done pretty good picking him up thus far, although it's not in the team record since the runs have been in spurts and pitching pretty meh.

reds broadcasters are currently discussing the horrors of bullying

like Pete Rose v Bud Harrelson?

I'm sure Thom Brennaman might know from experience. Jeff Brantley probably 'was' a bully at least on a plate of ribs. Chris Welsh seems too mellow to either have been bullied or be a bully.

Alvarez hurls bat in disgust, watches foul sail into stands, presumably retrieves same bat.

And then Ks on a pitch well outside the zone.

Holds onto bat.

Wrong thread.

*throws monitor*

Shin-Soo Choo out on a sacrifice bunt.

I was sweating it not bringing in Chapman in the 8th and it tying up.

FYI, Votto going into tonight has 5 more walks than the White Sox.

did Mesoraco start the year with them? he's still officially the backup?

Mesoraco is still the backup. He starts 1-2 games a week. If Mesoraco keeps hitting, I got to think at some point that he will get more playing time. Big thing is though at least based on last year, everyone seems to b

First Reds sweep of the Phillies since 1996.

Reds top starter prospect Tony Cingrani making his first MLB start tomorrow against the Marlins and Jose Fernandez, it should be an interesting game.

Big thing is though at least based on last year, everyone seems to 'pitch better when they start with Hannigan catching. Lato's in particular seemed to take off when they switched around the catching rotation.

solid from tony c

Fernandez looked pretty dominant the first time through the lineup, but the Reds just tagged on every one of those first pitch fastballs the second time through the lineup. Fernandez was downright filthy with Bruce and Frazier back to back in the 2nd, being able to drop that slow change up and hit those fastballs cutting in on the batter.

Got to say that looking at the changes Uncle Walt did on the roster, so far it's looking really good. Choo is just perfect and the Reds have gotten more out of the bench in the first 14-15 games than they did in about the first 3 months last year.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/cincinnati-reds-todd-frazier-delivers-home-run-ball-180118487--mlb.html

Well you can add this one on to Todd Frazier's bucket list with the one armed home run last year, the Little League World Series and saving that dudes life at lunch in Pittsburgh.

How about hitting one onto the GABP boat?

That would be a heck of a shot and it could be on the Todd Frazier bucket list.

Reds got a thing where if a Red hits the sign inbetween the two smokestacks someone wins a truck. They have done it for a few years and no-one has ever won the truck. Votto came close in his 2nd season as he hit the base of one of the smokestacks.

http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/49903427.jpg

http://confessionsofasportsjunkie.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/img_0586.jpg

As you can see, getting it on the riverboat or to the sign is a heck of a shot.

lol 'a level playing field makes winners of all of us'

ctrent ‏@ctrent 1m
That's it for Homer -- Denard Robinson running for Corky, Jack Hannahan hitting for Homer

Reds offense has been total feast or famine so far this year. They need to spread some of those runs out.

Tony Cingrani pitching for Cincinnati
D Span struck out swinging, D Span safe at first on wild pitch by T Cingrani.
D Espinosa doubled to deep right, D Span to third.
B Harper struck out swinging.
J Werth walked.
I Desmond struck out swinging.
A LaRoche struck out looking.

true outcomes

Tony Cingrani is looking pretty good. He's got that looping delivery the ball just must look like it explodes out from behind his head.

I got to think that when Johnny Cueto comes back the Reds are going to have to consider sticking with Cingrani and sending down Mike Leake or making a deal.

Votto's pre-AB music is "Paint It, Black" ?!

With the Reds down 2-1...

Cincinnati - Bottom of 7th
Mike Minor pitching for Atlanta
J Bruce flied out to center.
T Frazier struck out looking.
D Lutz singled to right.
D Mesoraco walked, D Lutz to second.
M Leake flied out to left.

Atlanta - Top of 8th
Mike Leake pitching for Cincinnati
J Schafer singled to right.
A Simmons singled to shallow left center, J Schafer to third.
S Marshall relieved M Leake.
F Freeman singled to right, J Schafer scored, A Simmons to second.

...

I was going to ask Monday night if Dusty was still considered a poor manager of pitching -- hadn't heard much along those lines the last couple of years.

Dusty is really bad about getting greedy with his starters and leaving them in a couple batters too long, especially over the past couple years with Leake and Arroyo. I swear he has done this very thing with Leake at least ten times. I could get it if it is a thing where the team has gone through some extra inning games or blow outs where the pen is kind of worn down - but there always seems to be a couple guys that haven't pitched two innings in ten days in his pen.

By the same measure with the Reds getting good starting pitching the past year or so, he will let some relivers sit for a week if it isn't tight games or their role, then they go in on six days rest and look like total slop and get beat in a close game. That's happened a few times too.

I don't know...I really think most of the managers kind of suck in MLB for one reason or another or at least team fans seem to think so.

As for Leake batting in the 7th in the 2-1 game, I'll call that one as probably Ok, as the Reds bench doesn't currently have a right handed batter that is better at the plate. The only two rightys on the bench with Ludwick and Chris Heisey out are Ceasar Izturis and backup catcher Corky Miller. Leake is an exceptional hitting pitcher too.

I don't know...I really think most of the managers kind of suck in MLB for one reason or another or at least team fans seem to think so.

it's true (my pet peeve with the cardinals' mike matheny is that he loves to bunt all the goddamn time for no reason).

but i gotta say, dusty baker is pretty notorious for his idiotic handling of pitchers, not only situationally (like the part andy k bolded) but also with consistently letting pitch counts get way too high.

With the Reds down 2-1...

Cincinnati - Bottom of 7th
Mike Minor pitching for Atlanta
J Bruce flied out to center.
T Frazier struck out looking.
D Lutz singled to right.
D Mesoraco walked, D Lutz to second.
M Leake flied out to left.

i can't imagine a single situation where it makes sense to let the pitcher hit here. even if leake was throwing a no-hitter with 14 Ks or something, if your team is down by a run in the bottom of the 7th and there's someone in scoring position, you gotta take him out.

Yeah, the Braves booth didn't seem to think that Leake hitting was a bad idea, and noted that he has the most hits among active pitchers over the past, uh, however many years since Micah Owings was The Man. (I was surprised that Tim Hudson was #3 on that list.) xxp

Billy H just pinch ran, stole his first bag off Molina, scored first run of game on Frazier hit.

Heck of a pitching performance by Homer Bailey tonight. He was pretty filthy.

Got to like the Missile coming in from 9 days in the silo and dropping five straight pitches at 102-103 then dropping to a couple 91 mph sliders.

the pitch speeds in the pitchFX box look like a pinball game

When Chapman has control on his slider, that's the knee buckler pitch.

Billy Hamilton looked very fast tonight. Molina got off a good throw and I appreciated the sly grin he flashed for a second there after the play. Bad thing I kept thinking looking at Billy Hamilton is that the guy is pretty much built like Juan Pierre. He is a skinny dude.

BILLY HAMILTON PR ALERT

"When this guy bunts, take off."

BILLY HAMILTON HAS SCORED.

So that's single, single (following botched sac-bunt attempts), a botched sac-bunt attempt resulting in a force-out at second, double play.

And Brandon Phillips just bunted a runner to second base.

That runner did not score.

(Was that a two-out squeeze attempt?)

Matt Adams just killed a rally before it started.

man, after that 15th they deserve to lose.

votto went 0-7

It was a well pitched game, but the rest of the Reds kind of fumbled this one. That is the story of the 2013 Reds, two steps forward, two steps back. The hitting is just not there this year.

cingrani stole a base tonight? what a player

Cingrani bunted his way on base, then stole second then went to third on a wild pitch and scored.

quad contusion for Bitchy Phillips

speed kills

Nice Dave Fleming piece on Billy Hamilton:

http://www.billjamesonline.com/projecting_billy_hamilton_20/

I think we ought to take a moment out here to pay tribute to Herb Washington.

http://dlewis.net/nik-archives/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Herb-Washington.jpg

I had that card at one point. I was thinking about that guy but couldn't remember his name.

Got to say as crazy as having designated pinch runner might be, Hamilton has been a heck of a weapon this particular week. Bryan Wilson doesn't somehow nab that line shot, BH would most likely have also scored on Wednesday night against the Cardinals.

Unfair comparison, I know--Hamilton actually is a baseball player, Washington was largely a publicity stunt. (Are you old enough to remember Washington getting picked off by Mike Marshall in the '74 Series? Great moment.)

I also got to say, I feel better about Latos and Bailey being the 1 & 2 heading into the playoffs more than the other two recent Reds clubs. That's a nasty, nasty pair to have at the top of the lineup.

I'm really thinking Uncle Bob needs to mortgage some other business and just plunk down the coin and try to go big and sign Latos and Bailey for like 4-5 years each. Go bigger $ but less years. Both of them would become free agents again before age 30 and get another huge payday if they like. Injuries happen, but the Reds having those two could really get tough for the long term. It probably won't happen, but man a trio of Latos, Bailey, and Cingrani for 4-5 seasons could be amazing. This also doesn't include having Leake for another 3 under team control and having Cueto signed for 1 more year with 1 year option.

It's a situation not unlike the Braves in the 90s with Glavine and Smoltz with Maddux available. Reds don't have the money that Atlanta club did, but these guys got another year before free agency too. If they can make those two deals happen, the Reds on paper is a well stocked club potentially for 4 or 5 years.

I don't think what the A's did was a bad idea for them, being an early 70s AL club. Didn't need to carry 12 pitchers and the A's had 4 or 5 starters that just threw tons of innings. DH was a new thing at that point and with pitchers not hitting, I could see matchup wise using a pinch runner being a pretty good close game tool.
In that setup, you could carry 3 catchers or a 'utility' or special interest player. You used to see clubs carry pinch hitter specialists who rarely saw the field more in the 70s and 80s - so a pinch runner doesn't to me seem as totally unlikely for the period.

Stros are in the game tonight!

Hamilton 8-for-8 stealing, 3 tonight

Four-pitch walk to Hamilton
Four-pitch walk to Choo
Following ninth consecutive ball, Phillips attempts to bunt and is out on interference
Votto flies out
Bruce intentionally walked
Ludwick strikes out looking
Billy Hamilton does not score

Just saw someone point out that, after the second out was recorded, Fields had thrown 18 pitches -- three of which were strikes.

lol Phillips' interference with his noggin

jeez, that game got even more batshit after I went to bed.

Billy Hamilton has that sprinter like stride where it doesn't even look like there is that much effort at full speed. It will be interesting to see if he can learn to hit and stick at the big leagues. I'd think he could at least be maybe Otis Nixon and if he is really good defensively in center, that could have some value. I guess his arm strength is pretty good.

used to be a shortstop, so he must have a decent arm

That was easily one of the crazier games I have seen all year. I tend to doubt that Sam LeCure in a 3-3 game with the fastest guy on the Pirates at the plate would want to plunk him. He just got loose on one pitching inside.

Hamilton is just insanely fast. That run from second looked like it was sped up. I started to hear the Benny Hill music in my head on some of the replays.

Todd Frazier and the Reds defense made a few nice plays tonight. Frazier has done a nice job in the field at third this year.

you shut up

j/k mostly

I swear the Mets just did a hidden intentional walk to Votto with the bases loaded. Pitching coach comes out and talks to Harang, then Harang hit four pitches high in a row.

votto 5 walks

Swing the bat, asshole.

Dusty out

http://marksheldon.mlblogs.com/2013/10/04/report-baker-out-as-manager/

dusty dusty him sad

so why did Votto swing like that in the WC game?

well, he *was* facing nothing but sliders from a guy who had a historic season against lefties

bruce's hit came on a fastball, but i don't know that votto even got one

Paul O'Neill interviews w/ Reds, lol, of course. How many times will he get tossed to fire up the team?

From what I saw later on, Paul O'Neill hasn't actually interviewed as much as let it be known, he's interested in the job.

I guess Dusty Baker has made it be known, he's interested in talking to the Nationals.

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/10/9/4821256/mlb-rumors-dusty-baker-nationals-manager-2014

whether deserved or not, dusty's rep is that he can't take the final step and kills pitchers. doesn't seem like a particularly good fit for the nationals.

i'd like to see dusty wearing one of those powder-blue royals uniforms, but i guess ned yost is just too successful.

Nats are also coming away from Davey Johnson. I'd think they would want to try someone different.

I can tell you who won't be managing the Reds and that is Ozzie Guillen. There is no way in Cincy and radio on the Big One would a Reds manager that says nice things about Castro is gonna fly in that town.

paul oneill would be hilarious, that needed to happen

Hope Votto can keep his head on straight through this foolishness (or find another team at some point).

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/42392/reds-think-joey-votto-walks-too-much

COME HOME JOEY!

i very much doubt votto will change his approach. what will the reds do, bench him until he swings at more bad pitches?

You walk too much and you never pop up: 2014 Reds