OBP no! PAP yes!: The '08 Reds Thread

IT BEGINS

In Dusty we no Trusty...

It should be interesting.

Questions for Cincy:

What is going to happen to Adam Dunn? Do the Reds sign him or which east coast baseball empire will get him?

How good is this Jay Bruce guy going to be? Ask the same question and insert Homer Bailey or Joey Votto?

What the heck are you going to do about that stinky bullpen?

http://www.latexmaskcentral.com/images/Archives/Kuato_3100thumb.jpg

ha! johnny quatto?

As for the center-field battle, Baker appears to have made up his mind but isn't sharing, yet.

"I have a plan," he said. "Everybody wants to know the plan. Everybody is guessing the plan. We'll just let the plan work itself out."

Uh huh. I bet it's a really good one, Dusty.

The plan is: Corey Patterson.

Reds send top prospect OF Jay Bruce to minors

8 hours, 31 minutes ago

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FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP)—Outfielder Jay Bruce, one of the Cincinnati Reds’ top prospects, was reassigned to their minor league camp on Thursday.

The 20-year-old Bruce was a possible candidate for the starting center field job. Manager Dusty Baker will now choose between Corey Patterson, Norris Hopper and Ryan Freel.

The Reds also optioned OF Drew T. Anderson and right-hander Marcus McBeth to Triple-A Louisville. Right-handers Josh Roenicke and Tom Shearn were reassigned to the minors.

The moves left the Reds with 44 players in camp, including injured left-hander Bobby Livingston and shortstop Alex Gonzalez, expected to miss the start of the season with a knee injury.

Bruce, who jumped from Single-A to Triple-A last season, hit .262 this spring with no homers and three RBIs.

itt i bang my fuckin head on the table until my brains ooze out my nose

(guess who drafted bruce in his fantasy league~)

dude, don't worry. ken griffey will get hurt in a couple weeks and they'll bring bruce up.

...to back up Ryan Freel. He's a gamer dude.

HA!

Joe Sheehan wrote a wicked Dummy Dusty piece this week.

Isn't it possible that Jay Bruce could use more seasoning? He was in A ball at the start of last season. I know he's the second coming and all that, but it wouldn't hurt to not start his service time yet. I don't think you can guarantee that he'd be better than Corey Patterson this year, and a month or two in Louisville wouldn't hurt. He hasn't been a worldbeater this spring.

i think the bigger issue is naming corey patterson leadoff hitter, but he's a serviceable major leaguer. fwiw, his k rate dropped and bb rate rose in b'more.

The ending for tonight's Reds game was entertaining in many ways other than just a walk off home run by Edwin Encarnacion, but the fact that he clubbed it right after Jeff Brantley said he was the last guy the Reds would want up at the plate in a clutch situation (even though the Reds just flashed his career .360 batting average with runners in scoring position).

It was also cool that Adam Dunn was able to chip shot a single going completely against the shift setting up Encarancion's blast. So many times you will see a guy up with one of those crazy pull defensive shifts and your inner seven year old will say, why don't he hit it over there and they never do; it is cool to see someone actually hit it over there.

So many times you will see a guy up with one of those crazy pull defensive shifts and your inner seven year old will say, why don't he hit it over there and they never do

Usually, the pitchers pitch in such a way that the hitter CAN'T hit against the shift (as far as that can be controlled). And I really don't want to see Big Papi or Dunn trying to lay down opposite field bunts all that often.

well, there goes Cueto's no-hitter.

hell of a debut

homer who?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0amCfgnwY8

Death Cab OMG

Fire Joe Morgan has the Encarnacion/Brantley footage:

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2008/04/xxx.html

Baseball Reference should replace all their clutch stats with one statistic: "with chance to hit walk-off home run." Just use that.

Brandon's getting (soft) shelled!

Also, as a follow-up on the Dunn-shift single thing -- from accounts I heard, Dunn swung @ a blatant 4th ball, a practice he should probably avoid in the future (unless he somehow starts channeling Yogi or Vlad).

yeah...two pack of tacos courtesy of pat the bat and geoff jenkins.

And, um, why is Keppinger playing 1B? Shouldn't he be over @ SS in place of Juan "I Am 36 And Woefully Overmatched As A Hitter, And Should Not Be Hitting 2nd" Castro? Is Dusty frowning on both Hattyberg and Votto, or is he trying to increase Kepp's fantasy value?

Uhhh?

1) Brandon's thrown 70 pitches thru 4, & served up 4 tacos (5 runs total)
2) The heart of Philly's order (Victorino / Utley / Howard) is due up in the 5th
3) Paul Bako doubles w/ 2 out in the bottom of the 4th
4) Dusty lets the pitcher hit (and BA proceeds to make out by bunting to the pitcher)

Explainable or inexplicable? YOU MAKE THE CALL!

Dusty pulled that shit all the time with the Cubs. I think his rationale was that he didn't want to waste Neifi in the 4th, saving him for a much higher leverage spot to fail. So he left it to the departing pitcher to ignite that seven run rally.

Dusty's letting Nellie Hooper hit w/ 1 out in the 9th, down 3. (This is where the Massive Attack / Soul 2 Soul joek goes.)

Dusty's letting PAUL BAKO hit w/ 2 out in the 9th, down 3!

Oh, this is turning into some sort of slap-fighty match of idiot oneupsmanship:

- B. Lidge relieved T. Gordon
- E. Encarnacion flied out to deep left
- N. Hopper grounded out to third
- P. Bako walked
- C. Patterson safe at first on left fielder S. Taguchi's fielding error, P. Bako to second
- K. Griffey Jr. hit for R. Freel
- K. Griffey Jr. intentionally walked, P. Bako to third, C. Patterson to second (O RLY?!?!?)
- J. Valentin hit for J. Castro (O RLY RLY?!?!?!??!)

The only way this WTF inning could end:

- P. Bako scored, C. Patterson to third, K. Griffey Jr. to second on wild pitch
- J. Valentin struck out looking

i always get a kick out of bp's referencing bako and o's fans jokingly referred to him as base knock bako last year, but no this posting from a royals blog last year is one of the most brilliant pieces of bako-nalia ever produced:

http://www.royalsreview.com/story/2007/4/12/0309/48001

Arroyo con taco

COME ON DUSTY -- top of the 7th, 1 out, 1-0 Brewers ahead, runner @ 2nd, he's leaving Johnny Cueto (85 pitches) in to hit?

...Johnny Cueto (85 pitches, Cy Young candidate)...

friend sed cueto is a god walking among men & i trust him, good job dusty

Ya burnt! Reds somehow tie the game (because Cueto ended up moving the runner over), but Bill Hall hit him Johnny C w/ the guac gun for a 2-1 lead.

What the hell is up w/ the Miller Park roof leaking?!?!?

Eric Gagne would like to thank hamstring of Valentin.

Huh?

CS - S Hatteberg (1, Home by C Villanueva/J Kendall).

Pickoff? Missed sign? Had to pee?

Edinson Volquez also looked good in his first start.

The Reds seem to be showing a bit more bullpen depth than last year.

I feel good so far. If they can get some of the other bats going, they are going to score some runs.

Edwin Encarnacion is one of those players that makes fans crazy. The guy will hit a ton in stretches where you think the guy is going to go big time, but at other points he goes ice cold. He and Corey Patterson should have some stuff to talk about, as Patterson is on one of those hot streaks he would have with the Cubs. I'm sure give it a week or so and Patterson will be completely unable to lay off the outside stuff.

Still, I can kind of see why Cinci did drink the kool aid and bring in Patterson. The guy can cover some range in center field and considering that he plays in between Dunn and Griffey, it is kind of needed.

I'm cool with Jay Bruce and hope for the best, but I also remember that Willie Greene was going to be the 3b for the Reds for the next 10 years stuff. (Greene who was also thought to be a steal of a trade as Cinci gave up John Wetteland right before he got good.)

Reds pitching looks great! Not sold on hitting though.

I DO BELIEVE THERE WILL BE CHOCOLATE RAIN TOMORROW

dos "tacos del cueto" por favor.

lol Piazza

http://mlb-rumors.blogspot.com/2008/04/piazza-to-reds.html

With former Cubs manager Dusty Baker in town with the Cincinnati Reds, the fans at Wrigley Field were in a feisty mood on Thursday. A few of them threw baseballs from the bleachers on to the field. That drew harsh criticism from Reds Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Brennaman. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Brennaman called Cubs fans "far and away the most obnoxious fans in baseball in this league." He wasn't done. "This is what makes you want to see this Chicago Cubs team lose. Throwing 15 or 18 balls on the field, there's absolutely no excuse for that and that is so typical of Chicago Cubs fans. It's unbelievable."

Nice timing by Brennaman: the 25th anniversary of the Lee Elia rant is Apr. 29.

wayne krivsky: GONE!

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080423/SPT04/304230046

I have a feeling Jocketty's going to end up trading some of his young depth for a veteran guy that will supposedly push the Reds over the top. Or I have a sore throat.

He just reclogged the bases, though.

Wow

He's earned that day off he'll undoubtedly get tomorrow.

Jesus what a line.

^^what are things Josh Hamilton said in 2004 for $400, alex

last guy to reach base 5x in MLB debut: Kaz Matsui.

Haha uh oh.

yeah, curb your etc.

corey patterson going down to the minors to work on his swing

Well, there goes the perfect season.

there goes my fucking HACKING MASS score!

Holy shit @ Bruce.

SI via FJM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/06/06/heyman.bruce/?eref=sircrc

Asked to explain his Red-hot start, Bruce said simply "Sample size."

The new "I'm just happy to be here"?

TRUTH BOMB

lol, did Heyman say "fuck that sabermetric shit"?

Coco Cordero caused me to turn the TV off on Saturday. It is never good watching your team blow a two run lead with two outs in the ninth.

Junior hits 600, Sosa still stalled at 609.

Paul Bako 6 HR (career high)
Victor Martinez 0 HR

I'm not sure which is harder to believe.

With Jerry Hairston breaking a finger last night, the Reds have now lost three short stops to broken bones so far this season. Kind of a shame, as like Keppinger, Hairston had kind of come out of nowhere to really play quite well this year.

All I can say, is be careful Paul Janish!

I think Junior just clinched his not-particularly-deserving All-Star start, but the NL OF is so underwhelming I can't complain too much.

How long will it take for you to be properly whelmed by McLouth, Nady, Ludwick, Burrell, Bay... etc.? I guess those aren't the sexy names people want to see, but they're having nice years. The production in the AL isn't much better ... Hamilton and Quentin aren't exactly household names either, and the rest of the pack hasn't been exceptional.

poly, I don't know if yer a Baseball Prospectus subscriber, but as Joe Sheehan says "I don't vote for two good months."

Of those you listed, I gave consideration to Bay and Butrell bcz their track records are better than the others. "Xavier Nady" is not a reasonable answer to "who are the NL's 3 best outfielders?"

Not yet, anyway! I love that guy, wish he was still a Padre.

lol

More excellent strategy from Dusty, leaving Patterson (L) to face Beimel (L) down one in the seventh with runners in scoring position.

Corey P still leading off, lol

There's a New Kid in Town

Albert Chen on Jay Bruce in this week's Sports Illustrated.

Votto leading off tonight...

Reds shortstops = Spinal Tap drummers

I guess the shortstop odds are catching up after having Concepcion and Larkin starting from about 1970 to 2004. Really adding in Roy McMillian and Leo Cardenas, who both played the position for quite a few years and the Reds only had maybe half dozen regular short stops from the early 50s up until when Larkin retired.

That is why in a way it was surprising that they dealt off Felipe Lopez, cause some people thought he might end up being the Reds starting shortstop for a good long while keeping the streak going that started with Concepcion and Larkin.

It will be interesting to see what the Reds do with some of the vets. I'm sure Griffey, Dunn and maybe even Arroyo could be headed out within the next few weeks.

Ted Hunter (Cane, NH): Is Bronson Arroyo cooked?

Christina Kahrl: He's certainly basting.

The odd thing about Arroyo is that he has either been pretty good or completely horrible, not much middle ground.

Sad thing is that the bullpen has been decent this year but the Reds just are not scoring the runs like they need. They would put up 6 or 7 runs a game a bunch last year and lose, but they cannot get the big hit when needed.

They have had some injuries, but too many of the vets have been off for them to do any real movement.

Two things I have noticed about Brandon Phillips. For a guy that does not draw alot of walks, he does seem to really work a count. The other thing is that the baseball fans don't seem to know at all who he is, which is a shame. The dude is trailing Kaz Matsui and Ricky Weeks in allstar balloting which is really sad.

I'm sure O-Dog Hudson is a fine fielding second baseman, but Phillips is a witch. I saw Ryne Sandberg play a bunch growing up and I am almost believing that Phillips has more range. I just hope the other players in the league give him a shot at a Gold Glove.

When, in a recent and brief talk with a Reds fan, I dared to bring up the peculiar gulf of difference between Reds fans' reception of Bruce to their appreciation of Griffey and Phillips, I got zinged for "playing the race card." Woah, heyyy, my bad.

Anyway:

HR » CIN: K. Griffey Jr. (12), A. Dunn (24), B. Phillips (15), D. Ross 2 (3), E. Encarnacion (14), J. Votto (13)

I don't think the Cincy fans or the local Reds press really slight Brandon Phillips at all. He seems to be pretty popular and the Reds do use him on some of their marketing. I think the rest of the NL and baseball fans don't know who Brandon Phillips is as a player and that is sad as the guy is a whole lot of fun to watch play.

Griffey on the other hand is a bit more complex, as there is some friction even beyond all of the injuries like a few years ago when he complained about having to go to the All Star game and an incident when Marty Brennaman called Junior out for "Cadiallacing" and not running out some plays. Then again, there is another part of Reds fans that love Griffey as he is a local guy no matter what. Whatever it is, it isn't Junior's fault that Cincy has had some of the worse pitching in the NL over the last ten years, which is the major reason they have not won.

To be honest, I hear people on sports talk radio taking more taking swipes at Adam Dunn. That dude gets more jive for what he is not than props for what he is. I'm sure Jay Bruce might get that same kind of static if like Dunn, he doesn't turn into the 5 tool savior of the franchise which Dunn was also kind of hyped as when he first arrived.

It is too bad that the Reds cannot make a retroactive salary change and give the 3 million that they gave to Patterson instead to Jerry Hairston Jr. Hairston has played great all year and while he never really caught on my radar when he was with the Cubs, I like watching the guy play. Jerry Hairston Jr. does a whole lot of good smart baseball moves during a game in both the field and at the plate. This may all be a fluke, but the guy has been really good and a reason the Reds are playing better. From what I gotten from interviews, Hairston is stating that this is the first year in many seasons that he has been able to play without back pain.

Another big night for Edinson Volquez and the surprising Jerry Hairston Jr.

Lord, I kind of feel sorry for Brewers fans. Eric Gagme really stunk it up and considering how bad the Reds bullpen has been over the last few years, I know their pain.

Dusty pushed all the right buttons today.

I could maybe see pulling Bailey for a lefty to go against Fielder if you are playing the lefty righty odds. Fielder had already put out out a moon shot against Bailey. Brantley had pointed out a week or so ago when I was listening to the Reds on the radio that Bray has actually had more success against right handed hitters or at least he had up until about the Pirates series.

I think it would have been better to have Bailey pitch around Fielder and then take his chances before the switch out.

From what I understand, Levi Jared Burton has some arm soreness and they pretty much are giving him off until after the all star break. So the Reds were down all series their truly best reliever. I'm hoping this will blow over, as Burton has been the Reds reliever for the past year an a half, really since he got called up last year.

To be honest, I'm probably more bummed for Jerry Hairston Jr. than the loss today. The guy comes off probably one of his best games as a pro, makes a good catch in the outfield, then lays down a killer bunt and blows his leg out. The guy had been on base 10 consecutive times in a row when he got hurt. The Reds have been playing like 9 over .500 when Hairston started this year and like 13 under .500 when he didn't.

I was definitely someone that was ragging on the Reds for bringing him in, but the guy has played really great and very hard. It is sad to see him get hurt again. If he is going to be out for a few weeks, hopefully Keppinger can follow up on the hits he got this weekend and get hot like he was before his injury. The Reds don't score much unless people get on base for the big bats.

Assuming it was Dusty who made the call to have David Ross (who had walked three times) attempt a two-out bunt single down two runs in the ninth.

I didn't see the play as I got pissed and turned off the TV after Coco gave up the 2-run jack to David Wright, but David Ross is probably about the best bunter the Reds have outside Hairston. Ross has pulled off a couple of surprise bunt hits on teams this year, as they don't see or expect it coming.

Jul 21 Brandon Harris, of MLB.com, reports Cincinnati Reds OF Ken Griffey Jr. will not be benched because of his poor .236 batting average, according to manager Dusty Baker. Griffey's high on-base percentage is the reason why Baker wants him to remain in the lineup.

I'm kind of surprised in the day of sports media going ga ga over everytime a player does something a bit wacky, that the whole thing that went down this weekend between Junior and Jeff Brantley with him throwing the fxxk you and throat slash to the camera hasn't made news. The deal is that I guess Brantley had been riding Griffey on TV and Radio for seemingly pouting over the Reds not yet picking up his extra year.

I guess Griffey should be happy he doesn't live in Boston, Green Bay or New York.

In the end, I guess it is true that you can never go home again. Griffey had a lot of bad luck with injuries and the thing I think some fans might not understand how bad a couple of those were, like the torn hamstring. Even if he would have been healthy, the Reds pitching was so poor for so long, I tend to doubt they would have been a playoff team either way.

On another note, I saw that the Nationals released Felipe Lopez. It is kind of interesting that the trade that sent him, Austin Kearns and Ryan Wagner to the Nationals which looked so bad at first now looks like trading not much for not much. Wagner was a high prospect at the time who had not delivered and he is pretty much gone from the major leagues. Lopez has not done anything to go back to the one big year he had with the Reds. The guy was living by his bat, as he is not a very good fielder and now he has been released. Kearns has not really played even as well as he did with the Reds. Bray and Majewski came over as damaged goods and even when they did pitch it was pretty bad at first. Bill Bray has been healthy finally this year and has been a solid reliever. Majewski has been improved this year, even though he stunk the first couple of months of the year. And to boot the Reds still have Daryl Thompson, who looked good in a start and a half of the three he got earlier this year.

I totally blame Bowden for that lopsided trade going south.

hey, Corey P is batting SEVENTH today! who sez Dusty doesn't learn?

"I totally blame Bowden for that lopsided trade going south."

Well he has kind of screwed up both teams, so it is probably perfect that this dumb trade he made in Cinci didn't work out for him once he got control of the National's check book.

Roy Oswalt's career record against the Reds:

21-1

I think Oswalt's career numbers are about as gaudy against the Cubs, so if you take that in to consideration, he might look look pretty average outside those two clubs.

lolwinsasindicatororperformance.com

Jocketty and Bavasi, working together

"I think we over-meet as a society."

—Reds manager and social critic Dusty Baker, on a team meeting with his slumping club.

DID YOU KNOW. . .

that Dusty Baker, along with Glenn Burke, is credited as giving the first-ever High Five in 1977?

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/deadspin/2008/10/pete-rose-jockey.jpg