Wednesday, August 04, 2004
Slip Slidin' Away
The Cincinnati Reds have become the definition of the bright star that burns out much too quickly. Either that or the boat that knows it will sink, but just pitches the water out by bucket as long as physically possible until the inevitable comes to pass. What in the world do I mean? In 2002, the Reds finished June 43-37 in first place. They ended up 78-84. Last year, after June they stood in second, despite a 38-42 record. They finished a game out of last at 69-93. This year, June 30 found the Reds at 42-35. So, following the pattern, what do they follow up with? 9-19 since. Since the beginning of '02, they're 9 games over .500 in the first 3 months, and 42 games under .500 in the last three. The Reds are turning into perennial pretenders and the slip slidin' is on again.
Here Comes Wily Mo
Look at this line. July: .269, 9 HR, 19 RBI, .591 SLG, .938 OPS. This is what Wily Mo can produce with a full-time opportunity and the Reds are gonna be faced with a real decision now that they have a sense whether Wily Mo can play once and for all. What you might be asking is--Is this past month for real? I say yes. Wily Mo did strike out 23 times as only walked 8, but even that paltry K/BB ratio was the best he'd shown all year. The key word is improvement. Also, his contact percentage went way up. Before July, it was 64%. It went up 10% in July to 74%, which is getting close to what would is considered at least acceptable. Again--improvement. That .269 doesn't look astonishing, especially considering his history, but he did it with a 26% hit rate. That's called bad luck.
Battin' With the Bats
Austin Kearns began his minor league rehab with the AAA Louisville Bats on Tuesday night. He went 1-4 with 2 K. It would seem that Kearns is most likely about a week or so from being ready to try his hand (literally) in the majors again. I speculated before that the Reds will take their time with Kearns, considering the way Pena has been playing. Speaking of the Bats, it appears that Brandon Larson took a step back from his likely pending rehab assignment. He aggravated his hamstring injury Sunday when running, according to the team website. Larson has shown no improvement this year in his admittedly limited PT, although that lack of PT is no fault of the Reds--he just couldn't stay healthy. With Freel, like Pena, demanding everyday attention, it's unlikely he'll see many more ABs.
Griffey Back From Injury
Where have you heard that before? Kenny was activated on Tuesday night to begin the Reds 6-game West Coast road trip, although he didn't start against the Giants. It possible he could start tomorrow, although Junior is known to ease his way back into the lineup when returning from his many trips off the DL, so the smart move would be to wait until you see him in the lineup before you activate him. Griffey was hitting .346 in 8 games in July before tearing that hammy runnin' down a fly ball in the gap, so if he's 100%, it could be a big boost to an offense that certainly needs it.
You Wouldn't Mistake Him for Cal Ripken
Barry Larkin has officially played in 83 of the Reds' 105 games this year, which in itself isn't very impressive, but it's even less so when you figure in the fact that in 11 of those 83 games, he's only had one AB, and has a total of 13 pinch hits on the year. He recently lamented that pinch hitting was "for the birds", according to the team website. While statistically this has been Barry's best year since 2000, it's obvious that even with an All-Star appearance this year, Barry is merely a shadow of the player he once was. Yeah, it'd be great to have a SS on your team with his stats, but the inconsistency with which he actually plays leaves me suggesting that if you can possibly look elsewhere, that would be a good idea. The last game Barry started was July 24.
Parting with Mr. Jones; "Nice to Meet You"
In a much lower profile trade over the last weekend, the Reds dealt Todd Jones to the Phillies along with minor league outfielder Brad Correll. In return, the Phillies sent minor league shortstop Anderson Machado and pitcher Josh Hancock. Hancock quickly inserted himself into the Reds stat books by picking up the win on Saturday in the second half of a postponed game against Houston. When he entered the game he had yet to meet his new catcher, Jason LaRue. So, how did he introduce himself? "Fastball, changeup, slider. Nice to meet you." Losing Jones makes a bad Reds bullpen much closer to horrific, but considering the salary dump that could've taken place, Reds fans might consider themselves lucky.
Odds and Ends
The Reds' pitchers walked 100 batters in July, their highest monthly total of the season. In fact, each month has seen the walk total get higher. So much for "pitching to contact" as Gullett's Spring Training mantra went. . .The Reds entered Tuesday's game just 1 game out of the cellar in the NL Central. Good news? They're still only 2 games outta 3rd. Compared to the rest of the division, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Reds at rock bottom pretty soon. . .Maybe we've gotten so desperate we should bring back the turf in Cincinnati. The Reds are hitting .291 on turf this year as compared to .249 on grass. Hey, I hate turf too, but anything to stop this slide. Keep the faith, Reds fans. Until next time, I'm Matt Allen, and this one belongs to the Red Letters.
Here Comes Wily Mo
Look at this line. July: .269, 9 HR, 19 RBI, .591 SLG, .938 OPS. This is what Wily Mo can produce with a full-time opportunity and the Reds are gonna be faced with a real decision now that they have a sense whether Wily Mo can play once and for all. What you might be asking is--Is this past month for real? I say yes. Wily Mo did strike out 23 times as only walked 8, but even that paltry K/BB ratio was the best he'd shown all year. The key word is improvement. Also, his contact percentage went way up. Before July, it was 64%. It went up 10% in July to 74%, which is getting close to what would is considered at least acceptable. Again--improvement. That .269 doesn't look astonishing, especially considering his history, but he did it with a 26% hit rate. That's called bad luck.
Battin' With the Bats
Austin Kearns began his minor league rehab with the AAA Louisville Bats on Tuesday night. He went 1-4 with 2 K. It would seem that Kearns is most likely about a week or so from being ready to try his hand (literally) in the majors again. I speculated before that the Reds will take their time with Kearns, considering the way Pena has been playing. Speaking of the Bats, it appears that Brandon Larson took a step back from his likely pending rehab assignment. He aggravated his hamstring injury Sunday when running, according to the team website. Larson has shown no improvement this year in his admittedly limited PT, although that lack of PT is no fault of the Reds--he just couldn't stay healthy. With Freel, like Pena, demanding everyday attention, it's unlikely he'll see many more ABs.
Griffey Back From Injury
Where have you heard that before? Kenny was activated on Tuesday night to begin the Reds 6-game West Coast road trip, although he didn't start against the Giants. It possible he could start tomorrow, although Junior is known to ease his way back into the lineup when returning from his many trips off the DL, so the smart move would be to wait until you see him in the lineup before you activate him. Griffey was hitting .346 in 8 games in July before tearing that hammy runnin' down a fly ball in the gap, so if he's 100%, it could be a big boost to an offense that certainly needs it.
You Wouldn't Mistake Him for Cal Ripken
Barry Larkin has officially played in 83 of the Reds' 105 games this year, which in itself isn't very impressive, but it's even less so when you figure in the fact that in 11 of those 83 games, he's only had one AB, and has a total of 13 pinch hits on the year. He recently lamented that pinch hitting was "for the birds", according to the team website. While statistically this has been Barry's best year since 2000, it's obvious that even with an All-Star appearance this year, Barry is merely a shadow of the player he once was. Yeah, it'd be great to have a SS on your team with his stats, but the inconsistency with which he actually plays leaves me suggesting that if you can possibly look elsewhere, that would be a good idea. The last game Barry started was July 24.
Parting with Mr. Jones; "Nice to Meet You"
In a much lower profile trade over the last weekend, the Reds dealt Todd Jones to the Phillies along with minor league outfielder Brad Correll. In return, the Phillies sent minor league shortstop Anderson Machado and pitcher Josh Hancock. Hancock quickly inserted himself into the Reds stat books by picking up the win on Saturday in the second half of a postponed game against Houston. When he entered the game he had yet to meet his new catcher, Jason LaRue. So, how did he introduce himself? "Fastball, changeup, slider. Nice to meet you." Losing Jones makes a bad Reds bullpen much closer to horrific, but considering the salary dump that could've taken place, Reds fans might consider themselves lucky.
Odds and Ends
The Reds' pitchers walked 100 batters in July, their highest monthly total of the season. In fact, each month has seen the walk total get higher. So much for "pitching to contact" as Gullett's Spring Training mantra went. . .The Reds entered Tuesday's game just 1 game out of the cellar in the NL Central. Good news? They're still only 2 games outta 3rd. Compared to the rest of the division, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Reds at rock bottom pretty soon. . .Maybe we've gotten so desperate we should bring back the turf in Cincinnati. The Reds are hitting .291 on turf this year as compared to .249 on grass. Hey, I hate turf too, but anything to stop this slide. Keep the faith, Reds fans. Until next time, I'm Matt Allen, and this one belongs to the Red Letters.
