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As Joey Votto goes under the knife to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, the Cincinnati Reds will continue on without their leader in pursuit of the NL Central crown. What seemed to look like a nice stretch ahead for the Reds—23 of their next 26 games come against teams with losing records—has now seemingly turned into a grind.

The Reds are going to be in need of production from their surrounding cast members and most of this responsibility is going to rest on the shoulders of one, Jay Bruce.

Bruce sent the Reds flying into the 2010 postseason in walk-off fashion, tossed in one of the most remarkable months of any Reds player of all-time during May of last season and began this year on a tear that carried the offense early.

But, after a great April that saw Bruce produce a slash line of .296/.337/.617, he has only managed .228/.312/.453 the rest of the way—covering two and a half months.

This brings us to the present. Jay Bruce leads the team with 57 RBI – eight more than Joey Votto‘s 49 RBI. But, many have come in non-clutch or unimportant moments in the game. After hitting .298 w/RISP (with runners in scoring position) last season, Bruce maintains a paltry .205 average in the same situations this season.

Now is the time for Jay Bruce to flip the switch from wanna-be star and debatable All-Star, to the super star that all the scouts and other teams think he can be. If the past is any indicator of future performance, the near future looks to be bright—but that’s the near future and not the immediate future. 

Over the past three seasons combined, Bruce has averaged .280/.365/.571 in August and .280/.382/.514 in September. July has proven however to be his worst month, coming in at .214/.283/.333 over the past three seasons.

If Bruce were hitting the same .298 w/RISP as he did last season, he would currently have near 75-80 RBI. Jay Bruce only needs to hit .275-.280 overall to be a superstar. The power numbers are there, now they just need to become consistent.

A consistent Jay Bruce more than fills the void of losing Votto for a period of time. Nobody will ever replace Votto, but Bruce has the ability to carry an offense just as Joey Votto does.

What the Cincinnati Reds need at this moment is for their 25 year old right fielder to come of age, to flip the switch, and to be their version of Andrew McCutchen. Just like Bruce, everyone knew that McCutchen had the abilities. When McCutchen flipped the switch to super stardom, the Pittsburgh Pirates leap-frogged Cincinnati into first place and became instant contenders in the NL Central. 

Jay Bruce has the potential to be the Reds’ savior and the chance to prove he is, and can be, the player that everyone (including himself) expects him to be. The next month is his audition for super stardom—will he rise to the occasion?

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You have most likely heard his name dropped in recent months, you know him as a Reds minor league prospect, but do you really know who Tony Cingrani is and what he’s accomplishing?

Cingrani is a left-handed pitcher who was drafted during last season’s (2011) amateur draft, in the third round and No. 114 overall by the Cincinnati Reds, out of Rice University.

Far from being a MLB prospect in 2010, Cingrani’s first season with the Owls and his first season playing D-I baseball, he would find himself looking down the barrel of an 8.59 ERA through six starts at the conclusion of the season.

Looking to change things up, the Owls and Cingrani would restructure his mechanics and switch him to the closers role.

It was here that Tony would go on to dominate in his senior year and post a 1.74 ERA with 12 saves through 32 appearances—impressive, but far still limited success from what you would expect of a third-round pick. According to an article after the 2011 draft by Tyler Jett of MLB.com, Reds senior director of amateur scouting Chris Buckley called Cingrani, a “gut-feel guy.” 

Well, that gut feeling seems to be paying off in a big way. Cingrani was never projected as a possible MLB starter, but the Reds have taken such an approach with him, and he has not looked back.

Tony boasts a fastball that has been graded an 80/80 on the 20-80 scouting scale and averages in the 92-93 mph range while touching 97-98 at times. His control is being rated at 70/80, and his pitch command’s rated at 60/70. Those last two numbers are absolutely phenomenal for a young pitcher.

The downfall comes with his secondary pitches. Cingrani is primarily a two-pitch pitcher who works his fastball and an average changeup to perfection while tossing in a mediocre slider. His two secondary pitches, however, have been showing development and progress this season, and his excellent numbers at Double-A attest to that. 

The most astonishing fact with Tony Cingrani is his stats, which he continues to improve upon at each level of advancement. Let’s break them down.

Just take a look at those stats again. Through one full season of professional level stats, Tony Cingrani maintains a 1.38 Career ERA with a 36/203 BB/K ratio. I don’t care what level you play at, those are video game numbers for a starter.

Three of the six career home runs he has given up came in one game this season—his third start at Double-A on June 14 where he allowed 3 ER in the game—the most earned runs he has ever given up in a professional game. This means that over the other 30 starts and 152 innings pitched, he has only given up three home runs. These numbers are simply amazing.

Now, we know that Tony cannot continue to throw up numbers at this ridiculous rate can he? But, an even more amazing stat is that his numbers continue to improve at each level he advances to.

If he is able to continue at this pace for another five to six starts, expect Cingrani to make the next move to Triple-A Louisville. I fully expect him to make at least one to two starts at the next level before season’s end.

Tony Cingrani is an intriguing prospect who was on no national radars and few local radars at the beginning of the 2012 season. But, he’s not to be overlooked. Daniel Corcino is an A-type prospect and has been considered the best pitching prospect in Cincy’s farm system.

With all do respect to Corcino, Cingrani is the Reds’ No. 1 minor league pitching prospect and a close second to Billy Hamilton as the Reds’ overall No.1 minor league prospect.

Hamilton has the potential to break the all-time stolen base record and is averaging over one stolen base per game, while Cingrani has the potential to post a sub-1.50 ERA—remarkable

Tony Cingrani and Billy Hamilton are two exciting prospects; make sure that you keep up with them and their performances this year. It’s going to be exciting.

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Since the first MLB All-Star Game was held in 1933, there have been plenty of memorable moments for fans to recall. The Cincinnati Reds have been no slouch in creating a few of their own unique and memorable All-Star moments.

Cincinnati has played host to the MLB All-Star Game on four occasions—1938 and 1953 at Crosley Field, and 1970 and 1988 at Riverfront Stadium. Owner Bob Castellini has hinted in recent months that Cincy could be in line for hosting another ASG within the next few years.

The most memorable of the four All-Star Games that the city of Cincinnati has hosted, has to fall to the 1970 occurrence. But, more on that later.

Here are Cincinnati’s seven most memorable All-Star Game moments, in no particular order.

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The Mid-Summer Classic is upon us and the Cincinnati Reds find themselves in 2nd place, trailing one of the summer’s biggest surprises in the Pittsburg Pirates and only slightly in front of the 3rd place St. Louis Cardinals.

One surprise for Cincinnati is a pitching staff that ranks 4^th in all of baseball in team ERA of 3.41. The staff has been lead by a steady crew of starters that ranks first in the majors with seven complete games and a dominant relief corps. “Should be” All-Star, Johnny Cueto, paces the staff with a 2.34 ERA, Mat Latos and Mike Leake have turned their seasons around, and Homer Bailey and Bronson Arroyo have been consistent and steady for most of the season.

But another unsuspected and unwanted surprise has continued to haunt the club—they rank in the bottom third of the senior circuit in runs scored, team BA, and team OBP.

The Reds began the season inept at scoring runs and save for only about a four week stretch last month, the team continues to struggle mightily at doing so. It is no secret that the top two slots in the Cincinnati lineup rank among the worst at reaching base.

So, the time has come when Dusty Baker and the Reds must make changes—continuing with the status quo is simply detrimental to this team’s playoff chances. Dusty Baker needs to “man up” to his players and make the changes that are going to hurt feelings.

Assuming the Reds make no immediate trades, check out these changes Baker needs to make to the Reds lineup.

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Kevin Youkilis is a hometown boy—born and raised in Cincinnati and a product of the University of Cincinnati. What a story it makes for the hometown boy to make good on his hometown team. But, unfortunately for Youk, the Cincinnati Reds don’t need him, nor should they pursue him.

The Boston Red Sox third-baseman has been linked to numerous trade rumors this season, and articles such as Jon Heyman’s Baseball Insider column and ESPN affiliated Fire Brand of The American League  link him to Cincinnati.

The only hometown story that could be made with Kevin Youkilis is a recap of the major blunder Cincinnati made in trading for him. I’m sure that you are asking yourself why? The answer to this is two fold and very simple.

First, Youkilis is past his prime and injury prone. Look at Scott Rolen—the Reds do not need two Scott Rolen’s on their club. Yes, Youk is younger, but he has also never played more than 147 games in a season and will continue to only break down more often with his advanced age. 

Remember Ken Griffey Jr.? 

Second, Todd Frazier is the third-baseman moving forward. He is a former Reds first-round draft pick from 2007, has the talent and has proven himself.  He is second on the club only to Joey Votto with a .611 Slugging-percentage, and there comes a time when you need to trust your top prospects—that time is now.

It’s time to stop playing games with trade rumors and time to focus on continually winning games with the team on the field.

There will be individuals that believe Youkilis could play left-field. To those people I say, Kevin Youkilis is a below average left-fielder and does not look to be improving anytime soon. The Reds suffered through Adam Dunn and others in left for years—do you really want to go back to that?

If the Reds intend on being serious contenders all year, then they must address their actual needs and not fool with false needs. Third-base is actually on the rise with the development of Frazier. Chris Heisey and Ryan Ludwick provide pop at the plate and excellent defense in left.  

An improved left-handed bat off of the bench is a true “need.” 

Chime in with your thoughts: 

Do you agree with this analysis?  What do you believe are the true “needs” for the Cincinnati Reds?

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By now we should all know the name Billy Hamilton.  You know him, the Cincinnati Reds prospect that already has 46 steals through 44 games played—that guy.  Well, this article is not about him.  Rather, about five Reds prospect names that every Reds fan needs to know not named “that other guy.”

Do not let the trade of Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal, and Brandon Boxberger to San Diego this offseason fool you into thinking that the Reds traded the farm away.  They definitely gave up a tremendous amount of talent in the trade for Mat Latos, but the Redlegs have been bringing in a consistent flow of solid prospects through the draft each year.

They may have gotten rid of some high level minor league talent, but they have many more youngsters developing in the lower and mid-levels.  Billy Hamilton sure gets us excited, but it is the other young stars that surround him that should really be getting us excited.  This proves that the Reds are set up for the long haul and not just the immediate future.

So, without further adieu, let’s look at some prospects making news down on the farm.  Be sure to check out the links at the bottom of each page to their player profiles on MiLB.com.

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The Cincinnati Reds have begun a resurrection of sorts.  

For the first month and a half, we watched a lineup that couldn’t seem to hit when its collective life and the games, depended on it. The lineup was complemented by a starting pitching staff that seemed to only throw two decent arms out every five days.

But, if you have been watching the ol’ ball club of late, you will have noticed a slight change.  

Though the lineup is still far from the machine it has the potential to be, it has been producing more runs on a more consistent basis.   

A barrage of home runs the past few games is a great sign—the bats seem to be heating up.  Joey Votto is leading this charge with others following the leader.  If they can solve the problem of hitting with runners in scoring position even slightly, expect things to get fun.

You will have also noticed the starting pitching has been rather consistent lately as well.  Those questions that we were having with Mat Latos, Homer Bailey and Mike Leake seem to be answering themselves.  Latos just wrapped up a solid seven innings, allowing only five hits and two earned runs against the Atlanta Braves.  

This coming on the heals of Leake silencing critics with his outing on Monday night against Atlanta that saw him only allow two hits over eight innings with one earned run allowed.  Throw in Bailey’s six quality starts through his first eight, the continued excellence of ace Johnny Cueto, and the solid performance of Bronson Arroyo and things aren’t looking so bad.

The turnaround of late should not completely surprise us though.  This is after all, what we expected isn’t it?  

This club started the season with high expectations and got off to an unsatisfactory start.  But, stay tuned closely because there seems to be change blowing in the wind—and it’s ruffling the leaves of the St. Louis Cardinals.

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The Cincinnati Reds started the season on the wrong foot—poor starting pitching, over-usage of the bullpen, shady defense at times, ice cold bats and some questionable managerial decisions.

However, as of late, the Cincinnati ball club has looked to be righting their ship. The pitching has begun to come together and the bats are finding their way.

This change in play got me thinking about where this team is actually heading. In the end, I determined the future is bright and all will be right in Reds country—just as I felt before the season began.

I believed all along the Reds would begin to make a charge towards the top of the standings.

These predictions are about how they are going to get there.

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