Kuzul

Much of the weekend buzz in Reds Nation was over the fact that no significant moves were made by the organization at the trade deadline.

Whether or not that was a smart idea remains to be seen, but in the meantime, a first place Atlanta Braves team came rolling into Great American Ballpark, and lost two out of three to a Reds team that has yet to lose a series since the All-Star Break.

In addition to winning, people are starting to notice the team, as a record crowd for a three-game series was on hand.

What were the keys to victory in this series?  Timely hitting was one of them, and a little bit of luck, thanks to some shaky Atlanta fielding.

Lets rewind to Saturday:  Trailing 2-1 in the seventh inning and really, showing no signs of life offensively, Ryan Hanigan doubled home two runs off of Jair Jurrjens, who had been cruising right along.  

That wasn’t all, though.  Melky Cabrera completely butchered the throw from the outfield, and Hanigan busted it all the way around the bases for an inside-the-park three-run home run.

Sunday, it was pretty much the same thing.  There was no inside-the-park home run, but a clutch hit, followed by questionable fielding, helped shake off the early doldrums.

With Ramon Hernandez on first, Brandon Phillips hit a shot down the right field line.  Jason Heyward, in an ill-advised dive for the ball, completely whiffed, which allowed Hernandez to score.

If Heyward doesn’t dive for that and instead stays in front of it, Hernandez probably doesn’t make it past third.

Another Atlanta defensive miscue, this time by former Red Alex Gonzales, brought home Phillips and gave the Reds the 2-1 lead.

That was all the Reds needed, and after blowing the game Friday night, Francisco Cordero recorded his second consecutive save, slamming the door shut in the ninth.

First place was lost with Friday night’s loss, combined with St. Louis’ win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Cardinals went on to sweep the matchup to keep that position in the standings, but as the calender turns to August, they have to know that this Cincinnati team is for real.

I envision more swapping of first place in this final stretch.  With each day, the games grow in importance.  

Pennant fever…I could get used to this.

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According to Websters:

“A temporary holding area for prisoners.”

Take a look at the Reds’ inconsistent bullpen performances throughout the course of the season thus far, and make your own jokes.

At times, we all wish that whenever someone not named Arthur Rhodes was coming into the game, that the bullpen gate was locked from the other side.  Maybe throwing a canopy over the bullpen is a good idea as well.  No one gets in, no one gets out.  Think John Rocker’s return to Shea stadium, when he had to be shielded from all the adulation after his loving comments about the city.

As we proceed forward, however, the reality is, the bullpen will be needed.  It won’t be a beautiful symphony of starting pitchers going deep into the games every night.  Guys will need to step up.

Well, where to turn to?  The Reds signed former Cardinals closer Jason Isringhausen to a minor league contract. All signs suggest that he is healthy and just about ready to go.  Additionally, longtime reliever Russ Springer is also in the mix as well.

Beyond that, other names floating around in trade rumors include Octavio Dotel, Kyle Farnsworth, and Kerry Wood, among others.  Their respective teams indicated that they were available.

If nothing happens though, is the current situation as dire as people make it out to be? 

Francisco Cordero has pitched much better as of late.  His ERA for the month of July is 2.35.  Since topping out at an ugly 4.36 on June 21st, it now stands at 3.83.  Not good for a closer, but getting better, as he’s starting to work the inside part of the plate more.

Arthur Rhodes has been doing a lot of the setup work, and we all know his story, but another primary setup guy, Nick Masset, has greatly improved as the season has gone on.  A 0.77 ERA this month, and overall, his ERA stands at an ugly 4.57, but is nearly three runs lower from what he had a few months ago.

He’s a good pitcher.  He did an excellent job last year, and I believe he’s rounding back into form, as he’s starting to trust his stuff more.

Looking on down the list of relievers, newcomer Jordan Smith has pitched well, sporting a 3.06 ERA.  Logan Ondrusek has a 3.77 ERA, and hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 15 appearances, dating back to June 15th.

Guys who didn’t do the job earlier in the season, such as Daniel Ray Herrera and Mike Lincoln, aren’t part of the equation currently.

For weeks, if not months now, the chatter has centered around improving the bullpen.  While you can never have enough reliable arms, I think the recent stats and results perhaps indicate that maybe the problem is no longer as bad as it once was.

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It should be noted, as the Reds are seven games into the second half of their season, that division races are rather tense affairs.  Why do I point this out?  Simply put, we Reds fans aren’t used to this.

In years past, as we approached this time of year, I’d start thinking about the Bengals. That, or just flat out question why I’m still watching every Reds games when .500 is out of reach, and they are 10-15 games back.

It’s different now.  Or is it?  I saw some old habits pop up against Washington.  Poor baserunning (like Jay Bruce the other night), guys hacking away and swinging early in the count, and pitchers laboring in that brutal Cincinnati heat.

I’ve seen this show before, and I didn’t like it.  Bad channel.

I see some injuries creeping up as well.  I thought to myself a few weeks ago “wow, we haven’t had a single starting position player go on the DL all year!”  The 162 leaves no team completely unscathed, though, as this is a meat grinder of an industry.

Aaron Harang and Homer Bailey are currently on the DL.  The Reds can survive without those guys for the time being, as starting pitching is deep, but the status of Scott Rolen is up in the air.

Simply put, if Rolen misses extended time, the Reds won’t make the playoffs.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  He is too important to this team, and the dropoff from him to Miguel Cairo and Paul Janish is severe.  You don’t replace that leadership and production.

Perhaps he catches the ball that deflected off of Cairo’s glove Wednesday night.  That was a big blow.  If that catch is made, the Reds are only down 3-1 instead of 7-1, as more damage followed that two-out Ian Desmond RBI single.

What’s done is done.  Better have a short memory in this game, and move on.  Houston and Milwaukee await.  Very winnable games against teams completely out of the race.

Of course, we were all saying the same thing about this Washington series.

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Back in April, if you would have told me that this team would be 49-41 at the All-Star break and in first place, I would have asked for some of whatever goofy gas it was that you were inhaling.

Not that I didn’t think that the Reds were on the rise. The strong finish to last season, coupled with the promising youngsters and gamer vets on this team, had to give fans reason for optimism.

Long gone are the days where Jimmy Haynes and Elmer Dessens were the “staff aces,” and it was up to guys like Willy Taveras, Brandon Larson, and Corey Patterson to deliver at the plate.

Still, even with the better talent in place, I figured teams like Milwaukee and Chicago would hang around, but as it stands right now, it’s a two-team race: us and the hated St. Louis Cardinals.

So what has gone right so far? I think first and foremost there are a lot of guys who have exceeded expectations—Mike Leake being the most surprising. Here was someone who wasn’t given much of a chance to crack the starting rotation, but he did, and he has delivered.

In sticking with the pitching staff, Bronson Arroyo has done what Bronson Arroyo does, which is eat innings. No shocker there, as Arroyo is as solid as they come. Beyond that, though, the success of Johnny Cueto, the recent success of Travis Wood, and the solid work by Aaron Harang are all very pleasant surprises.

In sticking with this “surprise” theme, Brandon Phillips, Scott Rolen, and Jonny Gomes are performing better than many people thought. Joey Votto’s play last year suggested that he was ready to take the next step, which he has taken, but the numbers posted by the aforementioned names exceed what many people thought they could deliver.

Phillips batting over .300? Gomes near the top of the leader board in RBI? Rolen with 17 home runs already? Incredible.

As a team, you have to like their overall resiliency, with a bevy of come from behind wins. When things were looking bleak, such as a botched 10-game home stand, followed by a sweep at the hands of the Mariners, they bounced back.

Of course, it’s not been all good news. The bullpen, outside of Arthur Rhodes, has been shaky at best. Francisco Cordero inspires confidence in no one. With the trade deadline coming up, moves need to be made.

Should the Reds address other areas at the deadline, perhaps the bullpen solution lies within. Edinson Volquez and Harang are set to return. Arroyo/Leake/Wood/Cueto all deserve to keep their jobs, so something has to give. Further down the road, Homer Bailey will probably return, and then there is the question of when they will bring up Aroldis Chapman.

So many arms. Really, a nice problem to have, but how the Reds handle it will be key.

As for the offense, when you are atop the leader board in several offensive categories like they are, there aren’t many problems. Not to say that they don’t exist, though. Orlando Cabrera hasn’t gotten the job done at shortstop, and Drew Stubbs has had some painful growing pains. I’d like to see more consistency out of Jay Bruce, and with the return of Ryan Hanigan, overall production out of the catcher spot should improve a notch. 

To stay in first, and in the playoff race, the Reds will need the names I mentioned to keep outperforming what the back of their baseball cards indicate. Rolen, Phillips, and Gomes are all scuffling a bit. Is it just general fatigue that will be cured with the four days away from the game, or is it them regressing back to the mean?

Meaningful baseball in July, and in the second half? I like this concept. I’m not quite ready to start chanting “Who Dey!” quite yet.

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Was that Mike Leake on the mound today?

The poise was there, the confidence was there, as was the 6’0 frame, curly hair, and slight goatee, but it was not the straight to the “bigs” phenom.

Travis Wood came up today to make his Major League debut at Wrigley Field, and while no one can be 100 percent prepared for “The Show,” he was about as ready as ready can be.  This wasn’t a babe in the woods.  This was the Minor League pitcher of the year last year, and someone who had a very good chance to make the starting rotation out of Spring Training.

Ironically, it was Leake that beat him out, but it was only a matter of time before Wood got his chance.  The young lefty showed no outward signs of being a high strung wreck today, pitching seven innings of two run ball.  

While he didn’t get the win, his encouraging performance demonstrates just how deep the Reds are in terms of young arms: Edinson Volquez, Johnny Cueto, the aforementioned Leake, Homer Bailey, and now Wood.

Another encouraging thing about this is that the bar continues to rise.  This is a competitive industry.  Guys see one another doing well, and they want to go out and match that.  Wood noticed how well Leake had transitioned, and then went out and took matters into his own hands.

During the course of this, perhaps season-shifting 11-game road trip, Wood is slated to get two more starts.  Knowing that was going to be the case, I’m not gonna lie;  I was feeling a bit nervous.  Wood, like every other young pitcher, will take his lumps, but I will feel a bit more comfortable now when he takes his turns in New York and Philadelphia.

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When you are an uber-obsessed fan like me, who watches the majority of the games, you pick up on a few nuances along the way.  Obviously, we don’t really know these guys, and who they are as people, but for me, Brandon Phillips has always been a guy with a megawatt smile who built up his career after nearly tearing it apart, but displaying some annoying, almost diva-like tendencies at the same time.

From everything I’ve heard, he was a headache for the Cleveland Indians, which is a big reason why things didn’t pan out for him there.  Dealt for “a player to be named later” (who turned out to be Jeff Stevens), he took advantage of his second chance.  He posted steady numbers in 2006 and proved himself worthy of the everyday starting job at second base.

In 2007, he really took off, and as Reds fans know, became a 30/30 player while batting .288 and showing that Gold Glove defense at second base.

In hindsight, this may have been one of the worst things to happen to him in his young career.

The following two seasons, I saw a guy who was a total enigma, a guy playing for personal stats and not to help the team win.  His uppercut swing and his documented lack of hustle drove fans crazy, and even Dusty Baker, who is a big time “players’ manager,” was growing weary.

After a July game last year against the Dodgers when he didn’t run out a routine fly ball that ended up being dropped, here’s what Baker had to say:

“We should have gotten some more in that first inning, big time,” Baker fumed. “You have to hustle on that ball there or it’s a totally different inning. That was a rally killer for us.

“We’ve repeated it many, many times. You have to play hard all the time. That was big, real big. We had them on the ropes and we killed the rally…

“We’ve all talked to him until we’re blue in the face,” Baker said. “Evidently, this must have started long before I got here.”

In Cincinnati, with what Pete Rose did for this team back in his day, “hustle” is held in high regard.  In the modern era, you still see a lot of Ryan Freel shirts in the stands, even though he is a few years removed from the team.  Why such love for a marginal player?  Because he would run through a wall if it meant he could get to a fly ball.  He had no regard for his body.

Reds fans want to see that type of guy, and heading into this season, viewed Phillips with a certain degree of skepticism.  There was chatter that the Reds would look to slash some salary by dealing him at the deadline, if the team was out of contention.

Don’t look now, but Phillips is putting together the best year of his career, and contributing to winning baseball.  In early May, there was yet another infuriating incident where he admired a ball that he thought was going over the fence, but for the most part, I see a guy who is routinely getting from first to third on singles, shortening up his swing, and working the count more.

Not to mention, he’s putting up better numbers than perennial all-star and fellow second base counterpart Chase Utley.   His adjustment from the cleanup spot to the No. 2 hitter in the lineup has been fantastic.

His .308 average, .366 on-base-percentage (which thus far shatters what he’s produced in prior years), 9 home runs, and 24 RBI should net him serious all-star consideration.  Not to mention, his defense is still as awesome as ever.

Guys like him are how the Reds will win games.  They will likely never compete for the big name free agents, so they have two choices: Draft well, and pick up guys off the scrapheap.  Occasionally, Phillips needs a reminder where he came from, but more and more each day, I’m seeing the hungry player that came to the team in 2006, and not the diva from 2008-09.

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When did going to a live Major League Baseball game, where scores of fans were equipped with a beer and a scorecard, become a social event for the rich and affluent, where a game just so happened to be going on?

I think back to the early 1990s, when Camden Yards in Baltimore opened up.  Designed by the architectural company that used to be known as HOK, it was hailed as a venue that would revolutionize the way we viewed the game.  The red brick exterior and wrought iron gates were supposed to remind fans of a simpler time, but make no mistake about it, it became a symbol of tourism, and a place where people could attract clients and conduct business deals.

HOK continued to make their mark on the game.  Copycat stadiums around the country popped up, and with it, came the destruction of the simple utilitarian ballparks, and the old classics, such as Tiger Stadium.

Some teams, like the Cleveland Indians of the mid-1990s, were able to credit a large part of their success to their new stadium.  When times were good, those dollars came rolling in.  A fantastic departure from the behemoth dump of old Cleveland Stadium, fans embraced Jacobs Field, with its man made quirks and views of the city.

I saw other things, though.  I saw premium seating in the form of a three-tiered luxury suite setup that separated the haves from the have-nots.  At its core, sports is supposed to unite people from all backgrounds.  The new ballparks fail to do that.  Don’t believe me?  Check out the “moat” at Yankee Stadium, among other parks.  The seats closest to the field are basically blocked off from the rest of the stadium, and in some places, fans without a field level ticket cannot go down to near the dugouts even BEFORE the game.

In addition to separating social classes, ballparks have also become places where the entertainment goes well beyond the field.  Comerica Park has Ferris Wheels, Chase Field has a swimming pool, and other parks simply just have a variety of other things that keep people from focusing on the game.

Part of it is the age that we live in, also.  We as a society are glued to our cell phones and PDA’s. We require instant gratification and things must be happening right now.  People can’t wait.  Baseball knows this, and in any moment of silence, we are bombarded by t-shirt launches, “kiss cam,” or modern day hits blasting from the speakers.

I’m not saying that baseball games are no longer enjoyable.  To me, it’s still the greatest game in the world, as there is no better place to be.  I just wish that the game could sell itself, as I think it can, and people could open their eyes and appreciate the nuances.  For three hours a day, leave your life and your toys at home.

Furthermore, go buy a scorecard. 

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Interleague play is a strange beast.  For every full ballpark for the Mets vs. Yankees, and Cubs vs. White Sox showdowns, you have these strange, arbitrary matchups that don’t draw any additional interest, and only seem to detract from intraleague showdowns.

“Throw all the records out the window when the ORIOLES and PADRES get together!”

This concept, which clearly is one of Bud Selig’s better ideas from a dollars and cents standpoint, needs some revision from a scheduling point of view.  

Why have the Dodgers never played at Yankee Stadium?  As it pertains to us, why have our Reds never played at Camden Yards in Baltimore, and why did we play IN Toronto in consecutive years?

Furthermore, as it relates to the title of the article, why do we have to play the Cleveland Indians twice a year?  Is anyone out there extra fired up for this series?  Will there be a huge spike in ticket sales?  Does winning the “Ohio Cup” mean anything?

Thankfully, the Indians have hit a bit of a lull, but there have been years where we faced some powerhouse Indians squads, while the Cardinals got to feast on the Royals six times a year in their “natural” rivalry.  

How fair is that?  When teams have wildly contrasting schedules, I think that is a bit of a problem.

This gimmick needs to be reduced a bit, although there is great comedic value in watching American League pitchers have to bat. I would be happy with one series a year vs. the Indians, alternating the site. 

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Lost in the Aroldis Chapman mania, the fast start to the big league career of Mike Leake, and the talent in the young arms of Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey, there is a nearly forgotten man that has something none of them have: That is, an all star appearance, and a first half to a season that none of those guys, as of this point, have ever touched.

The reintroduction of Edinson Volquez, the talented Dominican right-hander who featured a devastating change up and rode it to an all-star berth in 2008, is set to occur in a matter of weeks.

Really, this has the potential to be a classic baseball story.  Phenom sets baseball world on fire, league figures him out, he gets hurt (in his case, Tommy John surgery), and then the redemption tale.  

The acquisition of him was a controversial one.  Many Reds fans were sad to see Josh Hamilton go, but there were no promises of future health.  Additionally, Volquez had maturity issues in Texas.  What ended up happening was that both men were huge additions to their ball clubs, as it was a win-win for each team.

The parallels continued the next year, only for the worse.  Hamilton and Volquez were hurt for much of 2009.  This year, Hamilton has bounced back, and soon, Volquez will get that chance to match that.

He won’t need the motivation to prove that the his fast start wasn’t a fluke.  A 50-game suspension for a performance enhancing substance, the addition of the other aforementioned young Reds pitchers to the forefront, and people just writing him off entirely.  Here’s an excerpt from  Baseball Prospectus.

“Volquez will miss most if not all of the 2010 season and will return in 2011 as a 27-year-old pitcher with only one full major-league season under his belt.  After watching the struggles of Francisco Liriano, a more talented pitcher, last year, we find it difficult to be optimistic about Volquez’s ability to return to the front of the rotation.”

A lot of good points in there, but the beauty of the game is that he has the chance to prove people wrong.  He’s already well ahead of schedule, Tommy John surgery is really nothing more than just a bump in the road these days.

If he’s anything like the pitcher he used to be, and if Chapman delivers the goods, the Reds could be looking at a future rotation of Volquez, Chapman, Bailey, Cueto, and Leake.  Not only is the present exciting, but the future has the chance to be as well.

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In a city like Seattle that is overflowing with coffee, there is no excuse for being listless.

What is it about the west coast that haunts the Reds?  Does the hotel staff not fluff up the pillows and leave a mint?  It just seems like in recent years, at the conclusion of each west coast stop, the whole operation comes under fire, and Reds fans are left shaking their heads.

In this weekend series at Safeco Field, the overaggressive Reds tried time and time again to play long ball at this home run graveyard.  Lots of first pitch swinging, too. When you do that against great pitchers such as Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez, you are playing right into their strengths.  They made it look so easy, and barely broke a sweat.

The bullpen and starting pitching can’t get the blame this time.  Those units did their job.  Aaron Harang, a fly ball pitcher, had to love the Safeco Field digs, as compared to Great American Ballpark.

Make no mistake about it, this is a dangerous time for the Reds right now.  For this franchise, with their recent failings, June games carry the meaning of September pennant-chasing games.  People in Cincinnati want to believe, but the Reds have entered a June swoon that is leaving many saying, “I told you so!” 

The road trip concludes with a visit to Oakland, then they go back home to face the Indians and Phillies, and then they cap off the first half of the season with road trips with Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia.  Make or break time.

Four games over .500 now.  That’s it.  At the beginning of the season, you would have taken that, but the early success raised expectations. Time to see who the real leaders are on this team.  That, or break out the “Who Dey!” chants early once again.  

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