Hot hitting has been the reason for the Reds’ success to this point. It may astonish you to know that four of the top 11 batters in the National League wear Cincinnati uniforms.
That is correct. Scott Rolen is currently fifth in the league at .309, Brandon Phillips is ninth at .304, while Jonny Gomes and Joey Votto are tied at 10th, both batting .301.
I haven’t researched it but I bet it has been a good while since four Reds have been in the Top 10 in batting this far into the season.
Since June 1, Rolen is batting .425, with 3 HR, and 12 RBI, with an OBP of .455.
Votto is batting .316 since May 15. He also has hit 3 HR with 14 RBI, and an OBP of .419.
Since June 4, Phillips is batting .444 with a .474 OBP.
Going all the way back to May 5, Gomes is batting .364 with 5 HR and 29 RBI. His OBP during that stretch is .434.
With runners in scoring position, Gomes is batting .435 with 36 RBI. With two outs and runners in scoring position, his average jumps to .500 with 13 RBI in only 16 AB.
Rolen is second in the league with 14 HR, and is fourth in RBI with 44.
Gomes is tied for 10th in RBI with 41. He leads all NL left fielders in average and RBI, including Ryan Braun, Matt Holliday, Jason Bay, Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano.
Cincinnati leads the league in batting at a .280 clip, in runs, hits, RBI, in SLG and in OPS. They are second to the Milwaukee Brewers in HR, and second to the Atlanta Braves in OBP.
They were getting quality starts seemingly every outing until this past week. The starters have been getting roughed up, the middle relief corps has been spotty, and the closing department has sucked.
However, as Dusty Baker said, and I paraphrase, Don’t count us out as long as we have a bat in our hand.
It is so true, I have come to expect good things at the plate in the last inning. Last night, I couldn’t believe it when Rolen lined out to end the game.
As long as the guys are hitting, we will have a chance to win, 7-6, 14-13 or whatever. The starters will get back into the groove and hopefully the closer, formerly known as Moon Man, will get his act together on a consistent basis.
As much as I hate to admit it, great hitting trumps great pitching every time. Face it, you have never heard anyone say they got beat 0-0.
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