Kuzul

Dear Santa,

Reds fan here. We haven’t been on the greatest of terms since Clinchmas, now over four years ago. Where have you been since? And what’s with all the coal in our red stockings?

What do you think about when you’re checking your list and you get to the Cincinnati Reds? Clinchmas was amazing, but that team got swept by the Phillies. Then after a deflating 2011 season, you put Mat Latos under the tree, and we witnessed arguably the best Reds team in over a decade.

But it was weird, Santa. Joey Votto suffered then an injury that’s affecting him now, and Johnny Cueto couldn’t come home for the holidays when we needed him most.

Weren’t we good? How could our behavior have been any better?

I got over it when you gave us Shin-Soo Choo the next year. Because it was all about the lead-off man. It was awesome; Choo finished with a .423 OBP that season. The Reds had a .323 OBP for the year, No. 6 in the game. But Cueto got hurt again. We got him back just barely in time to throw him right into a one-game playoff, where he not only got shelled but created a moment that will follow Cueto back to PNC Park in every start he will make there.

You lost me there, Santa. But I sucked it up. Maybe Pittsburgh had just stacked more karma than the Reds. I know not to be envious. But after 2014, I’m struggling to find any Christmas spirit.

You know what happened. No one likes talking about it, but you know it had a lot to do with injuries and the bullpen failure. Most reasonable Reds fans will admit as much, even if the local media won’t.

But baseball doesn’t wait. And since we could no longer afford 2011’s Christmas gift, we had to trade him away, along with another starter. And now what do we do? How does a team built on its rotation, the third-best rotation in baseball, have any success without its No. 2?

C’mon, Santa. It’s all tidings and good cheer until it’s time to sit down at the arbitration table, isn’t it?

Will you please bring us something for the back of the rotation? I know the Reds have tons of minor league talent nearing ready, but there’s no reason to rush them. Aaron Harang is out there. He threw over 200 innings and cashed in a 3.75 ERA. And he only made $1 million last year. Not asking for much.

Then there’s our bullpen, which you know was naughty. To be second in bullpen losses and have the third-worst bullpen ERA is to replace your eye drops with lemon juice. I know we were bad, so can you help us be better and maybe bring us another bullpen arm? If Raisel Iglesias is all, I won’t be mad, but a middle-relief guy would be decent, and if nothing else, maybe let Sean Marshall stay healthy?

Speaking of health, can you bring two bubbles? One for Votto and one for Homer Bailey? You understand.

This last request will come as no surprise, Santa. And you already know what I’m going to ask. It’s been years since we had a good left fielder to watch on an everyday basis. Instead of bringing us some cheap knock-off, better-as-a-pinch-hitter brand, can you just get us Nori Aoki?

I don’t care about all the talk surrounding his declining power numbers, or how he hit just one home run last year. Who cares? His OBP was .349 and .353 for his career.

This is serious, Santa. Honestly, it would be cool if you got me everything else, but this is like the Nintendo 64 when it was new. You could get me all the cool stuff in the world, but without the 64 centerpiece, Christmas is ruined.

CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman says Aoki is going to get anywhere from $7 to $8 million. Is that in the budget this year?

That’s all I got, big man. I want a back-of-the-rotation veteran starter, I want a middle-relief bullpen arm and I want a left fielder. And if it’s not too much, I’d like to be able to enjoy the 2015 Reds product, not its understudies.

And don’t give me any excuses this year. You can travel around the world in a single night, you can force yourself down chimneys, even in houses that don’t have one, and you fly reindeer. That’s great and all, but wake me up when Aoki is under my tree.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com/MLB

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The Pittsburgh Pirates currently are in a situation that a lot of teams would like to be in: They have a surplus of reliable and productive outfielders.  

The most well-known outfielder on Pittsburgh’s depth chart is obviously 2013 National League Most Valuable Player Andrew McCutchen, who has become the face of the franchise in his six-year career.  

Then there is left fielder Starling Marte, who has made a huge impact on the club’s performance through his first three big-league seasons, owning a career .282 batting average and a career-high 56 runs batted in in 2014.  

Marte is poised for a breakout season in 2015, as his numbers have steadily increased season by season. 

The problem (if you can call it that) is in right field, where Travis Snider is currently listed as the Pirates starter on the team’s website.

Snider had the best season of his seven-year career in 2014, batting .264 and blasting 13 home runs in 140 games played for the Pirates.  At the same time, however, the Pirates have an ever-so-promising young player in Gregory Polanco, who may be ready to patrol right field on a daily basis in 2015.  

According to a report from Baseball America, Polanco was rated the No. 1 prospect in the Pirates’ farm system entering the 2014 Major League Baseball regular season.  In 89 games with the Pirates, he hit .235 with seven home runs.  

On paper, an outfield consisting of Marte, McCutchen and Polanco could match up with just about any team in the National League.  So where would that leave Snider?

Of course, the Pirates performed just fine with Snider and Polanco platooning in right field throughout the second half of last season.  At the same time, however, with the Pirates’ needs for other position players and starting pitchers, it may be beneficial for the team to include Snider in a trade package, especially if the organization fails to sign any stellar pitchers during this free-agency period.

As former Pirates starting pitchers Edinson Volquez and Francisco Liriano listen to offers from teams interested around the league in free agency, the Pirates organization ought to be out looking for potential replacements, as there is a very real chance that at least one of those two starters will not return.  

The future pitching staff of the Pirates is shining brighter than ever with hope, as both Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon should make their major league debuts within the next couple of seasons.  Taillon, who missed all of 2014 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April, may even break through sometime in 2015.  

Still, the Pirates will need to acquire at least one more proven starting pitcher before the regular season starts, as a rotation currently consisting of Gerrit Cole, A.J. Burnett, Jeff Locke and Vance Worley likely will not yield a division-best record.  

The Pirates could go out and trade for a starting pitcher in exchange for a proven veteran such as Snider and perhaps a less proven minor league player.  

One potential move that could make sense for both sides is a trade for Mat Latos of the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Snider and, as stated above, a minor league player.  

Latos is coming off an injury-plagued 2014 season in which he pitched in only 16 games for the Reds. However, he has pitched tremendously throughout his career, owning a 3.34 ERA and a 60-45 record in six seasons.  

Given the fact that Latos had elbow problems in 2014, this would be a risky trade for the Pirates, but it could also offer huge rewards.  More importantly, Latos is set to become a free agent after the 2015 season comes to a close, which is a reason for the Reds to consider taking something they can get in exchange for him instead of possibly losing his services in exchange for nothing in free agency next offseason.  

The move would also make sense for the Reds because the team does not exactly have a complete outfield right now, as their starting left fielder currently is Skip Schumaker, who averages about four home runs over a 162-game span.  

Platooning Snider with Schumaker would make a lot more sense for the Reds than it would for the Pirates, who have their future right fielder in Polanco.  So that is a move that certainly has to be considered a possibility for the Pirates.  

The Pirates are in great shape as far as their lineup goes.  Without a quality pitching rotation, however, winning enough games to make it back to the playoffs seems unlikely.  

While there are still months to go in free agency, the possibility does exist that the Pirates may not reel in any solid starting pitchers.  In that case, offering a player like Snider in a trade package for a starter may be the way to go.  

Statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.

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It’s finally come to this, Cincinnati Reds fans. With virtually no hope remaining in what has been one of the more miserable, disappointing Reds seasons to date, we shift our focus to 2015. In Redsland, 2015 is all we have. Beyond that, very little is guaranteed. 

Anyone with even a fractional interest in this team understands where improvements need to be made.

For years, dating back to 2010, left field has been a constant area of debate. We remember the days of the Jonny Gomes and Chris Heisey platoon. Ryan Ludwick was supposed to put an end to that, but in typical Reds fashion, a crippling injury in 2013 has reduced Ludwick to a shell of his former self.

He was signed by Walt Jocketty to essentially be the power bat in the middle of the order. But Ludwick has just 10 home runs in the near 479 plate appearances since he injured his shoulder on Opening Day of 2013. The power outage seems to be real. But it was probably expected considering he is 36 years old anyway.

And it’s not just the power. Everything from batting average, OBP and slugging have all been down since the beginning of 2013. With that in mind, it’s probably realistic that the Reds will spend $4.5 million just to send Ludwick off.

And with his departure comes the topic of replacements. 

The popular idea may be to just hit the market and sign a big bat. But with so many vital players approaching arbitration, that’s unlikely. Because of what these players are making now, it is not far-fetched to assume that Mike Leake and Mat Latos get salaries close to or above $10 million. 

Alfredo Simon’s salary will likely jump from just $1.5 million to maybe somewhere around $5 million, but that is strictly a guess and is in no way validated. Could be more, could be less.

Then there are, of course, the salaries of Jonathan Broxton, Sean Marshall, Homer Bailey, Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto.

Unless there is a decision to increase payroll, it is highly unlikely the Reds will have the cash necessary to procure the services of a bona fide cleanup hitter from the market. Therefore, they may have to consider internal options.

But is that a bad thing? With a healthy Votto, a healthy Jay Bruce, Devin Mesoraco and Todd Frazier, aren’t any of them qualified to bat cleanup?

In my opinion, there are enough able bats on a healthy Reds roster to hit for power. But OBP is a major problem. Per ESPN.com, the Reds are No. 28 in OBP, nearly dead last. That, more than nearly anything else, needs to be addressed. The following are three guys who may be able to help do that from left field.

Jason Bourgeois

Jason Bourgeois is the starting center fielder for the Triple-A Louisville Bats. This 32-year-old right-handed option is no stranger to the big leagues. He’s had stints with the Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals and Milwaukee Brewers. 

With a very limited time in the majors, his slash line after just 515 plate appearances in six years is .259/.305/.326. Surely that doesn’t blow anyone away, but that’s a very limited sample size.

In 15 minor league seasons, Bourgeois is slashing .282/.342/.386. This year, he’s slashing .283/.336/.372. He has 143 hits in 126 games played. This isn’t a power hitter, and he won’t drive in many runs, but he gets on base at a healthy pace and can steal a base. 

Felix Perez

Felix Perez has played mostly right field in Louisville this season in a year in which he was named to the Independent League All-Star game. On the season, Perez is slashing .282/.328/.456. This 29-year-old has spent five seasons in the Reds farm system. His slash line for those five years is .281/.330/.405.

Unlike Bourgeois, Perez does have some power. He’s got 11 home runs in 425 at-bats and 68 RBI to add to that. He also has 150 games of left field experience in five minor league seasons, with a fielding percentage of .990.

Per Rotoworld, Perez was once a prized prospect of the New York Yankees, but he lost out on a $3.5 million signing bonus when it was discovered that he lied about his age.

Devin Mesoraco

That’s right. According to Cincinnati Enquirer beat writer John Fay, the Reds plan on possibly moving Mesoraco around a bit next spring. Per Fay, Mesoraco is willing, saying:

If that’s something I was asked to do, I’d absolutely do it. There’s a few positions that I could play, probably first base, maybe left field, that would take more work. But I don’t see any harm in doing it. Spring training as long as it is, there’s plenty of time for it. I’d be more than willing.

This is a likely option to consider, because with Brayan Pena inked through next season, he’ll be able to play catcher while Mesoraco‘s bat stays in the lineup. It has been a challenge to keep him in the lineup for Bryan Price this year, so if Mesoraco becomes more versatile, it will help things out a lot.

Remember, while none of these options will blow you away, keep payroll in mind. It won’t be the No. 4 hitter who takes the Reds to the next level. It will be the team’s dominant pitching staff and, hopefully, its restructured, healthy bullpen.

The Reds need money to secure the very core of their team moving forward, so left field should be addressed as cost-efficiently as possible.

*Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless noted otherwise.

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Pitching has been the strength of the Cincinnati Reds the past few seasons, and stability in the rotation is the reason that the club is going to continue to contend.

Cincinnati’s rotation finished near the top of the majors in most of the major categories. Despite pitching in Great American Ball Park, the staff has found a way to get the job done.

There isn’t much to guess about when it comes to what the Reds rotation will look like in 2014. 

Whether or not the club was going to bring back Bronson Arroyo was the only question about the rotation heading into the offseason. It looks like the organization has made its decision, so keep reading to see what that decision is.

Starting pitching can win a championship, so let’s see who will be a part of the Cincinnati rotation in the upcoming season.

*All stats are via MLB.com.

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Coming into the 2013 season, Cincinnati Reds fans expected Johnny Cueto, not Mat Latos, to contend for the National League Cy Young. With an injury to the ace, things have changed in a hurry.

Latos, who was involved in a 2011 trade with the San Diego Padres, has turned into the best No. 2 starter in baseball. He has worked through some of his struggles and shown why the Reds pulled the trigger on the blockbuster deal.

The right-hander entered the 2013 season with the reputation of getting off to a slow start. From the beginning of his career to last season, he went 2-8 with a 5.63 ERA in the month of April. He went 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA this time around, but he should have had more wins.

Cincinnati expects its pitchers to come up big in rivalry games, especially against the St. Louis Cardinals, but Latos had struggled doing that in recent years. Last year he went 1-2 with a 7.84 ERA in four starts against the Cardinals.

This season has seen that trend turn around as well. The 25-year-old is 1-0 and has an ERA of 0.75 in two starts against the Cardinals in 2013, including Monday night’s six-inning gem (game recap via MLB.com). 

After last April, Latos went 13-2 through the end of the regular season. He didn’t have an ERA above 3.34 in any month after June, and sported a 2.42 mark in the final 12 starts. It would be hard for anyone to forget his Game 1 playoff performance against the San Francisco Giants after Cueto left with an injury.

One big reason Latos has fared much better this season is that he has been striking out hitters with great frequency. He has 36 strikeouts through the first month, which is double what he had through April last season.

His numbers are just getting better as the games go on. Check out this stat that the Reds tweeted after Monday night’s outing.

Latos’ scoreless streak now at 17 innings, the longest by Reds pitcher in 2013. His career high is 21ip. Reds lead, 2-0 through 6th inning.

— Reds (@Reds) April 30, 2013

If his seven earned runs in his first three outings are going to be his “slow” start, Reds fans should be thrilled.

Latos has kicked off the season with six consecutive quality starts, and ranks fourth in the NL with a 1.88 ERA, according to MLB.com.

Bad defense, no run support and two blown saves cost Latos wins in his first four starts, but he has turned it up a notch. In his last three outings, his offense has given him a total of four runs. He has allowed only one run in 20 innings during that stretch.

The right-hander will have to keep it up if he wants to work his way into the NL Cy Young conversation. He will have to outperform Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets‘ Matt Harvey, as both pitchers currently have an ERA lower than Latos. They benefit from playing in big ballparks in big markets.

Latos has allowed only one home run in 20.2 innings at Great American Ball Park. For what’s supposed to be his worst month, that’s not too shabby. Now he has the difficult task of continuing his hot start and overtaking some of the stars in more prominent markets.

Mat has stepped up yet again when the ace of the staff got hurt, so he should start receiving more national attention as his team gets healthy and heats up.

*All stats are from MLB.com

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Mat Latos had one of the most clutch performances so far in the National League Divisional Series between the Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants. If the Reds want to close out the Giants in Game 4, Latos will have to do it again.

The Reds’ pitcher was forced into emergency duty during Game 1 when Johnny Cueto left the game after facing just two batters with what was later diagnosed as an oblique strain.

Making his first relief appearance at the major-league level, Latos went four innings, allowing an earned run, four hits and a walk en route to the Reds’ 5-2 victory.

As we enter Thursday’s Game 4 at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, the question becomes whether Latos can duplicate that performance and advance the Reds to their first National League Championship Series since 1995.

Judging by the Giants’ performance the first three games, I would say that the odds are good.

In Games 2 and 3 of the series, the Giants were unable to string an offensive threat against anybody the Reds threw at them, as both Bronson Arroyo and Homer Bailey had no-hitter bids going into the middle part of the game.

Even when the Giants got something going offensively in the 10th inning of their 2-1 Game 3 victory, it was Scott Rolen who made the big play for the Giants when he misplayed a grounder to his left for his second error of the series.

Basically, Latos is facing a team that is in an incredible funk at the plate. If the Giants’ hitting woes continue, Latos should have no problem breezing through a lineup that has produced just five hits between Games 2 and 3.

The Reds paid a steep price to acquire Latos during the offseason, and if he can come up with one more clutch outing on Wednesday night, it will be worth every penny for a team that couldn’t seem to find any pitching one year ago.

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The Cincinnati Reds bring their 97-65 regular season record and the No. 2 seed in the NLDS to the bay shores of San Francisco. It is here that they begin a five-game series against Buster Posey and the Giants. With two teams that are so evenly matched battling it out, every last advantage or disadvantage could mean the difference between a win or a loss.

It’s in this type of environment that questions are bound to arise. So let’s look at five key questions surrounding the Cincinnati Reds and their success during this upcoming showdown.

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In a week that started with four straight dominate performances by San Francisco Giants starters, the tables have turned over the past two days. Nearly getting shut out by Mike Leake (3-5) in a complete game effort last night, Mat Latos (7-2) echoed his performance, allowing only one run as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Giants 2-1.

Latos, formerly of the division rival San Diego Padres, has had quite a bit of success pitching against the Giants in the past. Earlier this year, on April 24th in Cincinnati, Latos went seven scoreless innings against the Giants as the Reds won the game 9-2.

Saturday’s win was Latos’s seventh win of the season, allowing only two hits, a one-out double in the third to Brandon Crawford and a one-out triple in the ninth inning to Brandon Belt.

Belt would score on Gregor Blanco’s ground out to short, putting the Giants within one run of tying the game, but it never felt that close. The next hitter was Ryan Theriot, and with two outs, Theriot left the bat on his shoulder as he watched the called third strike sail across the plate.

With the win, Latos improved to 4-3 in 11 games lifetime against the Giants with a 2.19 ERA. At AT&T Park, his ERA is even lower at 1.67 over six games.

Barry Zito (6-6) ended up losing the game, but he pitched well. Allowing only one run over six innings, Zito pitched himself in and out of jams all day. In the fourth inning, Zito surrendered his only run, when, with two outs and a runner on first base, he walked three straight.

Zito hadn’t issued a free pass in the first three frames, and then suddenly couldn’t find the strike zone.

When asked after the game about why the sudden loss of control, Bochy remarked, “occasionally he does that, I thought he was pitching smart though, he wasn’t giving in. At times when he would get into a jam, other than the bases loaded walk, I think he probably got a little quick there with men on base when he was in the stretch.”

Bruce Bochy commenting further about the overall outing he received from his pitcher was very positive.

“It was a good effort, he got off a couple innings and was battling himself and his command, but to go six innings and give up just one run, that’s a great job.”

Coming off seven scoreless innings against the Dodgers on Monday, the first of four consecutive shutouts pitched by the Giants staff, Zito pitched well enough to win but didn’t get any run support. It was a case of the other guy was just better, and Bochy had much to say about Latos after the game.

“He had command of all his pitches, threw a lot of strikes, and used all of them (pitches). We knew what we were going into, but when a good pitcher’s on top of his game you do all you can to compete and try and get some runs, but we just had a tough time today.”

Zito echoed Bochy’s comments when asked about Latos, “he was definitely pounding the strike zone more than we’re used to seeing. He had his good rhythm out there the whole time, we couldn’t really get to him except in the ninth a little bit.”

Zito finished by saying, “you just got tip your cap to him, go out tomorrow and try and split a series.”

The Giants wrap up the series and their seven-game home stand tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. To salvage Game 4 and earn a split, the Giants send Ryan Vogelsong (7-3) to the mound against Bronson Arroyo (3-5) for the Reds.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.

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Tuesday night’s victory over the Atlanta Braves proved to be an encouraging sign for the Cincinnati Reds.

Two of Cincinnati’s struggling players, starter Mat Latos and second baseman Brandon Phillips, performed well in the 4-3 win. Latos pitched seven solid innings of two-run ball with eight strikeouts, while Phillips chipped in with two home runs and three RBI.

Latos had especially come under fire after the past offseason trade in which Latos was acquired from the San Diego Padres in return for Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal, Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger.

Prior to the game, Latos had a 2-2 record and a mediocre 4.63 ERA—nothing close to what Cincinnati expected when GM Walt Jocketty pulled the trigger on the offseason trade. Latos’ ERA has been steadily dropping after a very poor start to the season, which saw his ERA balloon to an enormous 8.22 in April.

Entering the season, Phillips received a contract extension after lengthy extension talks reaching back to last season. His new six-year, $72 million extension came under fire after the soon-to-be 31-year-old Phillips’ production took a dip with only two home runs, one steal and a sub-.300 on-base percentage through a quarter of the season.

Clearly struggling at the plate at times, Phillips’ batting average hit a low at .215 in early May, but since then he has started to turn it around with a .275 average in 20 games this month. Phillips still has a long way to go, with a very poor 8-to-21 walk-to-strikeout ratio and only 10 extra-base hits on the season.

Rookie shortstop Zack Cozart also chipped in with a solo home run, and recently named closer Aroldis Chapman closed out the win with a hitless ninth. Center fielder Drew Stubbs went 1-for-3 with a walk and a steal while making a few plays in the field in another solid performance following Monday night’s two-home run game.

Cincinnati’s next game features rejuvenated Reds starter Bronson Arroyo taking on Tommy Hanson and the Braves once again at Great American Ballpark on Wednesday night.

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Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com is reporting that the Padres have traded starting pitcher Mat Latos to the Cincinnati Reds for pitchers Edinson Volquez and Brad Boxberger, first baseman Yonder Alonso and catcher Yasmani Grandal.

The trade is drawing mixed reviews on the Reds’ end, and rightfully so, considering the team surrendered one of its best pitchers and two of its top offensive chips. Here’s B/R senior writer Cliff Eastham’s take on it:

Latos for Yonder Alonso would have been a good deal; Latos for Alonso and Edinson Volquez would be too much. Having the other two (Yasmani Grandal and Brad Boxberger) thrown in for good measure is just ridiculous.

The Reds are giving up a lot, but besides Alonso, who is blocked by Joey Votto for the foreseeable future anyway, none of those players would have been contributing to the 2012 Reds.

Let’s take a look at who the Padres acquired and what their future may look like.  

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