The Paddock

Did I read Billy Hamilton's steals total correctly? 49 in 57 games? He would end up with about 140 if he played 161 games, haha. That's ridiculous. That would be ideal if that guy could be our SS by 2012. Definitely gotta work on the avg like you said.

Looks like he's hitting about .360 over the last 10 games. That's encouraging. He was a .300 hitter last year at Billings, too. The one big concern with him is the almost non-existent BB numbers.

After a harrowing trip home cross country yesterday, yes I did go to thursday nights game. Great game in a fantastic ball park. 3rd time I had been to AT&T and never fails to impress.

Kinda glad I didnt stay for last nights game, would not have been a pleasant person to be around after that one....and the charm of the ball park wouldve been lost on me :)

But today is certainly making up for it

10-0 good guys.

That San Fran series summed up the Reds so far this year...won 50% of the games and should've won more. I would almost rather be down a run than up a run late in the game with this team. We lost one game 3-2 after having a 2-1 lead after 5 innings and the other game we lost was 4-2 after having a 2-1 lead, again after 5. The games we won were 3-0 and 10-2 after being up 10-0 in the 9th. We've outscored our opponents by almost 30 runs, yet we're barely over .500. In contrast, San Fran has scored 3 runs less than their opponents and have won at about a .570 clip. The Reds are 9-14 in one run games while SF is 18-9 after this series.

Jeff, we are 6-4 over the last ten games, only 2 1/2 out and starting pitching has been lights out lately, and still have hopes Bailey will get back in the lineup soon.

In short, cheer up!! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

Just when you think the Reds are on the edge of becoming irrelevant this year and w/the dreaded West Coast swing to LA and San Fran starting them in the face, they go out and have a winning WC trip for the first time in YEARS and actually close the gap in the NL Central. If they can close out this road trip w/a sweep of the Dodgers it will be huge.

The reason they are playing well is due to the fact they've had quality starts in EVERY game!! It all starts and ends with starting pitching (I'm starting to sound like a broken record). Everyone knows the Reds will hit and score runs. Yes, Stubbs needs to stop striking out so much, SS needs to produce more and LF could be more productive as well (hello Alonso or Sappelt) but in spite of these "weaknesses" the Reds still are at or near the top of the NL in offense. You've got to buy the Reds stock now because I honestly think their starters are beginning to pitch like everyone hoped before the season started.

Cueto is as good as I've ever seen him (great game last night). Over the last several years, Arroyo's ERA after the All Star break is a full run lower than before it. Leake looks to be pitching like he did early last year and Volquez has two straight quality starts (granted it's against two of the worst offensive teams in the NL). Not sold on Wood yet but he certainly has the potential to be solid and Bailey has proven over the last two years he can help down the stretch despite missing the better part of the first half by being on the DL.

Good consistent starting pitching prevents prolonged losing streaks and, for a team like the Reds, is key overtaking the Cards and Brewers. The Reds, Brew Crew and Dirty Birds are all in the Top 5 offensively but pitching wise the Reds are near the bottom of the pack which is the difference in the season thus far.

6 outs away from a sweep of the Dodgers and a 5-2 west coast swing. With the pitching on an upward swing Milwaukee and STL should be worried. They didn't bury us when we played so bad and now its coming back to bite them in the butt

Well, that was certainly an encouraging West Coast trip. I had forgotten what it feels like to win games in SF and LA. Shocked.

Man, we've let the Reds thread die of late. Let's get it started again.

Here's a cool feature that ran on Cincinnati.com about the Top 50 players who have come from the greater Cincinnati area. Amazing how much talent has come up there.

Good read...

After hitting 13 HR's in May I think Bruce has 1 in June. . . Votto has been slumping . . . and Stubbs strikes out 4 times per game. . . all that said, We're still only 3 games back. You have to figure Votto will start hitting better, and our rotation seems to be getting a little better lately, gonna be interesting to see what we do before the trade deadline. . .

Looking at the schedule, August is against all the bottom dwellers of MLB and September doesn't look that awful, I think the toughest part of the schedule will be over when we get to the last week of July. If we're still close then, I gotta like our chances!!

GO REDS

Lots of baseball to be played and the Red are in the middle of it w/o playing real well thus far. Having said that, this team doesn't have "it" like last year. They just lost something like their 4th or 5th straight extra innings game last night. They are now in 4th place. Votto is stuggling as is Stubbs. Bruce isn't ice cold but he's certainly plummeted from a scalding hot May. Rolen is giving it everything he's got but it's clear there ain't much left in the tank. Volquez continues to be meat Lalouche, million dollar arm with a ten cent brain. Little production from SS and Janish and Renteria have combined for something like 15 or 16 errors thus far.

How do you fix this?? Do the Reds call up some of their minor league guys and give them a chance (Cozart, Sappelt, Hermida or Frazier)? Should LeCure move into the 5th starter spot and move Volquez to the pen (or do you send the space cadet back to the minors again)? Do you platoon Stubbs more until he gets his swiss cheese bat fixed??

Again, lots of the season left and miraculously the Reds are still in the thick of things. But unlike last year when you just knew the Reds were always in it, the tables have turned. They are near the bottom in one run games, they aren't getting the clutch hitting like last year and it just seems that the chemistry isn't there like last year. You can't blame injuries because every team goes through that and most of the Reds key players have been healthy. However, falling behind the Bucco's at this stage doesn't pump me full of confidence that things are going to get better anytime soon.