Has a fire been lit under Leakes azz?

[wvu_man]

Mike Leake's last couple of starts have been outstanding. I realize that he was facing the Marlins and Mets who have been struggling to score runs. I'll give you that the Marlins have a lineup of AAA and AA batters but the Mets have some great hitters who are just struggling right now. If you take a look at the stats below, he has only had one bad start which came against the Nats. I don't put all of the blame on him for the 4 run game against the Braves because I think Dusty waited too long to pull him. I wonder if all the talk with sending him down to Louisville or moving him to long relief because of Cingrani's success has made him buckle down a little bit. Our starting rotation has been lights out so far. Hard to believe that every starter has ace to 3rd starter-like ERA's right now.

Last 7 Games
OPPWLSVIPHERBBKs4/17PHI1007.030074/22CHC0007.082254/[email protected]/[email protected]/8ATL0107.084165/[email protected]/[email protected]http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/player/gamelogs/2013/1733668

 

[wvu_man]

well now...that format sucks haha. I swear it was all nice and neat when I was composing. guess I shoulda previewed it first

 

[wvu_man]

Last 7 Games:

Opponent

W L IP H ER BB Ks

PHI 1 0 7 3 0 0 7
CHC 0 0 7 8 2 2 5
WAS 0 1 3 6 3 3 1
CHC 1 0 5.2 9 2 0 3
ATL 0 1 7 8 4 1 6
MIA 1 0 6.2 9 0 1 6
NYM 1 0 7 3 0 2 4

 

[JohnU]

It's walks. Trust me. Walks will haunt.

 

[jdombar]

I think Leake is also just progressing the way he should be. You must remember, he never spent any extended time in the minors, he came straight from college to MLB. Now a few years in with great coaching by Price, and strength conditioning that has probably led to his increased velocity Leake is growing into a solid pitcher. He will never be an ace, but he could become a Bronson over time, a perenial 3 that will give you alot of innings but will get blown out every once in a while.

 

[BigBlueNation111]

I think Leake is also just progressing the way he should be. You must remember, he never spent any extended time in the minors, he came straight from college to MLB. Now a few years in with great coaching by Price, and strength conditioning that has probably led to his increased velocity Leake is growing into a solid pitcher. He will never be an ace, but he could become a Bronson over time, a perenial 3 that will give you alot of innings but will get blown out every once in a while.

 

[wvu_man]

For being so young, he does have a lot of different pitches that would take other young guys years to develop. When Leake has good movement on his fastball and command, he does well. I too have also noticed that his fastball will hit 92-93 occasionally which is slightly faster than it was when he entered the league. You can see why the Reds promoted him straight to the big leagues because Price is a good coach who had a lot to work with and like Jdombar said, maybe the strengh,training,conditioning and possibly more dedication to improving is now helping Look at the difference all of those things (plus a way better attitude/maturing) have made with Homer. He's bigger, stronger, and can go deep into a game and doesn't get as frustrated when he doesn't have his best stuff.

 

[MHubbuch]

I think Leake struggled mightily with his control early on. Which made him the likely canidate for Cig to replace. However, Cig needs to work on his command and his second and third pitches. He is atleast a year away

 

[RobToxin]

Just keep him out of clothing stores and he'll be fine.

 

[Redsfan1507]

I haven't seen 93 from Leake. I saw a couple at 90-91, but even that is an improvement. Walks are important, but are an indicator of lack of control, and that is also a clue as to homers- often simply a lack of control INSIDE the zone ( or possibly the pitch and location that is called by the bench/catcher if hes hitting the target but still giving up the homer).

Most pitchers that have control issues, have them both ways- walks and homers and high hit totals (Leakes WHIP isnt great-so, hes hittable even with a low ERA). Pitchers like Arroyo, who don't walk much but give up lots of homers, are an indicator that its stuff, not control that is the bigger issue. IMO, Leake has issues with stuff and control, as his high WHIP and BA against shows) and when either is off just a little, you wind up with a heavy ERA and unhealthy W-L. Leakes ERA the first time thru the lineup is
under 2.00, but for the 2nd 9 batters its almost 5.00 so that means he isn't fooling hitters long. It's why I think he would be a better long man than a SP, if a comparable or better SP (preferably a LHSP) could be found.

I've said all along that Leake's realistic goal should be to be the next Bronson Arroyo, not Greg Maddux, as suggested by the overly optimistic and under technically astute Dusty Baker. Leake has done fine as a #5 SP so far this season. Unfortunately level of difficulty is a factor for #5 SP's too- they are rarely facing other #5's , and dont always face under .500 teams. The only time I don't like "good enough" when describing a player is , when it isn't an excuse for not doing the "best we could do".

 

[bengaldoug]

If the recent trend continues, I will have to reevaluate my prior assessment of him. He may after all not be the human batting tee.

 

[Redsfan1507]

What's Leake's record against plus .500 teams ? You could ask that about our Teds in general, though.

The Reds have lost when Leake started against last years playoff teams WAS and ATL, all three games so far. They also lost a game against the overachieving Pirates.They won in his starts against PHL, CHC ( twice), MIA, and NYM. I guess that means someone else has to win all the games against good teams, huh? Gotta beat good teams to be one, IMO.