Losing

[JohnU]

I guess I no longer care that the Reds lose but when a guy like Josh Harrison gets 4 hits and a walk almost every game, there's a serious dearth of credibility going on.

 

[eburg5000]

Harrison grew up in Cincinnati as I am sure you already know. He seems to have a lot of confidence playing against the Reds.

 

[eburg5000]

The Reds need to win at least 10 games a month, and somewhere 3 extra wins to stay away from losing 100 games. Strange this has been for goal for a few years now. Time for a change

 

[JohnU]

I can't say the loss to the Rocketts was bottoming out because they already did that on the 10th of April. But they can give Sal Romano his release as far as I care. Seriously, he rumbled through 5 innings without a clue.

Ump wasn't giving him anything because he hadn't earned it.

 

[eburg5000]

Denver is a tough place to pitch. I would like to see him stay in the rotation for a while and see how he handles it. If the Reds are going to rebuild let them rebuild. He has had some good games at times. But in a week Disco will be back and either Romano or Bailey will gone from the rotation. My guess it will be Romano.

 

[JohnU]

Denver is a tough place to pitch. I would like to see him stay in the rotation for a while and see how he handles it. If the Reds are going to rebuild let them rebuild. He has had some good games at times. But in a week Disco will be back and either Romano or Bailey will gone from the rotation. My guess it will be Romano.

I don't know if Romano stays on the 25-man if Disco can pitch. He's not really a relief pitcher and I don't know who he'd replace there. The problem is, clunking up the Bats are Finnegan, Reed and Stephenson -- all of them had been targeted as potential starters. Add Romano to that mix and it's a pretty good AAA pitching staff.
But it sucks for the top tier.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Romano has been struggling the most, that's obvious. Mahle has been struggling to less of a degree, but nonetheless less is struggling. Homer has been allowing 2.37 WHIP and an opposing BA of .407 for the month of May. Harvey has pitched better than the first three, but earned the waiver wire demotion in NY. Castillo has been much better this month, but was terrible to start the season.

All these guys have struggled at some point this season, but Bailey and Harvey are beyond developmental improvements. Both may pitch better, but are short term known commodities for the most part. Castillo, Romano, and Mahle may not be the answer down the road either, but they're working in the learning curve.

What this all really comes down to for the young guys is how are they handling the lows. Are they learning from the experience? Are they making excuses for poor performance instead of working to improve. Where's their confidence level at now?

IMO,
This is where the coaching staff needs to be on top of the situation in their assessment of these guys. The FO needs to be making decisions based on what is best for the club moving forward.

 

[eburg5000]

Good win last night. Got some production out of our backup catcher, and some defense after Votto threw the ball in the dirt on a potential double play in the ninth.

 

[JohnU]

On Mahle, pitching in Denver and avoiding the big inning -- a step forward. He needs to keep the walks down, but that might come. I think the HR totals are going to be what they are until he gets a rep for the corners and low strike.
Romano didn't get any pitches on the black and it's not helpful if you go to 3-1 on every hitter.
Mahle might have turned the corner.
Castillo has amazing stuff so his head (and his hat) are all that are stopping him. Refining the delivery is a coaching issue.
I see where Finnegan pissed on his own shoes with some comments about his demotion. Yeah, whatever. His future is in the bullpen, probably somewhere else. I think the Reds can flip lefty potential for a bat, since Garrett is showing he can pitch at the top level.
I don't waste a lot of time on hope for Disco, but I think Lorenzen may have figured it out. So with him, along with Hernia and Hughes, the pen is better -- the sort of pen that teams need. Going 2 innings might end up adding a bench bat.
I think Wandy needs to stay on the roster despite his lack of control. He's an interesting weapon. I think Iglesias is close to being moved. The need for a closer is reduced and if the righties on the staff are OK for another year, Iggs may end up with somebody who needs a closer.
Reds certainly don't need one. IF they were in contention, I would not advocate this.
Floro is a fascinating find.
Harvey is also pretty interesting. I would not be surprised if the Reds sign him over the winter. But I think Homer's career in Cincy is quite nearly over.
I am waiting for the FO to get back to me on this stuff.

 

[JohnU]

Good win last night. Got some production out of our backup catcher, and some defense after Votto threw the ball in the dirt on a potential double play in the ninth.

Cruz brings defense only to the game, which is how he stayed on the roster in St. Louis behind Molina. You could hide his lack of bat in a lineup that had more luck than skill.
Sadly with the Reds, using Cruz and Hamilton in the same game is a nightmare. These are the situations that make me yearn for the DH.

 

[eburg5000]

I think Homer's career in Cincy is quite nearly over.

I agree. . I think He's in his 4th year, of a 6 year contract but not sure. He will be hard to get rid of.

I am wondering how much more time they are going to give Duvall. It really doesn't hurt to give him time The Reds year is wasted anyway. None of the outfielders are hitting the cover off the ball. Winker and Schebler are around 255, Hamilton just aggravates me

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The draft is coming up. The 5th pick this year and looks like they may improve on that next season. The farm system rates higher than it previously did, but the big club is still going in the wrong direction overall.

The trade deadline would be the next opportunity after that to add talent by trading talent. Hasn't worked out very well the past few seasons, but that's what bad teams do.

There's not a lot of trade bait that would bring much of a return. Scooter has been tearing the cover off the ball. You'd think there's some team out there that will be calling. Not sure how much another team would give up for him. Iglesias is due to come off the DL soon. He'd be the other most obvious piece another team might want. The bullpen has a few pieces that could help other teams.

Every year the ETA to contention seems to get pushed further out. I could be wrong, but isn't the finish line supposed to be getting closer and not further away?

 

[eburg5000]

Scooter has been tearing the cover off the ball. You'd think there's some team out there that will be calling

I know this sorta trade may happened, but I'd sure hate to see Scooter go... You need to get something for your money when you go to the ballpark.. But like I said it probably will happened, I just hope they can start getting player better than Stephenson, Reed, and Rookie Davis types

 

[eburg5000]

Just saying watching Scooter and Suarez, Is the only joy I get in watching the Reds, And to see them go for 5 Rookie Davis's would do me in

 

[JohnU]

The draft is coming up. The 5th pick this year and looks like they may improve on that next season. The farm system rates higher than it previously did, but the big club is still going in the wrong direction overall.

The trade deadline would be the next opportunity after that to add talent by trading talent. Hasn't worked out very well the past few seasons, but that's what bad teams do.

There's not a lot of trade bait that would bring much of a return. Scooter has been tearing the cover off the ball. You'd think there's some team out there that will be calling. Not sure how much another team would give up for him. Iglesias is due to come off the DL soon. He'd be the other most obvious piece another team might want. The bullpen has a few pieces that could help other teams.

Every year the ETA to contention seems to get pushed further out. I could be wrong, but isn't the finish line supposed to be getting closer and not further away?

Yeah, the end line isn't in sight.
They keep telling us about how Hamilton is going to work on his bunting during the off-season, though nobody ever told me how somebody does that against -- a pitching machine.
The options that Riggleman claims the Reds have are mostly in the batting order so we know that's a handful of ragweed.
Homer Bailey being replaced by Finnegan? Or Disco? Or Reed? Or Garrett? Who replaces them? Stephenson? Romano? Who's after that.
The entire outfield has a combined OBP of less than .300 and that's including the Winker-monster who was supposed to be a real hitter.
Peraza could lose his job to Blandino, who has 45 plate appearances and yet ... has Red Reporter whacking off to the guy's photo.
Scooter is so good that they figure he ought to be traded for still more guys who will turn Pensacola into a .500 team, which was the goal all along.
Yeah, I got an indy league team playing .500 ball after 10 games. The old song about having the driver, and that's a start.

 

[Redsfan1507]

"Losing, is a disease...as contagious as syphillis". All we need is Roy Hobbs.

 

[Redsfan1507]

Most of the Reds pitchers have "draft stuff", they just haven't shown they can use it effectively in MLB. Some have repeatedly shown that inability. Homer is back where he started in that regard, just making a lot more money now.

Location, command, or simply predictability does these guys in usually. When they miss the mitt by a foot, it's hard to blame coaches. Don't get me wrong, I understand why they drafted most of these guys, I don't get why at least some of them can't deliver though.