• Have something to say? Register Now! and be posting in minutes!

The season has started

JohnU

Aristocratic Hoosier
8,883
559
113
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Location
Indiana
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Maybe I'm not keeping up on Reds transactions, But where did Floro come from? secondly I thought 1982 was bad. This is just a nightmare. I believe the apathy of the front office has caught up with them.

I think we are going to start seeing some changes real soon. Price 1st, but I think the real blame starts at the top.
Floro is just a guy you scrape up off the waiver wire. He's been in the minors. He's not a prospect but he's had some experience. All in all, probably a better choice to patch a bullpen than Deer-in-the-headlghts Weiss, who will have an infinity ERA if he's never called up again to get somebody out.
 

JohnU

Aristocratic Hoosier
8,883
559
113
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Location
Indiana
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I think what is showing is that there is nothing resembling a Plan B.
Most teams don't have one for multiple injuries but the Reds lose 50 percent of their offense with Winker, Suarez and Schebler out -- and arguably none of those guys could play ahead of somebody for the Cubs. Toss in a few regular slumps and there you have it.
The defense is pitiful and Price is clueless now about handling his pitchers or bench players.
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I think the problem is there never was a solid plan A. They went straight to plan B and it's been changing ever since.

We talked about it all winter. Thinking three injury prone SP's were going to anchor the rotation was bordering on fantasy.

Upgrading the bullpen was at the top of Dick Williams list. I may be wrong, but somehow this isn't what we thought he meant by upgrading the bullpen.

The defense is farcical at times. Basic fundamental base running is AWOL. The offense has been dead on arrival.

This team is becoming the definition of insanity. "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results".
 

JohnU

Aristocratic Hoosier
8,883
559
113
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Location
Indiana
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I suppose changing managers is necessary and installing an interim dugout staff that comes with it. I suspect it's a week or so away, maybe sooner. Even if they win 4 or 5 in the next 8, it's not going to matter. I can't say what ought to happen but the last time the owner went off the charts, they brought in Price to start a rebuild that was happening anyway. Price seemed logical. Not sure what they think is logical now.
Riggleman, if he doesn't go, is likely the interim. Farrell, if Riggleman goes.
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
You can't blame Price for the talent level or the injuries. Both take their toll on the win/loss record. But neither explain why this team lacks the basic fundamentals.

You don't have to be fast to be a good base runner. It doesn't require a strong arm to hit the cutoff man. It's harder to to find something this team is fundamentally sound at than it is to spot the ones they're not.

Players should be arriving at GABP with the basic fundamentals already on display. So that speaks to an overall organizational preparedness issue. But after 4 seasons it's fairly obvious the current manager doesn't hold players accountable.
 

JohnU

Aristocratic Hoosier
8,883
559
113
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Location
Indiana
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Comparing Zach Weiss to Joe Nuxhall.

Weiss was signed out of a California university with a skill set that the organization thought useful, a skill set that could be polished. The kid, while nervous, threw two fastball down the middle, threw another dozen toward the catcher and went back to the minors to work on the shit that he should have been able to master in rookie ball. The training tools, metrics, videos, workout techniques ... all available in a multi-million dollar system.

Nux had the same skill set, or one like it -- he wasn't yet 16 years old, probably had never pitched on a mound that had been properly tamped ... also against the Cardinals. Didn't fare much better. It was the war. He went back to high school, finally made a career out of major league baseball.

What's different? Not much. It's on the pitcher to be ready IF he is coming to the majors. If Weiss had been 16 years old, I could have understood it. Had it been 1944, I would have thought, this is great!

Weiss doesn't deserve a chance to lower his infinity ERA because, IMO, he scammed the system and came to The Show without learning anything. The Reds are complicit by saying they will give these guys a chance, meaning the charade continues. Teaching guys to pitch on a big-league mound results in 440-foot home runs on the second pitch. Other franchises are not embarrassing themselves this way. Seriously.

I will stop before I get to Tanner Rainey.

Or a few others.
 

eburg5000

Active Member
1,305
16
38
Joined
Apr 19, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
It's sad to the team like this. I never expect the team to be much better than 500. But I do expect to see a competitive MLB team on the field. Bringing in relievers that probably are not even ready AAA is not putting a competitive team on the field. And that's just one of the many problems that keep this team from being competitive.
I don't blame Price as much as I blame the people who are responsible for getting him quality players. The reason I believe is they want to go cheap, I mean too cheap
 

eburg5000

Active Member
1,305
16
38
Joined
Apr 19, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
It Looks like they might get rained out today. Bet the Cardinals are out there in their rain gear taking batting practice. hoping it isn't.
 

JohnU

Aristocratic Hoosier
8,883
559
113
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Location
Indiana
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
maxresdefault (1).jpg
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I'm still trying to understand how Price thought pinch running Winker for Barnhart was an improvement. It's like substituting a car with a right flat tire for one with a left flat tire. Maybe the car with the left flat corners better?
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Homer has pitched better than most expected. Three of his starts were very winnable games.

There's at least 4 pitchers that already have 3 wins. Meanwhile the Reds are still trying to get their 3rd. Will an individual pitcher for another team get four wins before the Reds do?
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Garrett entered the game a little wild, but quickly settled in and provided another good outing. Garrett has only walked one batter in 6 appearances covering 8.1 IP. Wandy hasn't allowed a run in his 6.2 IP, but it's going to catch up with him if he keeps walking 1-2 batters per inning.
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I like seeing the young guys get a chance to play, but Blandino and Ervin have looked over matched. Both are #1 picks that have struggled their way through the minors. They haven't had enough minor league success to even be considered 4-A level talent.

It's been brutal watching the bench fill in for Schebler and Suarez offensively and defensively.
 

JohnU

Aristocratic Hoosier
8,883
559
113
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Location
Indiana
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Blandino can hit his way onto an MLB roster eventually. Ervin's lack of defense will murder him.
Reds dodged a bullet today on the HBP to Mesoraco, who was supposed to be the guy Winker replaced.
Yeah, that was baseball right out of the 'I fuckin' give up' manual."
I would wager that Blandino has bunted zero times in his life. Never ask about that. The bunt still would have sucked.
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
The early scouting book on Blandino said he should hit his way to the Majors, but it's been a struggle. He made a nice play at SS the other night and I think he's got the only hit by a player filling in at third base since Geno went down. If he's going to hit now would be the time.
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Looking at Blandino's minor league page it shows 4 sucessfull sacrifice bunts. Didn't show out of how many attempts.

But your point is well taken. I don't think the Reds minor league system spends a lot of time working on insignificant things like bunting, or basic fundamentals. Doing the little things correctly is for sissies. Swing for the fences and strike out like a real man.
 

JohnU

Aristocratic Hoosier
8,883
559
113
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Location
Indiana
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
Looking at Blandino's minor league page it shows 4 sucessfull sacrifice bunts. Didn't show out of how many attempts.

But your point is well taken. I don't think the Reds minor league system spends a lot of time working on insignificant things like bunting, or basic fundamentals. Doing the little things correctly is for sissies. Swing for the fences and strike out like a real man.
If bunting is statistically a negative, and practicing it is based on bad data, then why insist on using it in games?
 

chico ruiz

Member
423
7
18
Joined
Apr 18, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
you guys seem upset with the reds organization.
 

JohnU

Aristocratic Hoosier
8,883
559
113
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Location
Indiana
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
you guys seem upset with the reds organization.
That's probably accurate from a general perspective but in my case, it's squarely on the back of the dugout staff as to process. The rest of it is about the players themselves. Williams doesn't run bases or throw meatballs to hungry hitters. He doesn't get doubled off first on a fly ball to left field. And of course, he isn't the guy who is on the DL for 2 months because a pitch hit him on the thumb.

So it's a combination of whipping boys at this point. My frustration is that I usually expect a swoon with this team and I rarely expect a virtual elimination from the pennant race two weeks into the season. Sadly, it's brutally cold rainy and snowy here in NW Indiana so I can't even go outside and play.

The dugout staff will be replaced, Suarez will heal and the infield will still be mediocre, the base running will be a joke and Phillip Ervin will still belong in the Korean leagues.
 

Hit-n-Run

Go Reds!!!
2,157
29
48
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Hoopla Cash
$ 1,000.00
Fav. Team #1
Fav. Team #2
Fav. Team #3
I'm not upset, but I am disappointed with the way this continues to unfold.

I don't take issue with an increased application of analytics. I think it has its place in baseball. But in the end it's a trial and error methology. Data is always going to be the end result of something that has already occurred. Knowing how you got to a fixed point doesn't tell you how to get to the next point. You can have a map and never get there if your compass is broken. This team needs a new compass.

When Neal Huntington took over in Pittsburgh he brought analytics to the club. But he also made sweeping changes. The dugout was cleared out. The Director of Scouting, Director of Baseball Operations, and Senior Director of Development were all let go. That's ushering in change.

The Reds promoted Dick Williams to GM, but all the old guard remained in place.
I think the foundation needs replacing.
 
Top