The season has started

[eburg5000]

I like Scooter at 2nd. It he hits 270, with 15 to 20 homeruns I'm happy

Making him go to arbitration last year, makes me think he is not in their plans. I'm not sure what their plans are though.

Reed hasn't pitched in a while, and I don't think it is going to be pretty if he pitches tonight. I'd rather see Garrett get the start

 

[JohnU]

I think we can turn the oven off on Cody Reed.
He's fully cooked.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

Reed threw 73 pitches in 3 IP, enough said.

 

[JohnU]

QUACK

 

[Ojb81]

 

[JohnU]

Relievers come into the game and set the Reds down on a couple of singles over 4 innings.
Reds bring in relievers who throw 35 pitches in one inning, walk the bases loaded and hope to get out of it.
Then they bring in some turkey who throws one thigh-high right down the middle on a 2-1 count. It ends up 440 feet from home plate.
Where in FUCK did this manager decide to get his information?
I was ready to let Price off the hook. I can't see that now.

 

[Hit-n-Run]

The Reds bullpen has been pretty good the last three games. The HR the Quacker gave up to PH Nick Williams broke a 12 innings scoreless streak by the bullpen.

The rotation on the other hand went through a complete turn without a single quality start. Hell, none of them saw the 6th inning or gave up less than 4 runs. That's the foundation to a losing streak.

The Reds haven't shown much power early on. Opposing teams have out homered the Reds 2-1. It's cold, but the other team is playing in the same conditions. The Nick Williams HR was the 14th allowed and Barnhart's was the Reds 7th. Add in the poor situational hitting we've seen and you have a team that has had plenty of opportunity to score, but has been inept. Last night the Reds had 16 base runners and got beat by another inept team that failed to get a hit with RISP.

Overall the pitching has the highest ERA in the Majors and are 26th in hitting.

To state the obvious.......
This is a bad team. But it's going to get better when everyone get's healthy. Believe me when I say that. By the way, did I mention I'm selling the Suspension Bridge?

 

[eburg5000]

Not much to add to what has already been said, except how the Reds had Lively on the ropes in that 1st inning and let him off the hook. Peraza needs to wake up. On way he shouldn't have scored on that wild pitch in the 1st.

The Reds also seem to be a little to conservative by holding runners at 3rd. I noticed that is the trend this year, If the Reds could get some hits with runners in scoring position it might not be so bad. Bases loaded no outs, doesn't mean the Reds will score anything.

I can't remember. is this the 2nd or the 3rd year we have been watching Reed make starts that never make it through the 3rd inning. He can't pitch in the big leagues. I know someone in the Reds Management thinks he can, but he has never shown it on the field

How can a team come out of spring training so unprepared? I think next year the Reds will begin another rebuilding program

 

[Redsfan1507]

Well, it's probably going to be a long season, if you are impatient to win. No surprise there. Not sure preparation applies as much as talent, IMO, obviously lacking. It's easy to criticize, because almost no aspect of this team approaches competent, as far as winning requires.

Comparisons to good teams are not fair, but remembering most BRM years, Concepcion and Geronimo didn't hit great, but no one cared because the lineup still scored plenty, and they played great D. Peraza and Hamilton don't have close to that lineup support around them- Votto is the only current Reds hitter that might have cracked that lineup, and he seems to be more and more a guy that hits .220 in the first half, and .420 the second. Hard to win from 20 back no matter what kind of second half season he has...and unfortunately, the "braintrust" has no intention of winning this year.

I expect Senzel may be up after his reset window passes, at least to replace Suarez during the DL stint. If he hits as predicted he will stick. Saying the Reds bench is adequate is similar to admiring the woodwork on the Titanic: relative importance isn't there.

It all starts and ends with pitching, and I'm sadly certain the Reds don't qualify on that front.

 

[JohnU]

I think the pitching is an example of having the bar set so low as to be satisfied with not having the team doctor come out to the mound in the 4th inning. So we are glorified that Bailey only lost 2-0 and Mahle has pitched "pretty well so far" and Castillo is still going to "take his lumps" and on etc, infinitum ... The home runs are not just home runs, they are cannon shots into the 4th row of the 2nd deck. Nick Williams could not have ordered a better pitch to launch the longest home run he ever hit. The Quack is no rookie. He's just a waste of fuckin' roster space.

Gallardo will be DFA eventually and we will have a fiesta to enjoy that ... another 750K that could have gone to sign a kid. Ah, well ...

Again, the bar is low. Quack is an upgrade over last year so that's good. Hoss Radbourne from the grave would be an upgrade.

I am frustrated with the offense as well, but the automatic outs are sprinkled in there pretty evenly. Duvall gets an RBI because it's a foot outside. Otherwise, he's going to K. Peraza is showing a very low baseball IQ. Hamilton has figured it out. He will catch everything and thus remain in the lineup. But he did get a couple of great beaner-tweener hits.

I agree that these guys came out of camp unprepared to pitch and that's on the coaching staff. I did see the Reds have an assistant pitching coach now as well as a pitching coach and a bullpen pitching coach.

I am about to give up and a winning streak would just cause me to go back on the dope and crash my therapy program all to hell.

 

[JohnU]

1507 touching on a useful point about Votto. That was true last year as well. The team plays better when your hitters hit but if he needs to the end of June to start hitting, is that 24-39 record going to suddenly become a 39-24?

 

[Redsfan1507]

IMO, the bar is low to match the payroll budget. Just about any retread player under half MLB average salary is under consideration by our Reds, and you don't find future All-Stars in the refuse pile very often. For a team that contends they can only afford a few long term contracts, they sure have a knack for attracting immediate injuries to those freshly cashed players, don't they ? Bad luck or bad planning ? The W/L doesn't care.

 

[chico ruiz]

yeah ……you're not going to sneak that 90mph inside middle thigh high quack cheese past many mlb hitters are you mr. hit and run? that was almost as painful as watching scooter's throwing error. sloppy execution by the reds all the way around in the first several games. btw, could price be any more predictable with his h-n-r calls? apparently kapler is getting a lot of grief in philly (who doesn't get grief in philly?….. going all the way back to #42). he's trying some exaggerated shifts, unique pitching changes, etc etc. he's a young manager, and it's early in the season, with some atypical ideas. some of the less flush would say crazy. some of the more flush would say eccentric. in general, many phiily fans boo and throw unrelenting barbs and insults. just ask joey votto. it's a sport within a sport for those characters. there's a creepy dark film that accurately depicts these pathological types, that i recommend, called 'big fan.' it's a strange subculture akin to hooliganism. what the hell…i don't know what happens to people that turns them into unrecognizable savaging beasts who wantonly stigmatize entire populations of people. i heard or read one such aspersion or vilification recently about kids who hang out at baseball camps on caribbean islands. something about dope, knives, and the apparent peculiar notion that they actually speak spanish. makes you wonder if they saw the latin kid, with watery eyes, sitting four seats down from them. ah well, what are you gonna do? philly fans, right?

it's very early in the season. a lot of unpredictable stuff is going to happen, as it always does. it comes down pitching, defense, and execution in august and september. but, as of now, i think i would be willing to trade kapler for price, if any such fantasy world / game existed.

 

[JohnU]

what the hell…i don't know what happens to people that turns them into unrecognizable savaging beasts who wantonly stigmatize entire populations of people.

There are plenty of real life studies of real life examples that strongly support the notion that humans are inclined to do this once the veil of accountability is lifted. Of course, i have been called a "libtard" by a whole range of people because I point this out to them.

I don't think Kapler's job is in peril in Philly. They need another pitcher to contend in a division that is increasingly competitive. They can win 85 games as it is.

 

[eburg5000]

I sort of hate to bring this up, but that pitch that hit Suarez the other day was up and in. Looked to me like it was right at his head. Thrown by a pitcher who had almost perfect control all through the game. Seeing Suarez had such a good game the night before, it sure makes me wonder.

It seems like every year sense Hurdle has been the manager in Pittsburgh. The Reds leave town with someone on the DL or "day to day" I know the Reds are not totally innocent, but I don't remember the Reds knocking down any Pirates hitters in that series.

Myself I wouldn't have retaliated by going after a Pirates hitter. I would go after Taillon's head. Actually I wouldn't but saying that gave me a little satisfaction.

 

[JohnU]

Hurdle has the rep for pitching inside. Had it not been 8 below zero, I'd wonder about the pitch that hit Suarez.
tHom tried to shove it forward but I don't think anybody bit on it.

 

[Redsfan1507]

When every single rule change in the last 30 years is intended aids hitters, I gotta believe that pitchers throwing inside is the last allowable tactic capable of preventing a MLB 6.00 average ERA.

The Pirates haven't been an offense first team since Stargell, so I understand Hurdle. On the flip side, teams that don't have a backup plan for a plunked slugger, better tell them to get out of the way quicker.

Instead of bitching about what we can't change with the Reds, I'm more pissed about questionable rule changes that could have been prevented altogether. Somehow, I don't think any of them have enhanced my fan experience, or improved the quality of the game. Hell, I'm no fan of the DH, FA, PEDS,WAR, IRS, AFCLU, or any other acronym for that matter other than the HOF, USA, and maybe SOS if I'm in trouble at sea...I think the beanball, pace of play, and how many/how long mound visits are should be umps responsibility to regulate, and commissioners should be keeping thrown games, criminals and PEDS out, instead of reshaping the game to more compliment their short-ass attention spans, undeservedly entitled budget philosophies and disregard for history and integrity.

I think if there was a despicable baseball Mount Rushmore, Bud Selig should have a reserved spot there for really starting the MLB ball rolling downhill.

 

[JohnU]

The problem with pace of play is Odrubel Herrera and the lazy-ass umpire who doesn't tell this marginally useful mediocre outfielder to get the fuck in and hit.

 

[eburg5000]

I'm not really for beanball wars, It just pisses player off which leads to more and more throwing at hitters it also gets player hurt and suspended.

How did Yadier Molina get away with shoving an umpire twice? I still remember Pete Rose getting 30 days suspension for pushing an umpire after the umpire stuck Pete in the eye with his finger. Molina hasn't actually been what I call a perfect MLB citizen anyway. And if that would have been Joey Votto, do you think we would see Joey would be on the field maybe the rest of the year. I don't. I was just wondering what everyone thought about this, before we watch the Reds get beat again tonight.....just kidding there

 

[JohnU]

I'm not really for beanball wars, It just pisses player off which leads to more and more throwing at hitters it also gets player hurt and suspended.

How did Yadier Molina get away with shoving an umpire twice? I still remember Pete Rose getting 30 days suspension for pushing an umpire after the umpire stuck Pete in the eye with his finger. Molina hasn't actually been what I call a perfect MLB citizen anyway. And if that would have been Joey Votto, do you think we would see Joey would be on the field maybe the rest of the year. I don't. I was just wondering what everyone thought about this, before we watch the Reds get beat again tonight.....just kidding there

I think it's funny how Cardinals fans have managed to enable this by rationalizing it away. They always blamed Phillips and then Cueto relentlessly and Molina looked to them like a victim. I got so sick of having to see "the fight" on video replay for 6 straight years. Then the other night, tHom found it completely useful to bring up the HBPs with the Pirates though it was obvious that Suarez was hit on the hand on a pitch too far in on his bat.
Just because it was once a thing doesn't mean scraping up the old dung is useful.
Molina should be fined for his behavior but apparently the AZ manager said something that even the ump thought was off the charts. Either way, it's about appearances. Make Molina set a couple of games, tell him to send a few bucks back to PR and make it at least look like it matters.
And it's time for the boys in the booth to stop showing replays.