OK so I know we don’t have sole possession of first place in the NL Central, but even being in a three way tie for first is something I never thought was going to happen. Not even two weeks ago!

Since the last time I posted alot of stuff has went down. Is that Rosales guy fun to watch or what?? Of course, I don’t think he’ll continue with his .295 average the rest of the year but, at least he would be a good guy off the bench. 15.6 seconds around the bases for a home run.. HAHA! I sure hope, if he continues hitting the way he has, that he stays the starting 3b…I’ve never been a big EE fan.

Besides Rosales, I can’t pick out one particular player that has improved because EVERYONE has! It seems like everyone has started hitting better, which is always fun to watch!

BP has as many RBI as Votto- 26

Willy T is hitting .322

Ramon Hernandez is hititng .279

Votto is hitting .374- highest BA in the NL!

Hanigan is hitting .310

Look at our starting pitching- We could have four 15 game winners! Cueto 1.93 ERA

Even with all the good… there is still going to be somebody that is bad. Take in part, Mike Lincoln. God, I hate him. 13.1 IP 19 Hits and a 9.35 ERA… JESUS thats awful!

PLEASE, OH PLEASE Walt bring up Pedro Viola to replace him. We could add another lefty to the pen and look at his AAA stats… WOW. 14.2 IP 6 hits and a 0.61 ERA. Bring up Pedro!

I apoligize for not posting in awhile, however, I hope people check back more often because I will be posting more frequently.

First off, let me apologize for not posting anything for about a week and a half. My life has been pretty crazy, however, I’ve still manage to catch every reds game. As you know the Reds are looking pretty decent, besides their hitting, oh and Volquez and Lincoln.

Taking 2 out of 3 against Houston was great but man… taking 3 out of 4 from the Cubs was even better! I sure do hate the cubs and watching Votto tear them up was just so sweet to watch. Every Reds fan knows they aren’t hitting right now and every fan knows that Volquez is struggling (walking 5 straight batters in one game… JESUS) but some fans might not know the unfamilar facts and stats that are listed below:

1. Is Chris Dickerson a strike out machine or what?! What happened to the old Dickerson from last year… apparently he went away. 16 SO in 42 AB… GOOD GOD MAN!

2. Does AGon look smooth at short or what?! Man, he sure has been playing really good D lately. I forgot how nasty he once was. Although he is still struggling, he does have a hit in each of his last 5 games.

 3. Ramon Hernandez has played much much better lately… bringing his average up to .255. He has had two hits in each of his last three games.

4. Jay Bruce has brought his average up to .286 with 34 total bases. If he can lower his strike outs, he would be much much more consistent.

5. I made this bold because Mike Lincoln is the most frustrating player on the entire Reds team. The guy has pitched 7.1 innings and given up 12 ER!! That is TERRRRRRRIBLE. He has a 14.73 ERA and has walked 9 batters. He has WALKED more batters than IP! WOW. What is the world is he doing on this team?!? I hate hearing over and over from the announcers that he did great last year and hadn’t pitched in 3 years blah blah blah. I don’t care if he didn’t pitch for 3 years or 10 years.. ending the year with a 4.48 ERA doesn’t mean you “great” and “spectacular”.

You hear it folks, the reds actually one a series on the road against a division oppennant. If you have been a reds fan for more than five years, you can contest that a win on the road against a division oppenenant is normally hard to do for the reds. Of course I would of loved a sweep but I knew, going into the third game, that the chance of us winning were pretty slim. Owings hadn’t pitched in two weeks and Looper always pitches well against the Reds.

Some positives about the series:

1. Bronson Arroyo- Dude looked NOTHING like his previous start as he went 6 1/3 giving up only 1 ER and 4 hits. I know the Brewers have a lineup dominated by right handed hitters but if Bronson can do half as good as he did this series the rest of the season it would really help out the reds.

2. Willy T- He went 3-10 in the series with 2 walks and 0 SO. Also, he scored 3 runs and stole 2 bases.

3. A Gon- ALthough I probably shouldn’t include him in the positive categories, I decided to due to the fact that he FINALLY got a hit! Also, he played some superb defense in the series.

4. Edwin Encarnacion- Is this guy clutch or what?! I know he only got one hit in the series but it was a big one- a grand slam. However, he made a bad throwing error at third… hopefully it won’t continue.

Sone Negatives about the series:

1. Edinson Volquez- He looked AWFUL. He gave up 6ER in only 5 IP and also walked 4. Volquez needs to step it up big time.

2. Jay Bruce- Although he hit a home run in the second game, that was his ONLY hit in the entire series. He struck out 4 times and looks completly lost at the plate. Give the man a day off…. PLEASE.

3. Jaret Burton- I hate to put him on the negatives list cuz I like the guy alot but he he single handly blow the game for us on Wednesday or what?! Giving up 4 ERA in 1 inning.

PS Congrats to Mike Lincon from lowering his ERA from 34.71 to 24.30. It’s a big step.

Yesterday, the reds completed their fifth game of the season. Winning 1 out of 3 against the Mets isnt too bad and was what I expected. The mets have one of the highest payrolls in all of baseball, and competing very well in each game says alot about this ball club. Splitting the game with the Pirates was ok as well, considering we had to face Paul Maholhm. A lefty and a damn good one at that. Below I listed some positives and negatives from these two series:

Positives:

1. Aaron Harang- Good Lord! This guy looks nothing like last year. Pitching that complete game, 0er and only 3 hits was an AWESOME thing to see. His line of 14IP, 10 Hits, 3BB, 11SO, and a 0.64 ERA is impresive.

2. Joey Votto- Hard to put this guy second. He has been hitting the SHIT out of the ball. Hitting .400 with 7 RBI and 2 HR!

3. Brandon Phillips- Hitting .357 with 4RBI’s and 5 BB

4. Edwin Encarnacion- Although his average isn’t up to par, he does have 7 walks- the most on the team. Is this the year he has better plate discipline and turns into the player we have been wanting??

Negatives

1. Jay Bruce- hitting .200 with 5SO and only 1BB

2. Ramon Hernandez/Jerry Hairston/Alex Gonzalez- hitting a combined 2 for 29. They all look lost at the plate and swing and very bad pitches. Alex Gonzalez is still waiting to get his first hit of the year. It’s hard to watch these three.

3. Mike Lincoln- 34.71 ERA– IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?? 2.1 IP with 9 ER. That is NOT GOOD.

Many of you who are reading this post, probably already know that the Red’s lost their opening day game 2-1 on Monday. I still don’t know how we only lost by 1… seems like I was constantly thinking we should be down by 4 or 5… OH WELL!

After reading reds blogs and message boards daily for over three years, I really believe that Cincinnati has the most pessimistic fans in all of baseball. People are gripping over the reds opening day offensive output and claiming that the reds will not hit all year. Jesus… do you realize who we played and had to hit against?! Yeah the reds didn’t hit but they had to face not just a lefty, but the best lefty in ALL OF BASEBALL and ,not to mention, a very improved bullpen with the best closer in ALL OF BASEBALL. COME ON REDS FANS!

Jeff Keppinger hit a game winning broken bat single last night for the Houston. And who would of guessed it, I got on the reds message board and all I read is about how dumb trading keppinger was and how we need him on this team. The same people complaining how we traded Keppinger yesterday were the same people rejoicing and saying it was a “great move” the day he was traded. COME ON REDS FANS

There were many people on the reds message board yesterday complaining about my man Danny Herrera and how he needs to be sent down and that he is “trash and worthless”. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. The guy was flat out nervous and you could tell. He hit his spots all ST, having excellent command. Just because he was nervous and pitched a bad inning, doesnt mean he is trash and should be sent down. Thats ridiculous. I’m sure when Herrera ends the season as being one of the best pitchers in our bullpen, those same people will be saying how great and awesome he was and how glad they were to have him on our team. COME ON REDS FANS!

I have a message to ALL Reds fans: Relax and take deeps breaths. Just because a team loses their first game doesn’t mean their season is over.. there is 161 more games. Just because an offense may have a bad night doesn’t mean they will struggle all season… there is 161 more games. Just because a pitcher has a bad inning doesn’t mean he should get sent down to AAA… there is 161 more games. It’s one thing to criticize a particular player for their ability or critic the fundamentals, or the lack their of in a game, buts its completly another thing to say a season is over after opening day. Reds fans need to sit back and take a few deep breaths. They say in football that you cant judge a draft pick till three years down the road… I feel like the same thing can be applied to baseball.. You can’t just a season until at least the all star break. COME ON REDS FANS!

Today the reds won their first spring training game 7-0 with 14 hits and allowing only 4. Jerry Hairston hit a grandslam in the 5th with Rosales contributing 2 RBI’s and McDonald with 1. Volquez pitched 3 scoreless innings; giving up 2 hits one walk and 3 SO’s. Volquez was good but also throw close to 50 pitches. He needs to get his pitch count down if he wants to last longer than 6 innings come regular season. Cueto was unstoppable today. He pitched 3 scoreless innings, giving up NO hits 1 walk and striking out 3. Bailey also looked good, throwing a scoreless 7th with 2 SO’s. Will we see more of that come this season?

There was some question on reds message boards about Hernandez missing a throw over to 3rd base. However, on the radio Brantley said the pitch was in the dirt and Edwin missed the tag.

Check out the reds box score:  http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2009_02_25_cinmlb_tbamlb_1

The Cincinnati Reds scored six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning as they came from behind to beat the Florida Marlins on Monday afternoon. The 7-5 victory over the Marlins was a one game makeup game that the two teams had to play on what should have been an off day.

Joey Votto was one of three players to finish the game with two rbi. Votto had a solo home run and a rbi double in the game. The other two players with two rbi each were Jerry Hairston Jr. and Andy Phillips. Ryan Hanigan also chipped in with one rbi as well in the game. Great comeback by the offense in the seventh inning to pick up the pitching staff.

Aaron Harang picked up his sixth win of the season and is now 6-16. Harang tossed seven innings and gave up eight hits and four runs. It was a decent start for Harang but he did allow two walks and two home runs in the game. Reds closer Francisco Cordero allowed one run to score in the ninth inning but was able to record his 33rd save of the season.

The Reds will now head to Houston to take on the Houston Astros in a three game series.

- Reds Blog

The Cincinnati Reds ran out of magic against the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday afternoon as they were unable to come back after giving up two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The reds lost 4-3, but it was still a winning series for the Reds who took two out of three games from the brewers in Milwaukee.

In the eighth inning, David Weathers allowed three hits and two runs to take the loss. Errors didn’t help out in the inning either as the reds more or less gave this game to the brewers. Bronson Arroyo’s seven innings ended up being worth nothing. Arroyo took the no decision after only giving up five hits and two runs. He shut down a tough brewers offense but didn’t have anything to show for it.

The three runs that the reds did score came in the fifth inning when Jerry Hairston Jr. took CC Sabathia deep for a three run home run. At that time, the reds were up 3-1 and were leading until the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Reds are now off on Thursday and will play the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night.

Reds Baseball Blog

Wow what an exciting ending to the game on Monday night! The Cincinnati Reds scored three runs off of Saloman Torres of the Milwaukee Brewers to come back and win by the score of 5-4. Talk about not quitting in the game when the Brewers are scratching for every victory they can come up with. The Reds stole one on Monday night that is for sure!

In the ninth inning with the bases loaded, Corey Patterson reached on an infield single and Jay Bruce scored to make the score 4-2. With the bases still loaded, Jeff Keppinger then doubled to deep left field to score Wilkin Castillo and Chris Dickerson. The Reds also picked up a huge win in the eighth inning when Joey Votto hit a solo home run. That hit gave the Reds a little energy and I feel it really helped them out in the ninth inning. Castillo had the first Reds rbi in the second inning on a single that scored Bruce.

Reds starting pitcher Edinson Volquez lasted just 5 2/3 innings. He gave up five hits and four runs while getting the no decision. Jared Burton earned the victory as he pitched the bottom of the eight inning. Francisco Cordero grabbed his 28th save of the year by closing out the game in the ninth inning.

Great come from behind win for the Reds! Let’s see if the momentum carries over into the game on Tuesday night as they look to take another game from the slumping Brewers.

Reds Baseball Blog

The Cincinnati Reds scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as they came from behind to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-6. The Reds avoided a three game sweep by winning on Thursday afternoon. It was awesome to see the team come from behind and pick up the victory.

Jeff Keppinger and Joey Votto both had big days for the Reds at the plate as they both finished with two rbi. Votto had a solo home run to count for one of his rbi’s. Jay Bruce also had a solo home run in the game as he finished with one rbi. Edwin Encarnacion and Brandon Phillips both finished the game with one rbi as well. Votto and Encarnacion both had hugh hits in the bottom of the eighth inning to score two runs.

Nick Masset ended up with the victory after throwing two innings in relief. Reds starting pitcher Josh Fogg pitched the first three games of the game before leaving with a groin injury. Fogg had been roughed up for four hits and five runs as he put the Reds in a big hole. He was lucky not to be charged with the loss. Francisco Cordero picked up his 27th save of the season in the ninth inning.

Reds Baseball Blog