In Cincinnati, when it comes to the Reds in spring, you’re not likely to get much of a positive response or any anticipation for the team’s baseball betting odds as they hadn’t reached the playoffs since 1995, or a .500 season since 2000. But that all changed last year as the Reds stormed to the National League Central title, and now they enter the 2011 campaign as the targets in what should be a very difficult division.

The Reds didn’t do much to the team that won last year’s title, and in fact, they may keep starter Mike Leake down in the minors to start the season as he has struggled in the spring. But the Reds have Edinson Volquez back after visa problems, and he is slated to get the ball on Opening Day.

Everyone is looking to the next phenom, Aroldis Chapman, who can hit 105 mph on the radar gun and turned some heads in a late-season call-up. With Francisco Cordero blowing eight saves in 2011, Chapman could get a look at the closer’s role this season.

At the plate and in the field, the big worry for the Reds is the age of Scott Rolen, who will be 36 in the first week of the regular season. Rolen had his best season in years for the Reds, but how long can he hold up? Expect World Series MVP Edgar Renteria to earn a look at third base to rest Rolen, and the Reds have plenty of experience in the lineup.

Now, can Joey Votto have another MVP season at first base? And what about Jay Bruce, who is turning into a superstar?

The Reds have the talent to win the division, but now they have to show maturity with St. Louis, Milwaukee and Chicago on their heels, and they’re going to have their hands full in the Central.

Jeff Keppinger was traded to the Astros yesterday for a PTBNL. The PTBNL will be made soon. I think it wasn’t a bad plan for the Reds and was definitly a good thing for Jkepp. Jkep hasn’t been the same since he broke his kneecap and seemed last year to prove that he wasn’t anything but a player off the bench. Bench players are something the Reds have an abundance of and Jkepp is someone they could trade to get somebody in return. Jkeep benefits because he will probably get a chance to play everyday, probably at his best position- 3B. I wish Jkepp my best and I’m sure all Reds fans will do the same.

I’m not sure if this is completly accurate but the average height of a Major League pitcher is 6’2.

The Reds Pitcher Danny Herrera is 5’6.

With Danny Herrera, I have had nothing but positive things to say about him ever since he got a chance to pitch last year. Dude is a stud and I really hope he makes the team. He is a long shot but man, he is such a great story! He is 5’6, 140 pounds and has an 86 MPH fastball. He apparently has 12 different pictches in his arsenal and is a screwball pitcher. How sweet is that!

You have got to be kidding me. Three days after I post about Jacque Jones still being on the team, he FINALLY got sent down! It’s unknown if he is going to accept the Minor League deal because he may want to test the free marker and see if anyone is going to give him a Major League offer. Jacque, come on man, NO ONE is going to give you a Major League deal.

Not only did Jones get sent down, Pedro Viola and Josh Roenicke got sent down as well. That was nothing to surprising.

Hello All!

Let me first start off my saying that I’m sorry I haven’t been able to post an blogs for awhile. I went down to Florida for a week, caught two reds games, and have been busy busy ever since. Anyways…

Well Jacque, you’re not the only one who is lost. Every Reds fan is lost as to why in the world you haven’t been cut yet. As if a .141 BA and a below .250 OBP wasn’t bad enough last year, you are hitting a wopping .105 in Spring Training with a .171 OBP. HOW HAVENT YOU BEEN CUT YET?!? Not only havent you been cut yet, you have got the 4th most AB’s on the team! Go ahead and cut him Dusty so Gomes and Taveras can get more AB’s. What do you think the chances of Jacque making the opening day roster? With Dusty at the healm, i’d say 292939%.

Since my last post, cuts have been made but no one significant or surprising. More recently the two players you have actually probably heard of (HAHA) that got cut were Daryle Ward and Juan Francisco. They both got optioned down to AAA, Juan being for the purpose of getting some AAA time and Daryle to get some extra practice. My guess is that Daryle Ward, once he has found his swing, will get called up to be that Left handed pitch hitter of the bench. But hey… if Micah Owings can hit, which he can, do we need him??

We all know the comments that Spring Training mean nothing and blah blah blah but take a look at the battle for the #5 spot. Both Owings, 1.23 ERA 14 IP 16 SO, and Homer, 2.25 ERA 14IP and 12 SO, have pitched great. Owings has looked like he has fully recovered from his surgery and Homer really looks as though he has found his control. My opinion, give Owings the starting job and put Homer in the bull pen.. but we’ll see that happens!

Imagine that picture with the players wearing nationals uniforms instead of yankees uniforms and number 11 being number 32.

Then go ahead and say this over and over..

Swing and a miss.

                  Swing and a miss.

          Swing and a miss.

Anyone watching the WBC is going to see alot of that from team USA’s left fielder, Adam Dunn. I saw that Adam Dunn was asked to be in the WBC after an injury to Brad Hawpe, and have been asking myself WHY ever since. My first reaction is WHO IN THE WORLD IS BRAD HAWPE?! I looked up his stats, and although they aren’t bad (.283 avg in 08 with 25 yacks and 85 RBI’s), are they worth an invite to the WBC?? There is no other player better than Hawpe that we could invite?? Not only was Hawpe a huge mystery but when he got injured, they replaced him with the imfamous Adam Dunn. I can’t express how much I laughed out loud when I heard he made the WBC. Expect Dunn to swing and miss, swing and miss, and swing and miss some more. Can’t wait for the world to see what an atheltic, well polished left fielder looks like.

Team USA is DOOMED!

Other RT news, how about Bailey and Owings?? They have looked pretty good in their starts, especially Bailey. Has he figured it out and turned it around?? I wouldn’t be so sure of anything yet.

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

Today, the reds will play their first ST game against the Rays. The reds will be in full force all the way until March 1st, when six players will go and play for their respective teams in the World Baseball Classic. First baseman Joey Votto will play for Team Canada, while starting pitchers Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto and center fielder Willy Taveras will play for the Dominican Republic. Utility player Jerry Hairston Jr. will play for Mexico, and catcher Ramon Hernandez will play for Venezuela. Joey Votto has already been told that he will be Cananda’s DH because Justin Morneau will be the starting 1B.

After seeing the dates for the World Baseball Classic, I was furious. I buy tickets to the Reds ST games RIGHT when most of the players I wanted to see are not going to play. Yes Jay Bruce and BP will be there but I was really excited about watching Willy T and Hernandez.

I’m excited to watch the WBC but I hope it doesn’t have a negative impact on our pitchers. Especially, Cueto being the youngest. I hope they don’t ask him to pitch more than he should. i guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Dusty announced the other day that BP will bat cleanup for the reds this year. Dusty, honestly, what are you thinking? BP is the biggest free swinger on our team and you want to put him in a run producing situation?? BP needs to bat 3rd, a spot where the their is less pressure and he can put the ball into play more often. Then you put Votto at 4th because he is a smart hitter AND can hit from both sides of the plate. You also put BP’s speed in-front of Votto rather than behind him.

Giving BP the cleanup role before a ST game has started is flat out wrong. Not only does he not fit in the 4 hole, Dusty is completly forgetting that everyone on the team needs to “win their spot”. Giving BP the cleanup spot before ST starts isn’t making him work for anything!

Dusty strikes again.

So whats more important for you.. Celebrating Valentines day with your loved one or Celebrating that the Reds pitchers and catchers reported today?? Following a physical, pitchers and catchers will report on the field at 1:30 today. 29 pitchers are reporting and 8 catchers.

Aaron Harang, Fransico Cordero, Bill Bray, Jay Bruce, and Chris Dickerson came to came early. They got their before the weekend. I appreciate that. Especially from veterans like Aaron Harang and Fransico Cordero.

I’m really hoping for Micah Owings for that 5th starting spot. Hopefully he will be healthy and pitch well enough to earn the 5th spot. Besides Owings, we don’t really have a dependable 5th starter.. Malony is a couple years away and who knows with Homer!

It’s about that time of year again which all reds fans look forward too- Spring Training. I personally am heading down for two games in the second week in March. Should be great to get away from the cold and rainy weather and be able to relax, drink some beers, and watch some baseball. LOL. Going into this ST without Dunn and Griffey penciled in as starters, poses a lot of questions.

1. Like the previous blog I posted, who is going to be our left fielder? Almost too many options to list!

2. Walt throughout the whole offseason was stressing the fact that the reds need a right handed run producer. Well Walt, we didn’t exactly acquire one. So, who is going to step up? Gomes? Hairston?

3. Do we have a dependable and serviceable catcher? Hanigan has alot to prove and Hernandez didn’t prove ANYTHING last season.

4. Volquez and Cueto. Can Volquez pitch like he did the beginning of the year and can Cueto pitch more innings and avoid the “sophomore slump”?

5. Will Harang pitch in his 08 form or his dismal 09 form? That will make or break out pitching rotation this year.

6. Who will step up to be the 5th starter? Josh Fogg was PATHETIC last year and so was pretty much everyone else they put into that spot.

7. Micah Owings. Owings has been kind of overlooked this offseason and could surprise. He is definitely a serviceable 5th starter when healthy and the guy can flat out rake. I can see him as definitely being a fan favorite.

8. Can Crusty Dusty not play favorites and prevent Jacque Jones from being a Corey Patterson clone?

9. Is Alex Gonzalez healthy? The guy hasn’t played in forever and is 31.

10. Homer Bailey. This is the season for decision time for Homer and the Reads. If Homer doesn’t show any promise, he is gone. However, if he does he could contend for the #5 spot.

11. Arthur Rhodes. A good, low risk signing in the offseason but can he fill the shoes of Affeldt. Many people overlooked the great job Affeldt did for us against lefties last year. If Rhodes puts up the same performance he did in 09 against lefties he could be an all-star.