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.

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.

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.

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 avoided a three game sweep by the Houston Astros on Wednesday night with a 8-5 victory.  Hopefully this win will give the Reds a little bit of momentum and they can get a nice winnings streak going.  I know everyone that is reading this is probably thinking “yeah right” but atleast we can *hope*.

Ken Griffey Jr, Adam Dunn, and Edwin Encarnacion all went deep for the Reds in the victory.

Edinson Volquez recorded the win after he tossed the first 6 1/3 innings.  Volquez allowed six hits and five runs.  Only one of those five runs were earned however as three Reds errors really jurt Volquez’s stats.

I will be unable to blog about the Reds until August 12th as I have to head out of town for a couple of weeks to attend a couple of computer conferences.  If there Reds fan out there that enjoys blogging and writing, we are looking for someone to write some short game recaps.  If this is of any interest to you, please email me by clicking the contact us link at the top.

Thanks!

The Cinciannti Reds rallied twice in the game but they still fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates in an exciting game by the score of 6-5 on Tuesday evening.  It took 11 innings before the game was finally over after the Pirates scored twice in the 11th while the Reds were only able to score once.

David Weathers was charged with two runs in the 11th inning to take the loss and fall to 2-4 on the season.  Weathers was charged with a rbi when Jack Wilson tripled in a run and the Nate McLouth singled in another run.  Jeff Burton also gave up one run in the tenth inning which the Reds were able to get back in the bottom of the inning.

Reds starting pitcher Edinson Volquez gave up seven hits and three runs over 5 1/3 innings of action to get the no decision.  It was the usual Volquez that we have become accustomed to seeing out there.  Volquez didn’t keep the Reds in the game however, the offense and bullpen just couldn’t quite get things done.

Brandon Phillips went 3-5 in the game with a two run home run as he finished with a game high four rbi.  Jerry Hairston Jr. had the other rbi for the Reds when he singled in the 11th inning to score Jay Bruce.  The Reds left 20 runners on base so they did have their chances to score more runs in the game.

The Reds can still win the series with a victory on Wednesday.  Will they do it?  Leave us a comment and let us know your opinion!  Reds Blog

Edinson Volquez suffered through his first subpar outing of the year, giving up seven Blue Jay runs (five earned) in four and one-third innings, while Jesse Litsch stymied the Reds batters, giving up only one run in eight innings pitched.  Scott Rolen homered and drove in three runs for the Jays, while Brandon Phillips drove in the only Reds run with a sacrifice fly.

Jerry Hairston Jr. was activated before the game and led off for the Reds.  To make room on the roster for Hairston, Paul Janish was optioned to Louisville.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, a better alternative to OPS.

Edinson Volquez had yet another quality start, giving up only two runs in seven innings pitched, and got his tenth win before the halfway point of the season.  Joey Votto had three hits including his twelfth homer of the year.  Jolbert Cabrera went four-for-four, avoided a tag at home plate with a brilliant slide, but severely dislocated a finger sliding headfirst into second and will be headed to the DL.

Daryl Thompson will be activated tomorrow to pitch the second game of the series.  We will have to wait and see if he will simply take Cabrera’s spot on the roster, or if other moves will be made.

Bluzer runs RedlegStats.com, the home of Absolute Average, an better alternative to OPS.