Cincinnati Reds Baseball Blog » Jacque Jones

Did God Answer my Last Post?!?

redlegs1 — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 18:07:28 +0000

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.

Cuts Have Been Made, Competition is Hitting up and Jacque Jones is Somehow Still On the Team

redlegs1 — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:18:27 +0000

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!

Spring Training= Tons of Questions

redlegs1 — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:23:29 +0000

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.

Our Opening Day Left Fielder Will Be…

redlegs1 — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 05:09:21 +0000

What do Norris Hopper, Chris Dickerson, Jerry Hairston, Lance Nix and Jacque Jones all have in common? They are all competing for one starting outfield position- a position that none of them will win. So, who is going to win it? With Spring Training right around the corner, this seems to be the biggest question. The favorites have to be Dickerson and Hairston who heavily contributed to the club last year. However, Hairston may be the starting SS, making Keppinger number one off the bench. Dickerson produced last year batting .304 on the year BUT only played in 31 games and had only 102 AB’s. Can the career minor leaguer keep the stats of last year being the starting day left fielder? I wouldn’t be so sure. Remember, the best he hit in AAA is .287; which is far from spectacular. Hopper coming off of surgery which prevented him from playing all year will probably make him a strong canidadate to be starting at AAA. Layne Nix, although young and able to play all three outfield positions, has no chance to make the starting day roster. He has never found a grove hitting in his entire major league career and has only played in 91 games over the past three years. Jacque Jones, because of Dusty’s love for his former players, will most definitly be on the bench to start the year but I can’t see him being our starting left fielder.

You might be asking yourself well if it’s not any of them, who will be the starting left fielder? You heard it from me -watch out for Jonny Gomes. What seperates him from the other potential left fielders is that he is right handed. The reds desperatly need a right handed hitter to step up and produce. Gomes has shown he could do that in 2005 when he hit .282 with 21 HR’s and 54 RBI’s. for the Rays. He has never been able to get back to his 2005 form because he hasn’t been given the chance to play consistently. In order for Gomes to regain his 05 form his must play everday. He has been given the chance to prove himself and to earn a starting spot. A change of scenery will benefit Gomes and you WILL see him as our staring left fielder.

Quick update today regarding Jacque Jones and Daryle Ward

Larkin01 — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:56:58 +0000

I just have a short and quick update for everyone today as the Cincinnati Reds have signed former Chicago Cub players Daryle Ward and Jacque Jones. Yep, it sure seems like Dusty will take any player that once put on a Cub uniform lol. Both contracts are minor league contracts with invitations to spring training.

It will be interesting to see if Jones does much after sitting out the second half of last season after being cut by the Tigers and Marlins. He did go down and play winter ball in Mexico this off season and batted .314 (37-for-118) with three homers, 15 RBIs and a .349 on-base percentage in 29 games.

Spring Training is just around the corner so keep checking back! We are also interested in having one or two more Reds bloggers help out on the site this weekend. If you are interested please click the contact us link at the top of the site and send us an email!