(It must have been nice to root for these guys.)At the beginning of the season I promised myself I would hold judgment on this team until we were at least 30 games in. So even though its only been 26 games, like Rick Pitino at an Italian restaurant, I just can’t resist.
*Before I get into the Reds performance, or lack there of, there is something that continues to bother me that I need to talk about. Will someone out there explain to me why the NL Central has 6 teams when every other division (except for the AL West which has 4) has 5. How is this fair to the teams in the NL Central, and how can baseball and fans continue to ignore this? It’s absolutely ridiculous. People like to complain about the BCS, NCAA Selection Committee and all other sorts of things not being fair, but this is the most unfair aspect of any major sport. And its not even an opinion, it is mathematical fact. A team has a better chance to win a 5 team division than it does a 6 team division. Simple. If anyone out there can offer me any sort of logical explanation as to why it is like this please tell me in the comments section. Okay, end rant. That feels better.*
The Reds are currently second in the (6 team, sigh) NL Central at 13-13 and sit 5 games back of the St. Louis Cardinals, who are slowly becoming the Pittsburgh Steelers of baseball. Now normally I would be pleased with a second place standing right now, but after a look into the numbers it becomes a lot clearer where this team is headed: another middle of the road season that has us out of contention by August.
That may seem a little harsh, but until the team starts producing numbers that would even hint otherwise, expectations can’t go higher. For starters, they are T-14th in the NL in runs allowed… out of 16 teams. Sure 90% of that can be contributed to Nick Masset and his 423.21 ERA (It is actually “only” 9.69 which surprised me. Yeah he’s been that bad.), but the starters have vastly underachieved as well. After last nights 3-2 extra innings win over the Mets our starters had ERA’s of 2.94 (Leake), 5.33 (Cueto), 6.04 (Bailey), 6.37 (Arroyo), and 6.68 (Harang). What does that tell us? Aside from the 5th starter, a rookie, our rotation has sucked more than a Ben Affleck movie. This could be fun.. what else does our rotation suck more than? Our rotation sucks more than Kim Kardashian after last year’s Super Bowl. Our rotation sucks more than the TV show “Justified.” Our rotation sucks more than a Bissel at a pet shop. Our rotation sucks more than Elton John in prison. Okay that last one may have gone too far… back to the Reds…
So if the pitching has been sub par the hitting must have came out of the gates hot as hell to keep us at .500 ball. Wrong. The team is T-10th in runs scored in the NL. Incase you were wondering they have scored 112 runs and given up 140 which is a -28 run differential. The “heart” of our line up Votto, Bruce, and Phillips are hitting .294, .250, and .238 respectively. Its tough to hate on Votto and his almost .300 average, but the dude has struck out 24 times. In 26 games. At that rate he will strike out 150 times. That is Ryan Howard territory. Hopefully he’s not reading this though because I wouldn’t want his sensitive feelings to get hurt causing him to miss another 15 games for depression. The strikeout issue isn’t just Votto’s though. Bruce has struck out 20 times, and Phillips 16. Pretty tough to score runs when the holes in your lineup are only filled with other holes. Also, Johnny Gomes is hitting below .200. We know he can’t field. He clearly can’t hit. Why is he playing?
There are some positives to take away from the first part of the season though. The bullpen has been absolutely lights out, and if the game is tied, or we have the lead going into the 7th inning I usually feel pretty confident. Bruce has shown signs of life lately, as have a few of the starters. The Reds went 4-2 on their last road trip and one of the losses came to Carpenter who is pitching better than anyone in the league, no shame there.
The problem is that eventually the numbers will take over, and the Reds will hit a rather large skid. You can only win so many one run games before it eventually catches up with you. The bats have to pick up, and the starting rotation needs to improve quickly. And Nick Masset needs to be shot.
*Before I get into the Reds performance, or lack there of, there is something that continues to bother me that I need to talk about. Will someone out there explain to me why the NL Central has 6 teams when every other division (except for the AL West which has 4) has 5. How is this fair to the teams in the NL Central, and how can baseball and fans continue to ignore this? It’s absolutely ridiculous. People like to complain about the BCS, NCAA Selection Committee and all other sorts of things not being fair, but this is the most unfair aspect of any major sport. And its not even an opinion, it is mathematical fact. A team has a better chance to win a 5 team division than it does a 6 team division. Simple. If anyone out there can offer me any sort of logical explanation as to why it is like this please tell me in the comments section. Okay, end rant. That feels better.*
The Reds are currently second in the (6 team, sigh) NL Central at 13-13 and sit 5 games back of the St. Louis Cardinals, who are slowly becoming the Pittsburgh Steelers of baseball. Now normally I would be pleased with a second place standing right now, but after a look into the numbers it becomes a lot clearer where this team is headed: another middle of the road season that has us out of contention by August.
That may seem a little harsh, but until the team starts producing numbers that would even hint otherwise, expectations can’t go higher. For starters, they are T-14th in the NL in runs allowed… out of 16 teams. Sure 90% of that can be contributed to Nick Masset and his 423.21 ERA (It is actually “only” 9.69 which surprised me. Yeah he’s been that bad.), but the starters have vastly underachieved as well. After last nights 3-2 extra innings win over the Mets our starters had ERA’s of 2.94 (Leake), 5.33 (Cueto), 6.04 (Bailey), 6.37 (Arroyo), and 6.68 (Harang). What does that tell us? Aside from the 5th starter, a rookie, our rotation has sucked more than a Ben Affleck movie. This could be fun.. what else does our rotation suck more than? Our rotation sucks more than Kim Kardashian after last year’s Super Bowl. Our rotation sucks more than the TV show “Justified.” Our rotation sucks more than a Bissel at a pet shop. Our rotation sucks more than Elton John in prison. Okay that last one may have gone too far… back to the Reds…
So if the pitching has been sub par the hitting must have came out of the gates hot as hell to keep us at .500 ball. Wrong. The team is T-10th in runs scored in the NL. Incase you were wondering they have scored 112 runs and given up 140 which is a -28 run differential. The “heart” of our line up Votto, Bruce, and Phillips are hitting .294, .250, and .238 respectively. Its tough to hate on Votto and his almost .300 average, but the dude has struck out 24 times. In 26 games. At that rate he will strike out 150 times. That is Ryan Howard territory. Hopefully he’s not reading this though because I wouldn’t want his sensitive feelings to get hurt causing him to miss another 15 games for depression. The strikeout issue isn’t just Votto’s though. Bruce has struck out 20 times, and Phillips 16. Pretty tough to score runs when the holes in your lineup are only filled with other holes. Also, Johnny Gomes is hitting below .200. We know he can’t field. He clearly can’t hit. Why is he playing?
There are some positives to take away from the first part of the season though. The bullpen has been absolutely lights out, and if the game is tied, or we have the lead going into the 7th inning I usually feel pretty confident. Bruce has shown signs of life lately, as have a few of the starters. The Reds went 4-2 on their last road trip and one of the losses came to Carpenter who is pitching better than anyone in the league, no shame there.
The problem is that eventually the numbers will take over, and the Reds will hit a rather large skid. You can only win so many one run games before it eventually catches up with you. The bats have to pick up, and the starting rotation needs to improve quickly. And Nick Masset needs to be shot.
yea Reds have won 8 games in the last at bat. thats not good, thats just luck. also, you forgot to list our leadoff hitters strike outs.
ReplyDeleteThe game tonight hurts my head.
ReplyDelete