9.6.10 BY:MEH WORDS. THE RELENTLESS
CINCINNATI REDS The new Reds play defense
and ignore the couches. They bounce around the clubhouse, mingling with each
other and ducking the schoolboy shenanigans of Leake, a scruffy sort who
looks like he made it to the ballpark after playing hooky in high school,
probably by riding his skateboard out of there. I watched Leake in the Reds'
clubhouse for 20 seconds before the game Wednesday, and in those 20 seconds
he slapped the naked ass of Reds executive and Hall of Famer Joe Morgan and
playfully goosed a (dressed) teammate with a bat handle.
As the youthful Cincinnati
Reds surprisingly roll to what would be their first National League Central
Division title in 15 years, general manager Walt Jocketty admits, "I guess
maybe we're a little ahead of schedule. But it's hard to tell when you've
got a younger club."
This is to say that with youth, sometimes timetables are immaterial.
"We felt we had a good club that would be competitive," said Jocketty. "But
it's come together fast."
While the Reds have the best hitting team in the National League, their
fielding is the best in all of baseball. As a team, they have the fewest
errors and the best fielding percentage in the majors. No starter has more
than ten errors (Orlando Cabrera, the team's shortstop, has ten exactly) or
a fielding percentage lower than .977.
No rookie is immune from the pink backpack, not even the one with the $30
million contract and the shiny Lamborghini and the biggest fastball anyone
can remember seeing. Aroldis Chapman is the greatest thing since … well,
since Stephen Strasburg, which doesn’t constitute a whole lot of time, but
whatever. Greatness can’t spare Chapman from carrying a bag covered in
pastels and princesses.
It is also filled with sunflower seeds and gum and drinks and candy, and
because he is a rookie and the youngest player among Cincinnati Reds
relievers, it is Chapman’s duty to haul the sack to the bullpen before every
game no matter how silly it looks. And it looks downright ridiculous, the
long, lithe Chapman with a knapsack meant for a teenage girl strapped across
his back.
REDS LOOK TO EXPAND EIGHT
GAME LEAD OVER CARDINALS
9.3.10 BY:MEH MOMENTUM REDS LOOK TO
EXPAND LEAD OVER CARDS
Since the St. Louis Cardinals
swept the Cincinnati Reds during a three-game series August 9-11, both teams
have gone their separate ways. One for good, and one for ill. The Cardinals
turned a two-game deficit into a one-game lead ahead of the Reds in the NL
Central after the sweep. Since then, they have done nothing short of
disintegrate. The crumbling Cardinals have posted a record of 5-12 since the
series while facing the Cubs, Brewers, Giants, Pirates, Nationals, and
Astros. The Cardinals won two-of-three against San Francisco (the only team
listed with a winning record), but failed to win any other series as they
were swept by the Brewers (2 games) and Astros (3 games) along the way.
“When (the Cardinals) were here, they outplayed us in every
aspect of the game,"
said Scott Rolen.
"Everyone kind of felt it was going to go the other way because of the
momentum. I’m not a believer in momentum in baseball.”
The Reds on the other hand, found buoyancy. After suffering a sweep during
what some deemed as the biggest series of the year, Cincinnati began to
control their own fate. Posting a 14-4 record since they last faced the
Cardinals, the Reds reclaimed first place in the NL Central and have placed
eight games between them and the second place Cards. Heading into August's
Cardinals series the Reds' magic number was fifty. The Reds currently have a
magic number of twenty three with just twenty nine games left to go in the
regular season. On his
blog, John
Fay noted that if the Reds go 15-14 during the rest of the season, the
Cardinals would have to go 24-7 just to tie.
On Friday, the Reds and Cardinals will begin their final series of the 2010
regular season at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. With an eight game lead, the
series seems stale for the Reds but they could potentially close the door on
the Cardinals with a series win. With a 10-5 record against the Reds this
season, the Cardinals will be desperately searching for a sweep. A series
win for the Reds would widen their already comfortable lead and reinforce
their confidence immensely.
FRIDAY: Bronson Arroyo (14-8, 3.82) vs. Jaime Garcia (12-6, 2.33) at
8:15pm
In four starts against St. Louis this season, Bronson Arroyo has posted a
1-2 record. In twenty six innings pitched, Arroyo allowed fourteen earned
runs on twenty seven hits while striking out thirteen. Arroyo's only win
against the Cardinals was on April 8 when he hurled a complete game and
allowed just one earned run on four hits. Arroyo is 7-10 with a 4.58 ERA
during his 24 career starts against the Cardinals.
Although the left-hander's posted a 4.87 ERA during his three starts against
the Reds this year, Jaime Garcia owns a semi-dominating record of 3-0
against Cincinnati. In seventeen innings, the Reds scored nine runs, but
struck out fourteen times while batting just .215 and going deep only once.
Despite his team's recent distress, Garcia has received the win during his
last two starts and has only lost twice during his last ten (5-2).
SATURDAY: Travis Wood (4-2, 3.53) vs. Adam Wainwright (17-9, 2.30) at
4:10pm on FOX
Making his twelfth big league start, Travis Wood will be facing the
Cardinals for the first time of his career on Saturday. After winning four
straight games (July 28 - August 19), Wood received the loss (4IP, 7ER)
during a 16-5 Giants victory on August 24 and allowed three earned runs on
ten hits in just five innings of work against the Cubs on August 29.
During his seven career starts against Cincinnati, Adam Wainwright is 3-3
with a 4.01 ERA. This season, Wainwright is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA against the
Reds during three starts. After beginning August with a 3-0 record,
Wainwright has received the loss during his last three starts while facing
the Brewers (7IP, 3ER), Pirates (7IP, 4ER), and Nationals (5IP, 4ER).
SUNDAY: Homer Bailey (3-2, 4.92) vs. Chris Carpenter (14-5, 2.92) at
2:15pm
In six career starts against St. Louis during his four major league seasons,
Homer Bailey is 1-3 with a 6.04 ERA. During his only start against the
Cardinals this season on May 1, Bailey pitched 6.2 innings and allowed two
earned runs on seven hits. Bailey received a no-decision as the Reds lost
the game 6-3. Bailey is 2-0 with a 3.70 ERA in four starts since returning
from the disabled list. With fifty major league starts under his belt,
Bailey is an even 15-15 with a 5.30 ERA.
The whiny Chris Carpenter has owned the Reds (11-3 with a 2.00 ERA in
seventeen starts) during his thirteen-season major league career. In fact,
since moving to the National League in 2003, Carpenter has been flat out
nasty (82-29, 2.91) after posting only mild numbers during his six year
stint in Toronto (49-50, 4.83). The 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner has
defeated the Reds four times in as many attempts during the 2010 season and
has held them to a .163 batting average while posting a 1.61 ERA. Ouch.
9.1.10 BY:MEH SORRY.
APOLOGIES TO BASEBALL
(Photo: Brian Baker/CNATI.com)
We would like to
apologize in advance to anyone who has to face Aroldis Chapman during the
remainder of the 2010 season. Clocked at 103 mph, Chapman made his major
league debut on Tuesday night
throwing only eight pitches as he retired the Milwaukee Brewers in order
during the eighth inning of the Reds'
8-4 victory. Cincinnati's win, coupled with a 3-0 St. Louis loss to the
Astros, placed them a season-high seven games ahead of the Cardinals in the
NL Central standings.
"To
pitch in the playoffs for the Reds would be great for me,"
Chapman said.
Aroldis Chapman's first major league pitch was a 98 mph called strike to
Brewer's catcher Jonathan Lucroy. In front of just 19,219 fans at Great
American Ballpark, Chapman was just heating up. Seven of Chapman's eight
pitches were strikes as he hit 100-103 mph with his fastball, 86 mph with
his cutter, and 87 mph with his slider. Chapman's slider, not his fastball,
was the pitch that caught Reds' catcher Ryan Hanigan's attention.
"That thing … that pitch … that’s a whole different ballgame,"
Hanigan said. "His breaking ball is what people should be talking about.
His slider is absolutely ridiculous. He’s got to be able to throw it for a
strike and he’s got to get into counts where we can call it, so getting
ahead is big, but if he can throw that breaking ball for a strike… good
luck. It’s a hammer. I saw it in Triple-A, it’s 88-to-93, it’s moving about
a foot and a half. That’s not something that anyone wants to hit, I don’t
care how good you are."
Already performing in high gear, the Cincinnati Reds will flourish with the
arrival of Aroldis Chapman. The Reds' secret weapon has been unleashed.
Francisco Cordero had never seen 102 mph on the scoreboard before.
"I've never seen anything like it. I've got that," Cordero said,
"in my Ferrari."
