Where's the Runs?

It has been a while since we have posted, why not come back with an exciting post about why our Cincinnati Reds are not scoring any runs....

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Taking a look at the Reds team stats can be brutal, they currently rank a horrendous 28th out of 30th in Runs scored. As a team they are batting .244 which puts them 22nd in that category amongst all MLB teams. Combine those stats with the fact that out of 1227 plate appearances the Reds have had this year, they have struck out 270 times (for those not great at Math that would equal 22% of at bats).

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Through these struggling times, us Reds faithful need to look at the positives that are presented to us. Since Billy Hamilton's rough start he has come on of late raising his batting average to a solid .260, stolen 12 bases and has 3 triples one of the more exciting hits in baseball. He is very young and hopefully with time will be able to improve his avg. and reduce his strikeout ratio. 

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Another feel good story about the Reds this year is the progression of 3B Todd Fraizer. Mr. Big Band Fraizer has been keeping the Reds alive and currently has a 12 game hitting streak going into tonights matchup against the Padres. Todd is batting .265, leads the team with 7 home runs and has 21 RBI's this year. Projections are just... well projections, but Todd is on pace to finish the year batting .265 hitting 30 HR's and knocking in 90. Pretty solid numbers and definitely an improvement from last year.

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With every positive though comes the negatives and boy do the Reds seem to have a lot of those on offense. Lets start with our 1B Votto, now we assume he is going to finish with strong numbers as he has done every year but to be making 12 million this year and putting up .262 avg. not horrible but 6 HR's and a measly 12 RBI's, you have got to start being the Clutch Votto we are used too. Then there is the SS problem, and boy is that a major problem. If only our lineup was good enough to where this could just be a defensive position and not needed to hit well in the lineup. Cozart is having a horrible start to the 2014 season and he just looks terrible when he is at the plate. He is currently batting a horrible .190, he has 1 HR and has batted in just 9 runs. I would say his time is limited but we have no quick solution to SS. No prospects, the only way to solve this is through trades. 

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Then you have the Left Field conundrum, who to start? Is Heisey an everyday starter? Why is Bernadina still on the MLB roster? Who is Ryan Ludwick, is that same Ludwick that was good during the early 2000's? I am not trying to put the team down, but there definitely needs to be some moves soon or the Reds are looking at a sub par season. How great our pitching has been it's time for the Bats to do some backing up. Lets go Redlegs pull it together and lets start our first Hot streak of 2014!

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"Over Baked" Bakers Gotta Go! Maybe???

Hypothetically: What if we were to tell you that the Cincinnati Reds have just hired a new coach and he has a history of coaching some pretty good ball clubs. He has managed a total of 3116 games to date and has a winning percentage of 52%. Throughout his 20 years of coaching he has won exactly 1 pennant and has yet to win a World Series Ring! Although he seems to take his team to the playoffs about 50% of the time they never seem to make it past the wild card series. If you are a Reds fan and are okay with this type of resume for a manager than you are perfectly okay with Dusty Baker managing the Reds. If you are not okay with this mediocracy then you will agree with us in saying the Reds will not make it deep into the playoffs as long as Dusty is in charge.

Not saying that Dusty is a terrible coach at all but we just think that every time the Reds or the Cubs or the Giants made it to the playoffs, he would always be out-coached by the opposing coach.  Take for granted the situation he is in now with the Cincinnati Reds, many would say that the Reds have a deep starting pitching rotation, an unbelievable bullpen and an offense that could explode at any second. Why then can we not make it past the wild card series? Answer: Bakers the coach!

Baker's flaws:

Know when to pull the string on your starter!

As a coach you have to know when and when not to pull your starting pitcher or relief pitcher. We as Reds fans have seen this far to often.  Most often with Bronson Arroyo, he is having a great outing heading into the 7th only allowing the opposing team 4 hits and 1 run but the lineup is getting ready to turn over. What does that mean? The team is about to see Bronson for the third and possible fourth time and they are not going to be fooled by a swooping curve of a 75 mph change, we need a fresh arm in there!

Stick up for your team every once in awhile.

Anyone that is not a Reds fan but is a fan of the MLB can still recall the infamous reaction by Lou Piniella running out and chucking first base towards right center (like the base had just taken a second glance at his daughter) because the ump made a terrible call. May not seem like a lot but we can guarantee it sets fire to the team and helps them play better! Since Dusty has managed the Reds I can count on my two hands the number of times he has ran out to argue a call.

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Thank you Coldplay for that album title now all Dusty can think about is that there has to be a right in between a left always. No, put Jay Bruce in front of Joey Votto and make pitchers leave mistake pitches for a hitter that can annihilate the cover off the ball. We are pretty sure that if a professional hitter still has that much trouble facing an opposite hand pitcher then we need to send the player packing or replace our hitting coach (oh wait Brooks Jacoby we do!)

We do not want you to think that we are hating on Dusty, I mean the man has been in the Big Leagues for 45 years now. We just want him to change a few of his coaching methods and bring the World Series Trophy home where baseball was created.  And we will gladly forgive you Dusty for being out-coached last year and 2010!

The Dog Days Are Over

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It doesn't take much to realize it.  It is pretty obvious to even the most die-hard fan (whether they admit it or not).  It is a sad reality but all too true.  The time period between the All-Star game and the start of training camp is proof that the "Dog Days of Summer" for baseball are more and more becoming the Fantasy Football research times for the common sports fan. 



This could never be more evident then when you have a player who was "alleged" to have taken PED's and got off on some technicality from some clinic's co-op's mistake a long time ago finally admits he lied and it is a major story on all media outlets.  It somehow doesn't seem feasible to believe that sports fans around the country were nodding their heads thinking "yeah good stuff today on the radio and in sporting news, I can't believe Ryan Braun lied, this PED stuff is bad for baseball" as they listened to every analyst or sports talk personality rant about the incident.

Is this really the only way baseball can get widespread news coverage?  In the dry desert of the sports media landscape between the All Star break and pre-season football, the loudest baseball can scream to the sporting world is P..E..D!  (Tiger is not Tiger so golf doesn't count, and no Phil is not Tiger either so again still, golf doesnt count)  Thanks a million Main Stream Sports media for flooding us with similar takes on a unsurpising-beaten to death story. 

Perhaps its laziness, but we listen, absorb and take it all in nonetheless (though its news days like this that it wants to come back up fast).  Nonetheless tomorrow will bring another day and with it our Cincinnati Bengals as well as many other NFL teams will report to camp!  The dog days are over and we are definitely ready for some football.  So feel free to turn your eye's to the NFL baseball fans (of which we here at NSN are huge), if your MLB team is 5-10 games out of the race do not fret, they still have 243 games to get back in the race.  We will swing back around in late September. Maybe.

 

Mike Leake, aka "Maddux Jr."

Mike Leake, AKA "Maddux Jr."

      Mike Leake is off to an amazing first half of the season and it's time to take a look into what makes Mike Leake a pitcher to be feared. Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds out of Arizona State University in the first round of the 2009 draft, the Reds knew what they were getting when they chose Leake with the eighth overall pick. A control pitcher with no over powering pitch, but the ability to locate all of his pitches anywhere he wants to.

   Sound familiar?? We think that Mike Leake has all the tools to have a career like one of the all time greats (arguably one of the bests ever) Greg Maddux. Like Leake, Maddux was never able to over power hitters with heat, but he was able to move the ball around the plate and deceive hitters with all of his junk pitches. Maddux was and is no doubt the best pitcher ever to be able to locate pitches and put them right where the catcher wanted the ball. Although Leake is not as consistent as Maddux was, Leake transfered straight out of college to the Majors without pitching a single pitch in the Minor League. Few pitchers have been able to say this and stick around as long as Leake has without being sent down. So needless to say he has some time to improve on his consistency.

    Of course comparing Leake to Maddux right now would be insane but we believe that Leake has all the tools and definitely has the offense to get him the wins to obtain a successful career. Leake as stated is off to an amazing start this year posting a 9-4 record with a stunning 2.79 ERA. What team would not want those numbers with their 5th starter?

   Enough rambling, since we are comparing Leake with Maddux we chose to take a look at their first three years in the MLB and see just how close they were to each other.

Mike Leake- 3 yrs. Totals:

28-22 Record with an average ERA of 4.22. 

Averaging 2.5 Walks/9 innings and 6 Strikeouts/9 innings.

Giving up an average of 23 HR's a year.

Greg Maddux- 3 yrs. Total: (We will not count his first year as he only started three games)

43-34 Record with an average ERA of 3.91.

Averaging 3.4 walks/9 innings and 5.33 strikeouts/9 innings.

Giving up and average of 14 hR's a year.

  While Leake is no Maddux yet, give him some time and if he keeps pitching like he is this year then the Reds are looking at a future ace of the team.