2013 Cincinnati Reds Thread

[Rudi]

27th in the majors in Runs Scored, 27th in the majors in OBP [.299], 25th in majors in average [.237].

Given those numbers, the fact that we are only 1.5 games out of first right now is incredible. Despite the offensive struggles, I can't even complain with our position right now.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Yeah, the pitching has been great. The offense is too good to not turn it around soon, so the Reds are in a good spot right now.

[Rudi]

The Reds next 14 games are against all winning teams....should be fun to watch our we match up against some better teams.

3 v. WAS (1-2)
2 @ ATL (1-1)
2 @ NYM (1-1)
3 @ NYY (1-1)
4 v. ATL

Damn thats a tough stretch.

Def would be nice to take this rubber game against the Yanks tomorrow to go .500 on the road on this trip.

[Warner2BruceTD]

At worst, the Reds come back home in the same position they left...2 1/2 games back.

Cardinals are a walking MASH unit right now, which helps.

[Rudi]

I'd love for us to take 3 out of 4 from the Barves at home. Thatd be a nice sign.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Sean Marshall, K/9, BB/9, GB%

2010 10.8 3.0 52.2
2011 9.4 2.0 57.5
2012 13.2 1.9 60.5

K's up, walks down, ground balls (his bread and butter) up. Why the shaky results?

H/9 last three years - 7.0, 7.9. 13.8
BABIP last three years - .294, .313, .488

.488!

So he's striking more guys out, walking nobody, and inducing more ground balls. He's only allowed 9 fly balls all season!

Sean Marshall is fine. Team are not going to put up a .488 for long, not with those rate stats. One blown save, on a HR that followed what should have been a called third strike. Two shaky games where Dusty went into the bullpen to bail him out (games the Reds won, btw). Other than that, no issues.

I say leave him in the 9th (for now), if only because I wouldn't fuck with Chapman's important role, and Marshall's numbers indicate he's pitching pretty damn well.

[Warner2BruceTD]

Dusty told the media that he is going to allow matchups dictate who pitches when at the end of games.

This could have been a diversion to throw off the Yankees, but to be fair he actually followed through on Sunday. He used Marshall against a lefty (Cano), then went to Ondrusek for the righty (ARod). The 9th was set up for all lefties and switch hitters, and he went to Chapman.

I would be shocked if Dusty, one of the most rigid believers in the designated closer in baseball history, follows through with the committee approach. The one beam of hope, is that he twice yanked Marshall in the 9th when he got into trouble, something he NEVER did in the past with Cordero, Rod Beck, or any of the other closers he has had in the past. Perhaps he's being flexible with a team that has such a good bullpen with a diverse set of skills.

[Warner2BruceTD]

And why would a permanent straight switch of roles for Chapman/Marshall be stupid?

Marshall came in with a man on and nobody out in a 1-run game.

Chapman came in for a clean inning with a 3-run lead.

In other words, since Marshall has been shaky, he has been "demoted" to the higher leverage situations!

[Rudi]

Can't complain about a winning road trip against 3 teams with winning records. Now lets go Doyers tonight and we could be looking at being only .5 games out of first

[Rudi]

It is awesome to see Dusty actually sticking to the closer by committee. We have 4 guys [Chapman, Ondrusek, Marshall, Arredondo] that I am confident can get big outs in the right situations. Like tonight Arredondo came in, got 2 quick outs...arguably coulda gotten strike 3 called against Uggla but once he got in a little trouble, Dusty brought in the lefty Marshall to face Heyward. I love it

[Warner2BruceTD]

[Rudi]

In all honesty, what was Chapman doing near Columbus at 12:42AM...He had to be lost

[Warner2BruceTD]

https://twitter.com/#!/DatDudeBP/status/202951257185464322

[Warner2BruceTD]

Former Red Daryl Thompson getting lit up by the Gwinnett Braves on MLB Net right now.

He's with the Twins now, just like Matt Maloney & Jared Burton. What's the deal with Minnesota signing all of the Reds AAAA pitchers this season?

[Rudi]

To be fair Jared Burton has pitched well for them this season.