Cincinnati Reds

The Reds are a team that has gone nowhere in recent years and usually winds up hovering around the 70 win mark near the base of the division. Last year they were fifth in the Central with a 73-89 record.

Pitching

Where to start? The rotation last year was pretty bad (I’m being kind there) and he only thing that has really changed from last year is that Ramon Ortiz is gone. The likes of Eric Milton, Luke Hudson and Brandon Claussen were basically serving up BP in the Cincinn bandbox giving up 100 long balls between them with supposed ace Milton hogging the limelight with an incredible 40 HR allowed.

The Reds can be thankful for Aaron Harang who had a strong season leading the team in innings pitched (211 2/3), wins (11), ERA (3.83) and strikeouts (163). If he can keep that up this year Cincinnati will have many GM’s calling come the trade deadline.

If your closer has 11 decisions to his name you know he’s not a permanent answer. Dave Weathers has been shoe horned into handling the few games where The Reds have had a lead going into the ninth and did alright but basically he was the best of a mediocre to poor bunch.

Kent Merker and Chris Hammond should provide solid set-up work from the left side but how the rest of the pen will fare is anyones guess.

Defence

To prove we’re not picking on the Reds I will say that their outfield is fairly good. Wily Mo Pena has a great arm and covers ground and while Junior Griffey might not have the speed he used to, he is still Junior Griffey and still takes those perfect routes and is always willing to sacrifice his body (which is sadly why he’s had so many injuries in recent years). Between the pair of them centre and right field are covered and if Austin Kearns is healthy and in left then anything that doesn’t go over the fence has a good chance of being fielded quickly and cleanly.

Jason Larue always seems to flatter to deceive as he gives glimpses of being a plus defender and then he’ll let a whole bunch of balls behind him or get in a mess with his feet and we start to reminisce about how Johnny Bench did actually used to play for this club. Miguel Perez and Dan Sardinha will get a look in Spring Training and the club have long raved about their defensive abilities.

The infield has potential with Felipe Lopez and Edwin Encarnacion both having all the tools to be great fielders and with their cannon arms they throw the ball into the stands as well as anyone.

Rich Aurilia is getting on in age but is a solid customer whereas youngster William Bergolla is a flashy and nimble fielder reminiscent of Pokey Reese and is capable of playing short or second.
Its Tony Womack everyone. He may not be Roger Cedeno but few are.

Offence

I think it was Frank Sinatra who sang ‘All Or Nothing At All’. Whoever it was I think the Reds front office like it because that’s how they seem to have built their team with Adam Dunn the very personification of this ethos. Its kinda sad when 168 strikeouts is a significant improvement (he does hold the single season record) but he does balance that off with good discipline (114 walks) which boosts his paltry .247 average to a very solid .387 OBP.

Only another injury to Griffey kept the team from having six players with over 100 K’s which isn’t all that bad as I had predicted before last year that they would have seven guys pass the century mark. They still could make it seven as Encarnacion is another slugger to go with Pena, Kearns, Lopez and LaRue who swings hard and swings often.

There isn’t an obvious table setter on the roster, although Womack and Freel should give them good speed in utility roles, but this is not a team built around scratching out runs.

Rookie Watch

Strictly speaking he’s not a rookie but Edwin Encarnacion could be a future All Star and this is his first full year. He has some rough edges but he handles the hot corner well and has great raw power. Still just 23 he is a hard worker with developing patience and expect his 16 HR in 69 games last year to be a sign of things to come.

Miguel Perez and Dan Sardinha are very similar in that they have well developed defensive tools but are lacking a little offensively. Perez is probably higher up the pecking order thanks to his rocket arm but both are likely to start the year in the minors but if either Valentin or LaRue get injured or fail to perform expect one or other to get a call some time this year.

Management

Jerry Narron hasn’t really done much in management but after being named manager of the Reds halfway through last season he managed to get them playing .500 ball and kept them out of the bottom spot.

Wayne Krivsky is in his first year as a GM but has spent time working for the front office of both Texas and Minnesota where he was heavily involved in scouting and you can’t argue that the Twins have done a great job there over the years.

Outlook

It’s a fact of life that you don’t win a lot of games unless you have good pitching and while you can expect a lot of fireworks from their offence they are likely to give up a lot of runs too. Should be interesting.