Reds Rocket Lazy Spring Update

The Reds Rocket, overwhelmed by a modest amount of work, has been unable to make it out to see the Redlegs for the last week, so, you get an update with nothing more than you could get visiting the Reds team site. Sure, you could go there yourself, but who has time for that. I did go to the trouble of uploading a picture of Goodyear Stadium, complete with rhinoceros horn decoration out front. The rhinoceros, based on the size of the horn, was approximately 6 stories high and made out of horse hide.  It was certainly an impressive beast.

So now prior to diving into my recap that you likely will gloss over, as the Reds Rocket is nothing if not a money making machine, might I recommend you travel over and check out the Baseball odds at BetUS . The Reds Rocket predicts a Reds final win tally somewhere in the range of 150-162 wins. That is based on the very scientific calculations, which are proprietary. The fine people at BetUS would be happy to help you invest your money in a dominating Reds season.

Through 12 games, the Reds sit at a solid 8 wins (that don't mean anything) against 4 losses (which mean equally little). Today, the team swung with anger against the Most Powerful Man in the World, Aaron Harang. His ability to gather up all of the world's nuclear weapons and hurl them into outer space was of little use when he struggles with location and leaves too many pitches over the plate. Especially when not pitching in Petco Park. Hanigan, clearly harboring some resentment towards Harang since Harang told teammates about his anxiety disorder, took him deep in the second. As pitchers throughout the league will soon understand, you can't make mistakes with Ryan Hanigan or you'll get hurt - bad. Or, maybe Hanigan's production has to do with the hot spring of Devin Mesoraco who's hitting everything, against the oppositions' j/v team anyway. Punxsutawney Phil's recognized offspring seems to have thought things over since his tough Arizona Fall League season. Maybe lifted a few more weights. He's on the Charles Atlas program, which utilizes dynamic tension. I suppose regardless of what Mesoraco accomplishes, AAA is both necessary and inevitable. Now that Ramon Hernandez is a US citizen, they're going to have to treat him with a little more respect. Especially in light of the production he and Hanigan exhibited last season.

From the outfield, Jonny Gomes seems to have read the new Baseball Prospectus and agreed that he should get significantly fewer at bats this year. For the spring he's hitting at a .067 clip. At least the 1 hit out of the 15 at bats went over the fence. He does only have 1 strike out, which is a modest accomplishment. 0 walks kind of counteracts the low strike out percentage, however. But only Dusty knows what he's actually looking for out in left. Hermida has shown the best of the Gomes/Lewis/Hermida outfield competition, though, like Mesoraco, he's seeing a lot of time against the B squad. And, at least the games I've attended, looks a little lost in left. I thought his glove still worked even after his bat faltered in Florida, Boston and Oakland. Turning again to Baseball Prospectus, they quote a scout that says he, Hermida, "simply does nothing well anymore." That's a nice quote. Back to Gomes, Phillips and Votto have also struggled in these games that don't matter and they at least should hit. Votto especially. So, maybe Jonny and his haircut have fancy plans with pants to match for the season.

Turning quickly to the pen, Bray, Masset and Arredondo have ERA over 10.00. Masset, as I'm sure everyone recalls, started the season very slow last year. Hopefully that is not going to be the standard. Bray's performance has been substastic, 7 runs, with 2 bombs allowed in a shade over 3 innings. But the report on the website quotes him stating how good he feels. Hopefully he starts feeling a little worse and can start recording a few out. Arredondo seemed like a nice enough acquisition and hasn't had a ton of work. The Reds Rocket still thinks he may be alright. The D-Train, on the other hand, who been in the news recently, has pitched 5 innings, allowing just 2 hits and struck out 6 out of the pen. That doesn't look like the line of someone whose brain no longer processes the strike zone. With Chapman's spot reserved, he looks as if he may be interested in that second left-handed reliever role. Jared Burton, sans neckbeard (which does not come up as a typo, at least in Firefox), has also pitched well with nothing allowed and 5 ks over 6 innings. Maybe that cutter is cutting again. And how about Sam LeCure, now pitching out of the stretch, 6 innings, no runs and 8 k's. That sounds like a low-leverage relief roster spot if I ever heard or saw one.