Reds Need OBP

Winter Meetings - 2013

2013-12-09T10:23:00.002-05:00

If the 2014 season started today, here would be the everyday lineup:

1. Hamilton CF
2. Phillips 2B (I guess)
3. Votto 1B
4. Ludwick LF
5. Bruce RF
6. Frazier 3B
7. Mesoraco C
8. Cozart SS
9. Cueto P

Need to hope for a few things:
- Hamilton exceeds expectations, although I am impressed w. his minor league numbers outside of last year
- Frazier mounts a complete turnaround from last year
- Mesoraco and Cozart are simply league average

Do we sign a veteran CF?
Do we move Homer one season before FA?

Cincinnati Reds - 2012

2012-02-05T14:38:00.004-05:00

Good luck to the Cincinnati Reds, 2012! Walt Jocketty and Old Man Castellini certainly have committed the resources (players) and money to winning THIS YEAR.

Potential Roster:

Starters
1. Johnny Cueto
2. Mat Latos
3. Bronson Arroyo
4. Homer Bailey
5. Mike Leake
6. Jeff Francis
7. Aroldis Chapman

Pen
1. Madson
2. Marshall
3. Massett
4. Ondrusek
5. Bray
6. Lecure
7. Arredondo

C / INF
1. Mesoraco
2. Hanigan
3. Votto
4. Cairo
5. Phillips
6. Janish
7. Cozart
8. Valdes
9. Rolen
10. Frazier, T.
11. Francisco, J.

OF
1. Ludwick
2. Heisey
3. Stubbs
4. J. Bruce
5. W. Harris
6.
7.

3 days til Pitchers & Catchers!

2011-02-13T15:27:00.002-05:00

Click HERE to link to the Depth Chart as MLB.com sees it. Link is also at left...

Questions I believe have to, or will have to, face this season:

* Can the young back-end of the rotation answer the call this season? Bailey, Wood, Leake...2 of the 3 will be called upon after Arroyo, Cueto, Volquez.

* LF. Who will pick up Gomes' slack in the 2nd half when he trails off?

* Bullpen. Who closes? What is Chapman's role?

* 2B. Brandon Phillips...what kind of offensive performance will we see from BP this season? Defense is less of a concern...BP is a first-rate fielder.

* Batting lineup. Need some OBP (!) ahead of Votto. Hanigan, new import Fred Lewis, BP, Stubbs?!

Pitching Preview - Spring Training 2011

2011-01-23T17:05:00.009-05:00

Rotation

Bronson Arroyo
Edinson Volquez
Johnny Cueto
Travis Wood*
Homer Bailey
--------------
Mike Leake
Matt Maloney

Pen
Francisco Cordero
Nick Masset
Aroldis Chapman*
Bill Bray*
Logan Ondrusek
Jared Burton
Jose Arredondo
-------------
Sam Lecure
Carlos Fisher
Jordan Smith
DR Herrera*

*left-handed

24 Days til Pitchers and Catchers

2011-01-23T16:50:00.003-05:00

Will the Reds have...

2010-03-12T09:21:00.007-05:00

...some OBP this season? On-base percentage is what makes modern offenses go, so let's have a look at some roster candidates for the Reds offense this season that Dustbag will have to choose from. Does this roster as constructed have the OBP skills necessary to get the job done?

Let's start with looking at last year's Team Statistics as a comparison point. Bill James' Pythagorean Formula theorizes if you score as many runs as you give up, you can expect to go .500 over the course of the long baseball season.

Here is how the Reds fared:

* In 2009, the Reds finished 11th out of 16 NL teams in runs scored, scoring 673 runs while giving up 723 runs.
* The Reds finished tied for 14th out of 16 teams in the NL last year in On-Base percentage (yikes!).

Here is the Reds Official Depth Chart

Catcher (2 or 3)
Ramon Hernandez
Ryan Hanigan
Wilkin Castillo

Infield (6 or 7)
Joey Votto
Brandon Phillips
Orlando Cabrera
Scott Rolen
Paul Janish
Drew Sutton
Chris Burke
Aaron Miles
Miguel Cairo

Outfield (5 or 6)
Jay Bruce
Drew Stubbs
Chris Dickerson
Jonny Gomes
Laynce Nix
Wladimir Balentien (worthless)
Chris Heisey
Todd Frazier
Josh Anderson (white Corey Patterson)

Potential Opening Day Lineup
1. Drew Stubbs 8 (should be batting lower in order)
2. Orlando Cabrera 6
3. Joey Votto 3
4. Brandon Phillips 4
5. Scott Rolen 5
6. Ramon Hernandez 2
7. Jay Bruce 9
8. Chris Dickerson 7
9. Aaron Harang P

Bench
Hanigan
A. Miles
J. Gomes
L. Nix
D. Sutton

Tomorrow: Reds Pitching preview

Aroldis Chapman...and other nonsense

2010-01-11T09:24:00.008-05:00

Well now, it does appear the Redlegs are starting to buy into the stated objective of this blog! PITCHING, power, on-base percentage...YAY.

* The Reds have signed Cuban import Aroldis Chapman to a five-year, $25M deal, payments spread over 10 years. It may work, it may not work...I just like that Castellini is finally TRYING.

*****

Now that Pete Carroll has taken Head Coach job at Seattle Seahawks, who will replace him as coach at USC? The article mentions Mike Riley, Jack Del Rio, Jeff Fisher... What a great job coaching the Trojans.

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And now, other nonsense

*****

Yeksemesh?!

******

About 40 days-ish til Reds Spring Training opens at their new site in Goodyear, Arizona!

9.21 - Mrs. Tom Brady, NFL players go broke, etc.

2009-09-21T14:05:00.003-04:00

- Let's start with a lil' Gisele Bundchen today. She's checking out the plane,
while the guy behind her appears to be checking out something else.

*****

--The minimum salary for an NFL player is $310,000 the first year, and $460,000 after they've played a couple years. Still, 78% of NFL players go BANKRUPT or are in severe financial distress within two years of retirement.
--Where does the money go? Well, some players blow it on drugs and child support. But mostly they get bad investment advice. Starting a record label might be a lifelong dream, but it's not the best way to build a nest egg.
--And even though a lot of players are earning mad cash while they're playing, the average NFL career is less than FOUR YEARS. And a little over a million dollars, before taxes, is just not enough to retire on when you're that young.

9.18 - Cincinnati Survivor Girl, Beer Run, Wolf Blitzer on Jeopardy, etc.

2009-09-18T13:31:00.010-04:00

Cincinnati girl on Survivor voted off first. Dang.

*****

It's Friday, so it's time for a:

****

Wolf Blitzer - news anchor of CNN - got SMOKED last night on Jeopardy by Andy Richter of the Tonight Show.

9.16 - Former Reds, etc.

2009-09-16T10:54:00.012-04:00

G'moonin...I thought it would be fun to start out today by looking recent former Reds have performed with their new teams.

Jerry Hairston (CIN) - 340ABs, .254/.305/.397. 8 HR, 27 RBI.
(NYY) - 62 ABs, .258/.365/.435. 2 HR, 11 RBI.

David Weathers (CIN) - 43G, 38IP, 27H, 14ER, 17BB, 27K. 3.32 ERA.
(MIL) - 17G, 16.2IP, 16H, 8ER, 9BB, 8K. 4.32 ERA.

Alex Gonzalez (CIN) - 270ABs, .210/.258/.296. 3 HR, 26 RBI. .977 FP%.
(BOS) - 97ABs, .287/.287/.489. 4 HR, 11 RBI. .989 FP%.

*****

*****

Deconstructing "Tressel-ball" in Columbus. For anyone who reads this blog that knows me, this article is GREAT NEWS! (screw OSU)

******

Every baseball dad's worst nightmare. 3-year old daughter throws the just-gotten foul ball BACK onto the field. Very cute.

9.15 - Hudy Girl, etc.

2009-09-15T09:14:00.005-04:00

Quick shout to my boy Bozzy, 24 years old today. Going on 12...

*****
Amanda Bentley of Maxim Hometown Hottie fame is the Show Your Hudy girl.

******
K. K.

*****

Kendra's hubby gets bounced outta Philly. Let's watch and see how long it takes til she's back with Hef's money...I mean Hef.

9.14 - Darnell Dockett is 'Fart Box', etc.

2009-09-14T13:01:00.007-04:00

******

Any Bengies fans out there? Holy Sh*t.... Preeeeeeeetty bad end to yesterday's game.

*****

MLB.com's Mark Sheldon says there is a 'good chance' Willy Taveras and Ramon Hernandez could be activated off the DL at some point this week. Yippee. (PS - Cut them both)

*****

Kanye West lost his grip last night on MTV's VMA Awards by interrupting Taylor Swift's award speech. You stay classy, Kanye... (PS - I wasn't actually aware MTV was still on the air)

9.11 - Drew Barrymore kissing a chick, etc.

2009-09-11T11:00:00.007-04:00

* As hot as Drew Barrymore has ever looked

* NL Offensive rankings this year. And yes, they are "offensive" if you're a Reds fan.

* NL pitching stats this season. The '010 Reds need to focus on pitchers who miss more bats!

*****

It's football season! Yay.

9.10 - Matt Maloney, Matt Murton, etc...

2009-09-10T09:54:00.008-04:00

- Matt Maloney was throwing a great game the other night, before having to be removed due to a blister.

* It's been the opinion of this blogger that Maloney's past performance is far more impressive than Micah Owings, portending better things for the new guy.

* Reds Need OBP's recommended Jocketty target - Matt Murton - OF for the Rockies - continued to rake in the PCL as their season came to a close. Potential Jonny Gomes replacement this offseason, should he leave?!

- Last night, Bronson Arroyo pitches well...AGAIN! Finishing the season strong.
* Game ends in loss, unfortunately.

- Yonder Alonso doing well. Press release from the Carolina Mudcats:

"Alonso, the seventh overall pick of the 2008 draft, displayed why he was ranked as the top prospect in the Reds organization before the 2009 season by leading the league in most offensive categories. The 22-year-old first baseman recorded four multi-hit games and twice had three hits. He powered Carolina to a 6-4 win over Montgomery on September 1, batting 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI. His solo blast on September 4 helped the Mudcats edge Mississippi 8-7. The Miami, Fla. native led the league with a .458 average, 11 hits, four doubles, a .536 on-base percentage, five extra-base hits and six runs. He also ranked second with a .750 slugging percentage."

- A fun little diddy about Melanie Oudin (US Open), and her homewrecking tennis coach.

9.8 - Greatest commercial, Bearcats, Stubbs, Reds, etc.

2009-09-08T11:08:00.007-04:00

– Drew Stubbs went 3-for-5 with a home run in the Reds’ win Sunday. Stubbs leads the Reds in hits (23, tied with Brandon Phillips), runs (12) andhome runs (five) since making his major league debut on August 19. (Elias Sports Bureau)

- Homer Bailey pitched rather well yesterday, walking 5 thru 5 2/3 innings.

- Oh oh oh oh, before we go any further...HOW AWESOME was the UC Bearcats win @ Rutgers yesterday? According to this article here, Tony Pike now in the 1st round conversation.

- Recap of the 45-17 win yesterday, in case you were gay and didn't watch.

- Greatest commercial of all time?!

9.5 - Reds win again!

2009-09-05T11:35:00.002-04:00

* Reds win 5th in a row, 10 of the last 12.

* Well done - again - last night by Arroyo. I bet the Red Sox, Mets, Brewers, or Braves wishes they would have pulled the trigger on this guy.

* Jay Bruce continues his comeback. Dang.

* Reds currently 61-73, 18 games back in the NL Central. 13.5 games out of the Wild Card.

9.4 (Cont'd) - Boise St, Oregon, Reds Last Seven Days

2009-09-04T10:21:00.008-04:00

* For those who didn't see it late last night, a punch was thrown by an Oregon player...and BOY, did he land it!?!?

* According to the DeadSpin boys, the Boise player deserved it. I agree. Although the Oregon player who threw the punch is sure to be suspended, I think the lesson that will resonate here is accountability for your actions.

The Oregon player felt the need to invade Blount's personal space, and he was held accountable for it. How can Boise's Hout hit on girls on campus now?! They'll be laughing at him...

*****
REDS STUFF

* Would you believe the Redlegs have scored the most runs in the NL the past 7 days?! Admittedly they had an extra game thrown in there, but they had BY FAR the most total bases.

- Brandon Phillips lead the club in T. Bases. (24)
- Second....Drew Stubbs gave us 23 T. Bases in 38 ABs. (23 bases, even though he has K/BB ratio is 10:1)
- FYI...In comparison, Bill Taveras has given us 112 all season long. (395 ABs)

9.4 (Shaddup, it's almost midnight)

2009-09-03T23:58:00.007-04:00

* Reds are out of town for the next week plus. This Labor Day weekend, in the ATL to take on a real baseball team (not located in Pitt). A good test against non-AAA competition.

* How about the Bucs and the Chiefs firing their O-coordinators with just around a week left until the season. Panic, anyone?! Should be fun to check in with both of those teams to see how their seasons turned out. I'm thinking not good...

* Jay Bruce to begin rehab. Probably back soon. Dang. [John Fay]

* Your Family Guy fix

* 10 honest Holes-in-One. Pretty friggin sweet. [Uncoached]

That's all for tonight kids, see you on the flip side. Going to watch the rest of the Boise - Oregon game.

9.3 - Reds, Erin Andrews, etc...

2009-09-03T10:14:00.012-04:00

Hey all,

After a few days break - and after a successful weekend Wiffleball tournament AND a successful Pirates series sweep - the blog is back on.

- How about Homer-rooney? 3 and oh in his three last starts, keep on truckin' kid.

- ERIN ANDREWS UPDATE.

* First, she will on Oprah on 9/11 to discuss the camera incident.

* Also, EA is back on the sidelines tonight on ESPN for the NC State, South Carolina game. (Eyes up, Ball Coach).

- If anybody cares, here is the Fantasy Football team I drafted Tuesday night. (14-team league, mind you)

QB - Aaron Rodgers, GB
RB - Frank Gore, SF
RB - Willie Parker, PIT
RB/WR - Donald Brown, IND
WR - Calvin Johnson, DET
WR - Roy Williams, DAL
TE - Kellen Winslow, TB
D / ST - Chargers (Merriman returning this year!)
K - Nick Folk, DAL
B - Santana Moss, WAS
B - LeSean McCoy, PHI
B - Shonn Greene, NYJ
B - Issac Bruce, SF
B - Brandon Pettigrew, DET
B - Kenny Britt, TENN
B - Martellus Bennett, DAL
* If you can't already tell, I love me my rookies.

- Big ol' 8-year old PANCAKE block.

- Below is a still from last night's Hard Knocks episode, right after Andre FINALLY signed his rookie contract. For those who didn't see the show, here was the conversation:

Andre: "Hi Mike."
Mike: "Hey fatass."

8.28 - Off to play some Wiff

2009-08-28T08:21:00.004-04:00

Back to normal this afternoon

8.27 - G'moonin!

2009-08-27T10:05:00.006-04:00

- A little something to start yer day.

- Ocho Cinco going Starbury on us.

- Great win by the Reds last night! Rolen steals third late in the game, then scores on Claudio Vargas's error to tie it up. My opinion: Giving Zack Stewart and Josh Roenicke to Toronto was worth the price for them to take Easy-E off our hands.

- Game recap from last night.

- Today - 8.27 - 2:05 game @ Milwaukee.

- Lineup:
Stubbs CF
Janish SS
Votto 1B
Phillips 2B
Rolen 3B
Balentien RF
Gomes LF
Tatum C
Justin Lehr P

vs. RH Dave Bush (3-4, 5.67)

8.26 Lineup

2009-08-26T18:16:00.004-04:00

Stubbs CF
Janish SS
Votto 1B
Phillips 2B
Rolen 3B
Nix RF
Balentien LF
C. Miller C
Kip (Freakin) Wells P

Anybody wanna bet an under / over on how many Earnies Kip Wells gives up tonight?

6 earnies is my call. Over / Under??!~

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Update (11:09 PM) -

- It's starting to come apart for Milton Bradley in Chicago. Everyone but the Chicago GM saw this one coming.

- Reds game, 3-3 in the 8th. Good job by Kip Wells...if you had the under, you win. Well, you win nothing, but congratulations anyway!

- The Rockies DFA'd Matt Murton this evening. Pretty good OBP and power #'s for Murton, Jocketty should be looking into getting him.

- The Governator showing the LA politicos who is boss. "GET TO THE CHOPPA!"

Beer

2009-08-26T10:53:00.007-04:00

- The price of beer is going up. (thanks to Mo for the heads up)

- Another wiffle ball reminder (click logo), which is this weekend. Signups end Thursday!

- Mark Sanchez will start for the J-E-T-S will start Week 1 @ Houston. My fantasy advice: Draft the Texans defense for Week 1.

- Cincinnati Bengals cartoons from the boys over at WDR. Funny stacked on funny.

- Megan Fox has signed on to be CatWoman in the next Batman. This is not a bad thing.

8.26

2009-08-26T09:50:00.007-04:00

Reds win last night 8-6, @ Milwaukee. 17 hits!!! If anyone has seen the Reds we've been watching all year, will you tell them to get lost? I want the team we saw last night...

Bombs from Laynce Nix (2) and Votto were the difference last night, as well as another real good outing from Bronson Arroyo.

Ahem, the first two maxims this site suggests to field consistently competitive teams? Pitching, power...(anyone, anyone?!)

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My thought today on our squad, however, revolves around the third pillar of consistent baseball success...on base percentage. The site is called 'Reds Need OBP', after all.

Scott Rolen last night went 4-7, which is great of course. My issue with last night...Rolen only had 1 RBI.

Why is this? Couple of reasons... The man batting ahead of him, cleanup hitter Brandon Phillips, went 2-for-7 last night, making 5 out of 7 times last night Rolen came up with not too many people on.

Crazy suggestion here...bat Rolen first.
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Rolen's on base percentage this year with the Toronto Blue Jays was .370, which coincidentally is his career average as well. The NL average OBP is .331.

Let's compare OBPs for Rolen (.370) versus some of his teammates this year.

Nix .302
Phillips .320
Rosales .286
Tavares .273 (I know, I know)
Gomes .360
Janish .295 (batted 2nd last night, by the by)
Stubbs .353 at Louisville
Votto .390
Easy-E .333 (thankfully, the man Rolen replaced)
Bruce .283
Dickerson .373

Among those teammates, only Joey Votto and Chris Dickerson get on base more often. Can I get a witness for Rolen-Dickerson-Votto-Phillips Top 4 when all are healthy?!?!

Reds Lineup - 8.25

2009-08-25T17:06:00.003-04:00

8:05 PM, @ Brewers.

Drew Stubbs cf
Paul Janish ss
Joey Votto 1b
Brandon Phillips 2b
Scott Rolen 3b
Laynce Nix rf
Jonny Gomes lf
Corky Miller c
Bronson Arroyo p

vs. Jeff Suppan (5-8, 5.27)

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Things to entertain you this evening:

- Family Guy fix.

- No truth to the rumor Lou Ruedebusch was in this foursome.

- Just a reminder, if any of you wanksters are interested in playing some wiffleball this weekend, there is a tournament we're putting on for a good cause! (Click logo)