Red Reporter

Thank you, sir, may I have another? Reds defeat Rockies in Wanger-fest, 7-5.

2012-05-27T20:19:38Z

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

I'll guarantee you that if you look really hard, you'll find a very happy (albeit very sunburned) jch24, -ManBearPig, Gramophone, and Rorschach with smiles on their faces. This is the kind of game you hope to see when you're heading to the game on a holiday weekend with frosty beers in mind.

Lots of guys went off today, but Brandon Phillips gets the nod thanks to his 3 run blast. Phillips was 2 for 4, as was Joey Votto, and Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier both pitched in with solo twice-baked potatoes.

Key Plays

Honked wanger!
Wanked honker!
A donk!
A hit by pitch, a single, and cheesecake!
A pop, a fizz, a whackety whizz...chiddy chiddy bang wang lang!
Reds win, 7-5!

Other Notes

The 9 jabbowackees hit today set a new GABP single game record, besting the mark of 8 set last season.
Knock these stats, stat knockers: Mat Latos' BABIP against today was .000, and his K/BB was infinite.
Joey Votto was 8 for 11 in the series vs. the Rockies, with 4 doubles and a HR. He'll be the Reds starting 1B when they move into their next ballpark. Rejoice!
Brandon Phillips' career slash line: .272/.322/.433. Brandon Phillips' season slash line after this game: .279/.333/.429. I used to think he was a low-OBP guy, but with this team, he's a world-beater.
Rockies announcers could not get over how "homer friendly" GABP was. They should probably check this list for a bit of perspective.

Game 47: Reds vs. Rockies (1:10 EDT). Latos vs. Moyer.

2012-05-27T14:37:03Z

Colorado Rockies Purple Row
@ Cincinnati Reds Red Reporter

Sunday, May 27, 2012, 1:10 PM EDT
Great American Ball Park

Jamie Moyer vs Mat Latos

Sunny. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 95.

Complete Coverage >

The Reds square off against Jamie Moyer and the Rockies today in an effort to clinch a series win against Colorado. Alas, this is easier said than done. The Reds will try to exploit the Veteran Presence of Moyer in hopes that he gives up Veteran Presents to the offense. I know much has already been written about Moyer's age, but it's worth noting that if you ever find yourself writing about him, please feel free to use the template that every baseball writer in America has adopted: When (opposing pitcher's name) was born, Jamie Moyer had already won (number) of games in the majors.

Today, we get to plug Mat Latos in that equation. Coming off a shall-we-say dominating start against Atlanta, Latos will certainly want to keep that momentum going. Human interest stories like Jamie Moyer are neat, but winning is even neater. I'm still recovering from a bachelor party from last night and there isn't enough bacon in the world right now, so I'm just going to end this by saying "GO REDS," in my indoor voice.

The winning begins again! 10-3 Redlegs.

2012-05-27T05:32:02Z

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

It was a true ensemble effort tonight, as Chris Heisey and Ryan Ludwick each contributed with three-run blastoises, Brandon Phillips had three hits, and the bullpen (J.J. Hoover, Sam LeCure, Logan Ondrusek, and Sean Marshall) threw 4.1 shutout innings, allowing only one measly hit. Even Jay Bruce showed signs of shaking off his slump, drawing a walk and thumping a double. Hooray for scoring 10 runs and not letting the other team score more than that!

Key Plays

Lots of 'em

Source: FanGraphs

Game 46: Reds vs. Rockies (7:15 EDT). Leake vs. Guthrie.

2012-05-26T21:01:05Z

Next Game

Colorado Rockies
@ Cincinnati Reds

Saturday, May 26, 2012, 7:15 PM EDT
Great American Ball Park

Jeremy Guthrie vs Mike Leake

Coverage

TV: FOX-HD (per region); RADIO: WLW, KOA; WEB: Gameday Audio, Gameday

Weather

Clear. Winds blowing from right to left field at 0-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 90.

Complete Coverage >

I won't be using the basket baby any more when something good happens. Baseball is a superstitious game, internet blogging doubly so. I do think "Sated Richard Schiff" has promise though.

I was hoping the Reds wouldn't lose ever again, so I could use a script to auto-fill these game threads: "It's __/__/__ and I can't believe it's a __ game win streak. This is an amazing ongoing event."

The team can't get afford to get complacent. They've only spent two days in first place and not only are the Cards just a half game back, but three teams are within 4 games. They also have an offense that, despite the recent home run binge, is still below league average and only fourth in its own division. In the NL, the Reds rank ahead of just the Pirates, Cubs and Padres for wRC+ - a stat that adjusts wOBA for league and park.

They're going to have to do some work with the bats, especially since Johnny Cueto isn't going to be holding teams to one or none runs all the time. Luckily, they've got an extra bat in the lineup: Mike Leake and his .333/.333/.533 slash line. Ignoring minimum PAs (Leake has only 17), that's the third-best OPS+ on the team. It also surprised me to learn that Todd Frazier was #2.

Lineups and all that after the jump. It's baseball night in America, no one seems to be saying.

Mike Leake	Stats	Jeremy Guthrie
5.32 (74)	ERA (ERA+)	5.55 (81)
1.402	WHIP	1.458
1.93	K/BB	0.81
4.78	FIP	6.32
4.04	xFIP	5.60
4.33	SIERA	5.70
45.2	IP	35.2

Lineups

REDS (25-20)

Zack Cozart (R) SS
Drew Stubbs (R) CF
Joey Votto (L) 1B
Brandon Phillips (R) 2B
Jay Bruce (L) RF
Chris Heisey (R) LF
Miguel Cairo (R) 3B
Devin Mesoraco (R) C
Mike Leake (R) P

ROCKIES (17-27)

Marco Scutaro (R) 2B
Tyler Colvin (L) CF
Carlos Gonzalez (L) LF
Troy Tulowitzki (R) SS
Todd Helton (L) 1B
Michael Cuddyer (R) RF
Jordan Pacheco (R) 3B
Wil Nieves (R) C
Jeremy Guthrie (R) P

Bullpen Log

Reliever	5/21	5/22	5/23	5/24	5/25	5 day totals
Aroldis Chapman		1.0, 18p	1.0, 12p			2.0 IP, 30 pitches
Sean Marshall	0.1, 6p			1.0, 17p		1.1 IP, 23 pitches
Logan Ondrusek		1.0, 16p		1.0, 14p		2.0 IP, 30 pitches
Jose Arredondo	0.2, 19p		1.1, 23p		1.0, 29p	3.2 IP, 71 pitches
Sam LeCure				1.0, 10p		1.0 IP, 10 pitches
J.J. Hoover					1.1, 17p	1.1 IP, 17 pitches
Alfredo Simon					2.0, 26p	2.0 IP, 26 pitches

Bullpen notes:

I don't think throwing 20+ pitches every other day is sustainable for Jose Arredondo, which is maybe why we saw him melt down a little last night. It's been since May 14 that he's gotten more than a day's rest.
If Alfredo Simon is the long man, LeCure or Hoover could step into Arredondo's role for a few days.

Red It, Watched It, And Wept - Week of 5/26/12

2012-05-26T16:43:51Z

Covering what other writers are ~~too scared~~ too preoccupied with actual news to cover.

Sunday: Hot Button Topics Deserve Opinion Pieces!
EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW WHERE EVERYONE ELSE STANDS, MAN! Since the Reds are winning this week and the University of Kentucky isn't making anymore trips this year to GABP, sports writers need to find something else to second guess. This week, it's Aroldis Chapman's role with the team. Next week? Whether Sam LeCure needs highlights in his mustache to intimidate batters. We here at RIWIAW have been fairly clear in what we think Chapman's role should be: he's great so use him as often-as-possible until his arm falls off since we'll only have him for five years. There. You have it. And did you see how we were able to do it without incorporating logical fallacies and saying that everyone not holding this opinion is stupid?

* * *

Monday: He Would Have Been Driving Faster If Given A Day's Rest.
We here at RIWIAW usually spend our Sunday evenings sleeping. If we aren't, we usually are listening to Frank Sinatra's In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning crying ourselves to sleep over a bottle of Cabernet. (Editor's note: it's that good, folks.) If you're Aroldis Chapman, you evidently spend said we small hours driving at 93 MPH in Grove City, Ohio. Unfortunately, this incident is the latest in a series of bizarre encounters The Cuban Missile has had with the American judicial system. The only benefit of this is that the General Counsel's office at RIWIAW gets to humor itself by reading all the speculative punishments Chapman will receive in court. We had no clue they still had pillories!

* * *

Tuesday: Around the Twitterverse
We here at RIWIAW were afraid that the Cincinnati Enquirer's removal of their anonymous commenting system would destroy our ability to see mildly-racist individuals post garbage about the Reds to make up for their own insecurities. Boy, were we wrong! That's what Twitter is for! More specifically, the #FireDusty hashtag! So, in the midst of a six game winning streak with a manager that has taken two teams to the NLCS and has forgotten more about baseball than they'll ever know, here are some golden nuggets from horrible Reds fans. We'll keep it anonymous because we don't want to give these jackballs the time of day.

#DustySucks #FIREDUSTY #GutTheEntireRedsCoachingStaff

Todd Frazier's .887 OPS filling Scott Rolen's shoes impressive> he should have been starting from day 1. #firedusty

#reds Ummmmmm where's the missile and what exactly does Dusty think he's doing? Sometimes I think he is trying to lose. #firedusty

With Jay Bruce slumping, why doesn't Dusty Baker have the balls or the knowledge to bunt the ball. #firedusty

unreal! #FireDusty #ChokeOnThatToothpick

Anyone who thinks the Reds should NOT #FireDusty is smoking crack.

Why do you not bunt there? #firedusty

Why does Dusty ALWAYS BUNT? #FIREDUSTY

* * *

Wednesday : Red Reporter - Sometimes Creepers are Helpful

If you ever wanted to hit a game wining home run, then you should hang out with Red Reporter folks before the game (unless you're playing wiffleball, because we're terrible at it). As -ManBearPig's Fanpost indicates, today the Reds decided to Jump the Shark and invite some of the writers of this site to batting practice. Two Reds, Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco, actually took time to speak with the Red Reporters. The result? Todd Frazier hit the game winning homer in the bottom of the ninth and Mesoraco hit the first grand slam of his career the next game. Coincidence? Probably, but that hasn't stopped us from taking credit before.

* * *

Thursday: This Week(-ish) in Red Reporter History
Since we here at RIWIAW are fairly incapable at searching for old stuff on the internet (UNLESS ITS P0RwN), we sometimes have to rely on the graces of others to do our work for us. This week, Boobs did the heavy lifting for us by pointing out an old Farmer's Only report from 2008. Of course, we wouldn't be worth our weight in dung if we didn't provide the another FO from earlier that week when we were all salivating at the possibility of Jay Bruce being promoted to the Major Leagues. Thus, if you're discouraged by Jay's slumps, take heed and realize that this is what we've been waiting for.

* * *

Friday: Comment(s) of the Week!
It's been a good week for the Reds as well as the comments here on Red Reporter. Thus, we have several quality winners this week! Their prize? An ability to complain about having to share the award.

Game 45: Reds vs. Rockies (7:10 EDT). Cueto vs. Friedrich.

2012-05-25T21:30:15Z

Next Game

Colorado Rockies
@ Cincinnati Reds

Friday, May 25, 2012, 7:10 PM EDT
Great American Ball Park

Johnny Cueto vs. Christian Friedrich

Coverage

TV: FSO-HD, ROOT-HD, MLB Network; RADIO: WLW, KOA; WEB: MLB.tv, Gameday Audio, Gameday

Weather

Partly cloudy, rain. Winds blowing out to left field at 5-10 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 85.

Complete Coverage >

Since the Reds are riding a 6-game win streak (their first since August 2010), I tried to come up with an antidote to our losing streak mascot:

Credit for shopping out the baby goes to Gapper (I think).

Maybe it needs to be a departure from babies, laundry hampers and bricks. In any case, SIX WINS WITHOUT A LOSS.

Christian Friedrich is making just his fourth major league start tonight. I don't want to make too much of that, because Friedrich been a highly-regarded prospect and misses a lot of bats. Then again, he's given up a good number of liners/fliners/flyballs so far. This is of interest to the the home team because: temperatures are up and 10 seeds* found purchase** for the Reds during the Braves series.

Johnny Cueto	Stats	Christian Friedrich
1.97 (201)	ERA (ERA+)	5.00 (91)
1.129	WHIP	1.444
3.17	K/BB	3.33
3.43	FIP	-
3.84	xFIP	-
3.88	SIERA	-
59.1	IP	18.0

Lineups

REDS

Zack Cozart (R) SS
Drew Stubbs (R) CF
Joey Votto (L) 1B
Brandon Phillips (R) 2B
Chris Heisey (R) RF
Ryan Ludwick (R) LF
Todd Frazier (R) 3B
Ryan Hanigan (R) C
Johnny Cueto (R) P

ROCKIES

Eric Young (S) CF
Marco Scutaro (R) 2B
Carlos Gonzalez (L) LF
Troy Tulowitzki (R) SS
Todd Helton (L) 1B
Tyler Colvin (L) RF
Jordan Pacheco (R) 3B
Wilin Rosario (R) C
Christian Friedrich (R) P

Bullpen Log

Reliever	5/20	5/21	5/22	5/23	5/24	5 day totals
Aroldis Chapman	1.0, 15p		1.0, 18p	1.0, 12p		4.0 IP, 62 pitches
Sean Marshall	0.1, 3p	0.1, 6p			1.0, 17p	1.0 IP, 29 pitches
Logan Ondrusek	0.2, 3p		1.0, 16p		1.0, 14p	2.1 IP, 29 pitches
Jose Arredondo		0.2, 19p		1.1, 23p		2.2 IP, 49 pitches
Sam LeCure					1.0, 10p	1.0 IP, 10 pitches
J.J. Hoover						0 IP, 0 pitches
Alfredo Simon						0 IP, 0 pitches

Bullpen notes:

Aroldis Chapman has pitches 6 of the last 10 days, throwing 123 pitches over that span. I'm not ready to say he's overworked, but he's on pace for 88.2 IP, which is a lot on a reliever's schedule, with a reliever's approach. He'll probably be OK, since his usage will be different as a closer and he's doing a lot less brute-force throwing this season.
Alfredo Simon last pitched on May 15 @ ATL (2.0 IP, 48 pitches)
J.J. Hoover last pitched May 17 @ NYM (1.0 IP, 17 pitches)

* home runs

** "were home runs"

Rockies Series Preview

2012-05-25T19:30:02Z

The Rockies pay their annual visit to Great American Ballpark this weekend. While initial reports indicated that the series would be determined by the outcome of a DnD Next Playtest, Wizards' server problems last night means that they ultimately will just play baseball. .. a'hem...

This is probably the worst Rockies team that I can remember seeing. Offensively, they don't look particularly strong, even before park adjustments. They have some power, but only average on base percentage...and when you play in Coors', that ultimately means this squad is a below-average squad.

Their rotation has kind of been a mess. Jhoulys Chacin has missed most of the year, as has the recently returned Jeremy Guthrie. And even when those guys have pitched, they've been dreadful. It's tempting to say that they sorely miss Ubaldo Jimenez, but Ubaldo has been a disaster this year in Cleveland. Granted, Drew Pomeranz has been demoted, but Alex White has thrown pretty well. Their bullpen has been ok.

And my goodness, the Rockies' fielding has been horrific. By UZR, they have been better only than the Mets among National League teams. And UZR is pretty rosy on them. The -50ish runs marks reported by DRS, DRA, and my home-brewed FIP-BsR stat are catastrophically bad. Some of that might be the park, as at least FIP-BsR is not really park adjusted. But... wow.

The Reds' fielding numbers--especially the last three measures--look improved compared to where they were with the last update. Ken had a nice piece investigating these data earlier this week, but I'm optimistic that we're seeing these measures adjust themselves as more data come in. I hope so, anyway.

Great American Ballpark Park Factors

Runs: 1.02

Home Runs: 1.06 LHB, 1.13 RHB

Position Players

The biggest surprise as I look here (aside from Tulowitzki only being average...in my mind, he's always hitting 15 home runs per month) is Marco Scutaro. This is a guy who hit .299/.358/.423 last year for Boston, and .284/.356/.404 over the last three years. Granted, he's a 36-year old middle infielder, but going to Colorado I expected him to have another nice season (he's my fantasy team's shortstop...). Some of his dreadful .252/.315/.319 line thus far might be driven by the luck dragons, as he also is sporting a .265 BABIP despite an unchanged line drive rate. I know LD% is a crap stat, but if it stays high while BABIP drops, I think that means something...as opposed to when LD% just follows BABIP.

Jordan Pacheco got the third base job when Casey Blake didn't make this team out of spring training. Pacheco is a guy who flashed some nice walk rates in the lower minors along with a good batting average, but doesn't provide much if any power. Really, he is primarily serving as a placeholder until Nolan Arenado (currently in AA-Tulsa) is ready, which conceivably could be some time later this summer.

It's worth noting that while the Rockies' team fielding numbers are horrific, it's not necessarily all the fault of Carlos Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer. Gonzalez has odd career fielding numbers: fine-ish in CF and RF, horrible in LF. Either something is different about him at the times when he's played LF (injured?), or he's unable to pick up the ball over there...or we're just seeing data that are small sample sized. Cuddyer doesn't have good career fielding numbers at any of his various positions...but he was a disaster at 2B last year, something that is included in the above number but is not something that the Rockies will ask him to do again.

Probable Starters

Christian Friedrich saw his strikeout numbers take a huge hit last year when he moved up to AA. This year, however, he's seen them rebound, both in AAA (8 k/9) and now in the majors. He ranked as the Baseball America #14 Rockies prospect entering the season, so I don't think we're looking at an enormous talent here...but he did make their list. I really don't know anything more about him.

Jeremy Guthrie was a name that came up last year in the Reds' search for a starter. I was surprised that the Rockies targeted him, as he seems precisely the opposite of the kind of pitcher that would do well in Colorado. He doesn't throw hard, and doesn't miss bats. That said, his first 35 innings (and it is only 35 innings) have been positively dreadful, and far worse than anyone could reasonably expect from the guy. He's been a good pitcher, and I'm not convinced that he's washed up yet.

Jamie Moyer is really old. But he also is posting numbers that are pretty close to what you'd expect to see from Jamie Moyer throwing in Colorado. You can do worse from a low-cost pick-up, though, and there are a lot of teams who would be ok with a 4.40 xFIP from their #5 starter. Unfortunately for the Rockies, Moyer may well be their #2 or 3 right now, depending on where you rank guys like Juan Nicasio and Alex White...and Guthrie.

Bullpen

The Rockies' bullpen has been solid. They have a set of three guys who have done a nice job in late innings in Betancourt, former Red Matt Belisle, and Matt Reynolds. Also-former-Red Josh Roenicke has a nice ERA, but his peripherals--especially his walk rate--don't line up to that performance.

I posted this one twitter the other day, but it bears repeating: the Reds have the two best relievers in baseball thus far, based on a ranking of all qualified relievers sorted by xFIP. Also, I get scared when Dusty lets Logan Ondrusek pitch in the 9th inning.

Red Reporter Field Trip: Taking in BP at GABP, but not with BP

2012-05-25T17:37:03Z

First of all, we cannot thank Lisa Braun enough for setting up this awesome experience. We (jch24, BK, FordhamRam, and myself) were invited by her to come check out batting practice and get a behind the scenes peek of a day in the life of GABP. We would also like to thank Michael Anderson, Rob Butcher, Jamie Ramsey, Slyde, and everyone else at the Reds who made us feel welcome.

Being on the field was a surreal experience. After being led through the bowels of GABP, we entered through the umpires tunnel attached to the visitors dugout, and were stationed in a roped-off area behind the batting cage. The team seemed loose and were having fun warming up before the game. I imagine the mood is a lot lighter when the team is in the middle of a winning streak. Chris Speier and Wilson Valdez both, at various times, showed off their dancing chops. Bruce and Votto were in the same BP group, and they seemed pretty chummy. They both spotted Michael Bourn when the Braves came out of the clubhouse and started razzing him for his 2-dinger game the night before. Todd Frazier and Devin Mesoraco were nice enough to take the time to come say hi to our ragtag group. I was struck by how much fun Frazier seems to be having. Maybe it is due to the fact that he spent so much time in the minors, but you get the sense that he appreciates the fact that he gets to do something that so many of us dream about, and he loves every minute of it. After the Reds finished BP, we were taken on a tour of the FSO booth, where our old pal Slyde now resides. We were then shown the WLW booth where Kelch and the Cowboy were prepping for the night's broadcast. And finally, the delicious icing on the slice of awesomecake was served by Goodroyo, Albertin and the Toddfather, in a 2-1, walk-off victory.

After the jump are some photos of RR's super awesome fun time at GABP.

Dusty and Little Joe watch the boys warm up. Fortunately for all parties involved, Mr. Morgan decided to keep his pants on.

Future Hall of Famer Mike Costanza gets busted Tebowing during BP.

We're all going dateless!

"Hey, Devin! Make a dinosaur face... Yes, just like that.

Wilson, bounce the ball up and down on your bat.

Perfect. I think I got it."

Votto shows Bruce how to hit the ever elusive really-low, really-inside cutter.

The Golem signs for some fans.

Red Reporter yaks with Snacks.

Larry Wayne lounges while the team stretches it out.

Even hours before the game, former Red David Ross has his game face on.

Dusty and Chipper had a long chat. Here, Chipper shows Dusty his open mouthed 2-seam fastball grip.

The view from Slyde's office.

Elvis is spotted in the WLW booth.

The windows of the WLW booth. It's kind of tough to make out, but the picture on the bottom right is absolutely priceless.

The Cowboy's private stash.

We had a nice view of Bruce's backside from our vantage point. Amirite, ladies?

Chipper made his last regular season plate appearance at GABP.

He drew a walk and was subbed out for a pinch runner. The crowd gave him a nice ovation, proving that Cardinals fans aren't the only classy ones in the NL Central.

Chapman came on in the 9th. Chapmania ensued.

The Toddfather honked his walk-off wanger, much to the delight of the RR contingent.

Victory beers were purchased, and then consumed. Not a bad little Wednesday.