Game Thoughts: Reds Beat The Cubs 5-1

Dunn looked like he knew what he was doing in left.
Griffey has lost more than a step, but will be fine in right.
Freel can cover a ton of ground.
Encarnacion made a few good throws, but is hacking at the plate.
Harang will be the best pitcher in baseball but no one will know about it because he resembles a basset hound and does not have long blonde bostonian hair.
AGon has crazy range and could cover both ss and 2nd, enabling Krivsky to recommend two catchers behind the plate at all times.
Moeller is on the roster soley to cover Hobbs' fan mail.
The new duds look nice except that the names looked smeared across the back.
162-0 here we come.

Good starts have always been kind to us.

Why in the hell didn't I buy that last year? Best value in sports.

• Harang pitched well, especially late in the ballgame.  After a tough 5th (and 98 pitches) we thought he was done.  16 pitches later he was through 7.  There aren't a lot of pitchers I'd rather have as our ace.
• Dunn looks a lot more smooth in the field.  We'll see how that goes when the wind is blowing, but he looked a whole lot better.  And, yeah, he had a pretty good day at the dish.
• Josh Hamilton's AB literally brought goose bumps to me.  The crowd stood and cheered, then, as the new pitcher ran out, Hamilton turned around and looked up, then started looking around and smiling as the whole stands stood and cheered.  I love that we can get behind a guy who's turned his life around like he has.  He does have a pretty sweet swing, by the way.
• Alex Gonzalez saved a run by preventing a runner from advancing to third who would've later scored on a wild pitch.  It'll be fun for him to show us just how good he is.
• Junior's two hits were to left field - a good sign.
• Freel has a ton of speed in CF and made a nice running/diving catch.  Anyone else notice after the catch, he and Griffey didn't acknowledge one another?
• On the other hand, Freel plays like his pants are on fire and very hastily threw 2 balls back toward the infield, one was caught at 2nd base, the other resulted in the Cubs' run.  If he slows down for a split second, he'd have the runner at 3rd base.
• Ross was lost out there.
• Freel getting caught at 2nd base after beating out an infield hit was purely the result of lucky bounce for the Cubs.  I like the aggressive running.
• I personally love all the Reds are doing to bring the players to the fan.  Among my favorites: little kid, "Were you always the best player on your little league team?"  BP, immediately, "Yes I was."

Does anybody know who won the sausage race in Milwaukee?

As much fun as all the hustle is, the downside to Ryan Freel is that he plays with his head up his arse a lot of the time.  He handed the Cubs their only run with that silly throw, and cost the Reds one (and gave Dunn another solo HR for people to carp about).

Like Dunn and everybody else short of Pujols, Freel has his pros and cons.  To get the good, you take the bad.  Glad it didn't hurt today.

He really did look lost out there and I can't help but wonder if last year was his career year.  He looked like he couldn't hit an underhand pitch.
Besides him, the rest of the team looked pretty solid out there - although I'll look forward to seeing EdE hit when it counts.

I think Jacoby will get to him once he is comfy with Dunns swing. Ross is still teachable and able to adjust. and there is always the old rule of thumb that catchers start out slow from the box.

to be a starting pitcher for the Reds, but he would only sign if he could be the ace of the staff, but the Reds already had Aaron Harang.

There was a time (not so long ago) when we didn't expect Piazza-like offensive numbers from every catcher.

So if we're evaluating Ross, let's not forget him gunning down Derrick Lee trying to steal second in the first inning.  Yeah, Harang opened the game with a 1-2-3 inning, but only because of Ross's great throw on Lee's stolen base attempt.

If David Ross does lots of that and bats only .250, I'll be happy.