Bangarang!! Rufarroyo and the Lost Boys Dispatch Captain Hook and His Dastardly Pirates
by Charlie Scrabbles on May 1, 2009 9:58 PM EDT
in Game Threads
Email
Print
The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Bronson Arroyo. You know the story of how a team with no offense ends up squeaking out win after win with brilliant pitching? They're making a documentary about it. It stars this year's Cincinnati Reds. Arroyo took his turn on the stage tonight, throwing 8 innings of 4-hit shutout baseball, sitting down 10 in a row in one stretch. I cannot overstate how exhilarating it is to see our pitchers doing this so often.
Key Plays
- In the 4th, Adam Rosales made a great play to snag a foul ball off Nate McLouth's bat, further endearing him to the Reds faithful.
- In the 6th, Willy Taveras got things rolling for the Reds with a ground-rule double, to then be sacrificed to 3rd by Hairston. Joey Votto (who else?) drove him in with a liner to CF.
- In the 7th, the Reds loaded the bases with a lot of bunting, but Joey Votto grounded out to end the threat.
- Leading off the 8th, Brandon Phillips took John Grabow deep to right field to give the Reds their second run of the game.
- In the 9th, the Reds padded the lead when Hanigan singled and pinch-hitter Laynce Nix walked. Taveras attempted to bunt them over (there were 4 sac bunts in tonight's game for the Reds, which is probably some kind of record) but Jason Jaramillo threw the ball into right field and Hanigan came around to score. Votto was intentionally walked and BP hit a sac fly to bring in another run. 4-0 Reds.
Other Notes
- Zach Duke pitched a nice game for the Buccos, throwing 7 innings and giving up only 1 run.
- Only 2 extra-base hits for the Reds tonight, but 4 sac bunts and a sac fly got 'em over and got 'em in.
- Hanigan continues hitting well, with 2 singles and a walk. Votto also had a pair of singles and a walk. Rosales looked good too with a single and a pair of walks, but he also got caught stealing, proving he will never hack it as a big leaguer.
- Jerry Hairston is still struggling, going 0-4 with a pair of Ks. The sac bunt was his only positive contribution on offense tonight. We really need to do something about left field.
- Grande says Sean Casey will be at the ballpark tomorrow to talk a little honkball in the booth. That should be a delight.
44 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
BP's homer was off Grabow, not Duke
Reds are so lucky right now. No major injuries until Edwin drops, and then his replacement is swinging a super-hot bat and looks good in the field. How far will their good fortune take them?
ahhh thanks for catching that
fixed
Consider the Eskimos.
by Charlie Scrabbles on May 1, 2009 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions
dumb as this sounds...
I was thinking about the most irreplaceable Red positional players earlier this evening.
Votto. Bruce. BP. Taveras.
Willy is 4th? Ack.
"I've actually never had a drink before, tonight I might try it out. We'll see."
—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, on turning 21
the Cards are 17-7?
Holy shit….
"I've actually never had a drink before, tonight I might try it out. We'll see."
—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, on turning 21
BP Chat with John Perrotto
Waker (Brooklyn): I’ve heard from a very credible source (i.e., front office) that the Yankees had a deal in place with the Reds: Francisco Cordero for Xavier Nady (killed by the Reds’ owner). Should the Yankees revisit that trade and plug in a different name to help solve their bullpen issues? They could go Mets-style and us Cordero as the 8th inning guy.
John Perrotto: Well, that trade won’t happen now with Nady’s elbow one more hard throw from blowing out. It would have been a good trade for both teams, though.
Dennis (LA): Thank you for answering my earlier question. Also wanted to ask you your thoughts on Chris Dickerson. What do you see as his upside? Thanks again!
John Perrotto: I think he’s a real hit or miss guy. He’s either going to be a big star or a total bust. I think he has a lot of talent but he’s also very raw. I have a feeling he is going to be a good one, though. I like what I’ve seen of him last year and this year.
"I've actually never had a drink before, tonight I might try it out. We'll see."
—Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, on turning 21
strange
I don’t see Dickerson as being a big star or a total bust. I think Daedalus was right: he’s a fourth outfielder.
He’s 27, and has been in the minors for six years. If he’s still raw now, he probably always will be.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
I caught this game in the last few innings
If we can take 2/3 from Pittsburgh on this road trip… well… damn… we have something special going on.
Needless to say, this didn't work and everybody died.
great game
chalk a win up for HAVOC and also Arroyo. the blueprint worked tonight. arroyo was the rock he needs to be. if a couple more bats start crackin this could be real fun
Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand
Rosales's catch was #9 on SportsCenter's top plays
In fact, it was shown on the show even before highlights of the games were, cuz apparently even though they’re doing well this year, no one wants to see highlights of the Reds and Pirates.
Seriously, JHJ and Gonzalez aren't hitting this year.
Even against lefties. Please tell me Dusty will notice this sometime?
Let me write out a formal proof for you.
Cherry has got his patented pop up swing workin right now
hes Changing the eye level of the fielders.
Dusty Baker said it was the first [triple play] he’d seen in person. When he was with the Dodgers, they hit into one, but he was in the bathroom.- C Trent
by The Crushinator on May 2, 2009 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions
If the playoffs started today, blah, blah, blah...
…and the Reds were playing in the only game available, would the national networks even bother?
Actually, it would be amusing to see the Reds in the playoffs, if only to hear the ESPN talking heads bloviate about “this team of unknowns”.
Incidentally...
the only Reds starter to go fewer than seven innings or allow more than one run in his last start is Harang.
Crazy.
Let me write out a formal proof for you.
The team resembles the successful SF Giants teams of the 90s
Exchange Bonds for Votto and Phillips as the Right hand bat protecting him playing second base like Kent. Add a good maturing outfielder in Bruce <—> Rich Aurilla and above average closer (for Cordero see Rob Nen). Still missing one good experienced right hand bat in the outfield but you can see it coming together.
This is typical Dusty Baker. He elevates good pitchers into great outings. Shawn Estes was a 19 game winner and then disappeared elsewhere, Russ Oritz won 18 and 17 games , then had one good season with the Braves and done nothing afterwards. Did anyone think Reds pitchers could be this dominating?
Thats how you create a young winning team with a good mentality.
by Outside Observer on May 2, 2009 12:40 PM EDT up reply actions
yes
In 2006 I thought Cueto could one day become a dominating pitcher, and could be just as good as Homer Bailey. I thought Harang could dominate in 2005, 2006, and 2007, and I thought Arroyo was capable of domination in 2006, Volquez is the only wild card because I didn’t know a thing about him until he was traded.
Bloop
Kudos to you.
Because most analysts didn’t. I bet there are a dozen teams who would trade their futures for some of the rotation. Harang is the only one who has history of success but he is the one under-performing. Arroyo was ridiculed as a spent force. Volquez and Cueto potentials who didn’t have the correct mental make up to be dominating. (‘wild’ the most common word used to describe them) But all of that has been turned on its head.
The rotations will have ups and downs. An above 500 finish would be a good positive season.
Baker is very good at putting players into positions where they will succeed. So you will see some decisions that seem illogical. For example not bunting players who he knows cannot bunt or starting runners (even into a triple play) because he knows the players pull too much into ground out double plays.
Thats why players who thought their careers were over like Grudzielanek and Karros took a non winning franchise like the Cubs into winners.
Pitchers will over perform and batters will be better as a whole than individual stats. It won’t matter if JHJ doesn’t have a great avg as long as he adds defence and sac fly rbi’s (which he missed yesterday)
by Outside Observer on May 2, 2009 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
i also think Arroyo is pitching a little over his head
and will return closer to league average with an ERA+ between 100 and 110.
Cueto:
The guy was lights out in 2006. He was considered a very polished pitcher, he was rated as having the best slider and the best control of any Reds prospects by some sources. He was rated as the Reds 2006 and 2007 Minor League pitcher of the year.
Baseball America said he had the best control in the organization in 2007. I don’t get where you come away saying that most thought Cueto was wild.
Bloop
i also think Arroyo is pitching a little over his head....
I don’t
I want to be there when a trailer full of coffins slams into a an ambulance full of terminally ill Bolivians. Or when the Reds win a WS..whichever comes first....
i was talking about last night
I was thinking about last nights game, overall he has an ERA+ of 94. I do expect that to improve a little.
Bloop
OK..yeah he was pretty top form last nite
I want to be there when a trailer full of coffins slams into a an ambulance full of terminally ill Bolivians. Or when the Reds win a WS..whichever comes first....
For the record...
I think that many of those moves on the baserunning/hitting side don’t just seem illogical…they in fact are illogical and counterproductive.
I have yet to see evidence that Dusty’s love of the hit and run has helped put anyone in a position to succeed. Moreover, I haven’t seen him fail to tell someone to bunt because he knows that player can’t bunt. In fact, quite the opposite…he pretty much tells everyone to bunt, whether it’s a good decision or not.
I don’t know if he’s really a good manager. Maybe he’s able to work some motivational magic on his pitchers, turning them from mediocre to amazing. But on the things that I can see—namely, in-game strategy—he consistently makes counterproductive decisions when it comes to baserunning and sacrifices.
On the plus side, I haven’t seen any obviously stupid decisions on the pitching side this year.
Let me write out a formal proof for you.
Dusty expects that because someone is a MLB level
that should be able to bunt,hit and run, steal bases etc. Obviously that’s not even close to reality. Dusty has very little out of the box ability…but I do believe that he’s doing a bit better this than last year…We’ll see how long his ‘luck’ holds…he’s be just as lucky as good.
I want to be there when a trailer full of coffins slams into a an ambulance full of terminally ill Bolivians. Or when the Reds win a WS..whichever comes first....
A Rec
for mounting a surprising and effective defense of a manager I was pretty sure I hated…
by Born Too Loose on May 2, 2009 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions
Look, I know you have an irrational love of Dusty Baker,
but let’s not ignore the facts to support your claims. Dusty had some outstanding offenses in San Francisco and the pitchers were far better than you’re letting on. Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros were not the reason the Cubs were “winners” for a few years there. You clearly know very little about the Reds rotation, and you’re giving Dusty credit where it is not due.
Let's wait a bit before we call our pitching dominating
I love what I’ve seen lately, but I’m not ready to annoint Dusty as a savant in managing pitching staffs. Before Dusty arrived Harang and Arroyo were dominating for long stretches – check out their ‘06s. But last year, Dusty screwed up Harang with an extended relief stint in a marathon game at San Diego and Arroyo had his worst year since he joined the team. Last year Baker also refused to understand that our new closer could not pitch effectively on consecutive nights, which led to several blown saves. Volquez and Cueto were pleasant surprises, but given their minor league track records they weren’t out of nowhere.
I don’t really see the comparison with Dusty’s Giants. This team is of course much younger, at least offensively. We are a little top-heavy like those Giants. But they got away with it because they had the best player in the game and very credible second banana, whereas the Reds have a couple of rising stars in Votto and Bruce but no All-Star shoo-ins. If we’re going to contend, it will be with a balanced lineup that has a few other well above-average players, like Phillips, Encarnacion, and Taveras. We can’t afford a bunch of David Bells on this team.
I’d really like to see Dusty live up to his reputation of squeezing good years out of veterans. Aside from Hairston last year (and unfortunatley, we may be relying on last year’s mirage to the detriment of this year’s team), it hasn’t happened. The other journeyman veterans on last year’s team, like Keppinger, Bako, and Patterson, were below replacement level. Among the stars, Dunn did what he always does and Griffey continued to show his age. Not saying that any of this is Dusty’s fault, but if we’re judging him by how veteran players performed in relation to what was reasonably expected, he doesn’t get a good grade. In fact, Jerry Narron scores much better here, with guys like Dave Ross, Scott Hatteberg, and Rich Aurilia having good years past their primes while playing for him.
I really want to believe in Dusty, but he needs to show me something first.
by ken on May 2, 2009 3:43 PM EDT up reply actions 2 recs
Casey
Looking forward to hearing from Sean Casey during tonights game. Hope he’s eventually a regular on the Reds broadcast team.
Fya has some excerpts from a Votto interview
on his blog. Interesting that he would say this:
"I’ve had some bright spots," he said. "But I have some things I really to work on. My two-strike approach has been pretty good but that can come and go. I just need a better approach at the plate. Better discipline."
Let me write out a formal proof for you.
Joey Votto,
Professional Hitter
Isn't there a slanket somewhere you should be filling with your farts?
Louisville game underway
LeCure is unworthy of a bobblehead today. Gave up three runs in the first inning.
All Things Bubba: Because how can you not love a baseball player named Bubba?
The Saturday afternoon hangover edition of Farmers Only
* Louisville won 5-4 against Buffalo in game one of the scheduled doubleheader last night. (Game 2 was cancelled). Matt Maloney was an inning away from a quality start, and the Bats scored 3 runs in the final 7th inning to pull off the win.
* Sean Watson blew a tie game in the 9th for Carolina to lose 5-4 to Chattanooga. Chris Heisey had two hits for the Mudcats and Travis Wood gave up 2 runs in 5 innings to see his ERA balloon to 1.35.
* Sarasota lost 4-3 to St. Lucie, with Carson Kainer collecting two hits. Yonder Alonso was 1-for-4, and Travis Webb struck out 7 in his 5 innings of work.
* Dayton beat Beloit 4-3 in 12 innings. David Sappelt and Tony Brown had two hits each, and Juan Carlos Sulbaran gave up 3 runs in 4 innings in his professional debut. Jordan Hotchkiss, Andrew Bowman, Aguido Gonzalez, and Scott Gaffney combined for 8 innings of shutout relief.
In today’s action, Louisville is playing right now this second, losing 3-1 in the 2nd inning to Buffalo, in a game started by Sam TheBobblehead. He’s scheduled to start Game 2 of the doubleheader as well (on the website), but I’d assume Homer Bailey is the next in line. Justin Mallett takes on ’Nooga for the Mudcats at 6:15, Zach Stewart takes on St. Lucie at 6, and Matt Fairel should be the next in line to take onFort Waye at 4:05.
"I can eat mayonnaise with a spoon." - Jeff Brantley
Ho hum game from Bailey today
Really disappointing.
i think im starting to fall for you Johnnypronto
Consider the Eskimos.
by Charlie Scrabbles on May 2, 2009 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions
5k's is poor
The only thing he had today was velocity except for the 7th.
5 Ks in 7 innings isnt poor
especially considering he only gave up 1 walk.
ahhh, why am i even bothering?
Consider the Eskimos.
by Charlie Scrabbles on May 2, 2009 6:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Who gives a shit how many Ks he had?
He pitched the entire game for his team, didn’t give up any runs, and his team won. THE TEAM WON. That isn’t enough for you?
"I can eat mayonnaise with a spoon." - Jeff Brantley
by BK on May 2, 2009 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recent FanShots
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- Heather Nabozny of Tigers, Nicole Sherry of Orioles: Women groundskeepers in MLB
- 10 notable team reps for MLB’s upcoming draft
- Rays’ gladiator helmets: Fernando Rodney, Joel Peralta do as Romans do (VIDEO)
- Rickie Weeks forgets number of outs, passes up chance for inning-ending double play (VIDEO)
- David Ortiz is angry that more people don’t see him as a leader of the Red Sox
