A few things here from the Fay
Edinson Volquez will not be pitching for the Reds anytime soon. An MRI revealed more inflammation in his elbow. It doesnt look like (as of now) that he'll need surgery. They are saying it's not in the ligament. But he'll be evaluated again when the team returns to Cincy. I wouldnt expect him back for a while though. Sigh.

Here's what Dusty Baker said about Willy Taveras, "We weren’t wrong in our assessment of what we needed." I see a few problems with this statement. 1) Taveras is a very predictable kind of player. We all knew what we were getting when we signed him. He's not the .250 wOBA player he's been so far, but we knew he wouldnt hit. So if he is saying that what the Reds needed was a speedy no-hit CF, then they arent very good at building baseball teams. 2) If what he is saying is that the Reds needed a CF and a leadoff hitter, then what do you call Chris Dickerson? Drew Stubbs? Norris Hopper? If Dusty thought the Reds needed Willy Taveras, I would have looked straight in his face and asked him just what the hell he thought Willy brought to the table that these guys didnt. But we exhausted this line of conversation this past winter. Sigh.

Arroyo talked with Hal last night about the game
When someone commented that it was like the Twilight Zone out there, he said, "No doubt. After the way I pitched here last year. I’d much rather face these guys in our park next time." I know what I'd rather have: The Reds skipping his spot in the rotation next time these jerks come around.  Sigh.

BtB does some more in depth analysis on Jay Bruce's BABIP
and determines that it sure would be nice if he were a little luckier.

Brandon Phillips Now Belieiving in this OBP Stuff?
RotoGraphs takes a look at Phillips' increased plate discipline.

Doug takes a look at the career Chris Heisey has put together so far
Though he was drafted in the 17th round out of Messiah College, he has put together better and better numbers as he's moved up through the system. He also has a neat graph that charts his progress. Im not sure though if Chris has to take it home to his mom and have her sign it.

Brandon Isleib of THT beats a dead horse
but it's actually pretty interesting. He argues to get rid of the DH and it's the most compelling argument from either side I've seen in a while.

Blue Collar Baseball points us to this article from Bill Simmons
where he argues that 1988-92 was the great, most pure, Golden Age of Baseball. Does that make Joe Carter the greatest player ever?

Diamond Hoggers has a few pictures from the Civil Rights Game
Jay Bruce looks pretty good in high socks.

The Moneyball script, complete with Billy Beane sex scene!
The movie was to open with a tHom Brennaman voice over, so it's even relevant to the Reds!