Red Reposter - 6/8/09

Rough weekend, huh?  That very well should have been a sweep.  I guess we can take heart in the fact that even with the poor play the Reds have run out there these past few weeks they are still only a few games back of 1st.  It's still only June.  Now on to the reposting.

• Brandon Phillips was his usual chatty self after the game Sunday
  Dude was pretty angry: "Mike Lincoln never should have had to be in that game," he said. "We should have won it long before he took the mound. He should have been home in bed after a win for us long before he was on the mound."
  
  "That was a terrible game. The pitchers did their job but the position players sucked. We deserved to lose. We had so many chances with one out and guys in scoring position. We two outs I can understand it not happening, but not with only one out."
  
  "I said Friday after we lost to the Cubs that I thought we were the better team. Then we played like today and saying that made me look bad."

• We still dont have an ETA for Joey Votto
  He spoke with Dusty on Friday after watching batting practice. Dusty says he'll likely need a rehab assignment when he is ready. Also, Encarnacion seems to have had a setback in his rehab. His wrist was sore after his workout on Friday. Baker seems to think he might have tried to do too much because he's so eager to get back in the game.

• Doug at RML has some Pitch F/X graphs from Matt Maloney's debut
  I was impressed with the way the kid pitched. His changeup looked really good, even if his fastball topped out at 91. He only threw 5 sliders and 5 curves, and Doug seems to think he needs to mix more of those breaking balls in. I'm not too worried about that myself, as I seem to recall that Maloney uses his breaking pitches against lefties and the change against righties. I think the Cubs only started one lefty swinger against him.

• Jeff at Redlegs Rundown had a list of things he'd like to see the Reds do
  1. DFA Mike Lincoln
  2. Send Adam Rosales back down to AAA
  3. Give Nick Masset the 8th inning
  4. Get Edwin Encarnacion healthy in a hurry
  5. Get Joey Votto healthy in a hurry

• Sister D makes it short and sweet
  and pleads with the Reds to DFA Mike Lincoln. I cannot believe this guy still has a spot on the roster. Listening to Thom and Marty this weekend, they were in agreement that Lincoln should not be here, but he does not have options so that is that. And my rejoinder to that is: "So the F What???"
  
  Lincoln is indeed out of options, but all that means is that he would have to clear waivers in order to be sent to AAA. If there is a team who wants to claim him and his mistake of a contract, then by all means we should let them. We should be so lucky. He would also have to accept the assignment, and considering the Reds are the only team to give him a chance over the last 5 years I figure he'd feel a certain sense of loyalty. The Reds really risk nothing by giving him the DFA. Just do it already.
  
  The truth is, Lincoln has never been a good pitcher. Lincoln signed a 2 year deal for $4 mil this winter because last July he threw 14 innings of shutout baseball. That is awesome, but if you take away that one hot month he had, his numbers with the Reds are gruesome: 77.1 innings, 56 earned runs, 51/38 K/BB ratio. That is an ERA of 6.54. He was always a AAA reliever. Walt and the Reds have been had.

• THT has their weekly rankings out
  and the Reds have slipped a bit down to #13.

• Travis Wood has been throwing rocks down in AA Carolina
  He tied a career high with 11 strikeouts and pitched a three-hitter for his first complete game Sunday as Carolina beat Jacksonville, 2-0. He's been purty good all year and could be on his way up to AAA before too long.
  
  Wood was drafted in '05 in the second round and was pretty highly touted coming out of high school. He hasnt developed as some had hoped he would, but he's only 22 this year. His major weakness has been his propensity to give up the free pass, and he's still walking 4.2 per 9 this year. But if he can even get that down around 3 he could be ok.

• Joe Posnanski has a good perspective on trading draft picks in baseball:
  "...the big fear is that if teams are allowed to trade draft picks, suddenly Boras and his ilk becomes even more powerful. Suddenly they have yet another hammer. They can demand trades. They can bully small-market teams with even bigger demands. Yes, I can see why the owners are afraid … these people are not exactly known for their self control. They’re like the people who refuse to take the mini-bar key when they go to hotels because they know, just know, that at 2 a.m. they will not be able to stop themselves."
• John Sickels reviews the NL Central from his Mock Draft
  He thinks the Reds will take righty Mike Leake from ASU with the 8th pick and seems them taking college players in the next few rounds too. 

• Prospectus Q&A: Drew Stubbs
  BP did an interview with Drew Stubbs.  Congratulations to those of you who have a subscription.