More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Bronson was 'sposed to be a stalwart in the rotation this year, but he's pitched just about like your average #5 instead. Some have said they would like to trade him this summer, but he cant really have much value right now.

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• Basement Dwellers: What's wrong with Bronson Arroyo?
  Jinaz is worried about our boy Bronson Arroyo. "Arroyo hasn't been good this year. He's 8-7, but has a 5.69 ERA, a 6.03 FIP, a 5.15 xFIP, a 6.79 tRA, and a 5.59 tRA*. None of those is encouraging." His home run rate is up and his K rate is down, and Jinaz thinks it likely has something to do with his fastball. And as always, there are some cool graphs.

• nycredsfan has a FanPost up linking to The Fay
  who spoke to Walt about Danny Richar and EdE. Richar hurt his shoulder sliding into home and will have an MRI today. Could this mean EdE is on his way back?

• Asst. GM Bob Miller held another chat with fans yesterday
  Here a few of the highlights:
  
  greginin: Where would DeRosa have played if you had acquired him? Edwin Encarnacion is due back this week and Jonny Gomes has been great as a right-handed bat in left field.
  
  Miller: One of the great things about DeRosa is he can play first base, second base, third base and outfield. We would have found a place for him to play, believe me.
  
  KPreds: Are there any offseason moves that, in hindsight, the club regrets making?
  
  Miller: I've heard rumors that Bob C. regrets not signing me for 10 more years, but I haven't been able to verify that.
  
  bb_ump: How much longer will the Reds wait for Homer Bailey to reach his "forecasted" potential?
  
  Miller: Homer just turned 23. My question to you would be did you like Volquez last year? During Edinson's first three seasons in the Majors with Texas he had a 14.21, a 7.29 and a 4.50 ERA. Then he came to us at 25 years old and had a 3.21 ERA with 17 wins. Worth the wait, wasn't it?

• This one absolutely slayed me
  "Reds Should Make Winning More Important". I couldnt agree more. While we're at it, they should also make sure not to schedule games on rainy days, keep all their star players from getting hurt, and put in luxury recliners instead of stadium seats. Seriously though, on to the article: Marc Katz says the Reds minor league system is full of losing teams (5 of the 6 teams have losing records). Apparently all this losing has something to do with the fact that the Reds focus more on developing individual talent rather than teaching them to win as a team. And that's it. It's barely 200 words. All early reports indicate he got paid.

• Jay Bruce Bobblehead day is Saturday
  Look at those pearly whites!

• In the latest edition of Redleg Nation Radio
  They talked with Sarasota Reds manager Joe Ayrault and RLN Spotlight Player Matt Klinker.

• Ken Rosenthal makes his All-Star Game selections
  and he mentions three Reds: Johnny Cueto makes the team as the Reds lone representative, and Franciscoco Cocordero and Brandon Phillips are mentioned honorably. I'm ok with leaving Coco at home, but to take Freddie Sanchez over BP seems ridiculous to me. I guess he had to pick a Pirate, but I would choose Zach Duke as my Pirate instead.

• Doug at RML wonders if Devin Mesoraco is starting to come around
  When he was drafted out of high school in the first round in '07, he was scouted as a tremendous defensive catcher with a raw but promising bat. Then last year, his first full year in pro ball, saw his defensive reputation betray him. But Doug thinks he's been improving in that regard the past few months. It always takes catchers a long time to develop and I dont expect him to make it to the bigs for a good while (if at all), but I would like to start seeing these kinds of improvements from him. When I saw him in Sarasota I was really taken aback by his size; he's a pretty imposing looking fella. He certainly has the physical attributes necessary to be a great ballplayer, it's just a matter of getting there.

• Randy in Chattanooga wrote up a nice eyewitness report from the Mudcats-Lookouts series from earlier this week for Reds Minor Leagues.

More photos » by Tony Tribble - AP

Not smooth.

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• Bronson Arroyo cant explain why he's been so...not good lately
  But he says the carpal tunnel was not a factor last night. “I’ve got to fight it on a daily basis,” he said. “But today was really good.” I dont know. I wouldnt be surprised if the Reds DL him anyway. With the way the offense is, the team really cannot afford Arroyo getting beat around like this. He leads the NL in home runs allowed.

• Sheldon talked to Baker about who plays and who sits
  Jonny Gomes, Chris Dickerson, and Ryan Hanigan were on the bench for the first game of the series against the Diamondbacks (and we lost. Coincidence? I think not!). "You can't play everybody," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "I have a plan on how to keep them sharp and productive for themselves and us at the same time. We knew that could potentially happen when we started. You don't have a good team unless you have too many good bodies."
  
  You know, I can understand sitting Hanigan and Gomes. With a righty on the mound you should go with Nix over Gomes. And though Hanigan has been the better catcher so far and deserves more playing time, Hernandez has not been a slouch. Their playing time behind the dish should be more equal though. But playing Taveras right now over Dickerson is not cool. The problem is this team does not have "too many good bodies". The problem is the team has too many bad bodies getting all the ABs at the top of the order.

• It looks like the mystery of what happened to Edwin Encarnacion in Louisville has been solved
  Bats manager Rick Sweet was just giving him the day off after playing 9 straight. This is really unorthodox though, as usually when a player goes on a rehab assignment he plays every day unless something goes wrong. So I dont know. Either Sweet was just being a weirdo or the Reds arent telling us all there is to know. Stay tuned, I guess.
  
  Also from this one, Hal tells us Edinson Volquez had an exam Monday and the inflammation in his right elbow is gone. He'll begin throwing on Friday. Volquez is frustrated but positive: "I’m starting over and that’s bad," said Volquez. "But at least the inflammation is gone and there is no pain, even when the doctor twisted and turned my elbow. It’s hard to watch games. All I can do is scream at the umpires."

• Reds Asst. GM Bob Miller will have another chat
  on Reds.com today at 11AM.

• FanGraphs takes a look at the most improved defenses over last year
  They took last year's team UZR ratings (is that redundant?) and compared them to the ratings teams have compiled through the first half of this year. The Reds rate as the 3rd most improved team, behind only the Tigers and Pirates. I gotta say, this really isnt something to be proud of. The defense was just that dreadful last year.

• I didn't read the article
  but this is the headline of the day.

• Raise the Jolly Roger had a conversation with Doug Mientkiewicz via Twitter
  about the two trades the Pirates made yesterday. The conversation isn't posted as Mientkiewicz asked to keep it private, but this is something that could only happen in a Twitter-world. It's not the best communication tool (140 characters really doesn't leave much room for quality thought), but Twitter removes some of the boundaries between players and fans. Having that access to a player's thoughts, albeit abbreviated, can really change the way we fans participate in sports. Pretty cool.

• OMGreds has a Corky Miller bobblehead from his days with the Chattanooga Lookouts
  Welcome home Corky. To some of us, you never left at all.

• This blew me away
  At the beginning of June Adrian Gonzalez drew 2 or more walks in 8 straight games. No one has done that since they began recording walks as a stat. Not even Barry Bonds, when everyone decided to never pitch to him ever, ever again and he had more intentional walks than anyone had regular walks, drew 2 walks in 8 straight.

More photos » by NATHAN DENETTE - AP

No Joey Votto, thank YOU.

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• Hall o' Famer Hal "doubly salutes" Joey Votto for the way he's handled himself
  Last night at the game, Votto had his two youngest brothers with him in the dugout, 9-year-old twins Ryan and Paul. It is fully evident now why Votto had such a tough time dealing with the death of his father. At this point, I really dont care at all that he had 4 hits and led the Reds to a win last night, you know?

• Votto helps Reds avoid sweep against Jays
  "I always want to play well, definitely in front of family and friends, but had I had this big game and we had lost I’d have been very disappointed," he added. "The beautiful thing about baseball, is there is always a new day and it parallels life sometimes. You always get a new day. It was nice feeling good without thinking about the problems I’ve been having."

• Im sure you've heard the news by now
  but in case you hadnt, Homer Bailey will get the start on Saturday against the Indians in place of the injured Edinson Volquez. Volquez looks to be out for a while too, so hopefully Bailey will get a good long look in the majors and make the most of it.
  
  Also, Dusty talked about how Edwin Encarnacion is doing on his rehab stint. EdE has 2 homers and 6 RBIs in five games so far, but is only hitting .214. "That’s what we need: Him to be an RBI man," Baker said. "The .214 part doesn’t worry me too much. He must be turning his concentration up with runners on base." Whatever, but Baker also says we likely wont see Edwin back with the Reds when they return home after the weekend. "He might be. That’s only three or four more games. We don’t want him to come back and struggle.

• Josh Roenicke had a nice outing the other night in relief of Bronson Arroyo
  but he didnt do it by throwing his 98 mph heater. He struck out Alex Rios in the 4th on 4 straight sliders. "I threw that pitch in 2007 a little, but called it a cutter but it had that slide action," Roenicke said. "Then I got away from it because I was having arm problems after an appendectomy. I thought it was because I was throwing those along with a knuckle curve. I brought it back this spring. It's been effective and really working well. [Catcher Ramon Hernandez] kept putting that three down and I kept throwing it. It helped me get out of some jams."

• Jayson Stark runs through the biggest mysteries in baseball thus far
  like why the Phillies cant win at home and what's wrong with the Cubs offense. Toward the bottom though he mentions that he spoke to a scout that says the Reds have the best minor league talent in the NL Central and should be poised to make the big move that the other teams cant.

• FanGraphs looks at the criminal ways the Rockies are handling their outfield situation
  arguing that Seth Smith is disgustingly underutilized. He has been sitting the majority of the time in favor of Ryan Spilborghs, who isnt having half the season that Smith is having. The Rockies will likely be looking to clear this logjam sometime soon, so my question is should the Reds be looking at either of these guys, and if so, who?

• MLBTradeRumors says AndyFan is headed to Japan
  He signed a deal worth 400K to play for the Hiroshima Carp. Good luck Andy!

• The WPA Inquirer from THT
  I kind of understand WPA and how it works and why it's good, but I think this article will further illuminate this darkened corner of my cortex. I hope so, I havent read it yet. It's kinda long and there's a lot of charts and stuff.

• Geovany Soto failed a drug test during World Baseball Classic
  I didnt know baseball tested for marijuana. Should they even bother? Anyway, Soto has apologized and said it was "an isolated incident" (riiiiight). But DAYUM!! dude will be banned from international competition for two years.  HT to ShysterBall.

• Here's another one via ShysterBall
  This is from Sons of Steve Garvey, who offers you a transcript of a conversation between Eric Collins and Steve Lyons from a Dodgers game recently. Here's a taste:
  Collins: I'm telling you, we're going to be head-to-head on this (debating the merit of stats analysis) all season long. There is a place —
  Lyons: There is a place, a very small place, for the computer geeks that are now taking over the game of baseball. There is a place, but it's a small place. We're seeing way too much of it.
  Collins: Now I'm going to fight that battle.
  Lyons: None of those numbers — that UZR-mum thing that rates defense —
  Collins: UZR. Ultimate Zone Rating.
  Lyons: UZR. And your WHIPs and your OPSes. They don't show me what kind of heart the guy has. BABIP?
  Collins: Batting Average on Balls in Play?
  Lyons: Stupid. Doesn't tell me if the guy is a player. Doesn't tell me if the guy can play. Is he a gamer? Does he get dirty? Does he go out there and play hard? Is he a good teammate? None of that stuff tells me any of that. That's the guy I want.
  Collins: That would be your Derek Jeter, we were talking about an inning ago.
  Lyons: I'll take your computer and I'll toss it right off this balcony here.
  
  You can imagine what happens next.

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

The Season's Low Point (to date)

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• 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!

More photos » by Ross D. Franklin - AP

Willy Taveras isnt just struggling, he's drowning. And he could drag the Reds season down with him. How long will it take for Jocketty to do something about it?

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• The Fay comes right out and says it
  He thinks something radical needs to be done about Willy Taveras. He says, "It's not that he's not getting hits; he seldom has a decent at-bat." He suggests sending him to the minors for a few weeks, but is doubtful that will ever happen. Hopefully once guys like Fay start harping on this Walt and Dusty will feel the pressure to do something. I guess we'll see.

• Jeff at Redlegs Rundown is fed up with the Taveras act too
  This is Twilight Zone stuff man. First Corey Two Pitch At-Batterson and now Willy. I blame everyone but myself.

• Fay talked to Jocketty about the circulating rumor involving Bronson Arroyo
  "I haven’t talked to anyone about Bronson," Jocketty said. I'm on the fence regarding a trade of Bronson. slightly above league-average pitchers arent as easy to find as everyone thinks, but on the other hand if a decent return could be had I'd be open to listening. Oh, and isnt it nice to have a GM that, you know, talks about stuff like this?

• Ken Rosenthal talks about whether Bronson Arroyo is really on the trading block

  The return of Volquez and addition of Bailey, in theory, would give the Reds the flexibility to trade Arroyo, who is earning $9.5 million this season and $10 million next season with an $11 million club option for 2011.

• Tracy Ringolsby on Manny Ramirez's minor league stint.
  "What a farce." Another good perspective comes from Ken Tremendous, via twitter:

  $45m of Manny getting cheered by a minor-league crowd after a 50-game suspension proves conclusively that no one cares about steroids.

  I think most fans want steroids gone from baseball, but that doesn't mean they really care that much.

• Brandon Phillips is a slacker
  and a snacker. (via RLN)

• Flip Flop Fly Ball
  Baseball infographics and other visual treats. Lots of fun graphs at this site. Check it out, but only if you don't mind blow 30 minutes of your day.

• Hall o' Famer Hal's Quote of the Day:
  Jonny Gomes is a steps runner — up and down and up and down the lower deck aisles. After he was spotted doing it early Tuesday afternoon at Rogers Centre, he smiled and said, "Just getting my Rocky on up here in Baseball North."

I'm going to delay the game thread for a bit tonight (don't worry, it will be up by game time), because I want to post some of what Joey Votto said today.  This is all from John Fay, and I encourage you to go read it in its entirety.  These are Votto's words:

As some of you know, my father passed away last August. The first day back I kind of put that all on back burner and just played baseball all the way to the end of September. I don’t want to use the word suppress because he was in my thoughts and I was dealing with it on a daily basis. But, as powerful a moment that is to lose your father so young in a way I did suppress it. From August to beginning of spring training, I was pretty severely depressed. I was dealing with the anxiety of grief and sadness and fear. Every emotion you can imagine that everyone goes through.

....

I spoke to some doctors. They came to the conclusion I was dealing with obviously being depressed and anxiety and panic attacks. They were overwhelming to point where I had to go to the hospital on two separated occasions. Once in San Diego and once – nobody had been told about – but I went to the hospital once in Cincinnati when the team was on the road.

"It was very, very scary and crazy night. I had to call 911 at 3 or 4 in the morning. It was probably the scariest moment I ever dealt with in my life. I went to the hospital that night.

....

"I’ve been talking and seeing some doctors. They’ve been a great help. And speaking to people in general – I spoke to my team last week – and letting people know what I’ve dealing and how difficult this grieving process has been. My father was young, and I’m a young man. I really wish I hadn’t lost my father so young. I’m the oldest brother. I feel like I’m responsible for my family. Maybe I have proclivity for depression or whatever it is.

"But I was dealing with some pretty abnormal circumstances – the combination of being a major league ballplayer, a young ballplayer and also dealing with my father and my family."  

 

These words really spoke to me.  As most of you know, my mother passed away in January and it has been one of the hardest things I've had to deal with emotionally.  I can't imagine having to perform in front of thousands of people on a nightly basis with that weighing on my mind.  Professionally athletes learn very early to block out distractions while performing, but I'm sure if you try to do that with something that really matters to you, it's going to come to a head eventually.  It appears that this is what happened to Votto.

Hopefully Joey has been able to get some help and truly can improve on his outlook.  In situations like these, if you don't deal with the pain it will eat you alive when you least expect it.  I wish him nothing but the best as he continues to try to make sense of it all.

More photos » by Al Behrman - AP

Joey Votto's back, baby!

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It's a light day today after an off-day, but there is still good news in the air:

• What we all thought would happen has been confirmed: Joey Votto is with Reds and will be activated today.He's been on the DL since May 30, but will make his return in his hometown tonight.  His return could not come soon enough.  Since he went on the DL, the Reds have batted .217/.295/.340, averaging just 3.4 runs per game.  Votto's not going to fix all of that, but his presence will hopefully take some pressure off of guys like Jay Bruce and Ramon Hernandez, hopefully making things easier for them as well.
• Speaking of the upcoming series against the Blue Jays, I answered some questions for Bluebird Banter about the Reds.
• Votto's return is well timed, especially because I can already see the Reds playoff chances slipping away.
• Then again, these guys think the Reds are close to being the class of the NL Central and should consider buying, if they can do it without mortgaging their future too much.

• Justin has a Q&A on WAR and what it is good for.  Absolutely something.

• Reds Minor Leagues previews the GCL Reds and Billings Mustang.
• Redleg Nation has some great pictures from the Carolina Mudcats game over the weekend.
• This is kinda late, but here is the Casual Fan’s Guide to the College World Series.

Joey Votto autographed my ticket stubs from the Sarasota Reds game last Thursday. Not only is he a great ballplayer and a handsome fella, but he's a humanitarian too. They should make a TV show about him.

View full size photo uploaded June 22, 2009

Ahhh, it's good to be back in the Reposter chair.  Thanks be to Slyde for keeping it warm for me and not spilling Diet Rite all over it.  I've been on vacation for the last week, laying on the beach, meeting Joey Votto, and not doing much else.  Unfortunately, the Reds havent being doing much either.  I've got a lot of pent-up frustration with this team, so let's dispense with the pleasantries (I'll spare you the pics of my sand castle) and get down to the biz...

• Best News of the Day
  Joey Votto played a few minor league games over the weekend to get his sea legs back under him, and now he says he's ready to join the big league club. "They (the Reds) know what I’ve been going through. They would be able to say, ‘Are you ready to go?’ My answer would be yes."

• Hall o' Famer Hal posed this question to Dusty yesterday
  (Check out nycredsfan's FanPost all about this)  "When Joey Votto comes back, what happens to Ryan Hanigan?" Baker's response was, "bench." Hal asked Dusty if perhaps Ramon Hernandez could slide over and try his hand at 3rd base to keep Hanigan's bat in the lineup, you know, since he leads all non-Joey Votto Reds in OBP with a shimmering .411 mark.
  
  Now, I havent really been keen on the idea of Hernandez at 3B. His defense at 1B hasnt been great and I'm afraid he would be a total disaster at 3B.  But then I realized something: everyone who has played 3B for the Reds so far this year has been an abject disastrous failure. keeping Hanigan in the lineup is worth waaaay more than the theoretical marginal loss in defense we get from playing Hernandez over Rosales or Hairston.
  
  But it's not the defense that's worrying Baker, oh no. It's Hanigan's batting line with RISP(!!). Hanigan is hitting .174 with RISP. He has a total of 30 PAs (6 walks) with RISP so far this season and Dusty is siting that as a reason to keep a .411 OBPing catcher on the bench. Exasperation, thy name is Charlie Scrabbles.

• Free Willy, as in cut his butt loose - Beyond the Box Score
  BtB asks the question that Red Reporters have been asking for a month now.  This guy is a Cardinals fan too, so you just know this smug little jerk with his complicated hair cut and expensive shoes is just giggling merrily the whole time.  This one really cooked my biscuits.

• Mark Sheldon has this quote from Baker
  With the Reds scoring only 1 run for a good pitching performance, the Reds lost another game they could have won if only they could hit the damn baseball. Here's Dusty: "That's been a repetitive story. We're trying to find a way to get some hits when they count and drive in some runs. Aaron pitched well enough to win today. I've gone over this many times. We have to produce some runs."

• Edwin Encarnacion started a rehab assignment in AAA this weekend
  going 0-2 with a walk on Sunday. "This is like going back to the beginning," Baker said. "In Spring Training, you're hitting live most days. And the pitchers weren't two and a half months into sharpness like they are now." Looks like they want to give EdE a good while to work himself back into game shape. I hope he can do it quickly.

• Bob Castellini called the Civil Rights Game a "forerunner of our All-Star Game"
  He said he wants the All-Star Game in Cincinnati for 2013. Here's what Commish Selig had to say about it: "They deserve an All-Star Game. The problem we have these days - back in the 90s you had to beg cities to host - now we're jammed. Every time we build a new ballpark - like in Florida, Minnesota and the Mets - they want one. So I've got to work my way through this. They deserve an All-Star Game, and I'm going to do my very best to get them one." Well, we built our new ballpark first! So there!

• SBNation Launched a new MLB Rumors site called MLB Daily Dish
  Check it out and add it to your news feed reader if you like it!

• Moneyball the Movie is no more
  Brad Pitt and Steven Soderbergh are now rumored to be discussing making a shot-for-shot remake of John Goodman's "The Babe". 

• Wanna see something you've probably never seen before?
  Click that link.

• BtB runs down the meaning of WAR
  If you've ever been looking for an explanation of what goes into Wins Above Replacement (WAR), here's a pretty good primer. Also, check out the pitcher's WAR explanation too.

• Baseball Prospectus (subscription req'd) looks the NL drafts
  and uses the the phrase "neither an especially impressive nor disappointing group" to describe the Reds.

• It's Monday and THT has their weekly rankings up
  The Reds have slipped to #18.