Worst case scenario at this point, they get eliminated tomorrow, the day before the end of the season. That's not too bad.
And let's hear it for getting to 80 wins. That's not .500, but it's the first time since 2000 that they've gotten to 80. We've seen a lot of bad baseball these past five years.
Quick thoughts:
- Aaron Harang's a number one starting pitcher. Period. That's what you call guys that lead the National League in strikeouts and complete games. It's really phenomenal to have a pitcher this good, and I can't really believe that the Reds actually have two guys that are this solid. I have some doubts about Wayne Krivsky, but he's got a great foundation of a starting rotation going forward. Great season by Aaron Harang, and it was a lot of fun watching him all year.
- I'm starting to hope that Denorfia/Hopper might be something decent. Probably stupid, but I feel like one of them will get on every time through the order right now. I can't see the Reds starting both of these guys next year, but who knows? If Adam Dunn gets traded, or Ken Griffey Jr. gets hurt again we might be seeing a lot of these two. I certainly don't see Hopper having a long and great career, not when he's already pretty old, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had a few years of putting up a pretty high batting average in him. I think he'll be a helpful player to have, although I think the Reds might be leaning too far in the small, fast, batting average dependent side of the ledger nowadays.
- Juan Castro is not at all a good hitter, but he does have some stretches in him where he looks passable. If his cold stretches weren't so damn bad he'd be a half decent player.
- Brandon Phillips and EdE are tired. They have to be. Hopefully they'll be better than ever next year, because the Reds are going to need improvement out of both to compete in 2007.
- They keep winning. They need three straight losses from the Cardinals now, which probably isn't going to happen, but it's awesome to see the Reds holding up their end of the bargain. A win tomorrow night would get them to 81, and potentially stave off death for another day, so let's keep our fingers crossed.