- In case you were worried, Baker says Gonzalez's day off last night had nothing to do with his brutal slump and was more about getting him a day off and giving Janish a chance to play in front of his family (he is from the Houston area). Here's what Baker said:
As for Gonzalez, the day off is part of a plan and has nothing to do with his close to zero batting average. As for Hanigan, “Bronson is 2-0 with him, so it’s a perfect time. And Gonzo? What’s he played, three games in a row? I’ll try to push him to four (three in Chicago and Friday night at home). We’ll give him Saturday off, a day game, and then we’ll push him to five or six games in a row.”
I explained yesterday how this is a stupid idea, having Gonzalez work his way out of this slump in real games. Janish has 4 hits (1 double) and a HBP in his 12 PAs.
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John Erardi compares Micah Owings to Babe Ruth, and he gets away with it. Here are some numbers:
Ruth's first 102 ABs: 31 hits (.304 batting average), 4 HR, 23 RBI, 11 doubles and 1 triple
Owings' first 121 ABs: 39 hits (.322 batting average), 5 HR, 23 RBI, 12 doubles and 1 triple.
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The Fay gives us a few notes: Arroyo only needed 81 pitches last night to get through 7 innings, though he gave up 9 hits. A few double plays really helped him out. He's the first Red in 12 years to win his first three starts.
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Fay also tells us that Tom Browning has rejoined the organization as the pitching coach of the GCL Reds. He was going to be the pitching coach at AA Carolina until he was arrested for allegedly not paying child support.
- CoCo has been waving the flag a lot recently.
- Jay Bruce is ready to go after missing the last 3 games with a sore hand. He's going to catch fire real soon I think.
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Paul Janish says he could pitch in a pinch, a la Nick Swisher the other night for the Yanks. He was recruited at Rice to be a pitcher, but he ended up at SS instead. He can also catch in an emergency. He also helped Baker's daughter through a rough break-up, makes wood statues with his chainsaw on the weekends, and plays piano in a jazz quintet called Whole Lotta Glove.
- One more reason it is crazy that the Reds took 3 of 4 from the Astros this weekend: in 3 of the 4 games the Astros' starter did not give up a single run.
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THT has their weekly rankings, and the Reds come in at 28.