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Saying that the Reds have their work cut out for them tonight is probably a ginormous understatement. How good is Dan Haren this year?
- He has one start this season where he has allowed more than 3 runs.
He has 3 starts this season where he has gone less than 7 innings (none in his last 8 starts), and he went 6 innings in those 3 starts.
That means that 14 of his 15 starts are "Quality Starts."
He's allowed less than 5 hits in 4 of his last 5 starts. - His WHIP this season is a crazy-insane 0.81. 2nd place in the Majors (Zach Greinke) is closer to 29th place than he is to Haren.
If there is a chink in his armor, it's that he's allowed 11 HR in his 15 starts. Thankfully Joey Votto's back or else Jay Bruce might have to hit eleventy home runs by himself tonight.
Luckily the Reds have Bronson Arroyo on the mound tonight. Luckily? Yeah, I've got nothing to back that up, but I'm trying to put a positive spin on a night that is going to be tough from the get-go. The good news about Arroyo's disastrous start last week in Toronto that mirrored his start a year earlier is that Arroyo went on a run after being embarrassed by the Blue Jays in 2008 and posted a 3.42 ERA for the remainder of the season. We can only hope that this past trip to the great white north was equally eye-opening. I have my doubts though, as I have feeling that carpal tunnel as turned Arroyo into a crapal funnel (HA! I just made that up! I kill me!). Okay, I don't think he's that bad, but we can't afford even the slightest screw up tonight from Arroyo. In case you missed it, Haren's a pretty good pitcher.
If you are going down to the game tonight, be sure to cheer loudly for Joey Votto. Let him know that we're glad to have him back!