| | |
Matt Maloney gets called back up from Carolina to fill in for the injured Justin Lehr. Maloney has pitched into the 6th inning in every one of his big league starts, but that's about the only good thing you can say about his performance for the Reds so far. That's not to say he can't be successful. His career minor league numbers (52-34, 3.29 ERA, 8.9 K/9, 2.8 BB/9, 0.7 HR/9) indicate that there is some pitching prowess there. His problem is that he needs to figure out a way to make his limited stuff be successful at the big league level. His fastball sits around 88, though he can dip into the low 90s from time to time. His lack of velocity means that he has to be that much better of a pitcher and try to avoid getting himself into trouble. Hopefully the Reds will give him few starts over the remainder of the season so that we can find out if he's got it in him.
The last time the Reds faced Jason Marquis, Scott Rolen left the game after getting beaned in the head and the Reds came back in the 7th and 8th innings to tie it only to lose the game in the 11th inning. That was back when the Reds couldn't win to save the baby in the basket's life (it was the 6th of 8 straight losses). But the Reds have turned over a new, winning leaf now, remember? Also, since that start, Jason Marquis has pitched more like, well, Jason Marquis, going 2-3 with a 4.73 ERA in six starts. Here's praying that this pitching matchup is closer than the season numbers would suggest.
The Reds followed up a 5-game winning streak with a 7-game winning streak (after losing 2 to the Dodgers). This means that they are set to start up a 9-game winning streak, assuming they don't have to lose another game first. And you thought the SATs were pointless when you took them!