Red Reposter - Is This the Best Reds Pitching Staff You Have Ever Seen?

A lot of folks are saying this is the best pitching staff the Reds have had in a long time
Pitching Coach Bryan Price isn't about to make such a bold statement, but he does likes whats he sees:

"I'm not good at the type of stuff. Predicting," he said. "All I know is that my feeling is I'm going to feel good all five days in the rotation. We're going to run out a guy who has a chance to pitch us a winning ballgame . . . I feel we've got a good chance to win each day. The bullpen established last year what they're capable of doing. They were in the top five statistically as a collective group. We've got defined roles with our pitchers, which I think always helps."

It is really nice to see a pitching staff like this after all those years watching the jerks the Reds ran out there for most of the past decade, but I stop short of pinning my hopes on them.  We are relying on guys like Harang and Arroyo, who have seen better days, and guys like Bailey, Cueto, Wood, Chapman, and Leake who have yet to see their best days (hopefully).  I know I would feel 10 times better if Edinson Volquez were healthy.

Sheldon looks at the remaining spots available on the roster
and makes some educated guesses as to who will fill them. He thinks Travis Wood has the inside track on the 5th rotation spot, as Chapman and Leake have no minor league experience. Wladimir Balentien is likely the 5th outfielder because he's out of options and Laynce Nix isn't on the 40-man.

Hall o' Famer Hal diagnoses the right malady for this team
but botches the treatment. He says he's worried about the offense, but he thinks the way to fix it is better situational hitting.  Doesn't he know we resigned Ramon Hernandez this winter?

The Enquirer was searching through the attic for their old water skis
when they came across their yearbook from 1990. Hey! That's Schotzie right up front!

OMGReds was at the grand opening of the 1990 exhibit on Thursday
They loved it.

Micah Owings seems to have the long-man role in the 'pen wrapped up
"Hey, I'm comfortable with whatever I can do to help this team," Owings said. "I was thinking the other day shagging that it's an honor to put the uniform on. Long-term, I'd like to start but whatever I can do right now to help this club. We've got a great bunch of guys. The most important thing is we run the best guys out there. I want to be one of the best guys."

Ask Hal
Q You’ve seen many changes in major-league baseball and what is the one change that hasn’t happened that you believe is needed to improve the game? — July, Hamilton
A It hasn’t happened and never will. Are all football fields the same size? Yes. Are all college and pro basketball courts the same size? Yes. Are all baseball parks the same size? No. Outfield fences are different depths in all parks, so it is easier to hit home runs in some parks than it is others (although atmospheric conditions contribute, too). I’d like to see fences all the same distance to left, left-center, right, right-center and right. Of course, when I played, it didn’t matter. I couldn’t reach any fence, even ones with shorts porches.

I love ya Hal, but this is one of the lamest things you've said in a while. The uniqueness of the ballparks is one of the most endearing things about baseball. I submit that baseball would be significantly less without the Green Monster, that dirt hump in CF in Houston, cavernous Candlestick Park, or the short porch at Yankee Stadium. If anything, I want baseball stadiums to be more diverse. No one would dare build The Polo Grounds or The Baker Bowl these days.

Nick Cafardo at the Boston Globe ranks the managers
by some arbitrary and insignificant process. Bobby Cox, Tony LaRussa, and Terry Francona are the top 3, and our Dusty Baker comes in at #18. Here's the blurb he has on Baker: "Superb motivator, though bullpen management has at times been an issue."