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Somebody ask me today what my feeling was on the Reds now. My initial response was, "it's too early to tell." But then after I thought about it, all I could say was, the offense is lousy. And it is. They are in the bottom 4 in the NL in OBP and SLG. They've struck out the 4th most times in the NL and have only walked more frequently than the Astros (who have just 5 walks!). They've knocked in a decent percentage of the base runners they've had (15%), but they are second to last in the league in base runners. There aren't many ways to look at this offense right now and not think they suck.
Maybe it'll change now that they are on the road. Maybe we'll hear some BS about how, now that they've gotten through the pressure of the first home stand, they can relax and just play ball. And a month from now it will be another excuse. I'm pretty sure you know what I think they should do. They need a little more patience at the plate. To their credit, they have taken the fewest called strikes in the league, but that doesn't mean that they are swinging at good pitches to hit. They really seem to have come out hacking this season and it has gotten them nowhere. I doubt their approach will change, but until it does, I can't see this team going anywhere.
Enough of the pessimism. Johnny Cueto looked pretty good in his first start of the year. He wasn't overpowering, but his fastball velocity was up a bit, which hopefully is a good sign of what is to come. I know I'm feeling good about the year he is going to have, so I'd appreciate it if he didn't let me down. I'd like to see 7 strong out of him tonight and for the rest of the year. Is that too much to ask?