Official state news source: Leake to the bullpen, Owings pursuing other opportunities
With his recent struggles and the rotation logjam, Leake is the odd man out for now. In the 'pen, Mike's innings will be more manageable. Dusty adds that Leake gets loose quickly, so he could adapt easily to the new, "right-sized" position. On DFA-ing Owings to make room for Grandal, Walt sez: "When we sent Micah down a couple of weeks he requested that we try to trade him to another club that would have a better future for him." It seems to be an amicable split. The Reds have ten days to trade, release or put Micah through waivers.
Fay has the updated rotation
Edinson Volquez, then Travis Wood Thursday, Homer Bailey on Friday, Johnny Cueto on Saturday and Aroldis Chapman on Sunday just kidding. Leake plays it diplomatic, hoping to "help the team" in his new role. It seems likely that Leake will assume Fisher's long man role, sending Fisher back to Louisville. So given Dusty's past usage of long relievers, is Leake the new Micah "Paul Janish" Owings? Let's hope not, but there is a certain symmetry in the fact that Leake, like Owings, swings a mean bat. Leake's hitting prowess precludes the need for a double-switch, but it will be interesting to see if Dusty is tempted to use Leake any more frequently as a pinch-hitter, having given him two PAs as such to date.
Hall o' Famer Hal has Janish down as the hero last night
I'm sure none of us thought this would be a serious question in mid-August: "SO WHERE would the Reds be without Janish, Miguel Cairo and Laynce Nix, guys who come off the bench when needed and play not only like regulars, but like stars?" Hal also has some PR on BP: "Say what you want about Brandon Phillips, whether he should have or should not have made public his feelings about the St. Louis Cardinals, he is a man of honor. He is paying for pitcher Johnny Cueto’s fine for Cueto’s part in the last Tuesday’s game when the Reds and Cardinals went Mike Tyson-Muhammad Ali on the baseball field.'
OMGReds has your Harper's Index of Reds Figures
Things are going well.
McPaper is at least momentarily aware that Reds are "playoff contenders"
See, this isn't just a beautiful dream. Someone in a Topeka Taco Bell-KFC is reading about the Reds.
Aaron Harang is like some figure from an ancient Greek tragedy
He has led this team through some of its darkest times, and now that they are seemingly through the tunnel (fingers crossed) he is struggling to regain his spot on the team. "It's driving me nuts," Harang said. "I just went the past seven years of being with (a losing) team and knowing all the struggles that we went through in those seven years. To see this happening, and now I get hurt. I have to battle back and get ready to go." Emo Harang isn't sad, he's just realistic.
Joe Posnanski runs down the most memorable home runs of all time
in honor of the recently departed Bobby Thompson. "The Shot Heard 'round the World" tops the list. Carlton Fisk's World Series-winning home run in game 6 in '75 is also on the list. That must have been great for the Sox fans, huh? Winning the World Series like that?
Many are befuddled by the lack of star shine emitting from Jay Bruce right about now
A slam-dunk, hole-in-one, 1st-and-goal, check-mate prospect like him should have been an MVP by now, right? FanGraphs says while Bruce has been good a lot of things over his first three seasons, there has always been a single issue dragging him down towards mediocrity. His first season it was his hack rate (he swung at a ton of balls out of the K-zone), his second season it was his BABIP, and this season his power is way down.
An astute commenter on the post suggests Bruce's wrist injury from last season could be the culprit, and I honestly hadn't thought of that in quite a while. They say wrist injuries can sap a hitter's power for up to a year (see: Alonso, Yonder), so it's not unreasonable to chalk up Bruce's lack of dingers on his bumming wrist. Either way, he's still a baby and has plenty of room to grow.