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Aroldis Chapman will be on the cover of the latest issue of ESPN Magazine
and he looks goood. "If the pitching doesn't work out, he can always be a model" is how his translator summed it up. If you follow the link, there is a slideshow of the photo shoot. And yeah, he's got the kind of smile that could sell a thousand watches. -
Good news and bad news regarding Johnny Cueto
The bad news is that he'll start the year on the DL. The good news is that Dr. Poke'em Stick didn't find anything structurally wrong with his arm. He just has a bit of inflammation in his shoulder. He'll take it easy until the pain subsides and then get back on a throwing program. The Reds expect him to take just a week off from throwing, so best-case-scenario is that he'll be ready to step into the rotation by the 2nd or 3rd week of the season. -
In other good news from Cueto's injury
Jocketty and Baker will have a much easier time setting the rotation. Edinson Volquez is still scheduled to go for Opening Day, followed by Homer Bailey, Bronson Arroyo, Travis Wood, and Mike Leake. Arroyo was originally set to be the #2, but he's been battling the insidious pestis for the last week or so. He's been pushed back so he can get himself back on a regular pitching schedule. -
Dave Sappelt is still in the running for a spot on the Opening Day roster
"I feel pretty good about what's going on around here and how I'm performing," Sappelt said on Monday. "I'm not even thinking of it as I have to keep it up. I'm going to keep consistent every day with every at-bat and every pitch. There is no more worrying with me. It's more just play my game, play what I've been learning and take it from there."
Realistically speaking, I seriously doubt he has a legitimate chance, but it's good business for the Reds to reward him for his Maysian efforts thus far with some extra time with the big club. Bruce and Stubbs are definitely in, and Gomes is right behind them. Dusty has already said Chris Heisey has all but made the club, and Fred Lewis and Jeremy Hermida are also still in the running. They will keep one of the lefties for the sake of balance, and Lewis has the leg-up there because of the guaranteed deal. But that's certainly no cinch. So Sappelt would have to overtake either Gomes or Heisey to make the big club, and though I'm sure many of us wouldn't blanch at the idea of dropping Gomes in favor of the Sappmeister, it's just doesn't make logistical sense. He will begin the year in AAA and hopefully he'll hit so well as to force the Reds' hand.
Wittle Wyan Hanigan huwt is wittle pink finger
It was soooo owie boo-boo that he couldn't have pwayed yestewday.
He'll be fine though. He just took a foul-tip off of it and he should be back in the lineup for today's tilt.
The Reds Hall of Fame and Museum's feature exhibit for this season is a tribute to Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench: A Celebration of Baseball's Greatest Catcher will open this Saturday and run through next January.
It strikes me that the Reds have had a surprising number of legit SS prospects in recent years
Paul Janish, Adam Rosales, Chris Valaika, Zack Cozart, Miguel Rojas, and Didi Gregorious have all come up through the organization in recent years, all spending time in Dayton. Of course, the odds that any of these fellas show up at a major league All-Star Game as anything other than a spectator are pretty slim, but there is still something to be said for a system that has produced so many solid middle infielders. But this isn't about them. This is about the Shortstop of the Future, Billy Hamilton. Dude's a freak. To wit: "To understand the athletic accomplishments of Billy Hamilton, first consider this: he averaged 35 points and 10 assists per game as a high school basketball senior, once poured in 54 points in a state tournament quarter-finals game that saw him sink nine three-pointers, and basketball was his THIRD best sport."
Have you ever wondered who the Brady Anderson of defense is?
Yeah, me neither. But adarowski at BtB did, and here's what he found. While Anderson is known for producing that one spectacular 50-home run year and doing nothing else at all ever in his entire baseball career, Adam Everett has a similar bullet point on his resume. In 2006, he posted an even-more-unbelievable-than-50-home-runs 40 Total Zone runs as a SS. His next-best single-season total? 11. So who's the REAL steroid wonder, huh? Yeah, that's what I thought.