Genuflect. FanGraphs calls last night Johnny Cueto's best start of the season
His line: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K. Season high in strikeouts. And notice we're no longer saying "young season." Cueto only has seven starts - and is just approaching 50 IP - but his steady improvement since his debut in '08 suggest this really could be a new high-water mark season in which Cueto emerges as a true 1/2 starter. The two players the Reds signed to big extensions beyond their arb years this offseason have followed similar trajectories. Bruce and Cueto both had explosive debuts, naturally fell back down to earth, worked through setbacks and currently are building breakout seasons that could vault them into a new tier of stardom.
Hall o' Famer Hal heralds the Birth of the Cool for Cueto
Formerly an Excitable Boy (they all said), Cueto is growns up. As a sign of his newfound maturity, Hal suggests that Cueto send a nice bottle of Chablis to Brandon Crawford for swinging 3-0 with men on in the 4th.
Renteria cheered by totally chilled out San Francisco fans
Edgar Renteria, the 2010 World Series MVP, put a ring on it at AT&T and got a standing ovation too, during a pregame ceremony.
Uni Watch, in its usual fastidiousness details the curious incident of Johnny Cueto's hoodie
Chris Welsh: They're going to tell Johnny Cueto that he's not allowed to wear that hoodie [pause] and he's got to put a regular team jacket on.
Thom Brennaman: That is ridiculous!
Welsh: No, that's part of the uniform code.
Brennaman: I know, but that's ridiculous.
Welsh: It's been like it forever.
It wouldn't be mid-June without the Reds and Mets hooking up in trade rumors
Involving every mathematically possible permutation of players. "Chase Weems and Kris Negron for David Wright and Jose Reyes? Hit enter. Hit ENTER. We just missed out on that one...." This Reyes market-test, however, is well-reasoned and undertaken by our comrades over at Amazin' Avenue. From Jocketty's own mouth just the other day, we heard that the Reds aren't pursuing Jose Reyes. And they likely don't want to spring for his pro-rated salary. But it's not to be completely ruled out, given the handful of surprising gets that have happened since Walt became GM.
Kind of interesting thing here
The Reds have three long-time members of the organization on the list of players who have reached base 4,000 times or more. Including, of course, Pete Rose at #1. This is a base-reaching kinda organization, don't you ever forget.
Tweets of the Week, after the jump.
Jim Callis:
Another team gets a guy it hoped but didn't know would get there, #Reds w/Robert Stephenson. Back ahead of @JonathanMayoB3, 6-5! #mlbdraft
I have no idea what the second half of this Tweet means, but it's always good news to hear a Baseball America scribe say something like this about your team's pick.
Brandon Phillips:
#BPContest winners are @christianhutto @semidden @slandzz @kyledieringer @jasonchesshir and the answer is... Surprise, Surprise... JAPANESE
Have fun with imagining what the question was here. "What do I think I'm, think I'm, think I'm turning?"
Lance McAlister:
Bats OF Dave Sappelt rejoined Bats today after being in Arizona...expected to play in next couple of days. --AAA voice Matt Andrews.
I didn't see much coverage of this, as Spring's hot new thing returned to Louisville. Maybe everyone's moved on to the next AAA player to be mad about not getting a chance. Regardless, this is good news.
themusketeer:
Things I've learned today: Based on the ads at the SF ballpark, their McDonald's have things that we don't have that intrigue me.
In the straight-to-VHS sequel to Pulp Fiction, Pulp Fiction Part II: I'm Going to Beat You to a Pulp, there's an hilarious discussion of the McGarden Compost Burger.
Joel Luckhaupt:
Are the bases farther apart in San Francisco? Neither caught stealing so far has even been close. #Reds
Joel, that's mean. EVERYONE LAY OFF SAN FRANCISCO. IT'S AMERICA'S TREAT.