Red Reposter - Oh, it was awful. So, so awful. Just ... /weeping sounds

Friend o' the Blog John Erardi wonders out loud if the Cardinals are in the Reds' heads
The Cardinals outscored the Reds 31-13 over the weekend, including a 13-3 bloodening on Friday and a bloodier 15-2 bloodening on Sunday. It was bad, you guys. Like real bad.

Erardi fears it was bad enough to give the Reds a complex. Sam LeCure says they are "running out of tomorrows". The Reds' pitching staff has been the spine of the team so far this season, but the Cardinals ripped out that spine and played it like an accordion. It's understandable, even sensible, to watch the kind of baseball the Reds played this weekend and conclude that it meant something more than just losing a game in the standings to the rival Cardinals. Big, dramatic series like this have a way of becoming the apex of a season's narrative arc. Unless they don't.

Remember The Brawl in 2010? The Cardinals came into Cincinnati and swept the Reds after that brouhaha. We all said the same things then that we are saying now. Then the team walked away with the division. I'll admit that this weekend felt real, real bad. The Reds are now 6.5 behind the Pirates and five behind the Cardinals. The Diamondbacks are catching up for the second Wild Card. This could be the beginning of the end, or we could look at this series on Baseball-Reference three years from now and just see that they lost two of three. I dunno. I guess that's why they have two months of baseball left.

Before the trade deadline
Kevin Mitchell is Batman wondered if Devin Mesoraco could step up and be the impact bat the Reds needed. He bit into two ripe mangoes on Saturday to lead the Reds to their lone win of the series. He's hittin' legit since taking over the lion's share of catching duties due to Ryan Hanigan sore wrist, but Dusty says he's also making strides behind the plate. Also, he's just 25 years old. Good prospects sometimes take time. Dusty held his nose and pointed to Yadier Molina.

Bryan Price wondered out loud if Johnny Cueto could be used out of the bullpen
“When Johnny comes back, how long it would take to build him up depends on how we might utilize him,” said Price. “Using him as a starter would take a lot longer. If we wanted to use him in the bullpen that would be a lot shorter throwing progression.”

That's interesting, man. The rotation has obviously held up in his absence, so it's not like they are desperate to get him back in there. And here were are on August 5 and he hasn't thrown yet and is probably still a ways away from doing that. We are running out of time. As Price said, getting him ready to throw out of the 'pen wouldn't take nearly as long as preparing him to start. If it gets down to the wire, they may just want to get him back in action any way they can. I can't say I'm against it. It's contingent on a lot of things, really, so there is little use in speculating at this point. I just want him back. I miss him.

When Ryan Ludwick comes back
and it won't be long now, who will the Reds send away? Chris Heisey, Xavier Paul, and Derrick Robinson have been collectively uninspiring in Ducky's absence, but one of them will have to go when he quacks back. Oh, so you're saying it's not even really a conversation? It's gonna be Robinson. Okay.

andromache likened the recent steroids mess to the mythology of celebrity and sacrifice
It's really, really good. I tried to say something similar on Friday, but I think she does it better here.