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April Showers Bring May Bruce

One month of the MLB season is in the books. The Reds probably won't want to re-read that book.

By Wick Terrell
This list is NERTIER than you'd think.
This list is NERTIER than you'd think.
David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

The calendar officially flips to May today, and an April that both began and ended on disappointing notes can now be stowed away to the annals of history.  That is, until September, when the inevitable "September games are no more important than games in April" arguments arise, at which point we'll return to dust off the Recaps of one-run losses, split series with the Chicago Cubs, all those times 'tHom told us about a lack of RBIs, and lament the fact that the Cincinnati Reds emerged three games under .500 despite scoring 9 more runs than they've allowed.

So what were the April Reds?

About 4/5ths of the April Reds were, more or less, exactly what we thought they'd be.  Billy Hamilton struggled out of the gate, but showed flashes of the voltage held in his spindly legs.  Johnny Cueto blew away hitters like he was facing nothing but the 2010 Pirates every game.  Joey Votto walked - a lot - and had a few dingerrific performances sandwiched between an April that won't be as good as his May.  The pitching, on the whole, was good, the hitting was spotty, and the injuries that plagued the team in Spring Training carried over to have a rather serious effect on the way the team played.

About 1/5th of the April Reds were rather complete surprises.  Devin Mesoraco came back from an injured oblique to go full bowling ball through MLB pitching for the first time in his career.  Bryan Price moved Votto to the 2nd spot in the order, effectively ending the "will he or won't he" argument before it ever began.  Alfredo Simon pitched like a starting pitcher worthy of being a starting pitcher in the best rotation in the National League.  Brayan Pena showed that his offense can be as sharp as a NERT on a cool February morning.

The bullpen - or, what's left of it, at least - was terrible.  Horrible.  They had a no good, very bad month, but an optimist will tell you that the "they" in the bullpen won't be the same "they" that pitches most of the rest of the year.  I'm that optimist, and that's what I'm telling you.  The bench was competent in the context of the history of Reds' benches, and is set to get grittier in the near future, and the schedule seemed pretty damn tough.

That was the gist.  Let's look at some stats.

OVERALL

  • Record:  12-15, 3rd in the National League Central (7.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers)
  • Home:  5-6  Road:  7-9
  • Runs Scored:  102  Runs Allowed:  93  Difference:  +9
  • Day Games: 7-8  Night Games:  5-7
  • 1-Run Games:  4-9
  • Vs. RHP:  9-12   Vs. LHP:  3-3
  • Vs. NL Central Opponents:  10-8
  • Pythagorean Win/Loss:  15-12

TEAM BATTING

  • Runs scored:  102 (24/30 MLB, 11/15 NL)
  • Batting average:  .249 (17/30, 6/15)
  • On-base percentage:  .318 (15/30, 4/15)
  • Slugging percentage:  .380 (17/30, 8/15)
  • OPS:  .698 (18/30, 7/15)
  • HR:  22 (19/30, 11/15)
  • National League averages:  .246/.309/.385 (.694), 25 HR
  • Major League averages:  .249/.317/.388 (.705), 24 HR

TEAM PITCHING

  • ERA:  3.43 (11/30 MLB, 9/15 NL)
  • Quality Starts:  17 (t-5/30, t-4/15)
  • OPS against:  .680 (11/30, 8/15)
  • WHIP:  1.25 (11/30, 8/15)
  • K/9:  7.81 (18/30, 9/15)
  • K/BB:  2.28 (22/30, 15/15)
  • National League averages:  3.50 ERA, 15 QS, .689 OPS, 1.25 WHIP, 8.07 K/9, 2.76 K/BB
  • Major League averages:  3.82 ERA, 14 QS, .706 OPS, 1.30 WHIP, 7.95 K/9, 2.56 K/BB
  • ERA as SP:  2.94 (5/30, 4/15)
  • ERA as RP:  4.82 (26/30, 14/15)

TEAM LEADERS - BATTING

  • Runs scored:  Jay Bruce (17), Joey Votto (15), Todd Frazier (14)
  • Batting average:  Devin Mesoraco (.468), Brayan Pena (.304), Joey Votto (.280)
  • On-base percentage:  Devin Mesoraco (.509), Joey Votto (.438), Brayan Pena (.360)
  • Slugging percentage:  Devin Mesoraco (.787), Joey Votto (.462), Brayan Pena (.457)
  • OPS:  Devin Mesoraco (1.297), Joey Votto (.900), Brayan Pena (.817)
  • HR:  Joey Votto (4), Todd Frazier (4), Devin Mesoraco (3), Jay Bruce (3)
  • RBI:  Jay Bruce (14), Devin Mesoraco (13), Todd Frazier (12)
  • BB:  Joey Votto (24), Jay Bruce (19), Todd Frazier (10)
  • K:  Jay Bruce (27), Brandon Phillips (25), Joey Votto (22)
  • SB:  Billy Hamilton (11), Jay Bruce (5), Chris Heisey (3)
  • fWAR:  Devin Mesoraco (1.3), Todd Frazier (1.0), Joey Votto (0.7)
  • bWAR:  Devin Mesoraco (1.2), Todd Frazier (1.0), Joey Votto (0.9)

TEAM LEADERS - PITCHING

  • ERA (SP):  Johnny Cueto (1.15), Alfredo Simon (1.60), Tony Cingrani (3.34)
  • ERA (RP):  Jonathan Broxton (0.00), Sam LeCure (0.77), Manny Parra (4.35)
  • Quality Starts:  Johnny Cueto (6), Alfredo Simon (5), Tony Cingrani (3)
  • ERA+:  Sam LeCure (481), Johnny Cueto (315), Alfredo Simon (226)
  • WHIP:  Johnny Cueto (0.77), Alfredo Simon (0.98), Mike Leake (1.02)
  • K/9:  JJ Hoover (11.9), Homer Bailey (9.9), Johnny Cueto (9.6)
  • K/BB:  Johnny Cueto (3.33), Mike Leake (3.33), Homer Bailey (3.22)
  • IP:  Johnny Cueto (47.0), Mike Leake (35.0), Alfredo Simon (34.0)
  • fWAR:  Johnny Cueto (0.9), Tony Cingrani (0.4), Alfredo Simon (0.3)
  • bWAR:  Johnny Cueto (2.5), Alfredo Simon (1.2), Sam LeCure (0.6), Tony Cingrani (0.6)

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