Friday, March 4, 2011

The Reds Are Loaded

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This is the most exciting Spring Training for the Reds that I can remember. I was born in 1982 and I do remember the 1990 World Championship team, but I don't remember most of the season other than they went wire to wire. I have been a big baseball fan since I first went to a game at six years old, so I do remember the Reds being good and making playoff runs, just not the hype of the season and I certainly wasn't a nerd with a blog back then.

This year there are many things to be excited about. The team is coming off of a division championship with a bunch of young players that should only progress and be even better this year. There are many position battles and the battles aren't just mediocre players that the Reds are trying to plug into a major league lineup because they don't have any better options. Instead they have multiple good options and some of those options aren't going to win starting spots or even make the big league club in some cases.

They are loaded at Pitcher. Volquez, Cueto, and Arroyo are locks to make the starting lineup. After those three there is a battle between Travis Wood, Homer Bailey, Mike Leake, and Sam Lecure for the final two spots. I doubt Lecure is going to win one of those spots and I'm pretty confident that Wood is going to get one of the two spots as he's a lefty on a rotation that is going to be righty dominated. Not only that I think he's the best of those four Pitchers. That leaves Bailey and Leake for the final spot. I think Bailey is going to win the spot, but honestly he hasn't lived up to the hype and I personally like Leake better. Leake could be the long reliever, but I think he's better off going down to Louisville where he can pitch every five days. Every year pitchers get hurt so having Leake go down is a good problem to have because he more than likely will be up in Cincinnati, probably sooner rather than later. People have been calling for the Reds to package a Pitcher or two and trade them for a Left Fielder, preferrably one that can be a lead off hitter. I don't want them to do that, with how often Pitchers get injured you can never have too much depth at the position.

Speaking of Left Field, Dusty Baker said that Gomes will be the regular guy out there. That worries me because if you take away the early part of the year where Gomes was hot, his number would've been terrible. His defensive play is atrocious. I'm hoping that Yonder Alonso can learn to play Left Field in a hurry. Adding his bat to the lineup would be a big boost as he has the potential to put up numbers at the plate similiar to Votto and his defensive play can't be much worse than Johnny Gomes. If Alsonso can learn the position you're looking at a batting order of:

Stubbs, CF
Phillips, 2B
Votto, 1B
Alonso, LF
Rolen, 3B
Bruce, RF
Hernandez/Hannigan, C
Janish, SS
Pitcher Spot

That's a hell of a lineup to go with the good deep Pitching that the Reds have. It'd be a recipe for a repeat in the Central division and hopefully a deeper playoff run than last year, maybe a trip to the World Series if they can get by the Phillies in the NLCS.

What we have left is the bullpen. It's looking to be strong with the back end having Masset, Chapman, and Cordero. If Cordero is on top of his game you are looking at a team that can be playing six inning games. Have the lead after six and those three will likely shut down the opposition. Be tied or within a couple of runs and you are looking at a team that can either take the lead if the other team is unable to score and the game is tied. Or have a good shot at come from behind victories if the Reds can score in the late innings, which they did several times last season. All this without mentioning that they have Dontrelle Willis in the fold. If he can get back to anywhere close to his prime now you're talking about having two stud leftys and two stud rightys in the bullpen. In close late inning games you're able to pitch to the match ups. You also have Mike Lincoln who is no slouch. This bullpen is going to be absolutely loaded this year and if you're looking to make a trade that could be an area they have someone to spare. If you're not going to find a spot for Yonder Alonso, they could package him with a bullpen guy and make a big time trade getting a quality Left Fielder in here.

Either way the season is just a few weeks away and honestly I think if the Reds stay relatively healthy they are the favorites to repeat in the Central and probably the 2nd best team in the National League on paper. Yeah the Brewers picked up a couple guys, but the Brewers and every other team in the division doesn't have anywhere near the depth that the Reds do. That is important, probably the most important thing to have. The Brewers maybe have the edge with the top 3 of their rotation, but if they do it's not by much. Greinke had one good season two years ago and that's it, there's no guarantee he's going to be the ace they are expecting. Marcum is decent but overrated and isn't as good as any of the Reds top 3. Gallardo is a stud and if he stays healthy he can be a problem. Yeah their lineup is good, not as deep as the Reds though, and remember this Reds team led the National League in runs scored last year. Bottom line, I'm predicting a repeat and at minimum a trip to the National League Championship Series.

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