March 27, 2011
His arms ARE weapons
By
Amanda
Posted at 8:51 pm
Orlando Hudson shows off some of the sweet moves he learned from the TSA when he flew in to Arizona earlier this month.
Monthly Archives: March 2011
Orlando Hudson shows off some of the sweet moves he learned from the TSA when he flew in to Arizona earlier this month.
March 26, 2011
Reds Injury Round-up
By
Zeldink
Posted at 11:49 am
It seems like the Cincinnati Reds have had a really healthy Spring Training, at least until this last week. This weeks has been rough, using up the team’s entire starting rotation depth.
Here’s where the team stands now.
- Bronson Arroyo’s “flu” has been diagnosed. This week, he was tested for something called Valley Fever, which sounds like an 80s California girl disease. The results came back negative, but doctors did decide Arroyo had mononucleosis. He plans on pitching through it by cutting out everything in his day except for pitching. “I’ll eliminate all my extra-curricular activities, which is a lot,” he said. “No golf. I’ll just come to park and go home and rest.” The disease can zap your energy level quickly, so it’ll have to go away quickly, I think, for Arroyo to perform at a high level this year.
- Homer Bailey is the latest starter to be placed on the disabled list. He has what is being called “shoulder impingement” and will be out two to four weeks. Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty thought it was an issue that Bailey could have pitched through, but since it’s so early, they decided to shut Bailey down and let it heal. It would be good for it not to be an issue during the season.
- Johnny Cueto was the first starter to go down. He has forearm pain, and all of Redsland fears he’ll end up missing the full season with Tommy John surgery. The jury’s still out on that one. Cueto’s on the disabled list, having been prescribed time off from pitching. Really, the Reds have no other choice. Hopefully, that will work.
- Ramon Hernandez remains day-to-day with his sore elbow. His arm seems to hurt for him when he throws the ball, which is a kind of important activity for a catcher.
- Scott Rolen was hit by a pitch on Thursday and hasn’t played a game since. At the time, he was unable to grip the bat for his next plate appearance. He has missed two straight games, and is likely to miss more.
It hasn’t been a good week to be a Reds pitcher. Opening Day is still about a week away, and the Reds rotation has been depleted. As it stands now, Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto are out, and Sam LeCure and Mike Leake are in. Hopefully, everybody else can manage to stay healthy between now and Thursday.
March 25, 2011
Reds Play with Twitter
By
Zeldink
Posted at 7:46 am
The Cincinnati Reds announced yesterday a contest for Opening Day tickets this weekend that will use their Twitter account. So you 5 Reds fans without Twitter accounts–you know who you are–better sign up if you want to make it to Opening Day without forking over an arm and a leg to scalpers.
CINCINNATI (March 24, 2011) – The Cincinnati Reds have created a “Hide and Tweet” scavenger hunt where clues to locations of Opening Day tickets will be released on the popular social networking web site Twitter on Saturday, March 26 and Sunday, March 27.
The Reds will be giving away four pairs of Opening Day tickets through four different scavenger hunts in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.
Fans can follow the Reds on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/cincinnatireds (@cincinnatireds) to find the street addresses of the clue locations.
The clues will be distributed by a Reds representative at three different retail stores each round and will lead to a final location in the Greater Cincinnati area where a pair of Opening Day tickets have been hidden.
Hide and Tweet #1, North – Saturday, March 26 – First location announced via Twitter at 9am – Second location announced at 11am – Third location announced at 1pm
Hide and Tweet #2, West – Saturday, March 26 – First location announced via Twitter at 2pm – Second location announced at 4pm – Third location announced at 6pm
Hide and Tweet #3, South (Northern Kentucky) – Sunday, March 27 – First location announced via Twitter at 10am – Second location announced at 12pm – Third location announced at 2pm hour.
Hide and Tweet #4, East – Sunday, March 27 – First location announced via Twitter at 3pm – Second location announced at 5pm – Third location announced at 7pm
The winners will be announced immediately on Twitter.
March 25, 2011
The Daily Brief: Who Gets the Last Bench Spot?
By
Amanda
Posted at 6:35 am
Last Game
Yesterday’s game was televised, which made it nice that it lasted extra long, taking 3 and a half hours to complete. Unfortunately, the Cincinnati Reds’ pitching continued to struggle in the thin, dry Arizona air, as they allowed 15 runs and 17 hits. The offense continues to take advantage of the opposing team’s pitching, as well, scoring 13 runs yesterday. It wasn’t quite enough, though. I’m choosing not to worry and focus on how 13 runs will win a majority of times during the regular season.
Next Game
The Reds will try again tomorrow to keep their opponents from reaching double digits when they send Edinson Volquez to the mound against the San Diego Padres. His ERA of 11.57 doesn’t exactly inspire a lot of confidence. The Padres’ starter will be Wade LeBlanc. Game-time is 4:05pm EDT and can be heard on 700 WLW.
Roster Competitions Winding Down
As spring training winds down, every club has to decide which players to choose for the final spot or two on the roster. It’s no different for the Reds. John Fay recently broke down the open spots.
They’ll likely go with 12 pitchers and 13 positions players. That’s eight regulars and a second catcher and four bench players. Miguel Cairo, Edgar Renteria and Chris Heisey will get three of the spots.
That leaves one bench role. Fred Lewis and Jeremy Hermida are the front-runners for it, with Dave Sappelt and Juan Francisco as long-shots. (Sappelt isn’t on the 40-man roster.)
Manager Dusty Baker seems to think it’s between Lewis and Hermida, though.
“It comes down to Hermida and Lewis. Hermida has had a better spring,” Dusty Baker said, “Freddie Lewis is one of the better athletes on the team. He hasn’t really demonstrated what we all feel he is capable of doing. We haven’t decided what the solution is yet.”
Of course, Baker also thinks Francisco is very important.
“You can see the potential and what’s in there. It’s just matter of him — if he can get a good pitch to hit most of the time — he’s going really hit. Most of the time when he’s out, they trick him on bad pitches.”
To increase his versatility, Baker is having Francisco start in the outfield today. We’ll see in a few days if that factors into Baker’s decision
What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Of the 40 players on the Reds’ 40-man roster, 13 of them were drafted or acquired by previous general manager Wayne Krivsky.
March 24, 2011
Beer Goggles
By
Zeldink
Posted at 6:22 am
Clearly, a tall, frosty one impaired Cincinnati Reds outfielder Chris Heisey’s judgment in fielding the ball.