John Fay and Lance McAlister both touched on the Cuban missile crisis that is Aroldis Chapman right now in posts today.

First up, McAlister posted these stats attesting to Chapman’s recent innefectiveness.

April 30: K, BB, WP, BB, BB, 2B, K, K
May 5: BB, BB, 1B
May 10: BB, HBP, BB, BB
He’s faced 14 batters with 11 getting on base.
He has not retired any of the 7 batters faced in his last two appearances.
He’s thrown 69 pitches with only 28 for strikes.
Total: 1.0 inning, 2 H, 8 BB, 3 K, 6 ER, WP, HBP

Clearly, that’s not getting it done. I mean, Chapman came in with a 7-0 lead against the Astros and had to be removed because there was a chance he’d blow the game. What’s going on? He was so dominant early in the year.

Fay reports that manager Dusty Baker’s not worried.

“Chapman struggling some to find the plate,” Dusty Baker said. “We’ve got to find a way to get his mechanics back in the sync. He’s throwing the ball great. It’s a matter of throwing strikes.”

Baker said Chapman will not be sent to minors to get straightened out.

Well, that’s an odd response. How can someone who has bad mechanics and isn’t throwing strikes be “throwing the ball great”? And what’s wrong with sending him to the minors to sort things out. The Reds aren’t AAA. It’s not a place to teach people.

The bullpen is a bit of a mess right now, with pitchers in roles they don’t belong in. Chapman, in particular.

Chapman needs to be pitching every 5th day in the Louisville rotation. He’s very uneven still and needs a lot of work at repeating his delivery. Plus, he’d make a much better starter than a reliever.

And speaking of starters, what exactly was Mike Leake doing pitching the 9th inning today? He’s a starter with one year of professional baseball on his resume. He’s never relieved at this level like that. It would make far more sense for Leake to also be in the minors pitching in the Louisville rotation. Jose Arredondo needs to be activated from the disabled list.

Have him replace Leake and let Leake get back to working on being a more consistent starter. And do the same for Chapman. I don’t want the big league club losing games they would have won because of people learning on the job.

Boxscore

Walks Will Haunt!

The Cincinnati Reds failed to sweep the Houston Astros in their 3-game series finale this afternoon. Despite the team scoring just 3 runs, this loss wasn’t really the offense’s fault.

No, the blame can easily be laid at the feet of “ace” starter Edinson Volquez, who was wild in his 4 inning start. Yes, I said 4 innings. In that wholly inadequate length of time for a start, Volquez walked 5 and allowed 3 runs.

The loss actually ended up being blamed on Mike Leake, though. For some bizarre reason, he was pitching in relief in the 9th inning of a tied ball game. You know, the role he’s been training for his whole professional life. A walk was his undoing, as well, as he walked J. R. Towles who later scored the winning run.

The Reds were losing early, but the offense did manage to make it close again. They scored one run in the 4th, and then tied it in the 7th thanks to back-to-back home runs from Chris Heisey and Drew Stubbs.

Try “Smoked Cardinal” during the St. Louis series

CINCINNATI (May 10, 2011) – The grand opening of Great American Ball Park’s newest themed dining destination Mr. Red’s Smokehouse is scheduled for Friday, May 13 when the Reds play the St. Louis Cardinals.

Mr. Red’s Smokehouse will serve savory smoked meats such as beef ribs, turkey legs, chicken wings and pulled pork sandwiches along with corn on the cob, macaroni & cheese and creamy coleslaw.

Inspired by barbecue shacks throughout the country, Mr. Red’s Smokehouse has been constructed from repurposed and locally-sourced materials such as rough-cut oak barn siding, reused industrial lumber logs and salvaged steel support columns.

Just like back in the day when smokehouses were made from whatever materials were available, Mr. Red’s Smokehouse keeps that authentic feel with a bar made of polished concrete set on strapped wood barrels and beer kegs on ice in a bath tub salvaged from a renovated Over-The-Rhine building.

Located at the end of the first base concourse overlooking the Ohio River, fans can enjoy the smoked meats at high-top wooden tables or belly-up to the bar and enjoy a cold beer.

Menu
Representatives from the Reds and Delaware North-Sportservice researched the best smoking techniques and adapted the best recipes from the region to develop the menu.

The menu offerings at Mr. Red’s Smokehouse include:

• Smoked Beef Ribs
• Smoked Turkey Legs
• Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich
• Smoked Chicken Wings
• Corn on the Cob
• Macaroni & Cheese
• Creamy Coleslaw
• Domestic and craft beers

Rotating Menu Items such as “Smoked Cardinal”
New menu items will be featured each homestand tied to a visiting team and its regional cuisine beginning this Friday with the addition of Smoked Quail to the menu, being playfully named “Smoked Cardinal.”

Day two of training for the big Blog Jog, and we did better than yesterday, but it’s still hard to imagine how I’m going to get to running for 30 minutes straight when I’m huffing and puffing after 60 seconds. Hopefully 32 more days will be long enough that I can put in a good showing.

Whether I make it through the whole Redlegs Run running or not, I’ll enjoy the Blog Jog events. There’s supposed to be a pre-race gathering at the ball park, where there will be prizes for the best outfits, and pictures of everyone for all the blogs. Sounds like there will be a gathering after the event, too, but whether there’s an official event or not, you can bet your booty I’ll be celebrating.

If you’d like to join in the fun, log on to http://reds.com/5k to sign up for the Redlegs Run, then email blogjog@reds.com to RSVP to the Blog Jog proper. You have to pay to be in the run, but you don’t have to pay any extra to hang around with the blogging goofballs.