Boxscore

Ouch. Make the losing stop!

Listen, I know it’s early and everything, but I’m tired of the losing. Remember when the team started out by winning their first 5 games? Remember how they seemed like an unstoppable juggernaut, hell-bent on storming back to the postseason? Yeah, that was awesome. I want that team back. I want that confidence and determination back. For the last few games, it’s been nothing but a faint memory.

The Cincinnati Reds lost again tonight. The return of Brandon Phillips to the lineup helped, as he drove in a run, but it wasn’t quite enough to overcome the lackluster pitching. Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto can’t return from the disabled list soon enough.

Sam LeCure started and at least did better than any of staff ace Edinson Volquez’s starts. So there’s that. And LeCure also blew the pants off Travis Wood’s last start. LeCure went 5 1/3 innings and allowed 5 earned runs. It’s so messed up to think that’s an improvement.

Still, the season is long, and the Reds will bounce back. Hopefully soon. This team isn’t fun to watch right now.

Now, if you follow baseball, you see your share of arrests. Not as many as if you follow football, but nary a season goes by when someone isn’t booked on a DUI. You even hear your occasional domestic violence or attempted rape charge. But this is the first time I can remember someone being arrested for shoplifting.

The Cincinnati Enquirer is reporting that pitcher Mike Leake was booked on a charge of theft today around 2 p.m:

Leake, of Ludlow, was arrested after Macy’s department store loss prevention employees stopped the Reds pitcher today after they say he took $59.88 in property from the store.

Police said the incident was caught on security cameras at the Downtown Macy’s.

The theft is listed as a misdemeanor. Cincinnati police didn’t immediately respond to e-mails asking for more information about Leake’s arrest.

If found guilty, the charge could mean as much as 180 days in jail. But who knows if he’s guilty. They aren’t giving any details yet, and for all we know he might have accidentally walked out with something. I know I’ve almost done it.

Despite the mugshot, the story does not say Leake was stoned at the time.

During the last week, I was away for several days on a business trip and lost touch with the Cincinnati Reds a bit. Well, I didn’t lose touch with how they fared–smart phones make sure you can always know the score–but I did lose track of all the injured players. So here’s my rundown with all of them, including an update on their recovery status.

First, the guys who are still with the team.

• Aroldis Chapman – Chapman was taken out of a game early after his fastball was topping out in the low-to-mid 90s. That’s definitely cause for concern, but the team thinks it’s just a combination of being used in 4 out of 5 games and a little bit of shoulder inflammation. Chapman hasn’t appeared in the last 4 games, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him reappear to face just a batter or two soon.
• Juan Francisco – Francisco left Saturday’s game early after pulling up with a leg cramp after a basehit in the 8th. Well, that’s what it appeared at first. When he still was limping today, the club realized it was more than a cramp. That’s the extent of the information on his injury.
• Brandon Phillips – Phillips missed his third consecutive start on Sunday due to a groin injury. Despite stating he’s unavailable, the Reds and manager Dusty Baker have stated that Phillips won’t be placed on the disabled list. “He’s getting better. We don’t have to rush him back,” Baker said. “We don’t think we have to DL him, either. This (cold) weather isn’t helping.” Baker has always shown a preference for being safer than sorry with day-to-day injuries, and it’s hard to fault him for doing that with Phillips here in April.

So currently there are 3 people on the Reds’ Major League active roster that aren’t able to be used. Nothing like being short-handed. No wonder they’ve struggled so much with the Pittsburgh Pirates. When will reinforcements arrive?

• Jose Arredondo – The reliever was placed on the 15-day disabled list at the end of Spring Training. He’s currently rehabbing in AA and allowed 1 earned run in 1 2/3 innings pitched Sunday.
• Homer Bailey – Bailey started for the Louisville Bats Sunday and was very sharp. It took him 62 pitches to go 5 shutout innings. He struck out 2 and walked one. He’s ahead of fellow injured starter Cueto in his rehab, so Bailey’s likely to return to the Reds’ rotation first, but it probably won’t be until late April.
• Jared Burton – Burton had his first throwing session since being shutdown with shoulder inflammation. The oft-injured reliever will be needing a rehab assignment once he’s healthy enough to throw.
• Johnny Cueto – Cueto started for the Bats Saturday night. He last 3 1/3 innings, allowing 2 hist, 2 runs (1 earned), 2 walks, and 4 strike-outs. But the most important bit from that outing is this quote from Cueto himself, “I feel good, no pain.” Cueto will start at least twice more for the Bats to get his pitch count up before being ready to be activated. Late April is the target time.
• Fred Lewis – Lewis is currently on rehab assignment with the AA team, too. He went 1-4 with a double on Sunday. He’s on track for a late April activation, too.

So there you go. The Reds are fairly banged up, with 3 guys on the 25-man not available the last few games, and 5 guys on the disabled list that could certainly help the team–Bailey and Cueto especially. Late April seems to be the vague projected magic date that these guys will start being activated. I’m confident the Reds will still be in contention by then; I just hope no other injuries will have happened.

It’s 2011 Reds Team Baseball Card Set day (presented by Thompson Plumbing, Heating and Cooling), for all your Reds commemorating enjoyment.

You can add them to your pristine collection of unopened team cards sets, or, if your family is more like mine, you can find them all around the house after they are incorporated into your son’s imaginary game where the Paul Janish card teams up with the Drew Stubbs card to defeat the diabolical Bakugan on the Lego train.

If you closely at this picture, you’ll notice that they’re lying down like that to show off the shiny foil background. There are four of these super-special cards in the pack: three gold ones for the gold-glovers and one silver one for the MVP.

Why does a gold glove get you a gold card while the MVP only gets you silver? Probably because “gold” is in the name of the “gold glove” and so it would be weird the other way. If it helps, you can think of the silver as representing diamond. And not the lab-created ones; the ones people die for. Or platinum. Platinum is probably better.

Either way, it’s much easier to get the cards than any of those other precious materials. Just be one of the first 30,000 through the door to see the Reds take on the Pirates and get yours. Edinson Volquez is supposed to be back in action.

I saw this article about Joey Votto linked to earlier this week from Redleg Nation, and it’s the stuff that myths and tall tales are made of.

For starters, there’s the story about him asking for a pair of new batting gloves from the coach of his youth team, the Canadian Thunderbirds, every other day. They were free, but the constant need for new ones was suspicious. But young Votto wasn’t doing anything sly like selling them for cash. No, it wasn’t that. But the coach didn’t believe his answer.

So the two struck a deal. Every time Votto felt he needed a new pair, he had to trade his old ones in to prove it.

Not long after, the kid showed up ready for the first exchange. The pair he’d been given just a day or two before had holes in the palms. And blood stains all over them.

“They were from broken blisters,” Oswald says.

Votto swung the bat. A lot.

Also, don’t miss the story about Votto’s mighty throwing arm and the ball a teammate missed catching, and the time Votto eschewed metal bats and proved how his burgeoning awesomeness to a persistent scout.

I know it’s hard to predict the success of baseball players, but Votto’s intense focus has always been present. And I think all his practice might pay off soon.