Notice that Scott “Still hasn’t quite gotten” Rolen–he of the .179 OBP–has been replaced in the clean-up spot tonight.

Instead, playing the role of Joey-Votto-shield will be…Brandon Phillips? He of the .231 OBP and ouchie hamstring? That’s sure to put the fear into ’em.

Replacing Phillips in the lead-off spot is Zack Cozart, which is a move I can entirely get behind. Baker can occasionally *do* sensible things; he just can’t ever *say* them. Hopefully the stress doesn’t get to young Cozart. It can be a lot of pressure to be the first guy left on base.

Mat Latos takes the mound for the Reds tonight, looking to bring down that 5.59 ERA. While that number certainly belies the skill of Mat Latos (but not the skill of Matt Belisle), it occurs to me that at this point in the season it’s pretty impressive that it’s almost the highest ERA that the Reds’ pitchers have. Ah, I remember those gaudy Eric Milton days, back when triple digit ERAs to start the season would only cost you a nickel. Nowadays, pitchers can’t even afford both Ts for their names. It’s a crying shame, I tell you!

Can you tell I’ve just woken up from a nap? The verbal meandering is getting entirely out of hand. And so is the Cardinals’ early season hot streak. Let’s see what our Cincinnati boys can do about that tonight.

The following interview with Eric Young, Jr. was purportedly done by 10-year old aspiring reporter, Haley Smilow. Eric Young, Jr. doesn’t have a whole heckuva lot to do with the Cincinnati Reds, but I’m sure not going to pass up an opportunity to lend a couple eyes to a young female journalist, so here ya go. — Amanda

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You might say Eric Young Jr. has baseball in his blood. Growing up he became acquainted with the game early by watching his father, Eric Young Sr., play for the Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, and Cubs, among other teams. Eric Young Jr. (or EY2., as he is known) was a multi-sport athlete in high school, but ultimately decided to pursue baseball. He played one year of college ball at Chandler Gilbert Community College before following in his father’s footsteps and being drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 30th round of the 2003 draft. EY2 steadily worked his way through the minor leagues, posting solid batting averages at every level and catching the eyes of the Rockies’ front office, which resulted in his major league debut in 2009. In 158 career major league games EY2 has posted a line of .246/.324/.295 and spent time playing second base and patrolling the outfield. This year the 26-year old will again look to provide the Rockies with production off the bench.

Reporter Haley Smilow recently had a chance to chat with Eric Young Jr., and discovered his favorite foods, his go-to songs on his iPod, and what it means to him to share so many baseball memories with his father.

At what age did you start playing baseball? And did you eventually end up playing in a travel league?
I started playing at age 7. I played travel league (summer) from ages 9-12

Who was your favorite team growing up? And other than your father, who where some of the players that you looked up to as a kid?
Favorite team growing up was whichever team my dad was on. I was a big Ken Griffey Jr fan growing up.

When you are up to bat what is your theme song?
I’m going with Drake “Headlines” this season, and maybe the Bernie. Still debating on that one.

Do you have a favorite restaurant in Colorado? And what is your favorite food?
I love Tokyo Joe’s. I love teriyaki

Name 5 songs in your Ipod right now that you have on repeat?
Drake-Headlines, Pitbull-International love, TPain-Turn all the lights on, Flo Rida-Good Feeling, Lloyd-Be the One

Do you have any rituals or superstitions before and during a game? Can you give me an example?
I try to eat healthy before a game, usually oatmeal. Music headphones on a bunch.

What do you do during the off-season?
Try to get enough rest before getting back to training, and visit my family members.

Refuse 2 Be Ignored is one of your slogans can explain what it means to you.
It means embrace all/any of your talents. Refuse to ignore what your good at/makes you special to the world in your own right. I just love to encourage people to find what their gift is to the world.

You and your father hold a historical moment with the Rockies organization; can you tell use about it?
We have a few. His opening homerun in Denver, my debut in ’09, our playing against each other in spring training. It’s all been a blessing to our family.

At the 2012 Winter Meetings your name came up in several trade possibilities including the Mets, Tigers and Mariners, if you could play for any team who would it be?
I just want to play and utilize my abilities to my max potential. It doesn’t matter where.

What trade or free agent player signing will have the biggest effect on their teams chances of making it to World Series?
You never know before the season starts. You have to see how the teams gel together when they get new personalities to a team.

Four of the fastest men currently in MLB – EYjr, Brett Gardner, Michael Bourn and Carl Crawford who is the fastest?
You always have to believe in yourself, so I’m saying me. All those names can fly though. I enjoy watching all those other names play the game of baseball.

If you were not playing baseball, what else could you see yourself doing?
I can see myself as a barber.

Any reason for number 1?
Number 1 was my original number when I was 7 years old.

Do you have any other nicknames than Base Burner or EY2?
Lil EY

What was the difference playing winter ball in Hawaii and Venezuela?
Hawaii is a state and Venezuela is another country. The difference in cultures is the biggest difference.

What advice would you give to the young readers?
Find what you’re special at and embrace it. I love to play ball and cut hair…so I’m giving it all I have.

Intro by: Robbie Clark of Yanks Go Yard
Interview by: Haley Smilow

Game time at 8:15 p.m. tonight. I should have realized that, of course, since the Reds are visiting the central time zone, but I didn’t and was surprised not to find the game already started when I turned it on at 7:20. And to think I kicked out those nice Mormon missionaries an hour earlier than I needed to.

Cueto takes on Lohse. Go Reds!

Word around the blogsphere is that Todd Frazier hopped a plane to St. Louis this morning where the Cincinnati Reds are about to take on the Cardinals for the second time already this short season.

As you may recall, Frazier tore it up in spring training but was a last-minute drop from the roster. His spot was taken shortly thereafter by Alfredo Simon, whom the Reds picked up off waivers from the Orioles. Though Simon took the roster spot, it’s sort of hard to really compare the two, since Frazier is an infielder and Simon is a pitcher (or so he claims: early results have not yet confirmed that this theory).

Miguel Cairo has been hurting for a few days, so Frazier might be coming to town to fill in while Cairo does his thing on the DL. Less likely but also possible that Brandon Phillips is the one going on the DL, still being obviously gimpy in the hamstring region after suffering a leg cramp while rounding the bases a few days ago. Least likely of all, Frazier’s just in town to enjoy a lovely bottle of Vignoles. I know it’s a favorite of mine whenever I’m in the area.

Assuming Frazier does take the field during this series, he’ll need to re-discover his spring training fire. He was hitting .291 in spring training but only .231 since opening the season in AAA, probably due largely to being seriously ticked off about what the Reds did to him. The good news is that he already has as many home runs this season as anyone else on the team who isn’t named Jay Bruce, so maybe Cincinnati can finally overcome a little of its power outage.

Ten games into the season, and our Cincinnati Reds are 4-6. Sure, it’s probably a touch early to be going into full-on freak-out mode, but all the condescending “calm down, it’s early” comments somehow have failed to make me revel in the 65 wins we’re currently on pace for.

Though frankly, it’s not the losses that get me–the Cardinals looked crappier than this to start out last year, and look where they ended up–it’s this unshakable sense of deja vu.

“We’re going to hit our way out of this slump, not walk out of it,” said Dusty Baker. Well, there’s a familiarly obtuse comment for a familiarly frustrating situation.

Let’s take a stroll down memory lane to 2011. After a mesmerizing start, the Reds repeatedly found themselves on the short end of the scoreboard. It wasn’t exactly that they weren’t getting the hits. It wasn’t even that they weren’t getting the runs: they scored 735 and allowed only 720. It was just that those hits and run were somehow coming at the wrong times. It was like the whole team came down with a case of Adam Dunn-itis (meaning that they didn’t come through when the team really needed it, not that they were hitting .159 for the year).

It’s baffling because it seems like the team should have all of the pieces. Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Brandon Phillips–hell, even Zack Cozart and Ryan Ludwick–these guys don’t suck. Why does it take Bronson Arroyo knocking in his own runs to get the team on the board?

Strategic walks are certainly a part of it. Votto has been walked (intentionally or otherwise) 10 times in his first 45 plate appearances. Assuming 700 plate appearances, that puts him on pace for 155 this year. That would put him in the top 10 most walked players for a single season.

And given that strategic walks are playing into it, that means that strategic line-up construction is important, too. Again, yes it’s early, but Scott Rolen has all of four hits so far this year. I’m just spitballing here, but perhaps he is not the best protection in the cleanup spot, at least until he’s found his stride, for example.

At the Red Hot Household, the conversation keeps coming back around to the same theme: there are no obvious deficiencies here. It’s not a perfect team, but less perfect teams have gone further. All the raw materials are available, and now they just need to be put together right.

Hopefully the avoidance of walks is enough to do the job.