Yearly Archives: 2012

June 13, 2012

Daily Brief: Even the flu can’t stop Votto

By
Amanda
Posted at 8:03 am

Last Game
The Reds drew first blood in the Battle for Ohio last night, beating the Indians 1-7. Johnny Cueto threw a complete game in 122 pitches. Hopefully that doesn’t wear him out for next time.

Next Game
The war wages on tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Great American Ball Park. Mike Leake is sick, so Mat Latos (4-2, 4.85 ERA) will take the mound for the Reds and defend against Derek Lowe (7-4 3.72 ERA). Seven wins already is kind of intimidating, but Lowe is coming off a rough outing against the Tigers on Thursday.

The Dreaded Flu-Like Symptoms
It happens every year: someone on the team picks up some Martian Death Virus somewhere, and it spreads like wildfire through the clubhouse. The insistence on being all vague and calling it “flu-like symptoms” gives it a particularly menacing feel.

Several of the Reds, including Mike Leake, Zack Cozart, and Joey Votto, all have the Martian Death Virus this time around. The medical staff has them jammed full of IVs, because apparently their mouths stopped working for the intake of fluids. Must be one of the “symptoms.”

The flu-like symptoms didn’t stop Joey Votto from hitting a home run and bringing in 3 RBI last night.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
At least 1 home run has been hit in each of the last 56 games at Great American Ball Park. The last homer-less game was in July 2011.

Posted in Daily Briefs.
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June 12, 2012

Reds sign number one pick Nick Travieso

By
Zeldink
Posted at 4:19 pm

The news is breaking that the Cincinnati Reds have signed their first round draft pick of the 2012 draft, Nick Travieso.

The Florida high school right-hander, who was ranked No. 32 on MLB.com’s Draft Top 100 prior to the Draft, will sign for $2 million. That is below the assigned value for the pick, $2.375 million.

The news comes from the MLB Pro Blog: Big, Bald, and Beautiful. If the information is as reputable as the blog title’s description of the author, then tomorrow, we can expect an official announcement about Travieso’s signing.

Posted in Cincinnati Reds, NL Central, Wheeling and Dealing.
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June 12, 2012

#VoteVotto surpasses 2 million All-Star votes

By
Amanda
Posted at 4:05 pm

Major League Baseball has again released the current count of votes for the All-Star Game, and not a whole lot has changed since last week. Joey Votto is still running away with the start at first; in fact, he’s extended his lead. He’s now got 2.5 times as many votes and the second-place vote getter Lance Berkman of the Cardinals.

Frankly, that kind of sucks. Joey Votto was the best National League first baseman before and couldn’t get voted in. Now suddenly there’s a vacuum of NL 1Bers and the field is so thin the second place guy isn’t even actively playing. Votto deserves to have beaten real competition for this honor. I hope he has 10 times the number of votes of second place when this is all done.

Brandon Phillips remains in second place behind Dan Uggla of the Braves, and he’s lost a little bit of ground in that titanic struggle. Jay Bruce has lost quite a bit of ground in the outfielder contest, dropping from ninth to fourteenth.

A bright spot in the position changes this time around: Buster Posey of the Giants has overtaken that punk Yadier Molina of the Cardinals. If you haven’t cast your votes yet, why not consider Posey? Sure, it’s ideal to vote for a Red, but I think I might make an exception in this case. Surely Ryan Hanigan will understand.

You can vote up to 25 times per email address by going to the MLB website.

Tallies as of June 12, 2012:

FIRST BASE

  • Joey Votto, Reds: 2,108,725
  • Lance Berkman, Cardinals: 851,373
  • Freddie Freeman, Braves: 828,759
  • Brandon Belt, Giants: 563,708
  • Bryan LaHair, Cubs: 514,809

SECOND BASE

  • Dan Uggla, Braves: 1,341,088
  • Brandon Phillips, Reds: 885,250
  • Omar Infante, Marlins: 737,715
  • Jose Altuve, Astros: 700,640
  • Rickie Weeks, Brewers: 642,184

CATCHER

  • Buster Posey, Giants: 1,713,839
  • Yadier Molina, Cardinals: 1,576,199
  • Carlos Ruiz, Phillies: 1,191,194
  • Brian McCann, Braves: 1,012,743
  • Jonathan Lucroy, Brewers: 588,710

OUTFIELD

  • Matt Kemp, Dodgers: 2,589,464
  • Carlos Beltran, Cardinals: 1,782,831
  • Ryan Braun, Brewers: 1,553,356
  • Melky Cabrera, Giants: 1,357,461
  • Andre Ethier, Dodgers: 1,142,312
  • Matt Holliday, Cardinals: 951,652
  • Hunter Pence, Phillies: 861,555
  • Michael Bourn, Braves: 768,049
  • Shane Victorino, Phillies: 733,310
  • Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies: 728,903
  • Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: 728,522
  • Angel Pagan, Giants: 722,820
  • Jason Heyward, Braves: 717,121
  • Jay Bruce, Reds: 655,098
  • Martin Prado, Braves: 560,943

To see the tallies for the other positions, you can go to this story on MLB.com and scroll all the way to the bottom.

Posted in Vote Votto.
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June 12, 2012

Rochester Red Wings 0, Indianapolis Indians 16

By
Amanda
Posted at 7:50 am

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Red Wings000000000041
Indians06101260-16171
W: Wilson (5-4) L: Maloney (0-2)

Boxscore

Since 75% of major league baseball was taking the night off last night, and since Mondays are dollar menu night at Victory Field, I used the opportunity to support my local Indianapolis Indians.

Scoreboard at Victory FieldJustin Wilson started the night for the Indians. In 7.0 innings, he allowed 0 runs on 4 hits and no walks. He recorded 6 strike-outs. Evan Meek took on the other 2.0 innings and allowed 0 runs on 0 hits. He struck out 1.

On the offensive side, 12 different guys scored runs. These 8 guys had the RBI:

  • Gorkys Hernandez
  • Eric Fryer
  • Starling Marte, 2
  • Jose Morales, 3
  • Yamaico Navarro, 3
  • Brandon Boggs, 2
  • Jeff Larish
  • Tony Sanchez

This was the largest every shutout in Victory Field history, but lest you think it was a fluke, know the Indians had beaten the Red Wings 8-1 on Sunday. Looks like the Pirates either have some good talent on the way, or the Twins have a shallow farm system. In fact, it’s probably both, but watch out for the Pirates in the next few years.

The win brings the Indians’ record to 37-27. They lead the International League West by 7 games. Tonight they go for the sweep; first pitch is at 7:05 p.m. It’s Two-for-Tuesday night: get two tickets for the price of one with a ticket from any area McAlister’s Deli location

Updated at 10:40 a.m. to correct the affiliation of the Red Wings from Washington Nationals to Minnesota Twins. Thanks to our unofficial fact checker, @melmgoodwin.

Posted in Game Wrap.
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June 12, 2012

Daily Brief: Valverde is just spitballing

By
Amanda
Posted at 7:09 am

Last Game
The Reds (and 21 other teams) had an off-day yesterday. For the Reds, it was their third day off in the last two weeks. It’s like watching baseball in France.

The Red Hot Family used the off-day to catch our local AAA team, the Indianapolis Indians (a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate). The Indians utterly spanked the Rochester Red Wings (a Minnesota Twins affiliate), 0-16.

Next Game
Tonight the Reds play host to their “in-state rival,” the Cleveland Indians. Johnny Cueto (6-3, 2.63 ERA) takes the mound against Jeanmar Gomez (4-4, 4.97 ERA). First pitch at 7:10 p.m.

Much Ado About Spit
Video footage from Sunday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers provides compelling evidence that the Tiger’s closer, Jose Valverde, was blowing big ol’ nasty blobs of spit into his mitt, presumably for the purpose of throwing spittballs.

Now, it is obvious that the Reds lost this ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game because the bullpen blew a 4-run lead. The bullpen was aided and abetted in its sub-par work by a manager who reverted to his micromanaging ways and a home plate umpire who thought the strike zone started 6 inches above the ground, but ultimately, if the Reds’ bullpen had done its job, the Tigers’ bullpen would have been pitching from behind.

So, no excuses, but shame on you anyway, Valverde. That’s not only cheating, but completely disgusting. How would you like it if I spit on something and then threw it at you? Sicko.

What to Say to Sound Smart at the Water Cooler
Even after Aroldis Chapman’s two bad outings, he still has a 0.87 ERA and has struck out 55 in 31 innings. He may have set everyone’s expectations too high before, but it’s still disconcerting that he got so bad so suddenly. If he has a third bad outing in a row, they need to get that guy an MRI.

Posted in Daily Briefs.
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