Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Cubs	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Reds	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	-	1	8	0

Boxscore

The Reds took the game and the series from the Cubs yesterday, but just barely.

Mat Latos was great and finally got a win for his efforts. He put in 7.0+ innings and allowed 0 runs on 4 hits and a walk. One of those hits and the walk were to the first two guys he faced in the eighth, though, so it was a good time to bring in Jonathan Broxton for three quick outs. Aroldis Chapman took over for the ninth and allowed a hit before closing it out for the save.

The pitchers were backed up with some good defense, of course. Those among us who weren’t so sure about Shin-Soo Choo in center field were all ready feel vindicated when the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo did this:

And sent one to deep center field, only to see this:

Which left Rizzo feeling like this:

Rizzo looks like of like Ryan Reynolds when he’s disappointed. In fact, he lined out to Choo 3 times yesterday.

On the other side of the innings, the Reds’ only run came from a 2-out solo shot by Todd Frazier in the sixth inning. Choo went 2-for-4 to drag down his OBP a little. Zack Cozart, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Devin Mesoraco, and Latos also contributed hits that didn’t end up coming to anything. Votto was caught stealing for the first time this season in the first inning. Joey Votto is not paid to get caught stealing.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 13-9. With the same number of wins as the Cardinals and one more loss, the Reds are currently .5 game out of first place. They go to visit the Nationals tonight at 7:05 p.m. Bronson Arroyo (RHP, 2-1, 3.54 ERA) takes on Gio Gonzalez (LHP, 1-1, 5.85 ERA)

With the minor injuries to Zack Cozart and Jonathan Broxton recently, I started thinking about how injury prone the Cincinnati Reds have seemed so far during the 2013 season. So I loaded up a list of all the injured players across Major League Baseball to compare the Reds to their National League Central opponents.

The Milwaukee Brewers have been the unluckiest, with seven players on the disabled list. The Chicago Cubs are next with six, the Reds have five, and the Pittsburgh Pirates have four. That leaves the St. Louis Cardinals as the healthiest team, with just three players on the DL.

The Brewers have been hit the hardest by far, with two players out for the season. Aramis Ramirez, Mark Rogers, and Jeff Bianchi are on pace to be back in the next few weeks, but Corey Hart and Chris Narveson aren’t expected back until May.

None of the Cubs players are listed as being out for the entire season, but they are the Cubs. Historically, no one is as unlucky as them.

That brings us to the Reds. Like the Cubs, no one is out for the year, although at this point it’s easy to wonder if Nick Masset will ever pitch again. He hasn’t pitched since 2011. Ryan Ludwick is the most severely injured and isn’t expected back until the All Star Break. The rest–Sean Marshall, Johnny Cueto, and Ryan Hanigan–are all expected back in May.

The Pirates have been healthy during the season. All of their four players started the season on the DL.

The Cardinals are similar to the Pirates. Two of their three players were placed on the DL during spring training. Those two–Chris Carpenter and Rafeal Furcal–were big potential parts of the team and will be missing the entire season. Jason Motte is the only one to be injured during the season.

Overall, the Reds seem to be in the middle of the pack. Sure, all but one of their disabled players have occurred in the first month of the season. But with the exception of Ryan Ludwick, those injuries appear to be minor and the players are expected back in May. Assuming the rash of injuries stops, then the earliness of the season almost insures that these injuries won’t have a major impact on the team’s overall performance.

Milwaukee Brewers (7)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/20/13	Mark Rogers	SP	Shoulder	15-day DL. Expected to make Double-A rehab start April 23
04/19/13	Taylor Green	1B	Hip	15-day DL. Out for season
04/13/13	Jeff Bianchi	SS	Hip	15-day DL. On Double-A rehab assignment
04/09/13	Chris Narveson	RP	Finger	15-day DL. Out until at least early May
04/08/13	Corey Hart	1B	Knee	60-day DL. Out until at least late May
04/06/13	Aramis Ramirez	3B	Knee	15-day DL. Out until at least mid-April
03/20/13	Mat Gamel	1B	Knee	60-day DL. Out for season

Chicago Cubs (6)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/22/13	Matt Garza	SP	Elbow, lat	15-day DL. Expected to make Double-A rehab start April 24
04/14/13	Steve Clevenger	C	Oblique	60-day DL. Out until at least mid-June
04/13/13	Kyuji Fujikawa	RP	Forearm	15-day DL. Out until at least late April
03/31/13	Scott Baker	SP	Elbow	60-day DL. Out until at least late May
03/27/13	Arodys Vizcaino	RP	Elbow	60-day DL. Out until at least early August
04/14/13	Ian Stewart	3B	Quadriceps	15-day DL. On Triple-A rehab assignment

Cincinnati Reds (5)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/22/13	Sean Marshall	RP	Shoulder	15-day DL. On Triple-A rehab assignment
04/21/13	Ryan Hanigan	C	Thumb	15-day DL. Out until at least early May
04/21/13	Nick Masset	RP	Shoulder	60-day DL. Out until at least late May
04/15/13	Johnny Cueto	SP	Triceps	15-day DL. Out until at least late April
04/15/13	Ryan Ludwick	LF	Shoulder	60-day DL. Out until at least early July

Pittsburgh Pirates (4)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/22/13	Charlie Morton	SP	Elbow	15-day DL. Expected to make Double-A rehab start April 23
04/20/13	Francisco Liriano	SP	Arm	15-day DL. On Double-A rehab assignment
04/10/13	Jeff Karstens	SP	Shoulder	15-day DL. Out until at least mid-April
03/20/13	Chase d’Arnaud	SS	Thumb	60-day DL. Out until at least early June

St. Louis Cardinals (3)

Updated	Player	Pos	Injury	Expected Return
04/12/13	Jason Motte	RP	Elbow	15-day DL. Out until at least early May
03/30/13	Chris Carpenter	SP	Neck, arm	60-day DL. Out for season
03/23/13	Rafael Furcal	SS	Elbow	15-day DL. Out until at least early September

Long gone are the days when the Cincinnati Reds had a rotation of Aaron Harang followed by pray for rain. No, now each day brings with it confidence in whoever the Reds have starting that day. That transformation is due, in large part, to pitching coach Bryan Price.

The Cincinnati Enquirer ran a profile on him over the weekend.

Detailing his accomplishments with the Reds, the article notes that in his first three seasons the Reds ranked seventh, 12th and third in team ERA. Prior to his arrival, the Reds were often seen in the middle of the pack, if not worse. Last year was arguably the team’s best pitching performance in the history of the franchise. In addition to finishing third in team ERA, the team set a record for the total number of strikeouts with 1,248, finished first in the Major Leagues in relief ERA (2.65) and saves (56), first in the NL in opponents’ BA vs relievers (.219) and fourth in the NL in starters’ ERA (3.64). Not to mention none of the starters missing a single regular season start.

Yeah, the guy’s good. But what makes him so effective? What’s his approach

“It’s very similar to what everyone else talks about: Being aggressive, working ahead and staying ahead in the count, composure, preparation and accountability,” he said. “The last one is the hardest. When you don’t succeed, it’s hard to own your own failure and not look for other places to blame.

“That’s real hard. Character is hard to find. We really try to make sure the starters understand their obligation to pitch innings. That’s one thing we’ve impressed upon them wherever we’ve been. Relief guys aren’t supposed to be in 80 games a year. And when they are, it’s because the starting rotation isn’t getting the job done.”

Homer Bailey has high praise for Price, crediting him with not only finding problems but having plans on fixing the problem. And given Bailey’s rough time at the beginning of his tenure as a Red, that’s saying something. Bailey seemed close to un-coachable his first couple years. That’s changed, and everybody’s happy with Bailey’s improvement.

And to think, the team was close to losing him. Lest you forget, in the off-season Price was considering interviewing for the Miami Marlins job. Given the ineptitude of the Marlins team that just lost 3 of 4 to Cincinnati–and were very close to being swept–I have to think Price feels he made the right choice.

I know I’m happy he signed that extension. As awesome as Shin-Soo Choo has been in this first month of the season, retaining Price as the pitching coach is the most important move the Reds made during the off-season.