The Latin Love Machines Makes a Case for More Playing Time
By
Amanda
Posted at 11:09 pm
I only caught the last couple innings of the game tonight, but they were the perfect ones to see. The CTS told me that when he tuned in with one out in the top of the first to find the Reds already down 4-0, he settled in to watch Bronson Arroyo get his comeuppance (remember, the CTS was kept up all night by that guy, too), entirely without any expectation of the team we love coming back.
But joy of joys! The Current Reds beat The Former Reds on the strength of a Javier Valentín two run homer in the eighth inning. It wasn't Javy's normal home run swing either. Usually he's all about that barrel chest of his, but this time, he uncoiled from head to toe, like he'd be winding up for that home run for a month.
Which is how long it feels like it's been since we've seen the Latin Love Machine really play. After the podcast last night, Jon and I were discussing how the Reds lack charisma this year. We don't have Felipe Lopez complaining about anything, the Adam Dunn/Austin Kearns interaction, or Rich Aurilia saying too much to the press. Griffey isn't talking and Javy isn't playing. Brandon Phillips is the awesome, but he's mostly a sweet kid who says the right things. Plus I bet people aren't anxious to talk to him lest they be blamed for breaking his hit streak.
Ryan Freel may be the only real character on the roster, and there's really only so long the average person can pay strict attention to Freel. It's like trying to track a fly buzzing around the room.
Long story short, it's good to see some of those old Reds characters again, but even nicer to see the smiling side of the scoreboard for a change.
Go Reds!
Valentin came thru as he seems to have a knack for doing in clutch game winning moments… but the real hero of the day was Hatteberg who kept the game respectable with his early 2 run dinger, and was smacking the ball hard every time up. This guy has really won me over the past couple of years. I know he is not the typical behemoth slugger at 1B but he is a great hitter. If only he could hit left handers equally well, but the platoon situation seems to be working nicely, and our early season fears of Conine seeing playing time in the OF are proving to be unjustified. Really this team has all the ingredients you’d want sans a a couple of nasty boys in the bullpen… BUT Salmon and Burton seem to be getting better with some experience, and Weathers has been great ever since I shredded him a couple of weeks ago. Stanton and Coffey are the weak links right now. Fortunately we have Guardado and Bray in the pipeline so maybe this team can make some noise and get their shit together and string some wins. We all know the Brewers aren’t running away with this thing and the season is still very young.
Has anyone else noticed that LaRue has pretty much lost the starting job to Buck over in KC. Gee, I didn’t see that one comin’. The reality of the catcher position is that it is a shared position for everyone except the most elite catchers like Mauer… and look what happens to mauer, he winds up on the DL yet again. Gone are the days where a guy logs 130+ starts at the catcher position… it is just too strenuous of a position. Javy will get his ABs don’t you fear, RHM… and with a third catcher I think he gets even more ABs as he will play some 1B and do more pinch hitting.