Get Well Soon, Dunner
By
Amanda
Posted at 9:48 pm
According to Reds.com, Adam Dunn did not appear in today's game today after he was scratched due to back spasms. I guess that's the downside to playing hard. It sucks because Dunn's been a serious bright spot on what's proven to be a somewhat anemic offense so far. About the only worse thing that could happen would be if Jeff Conine was out.
Meanwhile, Josh Hamilton got to take Dunn's place, which is exactly what he's supposed to do as the back-up outfielder. That kid continues to meet expectations. It's a little nerve-wracking to me that we're down to zero back-up outfielders as long as Dunn is out, especially when two of those outfielders are notoriously injury prone and the other is still an unknown quantity. If Dunn's going to be out for any length of time at all, they'd best get him on the DL lest we're looking at Chad Moeller in the outfield.
Speaking of, how do you like this comment about Moeller and David Ross from the same Reds Notebook on Reds.com:
Reds manager Jerry Narron would eventually like to give third catcher Chad Moeller a start. But that is taking a backseat until the primary catcher, David Ross, snaps out of his offensive funk.
Narron is continuing to play Ross, who has not looked good at the plate.
“We're doing everything we can to get David Ross on track here and swinging the bat,” Narron said. “It's not going to happen for him sitting on the bench.”
Genius: do the OPPOSITE of playing who's hot! BTW, I'm real close to starting in on the I-Told-You-Sos about trading Ross in at the deadline last year, so you'll have that to look forward to.
I must say, when Freel fouled a ball off his leg and was on the ground in agony, I wondered what they’d do if he was injured.
But they have Conine. They could have moved him to LF and Hamilton to CF.
Ross is a bit worrisome. Looking at his career stats, he’s extremely streaky. If this is a “down” year for him, the Reds could be in trouble. They could use some right-handed hitting.
Conine could grab left field for a few innings.
So could Castro, who played out there once with the Dodgers in 1996 and recorded a couple of putouts.
And finally, if push were to come to shove, there’s Coutlangus. He could probably borrow somebody’s glove and work an inning or two in left. Before the Giants converted him to a pitcher, he was originally signed out of college by the Brewers as (wait for it) an outfielder.
But yeah, let’s hope Dunn is back out there real soon. Just the fact that Conine has been the Reds’ biggest offensive threat after Dunn tells you how much the Reds need Adam out there.
Hey, how ’bout them Cubbies? The $300 Million Team is already mired in last place in the NL Central. Which, come to think of it, is precisely where they were at the end of last season. Like C. Trent said in spring training, same ol’ Cubs.
More good news for the Reds: Houston got rained out in Philly on Sunday.
Why is that good news for the Reds? Because according to the probable pitchers posted on Yahoo’s “Scores & Schedule” pages, it made Garner back up his rotation by a game so that historic thorn-in-the-side-of-the-Reds Roy Oswalt won’t pitch in Cincinnati in the two-game series on Wednesday and Thursday. Instead they’ll pitch Chris Sampson on Wednesday and Woody (0-2, 5.63) Williams instead of Oswalt on Thursday. Pretty cool, huh?
The Brew Crew’s scheduled starter against the Reds on Monday is Chris Capuano, who is 1-3, 6.30 in five career starts against the Reds. On Tuesday, it’s Dave Bush, who is 1-1, 6.55 in four career starts against the Reds. Which probably means they’ll throw back-to-back no-hitters against the Reds. Baseball’s funny that way.
But they can’t now because I just jinxed them…I hope.
HMZ
Say what you will about Ross, but he is calling a good game. Our pitchers ERAs have all improved with Ross behind the plate. he is a smart guy, and maybe that is detrimental to batting because right now he is thinking too much at-bat. LaRue simply could not manage a pitching staff. Handling a pitcher is a huge variable that needs to be considered. Did you notice Ross jog out to the mound and settle Lohse down in the 2nd inning (or maybe it was the 3rd) when he started to get himself into trouble. He talked him down and they coasted from there.
His offense will come around eventually. he has power. Maybe he won’t hit for average but he’ll start popping some long balls. At worst we platoon him with Valentin and its no big deal. He is a number 8 batter. I’d rather him call a good game and handle the pitchers than provide big offense in the number 8 slot. The team is winning and the pitching staff is the best the Reds have ever had so far… why complain?
Also, I am thinking the Reds might be wise to lock up Lohse while he is still affordable. He looked like a throughbred yesterday. We should also sign Santos for cheap as well.
I believe you’ve made that claim about Ross before but failed to provide numbers. Harang isn’t doing better with Ross behind the plate, nor is Milton. No one else has seen much of anyone else.
I’d be more likely to give credit for the pitching to Dick Pole.