Jay Bruce has been the brightest spot for the Cincinnati Reds during a tough stretch in the month of May. And his outstanding offensive showing has been awarded.

Cincinnati Reds right fielder Jay Bruce has been named the National League Player of the Week for the period of May 23-29, 2011. The announcement was made earlier today on MLB Network.

The Reds slugger led the Majors with 13 RBI and 25 total bases, and was tied for first with four home runs last week while hitting .353 (12-for-34) in seven games. His 12 hits ranked second among National Leaguers while his .735 slugging percentage was fifth and his six runs scored were sixth-best. The 24-year-old Texan had four multi-hit games on the week, including two three-hit performances. On Monday, May 23rd, Bruce went 3-for-4 and provided Cincinnati its only offense with a three-run homer in a 10-3 loss at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. On May 25th, the 2005 first round pick (12th overall by the Reds) in the First-Year Player Draft went 3-for-8 with a home run while driving in three runs as the Reds dropped a 19- inning marathon to the Phillies, 5-4. The next day, Bruce went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI as the Reds dropped the third game of their four-game set in Philadelphia, 10-4. The left-handed hitting Bruce homered again on May 29th, going 2-for-3 with a solo shot as the Braves edged the Reds, 2-1 at Turner Field in Atlanta. Jay’s week continued a torrid month of May in which he now has 12 homers and 32 RBI. His 31 homers since August 2010 are tops in the National League. This is his second career weekly award, having previously won for the week of October 3, 2010.

Other noteworthy performances last week included Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun (.529, 9 H, 7 R), right fielder Corey Hart (.400, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 1.200 SLG) and right-handed pitcher Yovani Gallardo (2-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP, 14 SO); Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Raul Ibañez (.303, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 7 R, 10 H); outfielder John Jay (.444, HR, 12 H, 5 R, .444 OBP) and right-handed pitcher Kyle Lohse (2-0, 1.93, 14.0 IP, 11 SO) of the St. Louis Cardinals; Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann (.500, 2 HR, .938 SLG) and right-handed pitcher Jair Jurrjens (2-0, 0.57 ERA, 15.2 IP, 9 SO); Washington Nationals outfielder Mike Morse (.375, 4 HR, 10 RBI, .958 SLG); New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes (.519, 14 H, 8 R, .536 OBP, 2 SB); San Francisco Giants second baseman Freddy Sanchez (.440, 11 H, .462 OBP); right-handed pitcher Ryan Dempster (2- 0, 2.08 ERA, 13.0 IP, 10 SO) of the Chicago Cubs; left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw (1-0, 0.60 ERA, 15.0 IP, 17 SO) of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Arizona Diamondbacks reliever J.J. Putz (0.00 ERA, 4.0 IP, 4 SV); and Florida Marlins right-handed starter Anibal Sanchez (1-0, 0.00 ERA, CG, SHO, 8 SO).

The National League Player of the Week, Jay Bruce, will be awarded a watch courtesy of Game Time, the leader in licensed sports watches, available at MLB.com.

Enjoy that watch, Jay! And I hope you’ll have a player of the month award to add to the collection soon.

It’s happened again. The Cincinnati Reds have sent Edinson Volquez back to the minors.

Last year, after returning from Tommy John surgery, Volquez struggled with his command and was eventually sent down to the minors to sort things out. This year is very similar to last year, although this year’s frustrations seem to be isolated primarily to the first inning. And while I prefer my idea of just having a reliever pitch the first inning and having Volquez “relieve” in the second, I guess sending him down to AAA Louisville might help, too.

The Reds made some other moves, too.

Today the Reds recalled from Louisville IF/OF Todd Frazier (#21) and LHP Matt Maloney (#56) and optioned to Louisville RHP Jordan Smith and RHP Edinson Volquez.

Frazier will be making his major league debut when he first makes an appearance.

How did Volquez take his demotion after failing to get through 3 innings in his last start?

“He took it like a man,” Baker said. “[H]e needs to go down there and get himself right. That’s why we’re doing it. It’s going to be hard to go all the way and win, if we don’t have him, a sharp Volquez. This is a temporary setback. Sometimes in this game or life period, you’ve got to take a step back to go two or three steps forward. It’s tough to take that step back. The time is now. You still got 3 1/2 months when he comes back. There are a lot of ballgames left.

There is a lot of time left, and the Reds do need their number one pitcher. But with this move and the way they’ve played recently, my confidence in their ability to repeat as NL Central champs is shaken. They’re making the road harder for themselves.

And not just a quick rinse like Mr. Redlegs, but the full 15 seconds. Pay attention kids: that’s how you avoid the dreaded flu-like symptoms.

Yesterday’s titanic struggle against the Chicago Cubs was game 34 of the 2011 season for the Reds, and the team’s 18th win. It was also the first game of the season in which Joey Votto started but did not get on base during the whole game. The on-base streak had been the matter of some discussion, as Votto was coming up on the Consecutive Games of Getting On Base to Start the Season, set at 34 by Dave Collins in 1981.

In fact, Votto didn’t have a particularly good series in Chicago at all this time around. He was 1-for-9 with 3 walks in the series, which is a far cry from the .333 he’s averaging and the .464 he’s on-basing so far this season. It seems a little too Griffey-ish to blame the down series on worry over the streak. More likely the Wrigley batter’s eye is painted just the wrong shade of black or something like that. But if there was any pressure from the streak having an effect on his performance, then I’m super-excited to see what he’s going to do now that it’s broken.

When I start up my work computer in the morning, Yahoo! instant messenger starts up too, and presents to me a list of top news stories. It’s just like scanning the morning paper, if your morning paper contains exclusively tips for becoming a millionaire by age 40 and gossip about who wore the same dress on the red carpet.

It’s like a big, fat jelly doughnut for your brain: no nutrients, but enough sugar to provide a nice little jump start.

The occasional sports blog is referenced in this list, and I was surprised yesterday to see Brandon Phillips’ smiling mug accompanying one of the stories. It was a post on Big League Stew: a Y! sports blog, which I think I’ve already linked to once before, and probably will again. It’s only fair to share the brain candy, since there’s plenty to go around.

This particular blog was all about Phillip’s between-the-legs dish on Tuesday night. I didn’t get to see it myself, being in class that night, but I could picture it in my mind:

On a slow roller hit by Houston’s Jason Bourgeois(notes) in the third inning Tuesday night, Phillips had neither the time nor the proper angle to make a conventional defensive play to retire the speedy baserunner at first base.

So, running toward home at full speed from his position at second, Phillips bent down, barehanded Bourgeois’ grounder and quickly flipped the ball between his legs — near his ankles — for the out at first base.

This is getting to be a habit. BP referenced a “better” play in San Diego in a tweet, and the Reds were posting today’s behind-the-back-while-lying-on-his-belly toss on Facebook before the game was even over.

I think I missed all three of these plays, between school and work and the stupidness of day games. Hopefully he’ll keep it up, though, so I can catch some of this awesomeness in the near future.