The Reds have made so many moves lately, it's hard to keep track even with a scorecard. So here's a overview of the past week's roster moves…

Something wicked this way comes…

June 2: Bobby Livingston sent back to Louisville, Marcus McBeth called up.

So long, and thanks for all the fish…

June 4: Brad Salmon sent to Louisville, Dewayne Wise DFA'd. (Wise was DFA'd to get him off the 40-man roster, not because they want to get rid of him. He cleared waivers and is back in Louisville, but is on the DL. Hamstring, I think.)

A cup of coffee for Coffey…

June 5: Josh Hamilton activated off the DL, Todd Coffey called up from Louisville.

Headin' down the highway…

June 7: Brian Shackelford cleared waivers and was outrighted to Louisville. Again, this was basically to get him off the Reds' 40-man roster. The Reds could put him on the 40-man and call him up again…but I suspect they won't. I read this as meaning they don't see Shackelford as part of their future. I expect Love Shack to leave the Reds organization as a minor league free agent at the end of the season.

This move is especially interesting because it wasn't necessary. They have 39 players on the 40-man roster now, and didn't have to expose Shack to waivers. This suggests they need the roster space for someone else.

One Coffey to go….

June 8: Homer Bailey called up, Coffey sent back down. Don't want to get too excited after only one start, but I think now that he's up with the big club, he'll stay there.

So, that still leaves that one empty spot on the 40-man. Perhaps they are saving it for the other PTBNL in the Deno trade. Or could another trade be in the works?

Dunn and gone?

The talking heads at ESPN last night thought the Reds would trade either Dunn or Griffey. Today, the pundits and even Red Reporter think it will be Dunn.

But…if Dunn is traded, that leaves a rather large hole in the outfield. It doesn't look like Freel is coming back any time soon. Norris Hopper is a good bat off the bench, but I don't see him as a starting outfielder.

(And no, this is not a plug for Bubba Crosby. Bubba's still on the DL, and not expected back until the end of July. He's DHing in extended spring training games in Sarasota, but they're worried about his throwing mechanics. Sigh. Next time, Sparky, tell them when you're injured. Don't try to play through it. You screw up your mechanics that way, and worse.)

The Bats have had a lot of roster action, too. They released infielder Earl Snyder, who has struggled all season. Infielder/outfielder Jeff Bannon, a possible sub for Freel, has been on the DL, off it, back on it, and back off it. As mentioned previously, Wise is on the DL, as is Bubba. They're kind of hurting for OFers.

Most interesting, though, are two players coming in this week on rehab assignments. Eddie Guardado is supposed to join the Bats today, and Elizardo Ramirez is supposed to start for them tomorrow. Maybe that 40th roster spot is for one of them?

I did this for last year's draft, so I'll try to do it again this year, as well.

What players will Kriv-dawg pick this year? Will he grab a college reliever at the expense of offense? Or will he pick up a highly prized gloveman at the expense of the offense?

Today's the day when we get to see the Reds GM take a break from screwing up the team's present by screwing up the team's future.

For your consideration, I submit this headline about a game between the Angels and Royals:

Royals To Get A Taste Of Angels' Colon

And I thought the short-lived Reds one about Narron looking for Hustlers was funny.:D

The Reds have historically had problems with no-name pitchers or pitchers they haven’t seen a lot of. The term that Marty uses for it is Alex Madrid Syndrome, although I’ve always called it The Alex Madrid Factor. In any case, this begs the question of just who is Alex Madrid, and why do the Reds have an apparent curse named after him? I’ve been threatening to write this story for awhile now. Time to make good on it.

Sherman, set the wayback machine for the year 1982 (extra credit if you can explain this sentence, and the title of this diary, without resorting to a search engine).

I should probably explain that in those ancient times, there were two phases to the amateur draft. The first phase was held in June (after high school graduations), the secondary phase was held the following January and involved players who had been drafted earlier but did not sign with the teams that drafted them. This system was done away with in 1986.

Alex Madrid was a right-handed pitcher that the Reds drafted in 1982, in the secondary phase of the amateur draft, but he did not sign with the Reds. Prior to this, Madrid had also been drafted by the Cubs in the first phase of the 1982 amateur draft, but did not sign with them, either. In 1983, he was drafted in the first phase by the Rangers and didn’t sign. He finally signed with the Brewers after they picked him in the secondary phase of the 1983 draft.

Madrid spent some time in the minors first, then appeared in three major league games with the Brewers in 1987, compiling an ERA of 15.19 and subsequently being traded to the Phillies.

Madrid pitched in five games for the Phillies in 1988, including two starts against the Expos. In 1989, he pitched in six games for the Phillies, three of which were starts. The results of those three starts:

May 7, 1989 - Madrid earned his only victory of the year, pitching 6 2/3 shutout innings against the Reds while holding them to just five hits. Marty called this game as a Reds broadcaster and coined the term “Alex Madrid Syndrome” thereafter.

May 14, 1989 – Madrid lasted just 3 2/3 innings against the Dodgers, giving up 5 hits, 3 walks, and 5 earned runs.

May 25, 1989 – Madrid worked 5 innings against the Giants, allowing 8 hits, 3 walks, and 4 earned runs.

Madrid made one more major league appearance after that May 25 start, pitching the ninth inning of a May 30, 1989 game as the mop-up man in a blowout against the Padres, giving up 2 hits, 2 walks, and an earned run. It was his 14th and final major league game. Less than a month after his masterpiece against the Reds, Alex Madrid's career was finished.

So now, every time another no-name pitcher like Cole Hamels (who took a no-no into the sixth against the Reds for Philly the other night) makes the Reds look foolish, you can think back to Alex Madrid, the guy who Marty credits for having started it all, way back in 1989.

HMZ

I tried posting this while forgetting to enter a title, but the blog software here at Red Hot Mama promptly (and, I suppose, quite properly) scolded me for it. And so with apologies to The Blues Brothers, here's a contribution from the Crack Hard Facts Staff that some of you may find interesting…or maybe not:

1. The Reds pitching staff currently leads the major leagues with 91 strikeouts. The closest NL competitor is the D-Backs with 90.

2. Reds pitchers have allowed only 29 walks. Only the Brewers have issued fewer free passes among NL clubs.

3. Reds pitchers have plunked only one batter in 12 games, tying the Giants for the fewest in the majors - although the Giants have played ten games to twelve for the Reds. The Phillies seem like a notorious bunch of headhunters by comparison, they've plunked eight in 11 games.

4. The Reds' staff team ERA of 2.93 is the third-lowest in the major leagues. Only the Mets (2.69) and Red Sox (2.79) have lower team ERAs.

Unfortunately, the picture for the hitters isn't quite as rosy. On the positive side, Reds hitters have taken a walk 50 times, more than any team in the majors except the Phillies (69) and Braves (51). But:

1. The Reds' team BA of .226 is the NL's worst.

2. Only two NL teams have a lower team slugging percentage than the Reds' .344 mark - the Giants and the Nationals.

3. Reds hitters have struck out 86 times. There are only three NL teams with more (Rockies, Phillies, Braves).

4. The Reds have 13 doubles, fewer than any other team in the NL.

Yet they lead the division? Imagine what it would be like if these guys could hit!

While taking the self-guided tour of the sortable team stats on mlb.com that produced the above tidbits, I noticed that amazingly, only one stolen base has been attempted against the Brewers so far this season! That figures to change when they visit Cincinnati tonight and Tuesday. The Reds are currently tied with the Dodgers for the major league lead in stolen bases with 13.

HMZ