On the last day of our trip we finally get to see Goodyear Ball Park where the Reds are based, along with the Indians. It’s the nicest park we’ve visited IMO. With no upper deck, it really captures the vast flat feel of AZ and there is lots of fun stuff for the kids to do. Also, George Foster is here…he’s following us!

Boxscore

The Cincinnati Reds made their first trip ever to HoHoKam Stadium to face the Chicago Cubs Saturday. Although they brought plenty of duffel bags, the Reds encountered a shortage of strikes in the 2nd half of the game.

Things started well for the Reds, with Homer Bailey throwing 3 innings of 1 run ball. Bailey struck out 2 and walked none.

After Juan Francisco hit his 2nd home run of the game, a 2-run shot thanks to Brandon Phillips clogging the bases, Bailey was in line to get the win.

That lasted for one inning. Then Micah Owings fell apart in his 2nd inning of work, allowing the Cubs to tie the game with a 3 run 5th.

Cincinnati next sent out Jon Adkins, who did nothing to out his name in the mix for a relief spot. Adkins threw gasoline on the fire and allowed 5 earned runs in 1 inning. It was ugly.

The good news is that Bailey looked fairly sharp. Hopefully, he’ll pick up right where he left off last year. Owings wasn’t, but I’m still not convinced he’s best used as a pitcher. Also, Juan Francisco is a powerful, powerful man. Is he Wily Mo Peña redux, or will he be able to become a more complete player? I don’t know, but I look forward to finding out.

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First time in Hohokam Park…for us and the Reds. It’s definitely got the Wrigley Field vibe, including the relative oldness of the park.

Aroldis Chapman is the Cuban defector that the Cincinnati Reds signed and no one else did.

Much has been written about him, as would be expected when you have a left-handed starter who routinely touches 100. The list of left-handers with that kind of speed pretty much starts and ends with Randy Johnson. There’s lots of buzz, but the Reds seem to be handling his promotion to the majors with due consideration.

Here are a couple videos from game 7 against the Dodgers. The first clip is a wide view, showing Chapman executing his fairly smooth delivery and delivering all the way to the plate.

One thing that I found most impressive about Chapman was how long his stride is. At 6 feet, 5 inches, I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that he’d have a long step from the rubber. But to see his foot reach all the way to the edge of the stepping spot was pretty awesome. Not as awesome as him mowing down Dodgers hitters, but close.

As much as I would love him to develop in the minors and became awesome for the Reds, I’m also terrified he’ll get injured before ever making it to the show. I’d hate to be the Reds brain trust for this decision.

Boxscore

Bronson Arroyo started for the Cincinnati Reds, but Aroldis Chapman again drew the attention.

People crowded underneath the stands behind home plate–yours truly included–to get an up-close look at one of those rarest of wonders: a left-hander with a 100 mile per hour fastball. Unfortunately, the bare-bones Dodgers spring training facility had no pitch-speed on the scoreboard, and I had left my radar gun unpurchased at the store. So I could only guess as to the speed of Chapman’s pitches. He threw hard and fast, though.

Chapman’s off-speed stuff was fast, too. And he had all of the hitters swinging late. He ended up striking out 2 and allowing no runs over 2 innings.

Jonny Gomes provided the offense for the Reds, hitting a two-run shot in the 4th. That would have been all Cincy needed, if not for a late rally by the Dodgers in the 9th. Thankfully, Chris Heisey had hit a solo shot in the 6th, insuring the Reds lead and keeping pace with Gomes in the race for left field.

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