Run Billy Run

Well it has been 17 games since our last post here at Riverfront Ramblings. The delay may have been since I have been busy. Maybe it is because we have finally had some nice days and I have actually wanted to be outside and do some yard work. Maybe I realized I am not that great of a blogger. But maybe, just maybe, I have not been that excited about this Reds team. We all know about their struggles to start the year. 3-7 in their first 10 without a lot of offense and a terrible bullpen wasn’t enough to carry me through the early season buzz. They got healthy (a little bit at least) and moved Joey Votto to the 2nd spot in the lineup and that seemed to help a little. The offense went on a 10 game stretch where they scored at least 4 runs. That was neat. They started to play better for that stretch and things were looking up. But as the smoke cleared and things settle down they were still 9-8 over those 17 games. The most inspiring portion of their season thus far and it was still barely over .500. Thankfully 5 of those 17 games were against the cubbies. As the season progresses that is what this team may end up being… A .500 team. That is not going to be enough to get us into the post season. That is the sort of season that will start to make me look forward to the Bengals earlier than I would like.

So what is the thing that keeps me checking the box scores for this team? Billy Hamilton. I know a lot of people have been harsh on the youngster for his lack of getting on base. Yes, I would like to see that rise as well to fill the void that Choo left from last year. Sure I would like to see a few more infield hits and successful bunt attempts. Yes, I would LOVE to see him be the best leadoff man in the major leagues. He has been far from perfect. He has been thrown out trying to steal bases on occasion. Five times to be exact. He has looked helpless and overmatched in some of his plate appearances. But in my blogger opinion, he is the only thing really worth getting excited about when it comes to the offense of this team. (The starting pitching has done well, especially Cueto and Simon)

Before screaming that Billy needs to be sent back to Louisville or pitted at the 9th spot in the lineup lets not forget the plays that he has made. I have never seen a guy go from first to third on a routine ground ball to the pitcher. Billy was running on the pitch and literally never stopped. It was pretty crazy. We have seen him tag from 2nd to 3rd on very shallow fly balls making RF’s look like little leaguers trying to throw him out. And seriously, what about the tagging from third to home on what was essentially an infield fly rule pop up. The most incredible thing about this is the right fielder called off the second baseman and was coming in on the ball making it an easier throw home… and he was still safe. He creates panic in pitchers. Just look at what he did to Francisco Liriano of Pittsburg. He was on base creating havoc when he gave up a home run to Joey Votto… that was Liriano’s first home run to a left hander in like 19 years. A week later again against Liriano, Billy drew a leadoff walk. In the next three pitches to Votto Billy successfully stole 2nd and then advanced to 3rd and then home to score on back to back wild pitches. That was not the first 9 pitches a starter wants to throw.

There is no doubt the kid is fast. Very fast. I wont knock him too much for getting thrown out a few times while trying to steal bases. Most of those caught stealing were on first pitches where everyone in the park knew he was going and the pitchers and catchers were on high alert. Not too many people at any level can successfully steal in those situations. The game I went to in NY was an example of this. Billy came on to pinch run and everyone in the place knew he was running on the first pitch. He got gunned at 2nd with a perfect throw. This will happen in the major leagues until he learns a little more of the art of stealing a base. This will come.

So in a season where I have almost forgot we have a guy named Jay Bruce on the roster, and where Brandon Phillips might be showing his age we need all the excitement we can get. Joey Votto’s lack of power has not been exciting. I don’t tune in to see what he is doing anymore. The fact that arguably the best power hitter this season in Devin Mesoraco is on the DL for the 2nd time says a lot of this lineup. There simply isn’t a lot to get excited for. It is becoming easy to not pay attention to this team. But with Billy in the line up I do catch myself checking the box scores. I check to see how he did. I watch the video replay to see what he can do on the bases. He is the guy that has my interest right now. So until this season swings around a little my battle cry for the Reds will remain: Run Billy Run

10 Game Review

Reflecting on the last 10: Well we are 10 games into this season and things are not looking good fans. I really am trying to be an optimist here, but right now, I feel like I am simply being a realist. The Reds are sitting at 3-7 and have looked bad getting there. Their 3 victories have all came with exceptional pitching efforts, including 2 shutouts. 2 of the wins have been won by a combined 2 runs. There really has only been 1 game out of the 10 where they seemed to play a complete game, and even then it took Mike Leake pitching great and Billy Hamilton exhibiting his game changing speed. Man he needs to get on base more. These 10 games have been hard to watch (or listen to).

What we’ve learned: So what have we learned in this young season? First and foremost, the offense of this team is very poorly constructed. And that is being polite. Sure people can say the Reds are battling injuries, but outside of Devin Mesoraco those injuries are to backups and pitching. It is not a good sign when your top choice as a pinch hitter is your backup catcher. Chris Heisey, playing off of the bench, is the only other contributor to this offense. I would argue he needs to be starting and Hamilton needs to be coming off of the bench. He is more valuable as a pinch runner at this point if he can’t get on regularly. Our starting SS has 1 hit in 10 games and no walks. Unfortunately there is no depth at the position and no one to challenge him or push him. Skip Schumaker will not provide the boost that this team needs when he is healthy. He was brought in to be a backup and he will produce like a backup. This team desperately needs a RH bat in a bad way. In my opinion things will not get any better until that happens.

The bright spot: Devin Mesoraco is back from an injury and hitting the ball very well. If he keeps it up, he could slide up in the lineup a bit and provide some help. See, there is some optimism for you. Still, I do not think his return will be enough to improve the offense in a drastic way… and there is the pessimism.

Looking forward: So will it get any better and do we have anything at all to look forward to? Yes! The thing we have to look forward to is having our top 3 bullpen pitchers returning at some point. 2 of the loses have been pegged on the bullpen and another 2, possibly 3 games, have been blown open and put out of reach because of the bullpen. This part of the team will get better with time and get back to where it was last year as one of the top bullpens in baseball Help is on the way! Mat Latos will eventually return… hopefully? He apparently is having set backs with his arm. His return would help the rotation and strengthen the bullpen by moving Simon back into his spot and replacing one of the lesser arms currently taking up space. Those are the only improvements I see in this team’s future. Baring any trades the offense is what it is. I do not see it getting better than slight improvements with the current lineup. Votto’s numbers will increase and Bruce will hit more than he currently has. I think Hamilton’s numbers will increase a tad and we can expect more from him as the season goes on and he grows. I think Cozart will reach base again at some point this season. However, I do not see this offense as enough to carry this team past a third place finish in the NL Central.

The Standings: Looking at the standings at the 10 game mark provides no more optimism. Sure the Reds are only 5 games back… wait, that’s not good either. The Reds are in last place in the NL Central while the Brew Crew stands at the top. Yes it is early, but it is still not a very good sight. I think when the smoke settles and the roster heals up things will get a little better. We will pass the Cubs in the standings eventually. Our pitching staff we will improve and provide us enough wins to not end up in last. If I had to make some predictions with the small sample size we have I would be depressed with the outcome. With what we’ve seen so far this year I predict the Cardinals to be the NL Central Champs. I think they have enough offense and a top notch pitching staff. They will start to hit better and offensive production will improve. After the Cards I would predict the Brewers in second and the Reds and Pirates wrestling around for their spot at third place with the Cubs looking up at everyone. Again, these predictions are off of what we have seen in the first 10 games of the season. Take a look at the standings and see what you think. Here is to hoping I am wrong!

 

NL Central	W	L	PCT	GB
Milwaukee	8	2	.800	–
Pittsburgh	6	4	.600	2.0
St. Louis	5	5	.500	3.0
Chi Cubs	4	6	.400	4.0
Cincinnati	3	7	.300	5.0

Looking Forward…

Author: Cory Juliano – February 17th, 2014

Being a fan of Cincinnati sports in New York means I get to look forward to very few things… Unfortunately it usually consists of disappointing endings to the seasons of my beloved Reds and Bengals. Both of those seasons have left a terrible taste in my mouth for the last couple of months. From the Reds terrible last week of the season and getting embarrassed by a team which was much more motivated in a one-game-winner-move-on scenario to, well actually to the exact same thing in the Bengals. I am ready for those memories to be erased by a new season. A new beginning. A new manager. A new centerfielder / leadoff man. A new HOPE for the coming months.

The only thing for certain in any sports season is every team starts with the same record. We all get to look at things from the same vantage point. We are all looking forward to a great season to end the misery of the season before… Unless your team won it the year before. In Cincinnati that has been 23 years, but who is counting? So in an offseason where the Reds did relatively nothing to improve their roster what is there to look forward to?  I have two ideas.

The first thing I think we can look forward to is what the heck will happen with the leadoff spot in the lineup.  The plain and simple fact is this; we lost the most effective leadoff man game and are replacing him with a guy who was not necessarily an on base machine in AAA last year. This is not a promising position to be in my friends. If Billy Hamilton can get on base it will be exciting with his speed and base stealing ability. Every pitch will be worth watching and people will be holding their breath waiting for him to make a break for 2nd… or 3rd… or home? A lot of good can come from him if he can produce. If he can not produce and get to first, it will be a very, very long season for the Reds. Fans complained about an inconsistent offense last year. What we saw last year was not great. We saw a lack of run production. We saw bad base running and poor situational hitting. We saw players underperforming. Last year’s offense was a smack in the face to a better than most starting rotation. Losing Choo’s production and watching a rookie trying to adjust to big league pitching will be down right painful in my opinion. Prepare to see Joey “MVP” Votto wearing out the first base line with walks this year. YAWN. Now that I think of it, I am not really looking forward to this at all.

So what exactly am I looking forward to as Spring Training in AZ kicks off? The same thing that comes with every baseball season. The true beauty and magic of this sport. Connecting with family and friends over America’s favorite past time. I am looking to the extra phone time with my dad through the season to talk about what has happened. The times when my phone rings late at night and my wife grins because she knows my dad is calling to tell me about something he just saw while watching the Reds. I am looking forward to my grandma calling to tell me Homer Bailey has a no-hitter through 8 innings (man I hope he throws another no-hitter this year). There is nothing more humorous to me than an old lady calling to tell me how mad she is at the manager. There is nothing more sad than realizing an old lady is more aware of what is happening in the sports world than I am. I am looking forward to having my friend Brian call me during the first inning of a playoff game in San Francisco to have me angle my webcam at the screen so he could watch the game when his cable went out (this has happened with more than one sporting event with the two of us). Baseball season means I get to text my friend Chad whenever the Reds and Cubs square off and laugh at our teams failures. I am looking forward to growing stronger friendships with people like Chris who I didn’t know was  a “die hard” Mets fan for the first two years I knew him. I think his “die hardness” kicked off due to Johan Santana’s no-hitter, but he can argue that all he wants. I look forward to talking to high school kids about fantasy baseball. I am looking forward to going to the one game a year with my wife and some friends, even if its a Mets vs. whoever game. I do NOT look forward to going to a Yankees game with my 6 month pregnant wife when it is 107 degrees at first pitch on the hottest day Long Island had seen in years. This year I get to look forward to going to the Mets vs. Reds game on April 4th and actually getting on the field to watch batting practice with my dad, the man who taught me to love this game. I am looking forward to adding to the many memories I have with him, and others, through this sport. I am looking forward to what this crazy sport can do for me and for others.

Making memories with friends and family is one of the greatest things we can do in life. Those moments should never be looked over and we should do whatever we can to connect with people more and make lasting memories. We should look forward to interacting with those we love, even if its a quick phone call saying “HOLY COW DID THAT JUST HAPPEN” or a joking “my team is better than yours”. To me that is why baseball is America’s favorite past time. It creates nightly opportunities to engage in a new way with those around us. That is the magic in the sport. That is the awesomeness that is baseball. That, my friends, is what I am looking forward to.

Let me know what you are looking forward to this year.