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Reds Insider
From news of the day to news of the weird, John Fay provides a glimpse of what it’s like to cover the Cincinnati Reds

John Fay
John Fay has been the Reds beat writer for the Enquirer since 2001. Prior to that, he served in a variety of roles for the Enquirer: backup Reds writer, UC beat writer, backup Bengals writer and as a general assignment reporter. He is a Cincinnati native and a graduate of Elder High School and the University of Dayton.

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Friday, May 4, 2007

Rockies 6, Reds 5 in 11

Not a lot to say about this one. The Reds seem to be in one of those dreaded streaks where the play just badly enough to lose. To wit:

--Ken Griffey Jr. get thrown out trying to go from first to third on a single. Alex Gonzalez follows with a double.

--Brandon Phillips gets thrown out the plate.

--Edwin Encarnacion goes for Play of the Day on a bunt by Willy Taveras and throws it into right field, rather than hold the ball.

Any of those three plays goes the other way, and the Reds win.

The bullpen is what it is. You can shuffle the guys any way you want, and they're still the same guys.

Bottom line: Reds have played 29 games. They're 13-16. Off the top of my head, I can think of four games they should have won that they lost. That would make then 17-12. Until they start winning games like tonight's and last night's, they're not going to be a good team.


13 Comments:

at 8:31 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

i started to post but then realized: same same same. Different game same outcome. its all been said before. just wondering though - what about firing the bullpen and requiring the starters to finish. there used to be such a thing as complete games not being such a rarity. God, this is so frustrating to watch day in day out. same same same.

 
at 9:21 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dustin Hermanson would have done better. Narron is a terrible manager. The new ownership has much to answer for. Why keep loser Narron at the helm? Why keep the same stinking ineffective relief corps? Changes must be made. Reds headed for last place to stay with the current batch of bullpen schmos.

 
at 9:25 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

A good team wins 2 out of 3 in Houston and sweeps a lousy Rockies team. The Reds are simply not a good team.

 
at 11:58 AM Blogger Brian Sroufe said...

I'm putting this whole season on Narron. He's had his time, and hasn't done a damn thing with it. Too bad there's only one decent manager out there to fill his position, but he'll be asking for too much more than Castellini and Co. will pay for (Girardi). Plus, he's waiting for a vacancy in the Bronx once The Boss pulls the trigger on Torre.

 
at 12:54 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I like Girardi ... but how about Rick Burleson? Isn't he in the Reds' organization. Now that guy was a competitor and that's what this team needs, someone who can light a fire under their you know whats. I say bring in the Rooster. He's won everywhere he's managed in the minor leagues.

 
at 2:13 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not sure how you can say the Reds should have won 4 games that they lost & not take into account the wins that should have been losses. I can think of at least 3 of those. I don't understand the mentality that when the Reds lose late its a game that we've blown without recognizing that other teams have blown games to us as well. It doesn't always even out, but this season its been close. Maybe the Reds have been a bit unlucky, but no way they should be 17-12. 14-15 or 15-14 maybe, but 17-12, no way.

 
at 2:48 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Girardi has too big of an ego.

John, I know Milton has struggled in the first inning of games, but any chance they flip Milton and Saarloos? See if Milton can do better in the bullpen?

 
at 4:33 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

where is jared Burton. Since he off the dl and pitching in AAA,
don't they have to bring him up to the Reds due to his rule 5 status

 
at 7:34 PM Blogger tom dunne said...

Jerry Narron still has a job because he's gone 139-144 in roughly two seasons with the Reds. That's five games under .500, and really not bad at all when you consider the rosters he's managed.

I'm not saying Narron's a good manager, but when you give a guy Weathers, Coffey and a bag of magic beans to staff his bullpen, you don't fire him for averaging 80 wins a season.

 
at 7:49 PM Blogger tom dunne said...

Also...

"Off the top of my head, I can think of four games they should have won that they lost."

You can't do that, John, not when close games go both ways:

What about that first win of the Philles series, with Hatteberg's near miraculous two-out, ninth inning homer to tie? The Reds were outhit 7-to-4 and won.

What about the 6-5 win against Chicago, when all the runs came in an unbelievable fifth-inning meltdown by Zambrano, and the offense did nothing at all the rest of the game? Reds were outhit 13-to-6 and won.

How about the 1-0 win two games later, when Lilly nearly matched Lohse pitch-for-pitch? Reds were outhit 4-to-2 and won. Any game you win with just two hits is almost pure dumb luck, but it still counts as a win.

If you start putting "should have" wins on the board, be fair and start putting the "should have" losses up as well. Switch them around however you like and you'll find you still have a team that's going to lose 80 to 85 games and sit at home in October. I don't understand the anguish - this team wasn't a contender on paper in March and they aren't a contender on the field in May. It sucks, but it isn't a surprise.

 
at 9:15 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have a question, it was yesterday or thursday's game. Someone popped out, the infield dropped the ball and threw out dunn at second. Dunn was at first, there was 1 out. Why wasn't the infield fly rule called. There was like 5 guys trying to catch the ball at the pitcher's mound and they dropped it to get Dunn out. From what I understand that is what the Infield fly rule is supposed to prevent.
Am I wrong?

 
at 12:59 AM Blogger Brian Sroufe said...

"Girardi has too big of an ego."

That's exactly why the Reds would flourish with him at the helm. A bigger ego than the players gets rid of Narron's passive, "nice-guy" status in which all he wants to do is appease the players.

It shouldn't take an entire season+offseason to get Griffey to move to right field or hit out of the 3rd spot in the order.

 
at 10:11 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

And I guess at least Girardi has a comprehension of how to use a bullpen without blowing guys out. Oh wel, I guess if they keep this up Narron will get axed and they'll start next year with Homer in the rotation and a better manager in the dugout.

 
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