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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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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

All the young arms II

I talked to experts about the young arms today. Both Dick Pole and Dusty Baker were impressed by Monday's first session by the guys they hadn't seen.

"I try not to get too excited about one bullpen session," Pole said. "But we've got some good arms. I was really impressed with the arm strength of (Johnny) Cueto, (Edinson) Volquez and (Josh) Roenicke. You can't teach a good fastball."

Said Baker: "They're looking good. Some guys ahead of other guys, especially the ones who play played Winter Ball. They have a big advantage because they're ready. They looked real good. But we've got good arms in this camp. Good young arms. Good veterans arms.

"Hopefully, we'll have a big pot to chose from."

Baker mentioned Scott Sauerbeck, the left-hander from Northwest High and Miami University, as one of the impressive veteran arms. That's the second time Baker's singled out Sauerbeck. Sauerbeck pitched last year in the minors for Houston and Toronto. He's 20-17 with 3.82 ERA in 487 big league games.


19 Comments:

at 9:21 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

As long as Wayne is running the camp the young arms will fly! And Dusty will ruin them like he did Prior and Wood. This is the start to another Horrible losing season Reds Fans. We only have 1 dependable starting pitcher- Harang. The rest are unproven. Bronson has pitched terrible since June 2006. We not going anywhere this year. It's already written in the stars.

 
at 9:25 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dick Poles critique carries a great deal of weight..as does dusty bakers when it comes to pitchers

 
at 9:29 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

John,

Thank you for all the info you give us from Spring Training.For those of us who cannot be in Florida it is very enjoyable to read.I will say though the negativity seems unbelievable from some people.Ever since I was a youngster, this time of year excited me no matter what our record was the previous year.Some people think that just because they buy a ticket,or put on a jersey that gives them the right to stomp on the Reds.

I enjoy that Baseball can be unpredictable.When we won our last World Series,I was stationed in Holland with the Air Force.The games were shown in the wee hours of the morning.I didn't care though.I stayed up,and enjoyed every moment of it.

Some of you are going to ruin this blog.If you hate the Reds so much go start your own blog.With as many aliases that some of you have on here,you could have a good conversation with just yourself.

 
at 9:47 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with Tadd, as of now we are in first place poised to win the division. Lets wait until some games are actually played before we judge deals, players, Krivsky,Dusty, and the team in general.

 
at 9:48 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

I only said what is the reality of the Reds sorry state for this year. Nothing is gonna be better. Some of you ruin (This blog)it living in a fantasy world. Give us a Blanton then maybe there is a chance to compete. And John keep up the great work! Thanks

 
at 9:58 AM Blogger 24/7 said...

arroyo had an era of 3.5 in the 2nd half last year.

these guys seem too tantalizing to go and trade at this point, even if one gets drummed when the games start.

 
at 10:05 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

What happened to Brad Salmon? He throws mid- 90's and has a pretty good splitter. Is his command that bad? He looked OK in limited action last year, I was just wondering what happened to him. I think one of the previous posts was erroneous. It stated Bronson has pitched terribly since June of 06. That's not exactly true. He didn't pitch well at the beginning of last year, and he definitely pitched like a quality number 2 or 3 starter after the all star break. I think the start(against the Padres I think) where he threw like 140 pitches had a negative effect on him for a couple of games, but he battled back. That's what i like to see out of our starters--gutting it out when you are down or when you don't have your best stuff. I know the negativity expressed by some of our posters is infuriating to most Reds fans, but that's what we have to deal with, unfortunately. In the cyberworld, people can post whatever they want, even if it makes no sense and can be factually disproven. I can't understand why they do what they do, and it is frustrating to read some of the crap, but I, and I'm sure most of the mentally competent fans that post here, know that it is all sound and fury, signifying nothing. Wayne Krivsky is here to stay and he's done a great job thus far. I wonder if these naysayers will actually be pleasantly surprised if the Reds do well this year, or if they'll be disappointed? I hope it's the former, but I'd be willing to bet the confirmation of their negativity would be more satisfying to them.

 
at 10:11 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

The ones who are ruining this blog, pal, are the imbeciles like you who refuse to believe professionals are doing their job. I'm sure there are lots of clubs lined up to hire you as GM, so you can do whatever it takes to get Joe Blanton, who everybody knows is the next Nolan Ryan. Seriously, why would you waste your time arguing with fellow Reds fans and sowing your seeds of negativity? I would hate to see what you post on sites of teams you DON'T like.

 
at 10:20 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Arroyo since june of 2006 has an era of 4.14 with 251 k's and 101BB's 2.49 K/BB RATIO

Meanwhile everyones new favorite pitcher Blanton has an ERA of 4.23 with 194k's and 65BB's during the same timeframe. 2.98 K/BB ratio

pretty similar. Thety are both solid #3 starters.

 
at 10:30 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

John, I wanted to add my comments on a couple of items already mentioned. #1 Thank you for the GREAT coverage. I most likely will not make it to Spring Training either and your reports are very appreciated. #2 the constant bickering can sure kill a thread.

I was thinking this morning about Cueto and Bailey whom I think most would agree are our 2 most promising young pitchers. Do you think there would be any benefit for these two guys to come up together and pitch in the rotation for the Reds from a competition standpoint? I guess what I'm getting at is do you think they could potentially push each other to be better pitchers? Learn from each other by tracking the other's games and so forth? Not to say these guys make the rotation if they don't have a solid spring (but I think both of them will). Any thoughts?

Thanks again

 
at 10:57 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Give us a Blanton then maybe there is a chance to compete." Well...Blanton has never had an era under 3.5 and everytime he has double digit wins he has double digit losses as well. So giving up Bailey, Votto, Cueto, or anyone of that nature is not seem logical.

On the statement that optimistic people ruin this blog, I am not real sure how being optimistic at the begning of a season where nothing has taken place ruins a blog, but then again that is just me being optimistic about my posts.

 
at 11:01 AM Blogger Unknown said...

I have a question about Bill Bray. Is there any indication as to how long his shoulder has been sore? For instance, did he come to camp with a sore shoulder, or is it something that showed up after he threw his b.p. session? I already feel like this is a managerial ploy to open more room on the roster, although im not sure how important roster spots are "right now" during spring training.

 
at 11:11 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

So Blanton is that piece we are missing and Arroyo is a bum? you do realize one had a ERA of 3.95 with 140 K's and the other had 4.23 and 156 K's? Both threw 200+ innings but one is sorry and the other is the key piece. I am a die hard Reds/Bengals fan but there is not a set of fans I HATE more than Cincy fans. No matter what sport or what move is made there is a huge uproar as if they just spent 56 million on Todd Benzinger. Story of a typical Reds fan, complain and complain for Joe Blanton. A's will only deal him for either Bailey or Cueto and Votto. The Reds pull the trigger because Joe Blanton is the next CY Young. Immediately the backlash is everywhere. John is sifting through all his anti Krivsky posts people can't believe how we gave up our future 1B and #1/2 pitcher for a guy whose career record is 42-34 with a 4.10 ERA. Just get a clue, seriously. Craig Wilson signing a minor league contract is not going to kill this team, we have 3 top young pitchers, a top 1B prospect, the #1 prospect in all of baseball, arguably the 2nd best 2B in baseball, 2 very powerful HR hitters and a 24 year old 3B who is developing very nicely and has put up very good numbers for his age. Life could be worse.....

 
at 11:18 AM Blogger John Fay said...

Salmon is in camp as non-roster invitee. Bray's soreness is real. It came up when he showed up for camp. If it was ploy, he'd be throwing and he isn't. That said, there's plenty of time for a reliever to get ready.

 
at 11:36 AM Blogger 24/7 said...

reds fans can be overly critical (its cincinnati, folks) but they are some of the smartest fans in sports. we lose and management/ownership doesn't field a winner, we complain and don't spend money at the park. we hit them where it hurts the most. we don't accept excuses or moral victories. when the reds show some heart and start winning, we are the most passionate, knowledgeable fan base in sports.

bengals fans? ehh not so much. a little more unconditional love, but maybe it's because of the short 8 game home schedule. though there are a million bengals haters in cincinnati too...

 
at 12:09 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey John. I've asked a couple of times but still haven't heard anything on Maloney. He IS in camp, right? I was ecstatic when I heard the Reds were able to get him for 1/2 season of Kyle Lohse. John Sickels seems to be pretty high on him and thinks he can develop into a number 3 starter. Has he really added some velocity to his fastball or is he just another guy who "has to hit his spots" to be successfull?

 
at 12:57 PM Blogger JasonW18 said...

Geez why are some fans so negative? Can't you be happy that baseball is back and its almost spring. I personally can't wait to get back to the ballpark, sit in the sun, eat some ballpark food and watch some baseball.

GO REDLEGS!

 
at 2:53 PM Blogger Rob Dicken said...

Dusty Baker has a winning record as a manager for his career.

Bronson Arroyo didn't have any run support last year for about the first 15 games he pitched.

With that said, quit being so negative on the Reds. Quit nitpicking and looking at the surface of things. Back up your reasoning with statistics. That should help this blog with the negativity that seems to thrive around here.

To me and to a lot of people...if you're negative on "your team," then you're not really a fan. A fan sticks by his team through thick and thin. A perfect example of this are Cubs fans...100 years without a World Series win. Can't get any worse than that!

 
at 1:55 PM Blogger MarkinMusicity said...

it's SO early, and SO loaded with young arms... ST '08... and for the first time in my LIFE.. at age sixty.... I am headed to Sarasota for ST.. the last day of February.. so I will see two games, the Rays and the Pirates... awesome.. and ONE day to see Tampa... a nice break from freaking February in Nashville....
I am very excited about the pitching... but I will not stop following the career of Josh Hamilton... ( long sigh )

 
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