Do you believe?

[fisch11]

Our Cincinnati Reds have clawed back into a share of first place in the NL Central thanks to a 7-2 road trip against NL Central opponets. After an ugly 0-2 start in Chicago, this club has rebounded with authority by steamrolling through Houston and St. Louis and sweeping them both through this season high 7 game winning streak. Anybody who has been around since 1995 can agree when I say that this type of road trip is the one that usually does the club in. However, this club has shown resiliance and faith in each other to win on any given night. It's still early in the season, but this ballclub appears to have a different swagger and makeup of Reds teams that break our hearts right about now. Many of us fear the inevitable June swoon that has plagued us in the past....but the attitude is different. Castellini, Krivsky, Narron, and company have installed a winning attitude. This club has it's flaws like all others do (i.e. bullpen, defense, etc.) However, the starting pitching has been strong all season, even when the offense wasn't firing on all cylinders. But the sticks are back now, seemingly getting production from 1-9. Now I ask the big question; has this club sent a message to Wayne and the front office that we are here to contend? I truly believe the success of this ballclub lies on swingman Eric Milton and what he can provide for this club. You know Arroyo and Harang are fine every 5th night, Elizardo has proven he can keep us in games. That's enough to win 90+ games. But the question that begs is, can we get that extra bullpen arm....that extra hammer to complement Todd Coffey, or that other legitimate starter to replace Claussen's inconsistency? This team came out the gates in April, struggled in May offensively, but has charged back to recapture 1st place in June. It's still early, but if this team can hang around 10 games over through June you have got to believe Wayne will go get that extra piece of the puzzle. But forget the players, front office, and owners.....do you believe the Reds can make the run for the playoffs? I do.

[Redhook]

Yes*

* - I do believe, I really do. But, improvements to the pitching staff are a must. One, if not two, more relievers are needed. Another starter would nice, but not a complete necessity right now. Remember when the Reds got Juan Guzman in '99? When they got I think the whole team and city knew they would compete for the rest of the year. They just missed the playoffs, but it was a great season. Adding a good pitcher like that would go a long way with this team knowing that management is doing absolutely everything to bring home a winner....THIS year.

[billy117]

yeah, I believe they will compete the rest of the year. Right now it would be tough to make an argument for why they won't compete. BC said tonight that he would do what he had to, to get a player (s) for the stretch run.

[Gainesville Red]

I'm working on it. (believing) I really, really think we need some pitching. I wish the bullpen didn't feel like such a tightwire act. I don't know if that means get a starter and put one of the starters in the pen, or get a pen arm. But I'm not a GM, so it doesn't matter that I don't know what to do. Here's to hoping Kriv does.:drink:

[KoryMac5]

I have been a believer since the beginning of the year and I think barring any injuries we can keep up this pace. However getting some more pitching help is easier said than done. Big names like Willis, Clemens, and Schmidt will be on the market as well as some lesser known names like Armas. Believe me we will have to sacrafice an arm and a leg for a starter. For me what this team needs is another reliever are staring pitching has held up all year and I see no signs of that changing in the future. Shore up the pen.

[Redhook]

I have been a believer since the beginning of the year and I think barring any injuries we can keep up this pace. However getting some more pitching help is easier said than done. Big names like Willis, Clemens, and Schmidt will be on the market as well as some lesser known names like Armas. Believe me we will have to sacrafice an arm and a leg for a starter. For me what this team needs is another reliever are staring pitching has held up all year and I see no signs of that changing in the future. Shore up the pen.

The pen definitely needs help.

We really need another starter too. Claussen is shaky, Ramirez is young and could hit a wall in the second half. Milton's knee might act up again. And heaven forbid Harang or Arroyo suffer some sort of injury. Hopefully everything will go well, but there are almost 4 months left. Bumps and bruises happen. We need one more good starter. That would put us over the top.

[Sea Ray]

The NL Central really is wide open for them right now. I kind of thought the Cardinals would go away and hide but they looked awful this week. I know they miss Pujols but their pitching is shaky too. Ponson is their best starter and their bullpen looks no better than ours.

Kerry Wood is still having shoulder issues, who knows when Prior, Pujols and Lee will return. Milwaukee and Pittsburgh have greatly disappointed. Houston's getting the rocket back but does he really have another magical year left in him? Can they top last year's comeback? Unlikely. This thing has opened up for the Reds.

[Krusty]

This is a work in progress and I think Krivsky knows it. He will need to add a starting pitcher and a reliever at least come the July trading deadline if the team is still in contention.

Question is who do you deal to get that starting pitcher and another reliever?

[Redhook]

This is a work in progress and I think Krivsky knows it. He will need to add a starting pitcher and a reliever at least come the July trading deadline if the team is still in contention.

Question is who do you deal to get that starting pitcher and another reliever?

Drew Stubbs. :evil:

[RAS]

I am totally against giving up a kid like EE or even a Denorfio to get another starter. I think we can compete with what we have and we must still be patient for the future and not mortgage our future now for hopes that we can get in the playoffs this year.

[MrCinatit]

This is a work in progress and I think Krivsky knows it. He will need to add a starting pitcher and a reliever at least come the July trading deadline if the team is still in contention.

Question is who do you deal to get that starting pitcher and another reliever?

That pretty much sums up my feelings.
This is a work in progress. I believe Wayne is only laying down the foundation for a much, much better team in the future - we should be wary of getting too exciting and sacraficing that future.
Yes, fellows like Rich A and Hatt are performing admirably - but they are also aging vets. Griffey is no young one, either. We should take care not to trade away their future replacements (whoever they may be) for a gun-for-hire who will only remain with the team for a couple of months.
I have said this from the start: I do not believe this is their year. However, I believe this could be the start of something wonderful. Fortunately, I think this team has a man in the GM position who realizes this and will not sacrifice our future too much for a brief present.

[Jpup]

Drew Stubbs. :evil:

I think that's against the rules. I don't believe you can trade a guy the same year he is drafted. Seems like I read that somewhere. Someone around here surely knows for sure.

I will believe if the FO goes out and gets 3 good pitchers, otherwise I'm a bit reluctant, although the rest of the central is pretty beat up right now.

[redsmetz]

I believe! I said at the start of the season that if this team could drop their ERA about a point, they'd compete. Last year's ERA was .515, it now stands at .434, nearly at that mark. As I mentioned yesterday, Mike Shannon said it very plainly about the Reds - "we've always said if they get any kind of pitching, they're going to be tough to beat."

Go Reds!

[BigJohn]

Still a long journey till October folks!

[dabvu2498]

I will believe if the FO goes out and gets 3 good pitchers, otherwise I'm a bit reluctant, although the rest of the central is pretty beat up right now.
You're not going to believe.

[TeamBoone]

Still a long journey till October folks!

Yes, but they're over one third of the way there.... and it's nice.

[TeamBoone]

Sounds like the team believes....


06/06/2006

Reds turn a corner
By Derrick Goold / ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

Cincinnati starter Eric Milton scattered five hits over seven innings Tuesday en route to his fourth win.
(By Chris Lee/P-D)

The standings told him his club was in the thick of the division-title scrum, but Cincinnati manager Jerry Narron knew the schedule was a better gauge for the Reds' true chances.

Nine days ago, Cincinnati began a three-stop barnstorm of the three teams spring training welcomed as the odds-on contenders for the NL Central crown. With visits to Chicago for the Cubs, Houston for the Astros and, finally, this series against the Cardinals, Narron viewed it as much more than another trip.

He saw a tipping point.

"We looked at playing in Houston, Chicago and St. Louis on a nine-game road trip as a chance to find out if we were going to be legit contenders or get knocked completely out," Narron said Tuesday. "You go on that kind of road trip, and it could very easily have happened."

The Reds lost two of three to the Cubs but rescued the trip by sweeping a series at Houston for the first time since 1999. They came to Busch Stadium with a chance of leaving St. Louis tied for first in the division. A sweep of the defending division champs would knot their records. A sweep that would have to happen without ace Bronson Arroyo scheduled to pitch in the series.

Rallying to win Monday's game in the ninth inning with Ken Griffey Jr.'s second home run of the evening assured a winning trip. "I've been on the losing end of those kind of games a ton," Reds outfielder Adam Dunn said before the Reds' 7-0 win Tuesday. "Hopefully things are starting to turn for this organization. ... I know it's only June, but there's no reason why it can't stay this way, why we can't keep this up. It seems like we're in every ballgame."

Credit the newcomers.

And start at the top.

Cincinnati opened the season with new ownership, led by Robert Castellini, a Cardinals investor before buying the Reds. He promptly hired a new general manager, plucking Wayne Krivsky from Minnesota's front office. Two pivotal moves by Krivsky have helped buoy the Reds to the top of the division.

Early in the season, Krivsky picked up second baseman Brandon Phillips, a once highly touted prospect dangled to any team in the majors by Cleveland. In his second week with the Reds, Phillips won the NL Player of the Week award. His RBI double in the second inning Tuesday gave him 34 this season, fourth on the team.

The other move reconfigured the Reds.

Swapping one player from their surplus, slugger Wily Mo Pena, to Boston for a need, Arroyo, was pivotal. Pena's departure unclogged a crowded outfield, and Austin Kearns has blossomed with a team-best 38 RBIs entering Tuesday's game. The consistency of Arroyo and tonight's starter, Aaron Harang, has eased a patchwork bullpen into shape and added a needed dimension to the Reds.

"We felt like if we could pitch in the middle of the pack somewhere we'd have a chance to contend," said Narron, a pitching coach-turned-manager whose staff has the ninth-best ERA in the league. "We thought our offense could be good enough to allow that to happen. The month of May it seemed like we did not hit as a team. If we would have hit any at all in May we might be four or five games better."

That lack of power might be the example of the Reds' staying power.

After a club-record 17 wins and 149 runs in April, the Reds hit just .248 in May, the third lowest of any NL lineup. For the team that led the league in runs scored in 2005 - yet had its fifth consecutive losing season - such a dearth of offense would have been disaster. But the Reds didn't falter. When Griffey missed 26 games this season with a strained knee tendon, the Reds didn't falter. They went 17-9 in his absence.

But can the Reds keep pace? Narron's nine-game gauge says yes.

"What we've seen the last few days is that we're not going to go away real easy," Narron said.
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/7F0FA0DAF0254F4E86257186001831F0?OpenDocument

[captainmorgan07]

Reds Marketing department should start a marketing campaign We believe

[HotCorner]

Yes.

[IowaRed]

Yes, but they're over one third of the way there.... and it's nice.

It is nice, actually it's fantastic. However, we will need to be in the race much further into the season before I can believe this pitching staff is good enough for the Reds to be a true playoff contender.

[captainmorgan07]

i believe fully in this club whoever they put on the field nite in and nite out

[RedsMan3203]

I Believe!!!!!!!

[redsmetz]

Still a long journey till October folks!

My saying "I Believe" doesn't misunderstand that there's a good chunk of season still ahead. This team, though, is showing some moxey and with just a little bit of tweaking can stay in contention. But, yes, October is still a long journey away.

Forward ho!