Griffey is the key

[RockytopRED]

The Reds need Jr. to catch fire and hit like he can. He is not a .230 hitter. Griffey in his prime would get hot and carry Seattle on his back for a couple of weeks. If Griffey does this for this team goodbye Cardinals. I think he will.. the great ones rise to the occasion.

[KalDanielsfan]

i will always have faith in Griffey..i cant believe some reds fans hate on him just cuz he's getting a bit older

[Ibleedblue]

It really would be great for him to get hot and have a great august. If he did get hot, your very right, we could pull away in the wild card and possibly even catch the Cards.

[Blue]

Also key, replacing Royce Clayton's bat with Edwin Encarnacion's.

[KronoRed]

i will always have faith in Griffey..i cant believe some reds fans hate on him just cuz he's getting a bit older
I don't think anyone hates JR, just concerned he by, a wide margin, has the lowest OBP of his entire career,

[Jim Schue]

The Reds need Jr. to catch fire and hit like he can. He is not a .230 hitter. Griffey in his prime would get hot and carry Seattle on his back for a couple of weeks. If Griffey does this for this team goodbye Cardinals. I think he will.. the great ones rise to the occasion.

I'm right there with you, cuz. If nothing else, the anticipation of how great I know The Kid can be is the main reason why I hedge any time I hear trade talk of him crop up, even if it's as profoundly obvious as a Jr.-Garland or some other trade. I hate the idea of letting him go, because I saw that series against the Yankees way back in '95, and I think he is still capable of those incredible feats 11 years later.

And even if he isn't capable of those incredible feats, I know for a fact that he still can put a team on his shoulders for a few weeks and elevate it to incredible standards.

[MaineRed]

I don't know if I would say, goodbye Cardinals but it would go a long way towards securing the Wild Card, that is for sure. The Cards still have that Pujols guy. Going on the Griffey logic, if Pujols gets hot, its goodbye Reds.

Griffey will get hot. He is too good not to. And you know he wants to win this as bad as anyone on the team. He might not show it, he is a low key guy but the guy has a burning desire to win. The closer we get to the finish, the bigger the likelyhood of a Junior resurgence. The man is clutch.

[Redhook]

Also key, replacing Royce Clayton's bat with Edwin Encarnacion's.

Do you think EE would give one of his bats to Clayton? Maybe that would help Royce out. ;)

Seriously, this EE on the bench joke has gone too far. Narron, you got us. We got the point. Now put EE back in there. Right now.

Griffey will be just fine. He's already heating up.

[Rob Dicken]

The Reds need Jr. to catch fire and hit like he can. He is not a .230 hitter. Griffey in his prime would get hot and carry Seattle on his back for a couple of weeks. If Griffey does this for this team goodbye Cardinals. I think he will.. the great ones rise to the occasion.

I think so too! Griffey, when on fire, carries the ball club. I've seen many times where he will get 5 RBIs in a game ALONE, and that is carrying a team during any specific game in which that is done.

With the way Dunn has been producing, if Griffey catches on fire, the Reds are going to be the toughest team to beat in the NL.

[keeganbrick]

Yes, if Griff gets hot, it is goodbye Cards. That is if Dunn continues to hit like he is which I believe he will. Those 2 back to back will cause major damage and the rest of our lineup aint to shabby either.

[flyer85]

In the end the key will still be the starting pitching.

[redsfan30]

Junior's bat over the past four or five games has started to wake up. He's still swinging at alot of first pitches, but oh well I guess.

Like Mr. Cabesa said, it will all come down to the starting pitching.

[Always Red]

Even worse than Junior not hitting up to his normal standards, would be if Junior were to go down with an injury, as he seems to do (through no fault of his own) near the end of every season.

This is the first time since Griffey arrived in Cincinnati that the Reds have NEEDED Junior to play well in August and September.

If he goes down, we are extremely thin in the OF, with little pop in the bats of Deno and Freel.

[flyer85]

If he goes down, we are extremely thin in the OF, with little pop in the bats of Deno and Freel.With his performance to this point, Jr getting hurt would not finish the team. However, injuries to either Dunn, Harang or Arroyo certainly would.

[redbuck]

If Griffey is the key we could be in trouble. He very well COULD get hot, but there is equal chance he will get hurt, or simply not produce. Let's remember that he is 37 and clearly on the downswing of a Hall of Fame career. His defense in CF has become a joke and he has lost a lot of bat speed as well. It is NOT a given that he will get hot (although I hope he does). Pitching will be the key.

And I don't know why calling a spade a spade (in regards to Junior) makes you a "hater." I root for him harder than anyone when he's up there, but let's be honest here. Griffey is an injury waiting to happen... and he's just not very good anymore.

[danwl]

.

Griffey will be just fine. He's already heating up.

ESPN says he's hitting .200, with .766 OPS in his last seven. Both those numbers are lower than his season averages. Maybe he looks better at the plate - sometimes the ball bounces against you - but production has not heated up.

I think we should go with "He can be streaky, and he's due for a hot streak!":thumbup:

[Always Red]

I think we should go with "He can be streaky, and he's due for a hot streak!":thumbup:

I'll go along with that!

I'm a Junior fan, and really want him to step up right now, and put this team on his back for a while. All the truly great ones have done that, and Junior has been one of those. I hope he has enough gas left in the tank.:)

[Always Red]

With his performance to this point, Jr getting hurt would not finish the team. However, injuries to either Dunn, Harang or Arroyo certainly would.
true enough right now. But you've seen him get hot, all of a sudden. Heck, we've seen him do it in an at-bat; have some terrible swings early in the count, and then be all over a 2 strike pitch.

You're right about Dunn, Arroyo and Harang. No one behind them to replace what any of them have produced this year.

[reds44]

I don't think he is the key if we play Dunn, Edwin, Freel, Hatteberg, Griffey, Phillips, Rich, and Ross at the same time.

Freel-RF
Hatteberg-1B
Edwin-3B
Dunn-LF
Griffey-CF
Rich-2B
Phillips-SS
Ross-C

That lineup would score alot of runs.

[Billy_Bearcat]

He doesn't need to carry the team on his back, he just needs to provide a little more offense in the lineup. The last 2 games the Reds went 15 scoreless inning before his 2 run homer in the 9th. He doesn't even need to hit homers. The offense just needs to avoid those big stretches of scorelss innings.

[flyer85]

He doesn't need to carry the team on his back, he just needs to provide a little more offense in the lineup. The last 2 games the Reds went 15 scoreless inning before his 2 run homer in the 9th. He doesn't even need to hit homers. The offense just needs to avoid those big stretches of scorelss innings.He needs to hit HRs, both him and Dunn, otherwise this team is woefully lacking in power.

[Always Red]

He needs to hit HRs, both him and Dunn, otherwise this team is woefully lacking in power.
absolutely:beerme:

I don't mind if he hits .250. As long as he's driving in runs, and hitting in the clutch (as he has up until July).

[Redhook]

ESPN says he's hitting .200, with .766 OPS in his last seven. Both those numbers are lower than his season averages. Maybe he looks better at the plate - sometimes the ball bounces against you - but production has not heated up.


His last 4 games he's hit .310, 1.170 OPS with 2 HR's and 5 RBI's. In my mind, that equals heating up.

I think Griffey will hit well the rest of the year. He's very important to this team's success, but I also don't think he has to carry the team. If he has a decent last two months we'll be just fine.