Great article on Rolen and his effect on the Reds

[Rockermann]

Really nice piece on Scott. It's also amazing the amount of press the Reds are getting 'out of market'.

“You’ve got the loud guys, the vocal guys, but with him, it’s the eye contact, the silent treatment,” Gomes said. “He’s 6-5, 250, and he looks right through you when he wants to. It’s kind of like when you’re 8 years old and you disappoint your dad.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/sports/baseball/02rolen.html

[bigredmechanism]

Good read. Rolen is the man.

[krm1580]

I don't know how long it lasts but right now I believe Rolen is the biggest reason for the offensive surge in this team. He is absolutely mashing from the #4 hole which fills a huge void that existed in this lineup last year. The much larger impact though comes from the trickle down effect in the rest of the lineup.

#1.) It moves Brandon Phillips from a below average #4 hitter to an above average #2 hitter.

#2.) Provides protection to Joey Votto

#3.) The L, R, L, R combo of Votto, Rolen, Bruce, Gomes in the middle of the creates a bullpen burning situation for the oposing team because its very unlikely a team will let one reliever pitch to all 4.

I think right behind Rolen, Gomes would be the second biggest reason for the offensive surge. Coming into the season LF production was a huge concern and he has exceeded expectations without giving away too much in the field.

[BuckWild03]

Really nice piece on Scott. It's also amazing the amount of press the Reds are getting 'out of market'.



Yeah, now if only the ESPN guys would jump on board. Watching Baseball Tonight last night, those guys still act like it's cute for the reds to be "hanging around near the top of the division." It will be interesting to see how they treat the reds during tonight's ESPN broadcast. I imagine most of the conversation will still be about how awesome the cardinals are.

[GIDP]

They will talk about how bad the cardinals are and still hanging on. Really says something about their ability to be true champions.

:laugh:

[Vottomatic]

I don't know how long it lasts but right now I believe Rolen is the biggest reason for the offensive surge in this team. He is absolutely mashing from the #4 hole which fills a huge void that existed in this lineup last year. The much larger impact though comes from the trickle down effect in the rest of the lineup.

#1.) It moves Brandon Phillips from a below average #4 hitter to an above average #2 hitter.

#2.) Provides protection to Joey Votto

#3.) The L, R, L, R combo of Votto, Rolen, Bruce, Gomes in the middle of the creates a bullpen burning situation for the oposing team because its very unlikely a team will let one reliever pitch to all 4.

I think right behind Rolen, Gomes would be the second biggest reason for the offensive surge. Coming into the season LF production was a huge concern and he has exceeded expectations without giving away too much in the field.

I said it on another thread. Those 4 hitters are causing and will continue to cause problems for opposing pitchers. Gomes is on fire. Bruce is back. Votto is Votto. And Rolen is bringing it big time. Agree about the L,R,L,R combo. Trouble.

I questioned the trade for Rolen at the time, although I was done with EE. EE was a favorite of mine that I'd run out of patience with. Obviously Walt knew what he was doing with Scott. I don't know the guy personally, but it seems like he really likes his new situation. And reworking his contract was another plus. We have an All-Star, Gold Glove, Big Bat third baseman at a fair price.

Wish we could rework a few more contracts, like BP's.

[krm1580]

I questioned the Rolen trade as well but mainly because he was playing around 90 games a year and OPSing .750. I remember saying if we were getting the 2002 Rolen fine, but this one is not much of an upgrade. So far he is playing like the 2002 Rolen, hopefully this lasts.

I really like this lineup a lot. Its a really good power/speed mix with 6 guys on pace for 20+ HRs and 5 guys on pace for 20+ steals. My only concern is the K potential in the lineup which could lead to prolonged slumps, but right now its all systems go.

[redhat]

I think right behind Rolen, Gomes would be the second biggest reason for the offensive surge. Coming into the season LF production was a huge concern and he has exceeded expectations without giving away too much in the field.
I haven't seen Gomes play LF enough to know how good he is at running down balls in the gap or down the line, but he made one hell of a throw to the plate last night. To me, he looks like a better fielder than Holliday.

[redhat]

I questioned the Rolen trade as well but mainly because he was playing around 90 games a year and OPSing .750.
Rolen has had some serious shoulder injuries in the past. Got torn up in the playoffs in 2002, took him until 2004 to come back with a great year at the plate. Then injured his shoulder again in 2006, and was mostly a black hole in the lineup until the World Series, when he gutted it out and performed very well.

He's a big strong guy, but he goes all out, all the time, and it tends to get him hurt more often than the average player.

[redsrolen]

I must have missed it,where can I read the whole article?

[redsrolen]

Never mind,I just noticed where its at, I'm a little slow today!

[muddie]

I loved Gomes' quote.