What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Okay, 1 major whole was filled with the signing of Choo.
Now, what else is there left to fill?
Ludwick, Choo, Bruce our are starting 3. Xavier Paul, Chris Heisey as outfield reserves.
Frazier, Cozart, Phillips, Votto our are starting infield. Donaldson as infield reserves.
Cueto
Latos
Chapman
Bailey
Arroyo
Our starting 5.
Backup depth? Mike Leake. Corcino, Cingrani?
Bullpen:
LONG MEN: Simon, Lecure
Hoover, Arredondo, Broxton, Marshall, Ondrusek?
The weaknesses I see that are still left.
Probably need some additional bench pieces..perhaps bring back scott rolen?
I feel an additional bullpen arm is needed, and that some starting pitching depth is needed as well.
Otherwise, were set in my opinion. :beerme:
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Masset is also an option out of the pen. I see the Reds going after a 1B/3B bench guy who hits left handed with some pop and possibly an additional lefty reliever. Those are really the only two holes left on this squad after the deal for Choo.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
On the contrary, I feel good about our starting depth. In addition to Leake, we have Redmond (better than he appeared last season), Corcino, Cingrani, and Villareal; even LeCure can make a spot start. That's a total of 11 starters that I'd not feel bad about giving a shot on any given day.
I agree on the bullpen though. Take out Chapman and we have only one lefty still in the pen (Marshall). That's not good enough... I'd look for a middle-inning lefty and call it a day.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
If anything, maybe another lefty in the 'pen.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Bullpen, but I'm not sure how to address it. The BEST scenerio would have been somehow landing a shutdown closer, using Broxton/Marshall as primary setup men, and the others are good enough for the rest (Hoover, JA, especially).
However, that would have meant an even higher payroll and potentially giving up a lot in a trade. If you slide Broxton to closer, you suddenly have a mediocre closer (not bad), only 1 real 8th inning guy, and everyone else is asked to fill bigger roles. I'm not sure how to fix that at this point. We may just have to live with it being one of the few average components to an otherwise very good team.
I will say that we frequently see some closers become available in July. If that happens, I'd be interested.
I'm a little worried about the bench like everybody else, but I think that will work itself out. People tend to emerge when there are bench spots up for grabs.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
I can see Hoover stepping up and doing what Brox did last season. Or, Hoover, Marshall, Brox - 7,8,9
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Needs left:
a decent second catcher
Closer role is a ? I'm not sure how broxton will do. I wish Chapman would stay THE closer.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
I would love to see us get another arm similar to or an improvement on Redmond who can bounce back and forth.
What happened last year was spectacular. We won't have 5 pitchers start 161 out of 162 games next year.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
If Chapman makes it as a starter, we definitely need another lefty in the bullpen. Can Walt pull another rabbit out of his Reds cap?
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Arredondo/Ondrusek (one should be replaced with a LOOGY) and closer.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
I wish we could get another RH hitter to put between Votto and Bruce, moving Ludwick to 6th. Even with Choo, I am still not sure about our offense. What are we going to get from Frazier, Cozart, Ludwick, and Hanigan. That's half of our starting lineup that I have concern about.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scott91575
Arredondo/Ondrusek (one should be replaced with a LOOGY) and closer.
Arrodondo holds lefties to a .190 average for his career including .165 last season. No, he's not left handed but he gets lefties out.
I'd like to see them get another catcher they can stash at AAA like they did with Navarro last year. If Hanigan or Mesoraco is either hurt or ineffective, the Reds would have to look outside the organization because as much as I like Corky Miller, under no circumstances does he belong on a major league playoff roster.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
40YrRedsFan
I wish we could get another RH hitter to put between Votto and Bruce, moving Ludwick to 6th. Even with Choo, I am still not sure about our offense. What are we going to get from Frazier, Cozart, Ludwick, and Hanigan. That's half of our starting lineup that I have concern about.
I have zero concern about Hanigan. He is what he is, .275 avg, .360 obp, very little power, walks more than he strikes out, great situational hitter. I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight downtick in production from Frazier and Ludwick but I see no reason not to expect an uptick from Cozart.
As I see it, the upgrade from Stubbs to Choo, Phillips hitting in the 2 hole, a healthy Votto, Ludwick trending down to his career averages .263/.334/.466, Bruce continuing to develop and I've discussed the others. That has to be better than last season right?
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MoneyInTheBank
I have zero concern about Hanigan. He is what he is, .275 avg, .360 obp, very little power, walks more than he strikes out, great situational hitter. I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight downtick in production from Frazier and Ludwick but I see no reason not to expect an uptick from Cozart.
As I see it, the upgrade from Stubbs to Choo, Phillips hitting in the 2 hole, a healthy Votto, Ludwick trending down to his career averages .263/.334/.466, Bruce continuing to develop and I've discussed the others. That has to be better than last season right?
I agree with you. Hanigan was a great catcher last year and don't see anything wrong with a Hanigan/Mesoraco tandem at catcher. I would say they would be in top 5-10 in the league.
Re: What are the weak spots still left on this team?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
RedTruck
Okay, 1 major whole was filled with the signing of Choo.
Now, what else is there left to fill?
Ludwick, Choo, Bruce our are starting 3. Xavier Paul, Chris Heisey as outfield reserves.
Frazier, Cozart, Phillips, Votto our are starting infield. Donaldson as infield reserves.
Cueto
Latos
Chapman
Bailey
Arroyo
Our starting 5.
Backup depth? Mike Leake. Corcino, Cingrani?
Bullpen:
LONG MEN: Simon, Lecure
Hoover, Arredondo, Broxton, Marshall, Ondrusek?
The weaknesses I see that are still left.
Probably need some additional bench pieces..perhaps bring back scott rolen?
I feel an additional bullpen arm is needed, and that some starting pitching depth is needed as well.
Otherwise, were set in my opinion. :beerme:
I still feel that our back-end of the bullpen isn't strong enough. I'd like to see us get one more solid righty for the 8th inning.