Quote:
Originally Posted by Falls City Beer
Who do the Reds have to call up? How exactly has Arroyo trended anywhere but down the last 5 or 6 months of pitching he's thrown over two seasons? Does Cueto show any signs of "improvement"? Aside from Cordero and occasionally Affeldt, who inspires confidence in this pen?
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1.) They just called up a guy that should, if everything goes to plan, solidify the #3 spot in the order and correct major defensive deficiencies in either CF or RF (depending how he is deployed).
From where I'm sitting, that's 1 spot out of 25 that is now fixed for the next 6 years, minimum.
2.) Anyone who expected Cueto to immediately be a dominant pitcher as a rookie was kidding themselves or drinking Kool Aid with WAYYY too much sugar. What he is doing right now is expected, and should have been anticipated by most.
Talk to me about "improvement" -- or lack thereof -- at the end of the season.
3.) Affeldt, Burton and Cordero are all about the same on the "Confidence-O-Meter" for me. Bullpen pitching is notoriously difficult to judge. Guys come out of nowhere to be good bullpen arms and then fade back to nothingness just as quickly. Hopefully Jocketty will be better at judging that in the future -- his run in St. Louis indicates to me that he knows the right places to look.
4.) Arroyo trended down because, literally, after his first campaign through the NL he had nowhere to go BUT down. He is what he is -- a good #4 guy on a good rotation, an OK #3 on a bad rotation. I'm not going to cry a single tear about him being on the team.
If he can be shopped for better players, I'm all for that. I also wouldn't be against going into the 2009 season with him in the rotation as long as we're looking at him as a role player and not a savior or anchor on the staff.
Jocketty has work to do with this team, but he's not in bad shape at all, IMO. This team is bad, but there are enough good young players that are just beginning their major league careers that he shouldn't have to do a total rebuild.