The Success of this Season hinges on ______

[The DARK]

Quality of depth. Apart from losing Votto for a stretch and the Madson debacle, the Reds never had a key player miss significant time last season. There's certainly no guarantee of that happening again, so it may come down to what saved us during the 2010 season: having players on the bench that can step up when the injury bug sets in.

We're getting an influx of new blood on the bench (no more Valdez and 2012 Cairo at least), and our rotation goes quite deep, but I'm a bit skeptical of the bullpen. I get a feeling we may have to pull a Louisville starter into a pen role by the end of the year due to injury or underperformance.

[joshua]

Hitting. Specifically, consistent hitting with runners in scoring position. I still feel like we leave way too many guys on base at the end of innings. I'm sure someone here has stats to prove we are at or near league average, but it doesn't seem that way to me when I watch this team compared to others. Having Choo and BP in front of Votto will help...not to mention Ludwick having another good year and Bruce improving...at least I hope.

I'm tired of shaking my fists at the sky and screaming "JAAACCOOOOBBBYY!" after the Reds strand guys.

[Raisor]

Scoring more runs than the other team.

[redsfandan]

Fill in the blank. No more than three words.

The Success of this Season hinges on ... making the playoffs.

This. If Votto isn't Votto, we are screwed.

I disagree.

Everyone would agree that if Votto had been 100% all season the Reds would've won more regular season games. But, if Votto had been 100% in October would they have made it farther in the playoffs? It's easy to say yes but, in reality, it's an impossible question. In a short series anything can happen. Maybe we'll catch a lucky break when the ball is hit right to a Reds defender and a scoring opportunity for a playoff opponent turns into a double play momentum changing play. And maybe that ball will be hit just beyond the Reds defender and it's the start of a really bad inning in the playoffs.

It's at least debatable that how good the best 3 starting pitchers are in October (whether it's Cueto, Latos, Bailey or Cueto, Latos, Chapman) could matter more than if Votto is 100% or 80% in October.

The Reds have a lot of good and really good players and one great player. Would having no great players but one more really good player matter more than if the starting pitching delivers when it matters? If the starting pitching can stay healthy when we need them to be? If the defense downgrade of Choo in center and Frazier at 3rd will hurt them too much on a team that's been built around defense?

There's probably alot of questions that can be thrown out there about the fortunes of the 2013 Cincinnati Reds. But, if the 2013 Cincinnati Reds don't make the playoffs I doubt many people will be calling the season a success.

[RedsManRick]

Health.

It's been said already, but no other factor could so easily derail things.

[jojo]

The Reds need a healthy pythag

[_Sir_Charles_]

Winning games.

Sorry, somebody had to be the smart@ss. :O) Seriously though, health is the obvious answer IMO.

[HokieRed]

Health of rotation.

[RedLegsToday]

haven't read anything on here yet...

1. healthy
2. starting
3. pitching

[smixsell]

Dusty's Dugout Dice

--Pure Joke, sorry, I just couldn't resist! ;o)

[nate]

Team performance, health and good fortune, of which the last could greatly influence the two former as it did last year.

Although, maybe one could say this exact same thing every year.

[Roy Tucker]

The Success of this Season hinges on ... making the playoffs.



I disagree.

Everyone would agree that if Votto had been 100% all season the Reds would've won more regular season games. But, if Votto had been 100% in October would they have made it farther in the playoffs? It's easy to say yes but, in reality, it's an impossible question. In a short series anything can happen. Maybe we'll catch a lucky break when the ball is hit right to a Reds defender and a scoring opportunity for a playoff opponent turns into a double play momentum changing play. And maybe that ball will be hit just beyond the Reds defender and it's the start of a really bad inning in the playoffs.

It's at least debatable that how good the best 3 starting pitchers are in October (whether it's Cueto, Latos, Bailey or Cueto, Latos, Chapman) could matter more than if Votto is 100% or 80% in October.

The Reds have a lot of good and really good players and one great player. Would having no great players but one more really good player matter more than if the starting pitching delivers when it matters? If the starting pitching can stay healthy when we need them to be? If the defense downgrade of Choo in center and Frazier at 3rd will hurt them too much on a team that's been built around defense?

There's probably alot of questions that can be thrown out there about the fortunes of the 2013 Cincinnati Reds. But, if the 2013 Cincinnati Reds don't make the playoffs I doubt many people will be calling the season a success.

Well, sure, I doubt you'll get much disagreement that the success of the season depends on being a playoff team. I'd take it a step further and say a deep run in the playoffs. A Division Series loss won't hack it. Playoffs and playoffs wins are the result of the things discussed in this thread.

This all an interesting discussion and I'm sure a successful rotation, a good bullpen, a productive bench, and a good starting 8 all play into success , but I just don't see the Reds making a deep playoff run if Votto doesn't resume his near-MVP form. I think every elite team needs a elite player to anchor the lineup. Maybe lots of good players will work, but I think the odds of success are much higher with Joey being his normal potent self.

[dubc47834]

You stole my answer!

Other choice: Brian Price's awesomeness (IMO, he's the glue for our pitching staff and it's success this year)

I just feel we can overcome just about anything, but if Joeys knee is like gumby all year it could be a long summer!

[Degenerate39]

Votto

[FlyingPig]

Hitting, pitching, defense.