Originally Posted by
DavidMemphis
For my money, Cozart's defense is something that I am NOT willing to give up. Hopefully, in time, he will develop into a more consistent hitter. Remember, before Ludwick got hurt, I believe he was slated to bat in the 7 hole, NOT the 2 hole. I agree that he doesn't hit well enough to man the 2 spot. But moving Leake to short would be an atrocious decision in my opinion. I'd like to see BP and Zach as our middle infield for the next decade.
As far as Cingrani, I am very high on him as well. However, through many years of watching this great game, I have learned to be weary. Young starting pitching, almost more than any other position, will disappoint in the long haul more often than not. Not saying that will happen in Tony's case at all - he's got great stuff. But, he IS young, and somewhat unrefined, so the Reds sending him down would not shock me. Where he needs work, in my opinion, is he needs to learn how to rely on his other pitches more to get outs. When you're throwing 90% fastballs in the minors, you can get away with it FAR more than in the majors. I'd like to see more use of his slider, curve, and better development of his changeup. Not saying he can't do that in the big show, just stating that while I'm very optimistic about him, he still has a ways to go in my humble opinion.