Let's give Mike Leake some credit.

[REDREAD]

Great thread.
Overall, Leake has done a good job.
I'm glad he's on the team.

I really don't think Leake needed motivation of losing his job from Cingrani though. Dusty made it pretty clear that Leake's job was never in jeopardy. I doubt Leake was worried about losing his job at all. Thankfully, the Reds are a little more slow/deliberate/conservative decision makers than Redszone.

[bellhead]

I think it's amazing that 10 years ago, Leake would've been the team's #1 starter. Now he's a #5 with a sub-4 ERA.

He looked good last night. A couple of flyballs that didn't get out in Citi might have been out of GABP, but overall he kept the Mets off balance.

Seeing spots of the game, I noticed he was pounding the zone down low and has pitches that break inside to lefties and righties....

[traderumor]

Greg Reynolds would be another possibilitiy- not that we hope the Reds have to get to a 7th or 8th starter other than a late season DH coverage start.
http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats...pbp&pid=453353

8 starts at AAA, 4-0 2.88 ERA 56 IP 12 BB 39 K's

Yea, no. I was looking at what was going on at AAA yesterday and saw that line. Then, I looked at his career minor league stats. If he's needed for any more than a spot start, it probably won't be pretty.

[cumberlandreds]

Leake is a typical sinker baller with average stuff. When he keeps the sinker down and throws strikes, he makes it look easy. When he can't push it down, then he gets wild and the elevated sinker gets crushed. And seldom is he in the middle of the continuum.

Exactly right. Leake has to have really good control within the strike zone. When he does he's very good. When he doesn't he's very bad. I hope he's watching Arroyo very closely. Leake could be a carbon copy of BA and have a very nice career when he learns to change speeds while having good control of the strike zone.

[bounty37h]

I think what he has done "might" just be a little due to competition.

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to respond with this. I dont care, you have to win the most games as a team at the end of the season. Thats means you have to beat a lot of bad teams along the way. It wasn't long ago we were one of those bad teams the others had to beat to get there, so am happy with Leake and where we are at as a team.

[klw]

I was wondering how long it would take for someone to respond with this. I dont care, you have to win the most games as a team at the end of the season. Thats means you have to beat a lot of bad teams along the way. It wasn't long ago we were one of those bad teams the others had to beat to get there, so am happy with Leake and where we are at as a team.

I don't think the original post meant the level of competition Leake was facing but rather the perceived competition with Cingrani for the spot in the rotation.

[Billy Hamilton's Legs]

I think what he has done "might" just be a little due to competition.

I think there is a degree of truth to this. Looking at his starts, he's fared poorly against the Nationals, Braves, and Pirates, but has dominated against the likes of the Cubs, Marlins, Mets, and Phillies. As people have already said, he's a #5 and has put up solid numbers for someone in that spot. Everyone can't be an ace.

[NebraskaRed]

As people have already said, he's a #5 and has put up solid numbers for someone in that spot. Everyone can't be an ace.

Absolutely agree. In terms of who I trust more, Cingrani or Leake, I'll take Leake.

As others have pointed out, he has the potential to be an Arroyo-like pitcher (hell, they even had the same hair last year). Arroyo is dependable. Leake isn't to that "dependable" level yet, but I think he will be very soon if he keeps working on raising that GB%.

[Roush's socks]

Leake is way underrated on this board. The guy is only 25 and he's already had a better year-2011- than many hyped up prospects. He doesn't walk a lot of batters and if he can keep the HR's down and his ERA sub 4.00 then he is a great 5 starter and more like a 3-4 starter on most teams.

[mattfeet]

Oh, and he can hit, too. So there's that.

[Benihana]

I'll admit I was (and still am) a bit of a Leake skeptic, at least in terms of thinking of him as anything more than a decent back-of-the-rotation starter.

That said, I appreciate what he's done over the past month. I was at last night's game, and came away impressed. I'd still trade him in a heartbeat for a real LF. As I always say, sell high. At the risk of sounding like a hater, remember, he does still sport a 1.40 WHIP and 6.2 K/9.

(Maybe Walt could convince the White Sox to trade Rios for Leake and Lutz in the wake of Floyd being out for the year?)

[dfs]

Well, you can only pitch against the teams you get your starts against.

Like the reds, Leake has feasted on some pretty bad teams and struggled against the good ones. Washington and Atlanta have beaten him. Marlins, Cubs and Mets...not so much.

I'll take Leake as my 5th starter.

[Kc61]

Just keep in mind that Arroyo's contract is up this year. Bailey's contract, I think, is up after next season.

The Reds need Leake and Cingrani and others because they will inevitably have slots to fill as the next few years go by.

The whole Leake/Cingrani debate never made sense to me because it's a very short term issue. Soon, there will be room - and a need - for both.

[Benihana]

Just keep in mind that Arroyo's contract is up this year. Bailey's contract, I think, is up after next season.

The Reds need Leake and Cingrani and others because they will inevitably have slots to fill as the next few years go by.

The whole Leake/Cingrani debate never made sense to me because it's a very short term issue. Soon, there will be room - and a need - for both.

If I'm the Reds, figuring out whether they can extend Homer Bailey (and Mat Latos) is priority #1. That will help inform not only what to do with their other current pitchers, but also how much they can offer Choo.

If they can resign both Bailey and Latos, they likely won't be able to afford Choo. But they'll have the top 3 rotation spots locked up for the next several years, so they could potentially make a trade like Leake for Rios, because we'll still likely have a vacancy in the OF for the next 18 months (I wouldn't count on an OF of Ludwick, Hamilton and Bruce next year - it may indeed happen, but there are a LOT of ??? in penciling in that OF at this point).

Also, I don't really consider Mike Leake a viable replacement for Homer Bailey. Mike Leake is (and always will be IMO) a #4 starter at best. If he replaces Bailey in the rotation, the Reds will be taking a significant downgrade. Also, Leake is not going to be cheap going forward.

[SunDeck]

I think the notion that a big league pitcher needs motivation to pitch well is crazy. It's the highest level of competition on the planet in baseball; he didn't get there by being unmotivated to pitch well. Rather, Leake needs to be extremely accurate to pitch well and if he's off by a hair's breadth, he's not going to have a good outing.