6/22/2013 Reds at Dbacks....Game 2

[alloverjr]

The best part of this game for me, in all seriousness, is that 2 "closers" blew it for their team in the same inning. Tough for Corbin and Leake both of whom (I acknowledge they were both hit for) probably could have finished the game off on their own. I've no doubt Corbin could have anyway. Get rid of these pre-ordained closers and just go with the better matchup (not that the Reds have a lot of options out of the pen these days).

Votto, btw needs to find a position that's not 1st if he's going to butcher it as he has the last 6 weeks or so.

[RedTeamGo!]

I think his hitting is fine. NO way is he like Sean Casey as a hitter. Please. The guy was not a 35-40 HR guy. He is and can be a 30 homer guy, but he will hit better than Casey overall. Now his glove...that i will give you is just complete botch job.

It is like Steve Sax back in 1983.

I'm not convinced Votto will consistently be a 30 home run guys moving forward with his career

[New York Red]

Reds. Good team, something missing.

I continue to believe it's leadership that's missing. The talent is there.

[Tony Cloninger]

Then why doesn't dusty/price recognize bad chapman earlier. He rarely rebounds when he starts an inning wildly. Know your players. Have backup pitcher start getting ready when wild chapman lets first batter on. Hell, he almost took off mesoracos face on a warmup pitch. Fox noticed it ...

No one could have possibly warmed up that fast to cover Chapman.....BEFORE he even started facing a batter. Not even Sidd Finch.

[Blitz Dorsey]

6/22/12 Reds are 38-31

6/22/13 Reds are 44-32

I like them apples.

[Gizmo]

This isn't 2012. What was the cards record last year at this point?

162-0 by the sound of most posters here.

[Ironman92]

I think his hitting is fine. NO way is he like Sean Casey as a hitter. Please. The guy was not a 35-40 HR guy. He is and can be a 30 homer guy, but he will hit better than Casey overall. Now his glove...that i will give you is just complete botch job.

It is like Steve Sax back in 1983.

Sax couldn't throw.....but Votto at 1st the past week looks like Yonder in LF.

[reds700]

The sample of games against "quality" teams you're referencing is indeed a small sample. It amounts to about 40 games. That would be the second week of May if it were played consecutively. That is most definitely a small sample.

And you probably play about 80 quality games a year. They are halfway through. They are a good team but they don't appear to have what it takes to win it all. But all you have to do is get to the playoffs and get hot. They will probably have a chance to do that.

[NebraskaRed]

This isn't 2012. What was the cards record last year at this point?

It isn't???? Man, I really gotta start getting out of the house.

[dubc47834]

Then why doesn't dusty/price recognize bad chapman earlier. He rarely rebounds when he starts an inning wildly. Know your players. Have backup pitcher start getting ready when wild chapman lets first batter on. Hell, he almost took off mesoracos face on a warmup pitch. Fox noticed it ...

They didnt have any 20 second timeouts left to warmup the back up the backup QB....my bad wrong sport

[RedTeamGo!]

I am sooooo glad I went to see World War Z instead of following this mess on gameday.

PS - If you have read the book the movie is literally nothing like it, but it is enjoyable as a zombie flick.

[Tony Cloninger]

I know why we lost!!!!

Stubbs hasn't scored today.

Well we cannot blame him anymore......

[Big Klu]

Yep. He got visibly upset after that error. Had the 1st guy been out, I think he wouldn't have melted down.

Yeah, but sometimes you have to pick up your teammate when they make an error/miscue. Votto probably should have fielded that (even though it was ruled a hit), but Chapman needs to sack up and say, "It's OK Joey, I got the [bleep] [bleep]."

Win as a team, lose as a team.

[_Sir_Charles_]

He's been slumping with the glove all of 2013. I'm sorry, I understand I am being knee jerky, but Votto has not shown me much since he came back from his knee injury last year. He has an excellent eye and gets on base better than just about anybody but something just does not seem right. atrocious defense, home runs are down. Sean Casey with a better eye and slightly more power?

Sooooo much money. Am I the only person nervous this may quickly become the worst contract in baseball?

I think Votto has a very solid glove. Gold glove caliber? Not really. He just had a very good year when he won it I think. But yes, he's been worse than normal over there.

Home runs are down though? Not seeing that at all. His HR totals are strong right now.

[Brutus]

And you probably play about 80 quality games a year. They are halfway through. They are a good team but they don't appear to have what it takes to win it all. But all you have to do is get to the playoffs and get hot. They will probably have a chance to do that.

And the other half are played against bad teams. If the Reds duplicate what they're doing so far in the second half of the season, they'll finish with 94 wins and a highly probable playoff berth.

So it goes to show that fretting over a subset of 40 games is really missing the big picture.