Good Luck

[IABucFan]

Hello everyone. First off, this isn't a trolling post or anything like that. I just wanted to wish the Reds good luck the rest of the season. I realized tonight that the Pirates just don't have it this year. I honestly thought they would be better than this, but I was very wrong. I can't take the Cards winning again, and words can't describe my disdain for the Brewers. So, I would really like to see the Reds win the Central.

Last year, there was a very specific moment when I knew the Pirates were for real, and it was when they swept the Angels in Anaheim. Tonight is the specific moment when I know they are not going anywhere this year. Perhaps they will surprise me, but I seriously doubt it at this point.

I think the Reds have a solid team, and I hope that you all can compete with the Cardinals this year.

[Mutaman]

Since you're already giving up in April, maybe you can loan us that McCutchen fellow for the rest of the year.

[Red Raindog]

Thanks but as long as you have McCutcheon in CF there is reason to fear the Pirates

[Larry Schuler]

I appreciate your compliments but the Reds' season has already been decided and it isn't very pretty. Please see my signature or PM Junkhead and ask him to send you the article where our official 2014 record was announced.

[Always Red]

Padre, don't give up so easily, lots of baseball left to be played.

You gotta have faith!

[MillerTime58]

You won't know what kind of team you have until June at the earliest.

[klw]

It took you until today to give up?????? Redszone gave up on the Reds two weeks ago.
http://www.redszone.com/forums/showt...-you-just-know

[IABucFan]

Padre, don't give up so easily, lots of baseball left to be played.

You gotta have faith!

I know...it's frustrating.

I realize this is a Reds board, so I don't want to overload it with Pirates content. If I could sum up the Pirates so far in one sentence, it would be this: We were expecting to get good pitching from everyone not named Edinson Volquez, and what transpired was that we've only gotten good pitching from everyone named Edinson Volquez. (Oh, and Marte and Alvarez have not been good. In fact, they've been downright aweful. Up until this week frankly, McCutchen wasn't very good either.)

If, and it's a big if, Liriano, Morton, and Cole can pitch like they were last year, and the bullpen can get things figured out, then MAYBE things will turn around. But, right now, I'm just not seeing it.

I still think the Brewers are playing way above their heads right now. I honestly don't see them winning 90 games. As it stands today, if I were predicting the standings at the end of the year, I'd say:

1. Cards
2. Reds
3. Brewers
4. Pirates
5. Cubs

[IABucFan]

It took you until today to give up?????? Redszone gave up on the Reds two weeks ago.
http://www.redszone.com/forums/showt...-you-just-know

Nice.

[WVRedsFan]

Hello everyone. First off, this isn't a trolling post or anything like that. I just wanted to wish the Reds good luck the rest of the season. I realized tonight that the Pirates just don't have it this year. I honestly thought they would be better than this, but I was very wrong. I can't take the Cards winning again, and words can't describe my disdain for the Brewers. So, I would really like to see the Reds win the Central.

Last year, there was a very specific moment when I knew the Pirates were for real, and it was when they swept the Angels in Anaheim. Tonight is the specific moment when I know they are not going anywhere this year. Perhaps they will surprise me, but I seriously doubt it at this point.

I think the Reds have a solid team, and I hope that you all can compete with the Cardinals this year.

its too early--only 22games in, but I did notice that the Pirates don't seem to have that special thing that good teams seem to have. Last year, it seemed that every break went the Pirates' way, and so far it's just been the opposite. Pitchers who mowed them down last year are almost human. The bullpen is far from bulletproof as it was. So far. There are 140 games left. Chin up, but not too far. I just want to finish better than you guys do.

[Brutus]

I think there's two things to take away from this:

First, last season, Pittsburgh was good but like a lot of teams, sometimes the record is probably slightly better than the actual team. A lot of times the luck, good fortune, etc. that accumulates over a season catches up with a team the next year. Sometimes it doesn't even have to do with being lucky but it's just hard to repeat the same success the next year as things don't always break the same way. This is not to imply Pittsburgh was purely a result of luck last season, as I do not believe that to be the case whatsoever... but I don't think they were quite as good as the record they had.

That said, I'd not throw in the towel just yet. Pittsburgh has a solid rotation, a good pen and a good middle of the order. There's plenty of baseball left and I don't see the Pirates folding even if they take a half step back this season.

[Chip R]

It's still early. I remember some of those HOU teams from the mid 00s who would start out very slow and then come on like gangbusters later in the season to either win the division or make the playoffs. The good thing about being in this division is that the Reds, Cards, Bucs and Brewers are all going to beat up on each other. No team is going to run away with the division.

[villain612]

Not throwing stones at this particular OP, but I go on the comments section for the game recaps on MLB.com a lot, and from my experience, Pirates fans are about 10x as neurotic as any other fanbase in the league when it comes to their own team. Maybe it was the 20 years in the wilderness that did it.

I recall half of their posters giving up the 2013 season last August. lol

[AtomicDumpling]

Hello everyone. First off, this isn't a trolling post or anything like that. I just wanted to wish the Reds good luck the rest of the season. I realized tonight that the Pirates just don't have it this year. I honestly thought they would be better than this, but I was very wrong. I can't take the Cards winning again, and words can't describe my disdain for the Brewers. So, I would really like to see the Reds win the Central.

Last year, there was a very specific moment when I knew the Pirates were for real, and it was when they swept the Angels in Anaheim. Tonight is the specific moment when I know they are not going anywhere this year. Perhaps they will surprise me, but I seriously doubt it at this point.

I think the Reds have a solid team, and I hope that you all can compete with the Cardinals this year.

Unfortunately, it is waaaaay too early to count the Pirates out. My calendar still says April on top.

[M2]

Thanks but as long as you have McCutcheon in CF there is reason to fear the Pirates

That's actually a really good point. The same applies to the Reds and Votto. Basically, if you take a top 10 player and mix in good pitching and defense, you usually have enough other bats materialize to make your team at least respectable.

In the Reds' case, the starting pitching has been rocking it for a few years now and the defense looks like it's the best in baseball by a comfortable margin. Add in Rocco's unconscious start, Bruce turning into a BB machine and solid starts from Frazier and Ludwick, and the Reds look to have one hell of a solid foundation (with Chapman and Latos still to return).

In the Pirates' case, the starting pitching is a lot shakier (not to mention older) and the defense is solid, yet well short of what the Reds are putting in the field. The two offenses are roughly equivalent - Reds rate better at the moment, but not by a large margin. So in Pittsburgh's case it comes down to what can you get from Liriano, Morton, Volquez and Rodriguez. I suppose if Gregory Polanco comes up and is an immediate stud, that would change their calculus, but otherwise it's a matter of whether they can get enough starting pitching for McCutchen to get them wins.