Arroyo to start second for Reds

[OnBaseMachine]

Arroyo to start second for Reds
By Hal McCoy

Dayton Daily News

SARASOTA, F LA . | When spring training began, the area of gravest concern was starting pitching. And while the wrinkled brows surrounding the Cincinnati Reds haven't been straightened, manager Jerry Narron feels better about it.

Why? The acquisition of Branson Arroyo this week and the near-perfect performance of much-maligned Eric Milton on Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins.

As of this moment, barring injuries or natural disasters, Narron has his rotation aligned this way: Right-hander Aaron Harang on Opening Day, right-hander Arroyo in Game 2, followed by left-handers Brandon Claussen, Milton and Dave Williams.

Harang is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three starts, Claussen is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts, Milton is 1-1 with a 7.94 ERA in two starts, Williams is 1-2 with a 7.20 in four starts and a relief appearance.

Arroyo makes his first Cincinnati start Saturday and was 1-2 with a 10.03 ERA in four starts for the Red Sox.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...4rotation.html

[Dunner44]

Ok, so when I read this thread title, I thought someone was being cute and saying Arroyo was going to start at second base... and I thought: Oh WayneK! You silly guy! I guess a guy is no good unless he can play middle infield or catcher.

[OnBaseMachine]

Ok, so when I read this thread title, I thought someone was being cute and saying Arroyo was going to start at second base... and I thought: Oh WayneK! You silly guy! I guess a guy is no good unless he can play middle infield or catcher.

Sadly, he could probably outhit Womack.

[RedsFan75]

So lets pick apart this rotation a bit.

Is there a benefit to having the lefties all together?

Is there a benefit to having the lefties split?

[HalMorrisRules]

That's exactly what I am wondering. Is there a method to their madness or are they maybe walking on egg shells with Arroyo and dont want to "insult" him by putting him in the 3rd slot?

[PTBNL]

No, I don't feel baseball works that way. If it did, Theo Epstein would have made sure his good friend (I am not being sarcastic here) knew he was being traded before someone told him that Ken Rosenthal had it as the top hot story on FoxSports.com. Plus he was headed to the pen in Boston AND totally fine with it. But had Epstein waited until then, his value would have dropped off the table. It's a business at this point.
One of the things I have not seen any one of these stat heads point out is that Arroyo has never had one full season as a starter. I think you need to take all of that into consideration when you prove a trend.
Of course Arroyo's pitching will show some league adjustment, but get him a good catcher that he can osmose with and you've got a guy that is going to flabbergast the NL hitters with his 20 different arm angles! Or his curve workin' on a warm Cincinnati day. Heck maybe he'll even be so comfortable without 35K fans yelling in his ear that he had better not suck that he will perfect that mediocre change

[PTBNL]

Arroyo to start second for Reds
By Hal McCoy

Dayton Daily News

SARASOTA, F LA . | When spring training began, the area of gravest concern was starting pitching. And while the wrinkled brows surrounding the Cincinnati Reds haven't been straightened, manager Jerry Narron feels better about it.

Why? The acquisition of Branson Arroyo this week and the near-perfect performance of much-maligned Eric Milton on Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins.

As of this moment, barring injuries or natural disasters, Narron has his rotation aligned this way: Right-hander Aaron Harang on Opening Day, right-hander Arroyo in Game 2, followed by left-handers Brandon Claussen, Milton and Dave Williams.

Harang is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in three starts, Claussen is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts, Milton is 1-1 with a 7.94 ERA in two starts, Williams is 1-2 with a 7.20 in four starts and a relief appearance.

Arroyo makes his first Cincinnati start Saturday and was 1-2 with a 10.03 ERA in four starts for the Red Sox.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/sport...4rotation.html

Branson?!
I could just swear this is the same guy that misspelled Kevin Youkilis' name when he was being floated around as a trade possiblity as well. AND Youkie is FROM Cincinnati.

[UPRedsFan]

So lets pick apart this rotation a bit.

Is there a benefit to having the lefties all together?

Is there a benefit to having the lefties split?

I don't know about having the lefties bunched together. Probably does not make that much difference. But I am more and more excited about the possibility of seeing the rotation move out of the cellar and into the middle of the pack in the NL. With Arroyo and Milton returning to form we'll get a lot more innings which will help the bullpen too. They're leaps and bounds ahead of '05 and '04. If you consider that Arroyo replaces Ortiz, and Williams replaces the 25 starts by Wilson/Hudson - dramatic improvements! Could we see an offense in the top 3 and a pitching staff in the middle of the pack? I think so.

[UPRedsFan]

I just looked and Williams actually had better success against rh hitters last year by a significant margin. Claussen and Milton had more success against lh hitters. More evidence that it shouldn't matter bunching the 3 lhp's together in the rotation.

[TRF]

One start, and people keep saying Milton is "returning to form."

What form would that be exactly? Because unless he suddenly got Steve Austin's knee, it was one ST start against a weak offense.

I'd rather have Dennys Reyes than Eric Milton. At least Big Sweat was fun to watch.. sweat.

[BRM]

One start, and people keep saying Milton is "returning to form."

Unfortunately, Milton "returning to form" still equates to a below average pitcher.

[TeamBoone]

Ok, so when I read this thread title, I thought someone was being cute and saying Arroyo was going to start at second base... and I thought: Oh WayneK! You silly guy! I guess a guy is no good unless he can play middle infield or catcher.

LOL. That's close to what I thought. I figured someone was poking fun at Jerry Narron and saying he's decided to cut through the logjam and just put Arroyo at 2nd. (he wouldn't, would he? )

[TeamBoone]

I'd rather have Dennys Reyes than Eric Milton. At least Big Sweat was fun to watch.. sweat.

Oh good Lord! I absolutely hated having him on the Reds and moaned and groaned every time he pitched... more often than not, it was deserved.

Ugh! This may give me a nightmare.

[Doc. Scott]

TRF, speak for yourself. Reyes is on organization number nine these days.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Branson?!
I could just swear this is the same guy that misspelled Kevin Youkilis' name when he was being floated around as a trade possiblity as well. AND Youkie is FROM Cincinnati.

The same guy who is in the Baseball Writer's section of the Hall of Fame? The same guy who uses an "a" for an "o" in one article? The same guy who is from Dayton, but is expected to spell a strange last name of a guy from Cincinnati who has never played for the REDS?

Man, must be tough to be perfect and expect all other "humans" to be the same way! To each his own, I guess...