Bullpen praise

[BoCcc2832]

"It's going to take a lot more to get them back to the postseason -- the rotation is still a concern, and the bullpen is still inconsistent." - ESPN.com recap of May 2, 2006 Reds - Cardinals game. I have a serious problem with that statement. I know the bullpen started off awful. In fact, I was one of the people that was slamming the pen at the beginning of the season. The bullpen ERA was at 6.43 over the first 12 games this season and over the last nine games, it has been 1.48 (see Weather's walk-off homer given up to Pujols). I don't care what anyone else says, this bullpen is for real right now, led by Mr. Amazing Todd Coffey who now has a 0.53 ERA through 14 appearances. If it's the sprinting that's helping his ERA, every Cincinnati relief pitcher needs to sprint. But I believe in this pen. At the beginning of the season, I required the starters to go nine innings to avoid a loss. Now, if Dave Williams or Brandon Claussen goes only five innings, I'm not worried, because I know our bullpen will help us out and keep us in the game. What do you think?

[zombie-a-go-go]

Now, if Dave Williams or Brandon Claussen goes only five innings, I'm not worried, because I know our bullpen will help us out and keep us in the game. What do you think?

That's only okay so long as Arroyo, Harang, and Pitcher X (Ramirez, currently) can go out and give you 7+ good innings on their starts. An overworked bullpen is disaster waiting to happen.

So long as the starters can regularly get to the 7th, I'll worry... less.

[Sea Ray]

I think reinforcements to the bullpen would be welcome and likely. First of all, we're already getting two pitchers back as it is, Milton and Wilson. If we need more help, bullpen pitchers are easier to acquire than starters. If Milton pitches like he did in March then that's a huge shot in the arm. I see Wilson as being no more than an innings eater out of the 'pen.

The bottomline is if we need a few more pitchers it is doable. A lot of contenders need pitching come mid season. That's nothing new. What's new is that we're talking about our Reds as being in that group this year.

There's also the possibility of a contribution coming from our minors in the form of pitching help, maybe Chick or someone like that.

This team is not a finished product by any means.

[captainmorgan07]

reinforcements needed but they if they get rest at times when arroyo and harang pitch they should hold up alright coffey just might get overworked

[wheels]

The need for a dominant reliever is still there.

We can mess around with small sample success, but in the end this pen is still ripe for failure.

Not that I'm not impressed with some of the performances we've seen, but resting on laurels and thinking that it's a finished product would reek of Dan O'Brien.

The club has provided Krivsky with a nice win cushion, but his work isn't done yet. More arms need to be added.