Offense? Reds took one of their biggest strengths and made it a glaring weakness

[reds1869]

If Narron wants Aurilia to play so much, why not play him at SS with EE at third and Clayton on the bench? Aurilia is much better with the glove than Royce and certainly hits better. Just because you picked up a has been vet in a trade doesn't mean he has to start every night.

[keeganbrick]

Cuz Aurilia's range is bad at short. I would like Narron to put this lineup out there though one night and see how much better our offense is.

[ChatterRed]

There is no more streaky of a hitter than Kearns and Lopez.

Griffey is the problem. His slump is giving no protection to the other hitters in the lineup.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Is this all a knee-jerk reaction to a string of bad games? Let us take a look at the month of May during this season. A month in which the REDS were a powerhouse offense team with Felipe at shortstop and Austin in RF.

MAY 2006
* The REDS play 28 games. They go 12-16.
* The REDS average only 4.22 runs per game.
* The REDS score 3 or less runs in 16 games (57.1% of the time).
* The starting pitching has an ERA of 3.68 in the month... but have a crappy record of 7-14. 14 quality starts... 6-8 record as a team in those games!
* The entire pitching staff has their lowest ERA for a month since May 2004 at 4.18 (more than 1/2 a run lower than any other month this year!)... but the team goes 12-16.
* May 12-17. REDS lose 5 in a row. Score 10 runs in those 5 games.
* May 24-30. REDS lose 5 of 6. Score 8 runs in the 5 losses.

Did the offense get weakened when FeLo and AK were traded? Sure it did. Is it the reason that the team has lost 5 in a row? Definitely not. Do most teams go through a bad week now and then? Most do.

Something else hurting, along w/ the offense, during the last 5 games:
* Starting pitching: 29.1 IP, 40 H, 19 ER, 5.83 ERA.

[REDREAD]

I think the offense is weaker with Kearns, Lopez and WMP gone. I don't think there is any doubt about it. The slump will end, but the team does not have as much firepower.
.

Yes, I think that is key. We lost a good bit of power with Lopez and Kearns.
Freel is a nice OBP guy, but the loss of power makes it difficult to come back when you're down 2-0 or 3-0. It seems as though there's a lot of innings where Freel/Hatteberg/Aurillia get on, but then get stranded.

[flyer85]

offensive slump, don't know what else to say other than the team is more dependent on production from Jr/Dunn than they were previously. Maybe this will be the impetus for Naroon to put his best offensive lineup on the field everyday.

[UK Reds Fan]

When you #3 hitter is OPSing below 800, you'll struggle.

Kearns and Lopez aren't the problem, we need to get Griffey to the 6 hole and be done with it.

Also, defensively, it is counter intuitive to play Freel in RF vs. Griff in C.

It is ridiculous to discuss Kearns laziness and stuborness, when Griff is non willing to shorten his stroke to punch the ball the other way on that drastic of a shift that he sees. It is nearly impossible to consistently hit thru kind of shift day in vs. day out.

But hey, if it makes so many happy to argue Aurillia vs. EE and Kearns/Lopez vs. Clayton, etc...then so be it. But the issue is in the center of team that is why we'll struggle the way we do at times.

[keeganbrick]

When you #3 hitter is OPSing below 800, you'll struggle.

Kearns and Lopez aren't the problem, we need to get Griffey to the 6 hole and be done with it.

Also, defensively, it is counter intuitive to play Freel in RF vs. Griff in C.

It is ridiculous to discuss Kearns laziness and stuborness, when Griff is non willing to shorten his stroke to punch the ball the other way on that drastic of a shift that he sees. It is nearly impossible to consistently hit thru kind of shift day in vs. day out.

But hey, if it makes so many happy to argue Aurillia vs. EE and Kearns/Lopez vs. Clayton, etc...then so be it. But the issue is in the center of team that is why we'll struggle the way we do at times.

Then Dunn struggles more.

[Kc61]

One problem offensively is that, earlier in the year, Phillips and Ross were red hot and really producing runs from the bottom of the lineup. Phillips has cooled off and Ross was hurt and only plays sporadically. With Phillips, the catcher, Clayton and the pitcher at the bottom, the offense is now concentrated on spots 1-5.

Hatteberg is holding up his end, but is basically a singles and walks guy. EE, Aurilia, and Freel have been ok but at this stage are complimentary offensive players.

So the pressure is all on Dunn and Griffey to lead the offense. They both have to hit.

In the off-season, this team should be looking for new players in centerfield (Griff hopefully moving to right) and a middle infielder to go with Phillips. Hopefully, these new guys will hit as well as field.

[REDREAD]

Jr has struggled a lot of late, but the problem goes beyond him. During this five game losing streak, we lost the 5 games by 15 runs.. Only one of those games was a 1 run loss.

Even if Jr was hitting like last year, he's not going to produce 15 runs by himself in 5 games.

[Always Red]

I'm not one to believe that this team has fallen apart just because Lopez and Kearns are not playing for it anymore. Not to take anything away from those 2, because they are both above average players. But we weren't going anywhere with them and the bullpen its sorry state prior to the ASG.

They've just hit a rough patch, as pointed out above. Small sample size over the last 5 games. It's a shame actually, because they've had good pitching the last 2 games, anyway. Anytime you waste an effort from Uncle Milty like last nights is an opportunity lost, in my book.

There's no help out there on the horizon. The guys have to start having better AB's, and doing whatever it takes to get on base. HR's are nice, but three of them Wed night were of no use.

Freel will wear down playing everyday in RF; it's part of his proven track record. I'd like to see Denorfia in there more often- why is Deno so severely penalized for his brain cramp in RF, and Freel is not for his own? I know, I know, steely-eyed veteran vs. rookie.

With the loss of the 2 bats of Kearns and Lopez, the others have to step up, it's just that simple. It's no longer a luxury and surprise for Junior to be playing well, this team needs for him to step up, show some veteran leadership, and carry the load for a while.

Here's something to consider: when this team lost Barry Larkin and Sean Casey, it lost a lot of veteran leadership. I know their skills were both in decline, Larkin because he was at the end of a fine career, and Casey, I don't know why his hitting skills seemed to come and go (I have never rooted and wished harder for a Reds player to do well, because he is such a great guy).

This team needs internal leadership, from a vet who has been there and done that. All is not lost, yet. There is still time to right the ship, but the ship is beginning to flounder a bit. Someone needs to step up, Junior (hint, hint )

[keeganbrick]

Its just fundamentals which makes the Red sickening to watch sometimes. We will be down 3 runs and man on 1st with a 2-0 count. Instead of our player taking the pitch to possibly get a walk they will swing 75% of the time(exception Hatteberg). Just stuff like this has to stop when we head into this stretch of games from here on out.

[westofyou]

Jr has struggled a lot of late,

All year, all freaking year.

Even if Jr was hitting like last year, he's not going to produce 15 runs by himself in 5 games.

.78 points below his ob% last year, he's .38 below his alltime low that came in 1989.

That's killing this team, destroying the heart of the order, more than Aurilia, more then the trade, more then Phillips or Clayton.

[M2]

It's important to remember that we're now officially in the dog days of summer.

Traditionally offenses wear down under the summer heat and it's been a particularly hot summer across the country. So, in addition to trading away two productive players and problems in the heart of the lineup, the Reds also are contending with the fatigue that comes with a long, hot summer. They probably would have scored less even if Kearns and Lopez stayed around, though having an extra guy in the lineup capable of taking a hero turn on a given night certainly wouldn't have hurt.

[dieselman44]

What would you rather see: Our offense struggle to score runs or our bullpen give up the lead in the late innings?