The one thing I do know is that the Red's have more options this year for the pen than in a long time... Coffee, Bray, Hermanson, Stanton, Cormier, Weathers, Burton, Salmon, Coutlogus, Santos, Belisle/Saarloos, Guardado (By July) I feel like the pen will be much improved, but then again I may just be a tad bit optimistic...
I Read On Other Site About Benitez Or Jorge Julio Why ? Julio Maybe But He Is Under 30 So He May Not Fit Their Needs. Besides We Have Too Many Older $$$$ Pitchers That We Couldn't Get Away From Plus Milton. What Ever.
see: Paul Wilson, Mike Stanton and David Weathers...Originally Posted by jesusfan
I have said it all spring if (and that is a HUGE if) Hermanson can pick his velocity back up to 88-91 he could be a potential closer. He does have a fair slider and a nasty split. Any pitcher throwing splitters low in the zone in our ballpark could be a nice asset to have.
...and what was Guardado's top speed last year while reeling off save after save?
hermanson = Blech!
The guy threw a grand total of 14 innings for the Reds and had 8 saves. Let's not get too carried away here. To answer your question though, I can't remember what his velocity was last year but I'm pretty sure he wasn't topping 90.
You beat me to it...
As we saw last year, closing is as much about makeup as it is about stuff...Todd Coffey easily had the best stuff in the pen last year, but was unable to effectively close...
Listening to the Tigers reminded me that Todd Jones is their closer (though Joel Zamaya isn't half bad)
I'm more concerned that Hermanson is healthy and effective than if he can throw 92 MPH...and Guardado totally proved that last year, if only for a time...
You cannot defeat an ignorant man in an argument!
-William Gibbs McAdoo
Though many of us here are sure trying
I wouldn't count on Eddie being back this year; if he does, it's a bonus.
I have no problem with trying out Hermanson in the closer spot UNLESS it means Burton going back to the A's. If so, I'm against it. I'd rather see them trade either Stanton or Cormier (if they're keeping Hermanson) away before giving Burton back. Burton could help this team for years down the road, which is something that none of the others mentioned can do.
sorry we're boring
Eddie actually proved both sides of the argument last year. He had 23 terrible innings for Minnesota and 14 good innings for Cincinnati. Which one was the real Eddie? Both?
IMHO, a closer is a closer...Guardado went south in Minnesota when he was being used as a setup guy...it seems like ole Eddie needs the "juice" of the 9th-inning pressure to succeed...once again, the mental part of this equation...
Clearly, we all wish instead of the Guardado/Hermanson debates, we'd love to throw Rivera or Wagner out there...it really seems like up til the last 2 years when Graves flamed out, we'd always had solid, if not great closers (Granger, Carroll, Eastwick, Bair, Hume, Myers, Dibble, Brantley, Shaw, Graves) and solid bullpens...
I do think this year shaped up MUCH better than 1 year ago today...truly, I cannot even remember some of the names of the guys we rolled out on opening day '06...AND PLEASE DO NOT REMIND ME
You cannot defeat an ignorant man in an argument!
-William Gibbs McAdoo
Though many of us here are sure trying
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