Merged: Homer's Outing / Homer's First Start

[HumnHilghtFreel]

What did all of you think?

My first thought after he left was: I was shocked to see him get to 114 pitches. I really thought he was done for the night after the walk to Hafner. I'm glad leaving him in worked out well, but it also worries me about how Narron may end up handling him. But it may have just been Narron trying to get him through 5 in his debut. At least I hope so.

I didn't think his "stuff" looked all that great, but I'll wait until he isn't nervous beyond belief before I really judge him on that.

Overall, I give him an A.

[steig]

I didn't see other threads discussing his start.

I personally felt that he had a very good outing. I was hesitant when Narron left Homer in the game for so many pitches but I thought it was great how he worked his way out of the jam. I don't believe he had his best stuff tonight but you can tell that he will have some late movement on his fastball as he settles down and that he has good speed differential between his different pitches. In all, I think it was a great start and the Reds would be stupid to send him back down to Louisville after this start. Let him spend some time with the club and learn how to pitch against the big boys.

[ochoa30]

Plus that is by far the best offense he will face this year. Way to many pitches but i can live with it if they never do that again. Atleast this year. He had bad command but battled really well which is great.

[reds44]

He did pretty well for his first start. Hopefully we can hold on and get him the W.

[ochoa30]

What did all of you think?

My first thought after he left was: I was shocked to see him get to 114 pitches. I really thought he was done for the night after the walk to Hafner. I'm glad leaving him in worked out well, but it also worries me about how Narron may end up handling him. But it may have just been Narron trying to get him through 5 in his debut. At least I hope so.

I didn't think his "stuff" looked all that great, but I'll wait until he isn't nervous beyond belief before I really judge him on that.

Overall, I give him an A.

Ive seen him before and he was much better. He didnt have his best stuff or command and he still did pretty well against a great offense. I agree about the pitches, if that happens again i wil be very displeased. I just cant believe the reds would let it. They just wanted to get him through 5 with a chance to win. Great for his confidence.

[Degenerate39]

He did a good job I'm really impressed with him. I really hope he gets the win today.

[captainmorgan07]

i was impressed and im not mad that narron left him in the kids gotta learn to work outta jams. i was talking to people and refernced bonderman and the tigers the year he came up and i feel we should handle homer the same way. Let him takes his bumps that's how he's gonna learn and look at bonderman now.

[joshnky]

Not that its a big difference but if you throw out the intentional walk (which requires little effort) Homer through 110 pitches. I think thats the magic number and hopefully we can keep him there or lower to reduce the strain on that very valuable arm.

[Mitri]

I think we're going to see a lot of the same pitch inefficiency this year and next. Rarely will we see Homer go past the 7th, always with around 100 pitches. He was obviously working through some nerves, especially in the 1st and 2nd and the final few batters. But still, he showed a lot of maturity by not letting poor defense, bloop hits or walks get in the way of getting through an inning.
Really loved finally seeing his stuff. First time for me. His heater has a lot of movement and for the most part he can place it very well. It's the off-speed stuff that obviously gets him into trouble control-wise. He'll take his lumps this season and the beginning of next learning to work out that change-up and master the control of his curve.
All in all about what I expected. He's here to stay. Welcome to Cincinnati, Homer.

[pokeyfan]

I was very impressed with him. One thing that i did notice though was that he looked like he felt much more comfortable against RH'ers than he did the LH'ers, and he was more agressive against the "lesser" hitters, and he wasn't as agressive against Hafner and Martinez. The stats might show different, but he appeared much more comfortable against the righties. Overall, a great outing for his first start, much less against one of the better hitting teams in baseball.

[Degenerate39]

Homer gets his first win!

[RedsRFreel]

Congratulations, Homer!

[WMR]

Felt really good seeing Homer come out of the dugout after getting his first W.

[ED44]

Way too many pitches for 5 innings, but I think that comes with 1st outing jitters. I was impressed. I wish he would have thrown his curve a few more times. It had some real bite on it. Better control on the change will come with experience. All and all, it's everything you could hope for though. GREAT job getting the K to end the 5th in a pressure situation. That's poise and something you really have to be encouraged about. He was facing one of the best lineups in baseball and held them in check. In all actuality he should have given up only the one run. No excuse for letting Hafner score in the 1st.

Hopefully, the 1st win of MANY. Congrats Homer!

[WMR]

Homer got the ceremonial pie in the face!!