Whew! He's hard to watch sometimes. Make that lots of times! :thumbdown
Whew! He's hard to watch sometimes. Make that lots of times! :thumbdown
tell me something we didnt all already know
What has he done tonight? What about Jay Bruce? He's a mess at the plate and he seems to be struggling to make adjustments.
This game summed up my frustrations of the entire season in one nice little blowout of a package. At first glance it seems easy to chalk it up as a bad outing for Harang (and he did look TERRIBLE) but there were so many other things piled on top of each other to help the Cubs along.
Defense: At least two runs could have been prevented by competent defense.
1. An actual right fielder gets you an out to lead off the second inning rather than allowing a triple.
2. An actual catcher doesn't have two passed balls (yes one was ruled a wild pitch) in one at-bat to allow a runner from second to score.
Baserunning:
1. Bako lines out to the 2nd baseman and Keppinger is doubled up at second.
2. Keppinger seemingly is able to bloop in a single but it ends in a fielder's choice as Dunn couldn't decide whether it was going to fall.
Now I will say both of these plays were highly unlucky and I don't mean to put too much blame on Dunn or Keppinger, but it just seems like baserunning hurts us every game and I felt like these plays signified a year-long struggle (although I think Dunn could have made it to second safely).
Offense: I don't know where to start.
1. After 4 innings Dempster appeared to be in the same boat as Harang, walking in our first run. He then retired 10 straight batters. Now I'm sure part of it was due to him settling down a little bit and getting into a grove, but I'm confident the Reds' hitters contributed. It seems like our opponents are always able to capitalize on our pitchers' struggles more than we are on their's.
2. The rookie. Bruce's first time up tonight he got hit by a pitch. His next four times up he struckout on bad pitch after bad pitch, and the Cubs started a righty today. I always stop myself from getting too frustrated with Bruce when he strikes out on what seems like a potential wild pitch as I remind myself that he is only 21 years of age, but here's my problem. Not that his BA has dipped below .400, and not that he is striking out, but how he is striking out. I've heard and understand the argument about how Ks are no less productive than any other type of out, and that hitters like Dunn and Howard shouldn't take more heat because they look uglier getting out than a contact hitter. I'm not upset at Bruce for not putting the ball in play to potentially move a runner over, either. I'm upset at Bruce because the pitches that he swings at make it appear that he doesn't know what he's doing at the plate. I'd like to see flyouts/groundouts from the kid not because I think they are more productive, but because it shows me that he's got a clue of what he's looking for. I would also be happier with a swing and a miss at a ball that is actually in the strikezone. And I don't completely buy into the idea that they've figured out how to pitch to Bruce and he just has to adjust to it. It appears that the way to pitch Bruce is to bounce balls in the dirt and throw them at his eyebrows and you've got a good shot of earning yourself a K. Shouldn't an adjustment have been made to this a long time ago?
*I don't mean to hit the panic button on JB, I'm sure he will be great, it's just that my heart hurts every time he does his Corey Patterson impression. Spot on.
And Pitching: I think even the fans most cynical about our second half chances were still confident that the one thing that was going to be improved was Arroyo and Harang...before today. I suppose Harang listened to the critics that say his problem is throwing too many strikes. OK. Experiment over. Lets put the ball back into the zone again please. Please. Even in giving up two homers today, they could have both been solo shots if not for a leadoff walk in each respective inning.
In summary, I give this teamthumbdown
OMG I know, fer rillz!!!1 If not for Dunn, we coulda beat the Cubs!!! Dunn shouldn't have walked seven Cubs batters and should have hit more when he batted in the 1st-4th and 6th-9th spots in the order!!!
Yea, Bruce looked awful. Hairston got robbed like 3 times, lol. I honestly just turned it off after the homerun by Soto. We really needed that game because Zambrano will be tough and then we face Lilly and we have no clue what to do against lefties although I think we hit decent against him earlier in the year.
Cincinnati RedsVOTTO
The Cubs actually might win it all this year. They looked really good with a little help from us.
Jay Bruce actually does have me concerned. He looks terrible at times. And I didn't expect that. Nor did I expect him to hit .300. I figured he hit like .270 while looking promising. He doesn't give me much hope with his bad at-bats.
If Bruce is the worst of the Reds concerns, then they will be OK. However, he's not even the slightest bit of concern for me.
Is it safe to say that Dunn is already ruining Bruce like he did Kearns? Time to move Dunn before it's too late.
I am serious when I say I would never let Dunn or Jr. around a prized prospect!
No complaints here.Originally Posted by Nasty_Boy
You have got to be kidding me. First Dunn has no leadership ability and has no passion, the next he is ruining every young prospect he touches. The blind hatred for Dun and Jr. astounds me. Yes, Dunn has MASSIVE holes in his game, but blaming him for "ruining" a player who was bound to struggle as a rookie is lunacy. I moved to this city three years ago and have been shocked by the hatred aimed at Dunn and Griffey ever since. Around the league they are generally well thought of by the fans, but not here. Neither one is a dominant force, but come on. They are not the reason this team is terrible. For that reason, look in the FO of the past, not on the field.
I couldn't believe he got forced at second on that blooper by Keppinger. He was actually moving back towards first base when that ball hit the ground. He should have been able to read that ball better than that. Maybe it turns out not to be a big deal, but that play was the difference in one run for sure, plus we had a chance to have Hairston up with the bases loaded instead of Harang making the last out of the inning.
Dunn is a good player with the bat in his hands. Meaning he is productive despite how much he angers me with the strikeouts in bad situations. But when it comes to baserunning and defense he is an absolute nightmare. I'm sure someone will be quick to tell me how those things don't matter as much as hitting, but he is just infuriating to watch play baseball.
Honestly?! How can you say this and believe it? Who is ruining Kearns in Washington?
As for Bruce, right now I am very concerned about the kid. Look at his strikeout numbers, and he's only been up a month. I'm not a person that thinks K's are a big deal unless you aren't working counts and recognizing pitches. Bruce is just hacking away, with no regard for the situation or the count. Last night Hairston walks on 4 pitches to lead off the 8th, Bruce takes a ball and then swings from his heels at a pitch chest high. That is a player without a plan at the plate... I don't know if Dusty and Jacoby have him doing this or they're just letting him go, but I'm worried about what he's doing up there.
That was just bad luck... Even the Brennamen's (who aren't Dunn fans) said there was nothing he could do. If the ball would have been caught and he would have been doubled off first you guys would have ripped him a new one... No matter how well he plays it isn't enough, and when he does mess up it is much worse than if anyone else screws up.
I am telling you the approach by dunn in particular has slowed the progress of the young guys, and made griffey even lazier than he was.. I only hope B-Phill doesnt get the sneers josh hamilton got for trying "too hard" and "signing too many autographs".. or if he does I hope he point to the GG he will win, and asks dunn if he knows how to do anything besides swing as hard as he can(which is the first sign Dunn might be getting to B-Phill as well..) and grow a fishing beard..?!
It starts in the minors.. I was at a dragons game on sunday night.. and the opposing pitcher walks a guy on 4 straight pitches and the dragons batter goes up and swings at 3 straight.. at least 2 of which were balls.. and it happened EXACTLY the same way later on in the game.. fundamentals + Reds = Error on most calculators..
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