The Reds got owned last night. Volquez is regressing.
Aaron Cook looked good, but caught a few breaks.
I keep hoping to go on a run. Seems I always think when Volquez is on the mound that it's time to start that run, then it doesn't happen. Disappointing.
I'll be there tonight behind home plate in "diamond seats".
Anyone notice last night what good team defense looks like? Man, the Rockies can certainly pick it. Good D does a number of things. It saves runs, gives your pitcher confidence (an underrated idea), and pumps up the squad.
I remember when I pitched (and even still in slow pitch softball), if my team is catching everything, I am confident, but when they overthrow 1st base by ten feet, don't go hard after balls, or throw to the wrong base, then I feel like it doesn't even matter.
Variatio delectat - Cicero
Volquez should be fine, he just didn't have anything last night. Hopefully when Harang comes back we'll start to catch fire if he returns to normal.
Volquez is a big concern for me. Frankly, I don't see how he is not a big concern for everyone. His ERA has increased steadily with each month of the season.
“The crows seem to be calling my name,” thought Caw.
Originally Posted by TheBigLebowski
And how is that bad? Its regressing towards a normal era of about high 3? Thats FINE with me. He's 25, let him learn now. The strike out numbers are still great and his Defense Independent era, I would bet is still good. The Reds have poor defense..So his era has gotten higher, that doesnt stop him from being the SECOND best pitcher the Reds have.
"For every moment of triumph, for every instance of beauty, many souls must be trampled."
-Hunter S. Thompson
His ERA over the last couple of months is not 3.00. I would be fine with 3. It's closer to 5.00. Furthermore, I have watched each and every one of those starts. The defense is not his problem. He's making bad pitches and his control has abandoned him.
I'm not panicking or anything. I'm just concerned.
“The crows seem to be calling my name,” thought Caw.
ChatterRed described it as "regressing". I think that's the right word to use. His June ERA was 3.42, which is very good. This month, its 5.27, which is not good. Still, he's given up four runs just twice in July, and had a 7 IP, 1 ER, 10 K game against a very good Brewers offense just two weeks ago. If he had mixed these mediocre-bad starts in during April and May, we wouldn't even be talking about it. Like Bailey in his last start, it didn't appear that Volquez was 100% ready to go when the game started, as his fastball didn't reach 95 mph until about 30 pitches in.
I think he'll be fine.
FIRE DUSTY BAKER
ADOPT THIS SIGNATURE IN SOLIDARITY!!!
The long grind of a major league season is starting to catch up to Volquez. I think we all knew he couldn't possibly maintain the numbers he was putting up and now he's falling back to earth. He's probably going to be up and down for the rest of the year and they may even consider shutting him and Cueto down once they're out of the race. Both still have excellent stuff and building up arm strength for the long haul is just a process that has to be dealt with right now.
Baseball Tonight showed the progression of his ERA over the season. For the month of July, it is 5.74. What this is showing us is that the National League is getting familiar with his stuff.
I live in Texas and watched his attempts to get hooked on with the Rangers. He didn't. I'm not saying it's all downhill from here, but the trend shown last night where his ERA has risen by atleast 1 run per month and 2 this month is not lying.
Some of this may be due to that he has never pitched a full major league season yet and may be tiring though.
This is the most amount of innings he has pitched up to this point...
The ball is also flying out of the park a lot more since it is July....
His ERA is not going to stay 2.30 or under (for this season anyways), it wont stay at 5.74 and continue to go higher either. Just a mixture of things, I still say he finishes out season around 3.2-3.5.
Cincinnati RedsVOTTO
bottom line... the Reds are in trouble. It's time to start selling, this team is not even close to competing.
We only live in patches. - H. G. Wells
I disagree. I think the Reds are close.
We have 3 of the 5 infield spots ready for the long term. The catchers are adequate...and remember...we won the World Series in 1990 with just average offensive numbers for a Catcher.
We have 3 solid starters for "next" season. Aaron will bounce back. Cueto and Volquez will only get better. We need a #4 and I think Bailey, with more experience, can fill that role. I'm not even including Arroyo for next season because I think he will be traded.
The area that is still up in the air is the Outfield. Bruce is one starter. Griffey, in all probability, is gone. Dunn, I hope stays, but we will see. If Adam stays, we have 2 of the outfield spots sewn up.
Our bullpen hasn't been that bad this season.
I think we can win next season. The problem that arises in our division is that Milwaukee and St. Louis are strong...but Milwaukee still might lose Sheets and Sabathia next year. Chicago, I predict, will keep Harden and be strong again. Houston, alwasys seems to be decent. The Pirates....not much else needs to be said.
Catching is a problem to say the least for us. Valentin (Bako not far behind) is a total waste of roster space. Ross has been decent as of late, esp with his bat, he still cant field a ball though. Bako's horrid at the plate and has way too many passed balls
Cincinnati Reds
Im not sure about Hanigans defense but from what I've heard he's pretty good and we all know he can swing the bat. I'd like to see him get a shot soon.
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