Playoff Rotation: Volquez, Arroyo, Cueto.

[The Operator]

This doesn't bother me much at all.

Wood has been great but I've noticed lately, he really seems to hit a wall around 70-80 pitches. So that may have played a role in the decision too.

Having two reliable starters in the bullpen may prove to be really valuable. Remember, this is the postseason, and the hooks for starting pitchers are generally a LOT quicker. Think Danny Jackson being pulled in Game 2 of 1990, then after Scott Scudder works out of his jam - Jack Armstrong comes in and shuts the A's down for 3 innings. This is why having Wood and Bailey in the bullpen will be so great.

Can't complain about the rotation at all. Volquez has the highest upside, if he's on, he can match Halladay. Arroyo was going to be there, he won 17 games and pitched over 200 innings of sub-4 ERA ball. No manager anywhere is going to skip a guy with those numbers in his postseason rotation, whether his peripherals are eye popping or not. It just doesn't happen. And Cueto, well, he's had a great season. He's had some bouts of inconsistency but he really did break out this year.

No matter what, we're heading into this series as underdogs of all underdogs. Even Aaron Boone, the biggest ESPN Reds supporter, said today he expects us to get swept in 3.

So let's just trusty in Dusty. He's gotten us this far.

[kaldaniels]

Run this test 100 times...

If you had a 5-sided die with each of the Reds 5 starters on it, and rolled that die till it rolled 3 of the starters names, the majority of the results would yield a reasonable playoff rotation.

[WrongVerb]

Princeton always used to say "coddle thy pitchers." Sounds to me like that's what's going on with the decision regarding Wood and Bailey. Not a bad decision in my mind. This team is going to be in the playoff hunt for years to come.

[paulrichjr]

Ted Power, right?

Yep. I don't remember this being done since in the playoffs.

[OesterPoster]

Hadn't seen this quote from Bryan Price about Volquez's mechanics until today. From Sheldon's article on reds.com:

"There was a real strong feeling that Volky was tipping his pitches when his hands were set higher," Reds pitching coach Bryan Price said. "We dropped his hands down and it helped in two ways: He's not tipping pitches, No. 1. No. 2, it allows his timing to get his hands in the throwing position.

"It affects his timing in a positive way. When he was scattered with his command, his arm wasn't ready to throw the ball when it needed to be. He couldn't stay on top of the ball."

[REDREAD]

It's a given that Arroyo would be in the playoff rotation. He deserves it..
215 IP and 17 wins, plus his leadership, plus the guy has experience.
It would be a travesty to leave him off the playoff roster. Dusty would look like a fool for doing if he did not have Arryo in the rotation.

Cueto also makes sense.. He's another big reason we made the playoffs. He helped us all year.

To me, the only question was Wood or Volquez.. Both were only here part of the year, both are somewhat of an unknown. I wouldn't have a problem with either choice.. Heck, I guess you can throw Bailey in this catagory as well.
Volquez finished pretty strong, so the choice makes sense.

Really, Dusty is doing this by the book.. putting the 2 least experienced guys in the pen.. Volquez has the highest upside of all the third starter candidates, so I can see why he was picked. What Dusty said about the Phils lineup when Wood pitched against them makes sense as well.

[VR]

Run this test 100 times...

If you had a 5-sided die with each of the Reds 5 starters on it, and rolled that die till it rolled 3 of the starters names, the majority of the results would yield a reasonable playoff rotation.

Great point Kal.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Run this test 100 times...

If you had a 5-sided die with each of the Reds 5 starters on it, and rolled that die till it rolled 3 of the starters names, the majority of the results would yield a reasonable playoff rotation.

Exactly how I feel too. Any of the 5 have earned shots.

[wheels]

Why do we have to wait until Wednesday?

Let's get rolling!

[Eric_the_Red]

Why do we have to wait until Wednesday?

Let's get rolling!

1 day, 22 hours, 26 minutes....

[kaldaniels]

Will Arroyo braid/dread his hair...wasn't that something he did for the playoffs in Boston? Or did he have that style all season long?

[OnBaseMachine]

Fangraphs on the Reds-Phillies series:

This probably isn’t going to be a cake walk for the Phillies. Halladay-Hamels-Oswalt make them the favorites, but this series will likely be a lot more competitive than people expect. Don’t sleep on the Reds. They’re a good baseball team.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index...ds-are-coming/

[The Operator]

Hey, a news outlet giving The Reds a fighting chance. How bout that.

I like being the underdog. They weren't supposed to win a single game in 1990 against The A's and they beat the living tar out of them. That Phillies team can be beat.

[OnBaseMachine]

Johnny Cueto was very impressive last night, IMO. I thought he handled himself very well in his first postseason start. He had all the pressure in the world on his soulders - first playoff start, elimination game, facing a tough Phillies lineup ... and he holds them to one earned run in five innings. Johnny really showed me something last night. He's a keeper, IMO.

The Reds pitching staff held the Phillies to 7 ER in three games, and three of those ER could have easily been ruled unearned too. Great job by the Reds pitching staff. They did their job.