Injuries hitting at the right time?

[edabbs44]

I know we all have some level of concern with the Cueto, Bailey and Arroyo ailments, along with the Leake and Volquez effectiveness issues. But maybe there is a silver lining. I present their March/April opponents:

6 vs Milwaukee (potentially with Greinke and/or Marcum missing)
6 vs the DBacks (weird scheduling)
4 vs Pitt
3 @ SD
3 vs Houston
2 vs Florida
3 @ St Louis

Not exactly Murderer's Row. For those you like this stuff, BP projects Pitt and Houston to be next to last and last in the Central and SD and Zona to be next to last and last in the West. That's 16 against some of the worst in the league. Milwaukee w/o those pitchers helps a lot as well.

Schedule gets much tougher in late May-June, with consecutive series @ Philly, @ Atlanta, Milwaukee, LA, Cubs, @ SF, @ LA, Toronto, NYY, @ Baltimore and @ Tampa. That is a killer stretch.

Maybe the schedule makers did them a favor. But they need to build a cushion with what lies ahead in the early summer.

[The Voice of IH]

Well.......

If you look at it like you did, then yes, I guess it is a good time (as any) to be on the wrong end of a player play.

But just because someone got hurt now does not mean they won't get hurt a month from now again, and the next month, and the next month.

Injuries suck period.

[bucksfan2]

It may be a fortunate schedule but those games matter as much as games in August and September. So while its not murders row you really can't afford to lose those games to the Pirates and the DBacks.

[edabbs44]

It may be a fortunate schedule but those games matter as much as games in August and September. So while its not murders row you really can't afford to lose those games to the Pirates and the DBacks.

I guess my point was that it is easier to beat Zona and Pitt with a depleted roster than it is to beat Philly and St Louis. I'd rather face the creampuffs when the roster is hurting than the top tier.

[membengal]

I get the point edabbs and it is well made. Never a "good" time for this kind of injury run, but all things considered the timing is not half bad...

[Caveat Emperor]

As we sit here, right now, is there any pitcher on the Reds staff you feel comfortable giving the baseball to?

Arroyo is fighting an illness that causes weakness and fatigue.
Volquez can't find the strike zone.
Leake is being hammered like an A-ball pitcher (and has been since June of last year)
Sam LeCure is organizational fodder -- a 5/6 IP guy that generously projects to a league average #5 guy.

That leaves Travis Wood -- a kid with less than a full year of major league service time -- as the most reliable arm of the bunch.

I don't care who you're playing -- that's terrifying for a team that had designs on not only making the playoffs this season but doing some damage in there as well. I wouldn't take this rotation, as it is currently performing and assembled, in a 3 game series against ANY of the teams listed, including the Pirates.

The offense is going to need to do some seriously heavy lifting for this team to stay above water, and they're going to need to either make a move for a starter or hope that the injuries and ineffectiveness sort themselves out quickly.

[edabbs44]

As we sit here, right now, is there any pitcher on the Reds staff you feel comfortable giving the baseball to?

Arroyo is fighting an illness that causes weakness and fatigue.
Volquez can't find the strike zone.
Leake is being hammered like an A-ball pitcher (and has been since June of last year)
Sam LeCure is organizational fodder -- a 5/6 IP guy that generously projects to a league average #5 guy.

That leaves Travis Wood -- a kid with less than a full year of major league service time -- as the most reliable arm of the bunch.

I don't care who you're playing -- that's terrifying for a team that had designs on not only making the playoffs this season but doing some damage in there as well. I wouldn't take this rotation, as it is currently performing and assembled, in a 3 game series against ANY of the teams listed, including the Pirates.

The offense is going to need to do some seriously heavy lifting for this team to stay above water, and they're going to need to either make a move for a starter or hope that the injuries and ineffectiveness sort themselves out quickly.

2011 Pirates rotation:

Kevin Correia
Paul Maholm
Charlie Morton
Russ Ohlendorf
James McDonald

I think this sums it up perfectly, when talking about their 2011 opening day starter:

The result was a rotation last year that was the worst in MLB. The ERA was 5.25, the BAA .297, the WHIP 1.53. All were 30th and last. The BAA was 14 points higher than the 29th-ranked team.

The Pirates spent a dab of money in the off-season to bolster the rotation by signing Kevin Correia to a two-year, $8 million contract. It would not have been easy to acquire a pitcher who had a higher ERA than the Pirates 2010 rotation but in signing Correia the Pirates managed to do just that.

http://communityvoices.sites.post-ga...rting-pitchers

[westofyou]

The Reds schedule vs. The Brewers the 1st six weeks is night and day, it is a good time for the talent to be tested based on scheduling, but that will only hold up if the Reds don't tank against the fodder they will see.

[Eric_the_Red]

2011 Pirates rotation:

Kevin Correia
Paul Maholm
Charlie Morton
Russ Ohlendorf
James McDonald

I get the point but just want to throw out there that I would take McDonald in the Reds rotation any day. I think he will have a good year. (At least as good as a Pirates starter could hope to have.)

[edabbs44]

I get the point but just want to throw out there that I would take McDonald in the Reds rotation any day. I think he will have a good year. (At least as good as a Pirates starter could hope to have.)

Plus, we'd then be 2/3s of the way to hitting the McDonald family tree trifecta!

Relatives: Cousin of Darnell McDonald and Cousin of Donzell McDonald

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...cdonja03.shtml

[The Voice of IH]

As we sit here, right now, is there any pitcher on the Reds staff you feel comfortable giving the baseball to?

Arroyo is fighting an illness that causes weakness and fatigue.
Volquez can't find the strike zone.
Leake is being hammered like an A-ball pitcher (and has been since June of last year)
Sam LeCure is organizational fodder -- a 5/6 IP guy that generously projects to a league average #5 guy.

That leaves Travis Wood -- a kid with less than a full year of major league service time -- as the most reliable arm of the bunch.

Ok, I see your point. But I can easily say something like

Arroyo: a stud that always plays, no matter what. Can get you 6 or 7 innings of two run ball and allows you a chance to win
Volquez: Has the nastiest stuff in the rotation. Has the capabilites to be a TOR guy
Leake: Young 1st round draft pick coming into the second year where he dominated in the first part of last year.
Sam LeCure: ok you got me here

Every guy has his upside, and I am excited to get things started.