Jay Bruce called up!!!!!

[OnBaseMachine]

On Jay Bruce

Posted by JohnFay at 5/27/2008 5:34 PM EDT on Cincinnati.com

Here's a little bit of what was said about Jay Bruce:

CEO Bob Castellini: "He's going to be our superstar for years to come. We've got a lot of good young here and in the minors. It's great to see Jay here."

Dusty Baker: "I'm glad he's here. He deserved this opportunity and he earned it. That's I like. We asked him to go down and play hard, hone skills and that's what he did. . . I hope he's here for a long, long time. I'd like to see him play and develop."

On playing time: "We'll protect him some, but not a whole bunch. What I see and how he's doing right now: Go play."

On savior label: "No, he's not the savior. We just want him to play and be himself. Don't put any labels on him, no comparisons, just left him play. You can't help what people put on you or say. You can't control that. What you control is when you play. He's a confident young man. He's a bring young man. He's a competitive young man."

Why the second spot in the order? "I didn't want to put the pressure on him and lead him off. Right, the third spot belongs to Junior (Griffey). The fourth spot belong to (Brandon) Phillips. The fifth spot belongs to (Adam) Dunn. So do you put on top or underneath? I thought it would be better to put him up top. Most good hitters usually bat third in the minor leagues. People want you to insert them right third. Junior's got 20 years in third. Things will work out later.

GM Walt Jocketty: "It was a timing thing. The club is starting to play better. We wanted to give him a little more time there. We felt he was ready a week or two ago. we decided to wait till we got off the road."

On the savior label: "I hope they let him play and let him ability take are of it. It should."

What impressed him most about Bruce? "I was impressed when I met him in January, just his makeup, the way he approaches the game."

On DFAing Scott Hatteberg: "It was tough. Scott's a class guy. He's obviously contributed a lot over the years. But he wasn't getting enough playing time. Joey Votto's proven he can play first every day. Right now, we felt it was the best move to make. We talk to different clubs trying to find interest. We'll continue to do that."

Why not Corey Patterson? "There are things Patterson can do to contribute to the club -- his defense, his running. Obviously, he's not hitting. He knows it. There are things he has to work on."

http://beta.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs...cincinnati.com

[Matt700wlw]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

“The third spot right now belongs to Junior. The fourth spot belongs to Brandon Phillips. The fifth spot belongs to Adam Dunn.

No spots should "belong" to anybody if they don't perform there....

[Unassisted]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

As Bruce said, he took care of business at Louisville and waited. And waited and waited and waited.

Oh, give us a break, Hal. He "waited and waited and waited" at Louisville a whole 7 weeks. Some people have waited longer to pass a kidney stone. In some sports, it takes longer to get through an entire post-season than Jay Bruce waited in Louisville for his promotion. Reading this, you'd think the kid was turning into Rip Van Winkle down there.

[OnBaseMachine]

Jay Bruce, OF, Triple-A Louisville (Reds)
Well, there’s one common email out of the way. When are the Reds going to call up Jay Bruce? The answer is... today. And it’s been a long time coming, as Bruce was basically wasting time at Triple-A Louisville, batting .364/.393/.630 in 49 games and a ridiculous .419/.453/.709 mark in May. The Reds didn’t want to bring Bruce up until they could get him consistent at-bats, and that’s not going to happen as Bruce takes over as the primary center fielder. There’s really nothing new to tell anybody here--Bruce is a stud, and pretty much anyone who follows baseball knows it. But now it’s easier to watch him every day, and he definitely has the potential to be one of those players where one stops everything they're doing, just to see him hit.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=7579

[Spring~Fields]

Originally Posted by OnBaseMachine

“He is not the savior,” said manager Dusty Baker. “We just want him to be himself. Just let him play and be himself - no labels on him, no comparisons. Let’s just let him play, you know? You can’t help what people put on you and what people say.”

“He is a confident young man and he is a bright young man,” said Baker. “And very competitive.

“I’m going to protect him some, but not a whole bunch. He’s going to play most of the time,” Baker added. “Maybe not against some tough lefty, we’ll see. Right now, it is, ‘Go play.’”

“I’m glad he is here,” said Baker. “He deserves this opportunity because he earned it. That’s what I like. We asked him (in spring training) to go down and play hard and work on his skills and that’s what he did.”

“I hope he is here for a long, long time and I get to see him play and develop and get better and better,” Baker added.

[OnBaseMachine]

They just showed some video of Jay just now on Reds Live of talking to what looked like an usher, and then he was shaking the hands of fans and signing autographs. They also showed some clips of his interviews earlier today and he really come off as a well spoken kid.

[Raisor]

Originally Posted by Dusty Baker, Super Genius

Why the second spot in the order? "I didn't want to put the pressure on him and lead him off. Right, the third spot belongs to Junior (Griffey). The fourth spot belong to (Brandon) Phillips. The fifth spot belongs to (Adam) Dunn. So do you put on top or underneath? I thought it would be better to put him up top. Most good hitters usually bat third in the minor leagues. People want you to insert them right third. Junior's got 20 years in third. Things will work out later.

Dusty Baker, Super Genius, makes my head hurt.

That is all.

[Marc D]

Well it was all much ado about nothing. 1st AB takes a walk.....turns out the kids a base clogger.

Nice knowing you Boss.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Marc D

Well it was all much ado about nothing. 1st AB takes a walk.....turns out the kids a base clogger.

Nice knowing you Boss.

There's a game thread to post that info on.

[KronoRed]

Originally Posted by Raisor

Dusty Baker, Super Genius, makes my head hurt.

That is all.

Ridiculous logic from the king.

[membengal]

He's, um, pretty good. And stuff.

[wheels]

Originally Posted by membengal

He's, um, pretty good. And stuff.

He is no Bravo Sierra, if you can dig it.

[medford]

So this Bruce kid is pretty good. For those on the minor league board, there has been some arguement going back and forth about The Boss's ability to take a walk. Doug Dirt always argued that Bruce had a good eye, he just put everything into play and wasn't presentd the opportunity to walk too much.

After 1 game, it seems that Doug was spot on. Jay seems to go w/ the pitch and has a good idea of where the pitcher is going to take him. Didn't see him swing at too many bad pitches (or any???) Solid, solid single to left vs Marte and he drilled that ball for a double. Impressive debut indeed.

[sonny]

I'm enjoying this Jay Bruce fella.

[SMcGavin]

Baseball Tonight just said they are going to try and get Bruce on before the end of the show. I thought there might be a few people here interested in that...