Step back from the ledge Reds fans

[dougdirt]

I know, I know. Today we looked absolutely TERRIBLE. So far this season we have been rather lackluster as a whole. But look at the stats of the players and ask yourself.... is that the guys true talent level. For just about every single player, the answer is an emphatic NO.

Now some guys aren't all that good, but even those guys are playing well under their true talent level. Things aren't going to continue being this bad. Is Johnny Cueto really a 6+ ERA guy? What about Harang, Arroyo and Bailey? No, they aren't. How good they are doesn't matter much, because we all know they aren't as bad as they have looked so far. Is every hitter on the Reds a sub .700 OPS bat outside of Rolen and Votto? No, they aren't.

I know its cliched to say it, but its early. Funny things happen when its early. This team is going to be better moving forward. How much better, well that is unknown, but the team isn't as bad as it has looked to this point in the season.

[Ron Madden]

Who's out on a ledge? I predicted 79 wins for this club, not very surprised.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Ron Madden

Who's out on a ledge? I predicted 79 wins for this club, not very surprised.

A lot of Reds fans are apparently.

[GADawg]

Originally Posted by Ron Madden

Who's out on a ledge? I predicted 79 wins for this club, not very surprised.

79!?! maybe you should step out here with the rest of us!

[mth123]

Originally Posted by Ron Madden

Who's out on a ledge? I predicted 79 wins for this club, not very surprised.

I think the team will settle in somewhere at 8 to 10 games below .500. That's probably better than what we've seen so far.

[Ron Madden]

Originally Posted by GADawg

79!?! maybe you should step out here with the rest of us!

Nah, I'll stay put for now besides that ledge is too crowded with Fans that predicted this club would have 85 or more wins.

[membengal]

Yes, heaven forbid the Reds respond to this.

Predicted 77 wins.

But, yeah, get on me for being on a ledge.

[Ron Madden]

I'm not getting on anybody, everyone has the right to their opinion.

[membengal]

Wasn't generally talking in your direction, Ron.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by membengal

Yes, heaven forbid the Reds respond to this.

Predicted 77 wins.

But, yeah, get on me for being on a ledge.

Not you. A lot of people. All over the place. Internet. Radio. Losing their minds as if its just impossible this team isn't the worst team ever assembled.

[membengal]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Not you. A lot of people. All over the place. Internet. Radio. Losing their minds as if its just impossible this team isn't the worst team ever assembled.

Fair enough. I made an assumption after the other thread.

Doug, playing up to their baseball cards isn't good enough. At some point, they have to be better than the the backs of their cards. Particularly the young ones. The question is how to help them do that. But that's the discussion in the other thread.

[traderumor]

Early results are magnified, just like everyone notices that that the Padres are 11-6. Suddenly they're a "surprise" team rather than a team that has won 11 of their last 17.

The pitching is just mystifying though. Completely befuddled and very disappointed. Even in the middle of the season, it is hard to imagine a stretch of 18 games where the ERA will be over 6.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by membengal

Fair enough. I made an assumption after the other thread.

Doug, playing up to their baseball cards isn't good enough. At some point, they have to be better than the the backs of their cards. Particularly the young ones. The question is how to help them do that. But that's the discussion in the other thread.

Sure, the young guys need to play better than their cards.... but when the vets do get to that point this team is going to be doing a lot better.

[HeatherC1212]

Well said Doug.

And imagine being an Oriole fan so far (they're 2-15). They seem to have games like this one every single day with baserunning blunders, lazy play, and no offense at all. The kicker is that they're getting a ton of quality starts from their starters and they either can't score runs or the bullpen blows it. They're also missing their key leadoff guy (Brian Roberts) and have had a few other injuries take out some of their key guys. It could be a lot worse for us than it actually is so I'm not crawling out on any ledges right now. I hope this game today lights a fire under the Reds players and they start playing much better baseball. I fully expect to see a better team on the field tomorrow and I will be extremely upset if they play lazy, uninspired baseball at any other time this season.

[klw]

Yeah but the Orioles fans are still saying "We're still better than in '88!"