The Reds will get the big 3 Labor Day weekend

[membengal]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

That's a good possibility. The fact the Reds aren't taking this seriously as the Cardinals might be working to their advantage. The Reds are grasping the big picture, where the Cardinals continue focusing too much on one team.

That's certainly crossing my mind at this point.

The Cardinals certainly have not responded well to their success in Cincy, perhaps they built that series up to be more important than it was, as nothing was settled when they boarded the plane after the sweep.

Again, I give a lot of credit to Dusty for how the Reds refocused after that series.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by membengal

May be more Cincy's concern that the moment and emotions do not get into Cueto's head.

I'm actually more worried about a fastball going right for Cueto's head. He may be our guy, but he kicked another man in the head and put him out for the year. I'm not putting it past ANYONE on the Cardinal's staff to go headhunting if Cueto gets into the batter's box.

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

I'm actually more worried about a fastball going right for Cueto's head. He may be our guy, but he kicked another man in the head and put him out for the year. I'm not putting it past ANYONE on the Cardinal's staff to go headhunting if Cueto gets into the batter's box.

He's only out for the year because the Cardinals wanted an excuse to put him on the DL and complain.

I know that sounds funny to say, but I mean it. I honestly don't believe for a second he would be out more than a couple of weeks if they really wanted. They're just trying to exaggerate the extent of the incident to vilify Cueto and the Reds. They can afford to do it because it was a player that wasn't performing for them.

[redsfandan]

Originally Posted by WebScorpion

That's what it says to me too. Larussa is sacrificing his other games to concentrate on the Reds...not very smart when all the games count the same in the standings. In fact, this move may lose them the Wild Card race. Most teams with a weak back end of their rotation move their best starters UP in the rotation at this time of the year. Moving them BACK gives more starts to the worst pitchers. Tony's just TOO smart for me.

C'mon man, don't ya know LaRussa is a genius?

[sabometrics]

I'm fine with the Cards beating us around like a ragdoll as long as they're playing at a .333 clip against the rest of the league. Let them tinker as much as they want. We'll probably still take one no matter what they do, maybe two I hope.

[Caseyfan21]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

I'm actually more worried about a fastball going right for Cueto's head. He may be our guy, but he kicked another man in the head and put him out for the year. I'm not putting it past ANYONE on the Cardinal's staff to go headhunting if Cueto gets into the batter's box.

I really doubt the Cards would do that. Umps will know the history going into the series so if Cueto gets beaned I'm guessing the Cards pitcher will get an automatic boot out of the game. And if the Cards want to get into beanball war I'm sure a Chapman fastball wouldn't feel to good in Pujols' ribs.

[mth123]

Originally Posted by Brutus the Pimp

He's only out for the year because the Cardinals wanted an excuse to put him on the DL and complain.

I know that sounds funny to say, but I mean it. I honestly don't believe for a second he would be out more than a couple of weeks if they really wanted. They're just trying to exaggerate the extent of the incident to vilify Cueto and the Reds. They can afford to do it because it was a player that wasn't performing for them.

I think this is probably true, but the fastball to Cueto's head will still do the same amount of damage. I agree with keeping him off the field against the Cards. Heck I'd just send him straight to Colorado and not even have him with the team in St. Louis.

[Ghosts of 1990]

I don't know how I feel about this series yet, but I think we'll see Cueto. I remember Dusty saying something to the effect of "he has to pitch against them (St. Louis) again at some point".

I would love to go into St. Louis with a 6 game cushion instead of a 5-game lead, making the Cardinals needing a sweep to even be able to sniff. That would allow our guys to play extremely relaxed no matter what happens. Then if they take one, we're still sitting pretty and with time and games still eating away at that magic #. Time is the Cardinals biggest enemy right now, and they're running out of nights to make a move with each day we cross off on the calendar. I have faith in our guys to play a few tight games out there and come away with at least a win, that's not asking for much from a team whom is 20 games over at this point in the season.

[muddie]

I guess it is already stated here at some point, but Cueto will not start in the St. Louis series according to Brennaman and 'Cowboy' today. The flip side of this is it sounds like Travis Wood will get a start in that series unless his performance today changes some minds on this.

The guys made a good point, why would you subject one of your better starters to standing at the plate and getting thrown at, or worse. LaRue is gone for the year as a result of Cueto kicking him in the face. Brantley stated that if he was a player for St. Louis and Cueto was pitching against his team, he'd expect some retaliation in this series. Cueto or not, there may be some issues in this series. Between Phillips comments and the push and shove...and kick, I think this is going to be interesting.

[The Operator]

Originally Posted by Caseyfan21

And if the Cards want to get into beanball war I'm sure a Chapman fastball wouldn't feel to good in Pujols' ribs.

Forget the ribs, go for the eye socket. If they decide to play that game (and by that I mean trying to seriously injure Cueto or another one of our guys), they can do it knowing full well that we have a 105 MPH weapon sitting out in the bullpen. Kinda tough to top that.

I don't think anything happens though. MLB and the umps are well aware of the bad blood and I don't think The Cards will risk getting ejected in an important game like that.

[WebScorpion]

I still can't believe he's going to start Suppan against Figueroa whose ERA is under 3.00 IIRC... This sets them up for another possible sweep by the Astros depending upon who they put up against Rodriguez on Tuesday. Also, are they going to make up their game with the Marlins on Thursday? If so, who would pitch that? I can't help but think this whole thing is going to backfire on geniussa.

[kaldaniels]

Cueto has his comeuppance coming. It may be 2011, but he will get his. I just hope he gets stung with a pitch and life goes on...but to think the Cardinal clubhouse doesn't have some sort of bounty on him is naive.

[The Operator]

Originally Posted by kaldaniels

Cueto has his comeuppance coming. It may be 2011, but he will get his. I just hope he gets stung with a pitch and life goes on...but to think the Cardinal clubhouse doesn't have some sort of bounty on him is naive.

They'd best be careful, though.

We do have The Cuban Missile.

[The Operator]

Originally Posted by WebScorpion

I still can't believe he's going to start Suppan against Figueroa whose ERA is under 3.00 IIRC... This sets them up for another possible sweep by the Astros depending upon who they put up against Rodriguez on Tuesday. Also, are they going to make up their game with the Marlins on Thursday? If so, who would pitch that? I can't help but think this whole thing is going to backfire on geniussa.

I say let Tony keep genius-ing his way along. He's already looking past The Astros toward our weekend series, and The Astros have already proven they can take it to The Cardinals.

[Captain Hook]

Bring em on.This sends a message to the Reds after the last series when they were shut down by the big 3.It seems to me that this Reds team is much better at answering messages then sending them.