Cueto to return and start Sunday @ Cubs

[Redsfan320]

Saw it on the ticker on MLBN, said it came from Dusty.

320

[reds44]

johnfayman

Baker confirms Cueto is starting Sunday. Leake will "probably" go to the bullpen. #reds

WHY WHY WHY are they waisting time with him in the bullpen? Just send him down.

[757690]

Originally Posted by reds44

johnfayman

Baker confirms Cueto is starting Sunday. Leake will "probably" go to the bullpen. #reds

WHY WHY WHY are they waisting time with him in the bullpen? Just send him down.

Because he's the best pitcher the Reds have for that role. They are trying to win a pennant ya know...

[757690]

Crazy idea.

Leake as next year's closer.

I personally like laid back closers, and Leake is definitely laid back. He also has the stuff for a closer, lots of movement, can get swings and misses when he wants to, and ground balls for double plays when he wants to. I could see him as an Eck, Quiz, Dave Smith, Franco, Graves kinda closer.

[reds44]

Name me a closer who is right handed and struggles to throw 90.

Good luck.

[757690]

Originally Posted by reds44

Name me a closer who is right handed and struggles to throw 90.

Good luck.

Leake doesn't struggle to throw 90. He averages 90 on his fastball right now as a starter. If he's only going an inning at a time, he'll probably average 92-3 and hit 95 every now and again.

None of the guys I listed threw significantly harder than Leake does.

[backbencher]

Originally Posted by reds44

Name me a closer who is right handed and struggles to throw 90.

Good luck.

Doug Jones did it for years.

[mth123]

Personaly, I think Leake should go to AAA and start. He's just a kid who isn't ready who had a fluke couple of months when no one in the league knew anything about him. Since then he really struggles to get through a line-up 3 times.

From that perspective, he might be OK as a long reliever. Going into yesterday's game, Leake had given up 15 runs, with 11 coming in the 4th and 5th inning. Last night's meltdown was in the 4th. He's good for one, maybe two times through the order and then he gets rocked. He'd probably do a decent job for 2 or 3 innings at a time, but I think a season or two in the minors learning his way to work through a line-up multiple times (while building innings and stamina) could make him a pretty decent middle to back end starter. He just isn't ready for that now in spite of how many may have been fooled by April and May of 2010.

IMO, the Reds have guys who can play the long relief role who wouldn't be giving up something more by wasting away there. I think Sam Lecure would do just fine as the long reliever and we wouldn't really be stunting his potential as a mid rotation starter to do that. Leake has a better future than the typical long man. I'd say shine him up at AAA for use down the road or as a significant trade piece for a big fish.

Some interesting numbers on Leake:

This season he's allowed 22 runs. That breaks down as 1 run in the 1st, 3 runs in the second, 1 run in the third, 9 runs in the fourth and 8 runs in the 5th. 17 of the 22 runs he's allowed have come in the 4th and 5th innings.

Prior to last night, 8 of the 15 runs he'd allowed came on the 3rd time through the order. He looks good for a while and then gets rocked. Last year, it took a couple of months for teams to figure him out. Now they figure him out in the 2nd or 3rd at bat.

He's got potential, he's just not a viable major league starting pitcher right now. He'd be fine in he pen, but the Reds have other guys for that. Let him go down and work on being all he can be.

[*BaseClogger*]

Most pitchers are more valuable to their team or as trade material as a starter. I don't think Leake is an exception...

[Redsfan320]

To MLB:
Bailey
Cueto

To AAA:
Fisher
Leake

To Bullpen:
LeCure

Bolded moves happen on Thursday. Unbolded on Sunday. This is all JMO, except the Reds share my opinion except with the Leake thing.

Want to send down Volquez too, but not sure what I would do with Leake then. Maybe leave LeCure in rotation and go with 61,30,63,47,34 in the rotation, while sending 36 and 44 to AAA and leaving the pen as is?

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[reds1869]

Originally Posted by Redsfan320

Want to send down Volquez too, but not sure what I would do with Leake then.

There is nothing for Volquez to learn in AAA at this point. He needs to sink or swim against major league hitting and deserves a full season to do so. He has the stuff to be dominant but needs to find the mentality, and I don't think he would do that by mowing down minor league hitters.

[Redsfan320]

There is nothing for Volquez to learn in AAA at this point. He needs to sink or swim against major league hitting and deserves a full season to do so. He has the stuff to be dominant but needs to find the mentality, and I don't think he would do that by mowing down minor league hitters.

Probably true, but I don't feel like waiting around for him to do so while costing the team wins? So maybe start looking for trade partners...?

A lot on here seem to think that Volq is crucial to the future of this team... I don't think so. I'll take 61, 47, 34, and even 44 over Volq easily. If he gets it together soon great, but if not... I'm getting tired of waiting around.

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[Kc61]

The mainstays of the bullpen are Cordero, Masset (hopefully), Ondrusek, Bray, Chapman.

That leaves two spots.

Leake should have one of them. He just has better stuff than Smith, Fisher, or Lecure.

My guess for the last spot is that it eventually goes to Arredondo. For now, it will go to Lecure, Fisher or Smith.

I think Jordan Smith will go to AAA because he's been hit fairly hard of late.

That leaves Fisher and Lecure. One will stay until Arredondo is ready IMO.

[Homer Bailey]

Originally Posted by 757690

Leake doesn't struggle to throw 90. He averages 90 on his fastball right now as a starter. If he's only going an inning at a time, he'll probably average 92-3 and hit 95 every now and again.

None of the guys I listed threw significantly harder than Leake does.

Leake averages 87.9 MPH per fastball. So no, he does not average 90.

[Tony Cloninger]

Watch Cueto and Bailey start pressing to make perfect starts ....as obviously this team is dire straits and they can probably sense that they need to be prefect.

Not that we should not expect them to pitch like TOR guys but they don;t strike me as mentally able to handle that type of stuff.

Leake had pitched through the 7th in a few of his starts...I thought he had turned the corner here.