5/30/12 Reds @ Pirates, it's the Summer of George

[WVRedsFan]

Originally Posted by Tony Cloninger

I think it is mind numbing how bad Walt handled building a bench.....or any AAA depth at all. It's like having a bunch of Darrell Chaney's and Ed Crosby's on your bench

Agreed. Walt built this team around pitching and stars like Brandon and Joey. Not a bad philosophy if they are surrrounded by fairly good talent. He missed the boat when he depended on Jay (who is so inconsistent), Stubbs, Heisey, and Rolen to take up the slack. These guys are not going to be good role players. Instead of trading for established known hitters or fielders, he went cheap with guys like Harris, Ludwick,Valdez, Cairo, and any number of other not known hitters. The results so far are OK, but not good. I know money is a consideration, but the emphasis on pitching without any thought of offense while relying on marginal and inconsistent players, has left a glut in the pitching department while the offense suffers. How in the world do you decide on the guys we have and Bray and Masset when they come back? Time for a trade. Do you trade Simon and Hopper and bring back Bray and Masset or do you trade Bray and Masset? If so, what is their worth. We need hitters. Should be interesting.

[reds44]

The Reds have 1.5 lead right now. If your biggest flaw is your bench, you're doing well for yourself.

[edabbs44]

Originally Posted by WVRedsFan

Heard that. Dusty has his faults, but you have to shake your head when you look down the bench and see Cairo, Valdez, Constanzo, and Meseraco, and you know you can't use Mes. In the meantime, you've got pitchers throwing great, but too many of them. Do we really need six relievers? If so, what are we going to do when Bray and Masset come back. How do you demote 0.69, 1.74, 2.38, and 2.53 ERA's (Hoover, Simon, Arrendondo, and Ondrusek) and replace them with those two?

There are no good answers and it falls on both Walt and Dusty.

Maybe that's where the bench help is going to come from.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by reds44

The Reds have 1.5 lead right now. If your biggest flaw is your bench, you're doing well for yourself.

It can be a really big flaw in the long run. We have already seen when they lost Phillips to a hamstring problem how much it affected the offense. If someone else goes down for an extended amount of time this team is really hurting. Just imagine running Valdez,Cairo or Constanzo out there for an extended period. It would get very ugly IMO.
If Masset and/or Bray can come back the Reds will have some bullpen depth to deal from. Maybe they can swap a bullpen arom or two for good veteran off the bench that can hit just a little?
IIRC,Reds finished the month of May 17-11. Considering how up and down the offense has been, that's pretty darn good. Have that type of month a couple of more times and this team will be in good shape.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by WVRedsFan

Heard that. Dusty has his faults, but you have to shake your head when you look down the bench and see Cairo, Valdez, Constanzo, and Meseraco, and you know you can't use Mes. In the meantime, you've got pitchers throwing great, but too many of them. Do we really need six relievers? If so, what are we going to do when Bray and Masset come back. How do you demote 0.69, 1.74, 2.38, and 2.53 ERA's (Hoover, Simon, Arrendondo, and Ondrusek) and replace them with those two?

There are no good answers and it falls on both Walt and Dusty.

No question this roster although good, is still a work in progress. In order to win games like yesterday they'll need another LF option and a LH bat on the bench. Walt should be working hard to acquire such players. Those improvements are very doable

[redsmetz]

I didn't watch the game and only listened sporadically. I didn't hear the first inning, but I gather from this morning's story that Jay Bruce's line-out in the first inning just missed being a double in the corner. The first baseman jumped up and caught it. It's a funny game and just a half a foot more and the game is 2-0, runner on 2nd and no one out. That ball gets over him and this is a different game and we're not likely having this conversation.

Now that's not to see that the bench isn't a glaring weakness. The pickings are lean, although as someone noted, Votto sitting made the bench a lot better (and he got a hit in his AB). I would agree with those that we have to find a way to beef up the bench. I assume they will, but this game was winnable and it's unfortunate that it came down to one sharply hit line-out leaving the question out there.

Anyone watching the game who'd like to give their thoughts on that 1st inning at bat?

[traderumor]

Originally Posted by redsmetz

I didn't watch the game and only listened sporadically. I didn't hear the first inning, but I gather from this morning's story that Jay Bruce's line-out in the first inning just missed being a double in the corner. The first baseman jumped up and caught it. It's a funny game and just a half a foot more and the game is 2-0, runner on 2nd and no one out. That ball gets over him and this is a different game and we're not likely having this conversation.

Now that's not to see that the bench isn't a glaring weakness. The pickings are lean, although as someone noted, Votto sitting made the bench a lot better (and he got a hit in his AB). I would agree with those that we have to find a way to beef up the bench. I assume they will, but this game was winnable and it's unfortunate that it came down to one sharply hit line-out leaving the question out there.

Anyone watching the game who'd like to give their thoughts on that 1st inning at bat?

Yes, it was a looky what I found catch. Ironically, Stubbs steal put the first baseman in position to make the play since he wasn't holding him on.

[CrackerJack]

Maybe George needs to start doing the opposite of everything he's been doing at the plate all of his life.