6.20.12 Reds @Indians

[klw]

Yes, it does say Willie Harris DH. I wonder if Valdez picked up the flu that was going around?

Cozart 6,
Heisey 8,
Votto 3,
Phillips 4,
Bruce 9,
Rolen 5,
Frazier 7,
Harris DH,
Hanigan 2,
Arroyo RHP

v
Justin Masterson, RHP
3-6, 4.38 ERA

Masterson turned in one of his best outings of the season Friday against Pittsburgh. The sinkerballer threw seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and striking out nine. Masterson has thrown three consecutive quality starts.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index...mode=probables


Choo RF
Cabrera, SS
Brantley, CF
Santan, DH
Lopez, 2B
Kotchman, 1B
Damon, LF
Chisenhall, 3B
Marson, C

• Shin-Soo Choo has fared well against Arroyo, going 6-for-12 with four home runs and seven RBIs

For the Indians, Justin Masterson looked like the ace they expect him to be in his previous start. After three straight losing decisions, the right-hander threw seven shutout innings against the Pirates on Friday. Masterson allowed just four hits and struck out nine for his first victory since May 24.

Masterson's four-seam fastball clocked in as high as 96 mph. Manager Manny Acta said his slider was the sharpest it's been all season. And Masterson's signature sinker was ultra-effective.

[Kc61]

Pretty funny.

I wonder whether the Reds regret having dozens of big strong righty hitters on the team and so few lefties. Willie Harris is playing tonight because he is a lefty.

Mr. Masterson, the Indians pitcher, has a very fine .603 OPS against righties for his career. He's tough on righties. He's very tough on righties.

However, he has a .791 OPS against lefties. That is, lefties hit him pretty well. Almost a .200 point difference in OPS against.

This year, the difference is even more pronounced. Righties are hitting Masterson at an OPS clip of .593. Very bad. Lefties? .801. Quite good.

So, yes, we get Willie Harris. For this very good reason, which would be avoidable with a more balanced roster.

[OesterPoster]

Hate to beat a dead horse, but why the heck aren't Votto and Bruce back-to-back against RH starters with such extreme RH/LH splits?

Oh yeah, just in case it's a close game and a tough lefty reliever comes in to face Votto and Bruce in the 8th inning or blah, blah, something or another.

[Kc61]

Originally Posted by OesterPoster

Hate to beat a dead horse, but why the heck aren't Votto and Bruce back-to-back against RH starters with such extreme RH/LH splits?

Oh yeah, just in case it's a close game and a tough lefty reliever comes in to face Votto and Bruce in the 8th inning or blah, blah, something or another.

You might even argue tonight for Votto, Bruce, and Harris back to back to back. You can always pinch hit a righty for Harris if a lefty reliever comes in.

We'll see how Phillips does. . . .

[redsmetz]

Oddly, Bruce & Votto haven't had much luck with him, but Phillips and Rolen have. Harris has only faced him once, Hanigan several AB's (no hits) and Heisey, Frazier & Cozart have never faced him. Topsy turvy city?

[OesterPoster]

Originally Posted by redsmetz

Oddly, Bruce & Votto haven't had much luck with him, but Phillips and Rolen have. Harris has only faced him once, Hanigan several AB's (no hits) and Heisey, Frazier & Cozart have never faced him. Topsy turvy city?

Darn it. Don't let facts get in the way of my rant.

[redsmetz]

Originally Posted by OesterPoster

Darn it. Don't let facts get in the way of my rant.

Actually my comment was necessarily directed at your's. I like to occasionally look at the match ups on B-R.com and that just jumped out at me. Truth be told, everyone is the proverbial small sample size - i don't think any of our guys have faced him more than nine times. I like Joey's chances because Joey's just lights out at the moment. I hope that Jay is perking up for one of his tears (no evidence necessarily on that, just hope). So I sort of hope we bat him around like a rag doll frankly. But that's not evidence based in the slightest.

[RichRed]

Seems to me that Jay's been hitting a lot of hard ones right at guys lately (no numbers to back this up), so maybe some of those will start finding the gaps.

[Hap]

Originally Posted by Kc61

You might even argue tonight for Votto, Bruce, and Harris back to back to back.

This post got me wondering if Willie Harris has ever batted fifth in any lineup for anyone.

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/H/Jharrw0010.htm

Amazingly, the answer is yes.......49 times...............and another 32 times at cleanup..........and amazingly, he managed to do these things without playing for Bob Boone.

[Tom Servo]

I think calling them the Indians has been bad luck and it's been a curse on us. They are the Cleveland Native Americans.

[GADawg]

'ole Willie has hit some shots since came back up....I was never for him making the roster and I couldn't have been more ready for him to leave but for some reason I'm interested to see how he fares tonight coming off his recent success

[_Sir_Charles_]

Well, that's ONE way to start the game. Heisey plunked.

[_Sir_Charles_]

Votto hits into the DP to end the Reds 1st.

[Tom Servo]

Votto is DatDudeDP.

[OnBaseMachine]

Not a big fan of tonight's matchup. LH batters kill Arroyo (.854 OPS against this season) and the Indians have seven lefties in the lineup tonight. Meanwhile, Masterson owns RH batters (.593 OPS) and Reds have six RH hitters in the lineup tonight. But thankfully they play the game for a reason. Here's to hoping the Reds can escape Cleveland with a win and finish off a winning road trip.