How comfortable are you with the personnel on this team?

[WVRedsFan]

Just an opinion from a non-expert, rabid fan who knows nothing. Take it for what it's worth.

1B - comfortable with Votto there and even Hatteburg, but we need a right handed option for me to be OK here.

2B - Totally comfortable with Phillips.

SS - Not comfortable at all here. Keppenger can hit, but without Gonzo around, this may be a weak spot.

3B - Edwin will make me comfortable. I just feel it.

LF - Comfortable.

CF - Corey is not my idea of either a leadoff hitter or a center fielder. I hope he's a stop-gap only (but I know he's not). At least he's a better option than Freel (IMHO).

RF - Griffey when healthy is comfort supreme even with his bad wheels, but What happens if he gets hurt? Call up Jay Bruce? It worries me.

C - Very uncomfortable. I wasn't feeling too well about this position even when Ross wasn't hurt. Now it's worse. Bako? Valentin? We need to get a catcher.

SP - We know what Arroyo and Harang can do. We don't know what Cueto and Volquez will do in real games. And we fear what Fogg will do. After 25 games we'll know.

RP - The bullpen is better just from the subtraction of Stanton and the addition of Cordero, but the rest is business as usual--the same old story minus any notable lefties. Worried.

In the prediction thread I said 86 wins. I may have to modify that.

[redsrule2500]

Mine:

1B - comfortable

2B - comfortable

SS - comfortable

3B - comfortable

LF - comfortable

CF - comfortable

RF - comfortable

C - uncomfortable

SP - uncomfortable

RP - uncomfortable

[rotnoid]

Unfortunately, the areas where I was uncomfortable last October, still make me uncomfortable today (though I realize my opionion isn't the one that counts). At the start of the off season, I think we all agreed the Reds needed a catcher, a couple flame throwing middle relievers that can miss bats, some right handed pop off the bench and at least one hopefully better than league average starter. Not sure they've added any of those pieces, though Volquez and Cueto could pleasantly surprise over the course of 30 starts or so.

Beyond these parts, though, I like the rest of the roster. If they can catch lightning in a bottle, this team can do some damage, especially in this division.

[GAC]

Originally Posted by WVRedsFan

Just an opinion from a non-expert, rabid fan who knows nothing. Take it for what it's worth.

1B - comfortable with Votto there and even Hatteburg, but we need a right handed option for me to be OK here.

Why do we need a RH'd option? Casey was a lefty.

[RedlegJake]

1B -Votto, comfortable. Just let him play all the time, even against Lefties, unless the Reds get a strong RH bat to platoon.
2B - BP is good here
SS - With Kepp I'm comfortable on offense.
3B - Once EE gets hot I'm good. Just hope it's soon and not halfway into the season.
C - I like Ross as a comparable to other catchers out there (there are few really good all round catchers in the MLs right now) but his back isn't going to get better as he ages so this spot is really weak now. Bako and Valentin all the time would be horrible.
They shoulda kept Perez -at least he would've provided a ML defense and how much weaker could a bat get than Bako?
CF - Sorry but I like Patterson as a CFer, unfortunately Dusty thinks he should leadoff so I have to go from liking him to thinking how miscast he is going to be. And if BP(or Castro) ever hits in the 2 hole behind him the Reds will hardly ever have anyone on base to start games.
LF -Dunn gets it done. Period. And for his defensive shortcomings -hey this is left field. There are what, 1 or 2 actually good defenders in leftfield in all baseball. As a LF comp Dunn isn't that bad.
RF -Junior. Well as long as everyone agrees to hit the ball within a couple feet of him he'll be okay. And he can still hit.
SP - Harang, Arroyo, Volquez, Fogg, Cueto? Yes, I'm comfortable with that going into the year. A lot of ifs of course, but a ton of possibilities, too.
RP - I'm grudgingly comfortable, squirming though. Burton has me worried. Affeldt makes me shudder. For me it isn't Mercker that inherits Stanton's place of infamy but likely to be Affeldt. Merck's just holding Bray's place but that's a problem too. Is Bill Bray EVER going to be completely healthy? Okay I'm not comfortable. I typed myself out of it.

[jojo]

The Reds spent almost $50M on their pen and I wouldn't bet a dollar that it'll be any better than it was last season.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by GAC

Why do we need a RH'd option? Casey was a lefty.

Both Hattie and Votto have significant platoon splits.

Casey, gosh bless him, wasn't completely emasculated by lefties.

[KronoRed]

Originally Posted by jojo

The Reds spent almost $50M on their pen and I wouldn't bet a dollar that it'll be any better than it was last season.

Me either, it'll be about the same at the end but it will still be 'hope for 7 from the starters or pray' from the rest.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Originally Posted by KronoRed

Me either, it'll be about the same at the end but it will still be 'hope for 7 from the starters or pray' from the rest.

We can only hope the bullpen is better than the group that posted a 1.60 WHIP and 5.45 ERA in the last three months of 2007.

It cannot get much worse... or can it? Bow our heads for a collective prayer.

[*BaseClogger*]

RedLegJake brought up a good point--Miguel Perez would look very pretty right now catching games until Ross is ready...