A little Perspective

[757690]

I know that losing an 18 inning game in which you lost the lead twice after the 8th inning is tough to swallow, so I understand the anger and frustration of many of the posts lately. I am just as angry and frustrated.

However, my grandfather always taught me that when I am this angry to write a letter venting all my anger, read it over, then throw it away. It clears out all the venom in my system, and then lets me move on in a more rational manner.

Being rational is frowned upon in most message boards, this one no exception, but I will try to put Sunday's loss into a little perspective, which will hopefully calm down some of the irrational un-exuberance that has overtaken this board.

1) Even with Sunday's lose, the Reds just went on a 8-5 run, which is a sign of clear improvement.
2) The Reds averaged 5.6 runs a game over that stretch, so I think it is safe to say that the offense is finally on track.
3) The Cubs just lost 2 out of 3 to both Houston and Pittsburgh. And it looks like they are having serious bullpen problems.
4) The Cardinals just went 8-10 and dropped Izzy as their closer.
5) The Brewers are losing and have all sorts of bullpen and rotation problems.
6) The Reds are only 6 1/2 games out of first right now.
7) Jay Bruce will be up here, playing regularly very shortly.


Considering all of that, I am very optimistic that the Reds will compete for the NL Central title this year.

[Hondo]

Wow, when you put it like that... Dudepick is still the Manager and Corey F. Patterson is still Leading off...

[yab1112]

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but being good enough to potentially compete for the worst division in baseball does not a good team make.

I'm optimistic for the Reds future with all the young talent, but right now it's uuugly.

[757690]

Originally Posted by 757690

I know that losing an 18 inning game in which you lost the lead twice after the 8th inning is tough to swallow, so I understand the anger and frustration of many of the posts lately. I am just as angry and frustrated.

However, my grandfather always taught me that when I am this angry to write a letter venting all my anger, read it over, then throw it away. It clears out all the venom in my system, and then lets me move on in a more rational manner.

Being rational is frowned upon in most message boards, this one no exception, but I will try to put Sunday's loss into a little perspective, which will hopefully calm down some of the irrational un-exuberance that has overtaken this board.

1) Even with Sunday's lose, the Reds just went on a 8-5 run, which is a sign of clear improvement.
2) The Reds averaged 5.6 runs a game over that stretch, so I think it is safe to say that the offense is finally on track.
3) The Cubs just lost 2 out of 3 to both Houston and Pittsburgh. And it looks like they are having serious bullpen problems.
4) The Cardinals just went 8-10 and dropped Izzy as their closer.
5) The Brewers are losing and have all sorts of bullpen and rotation problems.
6) The Reds are only 6 1/2 games out of first right now.
7) Jay Bruce will be up here, playing regularly starting Tuesday. (fixed it)


Considering all of that, I am very, very optimistic that the Reds will compete for the NL Central title this year.

[jmac]

I think there are more moves that could be made.
Bruce, of course.
Belilse, replace with Maloney.
BP needs something. What? I dont know.
Weathers/Lincoln and scare me when they come in.
Burton is consistently inconsistent.

Hopefully Jocketty doesnt stop with Bruce.

[IrishDavidKY]

Originally Posted by rocko

I think there are more moves that could be made.
Hopefully Jocketty doesnt stop with Bruce.

I think it's just the beginning! Now it's time to fan the trade rumor flames.

[ChatterRed]

What would be really cool is if they went on a tear now. The fans would go nuts and factor in Bruce coming up..........this could get really kewl.

[Slyder]

Originally Posted by ChatterRed

What would be really cool is if they went on a tear now. The fans would go nuts and factor in Bruce coming up..........this could get really kewl.

All the hitting in the world is not going to help unless the pitching staff is going good. That is whats going to be a problem with Duhsty's "little" meltdown in San Diego is going to cause.

[lidspinner]

we need pitching and we need coaching. Bruce will help with addition via subtraction. No matter who gets called down, this team gets better, all that and we add Bruce at the same time is a plus 2 in my book. If we could just muster up some decent pitchig and a coach with half a brain, this team night just make a run at this divison. Bad or not, win the divison is always teh 1st goal......We play all divison games in sept. except for 1 series..(I think???)

[redlegs2370]

Originally Posted by yab1112

I don't mean to burst your bubble, but being good enough to potentially compete for the worst division in baseball does not a good team make.

I'm optimistic for the Reds future with all the young talent, but right now it's uuugly.

Worst division in baseball? If you look at the wild card team right now it would be the Cardinals and right behind them is the Astros. I don't know how you can say it is the worst division in baseball.

[UK Reds Fan]

1. If you replace a guy OPSing under 700 with Bruce who may OPS in the 900 range...there is improvement in the offense yet to come.

2. If you replace a guy who has virtually no range in RF with Bruce who could drastically improve balls in play from a defensive perspective...there is more outs that have not been made to our pitching staff.


On the downside, there is hardly any way possible that Edison V. can keep this pace. He is bound to slide back to reality to some degree.

[yab1112]

Originally Posted by redlegs2370

Worst division in baseball? If you look at the wild card team right now it would be the Cardinals and right behind them is the Astros. I don't know how you can say it is the worst division in baseball.

Fair enough, I stand corrected.

Don't know if this is a good measuring stick, combined records by division:

N.L. East 132-123 (.517)
N.L. Central 160-147 (.521)
N.L. West 119-140 (.459)

A.L. East 141-118 (.544)
A.L. Central 118-135 (.466)
A.L. West 108-106 (.504)