Bleacher Report: REDS bullpen struggling to find Relief

[Kingspoint]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4...o-an-oil-spill

"The Reds need a plan B in case Chapman isn't up to speed. That plan does not have to be have to be drastic and could be an in-house move, but I'm not sure there are too many in-house options they can fall back on."

[davereds24]

well, the plan B was signing all those old b&%$@$* from St Louis but that didn't work out too well. now they need either ondrusek or chapman to be near lights out in sept in the 7th inning roll.

[Kingspoint]

Let's see what in-house moves the REDS can "experiment" with in September:

Aaron Harang: In 11 Innings pitched in the Minors he's only given up 2 walks and has struck out 11. However, he's given up 14 hits and has an ERA of 9.00. There's absolutely no telling how Harang will function out of the pen. As a Veteran, he's worth the try.

Aroldis Chapman: As a Reliever, he's been lights-out for Louisville, dominating every team he's faced. He rarely gives up a hit and gets more Strikeouts than all other outs put together. This is a guy who could come in with men on 2nd and 3rd and zero or one out and not allow a runner to score. In 19.2 IP since the AAA All-Star break, he's only allowed 10 hits and 5 Walks while striking out an astounding 32 batters. His ERA is a miniscule 0.92 over that span.

Daniel Ray Herrera: In Louisville, he's still struggling with guys reaching base and eventually scoring. 7 Earned Runs over his last 13.2 Innings pitched.

Philippe Valiquette: See DRH. 7 ER over last 11.2 IP.

Sam LeCure: See DRH. 16 ER over last 25 IP.

Chad Reineke: 9 ER over last 29 IP (2.79 ERA) (0.897 WHIP over that span). He's appeared as a Reliever 103 times over his minor league career, including 13 times this season. Here's a possibility. 4.2 K/BB ratio over those 29 IP. He's 28 years old, 6'6", 230# (will be an asset when we play the Cardinals again with that size).

James Avery: See DRH.

Matt Maloney: 1 ER or less in 5 of his last 7 starts. Do we get the good Maloney or the bad Maloney (11 ER in 10 IP in the other two starts). It's worth a chance. Left-handers are hitting just .229 off him this year with only 1 Homerun. He's got a 4.75-to-One K/BB ratio against Left-Handers. With 9 games against the Brewers, think of the lefties Fielder, and other times he could come in against a lefty (Holiday, Adrian Gonzalez (we play SD 3 times), etc. Definitely useful and he's already been up this year. Right-handers are only hitting .269 against him but they do connect with some power (7 HR in only 80 Innings...which isn't too much, but it shows that he struggles a bit with Right-handers where his K/BB ratio is 3.22). In 52.2 Major League innings, he has a very respectable WHIP of 1.223.

Ben Jukich: Can't keep batters off base. Too high a WHIP at AAA to even try at Cincy.

Carlos Fisher: He's close. Just when you think he's ready....his last two outings he gave up multiple hits and runners scored in both with no K's. Maybe...have to see. I'd try him if we were ahead by a lot or behind by a lot. Then re-evaluate.

Enerio Del Rosario: Didn't work the last time. But, that's true with lot's of Relievers. They're a strange bunch. You never know what you're going to get. In EDR's last 10 outings he's only had one bad day where he gave up 2 HR's. If you limit him to 1 inning max, he can be good enough. In the other 9 outings he pitched 9.2 Innings giving up only 2 runs, 9 hits, 2 Walks and 7 K's. He's a groundball pitcher and would be an asset if you needed someone to come in and induce a GODP. His 2.04 GO/AO vs RH's goes along well with the 3.83 K/BB ratio vs RH's. Versus LH's he has an even better 2.19 GO/AO ratio. He'll get a double-play ball when we need one. Just don't leave him out there very long.

Jordan Smith: He'll be back.

Jared Burton: Hasn't pitched since August 8th. Don't know what's going on.

Lee Tabor: See DRH.

Jeremy Horst: At his 3rd level for 2010. Don't want to ruin him by trying to have him relieve this year for Cincy. He'll be a future Reliever for the big league club...maybe even get a shot in 2011. Has had 4 appearances in LOU over the last 2 weeks and struggled a little bit in the first two. Was given a chance to start in his 4th appearance and came through with 4 IP, 2H, 0R, 0BB, 4K.

Joseph Krebs: Struggling mightily right now.

Donnie Joseph: Francisco Cordero's replacement....might force his way onto the Major League club next Spring Training. He's at his 3rd level this year and has dominated every level (only 3 IP at this level, but just 1H, 0R, 0BB, 5K). On the season his remarkable numbers are: 61IP, 37H, 11ER, 23BB, 101K!, and just 2HR. Do you bring up someone who was at Dayton to start the season to pitch during a pennant run? He turns 23 November 1st, so he's not real young (just 7 months younger than Bruce). He pitched 4 years at University of Houston. Why not? I'd give him a shot. Batters are only hitting .170 off him this year. They're lucky to ever hit the ball out of the infield.


Looking at these options, if I'm Walt, I'm on the phone calling every team (not in the playoff chases and that's selling) to see what it would cost to get one of their top-3 Relievers from them. And, then I make the deal (if everything gets through waivers, etc.).

[Vottomatic]

The Bleacher Report.

That pretty much says it all.

Nothing to see here folks.

[redsfan_12]

Originally Posted by Vottomatic

The Bleacher Report.

That pretty much says it all.

Nothing to see here folks.

Lol. That's what I was thinking

[Old NDN]

Whatever happened to Pedro Viola?

[krm1580]

Originally Posted by Old NDN

Whatever happened to Pedro Viola?

He was out of options so the Reds were forced to DFA him out of spring training and he was claimed by Baltimore. He is in their farm system and not doing a whole lot.

[brm7675]

I am amazed at how people feel Chapman is or will be the savior. What has he done except throw a ball over 100 mph to show he can pitch on the major league level yet?

[RedLegsToday]

I am amazed at how people feel Chapman is or will be the savior. What has he done except throw a ball over 100 mph to show he can pitch on the major league level yet?

Seriously?

Chapman's last 22 appearances (All appearances in July and August):

24.1 ip, 6r, 4er, 13h, 11bb, 38k(!)

His August numbers are better than July. What more does he need to do?

[RedLegsToday]

Chapman Post AAA All-Star game:
3W
0L
0.92era
18G
19.2IP
10H
5BB
32K!
4R
2ER
1HR
1.80GO/AO
.143BA against

[Vottomatic]

32K!!!!

[brm7675]

Originally Posted by RedLegsToday

I am amazed at how people feel Chapman is or will be the savior. What has he done except throw a ball over 100 mph to show he can pitch on the major league level yet?

Seriously?

Chapman's last 22 appearances (All appearances in July and August):

24.1 ip, 6r, 4er, 13h, 11bb, 38k(!)

His August numbers are better than July. What more does he need to do?

do it more. We are talking about a key playoff run and you are wanting to turn it over to an unknown 20 something with no big league experience or college experience. sorry not with how well this bullpen has pitched over the past couple months am I going to panic over 3 days in SF where they had some bad outings. leave chapman in AAA and go with what we have.

[Hanover]

I like Bray, Ondrusek and Smith. But you would actually rather have them pitch than Chapman at this point?

[scott91575]

The Reds are going to have exceptions for the 25 man playoff roster for players who went on the DL when they were on the 25 man. Springer is a perfect example. They can use that spot as a playoff spot, and can put any player on the 40 man in that that spot (I believe the only rules are the player has to be on the 40 man and must play the same position).

Therefore, once rosters expand, you can use the next month to judge all the young bullpen pitchers, even Smith and Chapman who are not on the 25 man right now. So no decision needs to be made in the next few days.

So instead of saying you don't want Chapman because he has no MLB experience, how about we give him a month and see how he does? No need to rush to a decision right now.

As for pitching down the stretch, it's not like Ondrusek or Smith are exactly grizzled vets. Plus Chapman is left handed. There is no reason not to see what he can do in the next month.