Reds = Strong Rotation and Loaded Offense?

[IamWallaman]

Breezing through this article (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070314&content_id=1843801&vkey=spt2007news&fext=.jsp) on mlb.com and, yes, I claims that the Reds are blessed with a strong rotation and a loaded offense. It all begins with talk about the closer situation and how Guardado could be our eventual "savior".



Blessed with a strong rotation and a loaded offense, the Reds expect to be an NL Central force,...


I thought they considered us a 5th place team? :p:

[rotnoid]

Breezing through this article (http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070314&content_id=1843801&vkey=spt2007news&fext=.jsp) on mlb.com and, yes, I claims that the Reds are blessed with a strong rotation and a loaded offense. It all begins with talk about the closer situation and how Guardado could be our eventual "savior".



I thought they considered us a 5th place team? :p:

I can get with being considered an NL Central force. Whatever that means. As strong as the Central has been, every team still has a lot of questions. Should be an interesting race.

[M2]

Strong rotation?

Sure Arroyo and Harang are good to have, but 3-4-5, particularly at this moment, look to be a mess.

[IamWallaman]

Strong rotation?

Sure Arroyo and Harang are good to have, but 3-4-5, particularly at this moment, look to be a mess.

Exactly. I will admit that our 1-2 combo is about the best in the NL... but I'm not sure it offsets the rest.

I am interested in seeing how we handle those last three spots this year.

At the very least, no Mays, Sunny D, or Mekaleka-hi, Meka-hiney-ho! :rolleyes:

[Phhhl]

Strong rotation?

Sure Arroyo and Harang are good to have, but 3-4-5, particularly at this moment, look to be a mess.

Yes, but 3-4-5 have been a heck of a lot worse in the past. Dan Sarafini says hello :).

[tripleaaaron]

I think our 3 could be better than expected (contract year)
and 4 is a solid 4 (with his stuff he could be a 3, our could suffer
and then our 5,6,7 guys (Belisle, Sarloos, Ramirez) are all solid #5 guys, I agree with this article that we have amongst the more solid rotations in the NL, noone else has a rotation without question marks, we have a deep rotation if nothing else, one of the best 1-2 punches and a handful of guys who are solid if not capable of better.

[jmac]

Yes, but 3-4-5 have been a heck of a lot worse in the past. Dan Sarafini says hello :).

How about Jimmy Haynes, Joey Hamilton,Jimmy Anderson,Brian Moehler and the list goes on.
Problem is...some of these were our #1's and not just our 3-5's

[M2]

Yes, but 3-4-5 have been a heck of a lot worse in the past. Dan Sarafini says hello :).

I don't know, they could all have 5.00+ ERAs. That's pretty awul.

I'm hopeful that maybe Belisle can win a job and do something worthwhile. Lohse not being able to take the mound has me majorly concerned because I view him as the bellwether for the rotation. If he can have a decent season, then the rotation should be decent. If he goes belly up, then the rotation likely goes belly up behind Harang and Arroyo.

IMO, the Reds desperately need something from Kyle Lohse if they want to make a serious run this season.

The problem at the moment is too many of the rotation candidates are heading to the mound with a gascan in their hands. Bring in enough arsonists and they can burn down an entire team.

[Chip R]

If anyone thinks this rotation is strong they must be loaded.

[HalMorrisRules]

My buddy is a Mets fan and he would gladly take our rotation which should let you know how the Mets view their rotation.

[Sea Ray]

I take issue with the loaded offense. There's not even a backup All Star in that lineup. If you look at the league leaders in various offensive categories in 2006, you'll find precious few Reds. And I think we all agree that the offense is not what it was before the Washington trade.

As for the rotation, it's a lot easier to find 3-5 guys than 1 and 2s. There is some uncertainty in that rotation but I like our chances to find a 3 and 4 out of Lohse, Milton, Livingston, Ramirez, Belisle and Sarloos. You're not asking all of those guys to come through. You're not even asking all of them to be good all year. We might have to go with the "hot hand". Like go with Belisle for now, and when his back acts up in mid May, EZ's shoulder should be OK and he'll come off the DL or Sarloos will come in out of the pen. That's probably the way it'll work out.

The elephant in the room of this discussion is Homer. He's clearly not ready as of St Patrick's Day but IMO any thought of this team making the playoffs has to include a contribution from him. If he doesn't come up and pitch like a middle of the rotation guy at some pt this year I doubt the Reds make the post season.

As for the #5 spot, very few teams have a proven #5 guy, including our chief rival the Cardinals. All you can hope for in March is to have viable candidates and we do.

[IslandRed]

As for the #5 spot, very few teams have a proven #5 guy, including our chief rival the Cardinals. All you can hope for in March is to have viable candidates and we do.

Yep. Based on some of the stats posted by RedsManRick (I think) and others, showing what a typical ERA is for each slot in a major-league rotation, the #5 starter is largely a creature of myth. Guys who pitch like a typical #5 usually lose their jobs in short order, so if a guy can stick in the rotation, almost by definition he's pitching more like a #4 at least. So the question is, do we have three guys who can pitch at a #4 level behind Harang and Arroyo? Hope so.

[roby]

I keep thinking about the Reds rotation in 1961. Joey Jay, Jim Maloney, even Bob Purkey were not supposed to be as good as they were. They had good stuff...but either were very young or had not yet put it all together. They even had a rookie named Ken Hunt who pitched pretty well. In short, the Reds of that year surprised everybody and won the pennant. I know you can't predict surprises, but I wonder if Lohse, Saarloos and/or Belisle could surprise in a similar way this year. I'm predicting that the reds rotation and bullpen will do WAY BETTER than anyone could have suspected. A also don't think that the offense has been diminished much by the Washington trade. I remember the fall off last year, but I think that was more coincidental than it was because Kearns and Lopez were gone. Josh Hamilton may just make this offense a very good to great one. I also think that Gonzales, with all of his offensive faults, will produce about as well as Lopez. If you also factor in the additional experience of Encarnacion, and a contribution from Denorfia and Votto...and the offense could be really good.