Positives and Negatives so far

[ChatterRed]

Starting and relief pitching have been what we hoped for. We just weren't sure which Harang would show up. Volquez doesn't seem to have his best stuff working right now, but is surviving. Arroyo has been decent. The bullpen has been lights out.

Votto has been amazing.
Taveras doing what we got him for so far.
Phillips has been consistent.
EE has been EE.

Bruce has struggled.
LF is a question mark.

SS is the biggest negative and question mark to date, IMHO.

I'm also not so sure that Hanigan isn't better than Hernandez. Might have been a waste of money, but hard to say after 7 games.

[BigJohn]

Time to move Phillips to SS where he belongs?

[Eric_the_Red]

Time to move Phillips to SS where he belongs?

You can't move BP during the year, IMO. He is a gold glove 2B....why even move him? Instead of being weak at SS, we are weak at 2B? I don't see how that really helps.

[schmidty622]

Lets trade for Felipe Lopez!:)

[BigJohn]

I think SS is a more important position. JHMO.

[BigJohn]

Have you seen Keppinger's numbers?

[xavr1]

Positive = Willy taking walks!! Loved seeing that last night.

[WildcatFan]

Time to move Phillips to SS where he belongs?

NO. Brandon Phillips is a 2B who came up through the minors as a SS. He is a second baseman, and that's it.

As far as positives go, Willy Taveras is really proving us all wrong so far. He was on base three more times last night and stole two. Harang and Arroyo have both looked sharp, and Cordero hasn't given up a run in his three appearances. Votto is killing the ball, and Edwin has looked good at the plate. Dickerson and McDonald are a combined 6-for-19.

Negatives — Bruce, Volquez, Hairston and Gonzalez's bat

[nmculbreth]

Easily the biggest positive thus far has been the improved plate patience shown by Reds hitters, particularly by Phillips and Taveras who have drawn seven and four walks respectively. One of my biggest worries coming into this season was that outside of Votto and Edwin, this was a very OBP challenged group but as a whole they've been much better than I expected in that regard.

On a similar note, I'd consider the play of Willy Tavares to be a big positive in the early going. I was fairly critical of the decision to bring in Taveras but if he maintains his patient approach for the entire season he suddenly becomes an effectively lead off hitter and with his speed on the bases, he becomes a legitimate offensive threat.

After that my next biggest positive is the early bounce back from Aaron Harang.

The biggest negative so far would be the production (or lack thereof) from the bottom third of the lineup. It's still very early but Alex Gonzalez has looked terrible at the plate and one has to wonder how much all that time away from baseball has diminished his offensive skillset. Hernandez has been almost equally as bad but he seems much more likely to bounce back though to be honest I'm not sure the Reds wouldn't be better served with Hanigan as the starting catcher.

My only other negative would be the lack of playing time so far for Chris Dickerson. I can see sitting him against a really tough lefty like Santana, though not if your next best option is Darnell McDonald, but otherwise I'd really like to see him in an everyday role.

[BigJohn]

Edwin is wasted in the bottom of the order, why do you think he is getting walks? No one behind him to drive him in.

Been on base 11 times and scored once on his own HR.

[ChatterRed]

Keppinger:
5 hits in 9 AB's. 1 HR. 2 Rbi. .556 average. 1 W. 0 K's (as usual).

I knew this would be a mistake.

He's better offensively than Gonzo or Janish. Face it.

[Z-Fly]

Keppinger:
5 hits in 9 AB's. 1 HR. 2 Rbi. .556 average. 1 W. 0 K's (as usual).

I knew this would be a mistake.

He's better offensively than Gonzo or Janish. Face it.

Yes, but he has no range.

[ChatterRed]

Yes, but he has no range.

They should have moved BP to SS in the offseason and put Kepp at 2B. It would have solved alot of problems.

[BigJohn]

Ding ding ding, we have a winner!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ohioballplayer]

Starting and relief pitching have been what we hoped for. We just weren't sure which Harang would show up. Volquez doesn't seem to have his best stuff working right now, but is surviving. Arroyo has been decent. The bullpen has been lights out.

Votto has been amazing.
Taveras doing what we got him for so far.
Phillips has been consistent.
EE has been EE.

Bruce has struggled.
LF is a question mark.

SS is the biggest negative and question mark to date, IMHO.

I'm also not so sure that Hanigan isn't better than Hernandez. Might have been a waste of money, but hard to say after 7 games.

I think a couple of the pitchers have left little to be desired, I agree with the bullpen comment.

Vott has been great, LF Dickerson batting .300 all that bad?

SS is horrible Agon is nut up to snuff yet, Hanigan is better than Hernandez IMHO but time will tell. Willie T doing what he does I dont mind that at all, keep it up.

Don't move BP, give other people a chance to play SS until AGOn gets up and running (maybe a nice minor league stint would help)??

[Eric_the_Red]

They should have moved BP to SS in the offseason and put Kepp at 2B. It would have solved alot of problems.

You are assuming BP could be as good defensively at SS as he is at 2B. And BP at SS and Kepp at 2B is still worse defensively than AGon/janish at SS and BP at 2B.

Besides, Kepp has had a 9 at bats. What say we dial down the excit-o-meter until he gets 150 or so ABs?

[PedroBourbon]

I would at least be starting Hanigan and Janish every day right now for offense until Hernandez and AGon get their bats going. The 7-8-9 in the batting order is horrible right now. I think Bruce will find his stroke again. Glad to see some of the pitching coming through. Hope Volquez and Herrera get back on track.

[Eric_the_Red]

I think using Janish for "offense" is amusing. Sure, AGon is really struggling but I wouldn't consider Janish an upgrade offensively. (Perhaps in the short term while AGon scuffles.)

[fugowitribe]

I would at least be starting Hanigan and Janish every day right now for offense until Hernandez and AGon get their bats going. The 7-8-9 in the batting order is horrible right now. I think Bruce will find his stroke again. Glad to see some of the pitching coming through. Hope Volquez and Herrera get back on track.

If Dannny can throw strikes, he is lights out, but if he falls behind in the count, he has to throw that 81 MPH meatball of a fastball to try and catch up. I see Herrera as a good short term reliever, but as the year goes on, I don't see his junk being nearly as affective as teams get a chance to see him several times.

[PedroBourbon]

I think using Janish for "offense" is amusing. Sure, AGon is really struggling but I wouldn't consider Janish an upgrade offensively. (Perhaps in the short term while AGon scuffles.)

That is what was meant. By no means are Hannigan and Janish great offensively, I just mean until they (Hernandez and AGon) start hitting the ball. Our typical line up has Hernandez, AGon, pitcher 7-8-9 which is batting .105, .000, .000.

Hanigan and Janish both hitting .286 which is stellar by comparison. Owings should help raise that number 9 BA as well.

[RED VAN HOT]

Last night the Reds played as if they expected to win. I haven't seen that out of a Reds team in a long time. For the last two years they have played as if they hoped they wouldn't lose.

I like the Janish and Hanigan lineup better than Gonzo and Hernandez. To date it has been much better defensively. Compare the fielding stats for these positions. Good defense has a lot to do with developing a bit of team swagger.

[bgwilly31]

Have you seen Keppinger's numbers?

yeah and i would say thats a definite negative considering gonzos performance thus far.

For those that dont know.

Kepps stats.

5 for 9
1 DB
1 HR
1 BB
0 SO

[Bumstead]

If the Reds need to play Janish and Hanigan over Gonzo and Hernandez, then it is a sad state we are in. It's still too early to do something as rash as putting those two in for offensive purposes...I can't help but chuckle even though we have taken your statement out of context a bit. Actually Hanigan might not be bad playing half the time but we need to give Hernandez a chance to prove he is worse than we had hoped.

Bum

[ChatterRed]

I think Bruce will find his stroke again. Glad to see some of the pitching coming through.

I think they should flip flop Votto and Bruce in the batting order to get Jay some better pitches. Or Jay needs to pull and EE and start walking more.

[Eric_the_Red]

I think they should flip flop Votto and Bruce in the batting order to get Jay some better pitches. Or Jay needs to pull and EE and start walking more.

Gah. You want the team's best hitter to bat 5th/6th? And move Bruce to 3rd?

Yeah, I'd love to see everyone's reaction if Dusty turned that lineup card in.