Three second-half predictions...

[texasdave]

Shine that crystal ball up.

1) Phillips gets moved back to the leadoff spot and ends up hitting over .310.

2) Matt Latos ends the years as the Reds' winningest starter with 17.

3) Reds clinch before their final six-game road trip to St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

[bleedsred]

I agree with 1 and 3.......number two will sure be fun to watch unfold...it looks to be a two horse race with the dark horse.....Bailey....this race could bring out the best in him..crossing my fingers.

[Stray]

Agree with 1 and 2, but I think Latos and Cueto can both get to 17 wins if healthy. Really hope you're right about 3.

[Ironman92]

1. Jay Bruce goes 33 HR 101 RBI

2. Joey Votto 3rd place MVP

3. Latos 16, Cueto 15, Homer 13, Arroyo 10, Leake 8 wins

[herbdizzle]

1) Reds win the NL Central at 92-70. Cardinals finish 2nd and earn a wild card. Pirates fade in September when their pitching burns out.

2) Joey Votto wins 2nd MVP award after the McCutchen push peters out as the Pirates fade down the stretch.

3) Cueto finishes 19-10; barely missing becoming the Reds 1st 20 game winner in years. Finishes 3rd in Cy Young voting.

[miamiredskin]

Wow. BP at .310? Batting Leadoff? I want some of what you guys are smoking!

[Ironman92]

Wow. BP at .310? Batting Leadoff? I want some of what you guys are smoking!

I assume you don't think there is a chance of that because of Dusty's stubbornness.

[MrRedLegger]

I think 2 and 3 are spot on. Latos is appearing to be that missing piece, and it seems that soon enough our rotation will be in conversations of those of the Nats, Giants, and Phillies of not too long ago.

As for #3, The Reds have their whips and chains and are getting ready to strap the gag ball on the NL Central. And there's no safe word.

Phillips stays at cleanup unless a move is made imo.

3 of my predictions:

1. Bruce goes off at finishes the season batting .280+ 35 HR and 100+ RBI
2. Reds make playoffs, the edge that gives Votto the MVP over McCutchen
3. Pitching improves to best in the NL

[Moosie52]

1. Jay Bruce goes 33 HR 101 RBI

2. Joey Votto 3rd place MVP

3. Latos 16, Cueto 15, Homer 13, Arroyo 10, Leake 8 wins


It's going to be a long rest of the season if Cueto is only going to win 5 more games.

[Ironman92]

It's going to be a long rest of the season if Cueto is only going to win 5 more games.

But of the 5 total is averages out the same. Leake deserved more wins than he got and Bronson as well. Regardless, I'm wrong all the time...no biggee.

[mu4103]

1. Save Cueto and Chapman the Reds pitching staff comes back to earth.
2. Unless some serious changes are made in terms of the hitting (trades and benching some guys as well) the Reds do not win the division and maybe finish 7+ games out.
3. The offense improves but not enough to overcome the pitching deficit.

Let's face it, the Reds' pitching has been over-performing which is great but they will come back to earth. The team can't continue to hit this poorly. I think the Reds are going to play just well enough to not make any drastic changes (which is what they need) - they will seem to be almost in the playoff hunt, but end up 5+ games out in what is right now the weakest division in baseball. You can't mismanage as much as Dusty has and get away with it. Right now the Reds are not a play-off team.

If the Reds do make drastic changes, I think they will win the division. With some luck they could make some noise. Cueto is a stud. I would be interested to see how he would perform in the playoffs. If used correctly Chapman could be a series MVP and play in almost every game. Latos can be unhittable at times and the best perform in the playoffs. Cueto/Latos could shut some teams down. Offensively Votto is the real deal and I think Bruce would do well in the play-offs. Drew Stubbs has never proven he can hit good MLB hitting so he would do pretty much nothing. I think Frazier would make some noise. Other than that it would depend on who is hot. In the play-offs you need guys that can hit good pitching. I think Votto, Bruce, and Frazier could be those guys. Dusty strikes me as a horrible post-season manager - which is why I don't think he would come up with the idea of giving Chapman the ball for multiple innings in games. A great strategy would be to have the pitchers get the ball to Chapman and let him do the rest. The Reds would have to shake up their line-up depending on who is hot and it would not be the time to show veteran favoritism.

It could be fun if the Reds change some things in the second half. Bringing in a big name player (Not Josh Willingham - please no more retreads, bring in a real player, Justin Upton would be nice, Juan Pierre does in fact suck and he would suck worse under Dusty) and benching the under-performers would be a great start.

I will happily eat my words, but if you looked at my beginning of the year predictions last season, you will see that at least for 1 year I was right about the Reds.

[chuck6660]

I threw some dog bones into the dirt and this is what I see....

BP moves to lead-off and hits .290 17 HR and 75 RBI
Votto continues to get pitched around but hits .335 30 HR 105 RBI
Bruce continues to be sreaky ends up at .260 33 100
Ludwick contiues to improve, finishing at .245 21 HR 70 RB
Frazier finally becomes the starting 3B and #4 hitter, .272 25 85
Cozart revives, hitting in front of Votto, .270 18 65
Heisey gets more play in CF,ends on a hot streak, .275 12 50
Stubbs 180 Ks, .219 16 44
Cueto, 19-9
Latos, 16-7
Bailey, 13-11
Leake, 9-10
Arroyo, 13-12

Reds win the Central with 93-69 record

[Ironman92]

I threw some dog bones into the dirt and this is what I see....

BP moves to lead-off and hits .290 17 HR and 75 RBI
Votto continues to get pitched around but hits .335 30 HR 105 RBI
Bruce continues to be sreaky ends up at .260 33 100
Ludwick contiues to improve, finishing at .245 21 HR 70 RB
Frazier finally becomes the starting 3B and #4 hitter, .272 25 85
Cozart revives, hitting in front of Votto, .270 18 65
Heisey gets more play in CF,ends on a hot streak, .275 12 50
Stubbs 180 Ks, .219 16 44
Cueto, 19-9
Latos, 16-7
Bailey, 13-11
Leake, 9-10
Arroyo, 13-12

Reds win the Central with 93-69 record

If that all comes true we win 100+

[Ohioballplayer]

Hmmmmmmm

1. Bruce finishes with the .268 31HR 101RBI (2 rbi in the last game to give him 101)
2. Joey hits .335 finishes with 58 doubles wins mvp because Reds slightly come in 1st
3. Dusty,decides to change lineup in 2nd half (after the Reds make a move to get Pierre) and send Stubbs down to get him to shorten he swing for the next season and a 1/2

Pierre (after trade of course)
Phillips
Votto
Frazier
Bruce
Lud/HiC
Hanigan/Mes
Cozart

[Ironman92]

Hmmmmmmm

1. Bruce finishes with the .268 31HR 101RBI (2 rbi in the last game to give him 101)
2. Joey hits .335 finishes with 58 doubles wins mvp because Reds slightly come in 1st
3. Dusty,decides to change lineup in 2nd half (after the Reds make a move to get Pierre) and send Stubbs down to get him to shorten he swing for the next season and a 1/2

Pierre (after trade of course)
Phillips
Votto
Frazier
Bruce
Lud/HiC
Hanigan/Mes
Cozart

Not arguing these are good or bad ideas... But are you dreaming?

[Krawhitham]

Shine that crystal ball up.

1) Phillips gets moved back to the leadoff spot and ends up hitting over .310.

2) Matt Latos ends the years as the Reds' winningest starter with 17.

3) Reds clinch before their final six-game road trip to St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

1) BP would roughly have to hit .345 in the 2nd half to end the season at .311

He is on pace for 579 AB, at 579 AB he would need 180 hit to bat .311
He already has 304 AB and 85 hits. So he needs to go 95 for 275 (.345 avg)

Don't really see that happening

2) winning 10 of 15 starts would be sweet

3) I can see that

[Krawhitham]

Wow. BP at .310? Batting Leadoff? I want some of what you guys are smoking!

Over the last 4 seasons (2009-2012) BP is a .280 hitter in the #1 hole

SO yes they are smoking some good crap

[Krawhitham]

It's going to be a long rest of the season if Cueto is only going to win 5 more games.

Currently the starters are on pace for

19 Johnny Cueto
8 Bronson Arroyo
13 Mat Latos
13 Homer Bailey
6 Mike Leake

[Ironman92]

1) BP would roughly have to hit .345 in the 2nd half to end the season at .311

He is on pace for 579 AB, at 579 AB he would need 180 hit to bat .311
He already has 304 AB and 85 hits. So he needs to go 95 for 275 (.345 avg)

Don't really see that happening

2) winning 10 of 15 starts would be sweet

3) I can see that

Don't think he will either but from July 23rd last year to season's end he went 76/229 (.332) and went to .300 and this was when he was hitting 1st...after convincing Dusty.

[Ohioballplayer]

Not arguing these are good or bad ideas... But are you dreaming?

For number 3, ABSOLUTELY!

[Banshee Beat]

1. Bruce will OPS at .875+ in the second half. His LD% is at a career best and his BABIP (currently .267) is bound to increase. I look for him to have a productive second half.

2. Frazier will connect with 13 HR in the second half. I expect his overall slash line to fall, but he'll prove to be a solid third basemen who we can rely on for 20+ HRs for the next few years. Now let's work on those throws over to Joey...

3. One of our starters will be DL bound. Unfortunately, I don't see us going the entire year with just five starters. Hopefully it'll be a brief stint.

[miamiredskin]

my prediction is...BE THERE EARLY!

[Kingspoint]

3 predictions:

1. Stubbs fails to have his On Base percentage rise above .300 for the rest of the years, consequently ending up being benched permanently by August 10th.

2. Heisey takes over Center Field permanently earning everyday lineup inclusion as a new regular.

3. Rolen retires as there are no dead-cat bounces left in his bag.

[Who Dey Time]

1. Reds win the Central.

2. Dusty gets an extension

3. Dusty bashers will express their misguided outrage and claim that they will never again go to another Reds game.

[texasdave]

The only thing that keeps the Reds out of the playoffs is if a starter or two go down for any length of time. Reds have been, knock on wood, fortunate in that respect.

[bigredmechanism]

As for #3, The Reds have their whips and chains and are getting ready to strap the gag ball on the NL Central. And there's no safe word.

:laugh:
That's awesome.

[Kingspoint]

1. Reds win the Central.

2. Dusty gets an extension

3. Dusty bashers will express their misguided outrage and claim that they will never again go to another Reds game.Baker doesn't get an extension if they only win the Central. He's got to do a lot better than that.