I'd make Roster move with Duke

[JaxRed]

I think we're past the "fluky" stage with Duke. I'd make a roster move. He's our third best lefty reliever. ERA over 10 after having a 4.14 ERA last year, and an 8.10 ERA in Spring Training. I'd give him his outright release with the hope of resigning him back to AAA.

If he gets claimed (which I doubt would happen), I would move on without a worry. Same thing if he clears waivers and signs with a KC or someone else. So to me there is little risk.

If you wanted to replace him with another lefty reliever, Krol is doing a decent job in AAA. Reed has had 4 outings. First one was bad and next 3 have been good. And Reed is on the 40. So I might go Reed.

But starters by and large have been doing the job. The exception is Disco. So the need for 13 pitchers is reduced. The offense however has been terrible. I think I'd be more inclined to bring up a hitter. I'd bring up Van Meter. He's been hot. OPS over 1.000. But he doesn't have a long proven minor league track record of hitting that well. However he just turned 24 a month ago, so he's still fairly young.

He can play all infield positions (even has few games last year at SS), and RF and LF, which gives Bell lots of options for slumping hitters.

It might be that Van Meter is just a AAAA guy, but there's little downside to giving him a shot.

[OhioRiverBarge]

I though about posting a similar thread.

I think if Duke were used STRICTLY as a loogy, I’d give him a little bit of a longer leash, but him pitching to righty’s is unbelievably bad. It’s almost as if this coaching staff has never looked at his numbers.

If that’s how he’s going to be used, it’s time to ax the Duke.

[bucksfan2]

Enough with the 4 man bench. DFA Duke, bring up Ervin and if you need arms, start using the ones in AAA.

[Ron Madden]

I though about posting a similar thread.

I think if Duke were used STRICTLY as a loogy, I’d give him a little bit of a longer leash, but him pitching to righty’s is unbelievably bad. It’s almost as if this coaching staff has never looked at his numbers.

If that’s how he’s going to be used, it’s time to ax the Duke.

Duke faced to LHH last night, both of’em hit doubles. Duke would be a terrible loogy too.

[*BaseClogger*]

The problem with using the shuttle approach to a 7-man bullpen is that so many of the relievers can't be sent to the minors. I think Peralta is the only candidate to be traded back and forth with the reserves in Louisville...

[OhioRiverBarge]

Duke faced to LHH last night, both of’em hit doubles. Duke would be a terrible loogy too.

That’s fair. I just think it’s worth mentioning that the way he’s been used has been terrible, too. None of it makes sense.

[Tracy Jones]

The problem isn’t Duke (although I agree that he shouldn’t be on the team) it’s that the Reds did virtually nothing other than adding Duke to attempt to improve the bullpen. Expecting Jared Hughes to repeat his success last season was folly, and with Iglesias largely being poor at the moment, the bullpen is a mess. I saw it coming out of spring training.

The one positive has been the emergence of Stephenson, but he’s not pitching in high leverage situations. Hughes and Duke are, and it’s killing them.

[JaxRed]

Enough with the 4 man bench. DFA Duke, bring up Ervin and if you need arms, start using the ones in AAA.

Van Meter makes much more sense over Ervin. Ervin only plays outfield, where you are already trying to mix in 5 slumping guys. But Van Meter plays Infield and Outfield. Much more flexibility. And Van Meter is hitting .347 and Ervin .143.

[reds44]

Van Meter makes much more sense over Ervin. Ervin only plays outfield, where you are already trying to mix in 5 slumping guys. But Van Meter plays Infield and Outfield. Much more flexibility. And Van Meter is hitting .347 and Ervin .143.

I think Farmer already has the “play a bunch of positions and can’t hit” spot on the roster

[JaxRed]

The problem isn’t Duke (although I agree that he shouldn’t be on the team) it’s that the Reds did virtually nothing other than adding Duke to attempt to improve the bullpen. Expecting Jared Hughes to repeat his success last season was folly, and with Iglesias largely being poor at the moment, the bullpen is a mess. I saw it coming out of spring training.

The one positive has been the emergence of Stephenson, but he’s not pitching in high leverage situations. Hughes and Duke are, and it’s killing them.

No, the problem IS mostly Duke. And the bullpen is fine. 3 of the guys have ERA at 1.35 or lower. Hernadez is 4.50. The problems are Iglesias, Duke and Hughes. And guess what, Hughes has an ERA of 7.10 because he was charged with 4 runs in 1 inning. And Duke was the guy who let in 3 of those 4 with 2 outs. So Hughes will be fine. And eventually Iglesias will probably figure it out too.

[UPRedsFan]

Duke does look useless. But they signed him for 2 million. Head scratcher.

After his first outing which did not go well, Reed has thrown 4 1/3 innings with 5K's and 1 BB and allowed 3 hits. I think we're heading towards a Reed for Duke exchange if the trend continues but we'll need to be patient (i.e. $2 million reasons)

We've already seen Bell make an adjustment in usage in last couple games. Duke is pitching when we're behind. And Stephenson was used in a high leverage situation 2 nights ago. I'm more worried about Iglesius and Hernandez than Duke at this point. They've got to have those 2 be sharp. It's a solid bullpen if Iggy and Hernandez pitch like they did last year with Garrett, Peralta and Stephenson helping.

[Shoeless Jeff]

Little early to be throwing anybody to the wolves, especially when it comes to the bullpen. There has been very limited innings, so Hughes, Hernandez and Iglesias will most likely be fine. Duke may be a different discussion though as he doesn't look like he is fooling anybody and he certainly isn't overpowering anyone.

[rob meehan]

I'd rather see Patty Duke than Zach Duke.

[CySeymour]

The problem isn’t Duke (although I agree that he shouldn’t be on the team) it’s that the Reds did virtually nothing other than adding Duke to attempt to improve the bullpen. Expecting Jared Hughes to repeat his success last season was folly, and with Iglesias largely being poor at the moment, the bullpen is a mess. I saw it coming out of spring training.

The one positive has been the emergence of Stephenson, but he’s not pitching in high leverage situations. Hughes and Duke are, and it’s killing them.

I can’t disagree with this. They did upgrade the rotation, which was goal #1, and seemingly upgraded the bench. But the bullpen was left to too many ifs and prayers.

[Tony Cloninger]

Maybe this belongs in The Who’s the GM thread this year but more of the twirling of thumbs while the season gets away from you is not what I want to see. Leather pants may have been insufferable at times but he at least was pro active.
He would have cut bait from Duke after last night and called up Casper Van Dien already today.