A Team A Day [Day 7] A Cincinnatti Reds Preview

Dusty’s Pitcher Graveyard Adds a Tombstone
If a team improves on their win total three season in a row, that’s usually a sign of optimism, right? That isn’t really the case in Cincinnati, where the Reds (72, 74, 78) have improved yearly, but not nearly enough to make a strong playoff push. Oh, and did I mention Edinson Volquez won’t pitch this year after Tommy John Surgery? There’s that, too.

Bats
The middle of the Reds’ lineup has the potential to be very good, thanks to two of the organization’s crown jewels. Lets start with one of the game’s better young players, Joey Votto. He batted .322 and hit 25 yacks, but he also had plenty of downs. After the death of his father, Votto battled anxiety and depression, which shelved him for about 20 games. Then he battled migraine headaches and dizziness. There aren’t many good jokes in this saga; Votto’s personal issues aren’t something to poke fun at (unlike Khalil Greene, whose anxiety issues likely stem from the 6 dead women buried in his backyard). Nevertheless, Votto is one of the best young players in the National League; his .981 OPS ranked him 3rd in the NL behind a couple guys named Pujols and Fielder.

Then there’s Jay Bruce, who has hit for some power but not much else in his young career. A big gripe with Bruce is that he can’t hit lefties for crap. In his short career, he’s below the Mendoza Line against southpaws. He’ll only be 23 by the time Opening Day rolls around, so there’s still plenty of time. But it’ll definitely be something to watch in 2010. One of my favorite players in baseball is Brandon Phillips, one of the premier 2nd basemen in baseball. Phillips is a great combination of power and speed (20-20 for 3 years running), and he also has a slick glove. Marge Schott may be rolling over in her grave at the thought of a black guy playing for her beloved Reds, but Phillips is legit. Him and newly acquired Orlando Cabrera have the potential to be THE best defensive middle infield in baseball.

If nothing else, the Reds should be fun to watch. Sorry ass Wily Taveras will bring some speed (and NOTHING else) off the bench, while starting outfielders Drew Stubbs and Chris Dickerson (another black guy) are capable of stealing plenty of bases. The aforementioned Rolen is the only new face here (unless we see Yonder Alsono’s fat ass this year). People like to throw around the terms “leader” and “clubhouse guy” with Rolen. Translation? He’s five years past his prime.

Arms (Or what remains of them)
That didn’t take long. Lets start with the Chernobyl-like elbow of one Edinson Volquez, one of baseball’s best pitchers in 2008. After throwing no more than 130-140 innings in any one season of professional baseball, Dusty Baker (ANOTHER black guy! COME ON.) thought it’d be a good idea to run Volquez out there for close to 200 innings. Nice. Volquez is hoping to be back at some point this year, but for the sake of this column, we’ll just peg him for a 2011 return. Fortunately for him, Dusty will probably be gone by then.

Then we have two veterans in Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang. Arroyo is a relatively solid veteran who has won 15 games the last couple of years. He’s also one of those athletes that plays music, which causes every TV anchor to cream their pants and make some joke about how he’s going to pull out the acoustic between innings. Yes, we know. He plays guitar. So does Bernie Williams. And Scott Spiezio. Nobody cares, just get out of this inning. On to Aaron Harang, one of the ugliest athletes in all of sports. It pains me to lead off with that commentary about a fellow Aztec, but Harang is tough to look at. He’s also been terrible the last two years.

It’s taken some time, but it looks like Homer Bailey and Johnny Cueto are turning corners. Bailey was nails in September (3-1, 2.46) and with the exception of a brutal June/July, Cueto was pretty damn good also. I’m not crazy about Cueto’s workload (170+ innings the last two seasons), but what else can we expect? The big intrigue here lies in Cuban import Aroldis Chapman. Wait, NOW THE REDS ARE SIGNING COMMUNISTS? Marge, this has gone far enough! Chapman got flat out paid (6 years for 30 million), so it’s quite the investment. And what better person to put in charge of young arms than Dusty Baker?

Outlook
A late offseason surge by the Reds has me a little more excited about their prospects. But I still think they’re a small step down from the Cardinals, Brewers and Cubs in the NL Central. There’s a lot to like moving forward, but I’m not ready to peg these guys as contenders quite yet.