Hello again Reds fans and it is nice to be writing this after the good guys actually won their last game on Wednesday night against the Cubs by a score of 4-0.  I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to take a look at the signing of Willy Taveras and how that has plated out so far this year.  Wednesday’s game serves as a great example of what the Reds hoped they were getting with Taveras in the lead off spot.  He had a couple of hits, stole 2 bases and scored a run.  The problem is that those types of days have been few and far between, he just hasn’t been able to deliver.  I tried really hard to like this deal but the bottom line is the guy had one really good year but doesn’t have the lifetime OBP (.323) to make him a viable lead off hitter, especially on a team that we knew was going to struggle to score runs.    He is a slight upgrade on the defensive side, but $6.25 over two years was way too generous for a guy that really should be hitting in the 7 or 8 spot.   Two words for the Red’s brain trust, and I use that term reluctantly, Drew Stubbs!

The Reds start a 6-game road trip tonight in San Francisco and tonight’s pitching match-up absolutely fascinates me!  Arguably the best pitcher in baseball Tim Lincecum starts for the Giants tonight against what was and still might be the best Reds pitching prospect in Homer Bailey.  Linceum is last year’s NL CY Young winner and has to be the odds on favorite so far this season, dominating fast ball, change-up from hell all delivered by a guy that looks like he should be taking your order at the local fast food drive through.  Oh I almost forgot, he also sports a wicked, big breaking curve that pulls the old Dr. Freeze act on the best of hitters.  At the age of 25, Lincecum has become a complete and dominating pitcher.

That brings us to Homer Bailey who was a first round pick for the Reds in 2004, seventh player chosen overall.  Bailey has enjoyed incredible success at the minor league level but has yet to duplicate that success in the majors.  Just take a look at the difference in his ERA in the majors this year, 7.06 compared to his 2.71 in his AAA starts.  He has all of the tools, fastball in the mid to upper nineties that explodes on hitters and an improving curveball.  So where is the disconnect?  I’d like to think that at 23, Bailey is still learning his craft and will change from the thrower he is now to a complete pitcher over the next couple of years.  Still I have to wonder if the Reds organization has the coaching in place to fully develop their picthing prospects.  I can’t recall the last time a pitcher started his career witn the Reds and became more than just a serviceable starting pitcher, maybe Tom Browning in the late 80’s?  Tonight affords Homer the opportunity to watch and compete against the best pitcher in baseball.  Let’s hope he makes the most of it and the Reds start the trip on a high note.  Until next time, be well!