Eons ago, way back in 1990 when I still thought women were strange and confusing creatures (okay, not much has changed), the Reds fielded a team that were heavy underdogs to the Oakland Athletics (by the way, what kind of name is “Athletics” for a team? I mean, whose bright idea was to name a team of athletes… Athletics? Doesn’t it sound a touch insecure? “Hey everyone! We have a baseball team! And they are ALL ‘Athletic!’” Of course, with players like John Kruk and Babe Ruth, you may need to make such a declaration).

And why not?

The A’s had Mark McGuire, PJ (pre-juiced… or was he?), and Jose Canseco, FJ (fully juiced), along with Dave Stewart (22 Wins, 2.56 ERA) and Bob Welch (27 Wins, 2.95 ERA). And their closer, Dennis Eckersley had a ridiculous 0.61 ERA with 73 strikeouts in 73 innings pitched.

On the other hand, you had the Reds whose main strength was… their bullpen? The Nasty Boys were Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton, and Randy Myers. The Reds also had front-line starters in Jose Rijo and Tom Browning, and some hitters with pop: Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, and Chris Sabo.

On paper, though, the A’s were clearly the better team. But the Reds emphatically swept them in the ’90 World Series.

Don’t get me wrong, the Phillies aren’t the ’90 A’s, nor are the ’10 Reds the ’90 Reds. Still, many similarities abound: The ’90 A’s were the team who already won and lost a World Series, just like this Phillies. Both Reds teams were playoff neophytes. The ’10 Reds starters are clearly “inferior” to the Phillies starters, just like the ‘90s.

But that’s the beauty of the baseball playoffs. I don’t think there is any other professional sport out there where any playoff team has a legit shot at making the Big Dance. In the NFL, only a handful of Wild Card teams have made the Super Bowl. In the NBA, I think only once an eight seed has gone all the way (was it the Knicks in ’99?). The NHL could give baseball a run for its money, but no one really cares about hockey (okay, just kidding, many people do, and I actually sort of care about hockey).

If you look at ESPN.com, none of the pundits are giving the Reds a chance at beating the Phillies. Not one. Sure, it’s hard to argue their reasoning when the A’s role out Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels as their starters, vs. Volquez, Arroyo, and Cueto. And the Phillies lineup has much more experience and depth than the Reds.

I still like our chances. I’m not saying we have a great chance of upsetting the Phillies, but I like our chances. To wit:

- Volquez has a lifetime average of 0.73 against the Phillies. Yes, that’s from over two years ago, but that was also against a very similar lineup. Volquez is definitely the biggest gamble here for the Reds. He has been very inconsistent throughout the year, and he has had to go down to the minors to work on his mechanics. Still, if you rank all the Reds starters on their Stuff, Voltron is clearly number one. This is a high-risk, high-reward move for the Reds. I like this move a lot because it means we’re going balls to the wall. It could work out spectacularly for the Reds, or it could blow up in their face. But they’re giving it their best chance, which is all you can ask.

- Cueto shut down the Phillies earlier on this year. On June 28 at GABP, Cueto pitched 8 innings and gave up only one run. Cueto, who is starting Sunday’s game in Cincinnati, also has a better ERA at home than away. Cueto, however, is also the most easily rattled of the starters. So I don’t know how he’s going to handle the playoff pressure. He’s another Volquez situation: high-risk, high-reward.

- Arroyo: He is our only pitcher with playoff experience, but he also has the worst ERA against lefties. Arroyo, though, can still channel his inner Greg Maddux and trick the hell out of the hitters.

- Young Hitters are Coming on Strong: Jay Bruce and Drew Stubbs are both coming on strong. Bruce has hit 4 home runs in the last six games, along with batting .444. Stubbs has shown better plate discipline lately, and he’s been getting on base and stealing left and right.

- Votto is still the man.

- Aroldis Chapman + 105 MPH = Dominance. Chapman and Francisco Cordero may not be Randy Myers and Rod Dibble, but they do have some considerable heat between the two of them. Cordero has the potential to be awesome, but one too many times this season he has given up a lead-off walk/hit in the ninth inning. Still, if he can throw strikes, he can be dominant.

The one huge caveat for the Reds will have to be one stat: strikeouts. Even MVP Joey Votto strikes out more than you want him to do. And if you add in Bruce, Stubbs, and Gomes… It could be a strikeout cornucopia for the Phillies.

Even though the Reds are clear underdogs, I like their chances of producing an upset. Anything can happen in the postseason. If a team gets hot, watch out.

Let’s go Reds!

Any suggestions, questions, complaints can be emailed to djacob@gearupforsports.com. You can also join Dave’s facebook group , and/or follow him at http://twitter.com/HoldenCarraway.

To Dusty Baker’s credit, he hasn’t ruined any young pitchers’ arms, he has gotten the most out of the stud kids, and he has tried to

put the best  on-base people at the top of the lineup instead of just the fastest runners (that can’t steal/find first base).  His latest experiment, Jay Bruce, might just turn out to be a winner.  Bruce was hitting .538 in his three games in the leadoff spot before being (hopefully briefly) sidelined with soreness on his right side.  This team has a lot of heart, and when an MLB team overachieves for 5/6 of the season and comes back from adversity time after time, you must give kudos to the man charged with keeping the team level-headed and motivated.  Kudos to Dusty Baker.

While the 8-game lead is by no means insurmountable, it does give the team the solace that, even if the worst-case scenario comes to fruition this weekend in St. Louis, they will leave town with a 5-game lead.  And while holding a nice lead going into Labor Day puts all the percentages of winning the division heavily in your favor, there are areas of concern with this team. The Reds have a record of 15-25 against the six contending NL teams:  St. Louis (5-10), San Diego (1-2), Atlanta (2-3), San Francisco (3-4), Philadelphia (2-5), Colorado (2-1).  This does mean that they are playing .677 ball against everyone else.  It also means that they have work to do against the better teams.  They will get their chance.  They have ten more games against the contenders, seven of them in the next seven days.  All ten games are on the road: St. Louis (the three games this weekend are the last three for the season), Colorado (four-game set starting on Labor Day), and one more west-coast swing to play San Diego for three.  Simply put, these teams have better pitching, and productive young hitters tend to feast on the middle and lower tier arms while they learn to adjust to the master craftsmen.  They are averaging 4.1 runs per game against these teams, and 5.4 runs in their other 93 games.

That all being said, this Reds team certainly appears to have done some serious “growing up” since The Brawl in early August.

Since the All-Star break, the Cincinnati bullpen has posted a 3.40 ERA and sterling 1.14 WHIP in 142.7 IP.  The addition of the Cuban Missile is only going to fortify the pen.  Starting pitching is a different story.  In the same 43 games, the starters have a 4.36 ERA and 1.36 WHIP.  If there is one area of concern, it lies within the rotation.  Here’s a look at them, one by one.

Bronson Arroyo: The anchor of the young staff, and the only one with playoff experience of any kind.  He is 14-8 with a 3.82 ERA and 1.15 WHIP (walks + hits per IP).  The WHIP is the lowest of his career as a starter.  This is impressive, considering that he is just averaging a strikeout every other inning.  It’s okay, because he’s been doing it with mirrors for several years now.  For the 2007-2009 seasons, he was among the league leaders in Heinous Starts (24% of GS).  This season, he has only blown up three times (11%).  He is controlling his off-speed pitches, and when he does, he is effective.  There is no cause to think that he won’t be solid down the stretch.

Johnny Cueto: The young righty is having a fine season at 12-4 with a 3.41 ERA and 1.25 WHIP.  He is striking batters out at pretty much the same rate (.72/IP), but the key to his success is that he is walking significantly fewer batters (2.73 per 9 IP, versus 4.73/9IP in prior years).  The Reds are 5-3 in the 8 games Cueto has started since the All-Star break.  He has 14 Quality Starts in 26 games started, and only two Heinous Starts.  Dusty Baker has maneuvered the rotation so that Cueto will not pitch in St. Louis following his kicking role in The Brawl.  For his trouble, he will get to open the series in Colorado, which is always a fun place to pitch.

Granted, the Reds ‘Top 2′ don’t measure up to Carpenter/Wainwright, but who does?  Arroyo and Cueto have both been rock solid and have thrown low run games at the good teams consistently.

Travis Wood/Mike Leake:  I put these two promising rookies together, because they have the same issue:  Innings.  Wood, like Leake, has been surprisingly productive, with a 3.53 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 11 starts.  He is striking out batters at a rate of .80/IP, which is well above the league average.  His record is 4-2, but more importantly, the Reds are 8-3 in games that Wood has started.

Mike Leake, as you know, went right from Arizona State’s rotation in 2009 to the Reds’ starting five in 2010 after coming to the team as the 7th overall pick in the Amateur draft.  He gave his team a huge boost, going 5-0 in his first 11 starts, with 10 of these starts of the Quality variety in 76 innings..  His next 11 were a different story:   62.3 IP, 6.49 ERA, and a lofty 1.68 WHIP.  Leake isn’t close to doing a Chapman impression on the hill.  He pitches to contact and counts on pinpoint control.  The big league hitters have adjusted, as he will need to do as well.  He is on the D/L with “‘shoulder fatigue”, which could mean that he has been rendered ineffective and needed to be shut down as much as any medical reason.

Leake has thrown 138.3 innings this season, which is a few short of his workload last season at ASU.  Needless to say, big league innings are much more intense than any thrown in college.  The tank might be empty, but maybe the layoff will be the tonic he needs.  Wood has a total of 164.3 IP this season between the Reds and Louisville, after logging 167 minor league innings in 2009.  I do not anticipate that the team is going to shut him down at 175-180 innings, but you have to wonder how much longer they will go with him.  If Baker sticks with the current rotation, Wood is set for six more starts.  If he averages six innings per game, that’s a total of 199 for the season, and that does not take any post-season action into account.  I can’t see that happening.  Look for the club to curtail his innings if they maintain their big lead (or even if they don’t).

Speaking of young pitchers with workload issues . . . Cardinal lefty Jaime Garcia is piling up innings in his own right.  He has logged 146.7 innings in 2010 (quite effectively, as you probably know).  He is on pace for 181 innings for the season.  In 2009, he was injured for a good part of the year and only had 37.  He had thrown 106 minor league innings in 2008.  I haven’t heard what the team plans on doing with him, if anything, but how much can they count on him, and can they really take him to 180+ innings this season?

Homer Bailey: Bailey was on the shelf for almost two months before coming back to the rotation on August 15.  In the four starts and 24.3 innings since, he has posted a solid 3.70 ERA and fine 1.23 WHIP.  More importantly, the Reds are 4-0 in his games.  He only has 75 innings under his belt this season, so if he can keep it going, he could be their #3 in a playoff scenario.  He has been a little shaky in his last two, but he has kept his team in both games.

Aaron Harang:  Harang returned to the rotation this week against the Brewers and needed 91 pitches to get through four innings, although he did hold the Crew to just one run.  He was out for two months with back spasms, and has shown only occasional  flashes of his former ace-level self this season.  At this point, anything they get out of the big fella is a bonus.  His velocity is in the neighborhood of 90-93, which is within a mile or two of where he was when he was among the league leaders in strikeouts, but he clearly has not regained the command needed to once again produce at this level.  It would be quite a lift if he could pull it together.

Edinson Volquez:  In his eight starts since returning from his recovery from Tommy John surgery (and his league-mandated suspension), he has three Quality Starts and four Heinous ones.  In 35 innings, he has a 6.15 ERA and horrific 1.97 WHIP.  Interestingly, the Reds are 6-2 in the eight games started by Volquez.  He has struck out 36 hitters this season, but he has walked 27 of them, which won’t fly.

Don’t give up on Volquez.  If you need a beacon of hope, look at Francisco Liriano of the Twins.  It is said that it takes two years for a pitcher coming off TJ surgery to regain command of and confidence in their pitches.  After bursting onto the scene with a 12-3 and .216 ERA in 2006, Liriano was shut down, underwent TJS, and missed the entire 2007 season.  He came back in 2008 (3.91 ERA, 1.39 WHIP), had a disappointing enough season in 2009 (5.81 ERA, 1.59 WHIP) that many were wondering if he would ever come back to form.  In 2010, he has done just that, posting a 12-7 record with a 3.26 ERA and 1.24 WHIP.  He has also struck out 178 hitters in 165.3 IP.  Volquez has his velocity back, but not his control.  Chances are good that he will rebound in 2011, but I doubt that the Reds’ brain trust is counting on the 2008 version for the rest of the regular season and any playoff activity.

The contending playoff teams boast solid front-of-rotation pitching:

• Atlanta: Hudson, Hanson, Jurrjens
• Philadelphia: Halladay, Hamels, Oswalt
• San Diego: Latos, Garland, Richard
• San Francisco: Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner
• St. Louis: Carpenter, Wainwright, Garcia (maybe)

It remains to be seen if the tandem of Arroyo, Cueto, and Bailey can lead the Reds to the Central Division title and take them deep into the playoffs.  They have boasted more depth than most other rotations all season, but the “stable” has been thinned out.  Aaron Harang could end up being the key to how far the Reds can go if he can find his Mojo.

There have been 16 games played by both the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals since “The Series” back in Cincy in August.  While the Phillips/Molina Affair was thought of as a losing one for the Reds and one that would propel the Cardinals to the NL Central crown.  The Cards have played six teams in this period.  The only contender among them was San Francisco in a home series in which they won two out of three games.  In the remaining games (against Chicago, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Washington, and one in Houston), they are an alarming 3-10.  Meanwhile, the Reds have gone 12-4 and have gained seven games in the standings over the Cards, where they currently enjoy a 6-game lead on the Birds. The Reds have the best record in the National League since the All-Star break at 27-14 (second in the Majors only to the Minnesota Twins).

Interestingly, Reds’ pitching, which has carried them through much of the season, has actually less than stellar since the break.  Their 3.96 ERA is good enough to be just tenth best out of 14 NL teams.    In the 41 games, only 20 of them thrown by the starting staff have been Quality Starts, and 10 have been Heinous*.  The starters have a 4.47 ERA in these games and a pedestrian WHIP of 1.33.  The bullpen, on the other hand, has been better, with a 3.54 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 134-2/3 innings.  Nice.  Even the much-maligned closer Francisco Cordero has turned his game around, posting a 2.29 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 19 IP (although he does have 13 walks in those 19 innings.  Coco . . . ).

The hitting, as you might expect, has been stellar in the 2nd half.  The Reds are tied with the Braves with 218 runs, and they have played two fewer games than the Braves and are averaging 5.3 runs  per game through Monday night’s game.  Jay Bruce is on fire.  Since the break, he is hitting .353 with 8 HR in just 134 at-bats (AB/HR ratio of 16.7).  He has 22 RBIs and an OPS of .860.  Dusty Baker placed Bruce in the leadoff spot a few games ago.  In the three games that he started there, he is 7 for 12 with 4 home runs, 7 RBIs, and three walks.  Perhaps the lad has found a home.

Tuesday, August 31 is a banner day for the Reds, as top pitching prospect Aroldis Chapman has been called up by

the big club as a reliever.  The young lefty made news over the weekend when he had a pitch recorded at 105 MPH.  While his numbers with the Louisville Bats are solid (95.7 IP, 1.348 WHIP, and 3.57 ERA), he has been nearly unhittable since being placed in the bullpen:  30 IP, 49 K, .97 WHIP, 2.40 ERA, 12 BB.  The walks are the number to watch.  If he is throwing strikes, he is going to be very difficult to hit.

With Aaron Harang making his return to the rotation Tuesday night from injury, he should not go to deeply into the game.  There is a good chance that Chapman will make his debut.  Hope so.

I can’t wait.

***

*Heinous Start: When a starting pitcher surrenders a minimum of one earned run for each completed inning pitched – Minimum three runs (created by Don Finley).

You can follow me on Twitter at dfinley05.

Admit it.  When the Reds blew that nine run lead, you were thinking “Heeeere we go again!”  It’s okay . . . That would be your mind guarding your heart.  They  were coming off of two games where the starters had allowed 12 earnies in 4-2/3 innings.  Then in the third and final game of the series (and the 9-game road trip), they built a 10-1 lead.   Had the Giants won, it would have marked the first time in franchise history that the they overcame a nine-run deficit to win a game.

In their 127-year history.

The Reds capitalized on a throwing error by Pablo Sandoval (the Kung Fu Panda) on a ball hit by Drew Stubbs when Paul Janish promptly drove him in with a single to right, tying the game in the top of the ninth.  Joey Votto, who already had put in a good day at the office with two home runs and 3 RBIs on the day, stepped to the plate in the 12th and knocked a single to right, scoring Miguel Cairo.  Francisco Cordero recorded six outs in a game for the first time all season to grab the win in a game that saw the Giants buzz through their entire bullpen and run high-priced starter Barry Zito to the hill (who went on to lose the game).

Look, there are warts on this Reds team, and they are pretty much all have to do with pitching.  Two of the  starters (Wood and Leake) are young enough that they probably have precious few innings remaining this season.  The bullpen surrendered a whopping 21 runs in 19 innings in the series at San Francisco.  Bill Bray and Cordero have become human vein-cloggers.   But we haven’t seen a Cincinnati team with this kind of heart since the 1999 edition of Vaughn, Larkin, Pokey, and company.  These guys don’t wilt when they flounder.  They don’t quit.  Ever.

After the Reds swept the Florida Marlins at home in a three-game set (after they were just swept by the Cardinals in the Phillips/Molina Affair Series), we all looked toward the upcoming westbound road trip with trepidation.  The Reds don’t play well on the west coast, and if there was ever a time where the team would be ripe to collapse, it was the nine-game swing taking them through Arizona, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

And in some ways, their road trip was true to form .  The starting pitching posted four Quality Starts, but with five Heinous Starts (when a starting pitcher surrenders a minimum of one earned run for each completed inning pitched (min. 3 runs).  Read more here). The ERA of the nine starters was 6.56, with a 1.59 WHIP.  The bullpen was worse with a 7.48 ERA and 1.59 WHIP.  The Reds were outscored 63-58. They still won six of the nine games on the roadie.

Not bad for a team of frauds.

In the eight games that Joey Votto played (he sat out the second game in Arizona), he hit .382, had 3 HR, 11 RBIs, and a 1.152 OPS (league average is .735).  MVP voters take note:  If Sir Albert does not win the Triple Crown and Votto maintains his level of production, he deserves your vote.

***

It was a strange and wonderful day indeed.  Check out this day in baseball – August 25, 2010:

Aside from the nine-run deficit erased by the Giants today, the Rockies tied a franchise record by overcoming a nine-run hole of their own and swept the Atlanta Braves by taking the final game by a score of 12-10.  Carlos Gonzalez had a two-run, two-RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning that tied their game at 10-10.  Troy Tulowitski followed with a run-scoring single that put the Rox in the lead, and Todd Helton had a third consecutive two-out single to provide the insurance run.  The game ended on a spectacular diving catch in the left-field corner – by Gonzalez.  If you haven’t tuned into this kid yet, do so.  We are watching a true 5-tool uber-stud in the making.

So the Phillies are watching the division rival that they are chasing cough up a near double-digit lead and lose.  The team that they are chasing in the Wild Card race overcomes a near double-digit deficit – and loses.  The Phils proceed to lose their game to the lowly Astros, which was their third loss in the four-game series that concludes on Thursday afternoon.  In the 13 games since August 11, Philadelphia has a record of 8-5.  The Braves are 8-5 since this date as well.  In fact, the two teams have had identical outcomes in these last 13 games.

Meanwhile, the St. Louis Cardinals were ready to make headway on the division-leading Reds as they headed to Pittsburgh to play the Pirates, a team that they have dominated.  They lost two of the three games to baseball’s worst team and remain 3-1/2 games back.  Speaking of young pitchers with innings concerns, you hear a lot of talk about the Cards’ “big three” starting pitchers (Carpenter, Wainwright, Jaime Garcia) when drawing comparisons to their chances of going the distance versus the Reds.  Garcia, who is having a great year indeed, has workload issues of his own.  Here are his innings pitched over the last four years:  2007 – 103.3, 2008 – 122, 2009 – 57,  2010 – 141.3.  He is on pace for 185 innings.

Wednesday evening marked the 17th consecutive Quality Start by A’s starting pitchers.  They are 9-8 during this period.  At least Billy Beane knows what he has to work on in the off-season.

The Royals and Tigers  concluded their three-game set in Detroit with an afternoon game on Wednesday.   The Tigers were going for the sweep after taking the first two games by a combined score of 21-4.  Kansas City was fielding a lineup that had fewer home runs collectively than Miguel Cabrera had by himself.  In the three-hole for KC was Willie Bloomquist (two HR on the season).  The Royals won 4-3 in 12 innings, thanks to a solo shot by – of course – Willie Bloomquist.

Finally, Manny Ramirez was placed on waivers by the Dodgers, and the Chicago White Sox have publicly expressed their interest in having him in their lineup for the final 37 games (and more, they hope).  I don’t get it.  Granted, his OPS in 194 ABs this season is at the .900 level, and he’s hitting .300.  But his power numbers have declined steadily in the past three years.  In 2008, when he slacked manipulated made his way out of Boston, he had a .601 slugging percentage for the season, as well as an AB/HR ratio of 14.9 (21.4 in Boston and 11.0 in LA).  In ’09, his AB/HR was 18.5 and the slugging % dipped to .531.  This season, he has 8 HR in 194 ABs (an AB/HR of 24.1), with a pedestrian .497 sluggling percentage.  He makes Jonny Gomes look like, well, . . . Carlos Gonzalez in the outfield.  The Mannywood sign was taken down weeks ago.  Is he worth all the baggage, hair issues, and imminent change in team dynamics if he isn’t carrying a ballclub to a division crown?  Is it worth it if he is?  I love (Sox GM) Kenny Williams, but this seems like a big mistake if there is substance to this story.

***

One more note on the Reds . . .

They have a three-game set at home against the Cubbies beginning on Friday.  They have had their way with Chicago this season, winning 10 of the 13 games against them.  Chicago has been playing better of late.  And let’s not lose sight of the fact that, while they are an underachieving team, they have considerable talent and can have a great series against any team.  The Boys in Red had better have their ‘A’ game.

The Reds bounced back from the debacle/embarrassment of being swept by the Cardinals by beating the Marlins 7-2. What’s more impressive is that they did it against their ace Josh Johnson, who had the following stats leading into last night’s game: a fastball that averages 95 mph (3rd best in the league), a major-league leading and ridiculous 1.97 ERA, and a 10-4 record.

And we beat him. That’s amazing. Especially after getting embarrassed by the St. Louis pitching, I was afraid we’d lay another egg. And what’s even more amazing is that Jay Bruce, who had forgotten what homeruns look like from his own bat, hit one straight away center for only his 11th of the year.

Eleven?

Jay Bruce, you are now allowed to hit another 10 HRs and bat well over .300 for the rest of the season. If that happens, along with the resurgence of Edinson Volquez — who struck out six and gave up one earned run — the Reds have a much greater chance of making it to the post season.

We shall see.

Now, the bad:

So… Chris Carpenter, why do you want to prove Brandon Phillips right, may I ask?

Okay, let me take a step back for a second. During Tuesday’s melee, Johnny Cueto had been pushed back into the backstop and he was kicking at people to free himself. If you watch the video yourself, there were about 50 people in front of Cueto, and Cueto was against the wall. His kicking was vicious, and I can’t say I condone his choice of actions in that situation but…

Carpenter, the day after the melee, said that what Cueto did was “unprofessional” and he specifically called him out. And that’s fine. Cueto kicked Jason LaRue (former Red, btw) in the head and gave him a concussion. Carpenter has a right to be mad about one of his guys getting hurt, and I’m okay with his initial response.

But then…

Yesterday, when Cueto received a 7-game suspension, Carpenter had this to say:

“All the yelling, the talking, the pushing, the fighting and everything else, there was nobody doing that stuff [the kicking]. I don’t care how scared you are or what the deal is. Whatever excuse you have, you don’t start doing that. He can say whatever he wants. He came in there with intent to do something from the back side.”

Let’s take a look at that quote “I don’t care how scared you are.”

Really? Chris Carpenter? You’re saying that no matter how scared a human being is of his own well being, of his own life, that a person can’t react in such a way to preserve it. Really? So when you have 50 people about to crush you against the backstop, you can’t be “scared enough” to just start wailing in any way you can?

I don’t get it. If all hell breaks loose, and everyone is fighting and pushing and shoving, and then one guy starts kicking, does the melee just stop automatically and someone says, “Hey, now, this was pretty chaotic beforehand, and no one knows what the hell’s going on, and everyone is after everyone else, but this kicking, hey, just stop. Okay?” I’d like to see this work during a scene from The Outsiders.

You can’t be scared enough? Has he ever been in a war? Carpenter is a great pitcher, but a master at human psychology, he is not. He may be surprised at what a scared individual can do (like become a Tea Party member).  And even though Carpenter’s not a master at human psychology, he somehow knows what Cueto’s “intent to do something from the back side” was. 

What?  That sounds vaguely gross, something that a Tea Partier would not like to talk about. 

And Carpenter also said something like this: “Anyone who used such tactic on the street would be dealt with harshly.”

Awesome. Nice. So Mr. Carpenter, is there going to be a “hit” on Cueto now? Are you and the rest of the St. Louis gang going to get some knives and chains together? Are you going to work on your step, snap, step step, snap, pirouette routine, a la West Side Story? I’m sure we can get you a catchy song in the background and some singing lessons for ya’. Who knows, maybe you and Cueto would end up friends at the end of this movie.

But really, Mr. Carpenter, when you voiced your objection initially to someone else’s fighting style in a confused melee, that’s one thing. But when you keep bringing it up… and complaining about… you sound like a whiney little bitch.

Sorry, it had to be said.

Brandon Phillips

Speaking of which, Brandon Phillips is going to appeal the fine he received.

Once again, allow me to show my confusion with one word:

Really?

First off, whether you truly “hate” another group of randomly collected professional athletes, that’s one thing. But oh no. Phillips can’t just hate; he had to choose those words.

I mean, it’s not like Phillips was being interviewed initially. Phillips had seen Dayton Daily News Reds beat reporter and Hall of Fame writer Hal McCoy (really, McCoy puts any other baseball writer to shame… especially Jhon, “Fya… I mean, John Fay… Man, it’s tough self-editing sometimes), and Phillips stops him in his tracks. At that point, Phillips didn’t know he was even playing that day, and he asked Hal if he had seen the line-up card. Hal said to him, “I think you’d play on one good leg.” To which Brandon replied, yes, and then proceed to express his “hatred” with these supposed “whiney little bitches.”

Hating, or extremely disliking, the opposing team who has beaten you up pretty good for the past decade, that’s one thing. Of course you’re going to dislike them. But to blanket them with the ”whiney little bitches” statement… that’s just not cool.

And then on Tuesday, Phillips tapped Yadier Molina’s shin guard once, Molina told him to don’t do that, and then Phillips amazingly and stupidly did it again… leading to the melee.

And you think you shouldn’t get a fine? Hell, you’re lucky you didn’t get the 7-game suspension since you caused the whole damn thing. Tapping the shin guards once was dumb enough… but the second time? C’mon, man. And now you want to repeal because…. why, exactly? Because you said some nice things about the Cardinals afterward? Because Molina shouldn’t have been defending his own team against your stupid remarks?

And I’m not condoning Molina either, but Phillips has shown some immense immaturity in this situation. Can you imagine at your work place what would happen if you publicly called another rival company a bunch of whiney little bitches? Would there a street brawl? Would there be a throw-down like the old days of WWF?

NO!

But these guys don’t live in the real world. They’re still playing a game, and they’re still doing and saying the stupid crap that would only get retarded freshmen high school boys angry.

If you’re going to rank the culpability factor here in this entire stupid saga, it would go like this:

1. Phillips, duh.
2. Molina, who could’ve kept his mouth shut.
3. Carpenter, for saying something asinine to Dusty Baker that got Scott Rolen all fired up.
4. Tie: Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa, for fanning the flames of the fight more than they were trying to be the peacemakers.
5. Rolen, who was trying to be a peacemaker for the most part, but he did go after Carpenter for whatever he said to Baker.
6. Cueto, for getting overzealous with his own fighting, but the dude was pinned against a wall behind 50 people for crying out loud.

So out of all these people, Cueto gets seven games, Baker/LaRussa get 2 games for not being more professional peacemakers, and Phillips only gets a fine. And yet he wants to appeal it.

Really? C’mon, you caused the whole damn thing, and you should be doing back flips that you only got a fine. Hell, you should pay your own fine along with Baker and Cueto’s fine for backing your sorry butt up.

Look, I really like Phillips a lot. He’s a great player, and the whole “whine little bitches” quote isn’t the brightest thing to say, but, really, they’re just words to light a fire under his butt and his teammates’. I would’ve chosen something else to say to fire up this rivalry, but I don’t know why this rivalry needs to get any more intense than it already is.

As my GUFS colleague Don Finley pointed out, hopefully this is a turning point for the Reds. Phillips can talk all that he wants, but hopefully he and the rest of the Reds will do the loudest talking with their bats from now on.

Let’s just play the damn ballgame, fellas.

You can email David Jacob with any questions or comments, djacob@gearupforsports.com.  You can also join his facebook group, and/or follow him at http://twitter.com/HoldenCarraway.

Perhaps the most renowned turning point in modern Base Ball lore belongs to Kirk Gibson of the Dodgers in Game 1 of  the 1988 World Series.  Los Angeles was not expected to put up much of a challenge to the mighty Oakland A’s, led by the Beefed Bash Brothers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco.  Gibson, sore knees and all, hobbled to the plate against the great Dennis Eckersley.  He took a 3 & 2 slider and poked it into the right-field bleachers for a 5-4 Dodger victory (at that time it was the first time in World Series history that a team had trailed and homered to win in the bottom of the ninth).  The A’s were stunned, and the Dodgers went on to win the Series in five games.

A more recent event of significance actually took place during spring training.  In 2008, the Yankees were playing Tampa Bay, when the Yanks’ Shelley Duncan slid into second base with spikes flying high into 2nd baseman Aki Iwamura.  The Rays’ right-fielder promptly sprinted toward the two and tackled Duncan, clearing the benches.  The right-fielder was none other than Jonny Gomes.  Gomes commented that “they weren’t going to be pushed around by the Yankees anymore.”  The Rays maintained their swagger and went on win 97 games, representing the American League in the World Series that was eventually won by Philadelphia.

The talk of the baseball universe on this day, of course, was the brawl in Cincinnati prompted by the comments/actions of the Reds’ Brandon Phillips and the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina.  And it was on from there.  My take is this:  It is not uncommon for a player or coach (usually a player, saying something he shouldn’t have said) to make a brash comment regarding an opponent.  His salvo in an interview with Hal McCoy from the Dayton Daily News is well-documented:

“I’d play against these guys with one leg. We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them, they’re little bitches, all of ‘em.”

And, of course, this was uttered right before the three-game series against the Cards, the biggest set to hit Cincinnati in many, many years.  This was lauded by some as providing some spunk, a tool used to fire up his teammates.  The problem  is, if the team does not respond in kind and roll over the dreaded Cardinals and take the series, they look beleaguered.  Which is exactly how the Reds looked.  Phillips, for his part, went 2-14 in the series with two harmless singles.  Following the brawl on Tuesday night, the Reds responded with four runs on six hits and three errors.  The top-scoring team in the NL had a total of eight runs and 14 hits for the three games.

Had Phillips hit the dinger instead of Yadier Molina to lead his team to victory on Tuesday evening, his brash statement and instigative “shin-taps” at home plate which set off Molina would be looked upon as “colorful”, and perhaps the turning point in their run for a title.  But he didn’t step up, and he looks foolish.  If this series is indeed a turning point, it belongs to the Cards.  The Reds, on the other hand, are at a low point in their marvelous season.  They have faced one other similar funk in the 2010 campaign.  This was the one where the Reds coughed up a nine-run lead and lost to the Braves on a walk-off grand slam by Brooks Conrad off of (none other than) Francisco Cordero.  You had to hold your breath and hope that the young team would shake it off and play good ball again, and they did.  They won seven of the next ten games and got back to playing solid baseball.

I just have to say . . .

By the way, did you hear Tony LaRussa‘s comment that he expects “disciplinary action to be taken against the Reds“?!

Really, Tony?  No one on your team had any part in the fracas?  Seems like the Reds needed a partner to dance.

Look, Phillips hurt his team.  He said something that was silly for a grown man to say to a reporter, Molina and the Cards stepped up and he and his teammates did not.  I don’t know about all the Cardinals being “whiny”, but he did, however,  speak the truth about their manager.

But I digress.

Update, August 12:  MLB announced the following suspensions as a result of the brawl on Tuesday evening:  Johnny Cueto (7 games)  and managers Dusty Baker and Tony LaRussa (2 games each).  Brandon Phillips and Russ Springer of the Reds and Cardinals Chris Carpenter and Yadier Molina were fined an undisclosed amount of money.

Perhaps the turning point for Cincinnati will be the game/series when they bounced back from being swept at home by the Cardinals.  It’s August 11th, and the Reds are one game out of first place.

One game out of first place.

It’s a good place to be on August 11th.  It all starts Friday night at home against the Marlins.

Use it, Boys!

Whad up, bitches? I'm Brandon Phillips.

Holden Carraway*, reporter for the Cincinnati Post**, sat down with Brandon Phillips after the Reds loss to the Cardinals to discuss with him why he called the Cardinals “whiney little bitches.”

HC: Brandon, what, pray tell me, in the hell were you thinking?

BP: Hey man, I stand behind my statement. All the St. Louis Cardinals are whiney little bitches. Let me make this clear–

 HC: Yes, I know, you hate them. You said that about a million times last night.  And that led to the brawl last night, even though Yadier Molina probably should’ve kept his own mouth shut himself.   But, really? All of them? Bitches?

Click here to view the embedded video.

BP: Every single last one of them. Especially Kyle Lohse.

HC: Why Kyle?

BP: He’s not just a little bitch; Kyle’s mom is a great big bitch.

Click here to view the embedded video.

HC: Oh, ha ha. “Nice” South Park reference. What are you, 10? But seriously, why do you have such animosity toward the Cardinals, other than the fact that they’ve been beating up on the Reds for the past decade, and now they just beat you soundly in the past two games and put themselves back into first place?

BP: Look, Tony LaRussa said that Aaron Harang should’ve been suspended for ten games for hitting one of their guys with a pitch. My boy Harang did NOT do that on purpose. Chris Carpenter also was bitching and moaning about the baseballs being “dirty” or something, and he chewed out his own teammate on Monday night for being in the wrong fielding position. That’s just not cool.  And then their pitching coach Dave Duncan complained about Bronson Arroyo having something on his hate. C’mon, man. That’s just bitching and moaning.

HC: Hey, I can’t defend what they said, but do you really want to call ALL of the players — on a pretty classy team, mind you — “little bitches”?

BP: Hey man, I have proof positive that they have a little bitch on their team. Two of ‘em, in fact.

HC: What? Who?

BP: Pepe Sanchez*** and Tito Bandito****.

HC: Who?

BP: Pepe Sanchez was drafted out of the Shelter League of Indiana back in 2007. Sanchez is a little bitch, that’s for damn sure. She can field the ball, but she doesn’t bring it back too good. She just likes to be chased. And she whines ALL the time. Whenever she sees another little bitch, just walking in front of her home, she just whines and whines. She whines when she wants food. She is a whiney little bitch. And she’s one of Mark Sanchez’s first cousins.

Pepe "Dirty Little Bitch" Sanchez

HC: What about Tito Bandito?

Tito Bandito is one mean little bitch. Just look at her.

BP: Tito was drafted by the Cardinals in 2008. She can’t even field the ball too good at all. All she does is want to be talked to sweetly and cuddled. Like a little bitch. Not as whiney as the other one, but way too needy, if you ask me. And you know what’s the worst thing about them?

HC: What?

BP: They sleep together.

Pepe and Tito caught in the act! Yeah, they're just "friends."

HC: Ah no! Sick! You tellin’ me that not only do the Cardinals have whiney little bitches, they have… homosexual bitches? Oh man, Tony LaRussa can’t like that.

BP: No man, it’s strictly platonic. They’re like sisters.

HC: Okay…

BP: Really, I would say that those were the only two whiney little bitches on the team.

HC: Oh yeah?

BP: The other Cardinals just suck.

HC: Okay… um, how about you just play the game, instead of running your mouth?

BP: Hey man, I’m just keepin’ it real.

HC: (Mumbles underneath his breath) Real dumb.

BP: What was that?

HC: Nothing! I mean, do you guys think you can bounce back and win the division now?

BP: As long as we can let our bats do the talking.

HC: Amen, brother.

* Psyche! That’s my alter ego. I am a nerdy English teacher: Holden from Holden Caulfield of The Catcher in the Rye. And Carraway from Nick Carraway of The Great Gatsby.

** No longer a newspaper in Cincinnati.

*** Not a real player, believe it or not. That’s my dog, Bella.

**** My dog Lola!

You can email David Jacob with any questions or comments, djacob@gearupforsports.com.  You can also join his facebook group,  or follow him at http://twitter.com/HoldenCarraway.

The Reds did what they needed to do and swept the over-bloated, overpaid, overhyped, but somehow still appreciated Cubs.  Jay Bruce broke out of a slump and went 3-4 with 2 RBIs.  And Joey Votto kept pace in the triple crown race with 2 hits, a home run, and 2 RBIs. 

The Reds have yet to lose a series since the All-Star break, and now they face their biggest home series this year against the Cardinals. Granted, it’s “only” 3 games, but in a division race as close as this one, a sweep either way could be huge — more for confidence-building for either team (more so for Reds) than for the actual standings. The Reds are currently 2 games ahead, with the Cardinals waiting to see if it’ll ever stop raining in Florida (it seems like it won’t… they postponed the game).

The pitching matchups for this series favor the Cardinal. Let’s take a look at ‘em:

Monday, Aug. 9, 7:10 p.m., and it’s on ESPN!: Mike Leake (7-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. Chris Carpenter (12-3, 2.91 ERA)

-  The first game of the series will be the toughest of the series for the Reds. For the past decade, if an opposing team had a frontline starter against the Reds, 9 times out of 10 the Reds’ bats would go colder than Snookie’s reception of Angelina (who is such a bitch… and I don’t watch Jersey Shore… a friend of a friend’s cousin’s aunt’s neighbor told me)  and they’d lose. This year, however, the Reds have been doing better. They’ve beaten Roy Halladay and traditional Reds-killer Roy Oswalt.  If the Reds can make Carpenter work a little bit and get a few runs on him and end up winning the first game of this series, that would go a long way in building confidence in the youngsters for the stretch run.

Tuesday, Aug. 10, 7:10 p.m. (Foxsports): Johnny Cueto (11-2, 3.24 ERA) vs. Jaime Garcia (9-5, 2.53 ERA)

- Garcia has been a pleasant surprise for the Cardinals this year as a rookie. He got touched up a little bit in last outing, giving up 4 earned runs in 5 innings, but he has been extremely consistent for the Cardinals this year. Cueto, on the other hand, is quietly having his best season for the Reds this year. He has won his last 5 decisions, and in the past ten games he has lowered his ERA from 4.50 to 3.24. If Cueto can keep it up, I like our chances against the Cards on Tuesday.

Wednesday, Aug. 11, 12:35 p.m. (Foxsports will actually televise an afternoon game): Bronso Arroyo (12-6, 3.83 ERA) vs. Adam Wainwright (16-6, 2.07 ERA)

- Wainright, the other ace on the Cardinals staff, has a ridiculous 2.07 ERA. It looks like Wainright has been an all-or-nothing pitcher lately. In his last ten starts, he has thrown eight games of zero or one run.-ball But in the other two games, he has given up four and six runs. Arroyo has similar kind of consistency, but not quite as good. Still, this could be a pitcher’s duel that may end up being decided on which team can get to the bullpen first.

This series looks like three-straight pitcher’s duels. Those games are only fun if you end up winning them. I hope Cincy can win at least 2 of 3 against the Stupid Cardinals.

You can email David Jacob with any questions, comments, criticisms, or spicy chili recipes at djacob@gearupforsports.com.  You can join his facebook group, or follow him at  http://twitter.com/HoldenCarraway.

You Reds fans who are naysayers (you know who you are) can let your guard down and get behind your team.  They are a legitimate World Series contender.  They have solid starting pitching, good defense, and resilience.  The club leads the NL in runs scored (4.9/game) and OPS (.776).  They have a couple “warts”, which I will lay out.  Before that, here is my quick assessment of the other NL contenders (There are other teams aside from those listed who are still in the hunt, such as the Dodgers, Rockies and Mets.  Of those three, I would think that the Rockies are most likely to make a run):

San Diego: Their pitching is much heralded, led by rookie SP Mat Latos.  Their bullpen is stellar.  Their offense is another story.  They are 11th in the NL in runs scored (4.3 per game), and they are 14th in OPS at .675 (the league average is .730).  They made a couple nice pickups at the deadline by landing Ryan Ludwick and Miguel Tejada to bolster the offense.  They certainly won’t hurt it.

San Francisco:  This is one sick starting rotation, each of whom is capable of posting doughnuts all night long.  Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, a reborn Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez, and heralded rookie Madison Bumgarner are as good a starting five as any in baseball.  The Pads might have the best bullpen to date, but the Gigantes’ relievers are right there with a 3.31 ERA and opponents’ batting average of .247. Whichever team does not win this division will likely be in the hunt for the NL Wild Card, so pick a horse and hope that they run away with it.  The Giants and Padres play each other ten more times in the last two months of the regular season.  The Giants will overtake the Pads and win the division, imo.

Atlanta:  They have solid hitters with holes in their lineup in two outfield spots and basically one in the infield (between the sporadic Troy Glaus and near part-time player Chipper Jones).  They addressed this at the deadline by acquiring Rick Ankiel.  Though the former pitcher has hit 25 HR as recently as 2008, he is a shell of his former self at the plate.  He is hardly an upgrade over Melky Cabrera.  They really needed to grab a solid bat, and they are probably trying to do so with a waiver/trade deal.  The starters are solid with Jair Jurrjens, Derek Lowe, Tommy Hanson, and Tim Hudson.  Rookie Kris Medlen was throwing very well under he went on the DL and is facing Tommy John surgery.  Their bullpen is also at the top of the league, and might be the best from top to bottom, led by Billy Wagner (who can still bring it).  Their pitching is going to have to carry them, as I believe that their hitting is good enough to stay in games, but not to take them over.

Philadelphia:  They are banged up, with Chase Utley missing extended time and now Ryan Howard day-to-day with a soft ankle.  They have enough firepower offensively to go the distance, especially when they get all their starters back.  And they certainly appear to have the mojo working (case-in-point being their win in Florida last night aided by umpire Bob Davidson’s awful call).  I’m not sold on their starting pitching. Roy Halladay is arguably the best in the business.  Cole Hamels, when he is on, is unhittable.  Beyond that, I see issues.  Roy Oswalt was a good trade deadline acquisition, but he has been hittable of late.  He is quite an upgrade, however, on any other #3 the Phils were going to run out there.  When you compare Kyle Kendrick and Joe Blanton with the other 4′s and 5′s among the key players in the league, they don’t measure up.

Cardinals:  The Cards picked up Jake Westbrook from the Indians, a prototypical sinker-ball strike-thrower, the type that seems to thrive under the watchful eye of pitching coach Dave Duncan.  I found it strange that they surrendered outfielder Ryan Ludwick to the Padres in the three-way trade.  The Cards have had stretches where they have had great difficulty scoring runs.  Instead of waiting for Ludwick to hit his stride coming off an injury, they opted for rookie outfielder John Jay to fill the void.  It’s tough to beat their top two starting combo of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, but like the Phillies, there is a drop-off after the top two.  Rookie Jaime Garcia has exceeded all expectations, but his innings are piling up and he threw only 52 innings in the minors last season.  He cannot be expected to carry a heavy load down the stretch. Going into Friday evening’s games, the Giants hold the wild card lead of 1-1/2 games over both the Cardinals and the Phillies, who hold identical records of 60-48.  In taking a look at the remaining schedules of these teams, it is clear that the Cards and the Reds have an advantage from this standpoint.  Here is a recap, beginning with the most difficult:

• Giants:  28 home, 26 away.  An astounding 46 of the remaining 53 games are against clubs with .500 records or greater.  Also, more than half of their remaining games (28) are against teams that are either in first or second place in their respective divisions.  The Giants also have 12 remaining games where they have to travel at least halfway to the eastern seaboard.
• Phillies:  They have the most home games with 31 home, and they have 22 road games left.  31 of their games are against opponents of .500 or better (a whopping 12 against the Mets), and they have the fewest games against first or second place teams with 12 (6 against the Braves).
• Cincinnati:  The Reds have 25 home games and 28 road games, which is similar to St. Louis.  They also have the fewest games against .500+ teams with 19, but 15 of them are against the first or second place clubs.  The problem that the Reds face is that they have two trips to the west coast (12 games), while St. Louis will not travel west of the Gateway Arch for the remainder of the season.  They have done a great job of maintaining focus, and they will need to do so on these long roadies.

I see four areas of concern that may or may not be addressed by the Reds’ braintrust ( in order of fret): Cup of Coco (shaken): Francisco Cordero is third in the NL with 29 saves.  That’s the good news.  He is tied with Leo Nunez of Florida with the most blown saves in the league with six.  His 1.49 WHIP is worst in the NL among closers currently holding their jobs.  His 3.86 ERA is “topped” only by the 4.87 posted by the erratic Brad Lidge.  Here is the most alarming and most telling of all . . . Cordero has struck out 42 batters in 49 innings pitched, which on its face is not bad.  This rate of .86/IP is much lower than his 3 year-average of 1.07/IP.  Moreover, he has had a 32% increase in bases-on-balls versus his 3YA, resulting in a K/BB of 1.56.  It’s like the old “expenses are up, sales are down” type of report.  This is a huge concern.  You can’t have your closer coming in and walking the ballpark.  And the games only get bigger from here. The Rest of the ‘Pen:  Of the four teams that would be playoff-bound if the season ended today, the

Reds have the weakest bullpen.  By far.  The Padres, Braves, and Giants have ERAs of 2.84, 3.11, and 3.31 respectively, while the Reds are more than 1/2 run more at 3.99.  This is a serious problem.  This team does not have a championship-caliber relief corps.  Veteran lefty Arthur Rhodes has been nails with a 1.42 ERA, and Logan Ondrusek has done a fairly nice job.  On the other hand, Nick Masset (4.35 ERA and 1.51 WHIP) and Bill Bray (5.40 ERA) have been highly implodeable.  The best news on this front is that it was reported by Buster Olney of ESPN that Aroldis Chapman will be called up by the club sometime in August to help out in the bullpen.  In his last 11.3 IP with Louisville, Aroldis has been dominant, not allowing a run along with a 16/4K/BB rate.

A Stick:  As the season wears on it becomes clear that the Reds could use a more reliable bat in the outfield, either to spell the slumping Jay Bruce or to use instead of Jonny Gomes or Laynce Nix.  I am also concerned about how many games Scott Rolen might miss due to age/injury.  The Blue Jays’ overachieving 3B/OF Jose Bautista could fit the bill very nicely.  Bautista is having a career year, to say the least.  He has 33 HR (his previous high was 16) and 84 RBIS (prior high was 63).  I owned Bautista on my fantasy team, and once the all-star game hit and he stayed hot, I was doing everything I could to trade him, figuring that his value would never be higher.  Take my word, millions of Bautista owners nationwide were doing the same thing.  Wouldn’t the Jays be taking the same approach?  He might be a solid everyday player from this point forward, but his value will never be higher than it is right now.  That being said, He is not likely to cost what someone like an Adam Dunn would.  Hopefully Walt Jocketty is working on something.

Starting Depth:  Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto have been churning out solid outings.  Mike Leake, who has been extremely reliable considering that this year is his first taste of professional baseball, has allowed 10 ER in the last 11 innings and has lost back-to-back starts for the first time this season.  Travis Wood has a 2.42 ERA and .863 WHIP in 44.7 innings, which is outstanding.  Problem – both of these young pitchers are accumulating innings quickly and are going to need to be curtailed at some point. Edinson Volquez has had great difficulty finding the strike zone since returning from his year-long hiatus to recover from TJ surgery.  He has 15 walks in just 17 innings pitched.

The Reds are hoping that Homer Bailey and Aaron Harang, who are both within weeks of returning from their respective injuries, can solidify a rotation that is showing the chinks in the armor.  Are the Reds working on a post-deadline waiver trade as the Cards pulled off last week?  It would have to come out of nowhere, as the usual suspects (Westbrook, Ted Lilly, et al) have already settled into new homes.  I will now stop lamenting that the Reds were unable to land Cliff Lee and be thankful for the bevy of prospects that would now be gone for his 2-3 month stay in Cincy.

I heard on the MLB Network that the Reds were working on a contract extension for manager Dusty Baker.  This has been my greatest fear as a by-product of a successful Reds season.  I’m just not a big Dusty guy (as a manager).  He does deserve props for the job he has done thus far, and the players seem to like him.  It just doesn’t seem like a long-term commitment is a good idea for this team.  Win us over, Dusty!

Look for the Reds to stay in the thick of things.  Here’s hoping that a couple moves get made to plug up the holes.

The Cincinnati Reds are taking care of business!  The 2-1 nail-biter at GABP on Sunday afternoon gave the Reds another series win – their third consecutive and fourth out of five since the All-Star break (the other series was 2-2 against the Nationals).  They now hit the road for three in Pittsburgh and three at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.  As I wrote when they were coming into three each in Houston and Milwaukee, these are two teams where a championship-caliber team is going to take the three-game set against the struggling teams, particularly against the division rivals.

Here are a few observations on the team, the non-waiver trade deadline, and which moves (by other teams) affect the Reds:

Volquez Out of Control.

If Edinson Volquez is not going to be the odd-man out when Aaron Harang and/or Homer Bailey return to the rotation, it will be because he cuts down on the walks.  Granted, 17 innings is a very small sample size, but he has issued 15 free passes in those innings.  Yes, he has also struck out 22, which is an unheard K/IP rate of 1.29.  That doesn’t matter, however, if you are walking the ballpark.  When Volquez was 17-6 in his first year with the Reds, his BB/9 IP rate was 4.3, which is still high.  He needs to garner enough control to at least get back to less than a walk every other inning, or he can not be counted on down the stretch.  His velocity and stuff seems to be as strong as it was before his injury, so the potential is there.

No moves.  As you know, the Reds orchestrated no trades at the deadline.  It wasn’t for lack of trying.  Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer interviewed GM Walt Jocketty, who expressed that the costs of the team’s trade targets “kept going up” as they got closer to the end.  Jocketty also thought that there could be opportunities via a post-deadline waiver trade.  Though the team made no moves, there were three moves that will affect the Reds going forward:

• The move that brought Jake Westbrook to the Cardinals also sent OF Ryan Ludwick to the Padres.  The veteran Westbrook is a sinker-baller that I thought would have made a nice acquisition for Cincinnati.  He was out since 2008 recovering from Tommy John surgery and had a 4.65 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 127.3 innings this season.  Once the Cards bowed out of the bidding for Roy Oswalt, they set their sights on Westbrook.  This is the type of pitcher that could thrive under pitching coach Dave Duncan.  The fact that they traded away a power-hitting outfielder when they have been struggling to score runs speaks volumes.  St. Louis has a similar problem to what the Reds have – a young rookie pitcher (Jaime Garcia) who is piling up the innings and will either need to be shut down or have his workload reduced.

Speaking of Ludwick . . . The Reds have to be happy about seeing him leave the division.  Ludwick loved playing the Reds.  He had 11 home runs and 37 RBIs in just 178 career at-bats.  Tom Krasovic has an excellent breakdown of the deal at Fanhouse.com.

• The trade that sent Roy Oswalt to the Phillies was also a welcome bit of news to all Cincinnati fans, given his 23-3 lifetime record against the home team.  True, the club has beaten him twice this season, and he doesn’t appear to have the mojo against the current hitters that he has had in the past.  If he is not coming to pitch for the Reds, it’s nice to see him go.
• Another example of addition by subtraction was the deal that shipped Lance Berkman to the Yankees.  His numbers against the Reds are just sick.  In 525 at-bats (which is the equivalent of not-quite a full season), he has 49 home runs, 137 RBIs, a .318 batting average, and an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 1.116 (the MLB average is .735).  Yeah, he needed to go.

And while we are on the subject of division rivals . . . The Houston Astros had one of the nicest acquisitions of any team when they landed Brett Wallace from Toronto.  One year ago, he was a top hitting prospect for the Cardinals when he was traded to Oakland.  He was then dealt to Toronto, where he appeared to be the heir-apparent to Lyle Overbay at first base.  The Blue Jays moved him to the Astros in exchange for fleet outfield prospect Anthony Gace.   He has posted a .304 BA and .868 OPS in 1,100+ minor league at-bats, with 46 home runs.

Keep an eye on this kid.