| 03 April 2011
The Cincinnati Reds started the 2011 season in style with a 3-0 sweep of the visiting Milwaukee Brewers.
It was important for two key reasons: It enables the Reds to get off to their best start since 2005, and gives them an early three-game lead over the team many believe (myself included) is Cincinnati’s biggest threat in the NL Central.
Each of the three games had a different feel – but all resulted in a win for the home team. The Reds scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to win on Opening Day, 7-6. After taking a day off, the teams got back at it on Saturday and the Reds used a dominating pitching performance from Travis Wood to win 4-2. And in Sunday’s finale, the Reds jumped all over Brewers starter Randy Wolf and clubbed their way to a 12-3 victory.
Here are some random thoughts about the Reds through the first three games:
* Catching tandem – still unbelievable: The Reds’ catching tandem of Ryan Hanigan and Ramon Hernandez is a huge asset for the club. Sunday marked the first two-home run game of Hanigan’s career, and also marked his first four-hit game.
Hernandez won the season-opener with a walk-off three-run homer. He is dealing with a sore knee and Hanigan started the final two games of the series. Having these guys together is like having one of the best catchers in baseball. They were excellent last year and have thus far carried it into this season. It’s also important to point out they get along very well and each of them have embraced the platoon situation.
* Four-man rotation … for now: The Reds will go with a four-man pitching rotation for the time being, and Sam LeCure will be the No. 5 if needed. The good news is that both Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey threw on Sunday and each could be back soon. However, since they will need to make minor league starts, I would say the end of the month would be the best-case-scenario for both of them. There is no need to rush them this early in the season and I’m sure the Reds won’t.
Mike Leake will get the start on Tuesday when the Reds welcome the Houston Astros to town for a three-game series.
* Missile launch: It was good to see Arolids Chapman have an impressive outing on Sunday. He threw a perfect inning to close the game. Of course, there was absolutely no pressure on him leading by nine runs, but he still looked great. He was clocked as high as 103 MPH. Chapman is the hardest-thrower of all time after registering 105 on the gun last season.
Chapman didn't pitch the first two games of the season, so it was fairly obvious he was going to get the call at some point on Sunday. And he didn't disappoint the crowd one bit.
* Platoon at SS? So, is Paul Janish really the “everyday shortstop” as the Reds said entering the season? I don’t think so – looks more like a platoon with veteran Edgar Renteria to me.
Why else would Renteria have started the second game of the season? Yes, he was 4-of-8 lifetime against Brewers starter Shaun Marcum, but if you have a true “everyday shortstop” you don’t bench him the second game of the season. In fact, Renteria likely never would have been signed if the Reds really thought Janish was going to be starting 130-140 games.
Janish was back in there on Sunday and I I won’t be surprised to see him start the series opener against Houston on Tuesday. But overall this season, I fully expect a platoon at SS with Janish and Renteria.
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