| 20 June 2010
The Reds should just stay home when they have a West Coast trip scheduled. They would at least save on travel costs that way. They never play well out there, but I thought they would at least be able to win a series - or at least a game - against a terrible team like the Mariners.
Negative. Instead, the Reds scored a total of 1 run in the three-game series and got swept. (That's 0.333 runs per game if you're scoring at home ... "or even if you're alone." Tip of the cap to Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann from the old Sportscenter days.)
Listen, I understand that Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez are two of the best pitchers in baseball. But the Reds didn't have a clue against either of them and made them look even better than they are. Then Cincinnati backs it up on Sunday by getting shut out by a guy like Ryan Rowland-Smith who entered play 0-6 with a 6.63 ERA. That's beyond awful right there. This guy couldn't get anyone out all year and suddenly he's Sandy Koufax against the Reds? On the heels of the Reds embarrassing themselves the previous two nights at the plate no less.
So, just like that, the Reds have gone from sole possession of first place to 1.5 games behind the Cardinals. You can't get swept by scrub teams and hope to stay in the race. Are the Reds beginning their yearly summer swoon after tricking us into thinking they were going to be contenders? Hopefully not, but this was a horrible weekend of baseball for the men from Cincinnati. You could almost live with it if they played like that against a good team. But if they played like that against the Mariners, the immediate future is not looking too bright.
There are suddenly question marks all over this team. They need to get Sam LeCure out of the starting rotation ASAFP because he simply does not have big-league stuff. Not even close. There are also questions in terms of when Homer Bailey will come back, if Edinson Volquez is actually ready to contribute (or if the team is rushing him back - he's roughly scheduled to make his first start for the Reds this season on July 7 if his minor league rehab continues to go well) and when Aroldis Chapman will be called up.
Then there's the bullpen which makes me cringe just thinking about it. You have Arthur Rhodes and then a bunch of guys that are questionable at best. Actually, for all the heat he gets, Francisco Cordero is not an awful closer by any means (just an overpaid one). And Micah Owings has been solid this year. But other than that, the Reds have an atrocious bullpen. They need to make a trade for one or two bullpen arms if they hope to stay in the race.
Then there's the offense that all of us thought would struggle this year, but shocked us when they hit the ball extremely well through the first couple months of the season. But man things haven't looked good lately. Orlando Cabrera seems like a guarantee to go 0-for-4 every night. Opposing pitchers must throw a party when they know Drew Stubbs is in the lineup because they know they can throw bad pitches that he will wave at all night.
And other than Chris Heisey, the Reds' bench has nothing to add. Laynce Nix should be thankful he still has a job. Corky Miller also has no business being on a Major League roster and I can't wait until Ryan Hanigan comes back from his thumb injury. Hanigan has been a bigger loss than almost anyone expected.
The Reds played as poorly as they possibly could have this weekend. We'll see if they reverse their fortunes against Oakland beginning Monday night. But is there any way we can get that game moved somewhere off the West Coast? If not, the Reds might as well come home given the way they usually play out there. And there's no excuse for it. Jetlag or whatever BS you want to use. Teams like San Francisco and Los Angeles seem to have no problems coming to Cincinnati and winning. But the Reds always get their asses kicked when they go to the West Coast.
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