April 1, 2006
RHM, You Got Your Wish
By
KC2HMZ
Posted at 7:19 pm
I dunno how you managed it, RHM, but Heartthrob is back.
Reds Final 25-Man Roster:
Catchers: Valentin, Ross
Infielders: Aurilia, Encarnacion, Freel, Hatteberg, Lopez, Womack
Outfielders: Dunn, Griffey, Kearns, Denorfia, Abad
Pitchers: Arroyo, Belisle, Burns, Claussen, Coffey, Hammond, Harang, Mercker, Milton, Weathers, White, Williams
Wagner is optioned to Louisville. LaRue and Wilson are on the DL. Cruz, Menechino, McCracken, Wise, and Buchanan go to (or remain in) the minor league camp also.
- HMZ -
Oh, I almost forgot…since RHM is probably on the road right now, the Reds played their final spring training game today, beating Cleveland, 7-5.
Eric Milton struck out five of the first six batters he faced! He worked five innings, allowing one run on three hits and a pair of walks. Chris Denorfia, who was recalled from Louisville today, drove in two runs with a bases-loaded walk and an infield single. Minor leaguer Gary Patchett hit a home run off Danny Graves. Chris Dickerson doubled for the Reds to snap a 5-5 tie. Womack and Freel also doubled. Belisle pitched a scoreless inning.
There is no April Fool’s joke here, Heartthrob really did get called back up to the Reds today, and when RHM finds out at least she will be happy as well as exhausted from the trip home from Sarasota.
So, no more ST games, starting Monday it counts. For real.
As we have all known for like a month now, Harang starts for the Reds. The Cubs have Prior and Wood on the DL to start the season so Carlos Zambrano starts for the Cubbies. Fine with me. Harang was 3-0, 3.68 against the Cubs last season. Zambrano was 0-0. 7.59 against the Reds last season. Hopefully this points to an Opening Day win for the Reds and an Opening Day loss for the Cubs that will set the tone for the entire season for both teams.
GO REDS!
And for you Cubs fans:
GO CUBS (and take the Black Hawks with you)!
Best Regards,
John, KC2HMZ
Glad to see Deno back, but Wags is getting screwed. Make him the closer and see what he can do.
Let Wags close some games at AAA and bring him up when his confidence is peaked. He should dominate down there.
It wasn’t me that got the Heartthrob on the team. Is it possible that there’s someone who actually can recognize the right thing to do when they see it?
If so, could that person please talk to Narron about batting Womack lead-off?
Womack was way better than Freel during Spring… gotta go with the hot bat.
Gosh, he sure didn’t look any better, though I admittedly had had a lot of beer. And Freel is my personal hero. Causation not implied.
Oh, come on, RHM, you must have had something to do with Denorfia getting called back up. It couldn’t have been more of a last-minute change of Reds plans if the guy was on a bus headed up I-75 towards Louisville when the highway patrol stopped the bus, slapped the cuffs on him, took him off it, and drove him to Cinci and dropped him off in front of GABP (would have been nice if they’d remembered to take the cuffs off before they left).
We’re your friends, here, you can level with us. Tell us the real story. You really did give Narron the special gift you had framed for him, and he was so moved he asked what he could do to show his gratitude, and you told him to put Heartthrob on the 25-man. Right?
As far as Womack goes, it wasn’t the beer. Womack was not better than Freel during ST. He didn’t field for sh…uh, well, check that, let’s just say his work with the leather was brutal.
On Wagner: If you read the postings to the Reds’ newsgroup on Usenet you know I frequently remark about how much of a mistake it is for teams to rush kids, especially pitchers, to the majors before they’re ready. Now that Pena’s gone, Wagner is Exhibit A. Look at films of games he’s pitched and struggled in for the Reds over the past few years – his front foot never lands in the same place twice in a row, his delivery is seriously messed. He needs to spend a year at AAA getting his mechanics solid. Once he does that, he’s going to be an outstanding reliever for the Reds, but not until.
Just a few more hours before we get to hear Marty say, “AND this one belongs to the Reds!”
– HMZ –
Womack had double the batting average of Ryan Freel this spring. Having said that, I like Freel more… but I have faith that Narron will get Freel plenty of ABs this season as the super utility player.