OK, it’s just a bruise, but Corky Miller left the game this afternoon after the fifth inning with a right quad contusion. I didn’t see it for myself, but it sounds like it was sustained during a collision at the plate with Alberto Callaspo.

Callaspo was out, by the way. 😀 Also, Miller was one of the offensive heroes of today’s game. It’s not relevant to this discussion, but it is awesome.

The catcher’s spot has been gimpy for a while now. I mean, Corky is an awesome guy and all, but the Reds are in trouble when they’re bringing up a 37-year old to play backstop.

Fortunately for the team, Ryan Hanigan was already slated to be returning to action for the next series against the Padres this weekend, and both catchers have another day off tomorrow for their injuries to heal.

I don’t think we can count on this luck holding out, though. All the trouble we’ve had with offense, and it may yet be the catching situation that turns out to be the Achilles heal of this team.

Yesterday was Reds day at King’s Island. It seems like every year that they have this event it coincides with the team foundering.

To Reds’ fans’ credit, I only saw five or six “they should have been practicing instead” comments in response to the photo album on Facebook. There were another four or five “why do they hate us?” kinds of comments and a few “Fire Dusty!” comments for good measure.

I only noticed one, “Don’t worry, Ryan Ludwick is going to come back and fix everything” comment. That one may be the scariest of all, because I think that a lot of people are hoping for that, whether they say it out loud or not.

Trouble is, Ludwick is not having an easy time of it in his minor-league rehab. He’s currently 2-for-28 with 3 walks in his rehab assignment. He’s not exactly looking like a savior at the moment.

Much to my surprise, I ran into a business associate this weekend whose husband knows Ludwick personally. The two of them arranged to see him play while he was in Indianapolis with the Bats. I, too, attended one of his games, albeit sitting on the overcrowded berm rather than behind home plate, and got to witness his utter lack of hitting for myself.

By the way, I checked in with her again after she talked with Ludwick. She reports that he’s more frustrated than anyone. Of course, he’s not unaware of the hope that the fan base is putting on him.

So, I guess I’m writing this as a warning about getting your hopes up too much. There’s still time for Ludwick to go on a tear before rejoining the team, but the poor guy hasn’t played since Opening Day. None of this is his fault.

Till then, here’s hoping that a quick two-game series at home against a team that is as jet-legged coming to Ohio as the Reds were going to California will turn around the team’s momentum.

Mat Latos (RHP, 10-3, 3.37 ERA) takes on Dan Straily (RHP, 6-5, 4.41 ERA) of the A’s. First pitch at 7:10 p.m.

OK, I understand that the Reds aren’t going to win 162 games this season. And I realize that a loss is a loss no matter how much you lose by. But this series against the Cardinals has me wanting to dig a hole and hide.

The Reds may well make it into the postseason thanks to the two wildcards, but it’s hard to hope for much more than that when they get demolished by the Cards who just got demolished by the Pirates. Andrew McCutchen may now be the inexorable force-of-will determining the destiny of all of baseball.

This kind of talk doesn’t help anyone, though. And there’s plenty of negativity on the internet already, especially since I know the Reds are at King’s Island today. Fans hate seeing the players having fun, especially when they got trampled the day before. Even as we speak, the keyboard keys used to type “maybe they should be in the batting cages instead” are being worn out from overuse across the tri-state area.

So, now seems like a good time for a little whimsy. The Wooo guy has a new song with sage wisdom for us all:

There’s also an acoustic version. It’s maybe a little less cool, but the lyrics are easier to understand.

Lately, it feels like the Cincinnati Reds have been missing something from their offense. Some terror that flaps in the night. Given some recent current events, I think I know just the thing to let the Reds get dangerous. Carlos Danger.

Here’s tonight’s lineup against the second-place St. Louis Cardinals, thanks to the Carlos Danger name generator.

1. Javier Sly, CF
2. Narciso Smash, LF
3. Jorge Sly, 1B
4. Mateo Menace, 2B
5. Ricardo Evil, RF
6. Efraín Verboten, 3B
7. Diego Threat, SS
8. Inigo Menace, C
9. Antonio Evil, P

That’s a whole lot of sly, evil menaces to tee off against the Cardinals. So long as there are no dick pics.

It’s not Reds-related or even NLC-related, but Chad Qualls’ stumble after a fist pump last night makes me snort ever time I see it.

Dusty Baker hasn’t given a single word of disapproval so far. Just goes to show that if Aroldis Chapman had just pumped his fist first, then those forward rolls wouldn’t have gotten him in any trouble.