Has it seemed like the Cincinnati Reds General Manager Walt Jocketty has been missing in action lately? The last two weeks have been brutal for the Reds, with players under-performing and others coming down with injuries. Homer Bailey, Sam LeCure, and Matt Maloney are all banged up, with Maloney being placed on the disabled list so someone who can pitch might be called up from the minors.
But that’s the extent of the moves. Nothing but shuffling in one not very good piece to replace another piece that’s not doing as well as it should. With one quarter of the season down, Jocketty might consider leaving the beach and start doing something. Soon.
Now that that Cincinnati Reds have benched left fielder Jonny Gomes, manager Dusty Baker was asked about his plans. The answer is he’s going to take the approach they likely should have been doing since the start of the season: matching up hitters against pitchers, primarily between Chris Heisey and Fred Lewis.
“Unless, someone steps up and just takes it,” Baker said. “But we do need Gomes’ sock in our ballpark. Jonny’s a streaky guy. He’s been working his butt off to get his stroke back together and get his mind right. He’s a guy who can carry you for a few weeks. He’s working hard. He’s not shelved completely. We’re trying to get him back in sync.”
The first time I read that quote from Baker, I envisioned Gomes wearing just one sock when he played left field. I would think that would make him wear through one cleat faster than the other.
But Baker’s right, Gomes’ power has been missing. Lewis doesn’t have the pop. Heisey might, but he hasn’t had the chance to show it yet. Really, this is Heisey’s best chance at getting more starting time and jumping out of the pinch-hitter role he’s done so well at. Until then, we’ll just have to rely on Jay Bruce, I guess.
It’s happened again. The Cincinnati Reds have sent Edinson Volquez back to the minors.
Last year, after returning from Tommy John surgery, Volquez struggled with his command and was eventually sent down to the minors to sort things out. This year is very similar to last year, although this year’s frustrations seem to be isolated primarily to the first inning. And while I prefer my idea of just having a reliever pitch the first inning and having Volquez “relieve” in the second, I guess sending him down to AAA Louisville might help, too.
The Reds made some other moves, too.
Today the Reds recalled from Louisville IF/OF Todd Frazier (#21) and LHP Matt Maloney (#56) and optioned to Louisville RHP Jordan Smith and RHP Edinson Volquez.
Frazier will be making his major league debut when he first makes an appearance.
“He took it like a man,” Baker said. “[H]e needs to go down there and get himself right. That’s why we’re doing it. It’s going to be hard to go all the way and win, if we don’t have him, a sharp Volquez. This is a temporary setback. Sometimes in this game or life period, you’ve got to take a step back to go two or three steps forward. It’s tough to take that step back. The time is now. You still got 3 1/2 months when he comes back. There are a lot of ballgames left.
There is a lot of time left, and the Reds do need their number one pitcher. But with this move and the way they’ve played recently, my confidence in their ability to repeat as NL Central champs is shaken. They’re making the road harder for themselves.
On Monday, the Reds put Aroldis Chapman on the 15-day disabled list (well, there’s a big duh) with inflammation in his left shoulder, and replaced him by recalling Jordan Smith. A day later, they optioned third baseman Juan Francisco to AAA Louisville.
Chapman and Francisco, it turns out, were not the problem, as the Reds extended their losing streak to five tonight, getting swept by both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cleveland Indians. At least not the whole problem. They also sat Jonny Gomes today to try to get his mohawked head together, but that didn’t do it either.
So what *is* the problem? It appears to be a little of everything. One night the office can’t muster a lousy two runs, the next time the starting pitching can’t muster a lousy two innings. Here’s some bullets for ya:
Joey “treadmill” Votto – No one beats our reigning MVP when it comes to OBP; dude’s on pace for 128 walks this season (making him a bit of a walk machine, hence the “treadmill” comment). Unfortunately, many people, including one Jonny Gomes, beat his six homers so far this year. While that’s more of a problem for his All-Star chances than an indictment of his contribution, I had to find a way to talk about Votto in this post somehow, and now didn’t seem to be the time to go into detail about his smoldering eyes.
Bronson “Voice of Experience?” Arroyo – Say what you will about all the other stupid peripheral stuff about Arroyo (cornrows, leg kick, grunge music, supplements, Guitar Hero) the guy eats innings. He’s put away 57 of them in his nine games so far this season, which is good since the bullpen invariably needs a rest by the time his turn comes around. He’s also given up 10 home runs so far this year, which is pretty impressive in the bad way. Though not as noteworthy as the 38 bases on balls surrendered by Edinson Volquez in 51 innings pitched: now that is something special.
The Future’s So Bright – The good news is that, after leaving the home of the team with the best record in the entirety of the majors, the Reds move on to the home of the team with the second best record in the entirety of the majors (best in the NL, but who’s counting?), so that ought to be a little easier at least.
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