Of all the people you might have thought would take Joey Votto’s roster spot while he’s on the DL with that arthroscopic knee surgery, I bet you didn’t consider a right-handed pitcher.

But John Fay says that Todd Redmond (the guy the Reds just traded Paul Janish for) is coming up today to give the Reds some flexibility if Johnny Cueto’s start tonight doesn’t go very long. Cueto, as you may recall, was pushed back because of a blister he developed before his first post-All-Star-break appearance.

Bronson Arroyo was less than stellar last night, necessitating that the bullpen take over for 6 innings, so adding a little pitching depth maybe isn’t a bad idea. Cueto is still slated to start, so the streak of having only the same 5 guys start every game will continue.

According to @JinAZReds, who just knows about this stuff, the fastest inside-the-park home run in Major League history took 14.02 seconds. Looks like Billy Hamilton, who isn’t quite Major League yet, just did one in 13.7. If he can get on base, this guy’s going to be pretty fun to watch with the Reds.

And no, this isn’t a post about Cincinnati Reds flamethrower Aroldis Chapman.

Randall Munroe, the guy behind the web comic XKCD, has launched a new weekly feature where he will answer science questions submitted by readers. Today’s–the first one–just so happens to focus on baseball.

What would happen if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90% the speed of light?

Typically, hypothetical questions like this are first responded to by how impossible something like that is. To his credit Munroe decides to skip over that and actually answer the question, and it’s an entertaining read.

The ideas of aerodynamics don’t apply here. Normally, air would flow around anything moving through it. But the air molecules in front of this ball don’t have time to be jostled out of the way. The ball smacks into them hard that the atoms in the air molecules actually fuse with the atoms in the ball’s surface. Each collision releases a burst of gamma rays and scattered particles.

These gamma rays and debris expand outward in a bubble centered on the pitcher’s mound. They start to tear apart the molecules in the air, ripping the electrons from the nuclei and turning the air in the stadium into an expanding bubble of incandescent plasma. The wall of this bubble approaches the batter at about the speed of light—only slightly ahead of the ball itself.

That does not sound or look good, and it wouldn’t be. The results would be catastrophic. Read the whole thing, and be sure to stick around for the footnote.

If you’re a fan of XKCD, you might also be interested in this comic I made a few years back.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	4	10	0
Padres	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	2	7	0

Boxscore

The Reds wrapped up the first half with a 4-2 win over the Padres last night to take 3 of 4 in San Diego and 6 of 11 in California.

Johnny Cueto was killing it at first, but faltered as the game went on and only ended up serving 5.2 innings. He allowed 2 runs (earned) on 7 hits and 2 walks in that time, but thanks to run support and good relief, he still finished with the win.

Sam LeCure got the next two outs, Sean Marshall the 5 after that, and Aroldis Chapman closed out the last inning. None of the relievers allowed so much as a hit, and Chapman even struck out 2 in the ninth. For the moment, at least, he’s “back.”

The offense was brought to you last night by:

• Jay Bruce, who knocked Brandon Phillips and himself in with a 2-run home run in the fourth inning for half the Reds’ score. If you’re only going to have one run on the night, why not make it this one?
• Ryan Ludwick, who also made the most of his single hit by going back-to-back with Bruce in the fourth.
• Phillips, who broke the 1-hit trend by going 3-for-5 and who also knocked in Zack Cozart in the seventh inning for the Reds’ insurance run.

The win brings the Reds’ record to 47-38. Except for Joey Votto, Bruce, and Chapman, the team is off until Friday when the Reds will host the Cardinals. Mat Latos will take on Adam Wainwright. First pitch at 7:10 p.m.

Before the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the San Diego Padres today, celebrity Reds fan Charlie Sheen was in the outfield, catching fly balls during batting practice.

Sheen has been a Reds fan for a good long time, hosting a couple notorious parties with the team, once in 1990 and another in 1992. Sheen is more famous now for his drug-fueled rants and erratic, sometimes violent, behavior that saw him kicked off the highly rated “Two and a Half Men” television show.

Given his checkered past, I do have to wonder why the Reds are choosing to associate with him. After all, this is a guy who constantly uses cocaine and other illegal drugs, and also loves to threaten to kill the women in his life. Denise Richards, Brooke Mueller, and Capri Anderson have all been reported to be recipients of Sheen’s anger and threats, with Mueller and Anderson both having been strangled by Sheen.

Maybe this wasn’t the Reds’ decision–Sheen did throw out a ceremonial first pitch–but I don’t like seeing the Reds associated with illegal drugs and beating up women.