The Cincinnati Reds put first baseman Joey Votto on the DL today. From Reds.com:

The Reds placed their first baseman on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with an injury to his left quadriceps muscle, and they returned catcher Brayan Pena from the paternity leave list. Votto last played on July 5 and went 0-for-4 in a loss to Milwaukee.

Manager Bryan Price has said that he didn’t expect Votto to be at 100% all season, so it was common knowledge. And yet, General Manager Walt Jocketty didn’t see the need to be overcautious and do silly things like arrange for a back-up first baseman. Why bother when the team already has an overabundance of infielders and offensive threats?

I didn’t see this coming though. Even though we all knew Votto needed to go on the DL, I really expected the team to limp along with 24 active players until after the All-Star break. Kudos to the team for failing to fulfill my lowest expectations.

 

Yesterday, the roster for the 2014 All Star game was announced, and the Cincinnati Reds are well represented. Aroldis Chapman, Johnny Cueto, Todd Frazier, and Devin Mesoraco were all selected to go to Minnesota and represent the National League this year.

Can you believe that? Four All Stars? Does this crappy team seem like one with four All Stars? It doesn’t to me.

The team is in 4th place and has had a winning record for maybe a week. I find it hard to believe that a team that’s just above the Chicago Cubs, currently in the second century of their rebuilding effort, would have four players selected.

Not to mention, the manager of the National League who picked all those Reds–none were voted in–was the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. The last time a Cardinal manager picked, Cueto was snubbed by infamous curmudgeon and kitten squeezer Tony LaRussa.

But not this time. Cueto has made his first All Star game, as have Mesoraco and Frazier. This will be Chapman’s third.

The strange thing about the players selected is that it feels like an obvious player–Alfredo Simon–was overlooked. I would’ve thought the pitcher leading the league in wins would have a legitimate shot at being an All Star. I guess not. He’s not even on the lame Last Man vote.

So sorry Simon. Maybe this’ll give him time to defend his rape case. But congratulations to all the Reds players. With this many, I might have to tune in to catch their appearances.

Cincinnati Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton has won the National League rookie of the month award for June, thanks to his fantastic speed and his improvement at the plate.

The 23-year-old speedster led the N.L. with 14 stolen bases while his 36 hits were tied for second. Hamilton paced N.L. rookies with 18 runs scored, three home runs, 10 doubles, 18 RBI, and a .500 slugging percentage. His .327 (36-for-110) batting average also was the highest among the League’s rookies.

So congratulations to Hamilton on winning this award I’ve never heard of. He’s the first Red to win it since I didn’t hear of it when Todd Frazier won it two years ago.

Billy Hamilton, will receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, to commemorate his performance.

“Suitably engraved,” huh? I guess that means no cusses.

When the Cincinnati Reds completed their sweep of the San Francisco Giants this last weekend, they had reached the mathematical halfway point of the season. They’re record at that point? 43-38.

What a difference a week makes. Before the trip to San Fran., I doubt anyone would’ve guessed the Reds would be 5 games over .500 at the halfway mark. Four game sweeps do wonders for the ol’ record.

At that overall pace, they’d have a record of 86-76 at the end of the season. That’s unlikely to win the division or to secure either of the wild card slots. It’s difficult to guess how they’ll play the rest of the way, though, as the team is playing its best baseball of the season right now.

If I had to guess, I would expect the team to fall back to earth and meander their way to the finish line. Aside from the starting pitching and a couple offensive players, the team isn’t good enough for the postseason.

Of course, some well-placed and well-timed upgrades to the bullpen or the offense could really turn things around, but we know that’s not happening. The Reds’ so-called General Manager Walt Jocketty will fail to make any trades down the stretch, as he’s failed to do so many times before.

I’m happy to see the Reds playing entertaining baseball again. Unfortunately, there’s a nagging voice in the back of my mind that won’t let me believe it’s for real.

Devin Mesoraco is great and having the best year of his short career. But does he have an All Star advertising campaign like this?

That really speaks to me. Of course, Lucroy has a lot of ground to make up. As of the last release of vote totals, he’s almost 900,000 votes behind Molina.