So far this season we've seen the Reds play pretty well. They were even tied for 1st in the NL Central for about forty five minutes. Some areas of this team have looked pretty good, but other have a lot of improving to do. Here are my grades.
Pitching- Three of the Five starters this season have a winning record. Johnny Cueto has been Pedro Martinez like with a 1.93era. Aaron Harang has a 3-4 mark but still has pitched pretty well over his past few starts. As for the bullpen, "CoCo" Cordero has been in the top categories for closers so far this season, just a matter of time until he finally blows up. The Amish Guy aka Jared Burton, has grown a massive beard and pitched well as a set up man so far. The 57yr old Arthur Rhodes has been great so far and so has the 15yr old Daniel Herrara. Nick Massett got of to a great start but probably will be put on the 15-Day DL soon. GRADE A-
Outfield- Willy Taveras has been a pleasent surprise so far. Hitting near or above .300 for most of the season. He isn't stealing as much as most would have expected, but he is giving great defense in CF. Jay Bruce has shown his power in the first few weeks with 11HR's, but is hitting a low .231. So far Jay needs to become more than a fastball hitter. Laynce Nix has come on to take the LF spot and done it mostly with his bat. He's been as surprising as his good frienship with new Bengal, Tank Johnson. As for Chris Dickerson, it looks like he's going through a rough patch. Although he did homer in his last game against San Diego, Dickerson seems a bit frustrated and might need some more AB's in Louisville. Grade B-
INFIELD- While it looks like the infield doesn't include Easy E or Alex Gonzalez, they are due back this week. Is there anyway we can trade them for back-up firstbasemen. It sure would be nice to have that versataile Jeff Keppinger back right now. On the Joey Votto front he's went from NL MVP contender to a San Diego Clinic. No one is sure whats realy wrong with him. Maybe virtigo, maybe swine flu....but if it wasn't for Ramon Hernandez saving us 1B who knows where we'd be. Adam Rosales has provided a spark and been fun to watch, but really is he going to keep this up for rest of the year. Brandon Phillips started off slow and but in the past few weeks is scorching hot at the plate. And finally a thanks to Jerry Hairston, with out this guy who knows where we'd be. He's been a steady veteran in the club house and looked just as steady in the 2hole. Jerry is just one of those guys this team has to have, but how long can he stay healthy also. GRADE C+
OVERALL- This team still lacks fundamentals. We've seen the likes of Jerry Hairston, Brandon Phillips, and Adam Rosales not be able to get bunts down. EE still can't throw the ball to first base. Brandon Phillips struggled in the begining because he thought he had to be Adam Dunn. Awful base running has hurt them a number of times this year already and I'm still not certain Dusty Baker is the right man for this job. But I do know he's better than that BASEBALL GUY, Jerry Narron. Overall this team has played pretty well. And still has room to improve. GRADE B-
Pitching- Three of the Five starters this season have a winning record. Johnny Cueto has been Pedro Martinez like with a 1.93era. Aaron Harang has a 3-4 mark but still has pitched pretty well over his past few starts. As for the bullpen, "CoCo" Cordero has been in the top categories for closers so far this season, just a matter of time until he finally blows up. The Amish Guy aka Jared Burton, has grown a massive beard and pitched well as a set up man so far. The 57yr old Arthur Rhodes has been great so far and so has the 15yr old Daniel Herrara. Nick Massett got of to a great start but probably will be put on the 15-Day DL soon. GRADE A-
Outfield- Willy Taveras has been a pleasent surprise so far. Hitting near or above .300 for most of the season. He isn't stealing as much as most would have expected, but he is giving great defense in CF. Jay Bruce has shown his power in the first few weeks with 11HR's, but is hitting a low .231. So far Jay needs to become more than a fastball hitter. Laynce Nix has come on to take the LF spot and done it mostly with his bat. He's been as surprising as his good frienship with new Bengal, Tank Johnson. As for Chris Dickerson, it looks like he's going through a rough patch. Although he did homer in his last game against San Diego, Dickerson seems a bit frustrated and might need some more AB's in Louisville. Grade B-
INFIELD- While it looks like the infield doesn't include Easy E or Alex Gonzalez, they are due back this week. Is there anyway we can trade them for back-up firstbasemen. It sure would be nice to have that versataile Jeff Keppinger back right now. On the Joey Votto front he's went from NL MVP contender to a San Diego Clinic. No one is sure whats realy wrong with him. Maybe virtigo, maybe swine flu....but if it wasn't for Ramon Hernandez saving us 1B who knows where we'd be. Adam Rosales has provided a spark and been fun to watch, but really is he going to keep this up for rest of the year. Brandon Phillips started off slow and but in the past few weeks is scorching hot at the plate. And finally a thanks to Jerry Hairston, with out this guy who knows where we'd be. He's been a steady veteran in the club house and looked just as steady in the 2hole. Jerry is just one of those guys this team has to have, but how long can he stay healthy also. GRADE C+
OVERALL- This team still lacks fundamentals. We've seen the likes of Jerry Hairston, Brandon Phillips, and Adam Rosales not be able to get bunts down. EE still can't throw the ball to first base. Brandon Phillips struggled in the begining because he thought he had to be Adam Dunn. Awful base running has hurt them a number of times this year already and I'm still not certain Dusty Baker is the right man for this job. But I do know he's better than that BASEBALL GUY, Jerry Narron. Overall this team has played pretty well. And still has room to improve. GRADE B-
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