3.4.10 BY: MEH
HARANG TO START ON OPENING DAY
(Photo by Mark Lyons/Getty Images) For the fifth
consecutive year, right-hander Aaron Harang will open the season for the
Cincinnati Reds. After two considerably bad years (6-17 in '08 and 6-14 in
'09), Harang will attempt to reestablish himself as the Reds' ace in 2010.
His previous two 6 win seasons followed two 16 win seasons ('06-'07) and two
10+ win seasons ('04-'05). During his first year with the Reds in '03 he
posted a 4-3 record after being acquired in a trade with the Oakland
Athletics for Jose Guillen.
Harang's struggles the past two seasons jeopardized this year's Opening Day
nod. Many believed that Bronson Arroyo, according to his numbers (15-11 in
'08 and 15-13 in '09), would get the ball on Opening Day. While Harang's
record went significantly down during those two years, Bronson's seemed to
stay consistent to his two 14 win seasons in '05 and '06. Here is what
Arroyo had to say about pitching on opening day.
"I’d rather enjoy that day and soak in all the festivities,” Arroyo said,
“then pitch the next day or the day after that. It’s not a big deal for me
to pitch in the 1 hole. I pitched in the 5 hole in Boston. I ended up
throwing against five No. 1s in one season. Once you get a rainout, one off
day, somebody’s a little sore and they get bumped back a day, matchups don’t
matter — until you get to the playoffs."
"I’ve always said no matter what his record is the last couple of years,
Aaron is better equipped in that role anyway. His stuff never changes. On
the days he doesn’t succeed, he’s still 90, 92 with his slider. He doesn’t
vary a lot. For me, I feel like when my days are bad, they’re really, really
bad. My stuff isn’t as consistent.”
It's definitely hard to argue with that. Although Arroyo didn't turn down
the start, he made his opinion about Opening Day and teammate Aaron Harang
extremely clear.
Let's take a look at Aaron Harang's previous Opening Day starts.
April 3rd, 2006 vs. Chicago/ Reds lose 7-16/ 5ip 9h 6er 3so 1hr
April 2nd, 2007 vs. Chicago/ Reds win 5-1/ 7ip 6h 0er 5so
March 31st, 2008 vs. Arizona/ Reds lose 2-4/ 6ip 3h 2er 6so 2hr
April 6th, 2009 vs. New York/ Reds lose 1-2/ 5ip 7h 1er 2so 1hr
This year he will face the St. Louis Cardinals. His fifth consecutive
opening day start ties him for the club record with Pete Donohue (1923-27)
and Mario Soto (1982-1986). Soto holds the club record of six. Here's what
the humble Harang had to say about starting on Opening Day this year.
“Dusty let me know
yesterday. I’m excited about it. It is an honor to get to start Opening Day
in Cincinnati.”
“I went in and told Bake: I want the ball. If you’re giving it to anybody, I
want it. We talked about it. Everybody talks about matchups. After the first
week of the season matchups don’t mean anything. Rotations get changed up
all the time.”
After Harang the rotation will be Johnny Cueto, Bronson Arroyo, Homer Bailey
and (fill in the blank).
3.4.10 PLACE YOUR BETS: 2010 REDS SCHEDULE
It's time to over
analyze and let the preseason optimism sink in. The Reds will play Spring
Training game one tomorrow against their facility-sharing rivals. The Reds
will be the home team placing Mike Lincoln on the mound against the
Cleveland Indians. Tune in at 3:05pm ET on either FSO or MLB Network for all
the play-by-play action. The game will also be on 700wlw. Go Redlegs!
In honor of the
20th anniversary of the 1990 World Champion Cincinnati Reds we bring you
"Wire To Wire". If you haven't seen it yet, it's a definite must for any
Reds fan.
"I look at it like this.... If we score 8 runs a game, we're gonna' win
alot of ballgames. If we start out and win our first 30-35 games in a row
we're gonna' be in first place." -Randy
Myers
3.3.10 BY: MEH
WHO WILL BE IN LEFT? WHO WILL BE NO. 5? With Spring
Training advancing to actual games this Friday against Cleveland, the
discussion of who will make the opening day roster will start to become more
and more intriguing until the St. Louis Cardinals come to town on April 5th.
All of the infield positions are already locked up and so are the bullpen's.
Right field is Jay Bruce's and center appears to be Drew Stubbs' to lose.
That leaves left field as the only vacant position. Jonny Gomes is likely to
get the majority of starts in left (thanks to his major league contract),
but will there be a platoon including the likes of Laynce Nix, Chris
Dickerson, Wladimir Balentien, and Chris Heisey or can Gomes emerge to
finally become an everyday player in the bigs? Gomes could potentially put
up some huge numbers if he could produce like he did last year (281 AB, .267
AVG, 51 RBI, 20 HR) for an entire season. Obviously only time will tell.
MARC HULET ON CHRIS
HEISEY
The Reds club recently re-signed Gomes to a big-league deal so he's the
favorite for playing time in left field. However, there is a rather
unimpressive backlog of outfielders, includingChris
Dickerson,Wladimir
BalentienandLaynce
Nix,
vying for playing time at the position. Heisey could end up being the best
of the bunch, although his long-term outlook is probably fourth outfielder
due to his average power for the outfield corner.
The only other vacant position would be the fifth-spot in the rotation. With
Edinson Volquez out until at least the All-Star break, Homer Bailey avoids
any competition for the role. He will be in the rotation on Opening Day
along with Aaron Harang, Bronson Arroyo, and Johnny Cueto. All four have
enjoyed major league success and it should continue with veterans Harang and
Arroyo playing for contracts, while Bailey and Cueto solidify their skills.
All of the candidates for the fifth-spot bring something to the table, but
these five definitely stand out.
LHP Aroldis Chapman (Top prospect from Cuba, 100mph+ fastball)
LHP Travis Wood (13-5 1.77 ERA between AA and AAA last year)
RHP Mike Leake (3 straight seasons in PAC-10 with 10+ wins)
LHP Matt Maloney (28/8 so/bb ratio last year with the Reds)
RHP Justin Lehr (13-3 3.31 ERA in AAA during 2009)
It could be hard though to judge their abilities at the Reds' new facility
in Good year, Arizona.
FROM C.TRENT:
I talked to Justin Lehr a bit about pitching in Arizona, he’s been in
several camps out here in his career.
He said you’ll see monster ERAs from guys during the spring and then they’ll
have nothing else. Last year Zack Greinke had a 9.64 ERA in the spring. Lehr
noted established guys will just work on their stuff and throwing to spots.
If you’re not fighting for a spot in the rotation, you’re working on things.
With the elevation and lack of humidity, the results aren’t as forgiving.
And then there’s the infield — Zack Cozart said if it’s not just a couple of
feet from your right or left, you’ve got no shot.
He played in the Arizona Fall League and pointed toward Logan Ondrusek who
pitched well in the season and got batted around in the AFL, not because he
wasn’t good, but just because that’s what happens out here.
It could be the
making for a very interesting battle between pitchers. Only one will make
the rotation with the others retreating to Louisville to create a damn solid
rotation in it's own right for manager Rick Sweet. They will all share a
common goal though, and it's not to wear purple this season.
3.2.10 DUSTY ON DEFENSE DUSTY BAKER (1st
row, second from right)
On Votto: "He works at it, he really works at it. That was
the knock on him when I first got here. He works, he went out earlier and
worked with Jackson down in Florida because he saw Rolen and Cabrera and
Brandon out there. He didn't want to be left out of that excellent infield."
"Everyone talks about the Big Red Machine's hitting, the Reds
had Gold all over the field. The best teams I had had Gold on the field. I'm
big on defense. Biggest thing I'm most proud of, the awards I've won, is the
Gold Glove. That's work. Hitting's fun. Playing defense is work. It's
something you've got to take pride in. You go out to a Little League field,
everyone wants to hit, once they hit, they go home. They're ready to go in.
How many kids do you know who like to shag? They like to hit. I look at
Concepcion and Morgan and Geronimo and Bench and Pete -- most people don't
know he has a couple of Gold Gloves -- and Griffey. If nothing hits the
ground in the outfield and nothing gets through the infield, you're not
going to score runs, it makes your pitching better. You've got to catch the
ball."
"(In the outfield) You look up there, I've seen Anderson, he
looks good going to get that ball. Anderson, Bruce, Nix, Stubbs, Heisey,
Balentien, Gomes is working at it. I don't know much about Dorn. Jonny
works. All those guys, they've got some speed. (Nix) is very good to me. He
looks easy to how he gets to it and he's got something to throw with. What
we may lack in some areas, we're extremely good in other areas."
PROPS TO C.TRENT
3.1.10 BY: MEH YONDER ALONSO IS VERSATILE?
(Chris Graythen/Getty Images) I would like to
start off by saying that I am just as excited as anyone else to see what
Yonder Alonso can do in the big leagues. But, did I ever think that he would
be doing it at any position other than first base? No way. Not to
discredit any first basemen out there, I just always assumed it was more of
an offensive position and the Reds knew that they were recruiting a bat.
With the emergence of players like Albert Pujols and potentially our own
Joey Votto, I humbly correct myself.
Could the former No. 7 draft pick reinvent himself and become a versatile
player defensively? Could he end up in the outfield, third base, or even
behind the plate? (Dusty Baker has mentioned that Alonso is built like a
catcher.) With the Reds' solid infielders and barrage of outfielders, Alonso
knows acknowledges the need for utility.
“I’ll do whatever I can to get on the field,” he said. “Give Joey a day off.
Give Scottie (Rolen) a day off. Play left a day.”
With an attitude like that he could very easily be on his way to the big
league club if/when the eventual injuries occur. His bat alone may land him
in a Reds uniform this season, but let's just hope that his optimism can
translate into a decent fielding percentage when the time comes. No matter
what happens, we can only hope that the Reds get the offense that they
bargained for. Anything else, in my opinion, would be sprinkles on a
doughnut.
Even if we don't see Alonso this season his arrival is still highly
anticipated. He is a cog that provides hope to Reds fans who believe this
organization is heading into new direction. A direction towards winning. And
his desire cannot be denied.
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