The Reds are two games above .500. In related news, the end of the world is nigh. A 32 games update from Redleg nation.

So here were are, the fightin' Cincinnati Reds sitting pretty at 17-15 on the season.  Bronson Arroyo has just pitched us into our 10th win in 14 games and all is seemingly right with the world.  Allow me then, to take a moment to talk about the state of my beloved team.

Okay, so we're playing well.  You know who's to thank for that?  (please don't say it please don't say it please don't say it) DUSTY BAKER!  Well, kind of, in way.  I mean, he's responsible for shaking up the lineup so that we actually have some decent hitting at the top of the order.

What's that?  There's a history of trouble at the top of the Reds lineup?  You're fuckin' a right there is!  So far this season we've trotted out both Drew Stubbs and Chris Dickerson to play point man for the offense and so far neither of them have been able to fully grasp what it means to put the bat on the ball.

So what's wrong with them?  Allow me to elaborate.

Drew Stubbs, before he was mercifully moved to the sixth spot in the lineup, was batting a robust .174.  The kid has mounds of talent.  He can run like the wind and plays a solid center field, but that doesn't make up for the fact that he's never really been given a chance to get confident with his bat.  He will be the future Reds lead off man, I have no doubt about this.  His swing is true and when he does hit, he hits hard and all over the field.  The only problem is that his slump has gotten into his head.  He's going up to the plate expecting to pop out.  He's going up there and taking weak hacks at bad pitches.  Now, that's not to say that he's a free swinger (he's third on the team with 13 walks), it's just that the pitches he finally hits are either right to someone or he's early.  The number of foul balls he smacks during an at bat makes you believe wholly that he has the eye and patience to bat lead off, but not the timing.  He'll get there eventually and I think that you'll see him back in the lead off spot before the season is over.

Chris Dickerson, on the other hand, reminds me a lot of Reggie Sanders.  he can't hit the high fast ball and tries too hard to send everything over the fence.  The biggest difference between Sanders and C-Dick is that Sanders actually had the power to make this approach reasonable.  Before his injury, he had struck out 20 times and walked once in 44 plate appearances.  One fucking walk!  Holy shit, I mean come ON.  His patience is absolutely abhorrent and his inability to hit anything higher than his knees is just frustrating.  I'm almost glad he's on the DL right now, just so that maybe he'll come back with a fresh view point.  He's got amazing speed and plays decent defense, but I really hope that he settles into a utility role for this team.  Nothing he does is exceptional and as a lead off man he whiffs more than Jeff Brantley's wife after a night out at Chile's.

Oh, I forgot to mention something about Stubbs.  He strikes out a lot too to the tune of 33 in 108 at bats.  So that's not good either.

The preceding few paragraphs are why I love the move to put Orlando Cabrera in the lead off spot.  He has experience there and though he doesn't have a lot of power, he makes a ton of contact and works counts.  He still has a little bit of speed left in his legs and has already shown that he can be the guy who gets on base for the big boys further down the lineup.

How are those big boys doing?  Pretty well, actually.  Brandon Phillips, though at times unbelievably lazy on the base paths, has steadied out his hitting and seems to be locked into his usual groove of hitting .270.  I only wish he would stop assuming any ball he hits into the outfield is an out.  This works when it's a homerun, because, well, it's a fucking homerun and you don't have to hustle, but when it's a double that you should be turning into a triple, it doesn't help one iota.  He should be thanking his lucky stars that he has a ruthless and highly intelligent hitter like Joey Votto behind him who makes people forget about his stupid mistakes.  That being said, I like him in the second spot of this lineup.  He has enough power and quicks and is consistent enough to always pose an RBI threat at the plate.

Now...Votto, Rolen and Bruce.  Well, let's put it this way, they have really outdone my expectations for them.  As I said before, Votto will get his numbers because he's just that good.  Rolen hasn't shocked me so much as he's made me respect his veteran status.  He ALWAYS works the count and can make pitchers pay for throwing pretty much any kind of pitch.  The fact that he's chipped in six homeruns is just plain icing on the cake.  The guy I'm most impressed with out of these three, however, is Jay Bruce.  He's really starting to see the ball well and his patience has improved exponentially from last season.  He's still striking out more than I would like, but I'll take a .250 batting average if that means I get 30 dingers and 90 RBI in return.  It also helps that he is an out of this world defender.  His throwing arm is a goddamn hand cannon.  If anyone saw his throw to home during the second game in the most recent Cubs series you know what I'm talking about.  Marlon Byrd certainly does.


As for the rest of the lineup, well, the 6,7 and 8 hitters are somewhat interchangeable right now.  Both Ramon Hernandez and Ryan Hanigan have been solid in the 8 spot and I hope that Dusty decides to keep them there for the duration.  As for the rotating cast in the other two positions...well...I guess Jonny Gomes is the best option, but the dude hits (and subsequently LOOKS) like Lennie Small from Of Mice and Men.  He only wants the long ball (that's what she said).  Laynce Nix is all filler and no killer as far as I have seen so far, his walk off homer against the (bitch ass) Cubs not withstanding.  Stubbs has been moved down to the 6 spot for the time being, and though it's not much of an improvement, he still has 4 hits in his last 16 at bats, which is four more than you could really ask for out of him right now.


All in all, our offense has shown itself to be hilariously and unexpectedly solid.  We're getting on base and we're actually getting runners across.


Now, what about the pitching?  Well shit, I don't know, this is where it gets tough.  Aaron Harang has finally started to find his groove again and Bronson Arroyo has been his usual all or nothing self through out his first few starts.  Mike Leake has been 'holy shit' level amazing, which came totally out of the blue for me.  There's something about his pitching style that makes you think that he's not getting guys out only because they haven't seen him before.  He has five plus pitches that he throws and mixes them up intelligently.  He keeps his breaking stuff down in the strike zone and has shown that he is a legitimate ground ball pitcher, which a team that calls the homerun friendly confines of Great American Ball Park home desperately needs.  He's been calm, collected and focused.  I think that there's a spot on the All-Star team for him if he keeps this up.


That leaves us with Johny Cueto and Homer Bailey (I'll get to the bullpen in a moment).  Cueto can't concentrate for shit.  The bastard pitches like Cy Young for three innings and then starts looking at all the pretty birdies in the fourth.  It's fucking mind boggling.  I mean, I know he's had some decent outings so far this year, but he always seems to get himself into the most insane jams.  He'll get two outs in an inning and then walk the bases loaded...or strike out the other team's best hitter only to give up a long ball to their 7th hitter.  I don't get it.  His stuff can be nasty at times and when he's on he's unhittable, but he can't seem to stay focused for an entire start.  Perhaps it's a product of being so young, but eventually he's gonna have to figure that shit out for real if he wants to stay in anyone's starting rotation.  Homer Bailey, on the other hand, can't locate shit.  His fastball is all over the place and he consistently runs up 3-2 counts on seemingly every hitter.  He and Cueto are the reasons our bullpen got so taxed the first few weeks, and though Leake, Harang and Arroyo have gotten on track, these two are still the problem children that will need to right their respective ships if we're gonna make a run for the wild card.


And what about the bullpen?  Well, it's coming around.  Mike Lincoln still can't string together two solid appearances in a row, but Nick Masset, Daniel Ray Herrera and Sir Arthur Rhodes have all been lock down as of late.  The only real worry here is one Francisco Cordero.  If I have to watch him fight through another save opportunity I'm going to goddamn scream.  He CONSISTENTLY walks at least one guy and is always always always pitching out of the stretch.  His stuff has been good, but he, like Cueto, seems to suffer from momentary lapses in concentration.  He'll leave his pitches high on occasion or all of a sudden lose track of the strike zone.  He at times reminds me of that psycho ex-girlfriend who will murder your pet gerbil one night only to cook you a huge apology dinner the next.  Only you taste something funny half way through the meal and wonder to yourself, "Hey, did she put my dead pet gerbil in this stew?" but the only problem is you never get the chance to ask the question aloud because she drugged the dead-pet-gerbil stew and you wake up naked and tied to a dentist's chair in some basement somewhere where you're not sure if it's night or day and then...ummm...*cough*....


And so on.


So what does all this mean in the end?  It means we're 17-15 and in pretty decent shape for a run at both the Central title and the wild card.  You know what it also means?  That the Cubs suck huge herpes infested donkey balls.  FACE.


- Terrence Adams