Archive for December, 2011

It is 5 hours till midnight on the New Years Eve 2011.  A disappointing year is complete and bright possibilities are on the horizon.  The hardest thing in life for me at least is to apply patience to each equation.  I resolve not to complain about as many small things and focus both praise and criticism on the big picture.  The keys for the Reds in 2012 can be broken into two categories:  Preseason and Season.  Join with me in taking a look at both!

Over the past few days, I’ve been looking over the Bill James projections for the Reds starters. Let’s take a moment at look at those projections… W L ERA WHIP Cueto 11 11 3.77 1.26 Latos 15 9 2.99 1.13 Arroyo 11 12 4.00 1.26 Leake 9 10 4.04 1.29 Bailey 9 10 3.96 1.33 TOTAL 55 52 3.73 1.25 2011 50 55 4.47 1.39 You will notice I put the totals from Reds starters for last season in the table as well. A few things do pop out at you.

An excellent start to the season ended in a bit of a different manner for Homer Bailey. Well, it didn’t start out all that well either. Spending the beginning of 2011 on the disabled list was not a positive….until he returned, and did he ever. A second time on the DL did not provide the same success as the first. Bailey was racking up numbers through his first five games that he frankly couldn’t consistently duplicate. He did have some good outings, but there was a little something amiss. And there are two things to consider as we look at [...]

No question that 2011 was an “adventurous” year for Mike Leake. He spent a short stint in Louisville, the first time he had seen minor league baseball. There was the Macy’s incident (ugh!). The end of his 2011 campaign brought about great optimism for his 2012. The Reds first round selection from 2009 (8th overall) has done littler to deter Reds fans from not wanting more out of 2012. He showed a marked progression from 2010 to 2011. THere were the already noted snags along the way, but Leake has shown the one thing stats do not measure…tenacity.

The end of the year always bring about a lot of reflection and resolution. Since this spot is always a look back in Cincinnati Reds history, this post will focus only on the reflections from 2011. When you don’t win a championship, reflections of the past year can be a bit disappointing. When you don’t win a division or the wild card, they extend far past mere disappointment. And when you don’t even have a winning season, reflections walk a fine line between normal frustration and the kind that boils. Sill, there was some fun to be found at the [...]

I think the following is a correct statement… During the 2011 season, no single pitcher drew more ire from Reds fans than Bronson Arroyo. I’m sure some might say the now departed Edinson Volquez. Others may scream of Nick Masset. While those two did receive their fair share of “complaints”, Arroyo was knocked for being everything to a batting practice pitcher to being sent out of town (which won’t happen). So as I perused Arroyo’s numbers and 2012 projections, there was a few things that did jump out at me…both good and bad.

A lot was made of the deal which brought Mat Latos to the Cincinnati Reds. Cincy did give up prized prospects Yonder Alonso, Yasmani Grandal and Brad Boxberger to go along with Edinson Volquez, but as many of us have read, there are positives from that…and Latos. In continuing to look at the 2012 Bill James projections, stat trends and raising questions, we’ll look at Latos and what he has accomplished in his three seasons as a Padre.

A little over a month ago, I noticed that FanGraphs.com had included the Bill James projections for the 2012 season. When I first see these, I gloss over them quickly and barely give thought to them. I usually print them out and then choose that time to look a little deeper. In the beginning of a series here on Blog Red Machine, we’ll take a brief look at those projections from Bill James, search for a trend or two, and produce some statements about these numbers. Today’s look will be that of the guy to which some are affixing the [...]

Across Reds Country, fans are preparing to celebrate the season.  In my home, presents are around the Christmas tree, visions of sugarplums are dancing in my children’s heads, and I am scratching my head trying to decipher the unusual moves Walt Jocketty has made, and those he has not.  The definition of trade is “an exchange of items” or, in baseball lexicon, an exchange of players.  Any general manager can be a party to a trade, and none of them can say with surety that a trade is a good one. In my mind, the Mat Latos trade was valuable [...]

Why is there still these questions?

Walt Jocketty, general manager of the Cincinnati Reds, is known as a crafty wheeler and dealer who makes moves that seem almost bizarre on the surface but work out in the end. Considering the completion of the Sean Marshall trade, many a Reds fan are hoping that the reputation that precedes him holds true. In completing the trade that lands the Reds left-handed reliever Sean Marshall, the Reds are shipping over the previously reported Travis Wood, left handed starting pitcher who worked his way between the minor league and majors in 2010 and 2011 and even chipped in with bullpen [...]

A poll and comments to show how you feel about Walt’s recent trades