The Utility Player: Frazier, No-han and More!

Needless to say, the Reds have garners their fair share of news as of late. Not all related to their play, mind you. We know of the recent troubles with Aroldis Chapman. We are all too familiar with Todd Frazier‘s heroics. Both have been faring pretty well on the field, too.

Everyone wants to watch Chapman pitch. Yes, the triple heater made a return last night (did it ever!) and folks will marvel at see a “1” whenever pitch speeds are posted at stadiums.

Frazier has had his fair share of on-field moments as well. No one will forget the no-handed home run. Little instances such as that seem to carve a niche in the mind. Frazier’s overall play? Well, it has seen finer days, but I discovered a few things.

One, look at Frazier’s slash as a starter. It’s not overly impressive at .224/.272/.513. The slugging percentage does jump out at you. Having 5 homers helps that. Now, look at the stats of all other NL third basemen. Frazier’s 5 funkblasts have him tied for 5th among all players that have played at least one game at the position. He owns as many as David Wright and Aramis Ramirez. And he has the fewest at-bats of any of those. His SLG of .576 is the highest among NL 3B that have played in at least half of their team’s games. Yes, higher than Wright (next at .570). Higher than David Freese (.494). Higher than Hanley Ramirez (.468).

Two, the Reds are winning when he starts. I know this can easily become an overblown “stat”. We’ve seen it in reference to Devin Mesoraco, but here goes. When The Toddfather starts a game (regardless if he plays the full game, mind you), The Reds are 15-7. A trend? If so, I like this trend.

Third, Frazier should never bat 6th again. I know Dusty has had him there for a few games this season, but Fraizer hits far better batting 7th.

Sure, it’s only five games in which he’s batted 6th, but Frazier might be more comfy hitting 7th.

No-han tosses Mets first No-hitter

After Mets pitcher Johan Santana finished off the first no-hitter in Mets history, Twitter went crazy. Not only was it the first in Mets history, but to Red fans, it was against the St. Louis Cardinals. A win-win considering the Good Guys beat the Astros last night. The other was a call by third base umpire Adrian Johnson for, as replay clearly indicates, a ball hit by Carlos Beltran that was fair was, instead, called foul.

Of course Cards fans went berserk. They should. I recall an instance where something like this happened…

I know it’s tennis, but chalk did appear to fly up when the ball off Beltran’s bat hit the line. You don’t get a good look at it while viewing the Cardinals game feed. But if you go here, you do get a more definitive look.

When this call was made, the Cards were only down 2-0 with nobody out in the top of the 6th inning, so getting a man on base at this juncture of the game was critical. We all know what followed.

Apparently, the Reds are viewed (by some) as a potential suitor for Youk

That is if you buy the poll MLB Network has posted on its Facebook page. There are five other teams listed other than the Redlegs: Dodgers, Giants, Indians, Phillies and White Sox. We could go round and round all day to try to determine the best fit for Youkilis. He has stated he wouldn’t mind coming home. In response to a Reds fan asking if Kevin Youkilis would be on the Reds radar, John Fay tweeted that he doubted that would be the case.

That’s Fay’s opinion and being around the team like he is, I would fathom that the Reds may not be looking that route…but you never know. Walt may have something up his sleeve (besides his arm). A couple things to consider here provided you want Youk to come home and play for Cincinnati.

The Reds wold most likely want the Sawx to absorb a fair amount of Youk’s salary. To do so may require more than merely “a prospect”. It may require more than one and/or a highly rated prospect. If it’s multiple prospects and they are not highly rated, well, it’s practically a no-brainer then. Seeing as three of the Reds top ten prospects went to San Diego in the Mat Latos deal, there is a general feeling the Reds simply don’t have the prospects at their “disposal”.

And you know Billy Hamilton‘s name would likely come up. That would go for any team in which the Reds may have potential deals a-brewing. And I think I have a good idea what would follow such request…no!

I will add that Youkilis is in the final year of his current contract. The issue would be what to do after this season? Would Reds fans mind seeing a highly prospect, or even two, go to Boston while the Reds could (I stress, could) be gaining Youk for nothing more than a rental?

According to Earl Nash of BoSox Injection, the Red Sox are looking for a starter. He also doesn’t view the Reds as a potential trade suitor. Considering the Reds don’t have a major-league ready arm at the major league level which could be considered as trade fodder, I think it’s a long shot, too.