Chapmania has tightened its grip on Cincinnati. Tuesday night, it was pretty much the launch of the Cuban Missile and Joey Votto. Last night, the phenom that is Aroldis Chapman had more of a supporting cast. And the game was settled within one inning of play.
With the Reds trailing 1-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers, Reds manager Dusty Baker inserted Chapman in the top of the 7th inning. Starter Johnny Cueto had pitched 6 nice innings (1 R, 6 H, 1 BB, 2 K) and deserved a better fate, but he was at 108 pitches (64 for strikes). Chapman pulled a [...]

The greatest moment of the evening was in the top of the 8th inning with the entrance of Aroldis Chapman. There were other moments/events that occurred at Great American Ball Park last night, too.
An odd occurrence. Jonny Gomes with an opposite field home run? Really? In the bottom of the 4th, Gomes went oppo to give the Reds a 4-1 lead, a lead they would never relinquish. On a slider no less. The Brewers would close to 4-3 in the next half inning as Gomes misplayed a Chris Dickerson hit into a two-run error. That would be as close as [...]

It is the top of the 8th inning and the Reds are winning 8-3. And…..here comes Aroldis Chapman making his major league debut. The crowd goes crazy. And, not a soul was sitting during his 1.2.3. inning. He struck out the first batter he faced with two pitches over a hundred mph and two pitches that were nasty 86 mph sliders. The next two batters grounded out but the guy still got a standing ovation.
There has never been a Red making his debut with this much hype. When Jay Bruce debuted a couple [...]

Two moves had to be made to make room for Aaron Harang and Aroldis Chapman. Outfielder Laynce Nix was placed on the DL due to his ankle and Edinson Volquez was optioned to Dayton to work on mechanics. Volquez will start tomorrow night for the Dragons. All was first confirmed by John Fay on Twitter and then on his blog.
The Nix move was not a surprise at all, but the Volquez move caught me a bit off guard. Nix hasn’t been able to do much of anything since he re-aggravated the ankle in San Fran. Volquez going to Dayton did [...]

Jay Bruce started the scoring and ended the scoring last evening. He was again inserted in the leadoff spot for manager Dusty Baker. His first at-bat provided his third career leadoff home run and staked the Reds to a 1-0 lead. Opposite field, no less and Bruce’s first opposite field homer of the season. On Bruce’s last at-bat, he stoked a single into right field scoring Brandon Phillips and leading the Reds to an 10-inning, 5-4 win.
It wasn’t a particularly pretty game either. Three base running blunders, one of which Bruce committed one himself. A poor attempt at a bunt [...]

Cuban Defector Aroldis Chapman has been called up by the Cincinnati Reds and will debut possibly tomorrow. He probably will since Aaron Harang is starting. The Reds are trying to strengthen their bullpen for this September push. And, with Arthur Rhodes ailing with his plantar fasciitis, there is a left-handed set-up spot available.
By adding him in August, the Reds will make him eligible for the postseason and unleash him on opposing hitters who have never seen him. The 22-year-old Chapman signed a six-year, $30 million deal with Cincinnati in January. He was in the competition for [...]

Was just browsing about then I heard Brad Johansen on WKRC Channel 12 say that the Reds will call up Aroldis Chapman tomorrow. John Fay confirmed this report on his blog.
Time to get that #54 jersey?

Another series win for the Cincinnati Reds. In fact, they have won 15 of their last 19 series (15-3-1). The losses were to Philly, St. Louis and San Fran. The split was against the Nats.
The Cubs must be elated that they no longer have to play the Reds this season. Not only because the Reds won the season series 12-4. (We Reds fans have grown a bit weary of Cubs fans invading our nice home with good teams. Our turn now.) The Cubs will no longer have to face Drew Stubbs. Yes, Drew Stubbs has been a thorn in the Cubs’ side [...]

The Reds announced that Edinson Volquez will move to the bullpen and out of the starting rotation for the time being. Edinson, who was supposed to start today, got bumped for rookie Travis “Freakin” Wood. And, to take Volquez’ spot in the rotation is none other than Aaron Harang. Harang will start Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Reds manager Dusty Baker said Volquez will work on his delivery in the bullpen and be available in relief. “It depends on how (Volquez) looks and when Harang comes back, it kind of depends on who’s pitching the [...]

That’s all it took. Two bad pitches from Reds starter Bronson Arroyo was all the difference in the game. Arroyo himself confessed to the error.
“I just made two mistakes,” Arroyo said. “I left a changeup and a fastball in the middle of the plate. Both of those were supposed to be inside but caught too much of the middle.”
The second mistake was the costly one. Arroyo’s pitch moved into the middle of the plate and Kosuke Fukudome sent it toward the bullpen giving the Chicago Cubs a lead of 3-1 after his two-run homer. The Reds would add another to [...]

Game 1 to the Reds. Nice way to start the six game homestand. In reality, only two guys were needed last night, Jay Bruce and Johnny Cueto.
Bruce, who was inserted as the leadoff hitter (strange against a lefty in Gorzelanny), cranked three, count ‘em, three home runs. All travelled over 400 feet (429, 411, 404). He became the first Reds leadoff hitter to crack three homers in a game since Pete Rose accomplished the feat in 1978. After Bruce’s 3-for-3, 5 RBI evening, Cubs interim manager Mike Quade summed it up best.
“A power-hitting guy and he winds up in the [...]

I am amazed how many players are switching teams these days. It seems like every other day, the Reds are adjusting their roster.
As of today, our candidate is Mike Leake. The Reds placed him on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder/arm fatigue. And, there is a good chance they will shut him down for the rest of the year. The good news in this is that Mike Leake was in the dugout tonight. If I were him, I would stick right next to the Reds Pitching Coach Bryan Price. I would learn as much [...]