A Tale of Two Teams

Apr 26, 2013; Washington, D.C., USA; Washington Nationals center fielder Denard Span (2) is out at homeplate as Cincinnati Reds catcher Corky Miller (37) is able to make the play in the sixth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
They are the best of teams. They are the worst of teams. Who am I talking about? No, not Charles Dickens or A Tale of Two Cities. The 2013 Cincinnati Reds is what I am writing about.

One game they are scoring nine runs in one inning, and then they go on a bumpy road to OneHitVille for two days. It is hard to imagine that it is the same squad.

In the past four games the Reds have scored four runs and garnered 16 hits. That is a run and four hits a game. That will not win many games for you.

Twitterburg is calling for the heads of one Dusty Baker and batting coach Brook Jacoby. They may play a supporting role in this cast but they are not the ones who are wearing size 3 and 4 collars. Can somebody say amen? I always wondered how a guy with a career BA of .270 or below could be considered a guru at hitting.

Over the past four games the Reds have collected 16 hits in 119 AB which reduces down to a team that is batting the weight of a fat jockey. A team average of .134 is not going to get it done. Stand up and be heard if I am painting an erroneous picture here.

Tony Cingrani and Homer Bailey have both pitched wonderful games to come up on the short end of the stick, due to a lack of offensive punch.

Mat Latos had to pitch shutout ball to win his first game of the season over the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. If you have a pitching staff replete with Bob Gibsons and Sandy Koufaxes you could probably get away with lackluster hitting.

Shin-Soo Choo is in his worst slump of the young season, going hitless in the last two games.

Jay Bruce, after getting his average up to .296 is on a 1 for 13 skid which produces an average of .077.

After getting his BA up to a season high of .345, Brandon Phillips is now in a funk. He has four hits in his last nine games (only one extra base hit) sputtering along at a .111 clip.

Even though he is still the leader in the free world with 26 base on balls, Joey Votto has only three hits in his last five games for a line of .136/.174/.273. He hasn’t drawn a walk in four games now.

In his last 12 games, Todd Frazier has only six hits and a .158 BA although half the hits have left the yard.
They are currently doing battle with the Washington Nationals, who many had predicted would be playing the Reds in the NLCS. Before inviting the Reds into their yard, the Nats had only scored four runs in 36 innings after being swept by the St. Louis Cardinals.

It seems that every other team gets well when Cincinnati comes to town. Ahh, the town. Could that be the problem? The Reds have won one game away from the friendly confines of GABP this young campaign. On April 8, the Reds jumped all over the Cardinals in St.Louis 13-4. Since then they have lost all seven games away from Cincinnati. That is incredible.

Two hits in two games. That is the first time since 1900 that the Reds have had two one-hit shutouts thrown their way in succession. Good on ya guys for rolling back the calendar.

Maybe they can get well today. They are up against Dan Haren who they beat 15-0 in the fourth game of the season. The Reds will counter with Mike Leake. Sunday’s game will pit southpaw Cingrani, making his third start in place of injured Johnny Cueto, against another southpaw, Ross Detwiler.

No way in hell they will get one-hit again, right?

Follow me on Twitter.