Sunday, June 24, 2012

Casey Rallys Reds, West Coast Trip Looms

Well how could anyone not be inspired after hearing Sean Casey's acceptance speech into the Reds Hall of Fame?  If the current Reds squad wasn't motivated by Casey's words, it certainly looked like they were as Brandon Phillips crushed a 2-run HR, Scott Rolen used his bat and his guile to plate runs, and Johnny Cueto did it all -- pitching 7 shutout innings while striking out 9 and even knocking in 2 runs in the Reds 6-0 rout of Minnesota.

However there's still work to do.  The Reds are still only a game up on the streaking Pirates in the NL Central, making Sunday's finale with the Twins just as important as Saturday's contest.  Then Cincinnati welcomes the surging Brewers to Great American Ball Park before embarking on an 11-game West Coast road trip (the longest of the season) versus the Giants, Dodgers and Padres that takes the Reds up to the All-Star break.

On Monday the team is expected to get center fielder Drew Stubbs back from the disabled list, and I for one wouldn't play him.  I know he brings better defense, speed and power to the lineup, but right now the best 8 starters Dusty Baker could put out there was the lineup he used Saturday with Chris Heisey in center and Todd Frazier in left.  I'm sure the Reds front office brass still salivates at Stubbs' potential, but my view is he is terrific defensive center fielder who strikes out too much and thus doesn't reach base enough to utilize his speed.  That said, I guarantee you he'll be in the lineup patrolling center field come Monday.  Leaving left field once again a rotating door among Heisey, Frazier and Ryan Ludwick.

Lastly, as June turns to July the trading rumor mill will start to heat up in Major League Baseball.  So far, the Reds have not been mentioned much.  Part of that is the trading deadline is still a month away and the other part is the organization doesn't have much to trade in terms of minor league prospects.  And with the team currently in first place, it can be difficult to gage what the team needs going forward.

Most of what the team may do will be determined by the upcoming West Coast trip and injuries.  Right now the team has few guys hurt.  With left-handed reliever Bill Bray activated this week, that leaves really only righty Nick Masset as the only vital cog missing from this version of The Big Red Machine. As I stated earlier on this site, I could see them adding a bullpen arm or a left-handed bat for the bench, but something else that bares watching is a possible back-up catcher.  By no means am I giving up on rookie Devin Mesoraco.  His defense has been great, but his lack of hitting (.191 avg.) could prove costly during the second half of the season.  Now I think the chances of the Reds making such a move to replace Mesoraco is slim, but let's see where things stand come late July and Cincinnati finds itself in crunch time of a heated pennant race.  Let's see what GM Walt Jocketty does then.  Frankly I wish baseball had a 27 or 28 man roster instead of 25 because there really his no one I'd send down right now.

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