Dusty's Performance Under Appreciated by Reds Fans

The Reds begin play this Sunday in first place, 25 games over .500 and 6 1/2 games in front of second-place Pittsburgh.  Since Joey Votto has been out, the club has gone an amazing 23-10.  Much of the praise has gone to Ryan Ludwick, Brandon Phillips, Todd Frazier and the pitching staff for their performance during this stretch and deservedly so, but perhaps some of the credit belongs to the guy steering the Reds ship--manager Dusty Baker.

Dusty has has been at the helm since 2008, the longest tenure since Pete Rose.  During that time he's gone 395-374, more than 20 games over .500.  He's guided the club to one division title and looks to be guiding them to its second in three years.  And yet, he has been the target of Reds fans ire for the past five years.  Whether it's on Twitter, Facebook or blogs, fans have been overly critical.  Opinions often chastised Baker for who he plays, how he makes out his lineup and how he handles pitchers.

That last one is the easiest to dispel.  Since pitching coach Bryan Price has been hired, he's in charge of the pitching staff.  He's the one who keeps an eye on pitch counts and innings pitched and he's the one who informs Baker of who's tiring and needs to be lifted.  Granted ultimately the decision is Dusty's, but Price has his ear.  But how about the decision to put Aroldis Chapman in the closer's role.  Even though it didn't happen at the start of the season, Dusty has been around long enough to know the value in letting a young player get confidence first in a supporting role before putting him in the spotlight.  After Sean Marshall struggled to close things out in Milwaukee May 9th, it wasn't long before Chapman was asserted into the closer spot in of all places Yankee Stadium.  No pressure there. Considering Johnny Cueto has developed into an ace under Dusty's watch and the fact the Reds have only used 6 starters the whole season, also speaks to the excellent work of Price and Baker.

Now let's tackle the issue of who he plays.  To do so, I'm going to highlight just a few examples showcasing how Dusty's decision paid off and he got absolutely no credit for it.  The first is the easiest, Opening Day.  Coming out of Spring Training the fan base wanted Chris Heisey to start in left field instead of Ryan Ludwick.  Neither had a great camp.  Baker went with Ludwick, saying he was a better low-ball hitter and was a better match-up versus Miami's Mark Buehrle.  With the Reds leading 1-0 in the 6th, Ludwick smoked an opposite field double to make it 2-0 and gave Cueto some breathing room en route to 4-0 win.

Example two, July 24th in Houston.  Dusty gives Xavier Paul a start in left field.  Fans on the internet went nuts!  Ludwick (who surprisingly fans had 180'd on) had 3 hits and 2 RBI the day before and fans openly wondered what Dusty was doing. Well all Paul did is throw out a runner out at third, collected 3 hits and knocked in 2 runs--the first cut the Astros lead to 2-1, the second was an insurance run in the Reds 3-run 9th in a 4-2 defeat of the Astros.  Oh, this was also the same road trip where the much maligned Drew Stubbs carried the Reds with his bat (3 HR, 10 RBI).

Dusty began the season in the last year of his contract, potentially perceived as a lame duck.  It's the type of dynamic that can lead to a clubhouse full of players who could tune him out or revolt.  Especially if the team started losing.  Sort of like what's happened in Boston, only difference is Bobby Valentine is in his first year at the helm of the Red Sox.

Instead, let me repeat my first paragraph.  The Reds begin play this Sunday in first place, 25 games over .500 and 6 1/2 games in front of second-place Pittsburgh.  Since Joey Votto has been out, the club has gone 23-10.

This week Reds owner Bob Castellini openly stated he wanted Dusty to be a part of the Reds for many years to come.  Despite many of the ignorant fans misgivings, letting Dusty go would be a colossal mistake.