Happy Easter everyone. And happy Opening Day Eve!
Now that the major questions have been answered -- Aroldis Chapman will close, Joey Votto's knee is healthy and Shin Soo Choo has proven more than capable in center field -- the grind of the 162-game season begins with perhaps the toughest test for any team on the opening week of the season.
The Reds begin with the Angels, who added former Red Josh Hamilton in the off season a year after signing former Reds-killer Albert Pujols, from there Cincinnati faces every body's National League darling the Washington Nationals -- who won a league-best 97 games a year ago. Lastly, the week caps off with Central Division rival St. Louis. Despite no Chris Carpenter, the Cardinals have plenty of hard-throwing youngsters (Trevor Rosenthal & Shelby Miller) and it's never wise to count them out.
The first three Reds opponents is all the more reason for the team to bring it's best squad North to begin the year. The only decisions yet to be made are the reserve infield spot (a battle among Jason Donald, Cesar Izturis & Emmanuel Burris) and the make-up of the bullpen (among Logan Ondrusek, Jose Arredondo, Alfredo Simon, J.J. Hoover & Manny Parra). For me, I don't see how you can leave Hoover off. He's been lights out this spring, striking out 19 in 10 1/3 innings. That leaves the others battling for one spot and only Ondrusek has minor league options.
Looking ahead, the real key for Cincinnati over the course of the season is health, because they don't have much depth at Triple A in regards to position players or starting pitchers. Diehard fans would be wise to check the progress of prospects Billy Hamilton, Neftali Soto, Henry Rodriguez, as well as starting pitchers Tony Cingrani and Daniel Corcino who'll begin the year in Louisville. Hard throwers like Robert Stephenson and Nick Travieso are still a few seasons away.
Finally, aside from staying healthy, it's vital shortstop Zack Cozart continues to provide stellar defense while improving at the plate. One of the big question marks for the Cardinals is shortstop, as the injury to Rafael Furcal has forced St. Louis to go with Pete Kozma to begin the year. Many think before the trade deadline comes and goes, expect the Cards to trade for top of the line shortstop. They have always been willing to add payroll at the deadline and they have the prospects to pull off a trade for Cleveland's Asdrubal Cabrera or the Rangers Elvis Andrus. After trading Didi Gregorius to land Choo, the Reds are thin at shortstop, making Cozart's performance all the more imperative.
Well, it's time to get primed and ready Reds fans. This has the makings of another exciting season, in fact I can't remember the last time a Cincinnati squad was this much of a favorite in their own division. May be not since the Big Red Machine of the 1970s.
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