It's the Pitching Stupid

We are two months into the season and the Reds are just a game over .500 and are in third place in the NL Central, 4 games back of the Cardinals.  The weekend marks the final leg of this merciless road trip.

Pitching has been the problem.  Particularly the starting rotation.  Cincinnati is 14th in NL in pitching with a 4.46 ERA and are second in runs allowed (242) and tops in earned runs allowed (229).  You can cite injuries all you want but you can't argue numbers.  This team has been gravely hurt by the poor performances of starters Edinson Volquez, Mike Leake and Bronson Arroyo and the inconsistency of Travis Wood.  Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey provided a real shot in the arm when they came off the disabled list a month into the season, but now Bailey is on the DL again.  Leaving the Reds trying to patch together a rotation with few options and praying for a turnaround by those mentioned above.

This time a year ago the Reds were 28-20 in first place with a one game lead.  Pitching was a big reason for it.  This team had a big opportunity to take advantage of a soft schedule in April and they didn't take advantage of it.  Things certainly could be worse but any hope of returning to the playoffs is a pipe dream unless the starting pitching turns around.