One month in and everything is backwards in Cincinnati.
The Reds starting pitching, even beyond Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo, has been stellar. Kyle Lohse and Matt Belisle have both had mostly solid outings and if Eric “Whiplash” Milton enters the year as your No. 5 starter and he gives you six innings a start and is around a 4.00 ERA, you’d take that.
While there was some discussion about the Reds’ offense heading into the 2007 season, most would’ve assumed the trio of catcher David Ross, third baseman Edwin Encarnacion and second baseman Brandon Phillips would at least pick up where they left off last season. The first month of the season, however, has seen that threesome struggle mightily — Ross was hitting barely over .100 before having a good last weekend of the month — and it’s been especially bad for the Reds because they’ve faced more left-handed starters than normal and right-handed hitters are crucial against lefties.
The bullpen started out the season on fire before becoming more like what we saw much of last season. On the days the Reds got some offense the bullpen gave up just enough to get the loss. In the games when starting pitchers, specifically Arroyo, left it on the line for seven or eight innings, it’s been troubling to see manager Jerry Narron make the call to the pen.
That said, even if relievers give up several runs in the eighth or ninth inning, none of that matters if you only score one run yourself. That’s what makes the offensive output the last two games of April so promising. In 8-1 and 9-5 victories the Reds were able to finally take advantage of mistakes the opposing team made, hit with runners in scoring position and cut down on the errors themselves.
This is supposed to be a team that scores runs and struggles to stop other teams from doing the same, but the starting pitching has gone deep into games on a consistent basis and the hitting has gotten the job done less than is expected.
The road ahead
Cincinnati continues to play its nine-game road trip with three games in Houston beginning tonight.
The Reds are to play 30 games in the 31 the month with one west coast swing on another nine-game road trip. If the they’re to stay afloat they’re going to have to do well despite the lack of off days and multiple long road trips.
At 12-13, April wasn’t a complete disaster, but the Reds wasted way too many good starts, from Arroyo and Lohse specifically, and had too many chances to win games to be under .500.
The continued improvement from the right handed hitters, a shake up here or there in the bullpen and Josh Hamilton’s impressive development as a big league player could make for a winning May.
There, you didn’t think I’d go an entire post without mentioning Hamilton, did you?
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