Lil Red Machine

C-Ramon Hernandez-Ramon has a very nice start to the season, faded badly, and then bounced back somewhat to close off the first half. Really, to get .253/5 home runs/36 RBI out of the catcher spot isn’t the end of the world. Him and Ryan Hanigan make a nice tandem. I’d take that duo over a lot of the ones in the NL.

Grade: B-

1b: Joey Votto–He’s like Sean Casey with power. He’s someone who is going to be a cornerstone of this organization for years to come. He came out of the game strong, and if it wasn’t for the inner ear infection/stress disorder that sidelined him, he probably would’ve been an all star. His average will probably come down. Hit BABIP. (batting average of balls hit into play for you non baseball prospectus geeks) took a sharp turn upwards from what he had last year. He’s a line drive hitter with a sweet stroke, but it’s hard to imagine all of those batted balls falling at the rate that they have to far this season (over .400). Regardless, he is a steady guy who hits both right handers and lefties well, and will continue to be a .300 batter for a long time.

Grade: A

2b: Brandon Phillips–Even though he still tends to swing from the heels from time to time, his patience has improved. He has almost as many walks in 81 games this year (31) than he had last year in 141 (39). He may never return to the production he had during his 30/30 season in 2007, but he’s a great fielder, one of the few sources of power on this team, and has given them better than average production out of that position. He got ripped (and deservedly so) for dismissing the importance of on-base-percentage. However, for a guy who claims that it’s not as important as people make it out to be, he’s improving in that department (.336 as opposed to .312 last season). I’d like to see more hustle out of him on a consistent basis, but other than that, and the swinging for the fence tendancy of him, I don’t have many complaints.

Grade: B+

3b: Jerry Hairston Jr/Adam Rosales/Edwin Encarnacion–It’s been a revolving door this season, with Edwin’s injuries and all. Rosales faded after a good start, Hairston has sacrificed on base percentage for power (but is like a Ryan Freel with his versitility), and Encarnacion continues to leave people wondering when he’ll reach his potential. Even if he doesn’t, if he can get back to his slightly above average production last year, he’ll be a OK bet out of that spot. His defense leaves something to be desired, and his plate approach is questionable, but when he’s in the lineup, it’s a fairly sizeable upgrade over anyone else they could plug at that spot:

Grade: C

SS: Alex Gonzales/Paul Janish, etc–Production out of this spot has been awful. Alex Gonzales even in his heyday was a stopgap player. He’s noone’s long term solution. A year removed from the game, and a year older, he looks close to being on his way out of the majors. He’s hurt again. Neifi Perez/Chris Gomez status ought to be in store for him. Paul Janish didn’t give them much, but has decent upside. Really, this postion has been a sore spot for this organization for years now

Grade: D

LF: Johnny Gomez/Laynce Nix/Chris Dickerson/Hairston, etc-Though none of these guys are really a difference maker, one can’t really complain. Gomez and Nix have done their part. They have some power and have had their moments. Like I said in an earlier blog, though, the Reds need to make a big move and go after a Matt Holliday type player. This current platoon is nice, but isn’t the stuff that winning ballclubs are made out of.

Grade: C+

CF: Wily Tavares-he’s like Corey Patterson. At least Patterson had some pop in his bat, though. The biggest bust on the team. OK, so he’s rebounded slightly after seeing his average drop down to .219, but the bottom line is, he doesn’t get on base, hits for no power, hasn’t stolen bases like he predicted he would (he said he wanted 100. He currently has 17) and takes questionable routes to balls on defense. This looks like a really bad signing, and Dusty ought to platoon him with Dickerson the rest of the way. Wisely, Dusty has done this, and has started to look at other options in the leadoff spot as well

Grade: D

RF: Jay Bruce-He is struggling badly. A stint on the DL might just do him some good. He has power, but ever since his blazing hot start when he was called up to the big leagues last year, he has tailed off considerably. He’s still very young, though, so anyone who is writing him off is foolish. However, he swings at a lot of bad pitches and at bad times in the count. Young players go through this sort of stuff. Reds fans don’t want to hear that, though. We have suffered through losing seasons every year since 2000. In a perfect world, he’s the Reds’ cleanup hitter and not Brandon Phillips, but he has more holes in his swing right now than swiss cheese.

Grade: C-