Lil Red Machine

The NL central race at the beginning of the month, looked wide open, and up for grabs. It still is. The problem is, the Reds are no longer part of that equation. Teams built like Cincinnati don’t overcome a 7-game deficit in the standings, leapfrogging over 4 other teams in the process.

Really, this whole thing started to fall apart the moment that Albert Pujols crushed a grand slam over David Weathers on July 3rd. They lost that game, lost the series, lost 3 out of 4 to the Phillies, 2 out of three to the Mets, split a series with the Brewers, and got swept out in Los Angeles and Chicago.

Aspects of the game that the Reds have consistently performed at all season long have completely fallen by the wayside. Johnny Cueto, the team’s ace in the first half, looks tired. Pitching a ton of innings last season, playing winter ball, and his workload this year have appeared to have taken his toll on him. Aaron Harang has been a dissapointment, Homer Bailey can’t seem to get it together, and Micah Owings has, quite frankly, sucked. The big righty nibbles, and doesn’t really feature that extenstive of a repetoire. Only Bronson Arroyo has pitched well. Both him and Harang are the subject of trade rumors.

The bullpen has faltered as well. If the Reds are smart, they will remove themselves of guys such as Francisco Cordero and David Weathers. Those are high dollar luxury items that will impede the club from pursuing free agents this offseason. Both men, along with Arthur Rhodes, have performed, but they are older vets and for a team that is probably a few years away, could possibly net some nice future talent.

As for the offense, outside of Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips, perhaps noone else out there would be in the starting lineup for most other major league ballclubs. Really, the offense reared it’s ugly head this past month. Edwin Encarnacion looks like a guy who is playing for a paycheck, Johnny Gomes and Laynce Nix are limited, and a man such as Jerry Hairston Jr. really ought to be a super sub as opposed to a near-everyday starter.

With Jay Bruce out, and now Chris Dickerson (a minor bright spot) possibly out for some time, the starting outfield will be Gomes/Tavares/Nix. This is an absolute JOKE of a major league starting outfield. I wrote that Jocketty ought to go after Matt Holliday, but the Cardinals got him. As usual, we sit around and watch everyone else improve. Holliday wouldn’t have improved all of our woes, but wow, this team really needs to send the message across that they are trying, and they clearly have missed the boat so far.

What to look forward to the rest of the way? Votto, assuming he stays healthy, will eventually qualify for enough at bats to be in the race for the batting title. Whether he is facing right handers/left handers/runners on bases/bases empty, it doesn’t matter. The man flat out rakes. Also something else to check out will be Brandon Phillips’ pursuit of 100 RBI’s. Really, though I was quite critical of him for his boneheaded baserunning error last week at L.A, he has done his job and performed. Also, now that Ryan Hanigan has the catching job all to himself, he has a good opportunity to prove himself worthy of the job, and I think he can do it. He’s a good hitters to all parts of the ballpark.

The trading deadline is soon. The Reds clearly are now sellers. This month proved that they are basically frauds in this NL central race. The personnel decisions they make from here on out will hopefully build for a better 2010 and beyond. Also, they have some good young players in the minors such as Drew Stubbs, Yonder Alonso, etc. Once again, in Cincinnati, it’s “wait till next year”