Its almost Opening Day, and I'm feeling less interest in baseball than I have in, oh, probably 30 years. Really. I'm going to try and synthesize my thoughts on this, but in the meantime, I can't generate any real anticipation. I keep trying.
Weather was finally nice today, but I don't think that was it. Usually bad weather makes it worse.
Well, the news from camp is that Danny Graves is having a good spring. This is important for the club. If he has recovered from the ill-advised journey into starting, and can be a lock down closer, that helps this team reach .500 A LOT. Time will tell. I still content he doesn't K enough, but he certainly needs a whole shit load of groundball outs to make up for it.
The Enquirer also has the info on the position battles.
I think I noted here very early that the non-pitching roster slots were pretty sewn up. They went like this:
C--LaRue, Valentin.
1b--Casey
2b--Jiminez
SS-Aurilia, Lopez
3B--Randa
OF--Dunn, Griffey, Pena, and Kearns
RES: Freel
The only question was who would be the 13th position player. The Enquirer has this to say:
As far as position players are concerned, the Reds really only have one decision. They have to decide whether to keep a third catcher or Jacob Cruz as the 25th man.
General manager Dan O'Brien wouldn't go that far, saying infielder Luis Lopez and outfielder Jason Romano are still in the running.
With Ryan Freel and Felipe Lopez on the roster, Luis Lopez wouldn't get much playing time. Romano, a .193 career hitter with one home run in 161 at-bats, doesn't offer much as a pinch-hitting threat.
For my money, a third catcher is more valuable than Cruz, but then again, with such a short bench, you don't have much room to manuver your catchers anyway.
Danny Graves, Ben Weber, David Weathers, Kent Mercker and Ryan Wagner are in....
Whoever loses out on the fifth starter spot - Josh Hancock or Brandon Claussen - will likely take the sixth bullpen spot. Both are out of options, so the Reds can't send them to the minors without risking losing them on waivers.
Again, O'Brien wouldn't commit beyond the four veterans.
"(Wagner) has pitched well," he said. "But no final decisions have been made regarding any of those individuals."
But it stands to reason that Jose Acevedo, Todd Coffey, Joe Valentine, Jeriome Robertson and Matt Belisle are competing for one spot.
Robertson, a 28-year-old left-hander, is the only one with good overall numbers. He's 3-1 with a 3.46 ERA, but he's been a starter most of his career.
Acevedo and Valentine have pitched well after horrible starts.
Acevedo, 0-1 with an 11.70 ERA, has allowed only one run and three hits over his last five innings.
Valentine, 1-0 with a 5.10 ERA overall, had his sixth scoreless outing in a row Sunday.
Belisle and Coffey, both 24, are interesting cases. Both came into camp as long shots. But they have impressed the brain trust with their stuff.
Each has had good results, save for one awful outing.
Belisle gave up five earned runs on sevens hits in 11/3 innings in his one start. In his five relief appearances since, he's retired 15 of the 16 hitters he's faced.
Coffey was racked for five runs in one outing against Pittsburgh. In his other five outings, he has a 1.93 ERA.
I like to see this. It looks like some depth. Essentially, this guy is the long man. With that in mind, Acevedo would seem like the logical choice. I'd like Coffey to keep closing in Louisville becaue if Graves is having a good year we might be able to move him.
If Ryan Wagner comes around, this team is much more formidable.
OK, I'm a little more in the mood.
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