FalconBlog--Triumphs and Trials in the BGSU Falcon Nation

Back again, Reds continue to win--Goals, .500 post break, third place, .500 overall.

I'm back again, and the Reds are continuing their second half success. Its refreshing to see, and has made them fun to watch again.

Before the break, in the midst of the atrocious first half play, I noted that the Reds mostly just needed bad pitching to win, with their offense. Note this:

Put that in perspective. A 4.91 ERA would be 13th in the NL this year. A 4.63 ERA would be 12th.

That's the tragedy of this season. Even if our pitching was bad, and still well below average, we'd be in the running for a winning season and maybe a wild card berth.

Now, let's follow that up with a little analysis from the post All-star streak of our club. We're 18-9 after the break, with a 4.37 ERA. That's 12th in the NL. Yet, since we have scored 160 runs in 28 games, (more than 5 per game), this team has won consistently. We lead the NL in runs scored after the break, and lead in OPS at .826, with AZ a distant second at .788. The club can score runs, and if the pitching keeps us in games, as it has been doing, we are dangerous. So, at 18-9 so far, is a .500 record after the break a possibility? The question answers itself.

Now, as for third place, we are, right now 1.5 games out of third, behind Milwaukee and Chicago. I think we are clearly capable of beating the Brewers, and the Cubs won't have Wood back in the rotation again this year. If we continue to play well, we are capable of beating them, too. And that's third place.

And if we keep at this pace, we could finish at .500 for the year, though that remains unlikely.

It wasn't so long ago I worried that our record made us look like the worst team in Reds history.

As a final note: is this a springboard to contention in 2006? Small samples, I know, but this sustained success certainly makes things more fun.