Tough loss on Sunday and overall, a disappointing start for the pitching staff. They should be happy to see the pitcher-friendly surrounding of PETCO Park, but this is also a place the Reds have been absolutely dreadful at since it opened. They are only 9-13 since there since the park opened in 2004.

Azubuike24;737867 wrote:Tough loss on Sunday and overall, a disappointing start for the pitching staff. They should be happy to see the pitcher-friendly surrounding of PETCO Park, but this is also a place the Reds have been absolutely dreadful at since it opened. They are only 9-13 since there since the park opened in 2004.

Aaron Harang is really liking PETCO so far this season as he is 2-0 already there with 1.5 ERA!

i just hope edinson can put together a decent start for once, and itd be nice to see a 0 in the first inning from him.

Harangatang gave up so many HR...with this big ballpark i bet that helps him!

Hope the Reds get to face Cory Luebke, a SD lefty. He is a graduate of Marion Local High School (they have won like 4 football state titles...Cory was a QB on a runners up one season). He also pitched for Ohio State Buckeyes. He was drafted three times......Pirates...Rangers (i think), and Padres!

Go reds...goodlulck to Luebke

Game tonight at 10 pm

Chris Heisey cf
Brandon Phillips 2b
Joey Votto 1b
Scott Rolen 3b
Jonny Gomes lf
Jay Bruce rf
Ramon Hernandez c
Paul Janish ss
Edinson Volquez p

vs. LH Clayton Richard

I like Heisey in that leadoff spot when Stubbs is struggling

Whoops, didn't see this thread

smh at Dusty. Looks like he is back to making the CF the token leadoff hitter, even if the guy isn't necessarily suited to be the leadoff hitter.

Oh well, at least Heisey is worlds better than Ryan Freel and Corey Patterson ever were.

Have I mentioned that I really hate the west coast time zone? Tonight's game might as well be an off game for me.

jordo212000;738522 wrote:smh at Dusty. Looks like he is back to making the CF the token leadoff hitter, even if the guy isn't necessarily suited to be the leadoff hitter.

Oh well, at least Heisey is worlds better than Ryan Freel and Corey Patterson ever were.

Can't fault Dusty for his original leadoff guy being 0 for his last 10 and desperately in need of an off-day. Then when you add in the fact that Stubbs' backup, Fred Lewis, is unavailable, you cannot at all fault Dusty for putting Heisey there. Who else you gonna hit leadoff?

SportsAndLady;738526 wrote:Can't fault Dusty for his original leadoff guy being 0 for his last 10 and desperately in need of an off-day. Then when you add in the fact that Stubbs' backup, Fred Lewis, is unavailable, you cannot at all fault Dusty for putting Heisey there. Who else you gonna hit leadoff?

Where did I say that Stubbs should be hitting leadoff? Personally, I don't think that Stubbs or Heisey are suited for the leadoff spot. And you are right, there isn't an ideal candidate for the leadoff spot. I just hate seeing those guys slotted at the top of the order when they should probably be hitting 6th or 7th

Lol wait..you don't think Stubbs should be our leadoff guy...and on top of that, you don't even know who should be our leadoff hitter????

SportsAndLady;738539 wrote:Lol wait..you don't think Stubbs should be our leadoff guy...and on top of that, you don't even know who should be our leadoff hitter????

Yes, that is correct. Even though I do not who should be the leadoff guy, one thing I am sure of... Stubbs should not be. He struggled in the leadoff spot last year, has problems making contact from time to time, and there are better candidates.

Phillips isn't ideal, but he could be a leadoff guy. If Janish keeps hitting he could be another candidate as well.

I'm still a little unsure about what you were confused about in post #11. Just because it is unclear who the best leadoff candidate is, doesn't mean you should arbitrarily just pick somebody to slide into the spot. You also probably shouldn't slide a guy into that spot who has already struggled mightily in the role last time you tried to make him hit there.

Janish is interesting.

Janish
Phillips
Votto
Rolen
Gomes
Bruce
Stubbs
Hernandez/Hanigan

TigerNation10;738617 wrote:Janish is interesting.

Janish
Phillips
Votto
Rolen
Gomes
Bruce
Stubbs
Hernandez/Hanigan

To me, the lineup looks much stronger with Janish leading off. Stubbs hitting 7th is crazy, he could do a lot of damage there. The bottom of the order is still very strong and has a lot pop.

Janish isn't a bad thought. The guy is a pretty solid hitter and doesn't swing at too many bad pitches. He doesn't have the great speed on the base paths, but then again, what use were Taveras' and Patterson's elite speed when they were walking back to the dugout every 8 of 10 at bats?

I'd like for anything to have Stubbs be our 7 hitter. Guy is a very good ball player, but he just doesn't get on base enough consistently to be a lead off hitter in front of run producers like BP, Votto, and Rolen. I thought Stubbs had his most success last year when he was bumped down to the 7th spot....the guy seemed to start raking the ball after the move. Having his speed and power in the 7 hole in absolutely sick.

Of course, none of this matters because Dusty hates Janish, I think.

Phillips
Votto
Rolen
Bruce
Gomes
Hanigan/Hernandez
Janish
Pitcher
Stubbs

I think pitcher batting 8th is a wonderful idea and LaRussa is a genius for doing it. Get Votto up more by hitting one spot up, but don't kill an inning by starting out with an easy pitcher getting an out. Stubbs hitting .220 is better than a pitcher before the top comes up.

Phillips
Votto
Rolen
Bruce
Gomes
Hanigan/Hernandez
Janish
Pitcher
Stubbs

I think pitcher batting 8th is a wonderful idea and LaRussa is a genius for doing it. Get Votto up more by hitting one spot up, but don't kill an inning by starting out with an easy pitcher getting an out. Stubbs hitting .220 is better than a pitcher before the top comes up.

I don't think you're ever going to see Joey in the 2 hole.

jordo212000;738614 wrote:Yes, that is correct. Even though I do not who should be the leadoff guy, one thing I am sure of... Stubbs should not be. He struggled in the leadoff spot last year, has problems making contact from time to time, and there are better candidates.

Phillips isn't ideal, but he could be a leadoff guy. If Janish keeps hitting he could be another candidate as well.

I'm still a little unsure about what you were confused about in post #11. Just because it is unclear who the best leadoff candidate is, doesn't mean you should arbitrarily just pick somebody to slide into the spot. You also probably shouldn't slide a guy into that spot who has already struggled mightily in the role last time you tried to make him hit there.

Stubbs struggled last year because he was a rook...it had nothing to do with where he was hitting in the lineup. I remember towards the end of the year he was doing really well in the leadoff position.

I understand you don't want him at the leadoff, but most reds fan want him there, and there is rarely any talk about him moving out of that spot. All of a sudden you want him out, you would think you'd AT LEAST have a player in mind to replace him.

I think the pitcher batting 8th is over-thinking things.

Votto would get a dozen more at bats on the year and so would the pitcher.

Why not bat Votto 1st and have the pitcher bat 7th, Stubbs 8th and Phillips 9th?

Batting the pitcher 8th instead of ninth will cost you a few chances of first inning runs over the span as well. Phillips leads off with a single, Votto doubles in Phillips, Rolen flies out to RF...Votto to 3rd, Gomes walks, Bruce whiffs, Janish singles in Votto and Hanigan gets walked to face the pitcher...who makes an out 88% of the time....3 hits, 2 walks and only 2 runs......that kills....and it happens 7-8 or so times a year.......happens less with the #9 hitter.....3-4 times. Yeah, it's a little silly and not a huge deal, but I just don't buy the advantage.

I'm all for a stud batting 2nd and 3rd as opposed to 3rd and 4th....but not convinced it works any better.

Ump misses the first pitch of the game! Clear strike he called a ball.

Ump giving a lot to the P off the plate - 3rd strike to Votto and the first pitch to Rolen he called both strikes when they were off the plate.

Well that was a terrible AB by Gomes. Flails at 2 offspeed pitches and then looks at strike 3 down the pipe.

mhs I think Votto's was a good call..it came back over the plate.

And Gomes swings at 2 balls, then doesn't swing at a strike and strikes out