Cincinnati Reds

With the season winding down to a merciful end, the Reds are faced with a few hard questions.

The starting pitching has not been getting it done as of late, and that becomes a huge concern. In the three games thus far in the series with the Colorado Rockies, the starters are only giving an average of a little over four innings.  

That is entirely too much burden to place on any bullpen.

The Reds are in prime position for a division title and a playoff berth, but are sure making it hard to believe, and while going about daily chores in the ugliest of fashions. It has worked thus far and I firmly believe its there for the taking and that it will happen. Just try not to look at them or pay too much attention.

The Reds are doing their best to make fans want to wring some necks. Believe me—I am well aware of the how the ugliness can make you teeter on that mountain of faith.

A startling trend has emerged in the 2010 Cincinnati Reds campaign: They can’t beat high-quality teams.
 

Aaron Harang has not been the "ace" of the Reds starting rotation for a long time. He has still been considered a key part of the pitching staff and a valuable veteran presence in the clubhouse. However, his ineffectiveness over the last couple of seasons may have finally reached its peak yesterday against the Rockies.

What appeared a few weeks ago as a two-man race for a potential Triple Crown has now become a three-man competition.

Colorado Rockies outfielder Carlos Gonzalez has been hitting the ball like he was mad at it lately. He is now comfortably ahead of Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds in batting average with a .340 mark. Votto is batting .321.

As the Reds head into the home stretch of the season, they are still a ways away from "officially" clinching anything, but there's a bit of rumbling as it pertains to the potential postseason rotation.

Bronson Arroyo is clearly the guy you want on the mound in the first game of a series.  No, he's not Roy Halladay, Ubaldo Jiminez, or Tim Lincecum, but I have strong confidence he would keep us in the game.

The Tampa Bay Rays called up left-handed pitcher David Price to relieve Edwin Jackson in New York on Sept. 14, 2008.

In that game, Price would pitch 5.1 innings and strike out four batters while only allowing two earned runs. We all pondered if this kid was real. After four more appearances, Price's ERA was 1.93 in 14 innings. 

The Cincinnati Reds have taken just about everybody by surprise this year.  Going into the season, they were not a team that was expected to be involved in the playoff race at this time of the year, much less own the best record in the National League and be a lock to make the playoffs barring a 2007 New York Mets-style collapse in the final month of the season.

The NL-Central boasts a few great pickups this week and one real surprise Sit ‘Em candidate.  While there is great outfield help abound, a couple could use some rest on your bench. 

Low-percentage owned pitchers rounds out the help in this week’s fantasy baseball forecast.  Congratulations to those of you who followed last week’s advice in starting Neil Walker and sitting Dexter Fowler.

Start ‘Em

Jonny Gomes | Cincinnati Reds | 36.1 percent

Another wacky week of baseball. The ever-annoying Nyjer Morgan decided to slam into the Marlins catcher one too many times.

After being thrown at, Morgan decided to charge the mound and MLB's second brawl of the season occurred.

More violent than Reds vs. Cardinals, Morgan got in a few head shots before getting knocked down by the entire Marlins team.

Aroldis Chapman of the Reds made his major league debut this week. He arrived in a blaze of glory, hitting 103 on the radar gun multiple times.