Cincinnati Reds

It's a question as old as Abner Doubleday.  How does a contending team strengthen their starting rotation by the MLB trade deadline?  Well, it's possibly a bit more modern than Doubleday.

If you are the Cincinnati Reds, just have your All-Star pitcher go down a month and a half through the 2009 season, get a new arm via Tommy John surgery, and have him come back before the All-Star break—very simple, very easy.

There is none of this haggling with other teams regarding potential trades.

According to many reports, the Cincinnati Reds are on the verge of signing Gary Matthews, Jr. Matthews had a big year for the Texas Rangers way back in 2006. That year he put up .313/.371/.495/.866. The LA Angels then swooped in and signed Matthews for a huge deal.

Matthews' big year in 2006 skewed his career numbers, but the Angles ignored that and tried catching four years of lightning in a bottle. It didn't work out.

After three disappointing years, the Angels ended up getting the Mets to take him as insurance for Carlos Beltran.

“Someday, I want to be just like him, one of the best pitchers in the big leagues.”

I've been accused of many things. 

Paranoia, scrutinizing words, conspiracy freak, reading too much into what people say, and on one occasion attempting to take an up-skirt photograph—I swear, I knew the girl and thought she'd be cool with it.

“Someday, I want to be just like him, one of the best pitchers in the big leagues.”

Are the Reds really in this for the long haul?

The calender says it's mid-June and the Reds occupy the top of the NL Central. This is uncharted territory for a team that is emerging from the "lost decade."

Typically the injuries begin to pile up, and the Reds begin to fold. This year features more of the same injury problems (Homer Bailey, Ryan Hannigan, Chris Dickerson, Mike Lincoln, and Edinson Volquez), but the team has stayed afloat.

The difference?

Veterans such as Scott Rolen and Orlando Cabrera.

When Ryan Hanigan went on the disabled list with a broken hand on May 29th, it wasn't something that people in many circles discussed.  

The team was playing so well, so what was there to discuss?

I knew the moment it occurred that the pitching staff would greatly suffer.  

Hanigan is THAT good behind the plate with his handling of the pitching staff, skill in blocking errant pitches, and ability to throw out would-be base stealers.

With Hanigan behind the dish, the Reds team ERA is 3.77.  

Sounds lame, but that's exactly what the Cincinnati Reds are doing right now until they can find some consistency. They aren't playing awful, but the aren't exactly playing the best baseball either.

It is much easier to write about the Reds when they are winning and things are going swell.

Unfortunately they are not, making the job of Reds sportswriters more tedious and less therapeutic.

In the last two games they have averaged one run, and you don't win many games 1-0.

Even the best percentage in baseball moving runners from first to third is useless if you leave them stranded at the hot corner.

In the collective trash heap that thus far is the 2010 Cincinnati Reds bullpen, one man stands tall and proud.

Seeing big number 53 jog in from the bullpen, the rare bird in Major League Baseball who was born in the 1960s and is still playing, is a comforting sign for Reds fans.  

Some men bust out of that bullpen gate and get to the pitchers mound like their pants are on fire. Rhodes has a slow, methodical gait, and with his age, one might think he is blazing the trail of a tired man, perhaps too worn out to do the job.

The Cincinnati Reds are seemingly caught up in their own hype.  Sure, they're currently in first place.  But they missed a huge opportunity to stab a midseason dagger right in the hearts of the St. Louis Cardinals and the rest of the NL Central last week.

The Cardiac Reds lead the NL Central by a game and a half. 

They also lead the league in come from behind wins, and victories in their last at bat—so "Cardiac Reds" is a perfect name for these guys—not a team for folks with weak tickers.

2008 was a break-out season for Edinson Volquez. He was a NL all-star and finished the season 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA and 206 strikeouts. However, it has been all down hill for him since a June 1, 2009 start in St. Louis against the Cardinals. That's when he felt numbness in the pinky and ring finger of his right hand.